Dream themes/concepts

Kung. Fury.

I’d like to see a Tron Vault Edition with the styling of the first movie.

Lightcycles would stay the same
Clu would be replaced by “BIT” and it would make the “yes” noise whenever you completed the lanes
"End of Line Jackpot" would be “It’s all in the wrist”

And that’s as much as I have thought about it.

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Cliffhanger mini-wizard mode, you have to get closest to a target score to get a 10x jackpot of that score, but if you go over, insta-tilt.

All with the yodeling soundtrack playing in the background.

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Replace the replay knocker with this:

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That’d be really cool, I thought the Big Boob Melon game was a missed opportunity (idk, maybe it’s actually terrific, I just can’t stand playing it). I wouldn’t even mind just regular new EM-style machine. One of my vague homebrew ideas is for a Mystery Date theme, where you have to collect a full set of one type of clothes via drop targets and then open the “door” on the animated backbox to reveal whether you have a match (jackpot) or not, which would go really nicely with a simplified EM style.

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Lucky Seven - Shoot the correct lit shots/targets to “guess” the price of a car. First hit shot/target locks in a guess; distance away from the correct shot determines how many of your $7 you lose. End with $1, buy the car, and win a jackpot!

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I have been thinking about a game based around the electronic music scene called Club [name of company that wants this game]. With so many licensed music games out there, I think a game that has some branded material (music from various artists) and some original content (thematics, art style) could find a solid, fun niche.

Some thoughts of playfield elements include:

  • “Crossfade Ramps” - Two ramps that cross after their peak and feed the opposite-side flipper for looping shots, a la Full Throttle. A diverter runs between them that can force the ball to the same-side flipper for criss-cross loops or neat tricks in modes. Definitely shouldn’t be backhandable; this music has some flow to it!

  • “Drop Loop” - An outer loop (preferrably left side to avoid the plunger lane) that can divert from a full loop shot into into a mini-loop with a mini-flipper. (similar to Tornado/Munchikin loop in WoZ) Similar to a build up/drop, the shot can be used to build up to a feature (thinking a multiball) and used in modes in both the full loop and mini loop states. Haven’t finalized how to incorporate both the ramps and the loop without obstructing vision/blocking the playfield/looking awkward yet.

  • “DJ Booth” - A scoop that is used to start modes and certain features. Looks like a DJ booth on a stage. Probably flanked by the ramps.

  • “Bass Bumpers” - Pop bumpers, probably on the upper-right side of the playfield like on the DMD Star Treks. Can accept loop feeds (has toplanes) and can be incorporated into modes.

  • “Audio Blast” - Captive ball on one of the sides of the game. Can be used for modes and multiball progress.

  • A vanilla right loop. Yep, its a loop.

  • More!

Game is set up in a similar fashion to Star Trek: there’s modes, you play the modes with a time limit, and no matter how well or poorly you do, once the time is up the mode is over. Each “mode” is represented by a song, with a different objective based on the mode. Completing the main objective in the time limit awards a bonus, and continues the song through victory laps. In addition, there’s a secondary objective to all modes: putting on an amazing performance and building a crowd! Each shot in a mode adds to your Crowd Size which will affect bonus, the wizard mode, and may affect other elements of the game. In addition, as your Crowd Size gets larger, you can see the venue you’re playing at get more crowded, and at certain Crowd Sizes you’ll get taken away to larger and larger venues ranging from a small downtown club to a large festival!

Modes are 2 songs each of a handful of styles:

  • Big Beat (The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers, Basement Jaxx, RJD2, etc)
  • Drum and Bass (Pendulum, Camo & Krooked, B-Complex, Netsky, etc)
  • Dubstep (Skrillex, Pegboard Nerds, Flux Pavillion, Nero, Lindsey Stirling, etc)
  • House (Deadmau5, Armin Van Buuren, Hardwell, Kaskade, Swedish House Mafia/their separate works, etc)
  • Wildcard (Anyone that would be awesome on a pin)
  • And maybe more!

Each set of 2 songs would have a related “DJ” that you choose that the beginning of the game. Each DJ would give a scoring/Crowd Size boost to their respective songs, since they’re the specialists! DJs can be other game developers, similar to other developer self-inserts like the Baywatch multiball or Lyman’s Lament. In addition, if there’s enough music to add to the game, each DJ can have their own multiball themes to give an aesthetic flavor to the game.

Speaking of visuals, the display will show your choice of DJ performing with a booth on stage, with visuals to match the events of the game. Each mode will have a set of visuals, which get more fancy as the venues get larger. Scores and ball progress are displayed in corners of the display, paired with their own backdrop so they don’t get lost in the animation. Also, music would be hopefully set up such that the game can seamlessly fly between various songs; this is a game about being a DJ, right?

…I’d love to go on, but I really should stop and think a bit more for now. This is a game I want to flesh out for sure, and hopefully some day either homebrew or design and polish for a company. Start dreamy and work your way back, right?

6 Likes

Ummm. This sounds fantastic.

Except maybe take out the really harsh dubstep people like skrillex and FP and do bass nectar and maybe something like mimosa or something.

Polish ambassador. Listened to them constantly when I used to play a ton of TPA on Xbox.

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Add some Lazerhawk in there (aka @GarrettHays)

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A functioning Cliffhangers ball lock that drops the balls off the edge like the yodeler when multiball starts would be an amazing toy.

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Yeah, I don’t really have a definitive “who I would love on the game” list yet. Bassnectar was just off the short list, and Mimosa is one I forgot!

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You’ve put more thought into your idea, but I’d love a game where you build songs as you play. Infected Mushroom would be a candidate for the music. When you choose a song, you start with just one track, and each time you complete an objective of the mode, it layers in a different part of the track (or perhaps just a note from a riff of one of the tracks).

When you finally build the entire song: boom - multiball!

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You know, that works for a mode! “Wild Card” was thrown in there as a catch-all for some cool concepts/artists that just fell off the main groups’ radars, and I do love me some Infected Mushroom. Had no idea how to really incorporate them into the game until now!

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This would be super rad. You could develop a bank of samples that would change day to day, so the music is never the same twice.

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I really love this concept :smiley:

It should have an acid mode where if you keep making shots, the built-in 303 emulation keeps cranking up the resonance and then cutoff, completing would result in eargastic multiball frenzy. Think “Higher State of Consciousness” by Josh Wink or Hardfloor’s “Acperience 1”. Missing shots would of course backtrack your progress on the soundtrack as well.

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is my answer to the question when asked. Lots of great callouts and the progression writes itself. Collect the various historical characters with the Wizard Mode being the presentation. Mini-wizard mode in the mall.

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oh my god i want this right now

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A Radical! retheme is what I came up with when I was thinking of that very concept a few months back!

Oh man plus like, modes based off of the sins? One of my favorite modes in TZ is “Greed”, not because I actually play it (oh god) but because of the idea of the game tempting you to shoot extremely dangerous shots in exchange for points. It’s this really fun little psychological game. A whole set of modes based off of that would be so cool.

Usually my favorite themes are original/non-licensed, but my favorite “dream” licensed pin would be a modern Beatles game. I really think you could do a lot with that, with the different eras and styles and probably a good dose of Yellow Submarine iconography.