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All right, then, here are 3 tables I believe Zen should seriously consider:
-Digimon: This would be a dream come true for me! I'd prefer if they specifically based it on Digimon Adventure and/or Digimon Adventure 02, but I'll take whatever I can get here. Can you imagine the possibilities here? Almost every episode could be made into one or more modes, so you wouldn't lack for ideas, but three standouts (for me, at least) would be Giga Cannon Multiball (a 2-ball multiball where the object is to load the balls into Machinedramon's Giga Cannons to shoot various targets around the table, kind of like Ghost Rider's Helluva Multiball, but with more than one set of targets), Save Wizardmon (complete a sequence of shots while the table shakes violently) and the final wizard mode, Farewell Multiball (an 8-to-13-ball (depending on several other factors) multiball where everything lights up like a Christmas tree and completing specific sequences of shots gives you bonuses for your next run through the table).
-Midway Arcade: I love old-school video games of all kinds, but the collected works of Atari Games, Midway and Williams are especially near to my heart. You could easily make a table off of Williams' video game output alone and Mortal Kombat is a must if Zen decide to pursue this license. Some ideas I have for a Williams-based table include Lander Count-Up (starting value of 100K counts up at 50k/second until it hits 1M, then counts up at 1M/second until it hits 10M, at which point it will freeze for about 7 seconds; scoring the count-up starts Colonist Hurry-Up, which is frozen at 3x the Lander Count-Up value and lasts for 1 second for every second you let Lander Count-Up continue before scoring it, while letting it time out starts Mutant Countdown, which remains at 10M for 7 seconds, then counts down at the same pace at which Lander Count-Up counted up; based on the Lander & Mutant enemies from Defender and the colonists that the Landers try to capture and merge with to become Mutants if you should fail to do so), Brain Frenzy (2-5 shots are lit for Human Jackpots worth 1M+, but every 10-15 seconds, the Brain Robotrons will turn one of the uncollected Human Jackpots into a Prog Jackpot, which is worth a flat 200K) and Spike Rush Multiball (a 3-ball multiball with random magnets across the table affecting the balls' trajectory).
-Symphony X: Symphony X are one of my favorite bands and arguably the best metal band of the past 20 years. Since Stern earned such accolades with their recent AC/DC table, why not give a band-themed table a shot? This is the table I have the clearest ideas about, but it's still a WIP. Still, it couldn't hurt to show you what I have so far.
You have a skippable starting mode (much like Stamford Multiball from Civil War) called Prelude Multiball, a 4-ball round with unlimited balls for 45 seconds. To skip Prelude Multiball, press the launch button; to start it, press the flipper buttons. You have several goals during Prelude Multiball, each with its own reward for completing it: launch 10 balls during Prelude Multiball to gain access to the Dementia hole (hit it 3 times for a 30-second unlimited ball saver), complete 12 shots through the spinner to complete The Raging Seasons and enable Raging Seasons Frenzy (100k/switch), spell P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N (P-R-E holes on the left side of the table, M-O-N-I-T rollovers at the top of the table and I-O-N holes on the right side of the table) to gain the ability to control the random award once per ball (including extra balls), lock a ball into each of the 6 Symphony X Mask Locks (the eyeholes and mouths are the locks and there would be a diverter to direct the ball into the available locks) to enable Masquerade Multiball (a 6-ball frenzy multiball that scores much higher than Raging Seasons Frenzy (500k/switch), but subtracts banked points from the score once 5 balls have drained; you score points in this mode by hitting certain shots to cash out your accumulated points), hit the A-B-S-I-N-T-H-E and R-U-E spot targets to enable Absinthe & Rue mode (a reversed-controls mode that lasts for 60 seconds and enacts a playfield multiplier of (B+2)x, where B is the ball the player is currently on), shoot the main ramp 6 times to spell S-H-A-D-E-S & gain the ability to start modes during multiball, hit each Symphony X member 3 times to gain access to Taunting The Notorious mode (a mode much like Ghost Rider's Deal With The Devil mode where you would do dangerous things, such as bangbacks, death saves and the classic save-the ball-from-going-SDTM, for rewards