Williams Volume 3 *OFFICIAL* Game play thread

[wilbers]

Looks like i got a small patch for FX3 Today, anyone know what it changed?

Akos posted it on Steam.

- Fixed a possible crash while using the Rewind powerup
- Fixed an unexpected multiball mode start on the Family Guy table while the player used the rewind powerup during gameplay
- Fixed a rare table lockdown on the The Champion Pub™ and Theatre of magic™ tables caused by viewing the table guide

 

[kimkom]

So I've been holding off writing my impressions on Volume 3 because, to be perfectly honest, I was a bit uninspired by the choice of tables and I wanted to give them all a fair crack before jumping to any conclusions.

Well I've had a chance to put a little time into all three tables now, playing almost exclusively Classic Arcade mode (as I almost always do).

Starting with ToM:
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the overall look of the table, which imo looks quite cartoony and flat, and certainly isn't on par with the lighting and graphics on Fish Tales. There's not a great deal of contrast between the colourful playfield art and the lit inserts. Also, if you look at the painted red areas of the lower playfield artwork, they almost completely merge into the red of the lit slingshots. Graphically, I think the table could do with a better lighting pass and a little shot of realism.

I'm also not a fan of the 'enhanced' visuals on this one. Like others have mentioned, the glowing flippers are an unwelcome addition but I get that Zen are going for a magical effect here. I'm also not sure if the invisible balls are a texture bug. If it is intended, it's a bit silly really.

I am nit-picking no doubt, as Zen have set a high bar that we will expect them to meet on every release.

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't look bad, not by a long way. It's certainly miles better than the TPA version! But I do think other Zen Williams/Bally tables look better.

However, the physics and gameplay on this table are fantastic! Sound is also good and overall it's still a table I will enjoy playing very much.

Moving on to Safecracker:
The table itself I don't mind, even it is somewhat gimmicky. I've never played this one for real, so I've only got the TPA version as reference. The Zen version though is better by miles!

Everything about this one works well for me. The graphics are great, with good contrast on the lighting and even though I'm a bit of a purest and tend not to use the enhanced visual modes, Zen have done a fine job on this one, with animated visuals that really do 'enhance'. The sound is top notch also, even if the the original ROM music can grind after a bit. The mechanical sounds are meaty and really add to the overall feel. The integration of the board game and tokens is handled really well also. Nice job on this one Zen!

And finally Champion Pub:
I have expressed my dislike of the real table and the TPA version did nothing to change my opinion. So I really wasn't looking forward to this one too much.

Imagine my surprise then while I was playing Zen's version that I was actually converted! I love what Zen have done with this table. The graphics, gameplay and sound are all excellent. For me, this is by far and away the biggest surprise of all Zen Williams/Bally releases so far. You've done a top job on this one Zen, well done!

But..

Matching the different boxers to those on the DMD would have been incredible. It's such a huge missed opportunity! If there was ever a time to truly justify the enhanced visual modes, this was it!

Zen, would you please consider adding different animated boxers with a future update? Please!! This table really deserves it.

Overall then, another great pack although I hope Zen make some minor visual improvements to Theater of Magic and add those different boxers to Champion Pub.

Moving on to newer things:
1. I hope Zen maintain the quality they've already set out, especially if they plan on increasing the frequency of table releases.
2. Any further word on applying Deep's physics to the original Zen tables?
3. I'd really like to see table customization becoming part of the Steam release. Being able to choose flippers, blades, rails, colours etc would be incredible!

Thank you Zen, keep up the great work!

 

[yespage]

Zen, would you please consider adding different animated boxers with a future update? Please!! This table really deserves it.

Agreed.

 

[McLovin]

Hi everyone,

thanks for this thread.

Thanks shutyertrap for spending so much time with the tables - glad you like the animations and got hands on with the physics.

Pinballwiz, vikingerik, shutyertrap, zmcvay - Dan Unda/er is worth a question to the devs why he's not that commonly seen - I'll submit an issue about it.

We had something weird on the Switch where the shop gave you an error and the device shop had some glitch either. I'm told it should be better now.

Glad you guys are enjoying Champ this much, that is a welcome surprise!

Thanks kimkom for the very detailed review and suggestion list - great stuff.

 

[kimkom]

Hi everyone,

thanks for this thread.

Thanks shutyertrap for spending so much time with the tables - glad you like the animations and got hands on with the physics.

Pinballwiz, vikingerik, shutyertrap, zmcvay - Dan Unda/er is worth a question to the devs why he's not that commonly seen - I'll submit an issue about it.

We had something weird on the Switch where the shop gave you an error and the device shop had some glitch either. I'm told it should be better now.

Glad you guys are enjoying Champ this much, that is a welcome surprise!

Thanks kimkom for the very detailed review and suggestion list - great stuff.

No worries, glad that Zen are taking note of all of our feedback.

Incidentally, Dan Unda was the first boxer I encountered, on the very first game.

 

[shutyertrap]

Hi everyone,

thanks for this thread.

Thanks shutyertrap for spending so much time with the tables - glad you like the animations and got hands on with the physics.

