Well, I installed Sierra's older "3D Ultra Pinball Creep Night" CD that I had lying around. It was configurable to my controls and was old enough where it caused no issues. It's also compatible with Windows XP, which of course was important. I'll have it on there as an alternative game. It's not great pinball, but it is fun. The only thing I don't like is that you need the CD to run it.
I also eBay'd "Microsoft Pinball Arcade", as I think that will work out nicely. Hopefully I won't need the CD for it, but I probably will. I also set up the Pinball game that comes with XP, but it's not going to be a primary game.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at Armchair Arcade!
Bill, the most realistic pinball sim I've ever seen on the PC is "Pro Pinball: Timeshock!" It is light years beyond the table that comes with Windows, and wows everyone I've shown it to, even though it's an old game. It really looks and plays like a real pinball table, and even has "arcade operator" settings to tweak the difficulty level and other settings, just like a real pinball machine. Strangely, it came out at least 10 years ago, but I haven't seen anything to top it as far as realism goes since, and still looks cool to this day! The gameplay is extremely smooth and realistic, unlike the choppy "Youtube" videos I've seen of this game.
The PC freeware "Visual Pinball" and "Future Pinball" are both cool, but do not come close to the realism of "Timeshock!" Alas, "Timeshock!" is only one table, but it is a cool one, almost like buying a real pinball machine for the price of a videogame. "Pro Pinball: Timeshock!" is one of the games I show off to the "uninitiated." They may not understand how cool "Half Life 2" is, but when they see a simulation of pinball (which everyone has seen in real life), they can't believe how realistic it is!
I don't know your arcade machine setup, so it might not work for your particular situation (with the arcade cab and such), but there's no question that "Pro Pinball" looks and plays uncannily like a real pinball machine on the PC. I do know that you do need to have the "Timeshock!" CD in the CD drive to play this game, though, so it might be less appealing to you in that sense.
I saw "Pro-Pinball: The Ultimate Compilation" on Amazon, which includes "The Web," "Timeshock!," and "Big Race USA." I only can vouch for Timeshock, which I've lost many hours playing, but the compilation sounds like a good deal! (I'll gift it to you via Amazon if you want. Bill).
One thing I'll say about "Timeshock!".... it's the most REALISTIC pinball game I've ever seen on a PC, but not the most fun pinball game I've ever played in real life (although "Timeshock!" really is fun), or even in a pinball videogame. To make this clear, "Timeshock!" IS VERY FUN, but the primary appeal is how realistic it is for "show-off" purposes. ("HOLY COW, THAT LOOKS REAL!")
Of course there's the Amiga "Pinball Dreams/Fantasies/Illusions," but I'm not sure how well your arcade/cab setup can handle this via an Amiga emulator. Pinball Fantasies was one of the most fun videogames I've ever played!
In a similar vein, one of the most fun video pinball games I've ever played was "Duke Nukem: Balls of Steel" for the PC back in the day (at least 10 or more years ago). It was a scrolling, overhead pinball game (similar to "Pinball Fantasies"), but with added extras that could only be achieved in a videogame (aliens wandering around the pinball table, etc.). I haven't played it in many years, but I suspect it will still hold up, gameplay-wise, even today! I only played the shareware demo, but I recall being breathless after playing it! I can't find it anywhere today, though. It was the perfect blend of mechanical pinball and videogaming technology. I think I've read that it's available through "XBOX LIVE," but I'm not certain of that. If so, it's well worth getting if they charge a reasonable price for it.
It would be really cool if your arcade cab had buttons on the sides of the cab for "flippers!"
(P.S. Daggone, I'm trying to reduce the size of my posts, but I can't help myself in this case!)
Well, I installed Sierra's older "3D Ultra Pinball Creep Night" CD that I had lying around. It was configurable to my controls and was old enough where it caused no issues. It's also compatible with Windows XP, which of course was important. I'll have it on there as an alternative game. It's not great pinball, but it is fun. The only thing I don't like is that you need the CD to run it.
I also eBay'd "Microsoft Pinball Arcade", as I think that will work out nicely. Hopefully I won't need the CD for it, but I probably will. I also set up the Pinball game that comes with XP, but it's not going to be a primary game.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all at Armchair Arcade!
Bill, the most realistic pinball sim I've ever seen on the PC is "Pro Pinball: Timeshock!" It is light years beyond the table that comes with Windows, and wows everyone I've shown it to, even though it's an old game. It really looks and plays like a real pinball table, and even has "arcade operator" settings to tweak the difficulty level and other settings, just like a real pinball machine. Strangely, it came out at least 10 years ago, but I haven't seen anything to top it as far as realism goes since, and still looks cool to this day! The gameplay is extremely smooth and realistic, unlike the choppy "Youtube" videos I've seen of this game.
The PC freeware "Visual Pinball" and "Future Pinball" are both cool, but do not come close to the realism of "Timeshock!" Alas, "Timeshock!" is only one table, but it is a cool one, almost like buying a real pinball machine for the price of a videogame. "Pro Pinball: Timeshock!" is one of the games I show off to the "uninitiated." They may not understand how cool "Half Life 2" is, but when they see a simulation of pinball (which everyone has seen in real life), they can't believe how realistic it is!
I don't know your arcade machine setup, so it might not work for your particular situation (with the arcade cab and such), but there's no question that "Pro Pinball" looks and plays uncannily like a real pinball machine on the PC. I do know that you do need to have the "Timeshock!" CD in the CD drive to play this game, though, so it might be less appealing to you in that sense.
I saw "Pro-Pinball: The Ultimate Compilation" on Amazon, which includes "The Web," "Timeshock!," and "Big Race USA." I only can vouch for Timeshock, which I've lost many hours playing, but the compilation sounds like a good deal! (I'll gift it to you via Amazon if you want. Bill).
One thing I'll say about "Timeshock!".... it's the most REALISTIC pinball game I've ever seen on a PC, but not the most fun pinball game I've ever played in real life (although "Timeshock!" really is fun), or even in a pinball videogame. To make this clear, "Timeshock!" IS VERY FUN, but the primary appeal is how realistic it is for "show-off" purposes. ("HOLY COW, THAT LOOKS REAL!")
Of course there's the Amiga "Pinball Dreams/Fantasies/Illusions," but I'm not sure how well your arcade/cab setup can handle this via an Amiga emulator. Pinball Fantasies was one of the most fun videogames I've ever played!
In a similar vein, one of the most fun video pinball games I've ever played was "Duke Nukem: Balls of Steel" for the PC back in the day (at least 10 or more years ago). It was a scrolling, overhead pinball game (similar to "Pinball Fantasies"), but with added extras that could only be achieved in a videogame (aliens wandering around the pinball table, etc.). I haven't played it in many years, but I suspect it will still hold up, gameplay-wise, even today! I only played the shareware demo, but I recall being breathless after playing it! I can't find it anywhere today, though. It was the perfect blend of mechanical pinball and videogaming technology. I think I've read that it's available through "XBOX LIVE," but I'm not certain of that. If so, it's well worth getting if they charge a reasonable price for it.
It would be really cool if your arcade cab had buttons on the sides of the cab for "flippers!"
(P.S. Daggone, I'm trying to reduce the size of my posts, but I can't help myself in this case!)
Happy New Year!
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