Brian Clark
New member
- Feb 28, 2012
- 624
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The Web is also on Saturn. I have all of them on PC, except for The Web. I still need to get that one.
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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
Latest NEWS And INFORMATION On Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball: Revived & Remastered
- Thread starter PiN WiZ
- Start date
Animator_pin_fan
New member
- Mar 4, 2012
- 183
- 0
Just curious, but where was the information on 400k for the Kickstarter posted?
That does seem like an awful lot of money to raise. I'll definitely throw in as much cash as I can spare. Can't wait to see a new virtual Lawlor table!!!
That does seem like an awful lot of money to raise. I'll definitely throw in as much cash as I can spare. Can't wait to see a new virtual Lawlor table!!!
Andreas Grabher
New member
- Aug 16, 2012
- 6
- 0
Ade posted this information on the Pro Pinball facebook page on 15th August: "We need to raise $400,000 to create the new table and remaster the four old ones.".
Cheers,
Ante.
mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
- 0
Well, what we know for sure is that they're paying Pat Lawlor and John Youssi for a full year of full time, professional work. I agree, 400k is quite a chunk of money, but unlike Farsight, who already have a working business model and a product that makes money, the new Pro Pinball does quite literally need to be kickstarted (at least that's my assumption).
Ade also talked about "some ex-Williams people behind the scenes" in the Pro Pinball thread, and I assume Silverball will stop taking outside projects (like, say, Frogger pinball or their non-pinball games) and fully work on this project as well.
But I agree, I hope they go into more detail once the Kickstarter is up. I think it's always very important to know where the money actually goes, and Farsight always makes sure to be as precise about this as possible.
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mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
- 0
Bring it on 
DarkAkatosh
New member
- May 23, 2012
- 674
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Yikes, $400k?!? That seems like a lofty goal but you never know. This one's looking like it's going to be on us to promote this project.
Oh and if it becomes a reality, D1P for me. Big Race USA was amazing. Still have the PS1 disc and it's still so much fun.
Oh and if it becomes a reality, D1P for me. Big Race USA was amazing. Still have the PS1 disc and it's still so much fun.
- Feb 19, 2012
- 1,991
- 3
I think they'll have to have some excellent tiers and rewards to hit $400k. I certainly hope they do it.
- Feb 22, 2012
- 4,158
- 1
- Thread starter
- #50
UPDATE I've been given the exclusive right to submit any questions you all may have for Adrian Barritt (Co-founder of Silverball Studios) and Pat Lawlor (Co-founder of Pat Lawlor Designs) and post the answers exclusively on this News Thread.
Please post any questions you may have for these two gentlemen and I'll send them in when we have accumulated a fair amount inquires. I may have enough time to submit two different sets of questions if need be. Here's your chance to get any questions you may have answered before Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered Kickstarter campaign launches in less than six days.
Also, I'll be posting bios for Adrian Barritt, Pat Lawlor and John Youssi throughout the week.
Please post any questions you may have for these two gentlemen and I'll send them in when we have accumulated a fair amount inquires. I may have enough time to submit two different sets of questions if need be. Here's your chance to get any questions you may have answered before Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered Kickstarter campaign launches in less than six days.
Also, I'll be posting bios for Adrian Barritt, Pat Lawlor and John Youssi throughout the week.
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mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
- 0
Nice. I´ll try to come up with some good questions. Thanks for the opportunity, PiN WiZ!
Bonzo
New member
- May 16, 2012
- 902
- 1
mmmagnetic had the idea of "two games in one" in the other Pro Pinball thread. I love the idea and would like to know if this might be possible.
Jim O'Brien
New member
- Feb 28, 2012
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You pick up those PS1 versions from ebay on the cheap, still don't think they look nearly as good as the PC versions. All these later and I still own all four titles.
mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
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Here are my first questions.
Sorry if the phrasing is a bit off, I´m not a native speaker, feel free to edit these if you think it´s appropriate.
If you think these cross a bit too much into personal territory, please let me know.
Pat Lawlor:
Will the development of the new playfield include real-life pinball prototypes, like whitewoods, where you can test the kinetics of the game just like you used to, or will it be entirely digital, built and tested within the Pro Pinball engine? In other words, will you approach the concept and design just like you would for a real pinball table, or will your workflow change in any significant way?
