- Feb 22, 2012
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Latest NEWS And INFORMATION On Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball: Revived & Remastered
Here you'll find all the latest news and information on Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered.
Subscribe To This Thread (Forum Members Only) : Thread Tools > Subscribe To This Thread > Notification Type > Instant Notification By Email Stay up to date with the latest news and information by receiving instant email alerts when news and information is updated or added to this thread. If you're not a member yet, it only takes a minute to join the forum and stay informed with the latest and most accurate information on Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered. NOTE : This News Thread will be moved to Silverball Studios' Official Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered Forum once it goes live.
Please follow the links below for more information on Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered.
Official Website
Facebook
Twitter
Kickstarter Campaign
Steam Greenlight
Announced for : Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Linux, Mac, Ouya, PC, PS3, PS Vita and Xbox 360
Vote on which platform you would most like Silverball Studios to port Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered to after iOS, Mac, PC and Xbox 360 HERE.
KICKSTARTER UNSUCCESSFUL!
As Silverball Studios sees the end of the Kickstarter campaign; for the no-compromise revival and rebuilding of the legendary Pro Pinball® series looming, the studio have launched the #PinballNeedsYou campaign to rally the support of fans and backers to push the funding from 24% to 100% in the 7 remaining days.
The studio have produced wallpapers, avatars and banners (which can be downloaded at the bottom of this release)for fans and supporters to put on the screens of their PCs, Macs, iPads, smartphones and on their Facebook, Twitter profiles and blogs; with beautiful imagery and the #PinballNeedsYou tag on. They have even made the images high enough res for people to print out and put up as posters.
"With only a week to go we are really hoping that those who have got behind us can help us push this out to their friends, colleagues and contacts. If everyone supporting us could get one person to get behind us too, we might just make it!" Said Adrian Barritt, CEO of Silverball Studios.
The Studio hope that if all the avid pinball game supporters, fans and backers help to get the message out the project will have new life breathed into it. With only 7 DAYS TO GO. It is all hands on deck to get #PinballNeedsYou on every Facebook page, Twitter and website going.
The studio has also offered a first glimpse into what the games will look like if their target it hit. The release of two examples of production graphics demonstrate the level of realism the studio is going to be able to create if the project is able to go ahead.
"The team at Silverball are some of the best in the World and not many know pinball better than us.” Said Adrian Barritt, CEO of Silverball Studios.
"We have some incredible capabilities, that coupled with our perfectionism allows us to be able to produce pinball games of the absolute highest standard and realism. It is not just about the graphics either, the physicsengine we are evolving will be second to none and will allow all five tables to play as if they were the real thing!" Barritt added.
The team behind the development of the project are the very same that created new pinball games; Mario Pinball Land, Metroid Prime Pinball, Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon and Frogger Pinball, and have partnered with the pinball legend Pat Lawlor, creator of the best selling pinball table of all time, The Addams Family, and the highest rated pinball table of all time, The Twilight Zone.
"We've only got a week left on our Pro Pinball Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/SiUqHY) and we really need to gain that extra support now to make this a reality." said Pat Lawlor.
"Kickstarter projects are strange as many people don't back a project they don't think will succeed, which can turn it into a self fulfilling prophecy. But there are millions of pinball fans out there, who I know would love what we are proposing, but they just need to hear about it from existing backers through the #PinballNeedsYou campaign and get behind us!" Added Lawlor.
The campaign to fund the revival and remastering of Pro Pinball®has a week left on the clock and the project sits at nearly 25% funded; with the team needing to raise a minimum of $400,000.
The campaign, if fully funded, will see the development team create a brand new ultimate Pro Pinball® table, designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor as well as fully re-creating from scratchthe four original Pro Pinball® tables for various platforms, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PS3, PSvita and XBLA, to name but a few. “The scope of the project effectively means we’re building five new pinball games from scratch!” said Adrian Barritt.
"If there is a pinball fan out there who has not yet been to the campaign site and pledged to help this project succeed then I implore them to do so now. I was delighted to be asked to be involved with this project and am therefore eager to hit the Kickstarter target and get started." said Pat Lawlor.
Just by visiting the Kickstarter page fans are able to download a free original Pro Pinball table, on pledging just $2 or more backers will also receive two other original tables on success of the project. These rewards are on top of the existing items, including signed boxed copies of the tables in the series; classic and new, and the opportunity to appear on the back-glass of the new table, drawn by the great John Youssi; the artist responsible for a the back-glass artwork for The Addams Family, The Twilight Zone and Medieval Madness. Plus the team are creating a series of metal Pro Pinball® badges in Bronze, Silver and Gold; and these collectors' items will only be available to the Kickstarter backers.
