Medieval Madness - verses the real thing

[yespage]

I was able to get to a place with Medieval Madness and was exceptionally impressed with how the Pinball FX3 port really had me tuned into the ramps for the real table. I remember playing that pin after having been used to the TPA version and the timing was completely different in real life with the flippers, but the FX3 led to me feeling very familiar with the real world table. It was a bit harder in real life, but overall, I was impressed.

 

[shutyertrap]

Yep, it's never going to be perfect but I had that same impression with all the Volume 1 and 2 tables when I got to play each of them at the Museum of Pinball. Even Junk Yard, who's angles off the flipper just didn't seem right, played near identical in real life. The TPA versions really screwed me up when playing at league, because my muscle memory was to that timing of flipping as well as what to expect from ball behavior. I now feel much better prepared.

 

[Pete]

mideval madness is my favorite table of all time, it's probably allot of people's favorite. ive played it so much in real life and in TPA and in zen. Currently I think zen has it a bit easier than the real thing, but that's not really a bad thing. i can get to battle for the kingdom almost every game in zen, but on the real thing I rarely ever get up to it, maybe 1 in 20-30 games. I find trolls easier to get on the real thing without draining down the middle but that's more down to precise control over nudging. I feel the same way about AFM and middle drains trying to hit the saucer. There's more control over nudges and slaps on the real tables once you get the hang of it, and i dont think it's something that can be perfectly recreated, but then again im sure people feel the opposite if they cant nudge as good irl. But with video games I think you want to have things a little less frustrating for the average player. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 would have sucked if they made it as hard as the real thing ha.

 

[yespage]

These tables are worth thousands of dollars... I almost never nudge simply out of respect for the machine and the owner of it.

 

[Jeff Strong]

They’re made to be nudged though. You aren’t going to hurt it.

When my family came to visit not long ago, we were all taking turns on my pinball machine. My youngest brother who’s never really been into pinball was a bit shocked when my mom who’s been playing since the dawn of pinball was nudging with almost every shot. He goes, “Mom, you’re gonna break something, take it easy!”. He soon realized it was built like a tank, almost twice as old as he is and spent most of its life in the wild taking whatever abuse could be thrown at it...so from an external standpoint, you couldn’t really hurt it if you tried. Granted, it’s a Gottlieb extended widebody so it’s extra beefy, but pinball machines in general are built to withstand the thrashing of an arcade environment, so standard nudging is nothing to worry about.

 

[Pete]

i dont beat them up just a good nudge here and there, some love taps when it's on that edge of going down the outlane to get into the inlane, bit of a shake to keep it out of the middle... ive seen some people really smack the things, like very aggressively, i never get that crazy about it... but yeah man as long as you dont set off tilt it's all good. just dont punch the thing when you drain, that's not cool lol.

 

[JefferyD]

There was only one location with a pinball machine near my house when I was a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s, and if you tilted it you got kicked out, so I just assumed that was the rule everywhere. Never even knew that nudging was permissible until I bought TPA in 2013 (or so) and discovered this forum. Played on a real life World Cup machine a few months ago and struggled to find the gumption to shake it. Managed to make one outlane save – looked around cautiously to see if anyone was watching. Whew. Kept playing.

 

[Crazy Newt]

Tournament setup is so much fun, for all of the Williams tables, but MM is exceptionally well done in my opinion. I like that the games are shorter due to the increased difficulty, but they still seem fair and I don't feel like the game is cheating me. No marathon games that can drag on. It is more satisfying and exciting when I make a shot or successfully start a challenging mode. It feels like a real accomplishment and keeps the tables fresh. I'm probably one of the few people that actually prefer playing digital pinball sims more than playing on real tables. Both are fun, but completely different experiences.

I would love to see a custom table using the same physics that the Williams tables are using. I don't think it would be possible to simply flip on the Williams physics model wtih the existing fantasy tables, as those were all meticulously designed and tuned based on the arcade physics.

 

[shutyertrap]

I would love to see a custom table using the same physics that the Williams tables are using. I don't think it would be possible to simply flip on the Williams physics model wtih the existing fantasy tables, as those were all meticulously designed and tuned based on the arcade physics.

Nope, each table would have to be custom tuned. Also, some tables have areas where physics are cheated, so that would require customization to keep the game playing the way it should too.