If your new design is successful, would you consider turning your virtual pinball into a real machine, assuming that it gets the proper funding from fans and collectors?
---
Virtual pinball on devices like computers, consoles and smartphones/tablets reach a much larger audience than real pinball ever could, and especially younger generations who grew up without access to arcades. Generally speaking, do you think the increasing realism of virtual pinball and the growing interest in these titles could lead to a "rebirth" of pinball popularity, that, while it surely will never reach the heights of the early 90s again, could at least lead to more real pinball machines being produced again?
---
In a past interview, you mentioned that the market for pinball would be completely dead within a few years. While the situation for mass-produced pinball is indeed quite bleak, a quite considerable fanbase of dedicated pinball players, collectors and fans has survived, while the genre seems to be gaining new enthusiasts (just as myself). From my impressions, you seem genuinely excited about this project. What do you think the future of pinball - both as the physical machines and the abstract concept of pinball design - will look like?
---
You mentioned that this will be the first table where you will be free from the financial constraints of real-world pinball design. In what ways have these financial limits held back your concepts of past pinball designs? Any big cuts you had to make, or even ideas you never could get started at all?
---
I can´t speak for everone, but personally, hearing that you were excited to produce a virtual pinball table was quite a surprise. How long have you been considering this, and what were the inital events or inspirations that led to this decision? Does it feel unusual to be thinking about concepts for a virtual table, or doesn´t it make much of a difference to you?
---
There´s a news clip on YouTube back when Whirlwind was produced, where you mentioned that you´ve been designing games since you were a little kid. How long were you interested in pinball before you started your making your own? What used to inspire you back then, and what inspires you these days?
---
Adrian Barritt:
All your past pinball titles have used prerendered graphics. Pro Pinball especially has aged very nicely because of that, but also games on relatively weak hardware like the DS for Metroid Pinball and the DSi for Fuse Pinball looked very good, considering the low resolution. From what I understand, the recreation of Pro Pinball will be prerendered again, but will run on platforms that can easily handle quite a lot of polygons. What, in your eyes, are the benefits of using prerendered graphics today, compared to the drawbacks (no flexible camera angles, no resolution independence), especially the table light effects?
---
Are there any infos yet on who is going to do the sounds design, music, and DMD animations of the new table? Personally speaking, while the playfield graphics and design of Pro Pinball are fantastic, the audio design lacks a bit of the dramatic energy of a lot of real pinball tables. Any chance a composer like Chris Granner would be willing to contribute?
Also, and this is more of a personal request: While the mechanical sounds of your past pinball titles were quite nice, the ones a real pinball machine makes are still more aggressive. Would you consider spending some time on this these sounds as well - for instance, recording high quality samples of real machines?
Sorry if the phrasing is a bit off, I´m not a native speaker, feel free to edit these if you think it´s appropriate.
If you think these cross a bit too much into personal territory, please let me know.
Pat Lawlor:
Will the development of the new playfield include real-life pinball prototypes, like whitewoods, where you can test the kinetics of the game just like you used to, or will it be entirely digital, built and tested within the Pro Pinball engine? In other words, will you approach the concept and design just like you would for a real pinball table, or will your workflow change in any significant way?
If your new design is successful, would you consider turning your virtual pinball into a real machine, assuming that it gets the proper funding from fans and collectors?
---
Virtual pinball on devices like computers, consoles and smartphones/tablets reach a much larger audience than real pinball ever could, and especially younger generations who grew up without access to arcades. Generally speaking, do you think the increasing realism of virtual pinball and the growing interest in these titles could lead to a "rebirth" of pinball popularity, that, while it surely will never reach the heights of the early 90s again, could at least lead to more real pinball machines being produced again?
---
In a past interview, you mentioned that the market for pinball would be completely dead within a few years. While the situation for mass-produced pinball is indeed quite bleak, a quite considerable fanbase of dedicated pinball players, collectors and fans has survived, while the genre seems to be gaining new enthusiasts (just as myself). From my impressions, you seem genuinely excited about this project. What do you think the future of pinball - both as the physical machines and the abstract concept of pinball design - will look like?
