Buckle up! Williams Pinball Volume 4 is a wild ride with 3 new tables and revamped fx

[McLovin]

White Water, Red & Ted’s Road Show and Hurricane will be released on May 28 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Windows 10, Steam, Nintendo Switch and Mac. Also to the iOS Appstore and Google Play on Mobile.



Volume 4 brings you a wild set of tables. We know a lot of you are especially looking forward to White Water, a unique fan-favorite machine. With one of the most satisfying ramps in pinball -- at least in my opinion -- a prominent, furry Bigfoot toy, and an innovative multilayered playfield, this pin will fit quite nicely into your collection.



Red & Ted’s Road Show offers a wide body and takes you from coast to coast of the United States, as you look for fun and travel to 18 different cities! Smash cabs in New York, party at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and meet monsters in San Francisco, to name a few. With a built-in shaker motor and the evolution of Williams’ PinMation™ concept, this table is packed with features.



Hurricane, a 1991 classic, is the last table in Barry Oursler’s amusement park trilogy and the finishing piece of Williams Pinball Volume 4. A quirky atmosphere, long, flowing ramps, and a 3D-animated clown that we’ve added to Remastered mode guarantee the carnival feeling as you ride the Ferris wheels and the titular ride itself -- the Hurricane!

his release brings a brand new feature too! Our pinball team here at Zen Studios is on a mission to elevate our pinball simulation to higher and higher levels. This newest improvement to Pinball FX3 is a redesigned flipper physics system for the Williams Pinball Volume 4 tables. The flippers now behave more like their real-life counterparts, meaning they react to the weight of the ball, and they wobble when snapping to upright position and when going back down.

We’d like to thank the mods and operators of digitalpinballfans.com for helping us test out this new feature, and we’d like to ask for the feedback of you in the broader community as well. The Pro Physics introduced with Williams Pinball last fall achieved its current form with your help -- a practice we’d like to continue into the future!

[pbo]

wow except for Whitewater the rest was a surprise! Good job.

Before I buy it though I need to be sure of 2 things that have to do with consistency and the logical expectance of having the same good experience across all tables:

1. Will those advanced flippers come eventually to the other Volumes 1-3 as well /answered

2. Will the new (slowed down) tournament physics of Vol.3 be the default now and will the previous Volumes be getting those as well?
I would prefer the tournament physics of Vol.1-2 to be applied to Vol.3 & 4 (as they are the only ones where you feel like participating in a real tournament), but I could live with the new as well as long they are consistent in EVERY Volume. /answered

edit: both points were answered

[ImagineVP]

Upcoming NEW releases poll

Zen, have you thought about the possibility of polling your customers here on the forum on what they would like to have from these Williams, Bally, and other licenses? I mean, knowing what games are with what IP holder, why not put up a poll with the top 10-20 tables you all are thinking about doing to see what we customers really want most?
1, It would give us customers a better idea of what's coming down the Zen pipeline,
2, you would know without a doubt what the customers really want to buy and
3, you wouldn't waste time/money on a table that really isn't being asked for while making your customers as happy with your choices as can be.

Thanks and keep up the good classics pinball work!!

[McLovin]

Zen, have you thought about the possibility of polling your customers here on the forum on what they would like to have from these Williams, Bally, and other licenses? I mean, knowing what games are with what IP holder, why not put up a poll with the top 10-20 tables you all are thinking about doing to see what we customers really want most?
1, It would give us customers a better idea of what's coming down the Zen pipeline,
2, you would know without a doubt what the customers really want to buy and
3, you wouldn't waste time/money on a table that really isn't being asked for while making your customers as happy with your choices as can be.

Thanks and keep up the good classics pinball work!!

This is a good idea, and it could work in some manner.

Although there are multiple factors to think of when getting a new game in a Volume:

- Availability: Can we get access to a game in good condition in time for the new Volume? Will the owner lend it to us, what are the costs of this exchange? How long can we have the machine in the office etc.
- Licenses: Licensing and getting rights to likeness, intellectual property, music rights can be a long and hard procedure.
- Consistency: We'd like to keep the quality of releases consistent, so we wouldn't necessarily want to do a T2, Indy, Addams volume for example and then have a volume coming after that could be looked at as a 'letdown'

So in theory, having a vote would be fantastic, but there could be a case where we are not able to deliver the results.

That said, we do listen to requests, this is how White Water and Theatre of Magic arrived at the time they did.

[ImagineVP]

I hear ya...

This is a good idea, and it could work in some manner.

Although there are multiple factors to think of when getting a new game in a Volume:

- Availability: Can we get access to a game in good condition in time for the new Volume? Will the owner lend it to us, what are the costs of this exchange? How long can we have the machine in the office etc.
- Licenses: Licensing and getting rights to likeness, intellectual property, music rights can be a long and hard procedure.
- Consistency: We'd like to keep the quality of releases consistent, so we wouldn't necessarily want to do a T2, Indy, Addams volume for example and then have a volume coming after that could be looked at as a 'letdown'

So in theory, having a vote would be fantastic, but there could be a case where we are not able to deliver the results.

That said, we do listen to requests, this is how White Water and Theatre of Magic arrived at the time they did.

I hear ya and understand all the valid factors you mentioned. However, I feel a poll as I mentioned would at least give you an easy way to find what us customers are really wanting. From there, yes, all your other factors would come into play. Sure would beat scouring the forums for requests at the very least. Keep up the good work Zen! Love the direction you are going in!

