2020 Predicitions

[francis247uk]

Wondered what people think we'll see in FX3 next year?

My initial thoughts, including some wishful thinking/speculation:

- Final unlicensed Williams DMD pack released
- New Zen original pack, including an Operencia table
- First batch of Alphanumeric tables, maybe with DMD's
- Stern deal struck and first pack released
- Indiana Jones and another licensed pack announced
- PS5 and Series X support announced
- Some type of VR support for FX3
- Bulb brightness and room lighting options added
- Continual moaning that physics aren't exactly right each time they're adjusted

 

[zmcvay]

That would be a great lineup if we got it. I'd add a Rise of Skywalker pack as well for FX3, hard to believe they won't do that.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

2020 predictions:

- Zen Original pack
- Licensed WMS games we've never seen before
- Twilight Zone and Star Trek TNG because those games deserve a redo
- Stern Pinball deal
- WMS Alphanumerics, probably a few of those
- CastleStorm II releases on consoles and exclusively on Epic Store for PC (boo)
- Operencia releases on Steam

 

[Citizen]

-A few individual licensed DMDs. Not expecting a ton. Maybe like 2-4 in a year. Hopefully IJ, but they may make us wait until 2021 for the 30th anniversary (which would suck).
-Unlicensed alphanumeric packs begin
-We'll get Jack*Bot, Cactus Canyon and Who Dunnit?, but perhaps not in a pack together. Maybe a Bot trilogy pack and the other two both paired with 2 alphanumerics to test the waters with those tables.
-The first few new-to-digital tables. Again, probably not many. But I can't see how they could justify making us wait another entire year.
-The Quickening

 

[shutyertrap]

I predict...

- 3 or 4 licensed DMD tables, but none with the name Indiana Jones.
- alpha numeric packs with custom Zen DMD implementation
- a 3 pack of originals consisting of Operencia, Dreadnaughts, and Disco Dodgeball
- Rise of Skywalker plus 2 side story tables, timed for the video release of the movie
- if there is a Stern announcement, that it will not be until next November
- a licensed original table based on Anime, so Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell
- a licensed original table based on Monty Python's Holy Grail (Mel did ask what our holy grail tables would be!)

 

[Citizen]

No, syt, it'll be a Life of Brian table.

Cowboy Bebop pinball would be awesome.

Edit: Oh man that just gave me an idea for anime pinball. DBZ pinball with a 7-ball multiball mode where the pinballs look like the dragon balls and completing the mode summons Shenron.

 

[Narc0lep5y]

I predict...


- Rise of Skywalker plus 2 side story tables, timed for the video release of the movie

...but, like the rest of the SW Tables, this new pack will only use the original trilogy music.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

...but, like the rest of the SW Tables, this new pack will only use the original trilogy music.

Didn't Last Jedi use the score from the official movie though?

 

[Narc0lep5y]

Didn't Last Jedi use the score from the official movie though?

I’ve never heard of the Last Jedi movie or
Pinball tables. Those must exist in an alternate universe.


(They might be. I have strong objections to this movie and as such, this is the only Zen pack I don’t own. Tbh none of the Zen SW tables are particularly satisfying to me, and the music is only part of it.)

 

[francis247uk]

Edit: Oh man that just gave me an idea for anime pinball. DBZ pinball with a 7-ball multiball mode where the pinballs look like the dragon balls and completing the mode summons Shenron.

Akira would make an amazing table imo!

 

[Pete]

zen will prob come out of left feild with something horrible that is sure to still get them loot, like a new section just for disney princess tables lol. i think its too soon for them to start doing stern tables, that will effect us not getting many more bally/williams. really hope we get double the current amount of b/w before they take on stern if that does end up being a thing. im thinking the reason we dont see anything new from TPA is that Zen got stern and gottleib leaving them with nothing left to do.

 

[shutyertrap]

im thinking the reason we dont see anything new from TPA is that Zen got stern and gottleib leaving them with nothing left to do.

