VP8 VP9 VPX Flipperless Original Table Recreation My review of TEN Druadic tables

Rockinghorse

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Hi All,

I have been spending a bit of time playing Druadic's tables lately.
I played TEN in all and I have given my impressions below. If
you agree or disagree with any of my comments then please feel free to post.

2in1twoVP9.jpg
2 in 1 TWO (Four Square / Earth Satelite) (link)
This double dose of fun is quite addictive. The trick is to get the
right velocity. I found it to be around 42 with Four Square and
55 with Earth Satelite. As usual with Druadic's works it is nicely
finished and has a real antique feel. The play is smooth and the
pin action is quite good. Maybe a bit bouncy at times but for all
I know the original machines may have been that way.

2in1VP9.jpg
2 in 1, Version 2.0 GAMMA (Wizz Ball / Midget Bagatelle) (link)
Another twin game, this is a good combination. Wizz Ball feels
smooth and the speed factor is just about right. I found the perfect
speed to vary greatly with each difficulty level but if you want to
get started on easy try to hit 67 each time. Midget Bagatelle is just
that, a midget bagatelle. It is fun to play but if you miss-time your
launch you get both the current ball and the next one launching
at the same time. I would suggest to Druadic that he include a
trigger at the top of the launch shute to release the next ball after
the current one passes it. This could be done with a kicker at the
bottom of the "Return Balls" lane.

bonanzav1.4screenshot_oMw.jpg
Bonanza, 1935 Exhibit Supply Co. (link)
A very bouncy pin and cup game which really shows that the real
reason for these old style games of chance wasn't to give value for
money but to make money for the proprietor. This is a challenging
game and even though the rebound cups aren't difficult to hit once
they prove to be hard to get twice in one ball so if you don't make a
score first time around there isn't much hope for a second go. REAL.

F2F.jpg
Face To Face Number Puzzle game, a Druadic Original (link)
At first I looked at this game and thought ???????. Then I read the
rules. It took a few times to figure out what to do but then I found it
fun and challenging. If you like brain teasers then this could last all
night but if you don't like number puzzles then you might be turning
off after two goes. A very novel way of using VP.

FlipItVP6eJohn.jpg
Flip It! Letter Puzzle game a Druadic Original (link)
If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, try, try, try, try and try again.
I found myself playing on just because I wanted to beat the thing. If
you don't relish the thought of your brain exploding from the shear
trauma of getting a few squares in order then don't try this brain
frying teaser. This is hard. But then again, this is addictive. I couldn't
stop. Each game is completely different and so it's hard to put a score
to beat that is comparable to any paricular game, so, I'll just let you
know that after a few (HEAPS) games my "best" move tally was 566.

400Genco.jpg
Genco's 400 (link)
This game works in a similar way to the clowns at a carnival. Try to
get the ball into the channels at the bottom to score credits for play.
I managed to get a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..... a couple of times but that 6 was
very ellusive. A great game but the start and extra ball keys could
have been better instructed "R" to replay a new game and "E" for
extra balls. Still, a good play.

HiLoVP9.jpg
Hi Lo, 1932 N.W. Coin Mach. Co. (link)
This game has two modes of play, Normal and Novelty. Normal is
A straight forward game where you must get the highest five ball
score you can. Drained balls are replayed. Novelty, my fave of the
two, invloves trying to get Poker style five ball (card) hands. The
novelty mode is a bit more challenging than the nornal mode but
both are fun. The only trick is to not shhot too fast as the ball can
run back into the plunger lane. BTW I only hit the Joker once in
over twenty games on Normal and then never in the same number
of Novelty games. It's a hard shot to get but scores well if you do.
If you find the ball takes a while to reset after hitting the "Drain"
be patient, this is due to the drain kicker being in a side shute and
the ball may occassionally roll passed it and then come back.

HTGSCREENIE1.3VPX.jpg
Hit The Goal, 1931 Hercules Nov. (link)
This game requires a great deal of nudging to get the ball into the
cradles. I found that if I nudged a lot at the beginning of a ball and
slowed down during the ball it gave me a better chance. My highest
score was 540 and I didn't get the 500. The upper pins are close
together and they become scarce towards the lower areas of the table
(as is usual) and the pin reactions are quite good. Even the 10 - 50
scores at the bottom are nudgable.

druadic air hockey.jpg
Air - Pin - Hockey, a Druadic Original (link)
A fun distraction. It isn't going to score any awards and as Druadic
has used ramps for the field it has the occassional ramp bug error.
A couple of times when the ball was in the computer players half the
ball got stuck under the ramp (I'm sure you've seen this before). I'm
sure Druadic only made this as a bit of a lark and it isn't fair to put
too much emphasis on it. Let's just say, it could be better but why
worry. If I was (and I was at one time and still might) going to make
an Air Hockey table, I'd use the table slope method, like I used in
Hypnoball, with a centre trigger to switch the slope back and forth.

WOWScreenshotVPX.jpg
WOW, a Druadic Original (link)
This is a cup and pin style game which takes a while to get used to
but once you are it is possible to regularly get the ball to go where
you want it to (sort of). As with ALL "Pinball" machines there is
always going to be a matter of luck involved. I thought it was
diabolical at first but then I got the hang of when to nudge and
when to leave it be. I even got to know where each ball could get to
depending on it's initial path. It's amazing how far you can move
a ball accross the table by just a few bumps here and there.​

So there you have it. My scope on a few of Druadic's many tables and a hint of
what you will find. All in all, the quality of Druadic's work is great. There may
be the odd occassion where things aren't exactly perfect, but who is? There may
also be some times when there are frustrating things that happen to halt or slow
down the game, be patient. I, personally enjoy playing Druadic's tables and I
hope he keep's on producing them, even if he can't get to the forums to post. I'm
sure that tiltjlp will keep him aprised of the goings on.

Until next time, This is RH signing off from VP Land TV News.

CU

RH
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It was time well spent, I'm sure.

John
 
Has been added to Pinball Nirvana, here:

Rockinghorse's review of 10 Druadic Tables

A very enjoyable read and outstanding review, Thanks Rockinghorse! :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for posting that Jon. I thought I had added it when I first saw it but it somehow slipped past me.

John
 
Well, well. I accidentally bumped in to Jon's notice about this thread, and tracked it down here. Updated the link, merged the 'notice' posts, and decided to see if all the reviewed tables were still here. Yeap, they were!

So I've added their most recent/updated links to @Rockinghorse's article, added screenies, and reformatted the text a little bit to make for an easier read. Also moved this group-review to the proper article section and left a redirect in the original VP/VPM discussion subforum.

Just as I really enjoy people reviewing & rating the tables in the resources section, it's also nice to see roundups like this. :)

EDIT: Btw if the staff wants to look in to it-- I was only able to add the "VPX" prefix. I'd actually wanted to add the VP8 and VP9 prefixes too, since these ten tables are a mix of all three.
 
Nice find Isaac, I'm still sort of shocked that attachments from 2004 still appear after the amount of software imports that we have experienced over the years. The only VPX prefix problem has been solved and others have been added into this forum!

:peace:
 
Whoa...
Okay, you ROCK, Jon. oO
 
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