4 replies to this topic

[Lucas9348]

Hello there! I'm pretty big into pinball, though I've had very little time with physical machines due to their obscurity in this day and age. I feel like I have nostalgia for a time I simply wasn't present for, and 'miss' it, meaning, I wish the world cared more about it. There's just something about pinball no other form of arcade game can offer. I watched a bowling themed pinball machine disappear from my local bowling ally and wondered who would even begin to consider ripping it out. Sure, it didn't play like pinball usually does, but it was the closest thing I got. I only got to play it once.

I've been trying to design pinball tables on VPX 10.8.0 and have found online resources to be either very minimal or just not what I'm looking to achieve. My best bet has been binging on pinball repair videos from YouTube channels like Joe's Classic Video Games in order to get a closer view of the playfields and how they are actually structured. I've already acquired a handful of standards for pinball design philosophy. 1. If at any given point on the playfield a pinball can't roll straight down, it will eventually get stuck there (especially if its a physical table). 2. What goes up must come down; objects on a playfield must be placed in a way that the ball won't immediately drain when rolling back down. 3. Follow (at least a handful of) pinball conventions. Don't be afraid to copy what successful tables have done. Learn what makes them work well and add your own spin where applicable.

 

Please let me know where I can learn more about pinball design. If it's really just a case of pure trial and error, I would still appreciate some tips so I don't feel aimless.

 

Lastly, I'd love to know if VPF plans on having a Discord server, or if it already has one. I think it would be a lot easier to check in and engage with the community on an existing social platform where updates can come in in real time.

So yea, there's a little bit about me! :3

[DDH69]

Cogito, ergo sum

 

Welcome.  I can't help you much with table design as I deal mainly with middleware for connection to pinball and arcade cabinet devices.  There is a primary Discord being Virtual Pinball Chat hosted by Major Frenchy.  If you can' find it shoot a PM with your Discord name and I can help out.

[Lucas9348]

Cogito, ergo sum

 

Welcome.  I can't help you much with table design as I deal mainly with middleware for connection to pinball and arcade cabinet devices.  There is a primary Discord being Virtual Pinball Chat hosted by Major Frenchy.  If you can' find it shoot a PM with your Discord name and I can help out.

Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of the Virtual Pinball Chat discord server. But it appears to be more about building virtual pinball cabinets rather than designing or creating them. But thanks for the reply. If ya want to contact me on Discord, I'm lucaspawprint on there.

[Breadbox64]

Welcome! Most about pinball design is the designers personal experience of what in general is possible and what not, but also a lot of trial and error mixed with creativity. If you got an basic idea for an layout it needs much adjustment of measurments, positions and angles. Just a very few millimeters or degrees can make the difference between a working or not working design. Not without any reason good designers are rare and well paid. Today with all the digital tools for sure it's much more easy as it was years ago were it was needed to handcraft and adjust physical prototypes. As a tip i would like to say try to give the table a good and well ballanced flow. Nothing else is more anoying than a table where you got almost trapped to the lower playfield because you need to try really hard to enter any ramp or loop, same goes for drain monsters where you will have no chance. So for a good ballance between hard and easy better adjust the rules and keep the shots smooth and easy.

[Howell]

Hello. I'm new, just wanna say hello