---
You mentioned that this will be the first table where you will be free from the financial constraints of real-world pinball design. In what ways have these financial limits held back your concepts of past pinball designs? Any big cuts you had to make, or even ideas you never could get started at all?
---
I can´t speak for everone, but personally, hearing that you were excited to produce a virtual pinball table was quite a surprise. How long have you been considering this, and what were the inital events or inspirations that led to this decision? Does it feel unusual to be thinking about concepts for a virtual table, or doesn´t it make much of a difference to you?
---
There´s a news clip on YouTube back when Whirlwind was produced, where you mentioned that you´ve been designing games since you were a little kid. How long were you interested in pinball before you started your making your own? What used to inspire you back then, and what inspires you these days?
---
Adrian Barritt:
All your past pinball titles have used prerendered graphics. Pro Pinball especially has aged very nicely because of that, but also games on relatively weak hardware like the DS for Metroid Pinball and the DSi for Fuse Pinball looked very good, considering the low resolution. From what I understand, the recreation of Pro Pinball will be prerendered again, but will run on platforms that can easily handle quite a lot of polygons. What, in your eyes, are the benefits of using prerendered graphics today, compared to the drawbacks (no flexible camera angles, no resolution independence), especially the table light effects?
---
Are there any infos yet on who is going to do the sounds design, music, and DMD animations of the new table? Personally speaking, while the playfield graphics and design of Pro Pinball are fantastic, the audio design lacks a bit of the dramatic energy of a lot of real pinball tables. Any chance a composer like Chris Granner would be willing to contribute?
Also, and this is more of a personal request: While the mechanical sounds of your past pinball titles were quite nice, the ones a real pinball machine makes are still more aggressive. Would you consider spending some time on this these sounds as well - for instance, recording high quality samples of real machines?
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mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
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Happy to hear you like it! Doesn´t let AC/DC choose some modes at the beginning of the game? Never played it, but it looks like that to me in the videos.
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- Mar 17, 2012
- 4,293
- 0
AC/DC allows you to choose one of 12 songs at the beginning of the game; your choice affects the scoring and behavior of relevant parts of the table ("Hell's Bells" affects the lower playfield, "For Those About to Rock" increases cannon scoring and loading frequency, "Rock and Roll Train" affects the left ramp near the train model, etc.). After meeting certain conditions, you can change the song and the associated behavior. But it's still the same game throughout.
- Feb 22, 2012
- 4,158
- 1
- Thread starter
- #57
UPDATE As promised, here's the first of three bios I'll be posting for the next couple of days. Today's bio features Adrian Barritt (Co-founder of Silverball Studios).
Adrian Barritt has loved pinball for as long as he can remember, having owned many real pinball tables, including; The Addams Family, Roller Games, Black Knight 2000, Star Trek The Next Generation, Road Show, Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness and the hours he whiled away as a youngster in the seaside arcades of Felixstowe. Those hours were, it turns out, not a misspent youth after all as 2 decades of success combining his passion for pinball and videogames is testament to.
As the Managing Director of Silverball Studios Barritt has been at the helm producing some of the most acclaimed pinball games, including; Mario Pinball Land, Metroid Prime Pinball, Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon and Frogger Pinball. The studio has also been responsible for games for Nintendo, Konami and Square Enix and dealt with games for top brands such as Mensa and Thomas the Tank Engine.
Before starting Silverball Barrritt's career spanned over 21 years in games development, seeing him rise from his first foray into the industry and writing games on the ZX81as a Programmer at Oxford Digital Enterprises to Project Developer at Cunning Developments just 2 years later. At Cunning Developments Barritt's passion for Pinball emerged and the, Pro Pinball® series - widely regarded as the best pinball simulation ever made - was born.
The Pro Pinball® series was then taken to Empire Interactive in 2000 and onto the Dreamcast, where Barritt was given the role of Development director. From here Barritt founded and ran Fuse Games Limited from 2002 to 2009, where his love of pinball continued to flourish as the studio produced Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon, Metroid Prime Pinball and Mario Pinball Land for the DS and DSi among many other titles.