including big points, extra balls and spotted modes), hit the R-A-P-T-U-R-E and P-A-I-N drop targets to enable Rapture Or Pain mode (two random shots light for jackpots with a base value of 1M, but one multiplies the jackpot value by 5, while the other cuts it in half, with both shots unlighting and two new shots lighting up either way) and hit the left & right orbits six times each to spell T-H-O-R-N-S and S-O-R-R-O-W, respectively, which enables the Thorns of Sorrow, free kickbacks in both the outlanes and the flipper gap that are used before conventional kickbacks and renew with every ball. Each increment of progress towards one of these goals short of the final one during Prelude Multiball scores a jackpot worth (100S)K, where S is equal to the number of shots you have made towards the goal in question. Completing a goal scores a super jackpot worth 750(T+1)K, where T is equal to the number of tasks completed. Task progress resets once completion of a task is awarded and a +.5x modifier is applied to all points gained through that task, maxing out at 5x; it can be completed again, but subsequent completions will award no further progress towards A Lesson Before Dying. Should you lose 3 balls before completing all 9 tasks, you can continue completing them with your final ball in play, but once you lose it, you cannot acces the Symphony X '94 metamode for the rest of the game (unless you completed A Lesson Before Dying in a previous game).
If you can complete all 9 of these tasks before 3 balls have drained, then the table shuts down for a few seconds and you will start A Lesson Before Dying (ALBD), a 6-ball multiball where all the modes & features you enabled are running, you have unlimited balls for 90 seconds and spelling S-H-A-D-E-S adds a ball (maximum 6 balls in play) or spots 3 random letters if you already have 6 balls in play (you get credit for completing S-H-A-D-E-S either way). Spell all the words you spelled before (P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N, A-B-S-I-N-T-H-E, R-A-P-T-U-R-E, etc.) before 5 balls drain to successfully learn that lesson, which will win you 75M points, access to the Symphony X '94 metamode, the S in S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y X and all the features you unlocked every time you play the table from that point forward. Each time you earn a letter before the final one, you will score a jackpot worth (L)M, where L is equal to the number of letters you have earned in that word, including the one you just earned. Completing a word scores a super jackpot worth (2W)M, where W is equal to the number of letters in the completed word. Once a word is spelled, all the letters reset and can be earned again, with a +.5x modifier applied to all points earned from the appropriate shot for the duration of ALBD, maxing out at 10x. Should you fall short of completing ALBD, the modes & features you unlocked will only last for your current game unless you completed ALBD previously.
Regardless of whether you complete ALBD, fail to complete it, or skip Symphony X Multiball, you will score your Prelude Multiball and/or ALBD high scores and then proceed to a menu asking you to choose one of 7 (8 if you completed ALBD) metamodes, one for each of Symphony X's albums. Each metamode has not only its own unique table rules, but also its own unique table design, meaning that each metamode is a completely different playing experience. The only constants will be the modes & features unlocked in ALBD and the Symphony X Mask Locks. As you might expect, this is where you lock your balls for multiball, but there are two twists. The first is that you can choose which of the available locks you will lock your ball in by hitting the diverter spot target between the two masks' chins; the second is that each multiball mode requires a specific arrangement of locked balls to unlock. Each time you lock a ball, you also have the opportunity to switch to a different metamode. Multiball modes can be stacked by hitting the diverter switch and subsequently locking a ball during multiball, but you must have the proper arrangement of balls for an inactive multiball mode in order to do this. If you do not, then your ball will lock and a new one will be launched.
<multiball rules coming soon!>
Each metamode is affiliated with one letter of S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y. To earn the letter, you must complete each metamode's wizard mode. Metamodes remain playable even after the completion of their affiliated wizard modes, but subsequent completions of those modes will not grant additional S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y letters.
