Pinball FX 2 - Free Paranormal table from 10/26 to 11/2!!!

Okay, so I think I'm finally caving in on full price for this as a deal just doesn't seem to be coming any time soon and I need a pinabll fix! Hopefully it's safe to assume I can send you guys FRs to not only have some more pinball-playing friends but get the wizard score/achievement stuff?

A new Pinball HOF would be incredible. I'm seconding the request for some quality classics, including some of the big-name licenses.

I loved Costume Quest on PS3. I've been into RPGs lately and it's a great light-hearted turn-based RPG. It seems like an odd idea for a pinball machine but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.
 
^Good for you Jaskull! You're going to love the game. I would recommend picking up either the FX2 Core pack or the Marvel 4 pack to start out. You cant go wrong with either of them.

Oh and about the Costume Quest pinball pic. I'm sure that was made as a joke for Tim Schafer. That is the new Sorcerer's Lair table with a couple of Tim's game characters pasted in.

Sorcerer's Lair comes out on the 12th for 240 spacebucks.
 
Hey, thanks KG. I actually spent some time last night going back through my FX1 classics imported into FX2 to try to work on some of the achievements. I remember picking on Pinball FX a while back after I had just played Williams HoF and I feel kind of silly now. These machines are actually a lot of fun and physics are pretty darn good in the FX2 update. Of course, they can't beat the classic argument of not being real machines but they also have good developer support, which is something that certainly can't be said for Crave. I think that the FX2 tables are a lot better than the originals but I still got some good hours playing around with them again.

Tonight I'm going to go ahead and get the Core pack and see if I can even come close to some of you wizards' scores after getting in a bit more Torchlight time. :) I've always loved pinball but I can't say that I've ever been one to figure out some of the more complex rules.

Is the Core collection any better than the original FX1 machines in terms of tutorials? One thing that I valued tremendously in Pinball HoF was the great tutorial system that explained everything extremely well. Unfortunately, FX1 left a lot to be desired with that. No good diagrams of the table and some things were just ignored entirely. One of the achievements was for a super combo on Speed Machine yet the tutorial doesn't even mention a super combo. There also doesn't seem to be a lot of information online about the original machines. It looks like the Zen forums link to some good guides for the FX2 tables so I'll be checking those out.

I feel stupid for not getting the joke about Costume Quest. I guess I've been out of the pinball loop for a while. I feel silly spending $30+ for all of the tables (which I'm sure I'll end up doing) but that's a monster collection to have if you buy everything. It's more than I spent on William HoF but you can't really beat the hours you can get out of each table. Certainly more than most DLC for other games. I'm sure the sale on them will come eventually but I'll just buy each table as I play them for now.

I'm going to send some of you guys some Friend Requests now if I don't already have you on my list to compare scores.

Finally, if anyone is still into the FX1 machines I had a few questions about them after playing last night. Sorry if these have been answered elsewhere but I've had a tough time Googling this stuff. For Agents, how do you sneak into both the Oil Tanker and Skyscrper. Are these in some of the missions? For Speed Machine, I'm wondering about the super combo and lighting the police stars. For the super combo the only info I've found talks about going through the right orbit, then back to the left where it exits, and finally back to the right orbit again. Could that be right? For police stars is that just raising the alert level by going through the ramps?

Thanks again, guys.
 
Yea, it is quite difficult to find more info about the Classic FX1 tables... Achievement guide sites should be able to help you with the achievements, but as far as table guides... I have yet to find any good ones.

Zen is doing better with their rulesheets in recent releases, but they are still nowhere near as helpful as PHoF: tWC. I think they are working on something to improve the rulesheets in the new update which should come out sometime next year. The update has been teased "Pinball FX 2.5" and should add a lot of cool features to the already amazing game.

There are good table guides for the Core FX2 pack and all the Marvel tables. They are on the Zen forums and some of them are in .PDF format so you can download them and read them at your leisure.