Now at Silverball Studios Barritt is answering the wishes of pinball fans all over the World as the team there dive into a Kickstarter campaign to fund the revival and remastering of the legendary Pro Pinball® series.
Also, don't forget to post any questions you may have for Adrian Barritt or Pat Lawlor as I will be submitting those questions within the next day or two in hopes of having the answers to post this coming weekend.
Adrian Barritt has loved pinball for as long as he can remember, having owned many real pinball tables, including; The Addams Family, Roller Games, Black Knight 2000, Star Trek The Next Generation, Road Show, Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness and the hours he whiled away as a youngster in the seaside arcades of Felixstowe. Those hours were, it turns out, not a misspent youth after all as 2 decades of success combining his passion for pinball and videogames is testament to.
As the Managing Director of Silverball Studios Barritt has been at the helm producing some of the most acclaimed pinball games, including; Mario Pinball Land, Metroid Prime Pinball, Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon and Frogger Pinball. The studio has also been responsible for games for Nintendo, Konami and Square Enix and dealt with games for top brands such as Mensa and Thomas the Tank Engine.
Before starting Silverball Barrritt's career spanned over 21 years in games development, seeing him rise from his first foray into the industry and writing games on the ZX81as a Programmer at Oxford Digital Enterprises to Project Developer at Cunning Developments just 2 years later. At Cunning Developments Barritt's passion for Pinball emerged and the, Pro Pinball® series - widely regarded as the best pinball simulation ever made - was born.
The Pro Pinball® series was then taken to Empire Interactive in 2000 and onto the Dreamcast, where Barritt was given the role of Development director. From here Barritt founded and ran Fuse Games Limited from 2002 to 2009, where his love of pinball continued to flourish as the studio produced Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon, Metroid Prime Pinball and Mario Pinball Land for the DS and DSi among many other titles.
Now at Silverball Studios Barritt is answering the wishes of pinball fans all over the World as the team there dive into a Kickstarter campaign to fund the revival and remastering of the legendary Pro Pinball® series.
Also, don't forget to post any questions you may have for Adrian Barritt or Pat Lawlor as I will be submitting those questions within the next day or two in hopes of having the answers to post this coming weekend.
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mmmagnetic
New member
- May 29, 2012
- 601
- 0
Thanks for the bio. I´ll just edit more questions to my post above to not cause unnecessary clutter!
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- Feb 22, 2012
- 4,158
- 1
- Thread starter
- #59
UPDATE Today's bio features The Addams Family mastermind, Pat Lawlor (Co-founder of Pat Lawlor Designs).
Pat Lawlor is widely considered the Godfather of pinball. Having spent an impressive 28 years at the top of the pinball industry making redemption games, video games and the bestselling modern pinball machine of all time; The Addams Family.
Lawlor's pinball career began as an engineer for Williams in 1987, when he co-designed a dual-playfield machine called Banzai Run with Larry DeMar. Lawlor, who had previously been a video game designer entered the World of coin-operated game design in 1980, working for Dave Nutting Assoc. In 1988, he was given the reins of his first individual design project, a machine entitled Earthshaker, which was released in January 1989.
After establishing a noted style in his designs at Dave Nutting Assoc. Lawlor moved to Midway (under the Bally label) and designed what is the best-selling pinball table of all time; The Addams Family. The table sold a record breaking 20,270 units and was the first move into deigning around a brand rather than an original concept.
The Addams Family table included several groundbreaking new features, including the computer-controller mini-flipper that could "learn" how to hit a particularly difficult shot after numerous attempts; if the player activated the "Thing" flipper, the game automatically attempted the shot with no user control. In 1994 a limited-edition Gold version was produced to commemorate the record-breaking sales of the original.
His next design for Midway, under Bally, was another licensed theme based on a popular television show: The Twilight Zone. This project gave Lawlor complete creative control and while The Twilight Zone didn't sell as many units as The Addams Family it is one of the most popular tables amongst pinball enthusiasts; due in part to its complicated ruleset.
