Being the programming type, it's very rare that I play any game without thinking "man, this is fun, but it would be just a little bit better if it worked like _____ instead". For some of the old NES (yes, the 8-bit system, I'm that old) and SNES games, a few intrepid souls have managed to reverse-engineer the ROMs and a very few have even provided little editor systems so that mere mortals can do things ranging from minor adjustments to complete overhauls of the original. For example, as previously mentioned, I have a version of Adventures of Lolo III with 100 new puzzles in it, and a version of Final Fantasy VI with various stats and AI scripts re-jiggered to make the game more challenging.
It's been the same with pinball. Yes, there are many great tables out there, both physical and virtual. But every now and then I still think "what if someone took the complexity of TZ and mixed it with the open playfield and flow of something like AFM, and then threw in the sauciness of Scared Stiff on top?". Or similar combinations that would probably make Lawlor, Ritchie, Nordman and company queasy. I suspect I'm not the only one that's ever wanted to basically roll their own machine, if only for personal amusement.
Unfortunately, most players' speculation doesn't go much beyond the theoretical level due to the impractical nature of altering the ROM of a physical table. Most of the virtual "pinball construction sets" that are available are severely limited. The one that isn't, Visual Pinball, has such a staggering barrier to entry because of the requirement to be familiar with programming. And then of course, you need to be good with art, animation, sound and music, and maybe even physics, if you want your creation to actually feel like the real thing and not just a prototype. It's too much for one person, especially if you want to create something original and not merely copy someone else's existing design.
But I've noticed there are about 1700 of us here. I know there are several software developers here. Presumably someone here knows something about artwork, about animation, about audio. What would be insurmountable for 1 person might be achievable for 10 or 20.
So I'm offering readers the opportunity to participate in a unique experiment over the coming year: a chance to participate in the design and creation of an original (virtual) pinball table. I have no idea if this is going to work; success is not guaranteed; this could fail in a thousand ways. But it could also succeed brilliantly, and I think it would be a lot of fun either way. Plus it will give people who would never even think of designing a pinball table on their own a chance to participate. In essence, we're going to attempt to conjure a table out of the void!
Of course, these types of projects get derailed easily in their early stages if too many people pull in too many directions, if the projects lack focus they never get off the ground. So I've been quietly working on a ruleset, general theme, and playfield layout for the new table over the past few months. Frequent readers of this blog can probably guess the theme by now, so without further adieu, I introduce to you...
SIN
An original virtual pinball table
Table features:
Since FarSight hasn't released the "TPA Construction Set" yet, we'll have to make do with Visual Pinball for now. I'm still researching what all is involved in making an original table for VP, so it'll be a little bit before actual work commences. In the meantime, feel free to add comments, suggestions, encouragement, questioning of my sanity, etc., in the box below.
Wish me (us) luck!
It's been the same with pinball. Yes, there are many great tables out there, both physical and virtual. But every now and then I still think "what if someone took the complexity of TZ and mixed it with the open playfield and flow of something like AFM, and then threw in the sauciness of Scared Stiff on top?". Or similar combinations that would probably make Lawlor, Ritchie, Nordman and company queasy. I suspect I'm not the only one that's ever wanted to basically roll their own machine, if only for personal amusement.
Unfortunately, most players' speculation doesn't go much beyond the theoretical level due to the impractical nature of altering the ROM of a physical table. Most of the virtual "pinball construction sets" that are available are severely limited. The one that isn't, Visual Pinball, has such a staggering barrier to entry because of the requirement to be familiar with programming. And then of course, you need to be good with art, animation, sound and music, and maybe even physics, if you want your creation to actually feel like the real thing and not just a prototype. It's too much for one person, especially if you want to create something original and not merely copy someone else's existing design.
But I've noticed there are about 1700 of us here. I know there are several software developers here. Presumably someone here knows something about artwork, about animation, about audio. What would be insurmountable for 1 person might be achievable for 10 or 20.
So I'm offering readers the opportunity to participate in a unique experiment over the coming year: a chance to participate in the design and creation of an original (virtual) pinball table. I have no idea if this is going to work; success is not guaranteed; this could fail in a thousand ways. But it could also succeed brilliantly, and I think it would be a lot of fun either way. Plus it will give people who would never even think of designing a pinball table on their own a chance to participate. In essence, we're going to attempt to conjure a table out of the void!
Of course, these types of projects get derailed easily in their early stages if too many people pull in too many directions, if the projects lack focus they never get off the ground. So I've been quietly working on a ruleset, general theme, and playfield layout for the new table over the past few months. Frequent readers of this blog can probably guess the theme by now, so without further adieu, I introduce to you...
SIN
An original virtual pinball table
Table features:
- The complexity of TZ with the flow of AFM: A nice big open playfield, yet with more depth than is typical on most flow-oriented tables. Sin has four flippers (two lower, two upper), a ramp/orbit system with diverters so that players can get the ball where it needs to be quickly, and of course no TZ-like table would be complete without a through-the-bumpers shot...only this one is horizontal across the entire width of the playfield!