Nope. It’s that the Stern tables that were left carried a hefty license fee that FarSight didn’t wanna pay for, and Gottlieb’s didn’t sell as well, especially non DMD. Their game engine was 7+ years old and it showed in comparison to Zen FX3, but clearly they could see the cost of R&D for a new engine but so few tables just wouldn’t make sense. FarSight is very risk averse.

 

[Narc0lep5y]

zen will prob come out of left feild with something horrible that is sure to still get them loot, like a new section just for disney princess tables lol. i think its too soon for them to start doing stern tables, that will effect us not getting many more bally/williams. really hope we get double the current amount of b/w before they take on stern if that does end up being a thing. im thinking the reason we dont see anything new from TPA is that Zen got stern and gottleib leaving them with nothing left to do.

From someone with 2 daughters, a Disney Princess table would fit nicely on my pincab for them. Where do i sign up to second that?

 

[Scared Stiff]

My 2020 predictions:

Some original content
Cactus Canyon, etc. released. Could see Pinbot and Bride of Pinbot too.
For Halloween dare I say an Elvira or TAF machine? Why yes, yes I do.

 

[Byte]

Their game engine was 7+ years old and it showed in comparison to Zen FX3, but clearly they could see the cost of R&D for a new engine but so few tables just wouldn’t make sense. FarSight is very risk averse.

I get this. The wild card here is the upcoming PS5 and X3 consoles. Porting the old engine to the new platform is likely pretty straightforward, but every current owner will just use backward compatibility mode. The only way FS can come out a winner is having a brand new physics and graphics engines that fully take advantage of the new hardware and blows PFX3 out of the water. But how many people will switch to PS5/X3 at launch? How many of those would be TPA II buyers? How about current TPA owners; when they eventually upgrade, how many will pay good money again? How many switched to PC and won't go back to console? So many uncertainties.

 

[trash80]

I get this. The wild card here is the upcoming PS5 and X3 consoles. Porting the old engine to the new platform is likely pretty straightforward, but every current owner will just use backward compatibility mode. The only way FS can come out a winner is having a brand new physics and graphics engines that fully take advantage of the new hardware and blows PFX3 out of the water. But how many people will switch to PS5/X3 at launch? How many of those would be TPA II buyers? How about current TPA owners; when they eventually upgrade, how many will pay good money again? How many switched to PC and won't go back to console? So many uncertainties.

The upcoming consoles are just iterative updates, each continues to use the same underlying CPU/GPU architecture (the new chips are roughly three year old modified PC hardware at this point) while switching over to SSD drives and Raytracing support with 8k output resolution. There is nothing for any developer to "port" as none of the OS and/or Marketplaces will change.

FS can't come out a winner with anything they do unless they completely overhaul their business and management model. While many of us enjoyed TPA, and some may be enjoying the new bowling game, expectations have evolved and there are other developers ready to meet these.

As for 2020 Zen predictions...

A couple of licensed Williams tables (I'd guess they are looking hard at how to properly license Twilight Zone and Addams Family)
A pack of non-DMD tables
Late 2020 Pinball FX 4 (or whatever you want to call it) release with new ESRB ratings and along with this will probably be updated (8k) and redesigned original tables that play more like the current Williams tables.

 

[shutyertrap]

Late 2020 Pinball FX 4 (or whatever you want to call it) release with new ESRB ratings and along with this will probably be updated (8k) and redesigned original tables that play more like the current Williams tables.

I keep seeing these posts about FX4, and I just wonder why? The current engine is just fine, as is the interface and functionality. Is it purely being speculated on because of the PS5 and new Xbox? Is it something people are demanding or just merely a "well it fits a timeline" sort of thing?

