Archived 2026-10-06 from
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/room-for-storytelling-in-pinball.
Thread text (Pinside forum), page chrome trimmed. Players debating story in pinball: most players never reach wizard modes so they replay the opening chapters; 'character, sense of place, activities' work non-sequentially; praise for three-track structures (Ghostbusters, Star Wars).
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Do you think pinball would be a more immersive experience if they told a better story? I feel like thats what we look for in our other forms of entertainment (books, video games, movies) but not as much with pinball. The LCD in modern games seems the perfect delivery method to tell a story and yet it seems the focus is still on just earning the most points.
Granted, Im sure there are some great examples of games to argue my point and I agree some games have done a good job... I just think more could be done in this area.
What if someone made a game with no points at all? A game where you progress through chapters of a story and have variations of outcomes depending on your performance. I would find that refreshing.
I think pinball needs its Dragons Lair... if they makes any sense. Just some outside-the-box thinking. Multipliers and multiballs are great... I just think theres room for other types of games.
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#2
8 years ago
JON
ForceFlow
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When I think story, I usually immediately think of TOTAN.
I've also thought that a game based on American tall tales & folklore could be interesting.
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#4
8 years ago
OP
TOM
Rascal_H
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Quoted from ForceFlow:
When I think story, I usually immediately think of TOTAN.
Thats a good one. I feel like all the games Chicago Gaming have brought back have great story telling. Maybe thats part of the reason theyre being remade.
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#5
8 years ago
ZAC
zacaj
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As someone who'd never seen either movie, I thought BSD and Tommy did a pretty good job of giving me an (incorrect, it turns out) feel for what the story was.
One time I pictured a game in a generic fantasy setting where the whole playfield (flippers to shots) was a big map with lights under each location, and you could navigate across the map, going to different cities, etc through your shots. Part way though you could get ambushed by bandits, etc.
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#6
8 years ago
KOZ
KozMckPinball
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Quoted from ForceFlow:
When I think story, I usually immediately think of TOTAN.
I've also thought that a game based on American tall tales & folklore could be interesting.
Shrek.
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#7
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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There's already enough "story telling" in pinball. Sucks that this is what it has evolved into.
In fact I was considering starting a thread that there is now too much story telling in pinball,
that takes away from the actual playing experience.
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#8
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
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Quoted from Rascal_H:
What if someone made a game with no points at all? A game where you progress through chapters of a story and have variations of outcomes depending on your performance.
This is my nightmare scenario with Pinball and it just sounds awfull.
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#9
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from TheLaw:
This is my nightmare scenario with Pinball and it just sounds awfull.
If they want story telling, perhaps they should go back to playing video games where all this bullshit came from in the first place.
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#10
8 years ago
ZAC
zacaj
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Quoted from Rascal_H:
What if someone made a game with no points at all? A game where you progress through chapters of a story and have variations of outcomes depending on your performance. I would find that refreshing.
Often my friends and I mix it up by playing games just for number of modes (either completed or started, depending on the game, but you're not allowed to time them out). Seems to work just fine. Score is the tie breaker.
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#11
8 years ago
OP
TOM
Rascal_H
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Quoted from TheLaw:
This is my nightmare scenario with Pinball and it just sounds awfull.
Hah, why? Im sure anyone with the slightest bit of imagination could conceive of a scenario where it would work.
Playing Super Mario Bros World 8-4. Finally made it! About to defeat Bowser! This is great! Princess is saved! Oh hold up, lemme just go squish a few more of these Koopa Troopas. Gotta get my points up.
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#12
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
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Quoted from Rascal_H:
Hah, why?
A pinball machine is and always has been a machine to manipulate in order to score points; I just don't want to get away form that and people are talking aboot it more and more these days. Losing the scoring dynamic just seems like the opposite of what it's intended to do.
A story telling element is already present in 99% of modern games. Haven't played a ton of TNA but there's some reactors blowing up and shit I guess which is a story...which leaves just Juicy Melons? Anyway I just don't get it personally. You have to do X number of things to advance the story? I mean sure, that's what modes do. What happens when i accomplish all the goals? Instead of a score I have a time?