Please show your support and help make Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered a reality by pledging HERE.
Graphics Rendering : Silverball plans to stick with pre-rendered graphics as that will yield the best visual results. They are striving for perfection and believe they can get closer this way. However, if there's sufficient demand, Silverball would be happy to consider supporting real-time 3D further down the road.
Head 2 Head Mode : Silverball plans to bring back the Big Race USA Head 2 Head Mode. There's also the possibility that the new table may also end up with a Head 2 Head Mode as well.
iCade Support : Silverball is looking into possibly implementing iCade support for iOS devices.
Media Distribution : The new and remastered games will be download only, however Silverball will be offering boxed copies (and in some cases signed boxed copies) to Kickstarter backers. Also, Silverball plans to try to get Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered on Steam.
New Exclusive Original Table : Silverball has enlisted the help of pinball legend Pat Lawlor to design the new table and John Youssi to do the artwork and since they will need a full year to do the new table justice, expect a late 2013 release.
Pinball Cabinet Support : Silverball will be building their own cabinet and look to implement most, if not all, of the following : 2 or 3 monitor support with a fully scalable and positionable Dot Matrix Display, support for both digital and analog nudging plus motion controllers, animated backglass, force feedback and LED-Wiz support. Also, Silverball would be willing to make high resolution Pro Pinball graphics available for anyone who wanted to decorate their cabinet with them.
Platform And Device Ports : Silverball plans to start with iOS, Mac and PC and get them spot on, then go from there. Which platforms they do next will be partly determined by the feedback they get. However, if Silverball are fortunate enough to sufficiently exceed their Kickstarter target of $400,000, then they will be able to guarantee support for other platforms such as Android, PS3 and Xbox 360. If Silverball just hits their target, their plan is to re-invest the income from future sales to port the game to other platforms, but that will take longer and isn't guaranteed.
Portrait View : Silverball plans to support 1080x1920 which, with pixel perfect pre-rendered graphics, should look awesome in a cabinet.
Remastered Original Pro Pinball Tables : Silverball plans to fully remaster the four original Pro Pinball tables which include The Web, Timeshock!, Big Race USA and Fantastic Journey to ensure that the original, and hugely popular, classics maintain their authenticity whilst looking and playing the best they can. Silverball plans to begin releasing the remastered tables in early 2013.
Screen Resolutions : Silverball looks to support resolutions up to and including 1080x1920 (portrait mode Full HD), 1536x2048 (new iPad) and even 2880x1800 (MacBook Pro Retina).
Second Monitor Support : Second monitor support is definitely a feature Silverball would like to support, but unless it's very easy to do, they'd want to prioritize porting to other platforms first.
This is an exlcusive Q&A with Adrian Barritt and Pat Lawlor comprised of questions submitted by the Pinball Arcade Fans Forum community. ENJOY!
Adrian Barritt
01) Any chance of designing a table where the player can choose sides at the beginning of the game, making for two very different play styles where one mode could focus more on a flowy loop play and the other mode could be more about careful shots?
Adrian : Interestingly enough the Pinball Pulse game we did for Nintendo had something like this. You could choose either Zeus or Hera at the start of each ball. Zeus would be more aggressive with higher scoring opportunities, but you'd get less savers and kickbacks. Hera on the other hand would make it easier to keep the ball in play but some aspects of the game weren't quite so rewarding. You would also collect either lightning bolts or golden apples as rewards whilst playing, each of which having a different impact in the final Wizard mode of the game.
We could look to do something that takes things even further in Pat Lawlor's new game, but that would depend on the theme that the backers ultimately choose. Some themes would lend themselves to this mechanic better than others.
02) What is your favorite real world pinball table?
Adrian : That's a tricky question. The one I'm fondest of is definitely Black Knight 2000. It's the first game I ever owned, and for that reason you'll see it in the Kickstarter video too. The gamplay is a little repetitive, but its sound track is absolutely the best there is. The music never stops, one piece flowing seamlessly into another, coupled with the singing and the voice of the Black Knight, it really is wonderful. Even now, after playing hundreds of games, whenever I complete R-A-N-S-O-M and everything kicks off, it sends a shiver down my spine!
03) Have you played any other digital pinball games that you enjoyed?
Adrian : The ones I admire the most would be from LittleWing. They have a similar philosophy to us; Quality before quantity. They've produced a small number of games, but you can tell that each one has been tweaked to perfection.
