flipperless

[invitro]

Would you like to see a flipperless game in TPA?

Maybe just 1 a season? There are many flipperless games for Visual Pinball.

Absolutely not. Not even one a season. Not even one, period.

There are still a hundred, maybe several hundred, *great* non-licensed tables left, and it would be wrong to add any non-fun tables until all the great ones have been made.

 

[mikehg]

I agree that one a season would be too many, but saying they shouldn't add one before they've added your laundry list of preferred tables is a bit much.

With something like bagatelle, the scripting is going to be *ridiculously* simple compared to a pinball table. Since there were many different bagatelle games by different manufacturers, there isn't a canonical version they'd have to accurately reproduce, so modelling it is going to be much more forgiving. And it's going to be intrinsically vastly simpler to model anyway.

Why don't you list which tables you want, so we can veto any we don't like the look of?

 

[Kolchak357]

How about the bingo style machine Hawaii? I don't really care for flipperless pin, but at least this one looks nice. I saw one at a pin show last year.

http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=3138&picno=42939

According to IPDB it is one of the most complex of all the bingo machines.
But I'd still rather have a later EM with flippers.

 

[mikehg]

These could be interesting, having some kind of player control aside from launch / nudge.

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2059

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1323

 

[superballs]

Honestly I'm not against the idea of a flipperless machine but I feel that TPA's physics engine isn't quite up to snuff for it. Nudging is too powerful as well. I'll restate that I think that the unity3d engine would be better up to the task

 

[DrainoBraino]

Absolutely not. Not even one a season. Not even one, period.

There are still a hundred, maybe several hundred, *great* non-licensed tables left, and it would be wrong to add any non-fun tables until all the great ones have been made.

Hey who made you mayor of Funville? They are fun.

Honestly I'm not against the idea of a flipperless machine but I feel that TPA's physics engine isn't quite up to snuff for it. Nudging is too powerful as well. I'll restate that I think that the unity3d engine would be better up to the task

Agree 100%, I was going to say that earlier, but I feel like I'm always being negative about the physics engine so I'm trying to avoid mentioning it. More realistic physics is what would make the older EM's (and all the new ones too) more enjoyable.

 

[invitro]

Why don't you list which tables you want, so we can veto any we don't like the look of?

It's not *my* list, it's the list of tables that would be ranked higher than the first flipperless, if TPA players were polled. You can look at the top of the Williams & Bally polls for this site for some, and the IPDB or pinside rankings for others.

 

[mikehg]

Part of the appeal of TPA is the variety of tables. Just adding the most popular tables erodes that, and makes the entire package less desirable for many.

Sure, the commercial reality is that they have to bias things towards more popular tables, and can't just go for historic significance. But saying "it's not in the top of the polls, so it shouldn't be done" is missing half the point too.

 

[Espy]

If you try to sell one by itself, there will be blood. However as a bonus for, say, people who have bought every table in a season pack, no-one will complain. What am I saying, we're talking TPA here. Less people will complain.

These could be interesting, having some kind of player control aside from launch / nudge.

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2059

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1323

There is a table where you actually tilt the playfield in any direction to maneuver the ball. The playfield is flat by default. Can't remember the name - anyone?

 

[mikehg]

I suppose with the Ringmaster in CV we have a good sign that the physics can handle that without too much alteration.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I'd like to see a pachinko collection myself. I find something quite satisfying about video pachinko games, but you'd need to have virtual toys to trade in your winnings for or it would be like gambling ;-)

Apps exist for this on Google Play (and I'm sure the App Store has them too). Certainly not real-world crazy Japanese "hopper-o-ball-bearings" Pachinko, but they do exist.

 

[Sean]

Apps exist for this on Google Play (and I'm sure the App Store has them too). Certainly not real-world crazy Japanese "hopper-o-ball-bearings" Pachinko, but they do exist.

Some of them look nice, but the physics are rubbish (ball moves way too fast) or they're video style which I find takes a lot of the fun out of it.

Pachinko Palooza is the real deal: nice, classic Pachinko game with a high score table and difficulties instead of redemption prizes. Loads of config items and only 69p!

 

[Clawhammer]

The nudging mechanism on a pinball simulation is never going to be good enough for a flipperless game to fun IMO. That's not a jab at FS- for me, although I'm not a big fan of flipperless games in general, the enjoyment of playing them is your tactile ability to control the ball via nudging, something that a digital version can't replicate. I also don't think many non-pinheads would be very happy with that release either.

 

[Deltaechoe]

Maybe they could do something like Boggle ball, but I would only like to see one of the really old mechanical tables as a "bonus" table being released alongside a more standard table

 

[Zaphod77]

The nudging mechanism on a pinball simulation is never going to be good enough for a flipperless game to fun IMO. That's not a jab at FS- for me, although I'm not a big fan of flipperless games in general, the enjoyment of playing them is your tactile ability to control the ball via nudging, something that a digital version can't replicate. I also don't think many non-pinheads would be very happy with that release either.

Exactly. flipperless makes very bad digital pinball, and that's the reason.

 

[Fungi]

The analog versions aren't any fun either.

 

[Byte]

Wouldn't mind PHoF: TGC's Play-Boy (1932) as a freebie with a Gottlieb table, but then given the 2014 treatment so it looks more like a real machine http://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=1817&picno=8684

...and the same for Ace High (which I must confess I still occasionally play)

 

[PoSTedUP]

id rather watch a sceensaver on a '95 Gateway.