OP
Quoted from Rascal_H:
Im sure anyone with the slightest bit of imagination could conceive of a scenario where it would work.
Shouldn't be too long before someone posts one then and i can better understand.
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#13
8 years ago
DEB
Deaconblooze
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Part of what got me into pinball is its immediacy. I was playing games that would require about an hour of your time at minimum to do anything worthwhile. I got my Flash and would plug at the start button when I had 5 minutes to spare. The beauty of it to me is that I can play a game in a short time and leave it, and I've still had a full experience.
I'm also the kind of guy that would skip cut scenes in games like Halo, unless the story was really engaging or gave a directive.
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#14
8 years ago
OP
TOM
Rascal_H
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Quoted from TheLaw:
A pinball machine is and always has been a machine to manipulate in order to score points; I just don't want to get away form that and people are talking aboot it more and more these days. Losing the scoring dynamic just seems like the opposite of what it's intended to do.
There will always be room for that and it would certainly suck if scoring wasnt a part of pinball. I just mean theres room to evolve and branch into other areas. Video games used to be all about scoring. What happened? They evolved. No one is trying to get a high score in Fallout.
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#15
8 years ago
BMF
Traveler76
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Los Angeles, CA
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When I play pinball, I focus almost exclusively on mode completion. I have next-to-no awareness of points. I rarely try to beat my high score- I'm trying to get further in the game than before. (Of course that usually ties in with score at least partially). For this reason I don't really get into competitive play because I don't want a spreadsheet to figure out the complex rules and scoring strategy of each game.
Perhaps this is why I had way more fun with Ghostbusters than some players. Some people complain about how linear it is, but I enjoyed that it tells a story broken into three clear tracks, and you can essentially choose which track you want to work on after various modes. It was a clear form of storytelling that I really dig and I felt like I got it right away. I felt the same general way about Star Wars- modes are laid out clearly and you can progress through them in a pretty understandable fashion. Some other games take a lot of play to sort out how to start various modes and what you should aim to do next after you finish a mode.
That said, no Dragon's Lair! =P
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#16
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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#17
8 years ago
OP
TOM
Rascal_H
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Quoted from Traveler76:
When I play pinball, I focus almost exclusively on mode completion. I have next-to-no awareness of points. I rarely try to beat my high score- I'm trying to get further in the game than before. (Of course that usually ties in with score at least partially). For this reason I don't really get into competitive play because I don't want a spreadsheet to figure out the complex rules and scoring strategy of each game.
Perhaps this is why I had way more fun with Ghostbusters than some players. Some people complain about how linear it is, but I enjoyed that it tells a story broken into three clear tracks, and you can essentially choose which track you want to work on after various modes. It was a clear form of storytelling that I really dig and I felt like I got it right away. I felt the same general way about Star Wars- modes are laid out clearly and you can progress through them in a pretty understandable fashion. Some other games take a lot of play to sort out how to start various modes and what you should aim to do next after you finish a mode.
That said, no Dragon's Lair! =P
This sounds like me. And Dragons Lair maybe wasnt the best example.
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#18
8 years ago
RAM
Freshmaker
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Quoted from TheLaw:
A pinball machine is and always has been a machine to manipulate in order to score points;
Pinball is a game in which you use flippers in an attempt to hit targets with a ball. That's it. Anything beyond that is implementation.
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#19
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
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Quoted from Rascal_H:
This sounds like me. And Dragons Lair maybe wasnt the best example.
It wasn't because it's a very finite rules/movements. But don't worry, Fallout is actually a worser eXample the other way.
No one cares aboot scoring in Fallout because it's a complete open world games with 100,000 story lines involved. Think the Stern crew can slap that together?
Quoted from Freshmaker:
Pinball is a game in which you use flippers in an attempt to hit targets with a ball. That's it.
I know they made pinball machines without flippers, did they make them without points?
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#20
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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To cut to the chase, the problem with story telling in pinball machines is something Whysnow brought up yesterday.