04) Really happy and surprised that you guys decided to hire Pat and make a completely new table, but is it not a bit risky to ask for $400,000. All or nothing is very brutal.
Adrian : Well of course we could ask for less, but then we wouldn't raise enough money to make the games. Everything has been costed and we need this much to do things right. We've already spent money on acquiring the Pro Pinball rights and starting to rebuild Timeshock! from the ground up. When you break it down we're only asking for $64,000 per game, which, in game development terms, sounds like a bargain to me.
05) Do you guys have any other plans, if you only get say $300,000, like starting another campaign with paypal etc?
Adrian : We haven't made any other plans yet. Though an interesting statistic from Kickstarter is that 80% of projects that raise at least 30% of what they're asking for go on to be fully funded. So it's unlikely we'll get to $300,000 and no more, instead we are more likely to either complete crash and burn raising less than $100,000 or go all the way! Hopefully the latter with our fans support.
06) What, in your eyes, are the benefits of using pre-rendered graphics, compared to the drawbacks (no flexible camera angles, no resolution independence), especially in regards to the table lighting effects?
Adrian : The only drawback as far as we're concerned is the lack of flexible camera angles that you mention. Resolution independence isn't an issue as we can always downscale higher resolution pre-renders to whatever screen resolution is required. (Assuming for no-one has a display with a resolution higher than 2880x1800 or 1080x1920!) The benefits however are considerable, we have started to use a new technique that on the higher end hardware at least, will allow full control over General Illumination, and have Flashers that light the entire playfield in a totally authentic way, shadows and all. And on lower end hardware you won't be limited to the 3D capabilities of the machine, each pixel will be perfectly rendered on top end PC over a period of days. The new remastered Pro Pinball games will be virtually indistinguishable from videos of real tables once we're done. One indirect benefit of not displaying realtime 3D models is that on some platforms the CPU can be freed up to spend most of it's power running the physics simulation, something which is obviously vital to top notch pinball simulation.
Over the course of the Kickstarter campaign we will be sharing some early test renders from the new Timeshock! and hopefully some videos too, the first of which can be found on YouTube: http://youtu.be/kdun_RdmuZQ
07) Have you decided yet on who is going to do the sound design, music, and DMD animations of the new table? Personally speaking, while the playfield graphics and design of Pro Pinball are fantastic, the audio design lacks a bit of the dramatic energy of a lot of real pinball tables. Any chance a composer like Chris Granner would be willing to contribute?
Adrian : We haven't decided for sure on who should do the sound and music yet, but it sounds like you be pleased to know it won't be either of the teams who worked on the original games. Who we go with will to some extent depend on the theme our backers ultimately choose, as that will dictate the feel we will want the music to have. Regardless, a chunk of the budget has been reserved for sound of music. You might like to listen to videos of Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon on YouTube as that will give you a good idea of what we've done recently from an audio standpoint.
08) While the mechanical sounds of your past pinball titles were quite nice, the ones a real pinball machine makes are still more aggressive. Would you consider spending some time on this these sounds as well - for instance, recording high quality samples of real machines?
Adrian : The physical sounds were originally recorded from an actual Star Trek: The Next Generation. But we will be resampling everything from scratch this time around. It sound like we also need to have a volume option that will let you turn the mechanical sounds up to 11!
09) Is there a particular reason why you chose to go for it all by hiring Pat Lawlor and John Youssi to help revive The Pro Pinball Series instead of just fully re-mastering and re-releasing the orginal four Pro Pinball tables on multiple platforms to install a strong fanbase first?
Adrian : There is a considerable amount of overlap in remastering the original classics and creating a brand new table. So combining to two enables us to offer much more "bang for buck" than would be the case if we just did a Kickstarter for remastering the originals or doing a brand new table. Of course, Pat Lawlor and John Youssi are both legends in the industry, having the opportunity to work with them is a fantastic prospect. I am confident that together we will create a truly special game of pinball. On top of that their involvement will really help us get the word out and our Kickstarter noticed, and we can offer some unique rewards such as John Youssi including backer's portraits in the backglass to Pat Lawlor's new Pro Pinball game.
10) If The Pro Pinball Series revival is successful, would you consider making original tables based on licensed themes in the future?
Adrian : Absolutely. If the revival succeeds, we'd love to do some licensed themes. A personal favourite of mine from my childhood (which probably wouldn't be commercially viable, but you never know...) would be Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets! The five team members and their own vehicles plus all the different Mecha of Galactor to battle with would all work really well in a pinball game. For those of you who know Gatchaman, I'd like to end with "Science Ninja Technique: Firebird Multiball!!!"
