Williams Pinball Volume 1 Now Available - A New Pinball FX3 Era Begins!

[RonnieBoy]

Can we get an option for Visual Extras to be on by default?

[Cloda]

Here is a link to a post on the forum where I share some thoughts on transitioning from Zen physics to Deep (Classic Arcade) physics. I finally managed to beat the Wizard mode on Medieval Madness so feel the transition approach has worked successfully.

[janduin68]

I can't believe this!

This week I felt like playing some Monster Bash only to find out that Farsight was stripped of the Williams license. Yeah, I have been living under a rock the last year..

And now I find that the Williams tables are here and looking better than TPA ever managed! Getting volume 1 tonight and looking forward to loads more tables. Thank you Zen!!!

[cantankerous--]

has zen hinted at what tables will be in the next release this year? or anyone know of any rumors?

I want to know as well

[teamski]

I want to thank you, ZEN, for literally ruining TPA for me. The physics are so different that I can no longer play TPA with its floating balls. I hope you are happy. 70+ tables shot to s&%t. No, no....don't apologize. It was a great run. Great tables with good physics at my finger tips; living in bliss...... Until you had to ruin it all with better looking tables and more importantly, a superior physics engine. Seriously! Now I am stuck with a measly 4 tables to play with. You, sirs and ma'ams, have a lot of catching up to do. I will expect tables upon tables upon tables of pinball goodness in short order or I will have to punt the cat. You wouldn't want that on your conscience would you? Of course not. So, get the coffee on the kettle and get cracking.

-Ski

[Cloda]

has zen hinted at what tables will be in the next release this year? or anyone know of any rumors?

No idea, but I can't wait! So far I have only really enjoyed Medieval Madness so I realise with the Williams / Bally tables it is going to be hit and miss. I'll anyways get all of them as they come out and will learn to love them . One thing I realised is that it is going to be very hard for me to go back to Zen's traditional tables unless the new ones also come out with a layout and rulesheet that can also work with the Deep physics. I truly hope that Zen will slowly go through their back catalogue and adjust a suitable selection of tables to work with Deep's physics.

You are accurate in your assessment of views on Williams. It is like evrything is running down hill and that you can hardly make out what the top of the tables look like.

After a lot of play on mostly Medieval Madness, I am basically now back again to my original preferred View 4. In the end, even though the view angles are different than the FX2 designed tables (as shown in my comparison images), it was more a case of me getting used to the new physics and shooting angles that made the big difference. I again now feel much more comfortable and in control with that view. What I have always enjoyed about it is that you never loose sight of the flippers at any time during the gameplay, it is a similar angle as View 1w that I use for multi-ball and the way that the zoom smoothly move into the flippers as the ball comes down, really helps me to focus and keep concentration on the ball rather than what else is going on, on the table.

Edit: I came to the realisation after playing a bit on an older table (which suddenly felt all wrong), that the shooting angles are probably quite similar, if not the same between the different physics engines. The perception of it being off has a lot more to do with the difference in ball speed between the different physics engines. Your aiming window with the Deep physics is a whole lot less than with the original physics. After getting used to the ball speed, my original preferred camera angle started feeling right again. I also thought that the "new" original physics for the Williams tables are different than what Zen has always done, but after playing a lot of Medieval Madness on deep physics, I don't think it is all that different

It still doesn't give me a good view of the top of the table and for those tables where it is needed (e.g. top flippers on Solo) I use View 5. Ideally, as I have requested many times before, I would like to be able to adjust the view myself for each table as the ideal compromise will be different depending on table layout and dimensions. What I would also like to suggest is an action camera e.g. like the exploding castle view on Medieval Madness, that is set up e.g. over the rollovers above the bumpers on Medieval Madness, that are not clearly visible from View 4. This will again differ from table to table depending on what you need to see clearly or be able to do.

[Initiative]

has zen hinted at what tables will be in the next release this year? or anyone know of any rumors?

[rmaultra]

So far so good! Quite a rude awakening after years of being used to Zen physics. I have not played much on real tables (maybe 5 times in total), but the ball is so much faster and the margin for error is almost non existent. I have to start practicing my skills but I'm afraid on my Mac and without a proper controller I don't have the finesse in control required to master all the fine skills i.e. need an analogue controller.

One issue that I have, which I thought worth mentioning but without really having a solution, is that I'm really struggling to get a view that works for me. Zen designed tables are shorter, broader and basically more compressed than the classic pinball tables. I'm used to playing with View 4 (Zen Pinball 2 on Mac) as it offers the best close view of the flippers and at the right angle to aim well for lanes etc. For the new Williams tables it unfortunately does not work.

