Black Knight first impression

night

New member
May 18, 2012
2,109
0
I noticed that there was no such topic for BK. So far, this table gives me the exact same feeling as Gorgar, it's not for me. It belongs to another generation tables that I find unappealing. It is fun to shoot for a couple of minutes, and the upper playfield is interesting. It's a clean table that plays well. The sound fx of BK drives me nuts.. bleeb-bleeb-bleeb. Creature from the Black Lagoon is a killer table, unfortunately I don't share the same feelings for Black Knight (yet).
 

Fuseball

New member
May 26, 2012
484
0
I learnt how to play pinball properly on a Black Knight machine at a local pool hall when I was a kid, so I've always liked it.

I don't think that the TPA version does the game justice yet and it's unfortunate that the bleeb-bleeb-bleeb noise from the drop target banks overpowers everything else when it's a lot less intrusive on the real thing.

Gorgar is quite a slow table, which understandably is not to everyone's taste. BK, however, should be really frantic with its focus on multiball. The lighting effects and build-up to multiball are all missing from the current scripted TPA version, and they add a lot to the experience of playing it.

It should be a bit more like this...


It makes a big difference when you can activate the magnasaves more easily too. My favourite trick is catching a ball in the right magnasave during multiball and then hitting the right ramp spinner for masses of points and really cool sound. :D

I would suggest that you give BK another try when the rom emulation is added. Maybe it will click a bit more for you then.
 

Bride of Trolls

New member
Jul 29, 2012
95
0
...So far, this table gives me the exact same feeling as Gorgar, it's not for me. It belongs to another generation tables that I find unappealing.
Same here, i'm to young for tables like Black Knight, Gorgar or Black Hole.

Because of this reason i don't play them to often, but on the other side i'm a
gambler and of course also this old tables are a new challenge to me and if i see
other scores of some gamblers here i think there is a lot of to learn to make a good
score on this tables.
 
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N

Nik Barbour

Guest
Love it - might be new favourite TPA table!
Wish I was a bit better at it though.
 

night

New member
May 18, 2012
2,109
0
I don't think that the TPA version does the game justice yet and it's unfortunate that the bleeb-bleeb-bleeb noise from the drop target banks overpowers everything else when it's a lot less intrusive on the real thing.

Gorgar is quite a slow table, which understandably is not to everyone's taste. BK, however, should be really frantic with its focus on multiball. The lighting effects and build-up to multiball are all missing from the current scripted TPA version, and they add a lot to the experience of playing it.

Thank you Fuseball, the vid of the real table definitely looks much more spectacular than the TPA version!
 

Shaneus

New member
Mar 26, 2012
1,221
0
I learnt how to play pinball properly on a Black Knight machine at a local pool hall when I was a kid, so I've always liked it.

I don't think that the TPA version does the game justice yet and it's unfortunate that the bleeb-bleeb-bleeb noise from the drop target banks overpowers everything else when it's a lot less intrusive on the real thing.

Gorgar is quite a slow table, which understandably is not to everyone's taste. BK, however, should be really frantic with its focus on multiball. The lighting effects and build-up to multiball are all missing from the current scripted TPA version, and they add a lot to the experience of playing it.

It should be a bit more like this...


It makes a big difference when you can activate the magnasaves more easily too. My favourite trick is catching a ball in the right magnasave during multiball and then hitting the right ramp spinner for masses of points and really cool sound. :D

I would suggest that you give BK another try when the rom emulation is added. Maybe it will click a bit more for you then.
God damn, that video is AWESOME. Had no idea the machine looked that nuts when multiball is activated. Praying for night mode! Also might be incentive for me to nag the **** out of my mate and get him to set his (apparently mind) machine up. Got it from a guy by swapping it for a Street Fighter 2 machine bahaha

PS. Thank GOD we finally got a Steve Ritchie table. Not that I don't love the games we have, but most of them are too damn samey. CFTBL is too much like MB is too much like MM is too much like TotAN. Honestly, really do enjoy them but none have the flow that some of the Ritche classics have. The High Speed, T2 and Rollergames titles spring to mind. Playing AC/DC a few days ago, I could see he still has that magic (despite there being some obvious manufacturing/QA flaws which I have a tendency to associate with Stern for some reason ;) ).
 