Pat Lawlor
01) Will the development of the new playfield include real-life pinball prototypes, like whitewoods, where you can test the kinetics of the game just like you used to, or will it be entirely digital, built and tested within the Pro Pinball engine? In other words, will you approach the concept and design just like you would for a real pinball table, or will your workflow change in any significant way?
Pat : I expect to use the same work flow as I am used to, within the confines of the digital world. The SilverBall physics engine is so good, I really am looking forward to "virtual" whitewoods.
02) If your new design is successful, would you consider turning your virtual pinball into a real machine, assuming that it gets the proper funding from fans and collectors?
Pat : You bet. In fact, I'll be designing this in such a way that it could be built in the real world.
03) Virtual pinball on platforms like computers, consoles and smartphones/tablets reach a much larger audience than real pinball ever could, and especially younger generations who grew up without access to arcades. Generally speaking, do you think the increasing realism of virtual pinball and the growing interest in these titles could lead to a "rebirth" of pinball popularity, that, while it surely will never reach the heights of the early 90s again, could at least lead to more real pinball machines being produced again?
Pat : Anything is possible. If I can play pinball on my ipad, does that cause me to want to seek out a real pinball machine? Maybe I want to play the virtual game in the real world that I just played in the virtual world. See answer to 2 above!
04) In a past interview, you mentioned that the market for pinball would be completely dead within a few years. While the situation for mass-produced pinball is indeed quite bleak, a quite considerable fanbase of dedicated pinball players, collectors and fans has survived, while the genre seems to be gaining new enthusiasts (just as myself). From my impressions, you seem genuinely excited about this project. What do you think the future of pinball, both as the physical machines and the abstract concept of pinball design, will look like?
Pat : Well, the outlook for real games is indeed grim. Real games are mostly about ROI (Return On Investment). The only thing keeping real pinball alive right now are collectors and lifestyle folks who want to purchase them directly for their personal use. It's POSSIBLE that changing the game play mechanic could cause people to want to play real pinball again. But, the game itself would have to cost considerably less for the ROI thing to work.
05) You mentioned that this will be the first table where you will be free from the financial constraints of real-world pinball design. In what ways have these financial limits held back your concepts of past pinball designs? Any big cuts you had to make, or even ideas you never could get started at all?
Pat : Lots. But the point is that pinball manufacture is a business. It makes sense that you cannot put everything in a game that you would like. But "mechanical" things in a virtual game are free from a manufacturing standpoint. So..... its time to dream new cool things!
06) I can´t speak for everone, but personally, hearing that you were excited to produce a virtual pinball table was quite a surprise. How long have you been considering this, and what were the inital events or inspirations that led to this decision? Does it feel unusual to be thinking about concepts for a virtual table, or does it not make much of a difference to you?
Pat : I'm not sure why this is a shock for folks. I started out in coin-operated games as a video game programmer-designer. I have done my best over the years to keep my programming skills up to date. Over the last 2 years I've taught myself most of the graphics design tools in common use, from photoshop to blender. I really like new and cool things so this doesn't feel odd at all.
07) There´s a news clip on YouTube back when Whirlwind was produced, where you mentioned that you´ve been designing games since you were a little kid. How long were you interested in pinball before you started designing your own? What used to inspire you back then and what inspires you now?
Pat : I played pinball as a kid riding with my dad on his beer truck. I was fairly addicted to the game in college. I even had one (flipper cowboy ) in my college digs. What inspires me is doing something NEW, that hasn't been seen before. And then watching the look on players faces when they play.
08) Do you have a favorite Pinball designer or table that you did not work on from the glory days of the 90'?
Pat : How about 1 from the 80's. High Speed by Steve Ritchie. Programmed by Larry DeMar. An awesome piece of story telling and dynamic flow.
09) If you were going to update any of your old tables or do a sequel, which theme would be your first choice?
Pat : I really hate sequels because they always seem like a lazy way to come to grips with a new theme.
10) Looking back on all your tables. which ones are you most pleased with now?
Pat : Designs like these are like your children. Each one took 1 year of my life. So, I know their flaws and their strengths, and why they work or don't. I leave it up to the players to decide which ones are the best.
Here you'll find all the latest news and information on Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered.
Subscribe To This Thread (Forum Members Only) : Thread Tools > Subscribe To This Thread > Notification Type > Instant Notification By Email Stay up to date with the latest news and information by receiving instant email alerts when news and information is updated or added to this thread. If you're not a member yet, it only takes a minute to join the forum and stay informed with the latest and most accurate information on Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered. NOTE : This News Thread will be moved to Silverball Studios' Official Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered Forum once it goes live.