Most of the time you get through the first few chapters and do that over and over again. It is rare that you get to the later chapters, so you are basically reading the beginning of the same book over and over again.
And I guess when you finally do finish the story, what do you do for an encore? Read the first several chapters over and over again? Sorry, but to me that is very futile and boring.
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#21
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
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Quoted from Traveler76:
When I play pinball, I focus almost exclusively on mode completion.
How does that work on you Fireball, Pinbot, Jokerz, & Earthsaker?
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#22
8 years ago
KOZ
KozMckPinball
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Mode progression is or is not story telling? I guess it is a personal opinon thing. The OP says MMR is a story-telling pin. In that context, so is LOTR, IJ, GB etc. Removing scoring is something separate and I think scoring is what I like about it. Just like being a runner. Do you run to look at the scenery around you or try to beat your best times? Probably a little of both or more of one than the other, but IMHO they go hand-in-hand.
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#23
8 years ago
MAX
mbaumle
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Quoted from o-din:
Most of the time you get through the first few chapters and do that over and over again. It is rare that you get to the later chapters
The original Super Mario Bros on the NES told a story, and you didnt have the ability to save your game.
Pinball machines could absolutely be more story driven. Add clever shortcuts in the rules that can only be discovered by getting good at the game and gaining a deeper understanding of the ruleslike the warp whistles in Mario 3 or the pipe shortcuts in Mario 1.
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#24
8 years ago
V&N
sunnRAT
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Quoted from Rascal_H:
Video games used to be all about scoring. What happened? They evolved. No one is trying to get a high score in Fallout.
True, but i'd rather play an intense game of Robotron 2084, than sit for hours and stare at a TV screen reading dialogue.
And I was a video game kid from the 1990s, when 'storytime' started becoming the norm.
Certainly, video games have evolved, but there is a reason why the classics still hold their own.
I'm an on-the-go, working class father. For the most part, I like my games and pins quick and brutal.
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#25
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from TheLaw:
Earthsaker
Earthshaker has a great story-
It's sunny drive time... here's your fn earthquake.... bitchin'!
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#26
8 years ago
ZAC
zacaj
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Quoted from sunnRAT:
True, but i'd rather play an intense game of Robotron 2084, than sit for hours and stare at a TV screen reading dialogue.
And I was a video game kid from the 1990s.
Certainly, video games have evolved, but there is a reason why the classics still hold their own.
I'm an on-the-go, working class father. For the most part, I like my games and pins quick and brutal.
And there's a reason new types developed as well. People like different things, amazing.
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#27
8 years ago
V&N
sunnRAT
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Quoted from zacaj:
People like different things, amazing.
I know! So cool!
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#28
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from zacaj:
People like different things, amazing.
They sure do! And it would be great if we had more different things than all these story telling pinball games.
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#29
8 years ago
DDT
daudioguy
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Redmond, WA
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Story, the sequential (and there is the problem) telling of events is the problem. However there are elements of 'story' that any interaction can exploit: character, sense of place, activities. There is nothing necessarily sequential about having a character in an interaction. The more you interact with it a character can become more interesting in a non-linear manner. So imposing a linear progression on an interaction based on 'the ball is wild' events is not a good thing. That doesn't mean a pinball can't evoke a place and have interesting interactions with characters and do interesting things. You should not constrain the design "to tell a story". There are plenty of mediums more suited to telling stories, interactions need to invent ways to take elements of stories and make them engaging in interactive ways.
or so I have been saying for a long time....
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#30
8 years ago
RAM
Freshmaker
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Quoted from sunnRAT:
True, but i'd rather play an intense game of Robotron 2084, than sit for hours and stare at a TV screen reading dialogue.
And I was a video game kid from the 1990s.
Certainly, video games have evolved, but there is a reason why the classics still hold their own.
I'm a Video Game kid from the 80's. And 90's. And 2000s and on.
I would have no interest in Robotron or most the 80's arcade staples outside of once in a blue moon trip to a place like Galloping Ghost Arcade.
