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BlahCade 119: Gaps in Storage
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<blockquote data-quote="mmmagnetic" data-source="post: 265685" data-attributes="member: 558"><p><em>"It may even be almost good"</em> - Jared Morgs</p><p><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>Speaking of lighting, before Pinball Arcade came out I bought the Williams collection on Nintendo 3DS, and that game had an issue that I never realized before could be an actual problem: The game was incredibly dark. So dark that I had to always keep the handheld at max brightness to even see it properly, thus needlessly burning through battery. It felt like they never actually tested the game on the original hardware. This is the only game I have ever seen this issue with.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>On the Zen vs TPA for newcomers topic, what I always found very weird is that while Zen is more flashy and attractive to the new player, the tables are all so incredibly complex and hard to get a grasp on that they take a long time to actually learn. </p><p></p><p>I started getting interested in pinball in that exact time period where TPA was first released, and started Zen with tables like Blade or Earth Defense, and I still don´t really know what you are actually supposed to DO in these games. </p><p></p><p>On the other hand, most tables in TPA are actually very easy to understand, with big bright bulbs showing you the way, good voice callouts, jingles that update you on whats happening and helpful DMD design. Take Attack From Mars for example, you could teach an absolute newbie about basics like ball trapping and aiming and then just say "try to hit the saucer as often as possible". Or hitting the head in Circus Voltaire. Or building up the monsters in Monster Bash. </p><p></p><p>Zen basically has no "simple" tables like that. Probably the closest to that is the South Park Butters table - with spelling ramps and a relatively simple mode start. But most of them are visually overwhelming, with tons of stuff going on the DMD, timers ticking down, and very little audio help.</p><p></p><p>I guess the biggest reason for that is that in TPA, the tables have been designed by industry legends with tons of experience, in a genre that took decades and decades to slowly evolve from simple wood boards with pins in them to the massive hunks of flashing lights and ramps we have today. Every element had time to get more and more refined.</p><p></p><p>In contrast, Zen always feels to me like they started with "pinball tables have tons of ramps and stuff on them, and modes and multiball and crap that flies across the table and pumping music" without thinking much about how someone new to the table - or pinball in general - would approach such a table. </p><p></p><p>And yeah, the unhelpful DMD in Zen tables is easily the biggest symptom of this problem. In most real tables they figured out over decades how information should be delivered to a player who is currently busy not losing the ball, via inserts, audio cues or lights flashing. But on Zen I constantly feel like I should have my eyes glued to the tiny screen in order to get an update on what´s actually happening. </p><p></p><p>I feel that Zen are getting better at this over time, though. Tables like Tesla or V12 are almost impenetrable, and I distinctly remember having very little idea how the Shaman or El Dorada tables were actually structured, since there was so much stuff going on with very little playfield design guiding my eyes. Newer tables have bigger inserts and more helpful playfield graphics, like Back To The Future for instance - with large arrows pointing to the respective shots.</p><p></p><p>I just sometimes feel like they focus too much on packing their tables with complicated features and intricate design without paying much attention to actual, well, "user experience design".</p><p></p><p>I still love Pinball FX and their designs are definitely showing clear improvements over time. The actual design of the program is brilliant as well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="mmmagnetic, post: 265685, member: 558"] [I]"It may even be almost good"[/I] - Jared Morgs :D Speaking of lighting, before Pinball Arcade came out I bought the Williams collection on Nintendo 3DS, and that game had an issue that I never realized before could be an actual problem: The game was incredibly dark. So dark that I had to always keep the handheld at max brightness to even see it properly, thus needlessly burning through battery. It felt like they never actually tested the game on the original hardware. This is the only game I have ever seen this issue with. --- On the Zen vs TPA for newcomers topic, what I always found very weird is that while Zen is more flashy and attractive to the new player, the tables are all so incredibly complex and hard to get a grasp on that they take a long time to actually learn. I started getting interested in pinball in that exact time period where TPA was first released, and started Zen with tables like Blade or Earth Defense, and I still don´t really know what you are actually supposed to DO in these games. On the other hand, most tables in TPA are actually very easy to understand, with big bright bulbs showing you the way, good voice callouts, jingles that update you on whats happening and helpful DMD design. Take Attack From Mars for example, you could teach an absolute newbie about basics like ball trapping and aiming and then just say "try to hit the saucer as often as possible". Or hitting the head in Circus Voltaire. Or building up the monsters in Monster Bash. Zen basically has no "simple" tables like that. Probably the closest to that is the South Park Butters table - with spelling ramps and a relatively simple mode start. But most of them are visually overwhelming, with tons of stuff going on the DMD, timers ticking down, and very little audio help. I guess the biggest reason for that is that in TPA, the tables have been designed by industry legends with tons of experience, in a genre that took decades and decades to slowly evolve from simple wood boards with pins in them to the massive hunks of flashing lights and ramps we have today. Every element had time to get more and more refined. In contrast, Zen always feels to me like they started with "pinball tables have tons of ramps and stuff on them, and modes and multiball and crap that flies across the table and pumping music" without thinking much about how someone new to the table - or pinball in general - would approach such a table. And yeah, the unhelpful DMD in Zen tables is easily the biggest symptom of this problem. In most real tables they figured out over decades how information should be delivered to a player who is currently busy not losing the ball, via inserts, audio cues or lights flashing. But on Zen I constantly feel like I should have my eyes glued to the tiny screen in order to get an update on what´s actually happening. I feel that Zen are getting better at this over time, though. Tables like Tesla or V12 are almost impenetrable, and I distinctly remember having very little idea how the Shaman or El Dorada tables were actually structured, since there was so much stuff going on with very little playfield design guiding my eyes. Newer tables have bigger inserts and more helpful playfield graphics, like Back To The Future for instance - with large arrows pointing to the respective shots. I just sometimes feel like they focus too much on packing their tables with complicated features and intricate design without paying much attention to actual, well, "user experience design". I still love Pinball FX and their designs are definitely showing clear improvements over time. The actual design of the program is brilliant as well. [/QUOTE]
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BlahCade 119: Gaps in Storage
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