<metamode rules coming soon!>
<wizard mode rules coming soon!>
-Digimon: This would be a dream come true for me! I'd prefer if they specifically based it on Digimon Adventure and/or Digimon Adventure 02, but I'll take whatever I can get here. Can you imagine the possibilities here? Almost every episode could be made into one or more modes, so you wouldn't lack for ideas, but three standouts (for me, at least) would be Giga Cannon Multiball (a 2-ball multiball where the object is to load the balls into Machinedramon's Giga Cannons to shoot various targets around the table, kind of like Ghost Rider's Helluva Multiball, but with more than one set of targets), Save Wizardmon (complete a sequence of shots while the table shakes violently) and the final wizard mode, Farewell Multiball (an 8-to-13-ball (depending on several other factors) multiball where everything lights up like a Christmas tree and completing specific sequences of shots gives you bonuses for your next run through the table).
-Midway Arcade: I love old-school video games of all kinds, but the collected works of Atari Games, Midway and Williams are especially near to my heart. You could easily make a table off of Williams' video game output alone and Mortal Kombat is a must if Zen decide to pursue this license. Some ideas I have for a Williams-based table include Lander Count-Up (starting value of 100K counts up at 50k/second until it hits 1M, then counts up at 1M/second until it hits 10M, at which point it will freeze for about 7 seconds; scoring the count-up starts Colonist Hurry-Up, which is frozen at 3x the Lander Count-Up value and lasts for 1 second for every second you let Lander Count-Up continue before scoring it, while letting it time out starts Mutant Countdown, which remains at 10M for 7 seconds, then counts down at the same pace at which Lander Count-Up counted up; based on the Lander & Mutant enemies from Defender and the colonists that the Landers try to capture and merge with to become Mutants if you should fail to do so), Brain Frenzy (2-5 shots are lit for Human Jackpots worth 1M+, but every 10-15 seconds, the Brain Robotrons will turn one of the uncollected Human Jackpots into a Prog Jackpot, which is worth a flat 200K) and Spike Rush Multiball (a 3-ball multiball with random magnets across the table affecting the balls' trajectory).
-Symphony X: Symphony X are one of my favorite bands and arguably the best metal band of the past 20 years. Since Stern earned such accolades with their recent AC/DC table, why not give a band-themed table a shot? This is the table I have the clearest ideas about, but it's still a WIP. Still, it couldn't hurt to show you what I have so far.
You have a skippable starting mode (much like Stamford Multiball from Civil War) called Prelude Multiball, a 4-ball round with unlimited balls for 45 seconds. To skip Prelude Multiball, press the launch button; to start it, press the flipper buttons. You have several goals during Prelude Multiball, each with its own reward for completing it: launch 10 balls during Prelude Multiball to gain access to the Dementia hole (hit it 3 times for a 30-second unlimited ball saver), complete 12 shots through the spinner to complete The Raging Seasons and enable Raging Seasons Frenzy (100k/switch), spell P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N (P-R-E holes on the left side of the table, M-O-N-I-T rollovers at the top of the table and I-O-N holes on the right side of the table) to gain the ability to control the random award once per ball (including extra balls), lock a ball into each of the 6 Symphony X Mask Locks (the eyeholes and mouths are the locks and there would be a diverter to direct the ball into the available locks) to enable Masquerade Multiball (a 6-ball frenzy multiball that scores much higher than Raging Seasons Frenzy (500k/switch), but subtracts banked points from the score once 5 balls have drained; you score points in this mode by hitting certain shots to cash out your accumulated points), hit the A-B-S-I-N-T-H-E and R-U-E spot targets to enable Absinthe & Rue mode (a reversed-controls mode that lasts for 60 seconds and enacts a playfield multiplier of (B+2)x, where B is the ball the player is currently on), shoot the main ramp 6 times to spell S-H-A-D-E-S & gain the ability to start modes during multiball, hit each Symphony X member 3 times to gain access to Taunting The Notorious mode (a mode much like Ghost Rider's Deal With The Devil mode where you would do dangerous things, such as bangbacks, death saves and the classic save-the ball-from-going-SDTM, for rewards including big points, extra balls and spotted modes), hit