Original Table Invader Fall 2.0 WIP

TheHermit

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I've recorded a new gameplay video so you can see some of the changes, including the Boss level at 3:18


Let me know what you think


Note: original project and release thread is here:
 
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That looks awesome! The corner bumpers were a smart addition, keeps things moving.
What's bugging you about the boss level? It looks smooth to me. Just want to add more?
 
It feels a bit too easy, even though it takes a while. I am going to make the Boss Level multiball which should add to the excitement and make it quicker to complete.

Has anyone got any thoughts on the way the normal levels end? Is this way better than v1.2's continuous levels? Should I make the player clear the invaders rather than them retreating to the top?
 
I think the retreat is good, gives that moment of peace after the crazy but you still have to deal with them in the next wave. Could force a clear before a boss - trying to hit the last invader is practically a staple of the series xD
 
So keep the retreat between 1 & 2, but have to clear all before the Boss?
My only concern with having the player clear the Invaders is the lack of menace with them all stacked up at the bottom of the screen compared to the rising panic trying to hit the last one in the original game. Any ideas?
 
Could have them move and speed up like in the original, but red from the top so you know something's up...then start counting down to something bad...like a tilt? Can't remember if you've got nudge in your table, but they could nudge every time they got the sides, so you know it's coming...
Or of that's too harsh, just have the remaining move down faster one last time, and if they retreat you just lose the points...
All I got for brainstorming right now :-)
 
As much as I'd like to have them move like the originals, that would require a RIDICULOUS amount of work, including 1000's more dropwalls, and some major recoding! oO

Or of that's too harsh, just have the remaining move down faster one last time, and if they retreat you just lose the points...
I think this is worth a try, although the bottom row stays down so the shield doesn't reactivate. Even back in Dec 2019 I was already thinking of having you get penalised for any that "get away" ;)
 
... In a different world, this might have been the start of a whole range of pinball / arcade game hybrids...
I do have an idea for another actually: Paku-Man. You can probably guess what machine that will be based on ;)
 
I do have an idea for another actually: Paku-Man. You can probably guess what machine that will be based on ;)
Ooer!

So I decided to log in today after throwing a tantrum here not quite a fortnight ago, and am both amazed and delighted that you decided to stop by again, matey!

You know, after playing the game again for the first time in... a decade? I was thinking about my own tweaks and improvements I'd like to add, were I given permission. Let's see what I can recall at this point:

- I'd like to add a bunch more of the mobile firing bases across the X-axis (as drop-walls) in preparation of animating the base. The point would be to animate the base wandering from side-to-side in such a way as to track the ball (i.e. missile) after it's been 'fired' by the flippers, simulating how the original game worked, if you see what I mean. At a certain point though, the base would become 'unchained' from the movement of the ball, simulating that it's the invaders' turn to fire. Not sure how much sense I'm making, but I could try to do a mockup or something if needed.

- I think the Invaders could use some raster glow! I trust that wouldn't be super-hard to do, again via a generic drop-wall image that could roughly fit any of the invader shapes. The top image for each of them would be a single source image with multiple glow images included, like is commonly done for playfield images engineered for lamp glow / lens glow. Maybe the invaders heights could be reduced so as to blend in more seamlessly with the glow, too. Not totally sure, but it seems to work in my mind's eye.

- Moving on to the recent test-- I'm liking the Phoenix / Star Castle boss mashup! Maybe even there's another boss idea to be had in order to vary the gameplay across levels? Well, if my coconut-head thinks up something, I guess this is the thread, no?

- Btw, did you like the Röyksopp video I added to the resource entry? It was a happy discovery, I'll have you know!
 
I do have an idea for another actually: Paku-Man. You can probably guess what machine that will be based on ;)
Okay, I'm down!

Btw, I'm a big Flash-games preservation-head, and I love the way the attached game combines Pac-Man and Qix, both of which spawned umpteen-many variations and sequels over the years. Maybe see if you like it, eh?

It does require a player to run, of course. So far I've been recommending Adobe's final release. Sound about right?
 

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- I'd like to add a bunch more of the mobile firing bases across the X-axis (as drop-walls) in preparation of animating the base. The point would be to animate the base wandering from side-to-side in such a way as to track the ball (i.e. missile) after it's been 'fired' by the flippers, simulating how the original game worked, if you see what I mean. At a certain point though, the base would become 'unchained' from the movement of the ball, simulating that it's the invaders' turn to fire. Not sure how much sense I'm making, but I could try to do a mockup or something if needed.
To me, that would be getting too close to the original, but if you want to do a branch off feel free

- I think the Invaders could use some raster glow! I trust that wouldn't be super-hard to do, again via a generic drop-wall image that could roughly fit any of the invader shapes. The top image for each of them would be a single source image with multiple glow images included, like is commonly done for playfield images engineered for lamp glow / lens glow. Maybe the invaders heights could be reduced so as to blend in more seamlessly with the glow, too. Not totally sure, but it seems to work in my mind's eye.
At the moment everything that moves is a plain coloured drop wall. I suppose it would be possible to put a graphic on it but to animate each of the 200 invader positions would require more work than I'd like to do, but again feel free to branch off and add.

