I saw a PS post where someone complained about GoT just starting over after beating Iron Throne and he just left the balls drain after that because he didn’t feel like starting over from scratch. I notice I am starting to do the same thing on a lot of games. I think that is one of the things that made Golden Cue so unique was you had to plan your exit strategy since you know the game is going to end when you reach the end. Would be fun to experiment with a modern game in the same manner. Lyman’s games are pretty hard to beat but games like GoT, Kiss and Mustang could benefit from such an operator setting since beating them means back to chopping wood 
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Haven’t really thought about this but the first thing that came to mind was implementing a “prestige” mode where you perhaps can restart but with greater incentive, permanent 2x playfield, next time 4x playfield. Some insanely huge reward that makes it fun to do everything again?
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Agreed. That was my suggestion to Dwight to make combo multiplier shots double (Max 50X would make me want to continue!)
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I do prefer it when games give you something for “beating” the game. For instance, Spider Man and its 2X playfield if you complete Super Hero.
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Lets see, Cirqus Voltaire has a completely new set of objectives for Joining the Circus twice in one game which always keeps me playing on after the first Party MB. I always play Indiana Jones after achieving Eternal Life MB for the always amusing second “Choose Wisely”. So I would think any sort of unique twist on an existing mode (Super Bicycle Girl MB!) might be enough to entice someone to keep playing after “the end”. Victory Laps on AFM after Ruling The Universe is another cool way to get you to keep playing on, too. Twilight Zone has one of the great you-need-to-set-it-up-just-right rules with respect to “the end” since it counts all the Powerball Mania points achieved during that ball towards the LITZ Champion, so you really want to play a couple of PB MBs on the same ball as LITZ to get the huge LITZ Champion score…
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Yes, and knowing it only continues for that ball makes you want to go for it as best you can. Same for AFM and Medieval with their Victory Laps – even when you “beat” the game the biggest meat is still there ready to go.
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Oh yeah AFM victory laps are awesome! Definitely keeps me wanting to play! Plus the bonus of not having to chop wood through 6 more motherships helps as well
Not sure what Lyman has planned for those live ACDC songs but that could be worked into post Encore award somehow.
something along the lines of playing through mario, and then again where all the mushrooms are the beetles?
Video arcade games started to endings as a common thing at some point. I remember Outrun and Double Dragon as some of the first ones where I notised this.
I have given it some thought in relation to pinball games from time to time. I just don’t think it is easy to visualise for the players. People in arcade play would feel being ripped off. “Where is my ball 3?”
In competition play it would have little impact if stuff like Super Hero or World Cup Final was The end. Unless we talk tweaking the games for some very short term funny-rule goals. Like AFM ends after first multi-ball played (of any) - make the best of it.
Championship rings on NBA FB!
I’ll worry about this when I actually beat a game. close but no cigar
I’d love to see a proper time travel game wherein each shot leads you down a “choose your own adventure” type story line. We talk about it a little bit in the upcoming podcast, but what if Terminator had a shot where Sarah Conner doesn’t get saved? Then you could treat the pin like a video game with multiple endings and the replay-ability would be astronomical.
Considering the average player doesn’t know pinballs have rules and makes each shot maybe one time per game, this would just end up being a giant catastrophe.
Witness GOT getting completely stripped for “casual mode.” That stuff just doesn’t work.
Or, you could design your games only for diehards. That would be an interesting decision.
The boutique guys could definitely go down this route. If you’re only selling 150-300 machines and only a handful are expected to go on route then making the rules for die hards makes sense.
Having said that, I’d argue that WOZ (and even some of your other titles like Simpsons) are coded more for hard core players than for casual customers. I’m in no way saying you don’t pay attention to casual customers, but with games so deep that I have to go read FAQs to figure out the rules and modes it tells me the casual player has no clue about what is going on in the game. As long as there are some obvious flashing shots and a good light show when those shots are hit, I think the casual player will be happy.
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For sure. I hear you on that. Pinball is designed to draw in the casual player at an arcade. I’m working on designing a “fantasy” game that will never see the light of day. The process has been extremely challenging and rewarding. It’s caused me to look at pinball in a much different way, and make conscious decisions about design and game play. The whole process just got me a lot closer to what elements I like about the game as a whole, and the ability to identify what I don’t.
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