And while video games have evolved an awful lot, new games done in the style of "classic games" has always been available.
Quoted from o-din:
They sure do! And it would be great if we had more different things than all these story telling pinball games.
Which almost gets to the real issue: Pinball has a content delivery problem.
The fact that these expensive boxes nearly always have only one game on it.
What we commonly see now as a combined "modes and score" type game. That could still be the default game type on new machines... But what if one could select a "scoring only, no modes" game, or only mode progression with no scoring (you made it to level X), there could be a "stopwatch mode" (complete goal as fast as you can). There could be a "countdown mode" where you need to score or progress as far as you can in X amount of time, then you need to do it again in less time, or maybe a more difficult goal in the same amount of time. A game type where they whole game is played withing on of the modes of the default game - like a multi ball only mode. Or only playing the wizard mode.
If pinball modernized to the point where one could purchase and download additional games for their home machine, it wouldn't matter if a given individual disliked 90% of the game types, as they could just not purchase them. People who just want to hit shit and see a number increase would be satisfied. People who like variety would be satisfied.
Home theater aficionados are not forced to buy a projector and screen for each movie they want to watch or a dedicated box with speakers for each album they want hear. Video games sloughed off the one game per box model decades ago and exploded in popularity and left pinball nearly dead and in a ditch.
Now we just need pinball manufacturers to stop complaining about how expensive software is and realize that it is actually their largest profit potential. Most people want variety, most people also want to Not dedicate hundreds of square feet of their homes to get that variety.
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#31
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from mbaumle:
The original Super Mario Bros on the NES told a story, and you didnt have the ability to save your game.
This is why I play mostly pinball instead of video games. And why I wish the video game culture had never infected the pinball culture.
If they want to take anything from the video game culture then why are video game themes cutting edge and pinball themes are not?
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#32
8 years ago
V&N
sunnRAT
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Quoted from Freshmaker:
I'm a Video Game kid from the 80's. And 90's. And 2000s and on.
I would have no interest in Robotron or most the 80's arcade staples outside of once in a blue moon trip to a place like Galloping Ghost Arcade.
And while video games have evolved an awful lot, new games done in the style of "classic games" has always been available.
I understand there are new games with classic style. I have a blast playing Pac Man Battle Royale. Believe it or not, I can beat Link to the Past without help. There are games from each decade I enjoy, but my main thing is there are games that people enjoy playing a quick round without devoting an entire afternoon to them. I don't commit as much time to sitting down an playing video games like I did when I was a kid. Same applies to pinball. I don't want to stand at a machine and have the playfield go dark so I have to read a story.
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#33
8 years ago
MAX
mbaumle
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Gloucester Township, NJ
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Quoted from o-din:
This is why I play mostly pinball instead of video games. And why I wish the video game culture had never infected the pinball culture.
If they want to take anything from the video game culture then why are video game themes cutting edge and pinball themes are not?
Just to preface, I never played arcade video games when I was younger. I never liked the heres a task, beat the level, and do the same thing over again but faster and with more enemies feel that they had.
My argument is that Pinball could really learn a thing or two from more modern video games. Probably the best thing I could think of would be a pinball machine that takes cues from Star Fox.
The game is linear, but with branching paths. In the video game, everyone starts at the same planet, and you can advance to the next planet by simply getting through it by not dying, however, the more advanced player (or a player who has played the first level a bunch of times and figured out some hidden clues) can advance to a more rewarding/different planet by, say, shooting down all the satellite towers AND not dying. The game actually will actually say Mission Accomplished instead of Mission Complete when youve completed the extra, harder tasks, and moves you to a different and inherently harder path each with their own unique subset of hidden objectives.
Pinball could definitely use some of that to lift up their story telling. Finish a mode by timing it out? Nice. You did it, sorta. Here are some pity points. The next mode is another easy generic one. But instead, you finish the mode while getting 5 loops, or comboed something or other, or reached a certain contained score threshold, then the next mode is a different one, with harder objectives and a different subset of advanced tasks. Then you get to the final wizard mode (and there could be completely different ones depending on the path you take to get there, each with more rewarding point values based on the path you took to get there).