- Moving on to the recent test-- I'm liking the Phoenix / Star Castle boss mashup! Maybe even there's another boss idea to be had in order to vary the gameplay across levels? Well, if my coconut-head thinks up something, I guess this is the thread, no?
I'm currently testing a transition level between the end of the second wave and the Boss. So that should help with the variation.
It might be an idea to cut this thread where I "reappeared" to a WIP one? Otherwise, yes.

- Btw, did you like the Röyksopp video I added to the resource entry? It was a happy discovery, I'll have you know!
Not for me. I prefer the ingame soundtrack lol

Today I'm reworking the surrounding artwork, too make it more obvious this is now Invader Fall II.
 
Okay, I'm down!

Btw, I'm a big Flash-games preservation-head, and I love the way the attached game combines Pac-Man and Qix, both of which spawned umpteen-many variations and sequels over the years. Maybe see if you like it, eh?

It does require a player to run, of course. So far I've been recommending Adobe's final release. Sound about right?

I can see a way to do PinQix based off that 8-)
 
@TheHermit,
'Kay, thanks for the feedback.

I barely remember how to do anything in the editor, but maybe some day I can try out out those variations. Thanks for the permission to mod.

So, want me to split the posts from #5 onwards in to an IF2 WIP thread?

I just thought you might enjoy the video; wasn't proposing it as a soundtrack. As in-- just like your project, it seemed like a clever re-work of a classic concept.

Btw, did you do another VP game back in the day? I've a feeling there was something else besides IF, but I'm not 100% sure.
 
So, want me to split the posts from #5 onwards in to an IF2 WIP thread?
It would make more sense as the next release will be quite a jump from V1.2

Btw, did you do another VP game back in the day? I've a feeling there was something else besides IF, but I'm not 100% sure.

There was:
- Big Jitters which was based on one of those old handheld toys where you had to get the little ball around a maze
- Breakout. A straight copy of the original videogame
- Impact which was loosely based on Asteroids. I'm currently making this one in Unity (have been for 5 years now) and I'm about 90% done due to keep getting distracted with other things. There is a video of a very early version of this on my YouTube.

I've almost done with reworking the cab artwork. It just needs the edging around the screen.
 

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@TheHermit,
Ah, I see an archive of "Big Jitters" online. I wonder if TiltJLP (John Patton, cofounder here) got to see it when he was around. That was his kind of game.

"Impact" sounds very interesting, but I don't remember it specifically, and see no record of it online. Would be fun to see a screenie, at least.

Decided to split out from post #6 since you were partly replying to me in post #5. Let me know if any further adjustment need be made.
 
Ah, I see an archive of "Big Jitters" online. I wonder if TiltJLP (John Patton, cofounder here) got to see it when he was around. That was his kind of game.
I think it was his request thread that I got the pic from. I can't remember if he saw my version though.

"Impact" sounds very interesting, but I don't remember it specifically, and see no record of it online. Would be fun to see a screenie, at least.
I may not have posted it then as the VP version was very basic. Would this be the right place to mention a Unity game though? Or is there a separate section in the forums for non-pinball stuff?

Decided to split out from post #6 since you were partly replying to me in post #5. Let me know if any further adjustment need be made.
Looks good to me thanks :-D
 
I may not have posted it then as the VP version was very basic. Would this be the right place to mention a Unity game though? Or is there a separate section in the forums for non-pinball stuff?
There's some similar sections here at the moment; currently not a direct section for standalone Unity.

For example, Unity's "Pinball Creator" project has a subforums here and resource section here.
(or "hyeah," as I've generally heard folks your side of the pond pronounce it :p)

If "Impact" isn't a pinball game at all (feel free to show me the YT video, as it's not currently clear to me), then the closest match might be the Outlane, similar to how I used it to collect my Flash games collection linked earlier.

Happily though, and generally-speaking, if enough unique content builds up here, the site tends to create a unique section to accommodate it.
 
A quick attempt at "rasterising" the invaders. Thicker lines ruin the shape and thinner blend horribly.
To me, it looks better without.
 

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...although my partner says they look better with, if I darken the sides of the white invaders.
So here is a Half/Half comparison.
 

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A quick attempt at "rasterising" the invaders. Thicker lines ruin the shape and thinner blend horribly.
To me, it looks better without.
...although my partner says they look better with, if I darken the sides of the white invaders.
So here is a Half/Half comparison.
Wow, that's a slammin' effort there, matey... very interesting, and not even the idea I had in mind!

