I started this thread because I wanted to talk about Bally flippers, and how they were much different from Williams/Gottlieb at that point in time, but I started writing and I just kinda got talking about which tables I'd like to see and why, so this is kind of a dual topic in that respect.
First off, if Farsight is going to do one of these, one thing that they are going to need to address is the flipper physics. You simply cannot use the same flipper physics that have been used thus far. Bally flippers from this era are much different than Gottlieb or Williams. They are slower/weaker. That may sound like a bad thing at first, but to players like me I absolutely love the feel. It feels like you have more control, in a sense, of your shots. They are also spaced closer together, meaning less SDTM drains, and overall the slower shots give the games from this era a very distinct feel.
Farsight will have to redo flipper physics for these, otherwise they simply will not be the same games. Has anyone mentioned this to them yet? Also, are there any plans for an early 80's Bally in the works or hinted at so far? How daunting would it be to get the feel of these flippers down, do you think that's an issue and perhaps a reason we haven't seen an early 80's Bally yet?
I've been pretty adamant about seeing an early 80's Bally machine on PBA. I feel like from a historical perspective, it's important to get at least one on there. To me, early 80's Bally is an "era" of pinball all it's own. Like how EM's have that 60's/70's vibe about them, Bally's have their own vibe that's distinct even from the Williams tables of that time like Gorgar and Black Knight. It's the voice work, music, and art style that creates this special "presense" of these tables. Sound design especially...I don't know if it's more "advanced" from a technological standpoint to what Williams and Gottlieb were doing at this time, but it certainly sounds like it to me. Xenon and Centaur have almost late 80's quality voicework and sound, whereas Black Knight, Black Hole, Gorgar sound much more robotic and less organic. Same thing with the music. Not that I have a problem with BK or Gorgar, I love those tables, I'm just pointing out Bally seemed like it was ahead in this respect.
As far as rule sets and table design, again I really feel these. They are unique. Xenon and Fathom are all about building up multipliers, doubling up the spinner and ripping it for big points, and of course multiball modes. One of my favorite aspects of these two is maxing out the multiplier, which then carries over to the next ball. Fathom actually has two multipliers, a green and a blue, and I believe multiple multiball modes but I'll have to double check that.
Xenon is one of the first tables that really made you feel like multiball was this epic, insane thing. The buildup with voice commands, and then how the music slowly builds up, faster and faster, until it starts going crazy. Similar to how Gorgar's heart starts beating faster and faster, but Xenon actually sounds much better. The music, though simple, does an incredible job of nailing this.
Now these are just the 3 that I'm familiar with. We had a Xenon growing up, and while I'm partial to that one on a personal level for this reason, it's Centaur that I want the most. And the crazy thing is I've never played Centaur, I'm simply going off of Youtube videos. It just looks that epic to me. Same with Fathom, I watched a tutorial on it and came away digging the table. The only other table I'm familiar with of from this era is Future Spa, but from what I've seen I wasn't feeling that one.
TL;DR
What early 80's Bally tables would you like to see? Do you think Farsight will be able to nail the unique flipper feel of these tables? Discuss.
First off, if Farsight is going to do one of these, one thing that they are going to need to address is the flipper physics. You simply cannot use the same flipper physics that have been used thus far. Bally flippers from this era are much different than Gottlieb or Williams. They are slower/weaker. That may sound like a bad thing at first, but to players like me I absolutely love the feel. It feels like you have more control, in a sense, of your shots. They are also spaced closer together, meaning less SDTM drains, and overall the slower shots give the games from this era a very distinct feel.
Farsight will have to redo flipper physics for these, otherwise they simply will not be the same games. Has anyone mentioned this to them yet? Also, are there any plans for an early 80's Bally in the works or hinted at so far? How daunting would it be to get the feel of these flippers down, do you think that's an issue and perhaps a reason we haven't seen an early 80's Bally yet?
I've been pretty adamant about seeing an early 80's Bally machine on PBA. I feel like from a historical perspective, it's important to get at least one on there. To me, early 80's Bally is an "era" of pinball all it's own. Like how EM's have that 60's/70's vibe about them, Bally's have their own vibe that's distinct even from the Williams tables of that time like Gorgar and Black Knight. It's the voice work, music, and art style that creates this special "presense" of these tables. Sound design especially...I don't know if it's more "advanced" from a technological standpoint to what Williams and Gottlieb were doing at this time, but it certainly sounds like it to me. Xenon and Centaur have almost late 80's quality voicework and sound, whereas Black Knight, Black Hole, Gorgar sound much more robotic and less organic. Same thing with the music. Not that I have a problem with BK or Gorgar, I love those tables, I'm just pointing out Bally seemed like it was ahead in this respect.
As far as rule sets and table design, again I really feel these. They are unique. Xenon and Fathom are all about building up multipliers, doubling up the spinner and ripping it for big points, and of course multiball modes. One of my favorite aspects of these two is maxing out the multiplier, which then carries over to the next ball. Fathom actually has two multipliers, a green and a blue, and I believe multiple multiball modes but I'll have to double check that.
Xenon is one of the first tables that really made you feel like multiball was this epic, insane thing. The buildup with voice commands, and then how the music slowly builds up, faster and faster, until it starts going crazy. Similar to how Gorgar's heart starts beating faster and faster, but Xenon actually sounds much better. The music, though simple, does an incredible job of nailing this.
Now these are just the 3 that I'm familiar with. We had a Xenon growing up, and while I'm partial to that one on a personal level for this reason, it's Centaur that I want the most. And the crazy thing is I've never played Centaur, I'm simply going off of Youtube videos. It just looks that epic to me. Same with Fathom, I watched a tutorial on it and came away digging the table. The only other table I'm familiar with of from this era is Future Spa, but from what I've seen I wasn't feeling that one.
TL;DR
What early 80's Bally tables would you like to see? Do you think Farsight will be able to nail the unique flipper feel of these tables? Discuss.