- Seven deadly sin modes: Each in multiple levels of difficulty as the game goes on, all fully stackable with each other to afford the player multiple opportunities for strategic play. Started from the Sin Bin scoop (a relatively wide scoop between the two ramps - think a smaller version of SS's Crate), these modes include:
- Greed: TZ's Greed standups return! Hit a certain number of the standups within the time limit.
- Sloth: Shoot a certain number of holes (holes being the Sin Bin, the Cerberus Lock, and Soul Burn...more on these last two in a second) within the time limit. Scores much better if the same hole is not shot repeatedly.
- Lust: A 2-ball multiball with alternating Lust Jackpots on the ramps (like Scared Stiff's Coffin Multiball). Try not to be distracted by the girl riding the...rocket...on the DMD. I wonder what we should call it if the player manages to shoot both ramps at once. A Double Penetra...no, surely we wouldn't call it that...would we? (I think we're gonna need a family mode!
) - Envy: Sequential hurry-ups at random ramps and orbits (like Monster Bash's Full Moon Fever), only this mode doesn't stop after a fixed number of hurry-ups. You keep trying to build the hurry-up value past a threshold as it keeps on counting down...
- Pride: Spin the two Gates of Hell spinners a certain number of times. Unlike most spinners, these are not in front of ramps or orbits, so it's a little different than similar modes in other games.
- Gluttony: Table lights a given lane, get the ball through it and then nail the Sin Bin as a combo.
- Wrath: A 2-ball frenzy multiball, collect a given number of switch hits and then hit the Sin Bin for the Wrath Jackpot.
- Nine Circles of Hell: Completing sin modes allows you to descend the Circles of Hell, earning awards ranging from points to instant multiball to extra balls to the wizard modes.
- Six multiball modes: Besides the Lust and Wrath multiballs, Sin offers:
- Cerberus Multiball: Build toward Sin's main 3-ball multiball by locking balls in the big three-headed hellhound's mouths. Starting with a simultaneous release, Cerberus Multiball offers jackpots at Sin Bin and orbits, collect all 3 to light Super Jackpot at the Soul Burn hole...which is that horizontal through-the-bumpers shot. Has a Restart feature, too. Oh, and the mode timers stop in Cerberus Multiball as well, just like Franky MB!
- Armageddon: Sin's mini-wizard mode, Armageddon is a 4-ball multiball that plays like AFM's Total Annihilation, complete with the accumulating Eschaton Super Jackpot on the lock shot.
- Hell Frozen Over: The first step in Sin's final wizard mode, Hell Frozen Over is a timed 3-ball multiball: 7 shots in 60 seconds. But there's a catch, after each successful shot, Sin cuts power to the flippers for 2 seconds! No trapping up here or only paying attention to one ball! Total situational awareness is needed here!
- Shadow Salvation: Sin's actual final wizard mode, a 7-ball extravagant cross between Lost in the Zone and Final Frontier with all seven sin modes running, Cerberus Multiball running and Armageddon running. Lasts as long as you can keep 2+ balls in play. Did I mention it's played with 7X added to the playfield multiplier?
- Progressive playfield difficulty: Invariably a pinball machine's outlanes are set too difficult for some players and too easy for others (unless it's ST:TNG). Sin solves this problem by placing the flippers and outlane posts on (virtual) motorized tracks, so that as the player progresses through the game, the center drain and outlanes progress with him, from narrow to normal to wide.
- Progressive playfield multiplier: As you start sin modes, the playfield multiplier starts to increase, but it resets each ball. The Playfield X multiplies everything...sin mode scoring, multiball scoring, even the wizard mode scoring...so the stakes get higher the longer you play, and every ball is critical...none of this thinking "oh well, I have 4 extra balls stored up, no big deal" like you sometimes get on tables like RBION. But none of this goes to end-of-ball bonus, so you don't have the problem of feeling your game is wasted if you don't have a big first ball, either.
- And a host of other features: Infernal Jets, Infernal Spinners, Soul Burns (cross TZ's Robots with MM's Troll Bombs and you'll get the idea), Infernal Secrets (TZ's Camera's coming back, too!), the Wages of Sin (are Death) mini-mode, skill shots and super skill shots, and more. But no cannons. Sorry. And no zombies marching across the playfield, either. This isn't Zen. I want Sin to be something that Stern could actually build if it wanted.
Since FarSight hasn't released the "TPA Construction Set" yet, we'll have to make do with Visual Pinball for now. I'm still researching what all is involved in making an original table for VP, so it'll be a little bit before actual work commences. In the meantime, feel free to add comments, suggestions, encouragement, questioning of my sanity, etc., in the box below.
Wish me (us) luck!