Please follow the links below for more information on Silverball Studios' Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered.
Official Website
Kickstarter Campaign
Steam Greenlight
General Information
Announced for : Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Linux, Mac, Ouya, PC, PS3, PS Vita and Xbox 360
Vote on which platform you would most like Silverball Studios to port Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered to after iOS, Mac, PC and Xbox 360 HERE.
Help Make Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered A Reality!
KICKSTARTER UNSUCCESSFUL!
PINBALL WIZARDS JOIN FORCES FOR KICKSTARTER PROJECT AS PRO PINBALL® UNVEILS FUNDING CAMPAIGN
Pat Lawlor – creator of best-selling and highest rated pinball machines of all time – to design new, exclusive table for PC, Mac and iOS reboot
Creators of Pro Pinball® series to remaster the original tables
Creators of Pro Pinball® series to remaster the original tables
As Silverball Studios sees the end of the Kickstarter campaign; for the no-compromise revival and rebuilding of the legendary Pro Pinball® series looming, the studio have launched the #PinballNeedsYou campaign to rally the support of fans and backers to push the funding from 24% to 100% in the 7 remaining days.
The studio have produced wallpapers, avatars and banners (which can be downloaded at the bottom of this release)for fans and supporters to put on the screens of their PCs, Macs, iPads, smartphones and on their Facebook, Twitter profiles and blogs; with beautiful imagery and the #PinballNeedsYou tag on. They have even made the images high enough res for people to print out and put up as posters.
"With only a week to go we are really hoping that those who have got behind us can help us push this out to their friends, colleagues and contacts. If everyone supporting us could get one person to get behind us too, we might just make it!" Said Adrian Barritt, CEO of Silverball Studios.
The Studio hope that if all the avid pinball game supporters, fans and backers help to get the message out the project will have new life breathed into it. With only 7 DAYS TO GO. It is all hands on deck to get #PinballNeedsYou on every Facebook page, Twitter and website going.
The studio has also offered a first glimpse into what the games will look like if their target it hit. The release of two examples of production graphics demonstrate the level of realism the studio is going to be able to create if the project is able to go ahead.
"The team at Silverball are some of the best in the World and not many know pinball better than us.” Said Adrian Barritt, CEO of Silverball Studios.
"We have some incredible capabilities, that coupled with our perfectionism allows us to be able to produce pinball games of the absolute highest standard and realism. It is not just about the graphics either, the physicsengine we are evolving will be second to none and will allow all five tables to play as if they were the real thing!" Barritt added.
The team behind the development of the project are the very same that created new pinball games; Mario Pinball Land, Metroid Prime Pinball, Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon and Frogger Pinball, and have partnered with the pinball legend Pat Lawlor, creator of the best selling pinball table of all time, The Addams Family, and the highest rated pinball table of all time, The Twilight Zone.
"We've only got a week left on our Pro Pinball Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/SiUqHY) and we really need to gain that extra support now to make this a reality." said Pat Lawlor.
"Kickstarter projects are strange as many people don't back a project they don't think will succeed, which can turn it into a self fulfilling prophecy. But there are millions of pinball fans out there, who I know would love what we are proposing, but they just need to hear about it from existing backers through the #PinballNeedsYou campaign and get behind us!" Added Lawlor.
The campaign to fund the revival and remastering of Pro Pinball®has a week left on the clock and the project sits at nearly 25% funded; with the team needing to raise a minimum of $400,000.
The campaign, if fully funded, will see the development team create a brand new ultimate Pro Pinball® table, designed by the legendary Pat Lawlor as well as fully re-creating from scratchthe four original Pro Pinball® tables for various platforms, including PC, Mac, iOS, Android, PS3, PSvita and XBLA, to name but a few. “The scope of the project effectively means we’re building five new pinball games from scratch!” said Adrian Barritt.
"If there is a pinball fan out there who has not yet been to the campaign site and pledged to help this project succeed then I implore them to do so now. I was delighted to be asked to be involved with this project and am therefore eager to hit the Kickstarter target and get started." said Pat Lawlor.
Just by visiting the Kickstarter page fans are able to download a free original Pro Pinball table, on pledging just $2 or more backers will also receive two other original tables on success of the project. These rewards are on top of the existing items, including signed boxed copies of the tables in the series; classic and new, and the opportunity to appear on the back-glass of the new table, drawn by the great John Youssi; the artist responsible for a the back-glass artwork for The Addams Family, The Twilight Zone and Medieval Madness. Plus the team are creating a series of metal Pro Pinball® badges in Bronze, Silver and Gold; and these collectors' items will only be available to the Kickstarter backers.
Please show your support and help make Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered a reality by pledging HERE.
Features, Developmental Details And Future Plans
Graphics Rendering : Silverball plans to stick with pre-rendered graphics as that will yield the best visual results. They are striving for perfection and believe they can get closer this way. However, if there's sufficient demand, Silverball would be happy to consider supporting real-time 3D further down the road.
Head 2 Head Mode : Silverball plans to bring back the Big Race USA Head 2 Head Mode. There's also the possibility that the new table may also end up with a Head 2 Head Mode as well.
iCade Support : Silverball is looking into possibly implementing iCade support for iOS devices.
Media Distribution : The new and remastered games will be download only, however Silverball will be offering boxed copies (and in some cases signed boxed copies) to Kickstarter backers. Also, Silverball plans to try to get Pro Pinball : Revived & Remastered on Steam.
New Exclusive Original Table : Silverball has enlisted the help of pinball legend Pat Lawlor to design the new table and John Youssi to do the artwork and since they will need a full year to do the new table justice, expect a late 2013 release.
Pinball Cabinet Support : Silverball will be building their own cabinet and look to implement most, if not all, of the following : 2 or 3 monitor support with a fully scalable and positionable Dot Matrix Display, support for both digital and analog nudging plus motion controllers, animated backglass, force feedback and LED-Wiz support. Also, Silverball would be willing to make high resolution Pro Pinball graphics available for anyone who wanted to decorate their cabinet with them.
Platform And Device Ports : Silverball plans to start with iOS, Mac and PC and get them spot on, then go from there. Which platforms they do next will be partly determined by the feedback they get. However, if Silverball are fortunate enough to sufficiently exceed their Kickstarter target of $400,000, then they will be able to guarantee support for other platforms such as Android, PS3 and Xbox 360. If Silverball just hits their target, their plan is to re-invest the income from future sales to port the game to other platforms, but that will take longer and isn't guaranteed.
Portrait View : Silverball plans to support 1080x1920 which, with pixel perfect pre-rendered graphics, should look awesome in a cabinet.
Remastered Original Pro Pinball Tables : Silverball plans to fully remaster the four original Pro Pinball tables which include The Web, Timeshock!, Big Race USA and Fantastic Journey to ensure that the original, and hugely popular, classics maintain their authenticity whilst looking and playing the best they can. Silverball plans to begin releasing the remastered tables in early 2013.
Screen Resolutions : Silverball looks to support resolutions up to and including 1080x1920 (portrait mode Full HD), 1536x2048 (new iPad) and even 2880x1800 (MacBook Pro Retina).
Second Monitor Support : Second monitor support is definitely a feature Silverball would like to support, but unless it's very easy to do, they'd want to prioritize porting to other platforms first.
Exclusive Q&A With Adrian Barritt And Pat Lawlor
This is an exlcusive Q&A with Adrian Barritt and Pat Lawlor comprised of questions submitted by the Pinball Arcade Fans Forum community. ENJOY!
Adrian Barritt
01) Any chance of designing a table where the player can choose sides at the beginning of the game, making for two very different play styles where one mode could focus more on a flowy loop play and the other mode could be more about careful shots?
Adrian : Interestingly enough the Pinball Pulse game we did for Nintendo had something like this. You could choose either Zeus or Hera at the start of each ball. Zeus would be more aggressive with higher scoring opportunities, but you'd get less savers and kickbacks. Hera on the other hand would make it easier to keep the ball in play but some aspects of the game weren't quite so rewarding. You would also collect either lightning bolts or golden apples as rewards whilst playing, each of which having a different impact in the final Wizard mode of the game.
We could look to do something that takes things even further in Pat Lawlor's new game, but that would depend on the theme that the backers ultimately choose. Some themes would lend themselves to this mechanic better than others.
02) What is your favorite real world pinball table?
Adrian : That's a tricky question. The one I'm fondest of is definitely Black Knight 2000. It's the first game I ever owned, and for that reason you'll see it in the Kickstarter video too. The gamplay is a little repetitive, but its sound track is absolutely the best there is. The music never stops, one piece flowing seamlessly into another, coupled with the singing and the voice of the Black Knight, it really is wonderful. Even now, after playing hundreds of games, whenever I complete R-A-N-S-O-M and everything kicks off, it sends a shiver down my spine!
03) Have you played any other digital pinball games that you enjoyed?