The good news is Zen has heard this request from various sources, and they realize it might lead to a bunch of sales to all the people that came to the platform simply for Williams. The bad news is it’s a lot of work for something that would be grandfathered in for all the old customers. FarSight wrestled with this very thing, which is why we never saw art upgrades to S1 and 2 tables, because the bulk of those sales had already happened. So if Zen does decide to try implementing this on original tables, I hope they will be rewarded with sales from all the people that have been dismissive of Zen in the past. We can especially start requesting that any new original table includes the Williams physics, and maybe that will get the ball rolling.

 

[Crazy Newt]

Yes, that makes sense. If Zen made a new themed table using the ball and flipper physics from the latest Williams releases, that would be a game changer for me. They could potentially make tables that rivaled anything Stern is currently releasing and that played much like a real pinball machine, but with all the cool stuff that would be impractical to engineer and keep adequately maintained and working in the real world. Imagine what Zen might due with a license to make a Pink Floyd table or some other famous artists. The potential is great. They could offer in-game purchases to add new songs or albums to the game for new modes, randomly to specific existing modes, or simply used for the background noise, which would undoubtedly draw interest from the music labels that are always looking for ways to resell their old catalogs to everyone.

All of which has nothing to do with the topic, at least not directly. I apologize. Medieval Madness is my favorite table overall if I had to choose only one, Highlander style.

 

[shutyertrap]

All of which has nothing to do with the topic, at least not directly. I apologize. Medieval Madness is my favorite table overall if I had to choose only one, Highlander style.

Huh. Highlander pinball.

Similar to Safe Cracker in that you’d start off with a bunch of ball saves but only one ball. As you knock down drop targets, you lose ball saves. Avoid knocking down targets in favor of ramps and such to keep ball saves active, the Kurgen ball launches (ceramic ball) while a magnet similar to TAF’s The Power screws with you. Drain the Kurgen before wiping out flashing targets results in all ball saves gone, despite what stand-ups still remain.

I don’t know, silly idea! I just want the “there can only be one” call out and some Queen music blasting really.

 

[Citizen]

And then after that we can have a Highlander II pin.

It'll be an easy pin to code because it won't need to have any rules or make sense.

 

[MBeeching]

Huh. Highlander pinball.

Similar to Safe Cracker in that you’d start off with a bunch of ball saves but only one ball. As you knock down drop targets, you lose ball saves. Avoid knocking down targets in favor of ramps and such to keep ball saves active, the Kurgen ball launches (ceramic ball) while a magnet similar to TAF’s The Power screws with you. Drain the Kurgen before wiping out flashing targets results in all ball saves gone, despite what stand-ups still remain.

I don’t know, silly idea! I just want the “there can only be one” call out and some Queen music blasting really.

Have you tried Theatre of Magic with It's a kind of magic? Also works well with Abracadabra.
I did start putting together some FX3 playlists for alternative background music, I particularly like Junkyard Dog by Winger

 

[Narc0lep5y]

I’d take a Zen arranged Highlander table in a heartbeat. But only with the music. Throw in the Bally Flash Gordon with added music and make another for Iron Eagle while you’re at it.

 

[grashopper]

Was at a bar the other day that had Medieval Madness and about 20 other tables. Amazing how you can pop over to the real table and hit all kinds of shots when you never had played the real thing before. Was great playing a few of these tables in person finally!

 

[Jeff Strong]

Was at a bar the other day that had Medieval Madness and about 20 other tables. Amazing how you can pop over to the real table and hit all kinds of shots when you never had played the real thing before. Was great playing a few of these tables in person finally!

 

[jaredmorgs]

Was at a bar the other day that had Medieval Madness and about 20 other tables. Amazing how you can pop over to the real table and hit all kinds of shots when you never had played the real thing before. Was great playing a few of these tables in person finally!

Absolutely. The strategy of just shooting the castle repeatedly is a great strategy if you're playing on a MMr with super bands on in tournament.

The standard Zen physics are practically spot on for holding the left flipper up and letting the ball bounce, roll up the sling and then catch for another safe shot to the castle. I've got 20m just by doing this at Netherworld in Brisbane.

 

[kimkom]

I'm still pretty disappointed with the lighting on MM, especially compared to FT and the new Vol 4 tables which all look fantastic. MM just isn't drawing me in like the others, which is a shame because I like the table.

MM, HS2 and ToM really could do with a lighting upgrade in order to bring them up to the same level as the other WMS tables.