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Comment by epiccoleman | Hacker News Reader

This is a really, really cool project, love the writeup.

But I have to say, I really don't see the appeal of virtual pinball. To me the entire thing that makes pinball cool is the physicality of it. It seems like virtualizing that and turning it into a single purpose "game console" just wouldn't be nearly as fun as playing a real pin. The skills don't seem to translate much either - I spent some time playing various tables via PinballFX, and while it's pretty cool for learning the rules of any given table, I had to unlearn a lot of shot timings when I went back to play the real deal.

I can at least get it from a cost perspective though. Pins are insanely pricey, especially if you want a classic table like Medieval Madness (my number one "if i won the lottery" fantasy purchase).

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I also found that going to play actual pinball is different from the virtual gameplay I had become used to. You're right about the rules and such — you can save a lot of quarters learning the rules at home — then head to the local Beercade.

I suppose it's possible to be into virtual pinball more than actual pinball? I can say that when I play an actual pinball table (at the Beercade) often it is in too dark an environment and the playfield lights flash so brightly that it can actually be difficult to follow the ball.

I owned an actual Stargate (commercial video game) machine when I was in college. (My wife has a friend that have a World Cup Soccer pinball table in their basement. Pretty sure it doesn't get played much — cool to have when company comes over though.) Sadly it more or less just sat there after the first few days or so of excitement. I imagine any one pinball table would go the same way. I could be mistaken though (and Medieval Madness would no doubt be one of the tables most likely to have staying power — or is that playing power).

As I mentioned though, I am kind of into the art of pinball. I enjoy exploring the variety of tables, the history of pinball, by way of virtual pinball "representations". The wife too likes to learn new tables for a few weeks or so. And then she enjoys moving on to a new table that I pull down.

Part of the appeal is the variety, both recreations of real tables and from-scratch originals. If you are looking for better physics, it isn't PinballFX you want but Visual Pinball. No simulation is going to be 100%, but the vpinball folks have built some very nice physics engines, the best apparently being those tables incorporating nfozzy physics.

Real pins are indeed insanely pricey, but you can still spend a lot of money on a vpin. The playfied display of choice these days is something like an 42" LG C2 OLED and you'll need to pair that with something on the order of a 3070Ti for smooth framerates on newer tables. The SSR audio mentioned in the article is another spendy item that use four Dayton Audio shakers that mount to the cabinet: the sound they transmit simulates the feel of a real ball rolling on a real table. Then there are motorized shakers, real plungers connected to analog sensors, anaglyph rendering to give you simulated 3D using passive glasses, etc.

The article also refers to a Way of the Wrench series on YouTube that will give you a great idea what goes into one of these things these days. Watch it for the vpin build, stay for all the things you'll learn about woodworking.

PinballFX is video game pinball. VisualPinballX is more of a simulation. Of course the simulation isn't 100% accurate, but it's shockingly close. Medieval Madness was one of my favorite games on virtual (I had never played the physical version), and the first time I played the physical one I got two replays in a row. It translates pretty well.

I built a virtual pinball, which led to me buying 4 physical pinballs, and now I'm in the final stages of remaking my virtual pinball to add to my little arcade. With all of the exciters, solenoids, and LED lights, it feels surprisingly physical. You can even nudge.

It's a tradeoff of realism for variety, and I think there are valid arguments for either.

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