Pinballwiz, vikingerik, shutyertrap, zmcvay - Dan Unda/er is worth a question to the devs why he's not that commonly seen - I'll submit an issue about it.

We had something weird on the Switch where the shop gave you an error and the device shop had some glitch either. I'm told it should be better now.

Glad you guys are enjoying Champ this much, that is a welcome surprise!

Thanks kimkom for the very detailed review and suggestion list - great stuff.

Champion Pub is getting a lot of surprise love around here, but imagine how much more it'd get if the face of the boxer changed each time! Please please please pass forward this idea to the animators. What they've done with the boxer is already brilliant, changing him to match the DMD would be genius.

 

[kimkom]

Champion Pub is getting a lot of surprise love around here, but imagine how much more it'd get if the face of the boxer changed each time! Please please please pass forward this idea to the animators. What they've done with the boxer is already brilliant, changing him to match the DMD would be genius.

Shut, I don't think it would take much to create new texture sets to use on the existing rigged 3D boxer, from what Zen have already done. But obviously they will already have timelines in place for other things.

It does make me wonder how much resources (if any) Zen plan on allocating to updates and amends to tables already released. We've seen some really minor updates but something like different boxers is a whole different thing.

Worth asking the question though me thinks

 

[kimkom]

It does make me wonder how much resources (if any) Zen plan on allocating to updates and amends to tables already released. We've seen some really minor updates but something like different boxers is a whole different thing.

If it were a choice between Zen applying updates such as these, or going back and retrofitting the new physics to tables that were never designed for them in the first place, I think I'd have to choose the requested updates.

I would imagine that requests for updates via feedback from the community will only gather momentum, as Zen release more and more tables from the Williams license.

 

[shutyertrap]

If it were a choice between Zen applying updates such as these, or going back and retrofitting the new physics to tables that were never designed for them in the first place, I think I'd have to choose the requested updates.

I would imagine that requests for updates via feedback from the community will only gather momentum, as Zen release more and more tables from the Williams license.

Oh wow. I REALLY want new physics for Zen originals though!

 

[Citizen]

New boxer animations and being able to play Zen originals with arcade/tournament physics/settings would be great.

I have a couple of Safe Cracker update requests as well:

-Given us a token collection gallery to view. Seeing them on the machine is cool and all, but a proper gallery would also be nice.
-Please just let us just play Assault on the Vault whenever we feel like, no tokens required.

 

[Croooow111]

The animations for the boxer in Champion Pub are wonderous. It's a shame they didn't make it so he changes faces depending on who you are fighting, but that's just a missed opportunity for an otherwise genius bit of Zen enhancement. I've not gotten through all the fighters yet myself, but notably absent seems to be Dan Under. If anybody fights him, please comment. Otherwise we need to question Zen as to what happened to him.

I have no idea what has been censored this go around, so console peeps, let's hear it! I guess I could turn on 'family mode' for PC, but why would I?

Oddly enough, I ran across Dan Unda once. I create videos comparing the differences between the censored and uncensored versions of the Williams tables in Pinball FX3, and I went to capture footage of the censored version recently, flipped Family Mode on, and on my very next game I fought Dan Unda as the first boxer. I don't know if it was coincidence or not, because I haven't fought him since, and I must have played 10 or so games after that. I almost wonder if he shows up, but just randomly at a very low rate.

 

[Citizen]

I saw Dan Unda in a diner with Elvis and bigfoot.

Beyond that, have yet to fight him in FX3.

 

[shutyertrap]

I've been getting the same 2 boxers to start every time, both on mobile and Steam.

 

[MBeeching]

I only recall having one fight against Dan Unda, I can't remember the exact sequence though he was likely in the first three.

 

[kimkom]

Starting with ToM:
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the overall look of the table, which imo looks quite cartoony and flat, and certainly isn't on par with the lighting and graphics on Fish Tales. There's not a great deal of contrast between the colourful playfield art and the lit inserts. Also, if you look at the painted red areas of the lower playfield artwork, they almost completely merge into the red of the lit slingshots. Graphically, I think the table could do with a better lighting pass and a little shot of realism.

I've just noticed that this was something that Spacie also picked up on in his vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyfruGm9NKk

Great vid as always Spacie

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I purchased all tables from Williams available (10 now). I want to play the games, but get stuck with the message ‘collect table parts and promote your tables’. I can not play any of my purchased tables .. please help! Thanks in advance.


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I purchased all tables from Williams available (10 now). I want to play the games, but get stuck with the message ‘collect table parts and promote your tables’. I can not play any of my purchased tables .. please help! Thanks in advance.


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

 

[MBeeching]

I purchased all tables from Williams available (10 now). I want to play the games, but get stuck with the message ‘collect table parts and promote your tables’. I can not play any of my purchased tables .. please help! Thanks in advance.


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

Did you buy the tables immediately (no grinding), it looks like it's still trying to walk you through the tutorial.
Try playing some League matches / challenges, or click restore purchases in the settings menu.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

At start, after purchase (via AppStore), I could run through them, and I played some as well. Now I’m only getting the ‘ArcadePlay’ option and then the ‘collect table parts and promote your tables’ where it seems stuck. Thanks again ..


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk