Your favourite playfield toys, design ideas

[Arie01]

I would like to know what are your mostly liked toys and parts on pinball tables (not only Zen products), and why did you liked them. If you have original ideas, share them here! They could find their way into one of my next tables I am interested in your other suggestions about how can we make our tables even better.

For me best pinball tables that i have ever played was Circus Voltaire, Theater of Magic, WhoDunnit

Circus Voltaire

When Ringmaster goes up and challenge you to defeat him, it was tricky shot and you never know how the ball will bounce back.
The artwork of the table was unique with great sound and lighting effects. There was one video mode which tested your quickness on flippers by repeating the sequence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAz-oQJ8-H0

Theatre of Magic

The skill shoot at the trunk, multi balls, hidden multi balls, tricky but very beautiful machine, i was having such great fun, the designing of ramps was epic,outstanding artwork and lightning effects. And on multi ball shooting on trunk that was really hard.
Such beautiful indication and lighting where to shoot. So much going on on that table don't know where to begin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRQqrL5JjtY

WhoDunnit

Table had manual how to play it, it was so complex with modes that i have drulled
The story was set in 1940. where you are in role of detective who is solving crimes finding clues and guessing who is the criminal. It was having elements from family board game Cluedo, that really gave him unique dimension.
The table was having unique feature of casino in him, where you could bet with your earned points on roulette table to earn some random reward. He even had slot jack machine built in. Time setting and music was so well integrated that you felt like you were real detective in the black and white movie with mafia elements.
Something like Sherlock Holmes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_on5jjcIhwM

[skyway73]

One of the things I have a gripe with is NPCs obstructing the view of the ball ala Dr Strange and Han Solo, puts me offshot a lot. Maybe move them further down so they're out of the playing area.
If players manage to get to wizard mode, the table should erupt with flashlights, fanfares and Barbie popping up with the thumbs up sign lol. There's been a few wizard modes that could've had more of a celebration of the achievement.

I agree with you on your first point, they can be off-putting. Though I guess that adds to the fun/challenge.

I completely agree with your second point, at the risk of repeating other posts from myself Zen could dramatically improve tables by adding more of all the things you mentioned. Maybe someone will read this and take notice

Also wanted to mention a couple of things I love with the new tables:

'He certainly has courage' Multiball. Just such fun to play this and what a clever idea, love it!

The speech samples seem much better and more varied in these tables, a big improvement. Han Solo's quips are my favourite.

Locking a ball by jumping off the Sith Holocron on Masters of the Force. Very satisfying hitting that shot and I like the small 'clink' sound effect as the ball hits at the top, sounds like it's hitting the glass.

Hitting loops on the Sith Alchemy to earn an Extra Ball, rewarding and a lot of fun.


I'm ready to see what Deadpool has to offer now, heard some of his ramblings and he sounds funny

[Brucethejam]

I like the spinner making the table darker idea, it would look pretty cool
One of the things I have a gripe with is NPCs obstructing the view of the ball ala Dr Strange and Han Solo, puts me offshot a lot. Maybe move them further down so they're out of the playing area.
If players manage to get to wizard mode, the table should erupt with flashlights, fanfares and Barbie popping up with the thumbs up sign lol. There's been a few wizard modes that could've had more of a celebration of the achievement.
A plinky bonus mode in the backboard would be cool lol with different prizes at the bottom, if you were gonna do a carnival table that is
When a player is in a timed mission that doesn't require bumper hits, is it possible to pause the timer when the ball hits them? You can be bouncing about for quite a while lol.
Looking forward to all these new tables too But what's the themes gonna be?

[skyway73]

An idea I had for a mission: a four ball multi-ball where you have to lock all for balls into 4 different sink-holes. When you get down to needing to lock the final ball maybe add a 10 second countdown timer? That could be fun.

Another idea borrows a little from Theatre of Magic: some sort of 4 sided object with one side sloped to act as a ramp. Hit it once to turn it 90 degrees which reveals a sink-hole. Hit the hole to turn it a further 90 degrees so the ramp side is revealed. Hit this ramp to land ball in a hole/magnet to start mission. I would make the shots easy to hit but have a countdown timer for each stage and the cube turns back one stage when the countdown is up.

I just played some Masters of the Force and was thinking back to the above post I made a while ago, I'm sure it's just coincidence but some of my ideas seemed similar to a couple of features in the game

Anyway, thought of a few more ideas which you can use or file them safely in the rubbish bin

Hitting a spinner gradually makes the table darker until finally starting a Mission/Multiball. (I love dark tables with flashing lights)

A glass globe/box containing 3 or 4 balls which needs to be hit several times until it smashes and releases the balls for Multiball.

Fire a ball from a launcher/gun at a magnetically moving ball. If you hit the ball sticks to it and you fire another ball at those 2 moving balls. With 3 balls now moving across the playfield a plastic ball or ceramic ball is dropped on the flipper and you hit those balls to 'win'

A 2 ball Multiball where you hold 1 ball on flipper and need to hit 3 simple-ish mini loops with the other ball, the ball then continues looping round and round automatically and you need to hit it with the other ball to 'win'


Just a few ideas

[Roo5676]

As a general theme I would love to see a castle siege. The different missions all serving the ultimate goal of destroying or capturing the castle...

Zen already made that; it's called CastleStorm. Ok, so it's not pinball. But what about a CastleStorm-themed pinball table? It would be fun to destroy a castle with the ball. Kind of a supercharged Medieval Madness where you bash the actual wall apart instead of just the gate.


One thing I'm not a big fan of is missions where you have to hit the bumpers X number of times within a time limit. It's just so random. Sometimes you hit the required shot once and the ball stays there all day and completes the mission immediately. Other times you hit the required shot and the ball hits only one or even zero bumpers. It can be frustrating to hit the correct shot a bunch of times and still fail. I'm not saying never do it, but maybe make it a little more forgiving with a higher time limit or something. The one in Starfighter Assault is not that bad, but I remember having trouble with the ones in Thor and Iron Man.

[Zedekiah]

Ideas

As a general theme I would love to see a castle siege. The different missions all serving the ultimate goal of destroying or capturing the castle. Working in the digital world, this castle could actually be in the playfield and destructable with permanent effects lasting throughout the overall game. This could also allow advancement through the missions with ramps or targets becoming available after certain parts of the castle have been destroyed. You would have many siege options available to you such as catapaults and trebuchets (with options of attacking with different ammo loads from rocks and flaming pitch to diseased cattle or explosive ordinance), battering rams, siege towers, tunneling, etc. You could include a time cycle for the repair of the castle, be it between balls or for failure to advance through the missions. There is also the possibility of different castles to be conquered, each uniquely different and progressively more difficult to destroy. The castles could even be defended interactively, from archers shooting arrows that alter the trajectory of the ball to boiling oil that can alter the ball's physics, there is a lot of potential. Just seems like a lot of logical content available with an obvious goal to achieve and lots of fun to be had in the process of getting there.

Another idea for your consideration would be the ability to reverse time/rewind instead of the traditional ball save. Something that the player would build up, a fillable meter or amount of time, that would then be used in real time. It would add the challenge of being quick enough to actually trigger the rewind before it is too late. I could see this being used not only to save the ball from the drain but also give the option for a second chance on an important shot. It also removes the complaint of magnets saving balls not worth saving, like in a minor multiball (Star Wars Empire) as mentioned earlier. I leave its play balance in your capable hands.

I tend to prefer tables with 3 flippers and 2-3 primary ramps with a bonus ramp for the 3rd flipper. That my be due to my love for Funhouse and The Addams Family. I do agree with many above that table lighting can be crucial. It may be linked to the complaint of a lack of build up to a major event. I don't think anyone who has played The Addams Family can deny the feeling of excitement when "Showtime" kicked in. That said, i have to say that the Hyperspace trigger does an awesome job of getting my attention.

I think Zen does an amazing job with its tables and I've really enjoyed seeing their progression over the years. They have really gotten much better in my opinion. I'm really looking forward to your new offerings.

Thanks for all the hard work and yet still taking the time to listen, you guys rock!

[hunter328]

I like miniplayfields as well but they have to be fun. Sometimes they feel like they were added for the sake of it and just aren't very fun.
Some good ones: Clone Wars, Infinity Gauntlet, Black Hole.
Some I'm not fond of: V12, Fantastic Four, Excalibur, Shaman.

With Zen's tables having the luxury of not needing to be restricted with real world limitations it would be cool to see mini playfields that weren't limited to the standard keep a ball from draining with flippers, magnets etc. Maybe one that plays like Labyrinth where you need to tilt the ball through a maze, or even a short PAC Man like game.

[LeanderL]

The toy that is widely considered the best in all of (real) pinball is the wrecking ball crane in Batman (Dark Knight). Something like that which creates a target that moves around the playfield will always be interesting. Of course there are already some things like that in your tables but more would be good.

I'm also in favor of more mini-playfields, whether they be above the regular playfield like in Shaman or Tesla, or something off in a different area like the Sorcerer's Lair Cellar, Clone Wars Training, or Hulk Arena.

Lastly, how about some drop targets? There are very few drop targets in all of the Zen tables.

