Doom 2 Pinball available now

[larsboy]

Someone has provided hosting for my new Doom 2 Pinball. Screenshot and download available here: http://www.kutek.net/larsboy/

Note: to play it, you need Visual Pinball.

[insertwackynamehere]

wow that looks neat, cant get it now though, in school :P

[Kinsie]

This is pretty good. Top marks!

[[KoZ]MatthewPe2]

where do I get visual pinball??

[Trilinear]

[KoZ]MatthewPe2 said:
where do I get visual pinball??

Here:
http://irpinball.ztnet.com/files/VPinball61.zip

This table is actually really good, you've obviously put a lot of work into it - well done! I'll certainly have to sit down one evening and play through it seriously.

Might I suggest providing a direct download link to Virtual Pinball 6.1 on your page, as well as a list of keys which operate the pinball table.

For people who haven't installed it yet, here are the keys:

5 = Add a credit
1 = Start playing
ENTER = Launch the ball
Left Shift & Right Shift = Flippers
SPACE = Tilt

...and also make sure you increase the video resolution to see the table in it's full detail (Preferences -> Video Options).

[[KoZ]MatthewPe2]

when I switch back to editor the thing errors and closes

[larsboy]

You need a newer version of Visual Pinball to avoid the crash on exit with Windows XP SP2. Try the VP links to get a download. Sadly, VP is an old and far from bug-free program that hasn't been updated in a long time. I made this table several years ago, and only released it now.

[Linguica]

It's got some interesting features but overall it's pretty boring.

The main problem is that there's just not enough to do, and what there is to do is by and large too difficuly to get to. The main field is pretty much barren, it's got like 4 or 5 shots to make, but two just kick the ball right back out and one does a worthless loop. One goes up to the bumpers which is OK but fairly standard, and then there's one teeny tiny difficult shot to make it onto the upper playfield, which is actually pretty creative and neat.

I do like the idea of hitting the little targets with the third flipper to "kill" the boss monsters. The problem is that it's just too hard to get up there in the first place, and really you only need to get up there 2 or 3 times to kill any given boss because you can easily get multiple hits in a row. If the upper field is supposed to activate "modes" it should be easier to get to and easier to activate.

The Icon of Sin thing is interesting too, but it's really a waste. A fourth flipper that only activates on rare occasions and allows you to make an extremely easy shot? What's the point? It would be better if you had to shoot the icon from the main flippers up some ramp and through a hoop or whatever instead of wasting an extra flipper on one shot which is pretty much a gimme anyway.

The Barrels of Fun mode is creative too but there's not a whole lot to it. Hitting bumpers? Ok, great, what more do I have to do?

The playfield is pretty plain too: no VUKs, no spinners, and really not a whole lot of variation or alternate routes. The entire upper left area feels like a waste of space. It's nice to have that little upper playfield but I don't want to sacrifice a huge chunk of table to get it.

Overall it's an OK table but while I played it it often devolved into hitting shots into the main field over and over and over because I wasn't hitting anything interesting or if I did it either just looped around a ramp or went through the bumper field or got spit back out. Not as interactive and interesting as I hoped.

Oh the sound is nice. The sound effects are very well set up, although I got really sick of DSTINK playing every time I ran over one of the D-O-O-M sensors (which happened way too much -- is the table not tilted enough?) but the monster sounds when shit got going worked very well. The changes of music were good too but often the loops were too short. I got really tired of hearing 8 seconds of "Dem Bones" looping over and over when I activated Barrels of Fun, etc.

[larsboy]

Thanks for the comments Linguica, I appreciate your constructive critisism. It seems your main problem is you're having too hard a time hitting the upper playfield. All the different modes have a lot of fun and variation. They're not supposed to be easy to start, it takes some practice to get good at it. I'm not too good myself, but the people who play a lot of Visual Pinball find it easy. With some skill on the upper playfield, you can take down all targets without loosing the ball back down. Also, lighting locks is done on the upper playfield, and the regular multiball use the Icon of Sin. Three other things also use that fourth flipper, but they are harder to get to. Most uses of the Icon shot require multiple balls in play at once, so while the shot itself is very easy, it can be very challenging to do it at the same time as you're juggling balls on the lower playfield.

You say worthless loop, so perhaps you missed the part about shooting cyberdemons? You need to load the shotgun to shoot cybers, and killing one lights a powerup which can be very valuable. Most pinballs are hard at first, when you don't have experience. I find there's more to do in this pinball than in most others I've tried. It allows you to mix and match powerups, multiballs and modes for many combinations, so you can develop strategies. But after all, it is just a pinball. I find it a limited type of game (much prefer dooming), but I very much enjoy designing pinball tables.

I limited the music lengths, as Visual Pinball is not very good with music formats - all the music is uncompressed wavs, and I didn't want a bloated filesize.

I find very little wasted space here. Personally, I am happy with the design and find it fun to play. But it was nice to hear your opinion.

[kaiser_k_bis]

Hi !

the Doom 2 pinball webpage has been updated . now you can find all the links & .exe you need to install and use Visuall Pinball & the Doom 2 table on the page http://www.kutek.net/larsboy/
have fun !
kaiser_k_bis

[SyntherAugustus]

why did you start a new account?

[larsboy]

kaiser_k_bis is the person hosting the table for me. As I said in my first post, the webpage is his, not mine.

[OldMan]

Bump...

Larsboy, very nice origingal table. For those that don't play visual pinball on a regular basis, this is one of the better original creations out there. I like most of the recreations of commercial games better (IMHO nothing beats 90's Williams classics, check out AJ's at http://www.vpforums.com/ ), but most of the original table creations by various authors blow. I really like the sounds in this one, and while the table may seem boring at first, it quickly picks up the pace. I especially like that you can have a battle plan on how to attack once you get the hang of the game.

The only thing that would be better is if this had a video mode where you had to blast some impse to get free ball or something.

Nice release Larsboy!

-Peace out