Adrian : The ones I admire the most would be from LittleWing. They have a similar philosophy to us; Quality before quantity. They've produced a small number of games, but you can tell that each one has been tweaked to perfection.
04) Really happy and surprised that you guys decided to hire Pat and make a completely new table, but is it not a bit risky to ask for $400,000. All or nothing is very brutal.
Adrian : Well of course we could ask for less, but then we wouldn't raise enough money to make the games. Everything has been costed and we need this much to do things right. We've already spent money on acquiring the Pro Pinball rights and starting to rebuild Timeshock! from the ground up. When you break it down we're only asking for $64,000 per game, which, in game development terms, sounds like a bargain to me.
05) Do you guys have any other plans, if you only get say $300,000, like starting another campaign with paypal etc?
Adrian : We haven't made any other plans yet. Though an interesting statistic from Kickstarter is that 80% of projects that raise at least 30% of what they're asking for go on to be fully funded. So it's unlikely we'll get to $300,000 and no more, instead we are more likely to either complete crash and burn raising less than $100,000 or go all the way! Hopefully the latter with our fans support.
06) What, in your eyes, are the benefits of using pre-rendered graphics, compared to the drawbacks (no flexible camera angles, no resolution independence), especially in regards to the table lighting effects?
Adrian : The only drawback as far as we're concerned is the lack of flexible camera angles that you mention. Resolution independence isn't an issue as we can always downscale higher resolution pre-renders to whatever screen resolution is required. (Assuming for no-one has a display with a resolution higher than 2880x1800 or 1080x1920!) The benefits however are considerable, we have started to use a new technique that on the higher end hardware at least, will allow full control over General Illumination, and have Flashers that light the entire playfield in a totally authentic way, shadows and all. And on lower end hardware you won't be limited to the 3D capabilities of the machine, each pixel will be perfectly rendered on top end PC over a period of days. The new remastered Pro Pinball games will be virtually indistinguishable from videos of real tables once we're done. One indirect benefit of not displaying realtime 3D models is that on some platforms the CPU can be freed up to spend most of it's power running the physics simulation, something which is obviously vital to top notch pinball simulation.
Over the course of the Kickstarter campaign we will be sharing some early test renders from the new Timeshock! and hopefully some videos too, the first of which can be found on YouTube: http://youtu.be/kdun_RdmuZQ
07) Have you decided yet on who is going to do the sound design, music, and DMD animations of the new table? Personally speaking, while the playfield graphics and design of Pro Pinball are fantastic, the audio design lacks a bit of the dramatic energy of a lot of real pinball tables. Any chance a composer like Chris Granner would be willing to contribute?
Adrian : We haven't decided for sure on who should do the sound and music yet, but it sounds like you be pleased to know it won't be either of the teams who worked on the original games. Who we go with will to some extent depend on the theme our backers ultimately choose, as that will dictate the feel we will want the music to have. Regardless, a chunk of the budget has been reserved for sound of music. You might like to listen to videos of Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon on YouTube as that will give you a good idea of what we've done recently from an audio standpoint.
08) While the mechanical sounds of your past pinball titles were quite nice, the ones a real pinball machine makes are still more aggressive. Would you consider spending some time on this these sounds as well - for instance, recording high quality samples of real machines?
Adrian : The physical sounds were originally recorded from an actual Star Trek: The Next Generation. But we will be resampling everything from scratch this time around. It sound like we also need to have a volume option that will let you turn the mechanical sounds up to 11!
09) Is there a particular reason why you chose to go for it all by hiring Pat Lawlor and John Youssi to help revive The Pro Pinball Series instead of just fully re-mastering and re-releasing the orginal four Pro Pinball tables on multiple platforms to install a strong fanbase first?
Adrian : There is a considerable amount of overlap in remastering the original classics and creating a brand new table. So combining to two enables us to offer much more "bang for buck" than would be the case if we just did a Kickstarter for remastering the originals or doing a brand new table. Of course, Pat Lawlor and John Youssi are both legends in the industry, having the opportunity to work with them is a fantastic prospect. I am confident that together we will create a truly special game of pinball. On top of that their involvement will really help us get the word out and our Kickstarter noticed, and we can offer some unique rewards such as John Youssi including backer's portraits in the backglass to Pat Lawlor's new Pro Pinball game.
10) If The Pro Pinball Series revival is successful, would you consider making original tables based on licensed themes in the future?