I'm pretty sure you are on the right track for the Speed Machine cheevo. I remeber having to hit it thru the orbits a couple times for the super combo and the cheevo popped. The left orbit is a tricky shot due to those pop bumpers though. About the Agent cheevo... I'm pretty sure the best way to do it is to keep performing the skillshot at the beginning of the game until you are awarded with "The Lock is Lit" (just keep restarting the game until you get the reward you want) then you lock a ball in the upper left ramp and start up the Sniper (not sure if that is the right one?) mission and that will activate the other lock. Once you also lock a ball up the middle ramp the achievement should pop.

I am pretty much useless when it comes to the classic tables as I still don't understand how most of those tables work. I have a pretty good grasp on all the newer tables though, so I should be able to help you out with those.

BTW, keep your eyes peeled today on Zen's twitter. I think there will be a few code drops for early access to Sorcerers Lair today! Fingers crossed :)
 
I've been grinding away gradually on Ms. Splosion man trying to get achievements, but that last one (forgot which) is pretty darn hard.
 
Heh, believe it or not I was able to get the 2nd and 3rd achievements on Ms. Splosion Man the first time I played the table. Took me a bit to nab Kick It.

Speaking about the Classic tables, I could never hit the boat ramp on Agents before but I believe with the improvements on the engine, and probably a bit of practice, I can hit that a lot more easily in FX 2.

Speed Machine is still my fav and I can play that one for hours if I'm not careful lol.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I believe the "treat" from Zen is a Costume Quest table, but I'm guessing not free:

http://twitpic.com/6vlkda

Though Cookie Monster poking in from the side is probably a joke.... :) I have to say, if this is really coming, I will definitely be buying it![/QUOTE]

I got excited for a moment but I call BS on that pic. It's simply Sorc's lair with cut and paste. Hell that's even Grim Fandango's skull featured front and center. So sad....:'(
 
Thanks for the tips, KG. I actually got the core collection and put in some time with it last night. They are some fun tables! My two favorites would have to be Pasha and Secrets of the Deep even though I'm having a tough time understanding what the heck is going on in any of them. I read the great guides linked from the Zen forums but it's just a bit much for me to take in, especially when I have to go put those hundreds of words into practice on the actual tables. Also, I agree that Speed Machine is the best of the classic bunch.

I'm just so spoiled by the great tutorials on PHoF showing you exactly where each trigger is on the table and exactly what you need to do. They made sense of the complex rules to me but these rule sheets and just really lacking to me with some of the really complicated missions.

I think that I'm just going to have to play these casually and just have fun with them as opposed to really getting into getting some of the detailed rules and earning the achievements. Maybe I'll get lucky just trying to keep the ball in play and hitting some of the table triggers. I can still easily get plenty of hours out of them just playing that way.

Is there a general concensus for some of the DLC tables? Marvel looks like a lot of fun and I'm tempted by Mars. I've always been a big Space Shuttle table fan if this is anything like that one. Maybe even Excalibur and Nightmare Mansion?

Also, what view do you guys usually prefer? The others are prettier but I find myself using 6 almost exclusively. The others show the table parts closer but I just find myself getting disoriented when I can't see the flippers.
 
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Well the new table, Sorcerer's Lair, is another fun table for Pinball FX2. There's classic flipper noises for this one and the overall theme is fun. I'm just getting the hang of the table but was able to grab 2 out of the 3 achievements on my first and fourth play today.

There are a few multiball modes on this table and thankfully a fairly easy way to keep the outlanes closed so you don't drain a ball down the side, which is nice.
 
Is it me or does the little girl say 'damn' when asking out loud for Whisper? Sorcer's Lair was fun, think i'll buy it. 1,080 MSP going towards getting all 5 tables and now to wait for more tables to be released. I like how the newer tables you can hit 1 million points easily now. The old tables were a bit harder to get a high score on. Zen, bring that Ninja Gaiden table to 360!!
 
Nice, yeah I knew it was coming to the 3DS but I thought it'd be a straight port. New tables is a plus but if they're going to have DLC for their mobile game sorry I already bought too many tables with FX2 on 360 lol. Wonder how the 3D will be on the 3DS, could be cool.