I ask because the mobile versions of everything OTHER than the Williams tables are still very much FX2. The initial idea was to bring mobile up to FX3 standards as well as have it be unified with consoles and Steam. I guess that's a question I should ask Mel once more. The other thing is that if FX4 were to come out, they'd have to upgrade every single one of those tables yet again, which is quite the process. It would make sense to at that point also implement the new physics to those as an option, as they'd also be having to upgrade the lighting and graphics once again as they did going from FX2 to FX3. My point being, it's going to take a lot longer than late 2020 for FX4 with a new engine, graphics, physics, and lighting. I personally feel they will be sticking with FX3 for at least 2 more years. If Zen grabs the STERN license, especially with those video screen DMDs, that might justify a new upgrade to the game. It just seems to me that they haven't come close to tapping the potential of their current build.

 

[Citizen]

I get this. The wild card here is the upcoming PS5 and X3 consoles. Porting the old engine to the new platform is likely pretty straightforward, but every current owner will just use backward compatibility mode. The only way FS can come out a winner is having a brand new physics and graphics engines that fully take advantage of the new hardware and blows PFX3 out of the water. But how many people will switch to PS5/X3 at launch? How many of those would be TPA II buyers? How about current TPA owners; when they eventually upgrade, how many will pay good money again? How many switched to PC and won't go back to console? So many uncertainties.

Here's another uncertainty:

Is FarSight even competent/big enough to make a new engine/platform better than FX3?

I kinda doubt it. But who knows. Has anyone actually played their new bowling game? Is it actually well-designed or is it slapdash trash?

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

I have, and what you're looking at is pretty much similar to Concrete's mobile game (of course, Concrete is working with Farsight). It's pretty decent considering its pros and cons.

Pros:

- New physics model that allows for simulation. No more controlling the ball while on the lane.
- No Energy system from the mobile app.
- Animated bowlers as opponents make matches a bit more lifelike.

Cons:

- It functions the same way as the mobile game, essentially. Tickets, Gold Pins, XP, and IAP's.
- No online multiplayer support...yet.
- 30 FPS lock at the moment due to problems with pin physics at higher framerates.
- Oil patterns are non-degradable and thus shots can be repeated multiple times in a row without error.
- Matches against other bowlers can be lengthy without skipping animations. (They look nicely done though.)

Improvements are incoming in the new year, including:

- Degradable oil patterns
- Additional commentary?
- Online multiplayer, obviously

For $20, I'd say wait until further updates before buying. Seems promising though.

 

[trash80]

I keep seeing these posts about FX4, and I just wonder why? The current engine is just fine, as is the interface and functionality. Is it purely being speculated on because of the PS5 and new Xbox? Is it something people are demanding or just merely a "well it fits a timeline" sort of thing?

I ask because the mobile versions of everything OTHER than the Williams tables are still very much FX2. The initial idea was to bring mobile up to FX3 standards as well as have it be unified with consoles and Steam. I guess that's a question I should ask Mel once more. The other thing is that if FX4 were to come out, they'd have to upgrade every single one of those tables yet again, which is quite the process. It would make sense to at that point also implement the new physics to those as an option, as they'd also be having to upgrade the lighting and graphics once again as they did going from FX2 to FX3. My point being, it's going to take a lot longer than late 2020 for FX4 with a new engine, graphics, physics, and lighting. I personally feel they will be sticking with FX3 for at least 2 more years. If Zen grabs the STERN license, especially with those video screen DMDs, that might justify a new upgrade to the game. It just seems to me that they haven't come close to tapping the potential of their current build.

The current engine already has problems with overlays, high poly counts and certain shader routines, and there are plenty of audio related issues with the current platform as well. Should Zen decide to "re-monetize" their own IP and original content, it will require a new platform, and their relationship with Epic should make this a no-brainer on the PC side of things. And if they want to get into raytracing, 8k, and user configured cameras (requiring actual honest to goodness full 3D) it will certainly need more than just an update to FX3. Plus they could use a more robust multiplayer environment, supporting leagues and other types of gameplay not currently possible (co-op) which would need a new engine.

They probably started working on the next version not longer after FX3 was released... at least that is how many studios operate, so I wouldn't be surprised to see something sooner, rather than later.