the R-A-P-T-U-R-E and P-A-I-N drop targets to enable Rapture Or Pain mode (two random shots light for jackpots with a base value of 1M, but one multiplies the jackpot value by 5, while the other cuts it in half, with both shots unlighting and two new shots lighting up either way) and hit the left & right orbits six times each to spell T-H-O-R-N-S and S-O-R-R-O-W, respectively, which enables the Thorns of Sorrow, free kickbacks in both the outlanes and the flipper gap that are used before conventional kickbacks and renew with every ball. Each increment of progress towards one of these goals short of the final one during Prelude Multiball scores a jackpot worth (100S)K, where S is equal to the number of shots you have made towards the goal in question. Completing a goal scores a super jackpot worth 750(T+1)K, where T is equal to the number of tasks completed. Task progress resets once completion of a task is awarded and a +.5x modifier is applied to all points gained through that task, maxing out at 5x; it can be completed again, but subsequent completions will award no further progress towards A Lesson Before Dying. Should you lose 3 balls before completing all 9 tasks, you can continue completing them with your final ball in play, but once you lose it, you cannot acces the Symphony X '94 metamode for the rest of the game (unless you completed A Lesson Before Dying in a previous game).
If you can complete all 9 of these tasks before 3 balls have drained, then the table shuts down for a few seconds and you will start A Lesson Before Dying (ALBD), a 6-ball multiball where all the modes & features you enabled are running, you have unlimited balls for 90 seconds and spelling S-H-A-D-E-S adds a ball (maximum 6 balls in play) or spots 3 random letters if you already have 6 balls in play (you get credit for completing S-H-A-D-E-S either way). Spell all the words you spelled before (P-R-E-M-O-N-I-T-I-O-N, A-B-S-I-N-T-H-E, R-A-P-T-U-R-E, etc.) before 5 balls drain to successfully learn that lesson, which will win you 75M points, access to the Symphony X '94 metamode, the S in S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y X and all the features you unlocked every time you play the table from that point forward. Each time you earn a letter before the final one, you will score a jackpot worth (L)M, where L is equal to the number of letters you have earned in that word, including the one you just earned. Completing a word scores a super jackpot worth (2W)M, where W is equal to the number of letters in the completed word. Once a word is spelled, all the letters reset and can be earned again, with a +.5x modifier applied to all points earned from the appropriate shot for the duration of ALBD, maxing out at 10x. Should you fall short of completing ALBD, the modes & features you unlocked will only last for your current game unless you completed ALBD previously.
Regardless of whether you complete ALBD, fail to complete it, or skip Symphony X Multiball, you will score your Prelude Multiball and/or ALBD high scores and then proceed to a menu asking you to choose one of 7 (8 if you completed ALBD) metamodes, one for each of Symphony X's albums. Each metamode has not only its own unique table rules, but also its own unique table design, meaning that each metamode is a completely different playing experience. The only constants will be the modes & features unlocked in ALBD and the Symphony X Mask Locks. As you might expect, this is where you lock your balls for multiball, but there are two twists. The first is that you can choose which of the available locks you will lock your ball in by hitting the diverter spot target between the two masks' chins; the second is that each multiball mode requires a specific arrangement of locked balls to unlock. Each time you lock a ball, you also have the opportunity to switch to a different metamode. Multiball modes can be stacked by hitting the diverter switch and subsequently locking a ball during multiball, but you must have the proper arrangement of balls for an inactive multiball mode in order to do this. If you do not, then your ball will lock and a new one will be launched.
<multiball rules coming soon!>
Each metamode is affiliated with one letter of S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y. To earn the letter, you must complete each metamode's wizard mode. Metamodes remain playable even after the completion of their affiliated wizard modes, but subsequent completions of those modes will not grant additional S-Y-M-P-H-O-N-Y letters.
<metamode rules coming soon!>
<wizard mode rules coming soon!>
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