Request "Kid mode" feature for Pro mode

[Epsilon]

I thought I'd suggest something I'd been thinking about recently. One of my favorite aspects of the "Pro mode" tables is that it really gives you the sense that you really "own" the machine, rather than simply playing it under someone else's set of rules and settings in an arcade. It's a lot of fun to tinker around with various settings and do things like give yourself more balls per game if you just want to mess around exploring the modes and rules without the pressure of failure and scoring/leaderboards.

In that spirit, I thought a nice addition to the Pro functionality might be the ability to enable a "Kid mode" or "easy mode" by which younger players could enjoy the game with less frustration due to side drains by allowing you to toggle rubber bands or some other blocker that would seal off the outlanes. This would be ideal for kids to enjoy pinball without as much frustration, and also fun for adults or other skilled players to just have an easier time if they're in the mood for a cakewalk. Obviously, high score posting and leaderboard functionality would be disabled when this option is enabled, so there would be no issue of integrity at risk.

I just thought this would be a nice addition to the illusion of having complete control over the machine in Pro mode, since a real life user could easily do this themselves on a table they owned, and I don't think it would be terribly difficult to implement from a programming standpoint. And then maybe my nephew could enjoy Star Trek: The Next Generation for once. ;-)

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

It's a nice idea, but one that can never be implemented due to the terms of FarSight's licensing deals with the manufacturers. They have to convert every table as-is and they're not allowed to make any modifications either physically or to the software. They can set each game up any way they like "out of the box" per the config available in game menus, etc., but they're limited to the options available in the original ROMs. Since adding blockers over the outlanes would constitute a physical change to the playfield, and adding the option to the menus a software modification, it's a clear no-no, no matter how appealing the thought is.

 

[Epsilon]

Ah...yes, I see your point. I had kind of assumed that they had some license to make small modifications, but then I realized that the only thing I've seen of that nature is changing the custom messages on the DMD, and indeed those can be set via the ROM settings.

Certainly the terms would probably preclude physically rendering the rubber bands or stoppers, but I wonder if they could get around that by simply enforcing collision detection via so-called "invisible walls." Surely Farsight isn't subject to any restrictions in terms of the specifics of the physics engine, so maybe they could implement this via an arbitrary "wink-and-a-nod" without physically changing the playfield. I mean, as an example, would it be a violation of the license terms if they, for instance, implemented The Power in TAF in a way that made the ball never go straight toward an outlane? I just doubt that the license holders would find something of this nature offensive, but who knows?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I wouldn't like to be the programmer who would have to work out how to manipulate ball physics along with magnetic field physics to get The Power to do anything than randomly move the ball around.

I'd just turn it off, which is almost certainly a ROM setting, I'd imagine (can anyone with a physical TAF confirm this?).

 

[DarkAkatosh]

Most of these tables can be destroyed by kids anyways. I'm pretty sure that even someone who has never played video games before is capable of a top 500 score, so long as they have the endurance.

 

[Sinitro]

Rather than a kid mode, why not provide a crucial pinball variable in the Pro Mode available in traditional pinball machines but ignored so far by Far Sight..
This variable is table slope, provide an adjustment from a gentle slope to a more aggressive slope....
Maybe 5 degrees to 20 degrees...

Just my $0.03...