Pinball Planet: My In-Dev Game - Feedback is Welcome

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#1

Good day all,

I’m here to show you all my game that I’m currently working on. I did mention it in a previous post, but I think I’m finally ready to open it for feedback on the forum.

PinballLogo_NoGlow
PinballLogo_NoGlow900×750 138 KB

I’ve been doing on-and-off work on it since 2019, but I’ve been making better progress this year.
Here it is:
Pinball Planet [Reopened] - Roblox

I also uploaded a demonstration video to YouTube that shows how the template pinball machine works. Keep in mind that I’ve made changes since its upload, some of which aren’t in the video.

So far, everything has been done by myself, except for the arcade building, which was initially built by an old friend of mine, and then I gave it the overall style I was going for. I recognize accomplishing everything else is going to be challenging, but that’s what I’m here for. As always, feedback is welcome with open arms! To play the game, click on a pinball machine in the arcade.

As of the time I’ve made this thread, I am still updating the template game. I’m not updating consistently due to personal matters, but I’m doing so frequently enough. Once I’m done with the basic template, I can finally return to making the actual pinball machines players will play in the real game.

Some notes before playing

You’ll notice that there are two pinball machines that can be accessed. The red one is known as Heart of the Void, and that is a proof-of-concept game that I had to stop working on because the codebase was so unbelievably messy to the point of no return. If you want a better idea as to how the pinball machines will work, you should check out the blue one first, as that is the template pinball machine that I’ve been working on, which will make my life easier for developing future games to add to the collection.
That said, feel free to play Heart of the Void! After all, it is more complete in gameplay compared to the testing game I’m currently working on. It even has a boss battle if you really want to reach that point! Just know that it is lacking a lot of functionality. I’m aware of this, and I won’t take any reports on bugs and such from the game since there’s no need; this pinball game will be reworked with the template machine, which is leagues better in functionality than it is right now.

Some issues you'll likely encounter regarding physics
  • There is a short, random delay between a button press and the corresponding flipper reacting to the press. It’s not game-breaking, but it’s incredibly annoying.
  • The ball might phase through flippers if launched downwards fast at the same time the flipper goes up. This is probably the most prominent bug I’ve experienced so far.
  • The flippers swing upwards at random angles that are higher than the intended hinge limits, sometimes dislocating the flippers (although this isn’t game-breaking from what I’ve experienced).
  • The flippers can get themselves stuck (on very rare occasions, it can softlock the game), although they usually get unstuck after a second or more.
  • The flippers might not react to button presses on-time, if at all, under lagspikes and the sort.
  • You can click the arcade game an indefinite amount of times, spawning multiple “portals” on the screen. This is definitely gonna be changed.
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#2

Oh my goodness THIS IS INCREDIBLE

This is definitely a unique style of approach on making a game, especially if it’s related to old things such as Pinball Machines!

There are a couple of things to fix as you stated though, 1 being the most critical:

I believe if you could fix that, then hopefully it can work extremely well!

Overall I seriously love the idea & gameplay, the visual effects look really satisfying, and I hope that the development goes even further with this!

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#3

Omg it looks so cool! This gave me nostalgia of a game!!

#4

Awesome game. Maybe zoom in a little on the ball and follow it around? Try camera shakes too.

#5

I LOVE IT!!!

The music, design, and gameplay is très bien.

The delay is a little annoying, but you get used to it after a little bit.

Please make more!

(I’d pay robux for a remake of microsoft “Space Cadet” pinball)

1 Like
#6

If you check out Heart of the Void (the red one), I was testing out camera movement quite a bit, which included shaking and the sort. I may not work with camera movement in later pinball games since making the system itself was a pain. Then again, the system was messy, so maybe I can devote time to making a cleaner camera system similarly to the one in Heart of the Void.
All-in-all, I’m still open to the concept; I’ll note that down. Thanks!

#7

Hey, thanks man! I have to agree on the critical issue you highlighted too. After momentarily testing it, it really is a glaring flaw and I argue it’s more prominent than:

The ball might phase through flippers if launched downwards fast at the same time the flipper goes up. This is probably the most prominent bug I’ve experienced so far

So yes, I’m hoping I can find a solution to that (well, both of them if we’re being honest). Unfortunately I don’t think I have the proper expertise in coding to completely fix the delay, but I’m hoping that I’ll get around to finding a solution eventually. Thanks again for the kind words!

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#9

So… a lot has changed for this project since last year.

Hello again, I released an update to the game late last year to modernize Heart of the Void.

Heart of the Void was a pinball game put together somewhat carelessly before the template game was made. This new version of the game was made using the template. I posted all about it on a bulletin post because I didn’t consider updating this post. You can read all about it here.

But that’s not what I’m bumping this topic for. I’ve returned to say that I have updated the lobby parts and add reasons to play pinball and earn tickets and tokens. On top of that, I’ve also opened up the arcade to let players roam around the city. I’ve coined this update “The City’s Light part 1”. It’s part 1 because this is the city aspect. Part 2 will have the reason for the light when it does release.

Previously, the only area that players could roam around in was the arcade itself, and the city outside served as just scenery. This has been changed, and a minor portion of the city is now available to explore!
It doesn’t offer very much at the moment, but having the features introduced right now unlocks a lot of possibilities for the future!

However, for the time being, here are the biggest changes:

As stated before, the city around the arcade has been opened and expanded. Running is a new feature that allows players to move around quicker.

By the way, forgive me for the lag in the videos, none of it reflects the way the game performs.

The game begins from a starting menu now. You can either start playing pinball from here, or load into the city. And like the city, I’ll take more advantage of this later on.

The city and arcade now have several characters to talk to. The dialogue system was made by HorseNuggets. It features multiple-choice question compatibility and text effects that display emotion by whoever’s talking! Actual dialogue in the videos are subject to change.

The things characters say can be pretty in-depth, but please don’t expect Undertale levels of dialogue, I’m not that good at telling stories!

The shop, or prize booth, can now be utilized. Players can redeem their tickets or tokens that they earn from playing pinball for prizes. Unfortunately I don’t got a video showing the shop system in-action, but it DOES work! You’re just gonna have to trust me on this one!

The game has an inventory system for one-time buyable items now. One such item type buyable from the shop are the “Oddities”, which are this game’s form of player auras. Only one can be equipped at a time, and the game saves the one that you’re currently wearing.

The inventory system (and shop) also has “poses”, which are this game’s form of emotes. Players can equip up to three at a time in individual slots, although the same pose can take up more than one slot if you want that (for whatever reason I don’t know). Some poses play once while others are looped. In any case, they can be canceled at any time by pressing the corresponding pose button or key. Just like oddities, any equipped poses are saved upon leaving.

I’ve also made several changes to the existing pinball games, primarily fixing glitches, updating visuals, and altering sounds. Additionally, the template pinball machine now has the official name of “Power Pinball” to stay in-line with the coming collection of pinball games.

By the way, anyone who has the alpha/in-dev badge will be given the “alpha rays” oddity, which is shown in the oddity demo video, for free. You can get it right now when you join the game for the first time, so if that’s your kind of thing, then get to it!

Welp, back to working I go. See ya!