The first image show View 4 on the Solo table when the ball is on the flippers:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1256[/ATTACH]

The second image show it when it is at the furthest point of the table:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1257[/ATTACH]

The third image show the same View 4 flipper view on Medieval Madness:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1258[/ATTACH]

The fourth when the ball is at the top of the screen in Medieval Madness:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1259[/ATTACH]

The view that I settled on as a compromise for the new tables is view 1w as it gives me the same angle to the play-field as on the Zen original tables with View 4 but the disadvantage is that everything is further away that you aim at and you don't have a clear view of the top of the table:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]1260[/ATTACH]

Anyway, I don't have a solution but I think it is worth thinking about if something can be done about it.

Edit: After a whole lot more play I came to the realistation that there is a link between camera views and shooting angles between the modes. The shooting angle from the flippers is definitely different in classic arcade mode and you have to first get used to them and build the muscle memory before aiming feels more like it is going where you intended it to go. I played around with different views and find that views that I don't like e.g. View 5 on Mac in Zen mode, works for me in arcade mode and aiming feels more natural.

You are accurate in your assessment of views on Williams. It is like evrything is running down hill and that you can hardly make out what the top of the tables look like.

[Vincent]

ItÂ’s finally here!

We are excited to announce Williams™ Pinball:

For years I've been wishing you would do that, I admit at the time of Pinball FX I fell in love with Excalibur and then after enjoying PFX2 core pack, I was a little disappointed with the "surrealistic orientation" you infused to the game especially with later Marvel tables and all those "3D characters" wandering on the table during missions lol... I still had a crush on tables like Mars, which were able to achieve a subtle mix of both worlds, but I was hoping for real-life tables, and I was wondering when you would finally make the jump. I didn't know it would be such a long wait and to be honest I wasn't hoping any more...

But now...

My god, WILLIAMS !! Thank you guys !! You are so right when you declare this is the "beginning of a new era" for PFX ! I even consider it to be a kind of PFX 2.5 ! The physics are so amazingly close to true pinball, I am so glad I supported you from the beginning...

By the way, I have excellent memories with Buccaneer, it would be a huge surprise for the fans if one day, at the occasion of an anniversary for example, you decided to re-create a modernized version of it.

[stefb]

So, I see Pinball Arcade no longer has Bally or Williams tables, and now you're getting them. Do you think TPA loyalists will start coming to ZPFX?

i do But i'd like to know if there will be more tables and wich ones ? a "Work in progress" subject here would be a good thing

[Alipan]

So, I see Pinball Arcade no longer has Bally or Williams tables, and now you're getting them. Do you think TPA loyalists will start coming to ZPFX?

Hard to say. Personally speaking it sounds to me like Zen have done a great job but I don't have a desire for these tables.

Medieval Madness for example - its really good but I played it on Xbox 360 Williams Hall of Fame and then again on Pinball Arcade PS4 (which I still own).

Not a reflection on Zen or the quality of the product but I would rather spend my money on something else.

I think the more pertinent question is how many people who are fans of the Zen tables can be tempted towards a more traditional pinball experience?

[BennyJackdaw]

So, I see Pinball Arcade no longer has Bally or Williams tables, and now you're getting them. Do you think TPA loyalists will start coming to ZPFX?

[Cloda]

On the mac, only table that downloaded was Fish Tales... Can't find GetAway, Junk Yard or Medieval Madness??
Can U pls point me in the right place.. Thank U..

I deleted the app and then downloaded it again and then only did the tables appear. Fish Tales wasn't even there before I deleted it.

[M Code]

On the mac, only table that downloaded was Fish Tales... Can't find GetAway, Junk Yard or Medieval Madness??
Can U pls point me in the right place.. Thank U..

[Cloda]

I looked at a video where someone was playing Medieval Madness in Classic single player mode (from about 31 minutes) and I noticed that even though it is a lot more lively than zen physics, the ball looks nice and grounded and the bounce from the flippers is not too wild and unpredictable. When I play on Mac (Zin Pinball 2) the ball feels very light and / or the flippers are too strong as the bounce is crazy ie the ball can shoot halfway up the playfield, and the ball is very hard to control ie can't live catch / stop the ball when flipping up.

Can you please take a look at my video (sorry poor quality) to see if you agree or if I'm just looking for excuses at how badly I play .

Edit: OK... I looked at this video (from 12m23) and the ball reacts the same so the Mac physics is as it should be and I am just playing badly