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jaredmorgs

Moderator
Staff member
May 8, 2012
4,334
3
Well, um. Yeah....

No wonder people aren't liking Black Knight on TPA. The table is totally neutered compared to Fuseball's IRL demo.

No lightshow, which actually shows what a unique table this actually is, and why it should be included in TPA.

I'm going to put it out there (and I promise I won't swear, which I'm doing right now as I type this), that TPA should *abandon* scripted tables until they sort out emulation. After seeing the original table, we are being ripped-off with how the game should actually play.

Just give us two modern, fully emulated tables and hold these SS machines over until the emulation is coded. Have a SS month or something where you release four tables at once.

If I see that there's a SS machine included in future updates, I don't think I'll be giving FS any money for the SS table.

Up until now I have been dutifully purchasing each table in the bundle (primarily to support FS, but also to get the 2-pack discount). The question I have to ask myself is why pay for something that is clearly not up to standard.

I'm kind of feeling a little bit cheated. I don't really like that feeling.
 
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J2fold

New member
Jul 28, 2012
49
0
I like this table, but I would love to see an updated version of it. The concept of it is pretty cool though in a retro fashion. I will admit I don't play it much because just like Gorgar it gets boring for any long term value.
 

Jay

Member
May 19, 2012
478
3
I love this table. It's interesting that in PA's implementation I can hear bits and pieces of the sound effects from time to time, and other times they're silent. I'm sure when the bugs are worked out, the game will sound a lot better.

I played Black Knight a LOT when it came out. Ritchie's playfields always seemed manic to me, with really fast action, and Black Knight was always an adrenaline rush. It's difficult now to appreciate how cutting edge the sound was back then. To hear the machine actually talk to you ("I will play you, knight!") was thrilling. Before that, most of the pinball machines in the arcades had mechanical chimes.

But even with all its bugs, I'm really enjoying this version of Black Knight, a game I hadn't played in probably a quarter century.
 

Matt McIrvin

New member
Jun 5, 2012
801
0
I like this table, but I would love to see an updated version of it. The concept of it is pretty cool though in a retro fashion. I will admit I don't play it much because just like Gorgar it gets boring for any long term value.

Well, there was Black Knight 2000, which added an awesome cheese-rock soundtrack, for some value of "awesome":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUTgj90iB7M

The playfield wasn't quite the same as Black Knight, though.
 

jaredmorgs

Moderator
Staff member
May 8, 2012
4,334
3
In the Android thread for 1.0.10, Ryan suggested that Farsight would move away from SS script-jobs because they tend to cause them more trouble than it's worth. When they get the emulation system worked out for the older pins, they'll start releasing more of these again.

I think it's a good move. But it will also be a shame to see the stream of old SS machines dry up in the monthly releases. These are fun machines to play still, and they give you a different perspective on pinball.
 

Fuseball

New member
May 26, 2012
484
0
With BK, Steve Ritchie pulled out all the stops to make it as exciting a game as the technology would allow at that time. The lightshows on it are fairly unique for that vintage of game.

If FS still need to create scripted tables I would suggest that they look to the early '80s Bally games like Centaur, Fathom, Eight Ball Deluxe and Xenon simply because they are less reliant on intricately programmed lighting effects.

The scripted versions of Space Shuttle and Sorcerer in PHOF are a lot closer to the actual tables IMO. When I got to play a Sorcerer at a show last year it was almost identical to the PHOF version with maybe only a couple of missing sounds.
 

Vip8888

New member
Mar 25, 2012
36
0
Sure, there are annoying bugs in BK, but if the choice is to pay peanuts to play as much as I like or not play at all, that's a no-brainer for me. Then again, it is one of my all-time favourite tables, so I would say that. :)
 

BigChuckZ

Banned
Aug 7, 2012
6
0
I love playing this table onHall of fame for xbox 360. Does anyone know when it will be available for the kindle fire along with Creature from the Black LAGOON?
 

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