Really as many ways as you can impart game state information to the player the better. I often drain when I have to look up at the screen, but in a crowded barcade sometimes I can’t hear tilt warnings. I even appreciate Knock Three Times on Addams because the knocker lets me know how close I am to completing the mode. Any audio cues are super helpful when I get into a flow state.
I would LOVE some more obvious audio clues regarding Rescues and Unsuccessful Rescues. When the dino is on the same space as the Rescue, I’m really concentrating on trying to save that guest, but it’s impossible to tell how much time I have left before they get eaten.
If there is an audio clue that I’m too late, it’s not very obvious in the heat of the moment with other stuff going on. Shouldn’t I hear them dying (and know I can move onto other stuff)?
Just an anecdote on Feed T-Rex scoring. I hit a few shots (3, or 4?) before hitting T-Rex, which locked me into a base value just under 5m. I focused on the red shots (which represent spelling CHAOS in order), and think my first was 5m, and the second was 15m. I don’t think I had any beyond that, but that 15m seemed like pretty good value.
Just to clarify I haven’t played JP yet even though I was in the same room as one, so I can’t comment on audio cue implementation. But if ever there is a question of if something deserves an audio cue, I am firmly in favor of adding it. I realize a lot of the same information is given out via playfield lighting and the LCD, but for some reason I personally don’t notice it half the time, especially on games I don’t play as often. I mostly gravitate towards solid state era games, but I appreciate the fact modern pinball lighting has a ‘language’, if it’s lit it’s worth something. If it’s flashing slowly hit it soon, if it starts flashing faster hit it now, if it’s pulsing it’s worth big points, etc. Stern at least has been fairly consistent in lighting cues and I appreciate that. I don’t play JJ as much, so I don’t know if they have been doing as well, but with the exception of DI, JJ games have almost too much going on for my taste. Stern, with the exception of byzantine multiplier strategies that introduce essentially nonlinear scoring, has been a bit better at making the scoring strategies obvious. My favorite Stern since AC/DC is Beatles though, so perhaps I am in the minority in wanting to walk up to a machine and understand 75% of what’s going on by simply reading the instruction card and playfield inserts.
Weirdly enough I enjoy B66 though, the most egregious offender. My scores aren’t even good on it, but it’s dumb and happy and playful and for whatever reason I keep feeding it money.
I totally agree regarding using audio cues and playfield lighting to guide the player. IMHO, playfield lamps and audio should tell the player what to shoot for, with the display showing the results. No problem doubling up information on the display as well, but keep it on the playfield first and foremost. In a perfect world, the player should be able to start and complete any feature even with a broken display (although they wouldn’t know the scores achieved).
Shout out to Keefer for the awesome idea of putting the timer right on the playfield in the TV set. Also Kaminkow(?) for SST bug kill LED displays. OTOH as much as I am liking BM66, it seems hard to glean much information from the inserts or sounds…
This X1000 Playing yesterday at Buffalo Billiards and there are a lot of times that I couldn’t see the ball after making a shot and the lights didn’t come back on till the ball was already at my flippers. Maybe only a portion of lights go out as it’s a cool feature but please not 100% of the GI.
Looking forward to getting more time on this one as well. Felt like a fun game with a lot more going on than I originally envisioned. @snailman and I played one last game before leaving and he kept telling me to shoot for ____ and _____ which really helped me progress and get deeper in the game.
Anyone want to buy my bad ass AC/DC so I can have the $$$ and space for a JP
Yep. Every update we try to pepper in more instructional speech and text. It is a lot more time consuming than people might think with priorities, not stomping on existing stuff, and becoming too repetitive.
becoming too repetitive.
THE RAMP!
THE RAMP!
THE RAMP!
Shoot the basket!
wait i thought we were supposed to shoot the pyramid
Everybody underground now!!
Shoot The Deathstar on DE Star Wars easily wins for most annoying hurry up speech. Nonverbal goes to Taxi, mostly because it’s actually often difficult to do what the game wants.
“Master Luke I strongly suggest you get the extra ball” is up there too. Considering it seemingly activates on every inlane switch.
Same with the ramp callouts from Cue Ball Wizard.
now you’re really in the wrong game!
I agree that the blackout of the lights can be a little jarring in a dark location and I was not prepared to hit any kind of follow-up shot once I realized where the ball was. I didn’t notice it at Replay(assuming because of the better lighting).
Game is a blast though, put in a few games yesterday and from what I can tell Chaos seems to be king for getting a good base score.
I mean - you shore need those ramp shots.
Did a bunch of editing, formatting, and organizing/grouping. Also added some detail from @sk8ball H2H interview and a couple tidbits from the game’s launch video on @DEADFLIP.
Also added a Strategies section and Stacking section. If I’m wrong on the stacking, someone please correct it.
Last, I tried to highlight a few areas where info is lacking.
Thank you, Colin!
Other than the launch video w/ KME and T-Rex destroying a tri-ball, are there any decent videos of someone opening up the game a bit?
Yes, check out skipnatty on twitch.