In 2001 Lawlor founded Pat Lawlor Designs with partners John Krutsch, a mechanical designer Lawlor had worked with on all of his previous games, and Louis Koziarz a respected software programmer. The trio agreed to terms with Stern Pinball to distribute pinball machines and in September 2001 released a traditional pinball machine based on the world's most popular board game; Monopoly.
Lawlor has since designed RollerCoaster Tycoon, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, NASCAR (also known as Grand Prix in Europe), Family Guy, and CSI pinball machines for Stern.
Lawlor is now has joined forces with one of the Wolrd's most respected pinball video game developers and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the revival and remastering of the legendary Pro Pinball® series; the campaign will see Lawlor designing a brand new table for the series.
Today is the LAST DAY to post your questions for Adrian Barritt and Pat Lawlor before I submit them early tomorrow morning. Don't miss out!
Pat Lawlor is widely considered the Godfather of pinball. Having spent an impressive 28 years at the top of the pinball industry making redemption games, video games and the bestselling modern pinball machine of all time; The Addams Family.
Lawlor's pinball career began as an engineer for Williams in 1987, when he co-designed a dual-playfield machine called Banzai Run with Larry DeMar. Lawlor, who had previously been a video game designer entered the World of coin-operated game design in 1980, working for Dave Nutting Assoc. In 1988, he was given the reins of his first individual design project, a machine entitled Earthshaker, which was released in January 1989.
After establishing a noted style in his designs at Dave Nutting Assoc. Lawlor moved to Midway (under the Bally label) and designed what is the best-selling pinball table of all time; The Addams Family. The table sold a record breaking 20,270 units and was the first move into deigning around a brand rather than an original concept.
The Addams Family table included several groundbreaking new features, including the computer-controller mini-flipper that could "learn" how to hit a particularly difficult shot after numerous attempts; if the player activated the "Thing" flipper, the game automatically attempted the shot with no user control. In 1994 a limited-edition Gold version was produced to commemorate the record-breaking sales of the original.
His next design for Midway, under Bally, was another licensed theme based on a popular television show: The Twilight Zone. This project gave Lawlor complete creative control and while The Twilight Zone didn't sell as many units as The Addams Family it is one of the most popular tables amongst pinball enthusiasts; due in part to its complicated ruleset.
In 2001 Lawlor founded Pat Lawlor Designs with partners John Krutsch, a mechanical designer Lawlor had worked with on all of his previous games, and Louis Koziarz a respected software programmer. The trio agreed to terms with Stern Pinball to distribute pinball machines and in September 2001 released a traditional pinball machine based on the world's most popular board game; Monopoly.
Lawlor has since designed RollerCoaster Tycoon, Ripley's Believe it or Not!, NASCAR (also known as Grand Prix in Europe), Family Guy, and CSI pinball machines for Stern.
Lawlor is now has joined forces with one of the Wolrd's most respected pinball video game developers and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the revival and remastering of the legendary Pro Pinball® series; the campaign will see Lawlor designing a brand new table for the series.
Today is the LAST DAY to post your questions for Adrian Barritt and Pat Lawlor before I submit them early tomorrow morning. Don't miss out!
karl
New member
- May 10, 2012
- 1,809
- 0
To Adrian Barritt: Really happy and surprised that you guys decided to hire Pat and make a completely new table, but is it not a bit risky to ask for 400 000. All or nothing is very brutal. Do you guys have any other plans if you (god forbid) only get say
300 000. Like starting another campaign with paypal etc? Anyhow, Best of luck and I will support you with what I can.
What is your favorite real pinball table?
Have you played any other digital pinball games that you enjoyed?
To Pat Lawler: Do you have a favorite Pinball designer or table that you did not work on from the glory days of the 90'?
If you were going to update any of your old tables or do a sequel. What theme would be your first choice?
Looking back on all your tables. which one are you most pleased with now?
300 000. Like starting another campaign with paypal etc? Anyhow, Best of luck and I will support you with what I can.
What is your favorite real pinball table?
Have you played any other digital pinball games that you enjoyed?
To Pat Lawler: Do you have a favorite Pinball designer or table that you did not work on from the glory days of the 90'?
If you were going to update any of your old tables or do a sequel. What theme would be your first choice?
Looking back on all your tables. which one are you most pleased with now?
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