Zen Pinball FX3 Williams Pinball Volume One

Xanija

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May 29, 2013
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Has there been anything from Zen about how long their Williams license lasts?

Not that I'm aware of, and licensing conditions is generally a topic Zen will not discuss in public, except from some very generic statements.
 

shutyertrap

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Mar 14, 2012
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At the very least you gotta assume it’s a 2 year contract like FarSight had, which means August 2019 would be renewal. I believe it’s a much longer deal though, especially considering FarSight was looking to buy it outright. My gut tells me 5 years would make sense for both parties.
 

Tarek Oberdieck

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Jan 18, 2015
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https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1516839515

Not sure if this is bad. Think this is catering more to traditional Zen pinball games.

The Zen physics in Fish Tales have a few pros and cons. I don't like it very much. The classic arcade settings are closer to a real game. With Zen physics you can do unreal things like catch a ball on the left flipper after plunging, catch a ball after a return from a boat ramp and so on. On the other side hiting a jackpot is very difficult. :p Let's go back to beta 09.07 physics for the whole game...
 

xAzatothx

New member
Sep 22, 2012
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The new beta today resolved my GPX crashing issue (kudos to Zen). Game doesn't play very smoothly even with lowest settings but nice to be able to play it. Pleased to see a lack of vacuum cleaner ramps. Last time I played Zen there was a portrait/landscape option in the menus, looks like I need to do this out of the game now.
I'm not blown away but think I need to play on a better rig to appreciate more. Certainly promising.

EDIT: hooked it up to my larger HD monitor - looks much nicer, especially in portrait mode. Turned on the FPS counter and only getting between 25-30fps!!!! lol! Pointless evaluating on this bloated work laptop. Ball has more weight to it than in TPA which is good.
 
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Pinballfan69

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Mar 28, 2012
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Update was just released.


The ball feels like it's definitely harder to control. The trial tables I notice seem to have Zen based Physics which I guess you can't change.
 

Jeff Strong

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Staff member
Feb 19, 2012
8,144
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It does feel a bit different.

Plus now the ball only bounces 4 inches off the flipper from a forward nudge instead of 6 inches! lol
 

wolfson

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May 24, 2013
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At the very least you gotta assume it’s a 2 year contract like FarSight had, which means August 2019 would be renewal. I believe it’s a much longer deal though, especially considering FarSight was looking to buy it outright. My gut tells me 5 years would make sense for both parties.
Chris I`m thinking the same , if they do 12-15 a year that sounds about right . Greg from Spacies just brought out his midweek pinball show . gives you and Jared and our Forum a mention . for myself I like the 3 settings and the extras like the fisherman I love !!!:cool:
 

Crawley

Member
Mar 25, 2013
706
4
Update was just released.

The ball feels like it's definitely harder to control. The trial tables I notice seem to have Zen based Physics which I guess you can't change.

This seems closer to the truth. Having a blast.

for myself I like the 3 settings and the extras like the fisherman I love !!!:cool:

I'm also fine with the 3 settings. But the default for the Williams tables should be 'classic' when you go to play those tables. The people most interested in playing the Williams tables are not going to go for the Zen physics by default.

Would also change 'Classic' [tables] to something like 'Original' and 'Arcade' [physics] to 'Simulation' to make things a bit clearer. And identify the 'Zen' physics choice as...well...'Zen' or 'Zen Mode'.
 

Blkthorne

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Jul 12, 2013
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This seems closer to the truth. Having a blast.



I'm also fine with the 3 settings. But the default for the Williams tables should be 'classic' when you go to play those tables. The people most interested in playing the Williams tables are not going to go for the Zen physics by default.

Would also change 'Classic' [tables] to something like 'Original' and 'Arcade' [physics] to 'Simulation' to make things a bit clearer. And identify the 'Zen' physics choice as...well...'Zen' or 'Zen Mode'.

I agree, rather confusing atm trying to figure out which mode has what, even saying something is in "Arcade" mode is odd to me cause arcade would mean a bit unrealistic to the real thing, like NFL Blitz(Arcade style) compared to Madden(Simulation).
 

Fungi

Active member
Feb 20, 2012
4,888
2
The ball is definitely heavier. So heavy that the multiball launcher has difficulty shooting balls out in FT.
 

Pinballwiz45b

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2012
3,681
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Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of slowdown from the Caster's Club habitrail and the habitrail from the fishing rod around to the right loop.
 

wolfson

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May 24, 2013
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This seems closer to the truth. Having a blast.



I'm also fine with the 3 settings. But the default for the Williams tables should be 'classic' when you go to play those tables. The people most interested in playing the Williams tables are not going to go for the Zen physics by default.

Would also change 'Classic' [tables] to something like 'Original' and 'Arcade' [physics] to 'Simulation' to make things a bit clearer. And identify the 'Zen' physics choice as...well...'Zen' or 'Zen Mode'.

Crawley , that`s a great idea !!! I`m thick as a brick and that would help me .:cool:
 

Jeff Strong

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 19, 2012
8,144
2
The ball is definitely heavier. So heavy that the multiball launcher has difficulty shooting balls out in FT.

Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of slowdown from the Caster's Club habitrail and the habitrail from the fishing rod around to the right loop.

Had the same issue. At one point the ball kept trying to shoot out like 15 times before it finally was able to.

Is this with the new Zen physics or Classic arcade?
 

mystman12

Member
Apr 21, 2013
173
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I don't think that has to do with the ball's weight, but rather the friction, though I'm not entirely sure. I've definitely noticed the ball is slower going from the caster's club to the lock, but I haven't seen any issues with the ball shooting out of the lock. This is what I've seen in "arcade" physics, anyways.
 

Pinballwiz45b

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2012
3,681
34
Single Player with Powerups is fine.

Classic Single Player -- Arcade has this issue.

Tournament: Same as Arcade.

Checked all 3 modes just to make sure.
 

kimkom

Member
Jan 28, 2013
914
1
Spent some time with the latest Fish Tales update last night:

On the physics front:

Single Player - yep, old style Zen physics. Fine for those wanting it.

Classic Single Player (Arcade) - Wow! This is real pinball. As others have mentioned, I believe this should be the default setting for all Williams tables and selectable for all Zen tables. I was initially a little confused playing 'Single Player' until I realized the simulation option was called 'Classic Single Player'. Getting past that, man the ball really feels alive! However, given that the bubble is on the second notch of the spirit level, I felt that the ball was accelerating toward the flippers a smidge too fast in the lower third of the table. Not by much, perhaps as little as 10%. Other than that and with a fix to the issues above, this would be good to go for me! Thanks Deep, brilliant work :D

Classic Single Player (Tournament) - Works for me. Definitely more challenge there and the ball speed felt about right for that angle of playfield.

On the graphics front:

Wow! Fish Tales is pretty much good to go. The lights have a nice glow now and a real pop! Contrast is good between the lighting and the playfield (and the rest of the table).

However, the lights on the other three tables still seem flat by comparison. They don't have the same level of contrast and don't seem to glow like FT. MM is really quite flat still. I hope this can be improved before release. FT should be the standard please.

Thanks Zen... amazing :cool:



For physics info: I'm playing at 144 Hz
 
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