Oh nvm, looks like it's a straight port as that is the same video for the 360 DLC videos.
 
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Played a little bit of sorceror's lair after buying it last week. Wow, it's pretty fun. I like the DLC tables soo much better than the stock FX2 tables, which i think are much better than the FX1 tables. They really have learned how to make a fun slick table.

Oh.... in the newest gameinformer it says Zen studios are making a Pinball RPG table called Epic Quest. You fight monsters and your gear and level carry over to your next game after you die.
 
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I actually really like Paranormal and is probably my favorite table yet out of FX, FX2 Core, SFII, and Paranormal. It's fairly easy to understand and has lots going on. I really like the graphical theme as well.

The one frustrating aspect for me, unfortunately, is the darn haunted mansion. You need to get to the attic for the 5G achievement but the ball moves so skittery with a huge drain in the middle. I barely ever even hit the captive ball to get to the second level, let alone the attic. Does anyone have any tips or luck getting this? I got the bigger achievements pretty quickly.
 
[quote name='gubmccargen']I actually really like Paranormal and is probably my favorite table yet out of FX, FX2 Core, SFII, and Paranormal. It's fairly easy to understand and has lots going on. I really like the graphical theme as well.

The one frustrating aspect for me, unfortunately, is the darn haunted mansion. You need to get to the attic for the 5G achievement but the ball moves so skittery with a huge drain in the middle. I barely ever even hit the captive ball to get to the second level, let alone the attic. Does anyone have any tips or luck getting this? I got the bigger achievements pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]

Haha, it's pretty much the same with you and how I was in the Ms. Sploision Man table where I could get all but the easy achievement. I just say trap the ball with the flippers and expect it to move a lot faster so time it earlier once you release the ball from the flipper's hold.
 
I've only played Paranormal twice but I like it a lot. Though I've got to say, it feels really easy compared to others. Like, hard to drain unless you're trying, easy. Hell, two achievements worth a fair bit popped on my first ball by happenstance. I guess making the free table feel easy is a good way to encourage people to buy more tables!
 
Been having fun with the Paranormal table. Played it until I was determined to beat Spybreaker's 56 mil with 224 mil. If you want to try and beat me please add me. I literally stopped playing because the game wasn't going to end and let 3 balls drain. Extra balls apparently stack and are pretty easy to earn on an unlit "levitating ball" face of the cube. Just get that sucka up there a bunch and hope for a clairvoyant choice as you hit right/left bumper. This is the only table where I've managed to get all 3 achievements.

The only mystery to me about the table anymore is with the cube faces. Some of them seem to have paths that are unreachable even with tilting the table. Some paths of the cube face have a magnet symbol and even with magna save (I hit A as it slid across the face) it did nothing. So ultimately the only Cube Case File I ever activated was Levitating Ball.

Anyways, happy gaming.
 
Thanks for the tip, Spy. I'm able to trap the ball plenty in the mansion but that captive ball takes nearly impossible timing for me and then you to time that to hit it at the second level. I'll keep working on it.

Dew, I agree with it being tough to drain but perhaps that's why I like it so much. :)

Chernobyl, I'll go ahead and send you a FR from Jaskull. I doubt that I'll ever be able to touch 224 mil but it's always nice to have more pinball-playing friends. What is the key to hitting the ball in levitation? I did it once by accident and the other times I aim right for it and the ball just rolls underneath it.

Although it isn't easy, another good place for lots of points is the lower skill shot and then get the double skill shot with the upper right flipper by hitting the ramp to the lowest part of the table with the upside down flipper. Hitting it at the arrows to the right in that section earns you 4 million.

I also noticed the same thing about certain cube faces not showing up. Nothing I did seemed to unlock them. I also had massive troubles with the magnets! How the heck do you use those to get the ball to the holes?
 