As for your current raster experiment on offer, I'm thinking two things: 1) the invaders would look better with uniform colors (red on top, red on the sides, etc); 2) you seem to be using a global mesh image for the tops of all invaders, but instead what if their basic shapes were broken up in to a series of horizontal lines? (on the thicker side would probably look better than too thin) Perhaps as few as six thick rows (drop walls) for each invader would be *just* enough to carry off the illusion without losing too much detail.

That said, doing it the above way sounds like a total PITA and really not worth your time. :/

Anyway, to reiterate my original idea-- I'd like to see a bit of glow around the shapes of the invaders, as with the old CRT's. So I'm thinking around each invader there'd be a popup "cloud" shape. The part touching and immediately around each invader would be more solid, and more diffuse with distance. Again, simulating natural raster / CRT glow. The global image would just have the same general "glow cloud" repeated for each invader position, a basic MS Paint job.

Also, I think lowering the top heights of the invaders would help blend the invader shapes in to their glow clouds. Perhaps one-third height would look about right without sacrificing the feeling of the invaders having height.


Hmm, you know... I've been working in the VP8 editor and script this past week, and I think my dumb ass might just be able to come up with a crude proof of concept of the above, if that helps.

OMG This looks awesome what a new take on space invaders.
Seriously, it's just about the best mashup of pinball and classic video games I've ever seen. Typically such efforts involve copying static images and sounds in to a table whilst sadly doing very little to actually achieve the spirit of the source video game. I do think there's a pretty huge amount of untapped potential in this genre, though.

For example, Frogger seems like it might work nicely-- the player having to hit the rights shots to dodge death, step by step getting the frog (represented by shapes / lights on the playfield) up to the top, thereby earning a chunky bonus. Even in very simple form I think it could be fun. Indeed, I reckon that most video games would still have to be dumbed-down quite a bit logistically for practical purposes, but I think what this table tells us is that much is possible!
 
Wow, that's a slammin' effort there, matey... very interesting, and not even the idea I had in mind!

As for your current raster experiment on offer, I'm thinking two things: 1) the invaders would look better with uniform colors (red on top, red on the sides, etc); 2) you seem to be using a global mesh image for the tops of all invaders, but instead what if their basic shapes were broken up in to a series of horizontal lines? (on the thicker side would probably look better than too thin) Perhaps as few as six thick rows (drop walls) for each invader would be *just* enough to carry off the illusion without losing too much detail.

That said, doing it the above way sounds like a total PITA and really not worth your time. :/
I'm definitely NOT slicing up the Invaders as it will be a major PITA :lol:

Anyway, to reiterate my original idea-- I'd like to see a bit of glow around the shapes of the invaders, as with the old CRT's. So I'm thinking around each invader there'd be a popup "cloud" shape. The part touching and immediately around each invader would be more solid, and more diffuse with distance. Again, simulating natural raster / CRT glow. The global image would just have the same general "glow cloud" repeated for each invader position, a basic MS Paint job.
I'll see what you come up with and then give that a go :-D
Also, I think lowering the top heights of the invaders would help blend the invader shapes in to their glow clouds. Perhaps one-third height would look about right without sacrificing the feeling of the invaders having height.
Or just change the table angle so it's flat ;) I've saved some settings in the table info for people that might want that (it'll be in the next upload)

Hmm, you know... I've been working in the VP8 editor and script this past week, and I think my dumb ass might just be able to come up with a crude proof of concept of the above, if that helps.
Like I said: I'll see what you come up with as my brain is clouded with code at the moment lol

Seriously, it's just about the best mashup of pinball and classic video games I've ever seen. Typically such efforts involve copying static images and sounds in to a table whilst sadly doing very little to actually achieve the spirit of the source video game. I do think there's a pretty huge amount of untapped potential in this genre, though.

For example, Frogger seems like it might work nicely-- the player having to hit the rights shots to dodge death, step by step getting the frog (represented by shapes / lights on the playfield) up to the top, thereby earning a chunky bonus. Even in very simple form I think it could be fun. Indeed, I reckon that most video games would still have to be dumbed-down quite a bit logistically for practical purposes, but I think what this table tells us is that much is possible!
Ooh I can think of a few ideas for a frogger one now you mention it! :iagree:
 
Like I said: I'll see what you come up with as my brain is clouded with code at the moment lol
Oof, told you there were clouds involved!

Alright, lets see if I can balance two projects at once. :s

For real though-- I'm a bit proud of myself, here.
So-- way back in the day (what, like ten+ years ago or so?), you hugely helped me (basically becoming the de-facto co-designer) upon Billiards, and all was well in the world.

Around that same time, for some reason I liked messaging people as the spirit moved me via... Trillian, was it? So you were in that circle IIRC, and we all talked from time to time. And given familiarity, we tended to address each other by name, etc.

So I was trying to remember your actual name from way back when (my name is "Nic," I go by "Ike" here), and I'd narrowed it down to either "Bernard" or "Jason."

Eh... good to see you again, Bernard! :D
 
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