Thats the kind of video game inspired ruleset Pinball needs to produce a game thats highly replayable and has a story driven experience I think has been lacking.
Paths.png
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#34
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from mbaumle:
Just to preface, I never played arcade video games when I was younger. I never liked the heres a task, beat the level, and do the same thing over again but faster and with more enemies feel that they had.
I did. I spent a lot of time on Asteroids, which really didn't tell much of a story, just blow up rocks before they hit you.
But moved onto Time Pilot and Scramble, which both had level after level you had to complete to advance thru the game. But what was really refreshing about the arcade that had them was there was also a Black Knight pinball in the back which was total score the most points game with no real levels to start over.
I preferred when they were two separate styles of game play and had no idea at the time we would be having this discussion today.
In the 90s when they started adding more themes with stories it was kind of novel and worked in it's time, but hard to believe that is now the standard 20 years later.
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#35
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
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Quoted from mbaumle:
...Pinball could really learn a thing or two from more modern video games. Probably the best thing I could think of would be a pinball machine that takes cues from Star Fox.
And what could be more modern than Star Fox ?
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#36
8 years ago
RAM
Freshmaker
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Quoted from TheLaw:
And what could be more modern than Star Fox
Pinball without flippers
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#37
8 years ago
MAX
mbaumle
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Quoted from TheLaw:
And what could be more modern than Star Fox ?
Ha, ok. Bad example. But it's still a modern game. Star Fox Zero released in 2016 and had a more complex branching design. It would've been brilliant had Nintendo not added the shitty motion controls in. Star Fox 64 is still the standard at which all Star Fox games should be held at. But I digress
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#38
8 years ago
SKI
Duvall
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Any good entertainment device tells a story. Movies, books, Law and Order, the news, plays, opera, ballet (they don't just dance, they tell the story of Swan Lake), to make sports more interesting they provide "color" and tell a backstory. There are amusement parks, and there are theme parks. The theme'd rides tell a story, like Space Mountain. You can have a roller coaster without a story.
Even porn has a story... "knock knock knock" (who is that) It's the pizza guy.....
I suppose the Craps table at Caesars doesn't tell a story. A game of Chess does not have a story. I guess pinball can be like chess or it can be like Swan Lake.
I prefer Big Thunder over non-themed roller coaster and I'd prefer my pinball to immerse me the way Big Thunder does.
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#39
8 years ago
USA
o-din
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Quoted from Duvall:
Any good entertainment device tells a story.
With pinball, the only story it needs to tell me is with the artwork and the score.
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#40
8 years ago
BAD
Diospinball
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I think it could be done... And it could be fun... But, it also I think more often wouldn't work, and would get too old too fast.
It would make it more linear than possible or than you would want.
Honestly I like the pin WhoDunnit. You could expand upon that a bit. Get real clues. Make it a bit more random and find out who the killer really was. have a penalty for making a false accusation. And a bigger reward for solving it and capturing the killer.
That could work... And similar games like that. But, would need to be mode based and would/could at times feel like you're chopping wood to get on with teh gameplay.
Also, it could really slow the game down a lot.
Some games play so fast you don't have time to look at the animations. So just imagine taking a 30 second breather and waiting to play...
One of hte things I hate about modern games. It generally takes about an hour before you can actually play the damn games.
There is the stupid opening scenes. Then the tutorials. Then finally when you think you can really play. More plot, and then finally, finally you can play.
So I think this idea could work... But, would be tough, and even then it might be just better to play something simple like a sorcerer. And I think more than likely most games with this idea would be slow/plodding/ repetitive and suck...
Just remember... Most people dont get to wizard modes. So you'd be stuck playing the same storyline and plot over and over and over again.
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#41
8 years ago
RAM
Freshmaker
Pinside member
11y
31,650
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OP
Quoted from Rascal_H:
I just think theres room for other types of games.