I have to put in some time with this table. I think I've only tried it twice since I downloaded it, since my gaming time has been all Arkham City for the past couple weeks. All this talk of easy achievements and high scores makes me wonder what the hell I was doing when I only scored like 4 million on it in my brief test run. :oops:
 
Paranormal is another nearly incomprehensible game. I wish these folks would do something like Pinball Hall of Fame has for tutorials. The rule sheet they provide is confusing and inadequate. I've figured out a lot in spite of it, but have to say that this is another uninspired, poorly designed and dull effort. It was free, and that's great, but I'd rather pay for a genuinely good design.
 
MUHAHAHAHA, I am now a member of the billionaire club on Sorcerer's Lair. So sweet, I'm also the Pinball King dethroning KG finally!

I've also got to figure out the cube faces on Paranormal as I can figure out to swap a few things but yeah I can't figure out the magnet thing either. I just figured out SL though lol but I've still need to work on Behind the Walls. All the other game modes I can successfully pull off.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Paranormal is another nearly incomprehensible game. I wish these folks would do something like Pinball Hall of Fame has for tutorials. The rule sheet they provide is confusing and inadequate. I've figured out a lot in spite of it, but have to say that this is another uninspired, poorly designed and dull effort. It was free, and that's great, but I'd rather pay for a genuinely good design.[/QUOTE]

You want it to tell you how to play the game? OK.

I do not have an extensive pinball background. In my experience, I never knew what the hell I was doing when I went up to a pinball table in my youth. Pretty much an instant loss of 50 cents. Maybe I'd experience some cool sound FX. But honestly I could never tell what was going on immediately which is pretty much how pinball tables seem to be designed in general.

Part of what's fun about this table is that you get to explore it and learn it all for yourself. I had to learn how to initiate the levitating multiball, banish the ghosts from the house, capture the mutant alligator, and get the super skill shot all on my own. It only takes a little play time, but it's cool. I dig the theme, I dig the sound FX, and I dig the music. Probably the only part I don't like is when I set off the Jersey devil mode because I always catch myself saying, "I don't care about no joisey devil." Meaning I am never going for that ramp.

If you didn't enjoy it then woop-dee-doo.
 
Well, I'll try to refrain from making the same arguments I've made in the past in this thread. I like FX 2 alright, but the game designs just aren't very good IMHO. Mind you, I'm comparing to real pinball machines.
 
Is there somewhere that explains what all the terms mean? I got the Paranormal table but know nothing about pinball, so magna saves and kickbacks are foreign terms to me. I understand magna save lets you rewind time a few seconds, but what's a "main lane"? The one that leads up to the attic?
 
[quote name='NeuralFizz']Is there somewhere that explains what all the terms mean? I got the Paranormal table but know nothing about pinball, so magna saves and kickbacks are foreign terms to me. I understand magna save lets you rewind time a few seconds, but what's a "main lane"? The one that leads up to the attic?[/QUOTE]

I don't know if there is a glossary anywhere on the net about general pinball terminology but I just picked up what I know from playing.

Kickback is a general term across all tables. Generally the far right side and far left side have a hole that will typically make you lose your ball. With kick back activated a spring will shoot your ball out of this hole once and back into the playfield.

For Paranormal, the ramp up to the flipper under the haunted house is considered the main lane.

Magna save is unique to this table and to video pinball and let's you save your ball if you're quick enough to hit the A button when you're going to lose. I get lucky sometimes and have it pull the ball back up when it's not even visible and sometimes it doesn't work. I guess it's based off velocity or something...

Ball save activated is a term that lets you know you have a temporary amount of time where if you lose the ball it'll be put in the launcher and you'll get it back quickly. Usually during multiballs you have a ball saver for a short while at the beginning.
 
Magna save is in real pinball machines as old as Black Knight, perhaps older ones too, but I'm not sure? In Black Knight they let you, when enabled, catch a ball heading to an outlane and drop it into the inlane. A somewhat more recent game, World Cup Soccer, also has a Magnasave that drops the ball to the left flipper. As far as the miniplayfields with magnets, that idea probably came from the pinball machine Twilight Zone, which has a mini-playfield with two magnets that you trigger on and off with the flipper buttons to try to throw the ball through a hole at the top, and hit switches on the left and right as well. The turning cube that has different mini-playfields idea came from Bride of Pinbot. The levitating ball you have to hit to start multiball came from Dracula, albeit not levitating above the playfield. In Dracula the ball is moved across via a moving magnet under the playfield.
 
