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Solar Fire (Williams 1981)

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23728 Views
5720 Downloads
4.9 From 21 reviews
213.21 MB File Size
solar_l2.zip ROM Name
UnclePaulie Created by
Williams Manufacturer
1981 Year

4 Screenshots

Solar Fire (Williams 1981) is one of several Williams System 7 machines, and one of the most complicated rulesets of the time, but only had 507 units made.  It's a fun, fast table and higher scores are very achievable... 1M-2.5M is a good game.  The Solar Gun feature is fun to achieve, as a magnet slings a captured ball back and forth while generating points when lit.  There is a lot to do on this table with all the targets to hit to enable other functions.  You'll find similarities to Black Knight, Grand Lizard, and other tables of that era.  This table significantly utilizes magnasaves to keep your ball from going into the outlanes.   

 

I made Solar Fire a few years ago but was only an update to another table, and the playfield, graphics, etc were not great, nor accurate.  Also, I've learned so much more since then, and physics, graphics and everything is leaps further now, I decided to redo the table from scratch.

 
I found a playfield online that had accurate hole placement, and so @redbone completely upscaled, enhanced, and cleaned up the playfield.  This 3.0 version utilizes the latest VPW standards, physics, alllamps and 3D inserts, backglass for desktop, roth targets, standalone compatibility, sling corrections, updated flipper physics, VR and fully hybrid, Flupper style bumpers and lighting. Baked GI, walls, and created a playfield mesh for the saucer physics. Dozens of hours were spent studying gameplay videos to match the table shots and action.  

 

Also I loved what Mecha_Enron did in Cosmic Gunfight as far as an interactive tutorial, I decided to learn and implement in this table.  To utilize, go into the F12 menu and turn on the tutorial.

 

Also thanks to Primetime5k for implementing staged flippers and testing.  As well as to the VPW team for testing.

 

Once again, I've included several options in the F12 menu including various balls, ball brightness, GI brightness, insert brightness, flippers, caps, plastic edge colors, LUTs, and other VR stuff, including LED undercab lighting... AND the interactive tutorial.

 

For the ROM settings... The baseline comes pretty much correct except for the high score to date is defaulted to something high and the coins are defaulted to one credit is 3 games.  I've included a .nvram file that will adjust the coin/credits to 1 coin is 1 credit.  Also, I've set the default high score to 100,000.
 

Required Software (64-bit versions):

VPX 10.8.0 final release or later: https://github.com/vpinball/vpinball/releases
VPinMame v3.6.0-1227 or later: https://github.com/vpinball/pinmame/releases
B2S Server 2.1.3 or later (if B2S used): https://github.com/vpinball/b2s-backglass/releases
 


Permission from ORIGINAL Author(s)?

This is my own creation.

Allow file to be included on a VPUniverse downloader app?

Yes

VPX Standalone

Yes
https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2238
https://vpuniverse.com/files/file/7900-solar-fire-williams-1981/
Yes
10.8 required
Yes

What's New in Version 3.0.0   See changelog

Released

Version 3.0.0 is a completely new build from scratch with a new playfield, primitives, baking, placement, latest VPW physics, sounds, etc.  Also included an interactive tutorial.

User Feedback

You may only provide a review once you have downloaded the file.


PinStratsDan

   1 of 1 member found this review helpful 1 / 1 member

I've you've played Black Knight, you'll feel right at home with Solar Fire as it clearly uses a similar layout and share some of the features including the magna-saves. I find the table very engaging, and it keeps you on your toes.  UnclePaulie did a great job tweaking the table to play hard but fair and it looks great!

Neutron

   3 of 8 members found this review helpful 3 / 8 members

This table sadly retains many of the things that turned me off of Goldchicco's version of the table, namely overpowered flippers making the game flow too fast and erratic than it should be for a table from that time. Also making shots seems to be a matter of luck rather than skill, just the same as in Bord's version of Black Knight. I'm a big fan of Solar Fire and so I hope the table's physics get a rework in the future.

rkader

  

Finally played it yesterday. have not tried cab mode but in VR? the theme, the colors are right up appealing to me but everything else kept me playing.
Great work, yet again. 
You can really bring tables "to life" with your magic. 

UHATEIT

  

Literally any table that you touch is stellar. Bringing these old school 80s tables to fresh status is awesome. This one is great, thank you for all the hard work! The F12 options are insane!

Toddzilla3267

  

Love the new update!!!! Fantastic, thank you, another one that is best in class!

freakazoidman

  

I just upgraded my graphics card, and this table was the the first to try. WOW.....just WOW!! I´m I  at a museum for fine arts, or is this a pinball table?.. Spectacular !  The playfield just pops at you with all it colorfulness and lighting. Such a fun table too. I can't praise @UnclePaulie enough for his AMAZING skills. The GFX card was worth this table alone. Thank you sooo much!!

Cordsl

  

I downloaded the 3.0 update, just one word: FANTASTIC !

dishpan

  

Very fresh and addictive.  Thanks!

oizukitom

  

Beautiful looking table. Plays well for me. I like it!  The play field lights and lighting effects are sharp! 

The F12 settings are vast. The "about this file" info tab, I enjoyed it. You guys keep raising the bar!

Thank you.  

 

Sidenote: The 1.2 version was playing a bit faster for me. In the 3.0 version via F12 I turned off VR, saved and restarted...That solved it. I am far away from a 2.5M game though!  

 

Desktop and 3 screens. 

vpx standalone 10.8.0 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

 

LordTheRon

  

Classic UnclePaulie quality. You nail these older tables to perfection. Loving this one as the 80's tables got more complex. Plays great in VR.

pacboy

  

Thank you so much Uncle Paulie 👍.

Curse

  

Another UnclePaulie banger! This looks stellar and, even more importantly, plays fantastically. Thank you sir!

teisen

  

Simply stunning!

Rivermatty

  

Thanks for the new 3.0.0 Version, a vast improvement and plays great, thanks so much.

RKip455

  

Very Nice... THANK YOU Sir...!

leeoneil

  

Thank's for this table, I didn't know anything about before seeing your vpx version.

Thank you for the discovery, and the hours of playing !

studly_do_right

  

Another quality update, you have quite a collection going looking at the bottom of this page. I especially like the 80s era and this table, with it's updates, has bumped right into my favorites list. Both versions are great but the VR version is where its at for me. Thanks for the Hybrid

ashleyb

  

Very nice update!

robobet

  

Fantastic update !

thank you

hauntfreaks

  

sweet update!!  thanks man

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