Sound/Music in general

[kimkom]

Yeah, on the subject of sound and music...

Generally, I think this is an area that could still be improved further.

I've recently downloaded Earth Defense and sound wise, this is a big step up from the other tables I have.

What seems to be lacking though, in my opinion, are many of the now generic speech samples found on pinball machines.

Things like:
'Extra Ball is lit'
'Extra Ball'
'Jackpot'
'Double Jackpot'
'Multiball'

Just something to confirm what is going on. If the extra ball is lit, tell the player.

It doesn't necessarily follow across all tables either, indeed it's more common to tailor these sounds to the specific theme of the table. I'm thinking of The Addams Family classic 'It's Showtime!' or 'Get the extra ball!' or Terminator 2's 'Get the Super Jackpot!' - stuff like that.

Music I think can also be improved. The PFX tables I have at the moment all have a constantly looping track that never changes. Even when the game is over it just keeps on playing in the background.

It would be better to have individual tracks that are triggered by event. Such as when a particular mission is initiated, the music associated with that mission starts. Once the event finishes, we then fade back to the main background theme, which ends when the game is over.

Again, this just gives a clearer idea of what is going on and what the player is trying to achieve, without constantly having to scan the playfield or read what the dot matrix is saying.

Earth Defense was a step in the right direction and there may be better, more recent tables I am not aware of that Zen have created which refine the sound issues further. I hope so.

Sorry to sound negative.

Zen, the work you are doing is fantastic, really it is!

Please take this on board in the way it is intended. Constructively.

[Phiveball]

Kimkom - If you have not checked out the Excalibur table yet, you should. It is the most recent release for PFX and has some of the best sound effects to date. Also the music is truely epic.

[kimkom]

Phiveball - I hear what you're saying but to be honest, from what I've seen of it on YouTube, I've been somewhat underwhelmed by this table.

I'm not dismissing it entirely but the artwork doesn't look up to the usually high Zen standards to me. Not that convinced by the layout either - a main ramp running straight down the middle of the playfield? Hmmm...

[Phiveball]

Well, it is one of the most difficult and feature heavy tables they have released. The art is bright and crisp. The main ramp down the middle can be switched to dump the ball to the left or right flipper, plus there is a button that gives you a outlane save depending on which side it is on when you hit it. There is more strategy involved in this table than any other. Plus there are plenty of minigames. I have yet to complete all of the quests. I would say when PFX2 comes out try the demo of this table. You might be surprised.

[kimkom]

Thanks Phiveball, I might just do that. I've got a feeling I'll be a bit busy with the new tables though!

Speaking of which, some new info would be nice don't you think?

[dgabor]

Hi Kimkom,

You didn't sound negative at all. Receiving critics from players is very important..I'll foward your comment to the devs.
We are pretty busy right now, but it doesn't mean, we don't pay attention to you, so keep it up

[kimkom]

Thank you dgabor.

[Pinballdreams]

Hi pinballers,

I just wanted to echo what KimKom said about the music. Kudos to you for picking up a very important element that was perhaps undervalued in the original release.

I would love to hear events in the Pinball FX 2 tables trigger new music threads. It's a trick which was sorely overlooked in the original although perhaps a patch to update the original tables scores might be possible?

In the early 90's Pinball Dreams & Fantasies by Digital Illusions blew my mind with the music and inspired me to become a musician. The Nightmare table was my favourite.

Incidently, I emailed Digital Illusions regarding a re-release of Pinball Dreams and Fantasies and they sent a brief response saying they weren't interested. So perhaps Zen could pick up the tables and remake them with thier incredible talent.

[kimkom]

Welcome, Pinballdreams. No doubt you have seen the 'Pinball Dreams' thread

Thanks for your input. Hope you are looking forward to PFX2.

Sound and music is such an integral part of pinball and it is often overlooked in video games. I feel it should have equal stature to the graphics and gameplay, especially in a pinball title where the audio plays such a crucial role.

[IAMMRBONGO]

Hi pinballers,

I just wanted to echo what KimKom said about the music. Kudos to you for picking up a very important element that was perhaps undervalued in the original release.

I would love to hear events in the Pinball FX 2 tables trigger new music threads. It's a trick which was sorely overlooked in the original although perhaps a patch to update the original tables scores might be possible?

In the early 90's Pinball Dreams & Fantasies by Digital Illusions blew my mind with the music and inspired me to become a musician. The Nightmare table was my favourite.

Incidently, I emailed Digital Illusions regarding a re-release of Pinball Dreams and Fantasies and they sent a brief response saying they weren't interested. So perhaps Zen could pick up the tables and remake them with thier incredible talent.

Yeah pinball dreams / fantasies was good. I prefer Pinball FX it's just so much more intricate and the tables are lovely and tough, you keep discovering new things all the time. I think you may find that pasha is very similar to party land as it looks like they are both loosely based on fun house (a real table, and not I say loosely).

There are a few homemade remakes if you look around especially for future pinball which is free to download if a little fiddly to get working. It has a lot of the tables recreated in 3d form and some of them are spectacular, especially considering they were recreated by hobbyists.

Nightmare is available for future pinball and is frankly my favourite recreation.

Nightmare incidentally was a copy of terminator 2 arcade. If you want a creepy table download nightmare mansion, it's my favourite table on fx and the music is lovely sounding like danny elfman.

I also do music for computer games and am involved in several pinball projects at the moment. Send us a PM if you want to find out about the homebrew community

[Longi_land]

i agree with you kimkom.
Especially things like:

'Extra Ball is lit'
'Extra Ball'
'Jackpot'
'Double Jackpot'
'Multiball'
'Combo' etc.

would be nice!
Excalibur was a step in the right direction, no doubt, but at the first time i played the tables of Zen i thought: "damn its still in here"

My favourite table all time are the "Tales of the arabian nights" from Williams and a kind of sounds/musik (many voices) like that would be great
After all the work you are doing is fantastic Zen!
I played all tables on the PS3 and i cant wait for my brand new Xbox to play all the tables of Pinball FX 2

[Oskari14]

^
Don't forget the SUPER JACKPOT!!!

The Williams collection for XBOX360 includes the Tales of the arabian nights.

[Vincent]

I completely agree. The sound is essential in a pinball game. I am quite impressed every time I play the wonderful "Excalibur" table : the voice sounds very good ; hearing such things as "A tournament has been announced" is a real pleasure. Not talking about the music, thanks to which the whole game conveys a true medieval atmosphere. I believe the "mechanical" sound effect of the flippers is also very important for the overall realism of the game.

[Lukky NL]

On Paranormal, I have nothing to complain about the sound/speech/music/video. This is a superb table. Maybe a bit fast, but every Zen table is fast I guess. We are getting older you know