I never really answered the question in OP before slinging some TL;DR BS.
So to condense: The amount of room in pinball for other types of games is limited by the amount you can put on one machine.
Almost no-one would want a story-mode only machine. It would have to be a choice along with the current standard mode of game.
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#42
8 years ago
RAM
Freshmaker
Pinside member
11y
31,650
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Quoted from Diospinball:
So you'd be stuck playing the same storyline and plot over and over and over again.
You are making assumptions of the rules of this imaginary game. There is no reason it would HAVE to be that way.
Let's think of a way, disregarding how much "fun" any one individual might think it would be.
Story mode: You play until its done, unlimited balls. Once you reach the end of the story, it tells you how many balls you used.
Story mode done.
Want More? It also tells you how long it took.
You would never have enough free time to beat the game in one session? Add a "checkpoint" shot that can be qualified. Hit the shot and you can choose to continue playing or to save your progress and quit, enter your initials and a PIN or something, and you can turn off your machine.
Almost all of the objections in this thread can be eliminated by having choice of game type, and smart design.
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#43
8 years ago
SMK
TheLaw
Pinside+ Addict
Ann Arbor, MI
14y
181K
59,339
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Quoted from Freshmaker:
Almost all of the objections in this thread can be eliminated by having choice of game type, and smart design.
My objections are more to how it's implemented, or the fact that it never will be. I wish these games had 4 or 8 diff'rent ways to play; I mean why the hell not? Because it takes a lot of work, and there's a lot of risk with it.
What if the story, like plenty of videa game stories, just flat out suck and buyers don't like it (ha pinball peeps pissing and moaning!)? Then you've spent a lot of time and monies making something that is pointless. True the game still has "regular" mode, but the company has "lost" monies using people towards Story mode.
And once again, whenever we're talking aboot vid & pins, it kind of is apples and oranges. I'd like to be a person that believes Stern can just come up with some kick ass multi layered story in an awesome choose your own adventure type way, but I doubt it.
Lest we also forget Stern is maybe/allegedly going to dip their toe in the non-licensed pool so maybe there's hope there, but how are you going to make an amazing deep and immersive shit in my mouth story revolving around Aerosmith exactly? Or changing the script on Disney movies? Can we do that? The company that wont even let you show a person speaking the goddamn lines they spoke in the movie on a screen?
Oh wait, it's all like super easy to do probably.
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#44
8 years ago
BMF
Traveler76
Inactive member
Los Angeles, CA
13y
29,650
39
5
Quoted from TheLaw:
How does that work on you Fireball, Pinbot, Jokerz, & Earthsaker?
Haha- it took me a minute to realize why you were citing these particular games. My profile's games list hasn't been updated in about 4 years.
Generally, it works well even with older games like you cited. While newer games have modes that are more defined, Pinbot, Earthshaker, and Jokerz do have various modes of play (multiball, anyone?). Maybe I think of modes more loosely. To me, a mode is a particular objective made up of individual targets that generally must be completed in a particular order/particular timeframe (though not always). So to me, even completing all rollovers on an older machine is a sort of 'mode'. I go for these objectives when playing instead of chasing the score. This is a method I use when playing games I'm not familiar with- develop these objectives for myself until I figure out what the game wants me to do. Even if I watch tutorials, I'm trying to learn how to unlock features/modes, not how to maximize scoring potential. To each their own.
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#45
8 years ago
LKD
Luckydogg420
Pinside member
Kitchener, ON
13y
131K
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Quoted from o-din:
To cut to the chase, the problem with story telling in pinball machines is something Whysnow brought up yesterday.
Most of the time you get through the first few chapters and do that over and over again. It is rare that you get to the later chapters, so you are basically reading the beginning of the same book over and over again.
And I guess when you finally do finish the story, what do you do for an encore? Read the first several chapters over and over again? Sorry, but to me that is very futile and boring.
Game of thrones is the counter to this. Many different starting points that all lead to the same goal. The story is in how you get there.
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#46
8 years ago
OP
TOM
Rascal_H
Pinside member