Multiplayer online set up

[RetroBlast]

I just played multiplayer online in Zen Pinball for the 1st time and I must say, I was very disappointed with it. I hope that when multiplayer comes to TBA it is different. I would like turn based multiplayer, as it is in real pinball. One player goes first, when he loses his ball, its the other players turn. While the other player is playing, you watch their game. I think this is the best method, I think it will be fun to see what the other player does and you can learn from their play style too. With zen, you are looking at your table the entire time and I don't like that at all. What do the rest of you think?

 

[superballs]

I agree and disagree.

I think a lot of the ADD generation would not want to sit through someone's entire ball...plus if they get an extra ball, even doubly so.
Should it be THE only multiplayer mode? NO
Should it be an option? A resounding YES

And if so, I hope i can get a game or two with you sometime. Generationally speaking gaming wise, i think we're pretty close even though i cut my teeth on Donkey Kong, Triple Punch, Arkanoid and PacMan

 

[Kevlar]

Hmm....not sure I want to play that way, thats a lot of hanging around waiting. Sometimes 1 ball can last a very long time. Also how would you handle extra balls? if one player is earning lots of extra balls and the other not it could be game over for 1 of them and they would either leave or have a very long wait for the other player to finish.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Hmm....not sure I want to play that way, thats a lot of hanging around waiting. Sometimes 1 ball can last a very long time. Also how would you handle extra balls? if one player is earning lots of extra balls and the other not it could be game over for 1 of them and they would either leave or have a very long wait for the other player to finish.

If you could play the tables in tournament mode, extra balls would be disabled...problem (mostly) solved.

 

[Tony C]

Again, this is supposed to be a pinball arcade simulation. It should play like it does in the arcade. If you're getting your butt kicked, watch the other player and learn from them or go get a beer while you wait for your turn. Ideally, there would be options to play head to head, tournament mode or arcade mode multiplayer.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I think the best idea is to offer both modes, that way everyone would be happy.

 

[superballs]

If you have to wait your turn you can at least heckle the person over communicator like you would in real life if they are good friends.
Although being able to chat real time is nice too as long as it can be done respectfully, which from what i can see here wouldn't be a problem. But then you can trade ideas and whatnot, playing that way isn't always competitive, it can be just getting together with like minded people to play some pinball.

It would be really cool if you could use a kinect to "video chat" while you were playing.

 

[RetroBlast]

Yeah, I hope there are multiple options, playing that Zen form of multi-player was just down right weird for me, I guess I could get used to it in some respect. Pinballistik has an interesting two player battle mode but I only played against a computer opponent. I can say that on Zen, you can use your cam and voice chat during the game but because you can not see what is happening on their table, there isn't much to talk about. With regard to extra balls, as in pinball, they would be played at the end, so I guess if someone has already lost, at that point, they can have the option to split. What I would really like is to be able to put a wager in fake money on the game. As it is in Hustle Kings, you earn money when you play a game alone against the computer. But pool is always a two player game, in TBA, you can earn money based on your score of games you completed, then wager it in online multi-player.

 

[superballs]

RetroBlast, I like the wagering option, I just wonder what would give you money.

Maybe getting the replay score, or a certain amount per million/billion/100k scaled to how the table itself scored. I think it would be fun...imagine being able to wager XBLA points even (doubt we'd ever see that, we'd get that one guy who puts his house up for mortgage to buy XBLA cards)

 

[Jeff Strong]

The only multiplayer I've played on Zen/PFX2 is the split screen multiplayer, which is actually pretty fun and unique. It's fun to play to a certain score, and you have the meter up on top to make it more suspenseful. Sometimes we set it so you lose points on drains to make it even more interesting.

I'd like to see something like that in TPA eventually too, in addition to other multiplayer modes.

 

[RetroBlast]

Ill have to try zen and Pinballistik a little more to see how I really feel about it. Money, could simply be based on your final score, think about it, high scores mean you did a really good job of accomplishing goals, and that is already built into the score. So for example, each point in your score could count as one penny and your earnings are converted to dollars. But how Hustle Kings does it is not call it money at all, they call it Hustle King Credits , HKC, if you never played Hustle Kings and even think you like pool, and you have a PS3 / PS Vita, download the demo. It is one awesome game and you get the PS3 and PS Vita versions for $9.99 ... and yes, there is cross platform play on it too. I can be on my Vita and Play someone over the Internet who is on their PS3.