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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
Here's a reposting of my review at vp forums:
I want to thank you Unit3D Pinball developers. My kids and I played Unit3D for about six hours last night! Amazing experience.
A few things that really impressed me:
* Ball physics - Future Pinball tables look great, but the physics were a real stumbling block for me. Unit3D, on the other hand, has really cool physics: Different from VP, but convincing. I'd call the feel of the physics a blend between VP and The Pinball Arcade (TPA).
* Bright ball - At first this was maybe a little off-putting. The ball is REALLY bright. But, after playing for a few hours, I've changed my tune. It's easier to "stay connected" with the ball when its so brightly illuminated
* Table lighting - Just amazing! I'd say Unit3D has the best lighting in the business at the moment. Ask Homework's Zaccaria app for iOS is comparably beautiful, but its limited to my iPad. The "bloom" setting on Unit3D is a real show-stopper. Very organic looking.
* Backglass reflection on table - Adds a surprising layer of depth and realism. Can be tuned to taste.
* ROM support. Inegration of DMD feels snappy, just like VP. Both TPA and FP feel just a little off in this department (still good, but true ROM integration in Unit3D just makes this that much more satisfying).
* Camera modes - Everything is configurable on a per table basis. So many fun options here. The way I want to tune Bad Cats vs. Abra Ca Dabra cameras is totally different, so I loved having all the options.
Areas in which I'd love to see improvement:
* Cab support - The implementation of cab support is tricky. I tried for HOURS to get things configured for my dual monitor cab. I was finally able to get the backglass (which looks amazing) on my second monitor, and to size everything correctly. It took lots of trial and error. The deal breaker is that having the backglass on one monitor and the table playfield on another just slowed the physics to a crawl. I ended up resizing everything for single monitor - the same way I do with TPA. One nice feature is that you can configure a button to "show translite." This is cool if you have just one monitor - push this button and the camera scrolls up to reveal the backglass - kinda like you're glancing up at the backglass in a real arcade. Nice solution!
* Physics glitches - Overall they are wonderful. I got 60 FPS for the most part throughout gameplay just by tweaking some visual settings (without sacrificing much eye candy). A few times I experience unexpected anomalies: For example - I tried to catch the ball against the little wire rail. It was spinning so fast that it "caught" the rubber on the flipper and "crawled up" the flipper and into the drain hole. I've never seen that in real life. It was kinda like a motorcycle "peeling out." It looked really cool, actually - just not realistic.
This project is definitely worthy of donation. I was thrilled to chip in.
Please keep up the AMAZING work, team! You have really brightened my gaming life! Fun for the whole family.
I want to thank you Unit3D Pinball developers. My kids and I played Unit3D for about six hours last night! Amazing experience.
A few things that really impressed me:
* Ball physics - Future Pinball tables look great, but the physics were a real stumbling block for me. Unit3D, on the other hand, has really cool physics: Different from VP, but convincing. I'd call the feel of the physics a blend between VP and The Pinball Arcade (TPA).
* Bright ball - At first this was maybe a little off-putting. The ball is REALLY bright. But, after playing for a few hours, I've changed my tune. It's easier to "stay connected" with the ball when its so brightly illuminated
* Table lighting - Just amazing! I'd say Unit3D has the best lighting in the business at the moment. Ask Homework's Zaccaria app for iOS is comparably beautiful, but its limited to my iPad. The "bloom" setting on Unit3D is a real show-stopper. Very organic looking.
* Backglass reflection on table - Adds a surprising layer of depth and realism. Can be tuned to taste.
* ROM support. Inegration of DMD feels snappy, just like VP. Both TPA and FP feel just a little off in this department (still good, but true ROM integration in Unit3D just makes this that much more satisfying).
* Camera modes - Everything is configurable on a per table basis. So many fun options here. The way I want to tune Bad Cats vs. Abra Ca Dabra cameras is totally different, so I loved having all the options.
Areas in which I'd love to see improvement:
* Cab support - The implementation of cab support is tricky. I tried for HOURS to get things configured for my dual monitor cab. I was finally able to get the backglass (which looks amazing) on my second monitor, and to size everything correctly. It took lots of trial and error. The deal breaker is that having the backglass on one monitor and the table playfield on another just slowed the physics to a crawl. I ended up resizing everything for single monitor - the same way I do with TPA. One nice feature is that you can configure a button to "show translite." This is cool if you have just one monitor - push this button and the camera scrolls up to reveal the backglass - kinda like you're glancing up at the backglass in a real arcade. Nice solution!
* Physics glitches - Overall they are wonderful. I got 60 FPS for the most part throughout gameplay just by tweaking some visual settings (without sacrificing much eye candy). A few times I experience unexpected anomalies: For example - I tried to catch the ball against the little wire rail. It was spinning so fast that it "caught" the rubber on the flipper and "crawled up" the flipper and into the drain hole. I've never seen that in real life. It was kinda like a motorcycle "peeling out." It looked really cool, actually - just not realistic.
This project is definitely worthy of donation. I was thrilled to chip in.
Please keep up the AMAZING work, team! You have really brightened my gaming life! Fun for the whole family.