Adrian : Absolutely. If the revival succeeds, we'd love to do some licensed themes. A personal favourite of mine from my childhood (which probably wouldn't be commercially viable, but you never know...) would be Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets! The five team members and their own vehicles plus all the different Mecha of Galactor to battle with would all work really well in a pinball game. For those of you who know Gatchaman, I'd like to end with "Science Ninja Technique: Firebird Multiball!!!"
Pat Lawlor
01) Will the development of the new playfield include real-life pinball prototypes, like whitewoods, where you can test the kinetics of the game just like you used to, or will it be entirely digital, built and tested within the Pro Pinball engine? In other words, will you approach the concept and design just like you would for a real pinball table, or will your workflow change in any significant way?
Pat : I expect to use the same work flow as I am used to, within the confines of the digital world. The SilverBall physics engine is so good, I really am looking forward to "virtual" whitewoods.
02) If your new design is successful, would you consider turning your virtual pinball into a real machine, assuming that it gets the proper funding from fans and collectors?
Pat : You bet. In fact, I'll be designing this in such a way that it could be built in the real world.
03) Virtual pinball on platforms like computers, consoles and smartphones/tablets reach a much larger audience than real pinball ever could, and especially younger generations who grew up without access to arcades. Generally speaking, do you think the increasing realism of virtual pinball and the growing interest in these titles could lead to a "rebirth" of pinball popularity, that, while it surely will never reach the heights of the early 90s again, could at least lead to more real pinball machines being produced again?
Pat : Anything is possible. If I can play pinball on my ipad, does that cause me to want to seek out a real pinball machine? Maybe I want to play the virtual game in the real world that I just played in the virtual world. See answer to 2 above!
04) In a past interview, you mentioned that the market for pinball would be completely dead within a few years. While the situation for mass-produced pinball is indeed quite bleak, a quite considerable fanbase of dedicated pinball players, collectors and fans has survived, while the genre seems to be gaining new enthusiasts (just as myself). From my impressions, you seem genuinely excited about this project. What do you think the future of pinball, both as the physical machines and the abstract concept of pinball design, will look like?
Pat : Well, the outlook for real games is indeed grim. Real games are mostly about ROI (Return On Investment). The only thing keeping real pinball alive right now are collectors and lifestyle folks who want to purchase them directly for their personal use. It's POSSIBLE that changing the game play mechanic could cause people to want to play real pinball again. But, the game itself would have to cost considerably less for the ROI thing to work.
05) You mentioned that this will be the first table where you will be free from the financial constraints of real-world pinball design. In what ways have these financial limits held back your concepts of past pinball designs? Any big cuts you had to make, or even ideas you never could get started at all?
Pat : Lots. But the point is that pinball manufacture is a business. It makes sense that you cannot put everything in a game that you would like. But "mechanical" things in a virtual game are free from a manufacturing standpoint. So..... its time to dream new cool things!
06) I can´t speak for everone, but personally, hearing that you were excited to produce a virtual pinball table was quite a surprise. How long have you been considering this, and what were the inital events or inspirations that led to this decision? Does it feel unusual to be thinking about concepts for a virtual table, or does it not make much of a difference to you?
Pat : I'm not sure why this is a shock for folks. I started out in coin-operated games as a video game programmer-designer. I have done my best over the years to keep my programming skills up to date. Over the last 2 years I've taught myself most of the graphics design tools in common use, from photoshop to blender. I really like new and cool things so this doesn't feel odd at all.
07) There´s a news clip on YouTube back when Whirlwind was produced, where you mentioned that you´ve been designing games since you were a little kid. How long were you interested in pinball before you started designing your own? What used to inspire you back then and what inspires you now?
Pat : I played pinball as a kid riding with my dad on his beer truck. I was fairly addicted to the game in college. I even had one (flipper cowboy ) in my college digs. What inspires me is doing something NEW, that hasn't been seen before. And then watching the look on players faces when they play.
08) Do you have a favorite Pinball designer or table that you did not work on from the glory days of the 90'?
Pat : How about 1 from the 80's. High Speed by Steve Ritchie. Programmed by Larry DeMar. An awesome piece of story telling and dynamic flow.
09) If you were going to update any of your old tables or do a sequel, which theme would be your first choice?
Pat : I really hate sequels because they always seem like a lazy way to come to grips with a new theme.
10) Looking back on all your tables. which ones are you most pleased with now?
Pat : Designs like these are like your children. Each one took 1 year of my life. So, I know their flaws and their strengths, and why they work or don't. I leave it up to the players to decide which ones are the best.
This thread will be updated continuously with the latest news and information confirmed by Silverball Studios and contains absolutely NO RUMORS.
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