Multiplayer pinball tables/modes ideas

msilcommand

New member
Mar 22, 2019
186
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I have seen some old ideas of multiplayer tables, where the table is like a soccer field, with flippers on each end, and players try to score on each other. Maybe if done in an exciting way, with cool stuff going on in the middle, this could be fun.

My idea is a bit different. I would like to see more of a pinball map that multiple people play on at the same time. Viewed from the top, I guess it would look like a large table, but with playfields that intersect, and with players, or even teams of players that control sections of the map and work together or independently to score points. There would have to be multiple balls in play at the same time, probably one for each team or player in a specific color or custom team skin. Some ideas of things that could be going on to make it interesting (beside cool table design ideas and actions): maybe a member or members of enemy teams control disrupter flippers in another team's playfield, and try to either drain the ball, or pass the ball to their own team; then scoring with another team's ball can be like triple scoring or something (increased even more if you have your own team ball still in control or even more if you have captured multiple team balls). Once a team loses control of their ball, they can launch a new one, and if they recapture their old ball they get a bonus of some sort, and the ball autodrains or something like that. Think Pinout, but in multiple directions. Maybe from the top, a table could be round with 3-5 team sections. If the game was played with just one person on each team, then that person controls all of the flippers in each section, same as in normal pins.

I feel like this could be really awesome. Obviously, like with a lot of modern multiplayer team games, you will have to have trusted buddies to play with in team battles. Though even as just a solo person on a multiplayer table of my design idea, it could be potentially very fun and challenging to play on, if it is done right and has enough depth and challenges.
 

shutyertrap

Moderator
Staff member
Mar 14, 2012
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There was Alvin G Soccer, a table FarSight had planned on putting in TPA but since they never figured out the whole Head 2 Head online thing, I think the idea got scrapped. There's also the Williams Joust table, which I think based on what you do on your side of the playfield affects what happens on your opponent's. Not real sure, I've only ever put hands on it once. And then there's my holy grail table, which is NBA Fastbreak. That one got linked via cable to another Fastbreak and you scored against the other player. I believe it too had things where if one table activated something it would affect the other.

I don't know what the realities of having something like Joust or Alvin G Soccer are, given it would have to track the other player's balls and actions all with no lag, and you'd fully see it happening. At least with NBA Fastbreak lag doesn't matter as it's only scores and lighting cues that would change.

As for a four person pinball...Hungry Hungry Hippos Pinball Adventure!! Can you imagine the floor space something like that would take?

Oh and by the way, you know you're in the full throws of pinball addiction when you start imagining rule sets. It's a slippery slope one of our early members went down and he made full documentation for EVERYTHING. It's a fun mental space to be in.
 

msilcommand

New member
Mar 22, 2019
186
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As for a four person pinball...Hungry Hungry Hippos Pinball Adventure!! Can you imagine the floor space something like that would take?

Oh and by the way, you know you're in the full throws of pinball addiction when you start imagining rule sets. It's a slippery slope one of our early members went down and he made full documentation for EVERYTHING. It's a fun mental space to be in.

Holy crap, yeah, no way my multiplayer table idea could be a physical pin. At least not outside of someone's personal behemoth project. But just imagine, in digital, the circular table, with some shared pathways between team sections and the very center of the table rounded off, or maybe with some sort of apparatus up there, or even other team flippers with players trying to redirect your balls into the pathways or over the center into their own team's section, etc. It would have to be heavily thought out, and there would have to be some fun powerups and/or perks players could use for disruption.

And dude, he wrote EVERYTHING down? That's some serious dedication.
 
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Citizen

New member
Oct 5, 2017
1,384
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Joust only lets you control your own flippers, nothing fancy. It's still a pretty fun game though. Head-to-head is something that was toyed with numerous times but never took off in pinball, which is a shame. Joust and A.G. Soccer/Football are actually the most successful h2h machines, which is saying something.

I'd love to see one of the newer companies on the scene these days take a chance on an h2h pin. And having Joust or A.G. Soccer translated to digital would be cool too.
 

Narc0lep5y

Member
Feb 21, 2015
311
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Warlords meets pinball. Defend your castle while opponents fling (cannon) balls at it. Could be a good twist on my favorite old school 4 player game
 

Narc0lep5y

Member
Feb 21, 2015
311
0
There something about the old Atari paddles and spinning it to one side while letting go of the button to slam it into a rival castle that has the same satisfying “feel” as mashing the flipper button to launch a ball up a ramp.

Launching a ball and doing the same thing could be amazing especially if you could do the same slam and catch move too.
 

msilcommand

New member
Mar 22, 2019
186
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I was trying to think of ways a multiplayer table could emulate nudging. Maybe each set of flippers is set in a piece that is separate from the table, and can be moved a half inch in any direction. That would be cool for emulating nudging left or right to save the ball or for trick shots; and could also be fun for adding extra power to a shot, by nudging upward as you flip. It could also be used to trap and catch the ball with a downward nudge as the ball reaches the flippers. I think that could be a lot of fun.
 

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