While the Paranormal table being free is nice, it's still a Zen Pinball table that was ported over to FX2. They need to bring those tables over more quickly so they can move on the new, original tables that there should be more of.
 
Slightly off-topic, but do y'all recommend the Williams Pinball Collection over this? Just tried FX2 out for the first time;having fun with the paranormal table so far.
 
You'll enjoy both if you like pinball, but they're pretty different experiences. Pinball Hall of Fame has the nostalgia factor if you played some of the old Williams tables (Medieval Madness, Pinbot, Space Shuttle, etc.), great physics, and an extensive instruction system. Pinball FX has great DLC support, friend interaction, leaderboards, a more flashy feel, poor instruction system, and, of course, aren't actual pinball tables.
 
[quote name='PrarieD0G']Slightly off-topic, but do y'all recommend the Williams Pinball Collection over this? Just tried FX2 out for the first time;having fun with the paranormal table so far.[/QUOTE]

I would, but different strokes for different folks. I like playing "real" tables that don't require reading online message boards to figure out how to play. Personally I found Paranormal to be overly busy and convoluted like a lot of Zen's tables, but there are folks who prefer the flashiness and faster pace (even if it's a lot less realistic) of the Pinball FX2 tables.

Try them both :)
 
One problem with Pinball Hall of Fame is that it plays in moonball mode, and in part due to that the games play much easier than reality. Also it doesn't have some of the nice features in FX 2 such as the really well done leaderboard chasing in FX2. Still, where it counts most - game designs - it has it in spades because it's real games designed by real pinball designers. I'm really looking forward to Pinball Arcade next year. I can't wait! But I really hope they've addressed the physics, and at least made realistic physics/speed/difficulty an option.
 
Digging the free Paranormal which got me into this. Got the 35 and 15 GS ones, no luck so far on the 5GS. High score is 25m.

Just picked up Excalibur.
 
Looks like Moon Knight is going to be the third table included in the Marvel V and V 4-pack...

vnv03.jpg
vnv03.jpg


Trailer: http://www.marvelpinball.com/press/trailer/Moon_Knight_Trailer_mp4.zip

Looks pretty cool. I am hyped!

Also speculation on the Zen forums is leaning towards Thor for the final table in the pack.
 
Honestly that silhouette makes me think of Mr. Sinister or even Blade haha, but that doesn't really fit with the "Virtue" theme. Looks like he's got a big popped collar on a jacket. Maybe Gambit? heh.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Never heard of the Moon Knight but that doesn't mean I'm less excited either.[/QUOTE]

He's been around since late Bronze Age (Without looking it up I would say early to mid 70s) and like Blade he premiered in one of Marvel's old horror comics.. (Werewolf By Night)

Any many ways he's like Marvel's version of Batman, lots of gadgets, devoted to a higher call, and down right loony.

Looks like they used some David Finch's artwork from a series done a few years ago... Which is a good call before that point Moon Knight wasn't so cool... and afterwards he lost some of that gained luster.



[quote name='ChernobylCow']Honestly that silhouette makes me think of Mr. Sinister or even Blade haha, but that doesn't really fit with the "Virtue" theme. Looks like he's got a big popped collar on a jacket. Maybe Gambit? heh.[/QUOTE]

Like you I'm sort of at a loss... I don't really see Thor when I look at that silhouette but like Solid said... Thor's hammer could really be masking what's going on there.

I still think it could be Silver Surfer based upon the logo...
 
I've had FX 2 for awhile now and am just getting back into it. Are the core tables & the Marvel pack that are on sale right now fun to play/worth buying?
 
[quote name='redflare']I've had FX 2 for awhile now and am just getting back into it. Are the core tables & the Marvel pack that are on sale right now fun to play/worth buying?[/QUOTE]

For about $1 per table, fuck yes they are.
 
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