[cantankerous--]

This is a good idea, and it could work in some manner.

Although there are multiple factors to think of when getting a new game in a Volume:

- Availability: Can we get access to a game in good condition in time for the new Volume? Will the owner lend it to us, what are the costs of this exchange? How long can we have the machine in the office etc.
- Licenses: Licensing and getting rights to likeness, intellectual property, music rights can be a long and hard procedure.
- Consistency: We'd like to keep the quality of releases consistent, so we wouldn't necessarily want to do a T2, Indy, Addams volume for example and then have a volume coming after that could be looked at as a 'letdown'

So in theory, having a vote would be fantastic, but there could be a case where we are not able to deliver the results.

That said, we do listen to requests, this is how White Water and Theatre of Magic arrived at the time they did.

How about continuing to release williams packs of 3 at 9.99 and every now and then release a special individual table like a raiders or adams family for 4.99 or slightly higher to help pay for additional licensing because really some of us are paying 9.99 to play one table per pack and then rarely to never play the other two after the first week. I mean of the williams tables I play TOM, Fishtales, Attack from mars, The Getaway and sometimes Medieval madness, but I rarely ever play black rose, junk yard, safe cracker, champion pub or party zone. Also, as you well know from all the comments most of us hard core pinball players already have almost every game you already have released and we are wanting something new.

[ImagineVP]

re:

I rarely ever play black rose, junk yard, safe cracker, champion pub or party zone.

Why don't you like Champion Pub? It's one of my favs with completely original side games/challenges as well as a very satisfying main objective. Very entertaining IMO, but we all have our personal tastes. What is it you find most appealing in the classic tables you enjoy playing?

Also, I too am not against paying $5 for a single table that is in the top 5-10 of most requested tables. If only there was a poll or something...

[classic_pinball]

Nice selection this time. Good job.

[classic_pinball]

already have almost every game you already have released and we are wanting something new.

Personally I'm just happy with having new crisp textures and lighting, and better (classic single player, arcade setup) physics.

I have every Williams table on Pinball Arcade, but the textures are awful and the balls feel like plastic ping-pong balls when compared to Zen.
FarSight Studios should be hanging their heads in shame.

[jrolson]

Buying just for Hurricane!

But where's Comet and Cyclone?

[rmaultra]

Agreed

How about continuing to release williams packs of 3 at 9.99 and every now and then release a special individual table like a raiders or adams family for 4.99 or slightly higher to help pay for additional licensing because really some of us are paying 9.99 to play one table per pack and then rarely to never play the other two after the first week. I mean of the williams tables I play TOM, Fishtales, Attack from mars, The Getaway and sometimes Medieval madness, but I rarely ever play black rose, junk yard, safe cracker, champion pub or party zone. Also, as you well know from all the comments most of us hard core pinball players already have almost every game you already have released and we are wanting something new.

I agree with cantankerous that charging more for more popular tables would be a viable option to help ZEN with the costs of licensing etc. that they need to pay out. Frankly I thought by now that Zen would throw us a bone and include some of the more popular tables and spread them out maybe one per pack. I just wish that ZEN would mix it up a little bit and include some of their original tables with the Williams and Bally releases.

[ImagineVP]

re:

Frankly I thought by now that Zen would throw us a bone and include some of the more popular tables and spread them out maybe one per pack. I just wish that ZEN would mix it up a little bit and include some of their original tables with the Williams and Bally releases.

NO thank you! I'm in it for the classic tables exclusively. While I do like some of Zen's original tables... I don't want to pay a single ball for an hour personally. If they revamped the physics on their originals... I would probably play them more... maybe.

[cantankerous--]

NO thank you! I'm in it for the classic tables exclusively. While I do like some of Zen's original tables... I don't want to pay a single ball for an hour personally. If they revamped the physics on their originals... I would probably play them more... maybe.

I would love this. I almost exclusively play survival or williams tables as I just like a good fast match and not a marathon game. I would love to see the williams physics included as a separate option to the current games.

[hunter328]

I just wish that ZEN would mix it up a little bit and include some of their original tables with the Williams and Bally releases.

I wouldn’t mind that or a rotation of real world and original pack releases. I’m in a tournament group and so I get every table, and while I do enjoy playing the Williams tables when they come up in our tournament, I don’t spend much time with them otherwise. Certainly not as much as I do with the tables Zen created themselves. They’re the reason Zen Pinball/PBFX has been one of my favorite games for so long.

Also, I too am not against paying $5 for a single table that is in the top 5-10 of most requested tables. If only there was a poll or something...

I’m curious then what would you pay for one that’s in the top 1-4?

[cantankerous--]

I wouldn’t mind that or a rotation of real world and original pack releases. I’m in a tournament group and so I get every table, and while I do enjoy playing the Williams tables when they come up in our tournament, I don’t spend much time with them otherwise. Certainly not as much as I do with the tables Zen created themselves. They’re the reason Zen Pinball/PBFX has been one of my favorite games for so long.



I’m curious then what would you pay for one that’s in the top 1-4?

I think his response is intended to mean he would pay 5 dollars for an individual table that is in the top 5 or even top 10 and not meant to read he would pay 5 for an individual table ranked from 5 to 10 from a list of 10 best tables to choose from.