There's a crane in Secrets of the Deep and Mars. The elastic guy's hand in Fantastic Four is also something like a crane.

[hunter328]

Great thread. Here's some of my thoughts:

I prefer tables that have a progression of goals that correspond to the theme, but I really don't like how trying to complete these goals and "win" the table is often counterproductive to obtaining a high score. Most tables set up this way it's never nessesary to even attempt beating the table as there always seems to be a ramp combo or multiball jackpot along the way that can be spammed for higher points. So better weighing of points towards goals and difficulty I'd love to see.
I'm not a fan at all of toys like Bobba Fett's Slave One or the Transport ship on Clone Wars, especially the later as again it's not table goal relevant and more dangerous than its worth in points, so I'm forced to hold the ball for a minute each time until it times out and goes away.
This is not really what you'd asked for but I'd love too see either a table pack with or a new mode using existing tables that had a sort of warp hole that would trigger after a time and take your ball to another random table until all tables had been visited once then repeat. I'd be like setting your proscore but all in one play through.

I'm sure I'll have more but I've got to run now.

Thank you for asking us by the way. Zen's employee feedback/forums/community are the best in the business.

[ER777]

The toy that is widely considered the best in all of (real) pinball is the wrecking ball crane in Batman (Dark Knight). Something like that which creates a target that moves around the playfield will always be interesting. Of course there are already some things like that in your tables but more would be good.

I'm also in favor of more mini-playfields, whether they be above the regular playfield like in Shaman or Tesla, or something off in a different area like the Sorcerer's Lair Cellar, Clone Wars Training, or Hulk Arena.

Lastly, how about some drop targets? There are very few drop targets in all of the Zen tables.

[Smoker]

I've read through some of the post here and have to agree that a "light show", with the "music pumping" as you start to "BLOW UP" the table is a must. Other than that, don't know, been awhile since I played a real table. Just keep doing what your doing, but do it better

Nice thread though.

[deep]

Any hint about the theme?
And please think about a different skill shot. Not just the usual "gently move the right stick backwards"...this type of skill shot is really easy with the Wii U controller (using the touch screen) but more difficult with the XBOX controller (PC). For example the ball could be automatically launched at full speed and you need to hit the upper left flipper at the correct time to make a special ramp shot....as in Pinball Fantasies - Partyland (tunnel shot / 2x cyclone shot).

The new tables are almost finished, so they will be announced soon On my next table, there will be this "gently type" skillshot, but every time a random one out of 3 different (plus the super). On my next-next table, which is in development already, I will create something different, I promise

[LeanderL]

Well, I have started to work on my next table, and based on your feedbacks, I created a very cool layout with multiple changing parts. I hope you will like it

Any hint about the theme?
And please think about a different skill shot. Not just the usual "gently move the right stick backwards"...this type of skill shot is really easy with the Wii U controller (using the touch screen) but more difficult with the XBOX controller (PC). For example the ball could be automatically launched at full speed and you need to hit the upper left flipper at the correct time to make a special ramp shot....as in Pinball Fantasies - Partyland (tunnel shot / 2x cyclone shot).

[skyway73]

An idea I had for a mission: a four ball multi-ball where you have to lock all for balls into 4 different sink-holes. When you get down to needing to lock the final ball maybe add a 10 second countdown timer? That could be fun.

Another idea borrows a little from Theatre of Magic: some sort of 4 sided object with one side sloped to act as a ramp. Hit it once to turn it 90 degrees which reveals a sink-hole. Hit the hole to turn it a further 90 degrees so the ramp side is revealed. Hit this ramp to land ball in a hole/magnet to start mission. I would make the shots easy to hit but have a countdown timer for each stage and the cube turns back one stage when the countdown is up.

One side could be a magnet, a mission could be to lock 3 balls by sticking them to the cube starting a multi-ball.

A general idea or theme for a table could be you have to assemble stage by stage a series of events, I'll try and explain. Who remembers the old board game Mouse Trap? It involved setting up a kind of chain of different events which would result in the end pay-off being a domino effect resulting in a mouse being trapped in a cage. Mouse Trap video.

These Little Big Planet levels by Tripletremelo also show the kind of thing I mean. Each mission on the table could involve hitting a ladder into position, swinging a bridge round, loading a cannon with a ball ready to fire etc. The grand finale would see all the pieces in position and the player having to hit a captive ball to start it, then the player gets to sit back and watch his hard work!

[Trollwart]

I was visiting a friend who lives in Vegas, just checked out the PHoF for the afternoon

Definitely more fun.
Well next time we'll have to get a few games in.

This one brought back some memories, too. After a play, though, not sure they were good memories