The Matrix

The Matrix (the original, to be precise) is in my top five movies. I was in the midst of my mid-year uni exams, and my brain was fried one night. Rather than going to bed, I decided I needed a distraction and headed to the theater for a midnight showing. I was so focused on my exams that I had no idea what The Matrix even was; I probably only decided to watch it because the poster looked intriguing. Needless to say, my mind was absolutely blown, and it was buzzing long after the movie ended. It remains one of those moments in my life that I will never forget.

Well, the creators of this table, the Pincredibles, along with VPW who helped make it play as realistically as possible, are blessing the VPX community with one of the best VPX tables ever (and one of the best pinball tables ever, for that matter). The modes, side-modes, multiballs, mini-wizard modes, music, lighting, and exceptional PUP pack displays (yes, displays!) take you along for the ride and never let up.

Don't think the table is easy, though; it will take even the best players a good amount of effort to make it through, and that is even without trying to maximize your scoring. I've had relatively poor games in terms of finishing modes where I had excellent multiballs and got a great score. Other times, I’ve had excellent games where I made it far into the table, but without really scoring that amazingly well. Either way... this is my kind of table. Like Blood Machines, Iron Man: Legacy of the Beast, and The Lord of the Rings, it is a game you can keep coming back to and steadily improve upon as you fight to conquer it.

It has been an absolute pleasure to test this table over the last few months, and I'm just amazed at how efficient, professional, and dedicated DaphishBowl, Manu, and the rest of the creation team were throughout. It boggles my mind that people, using their personal time, can come up with such magnificent work that will bless the pinball community for years to come. Thank you so much to the whole team involved for this tremendous effort.

I am so impressed with the gameplay and layout of this game. I love it when an original design is pure pinball, something that could be made in the physical pinball world. Not to say the originals that add the digital extras that couldn't be replicated are bad - most are really cool too - just that there's an elegance and authenticity when a ground up virtual pinball machine holds to the physical world. It adds some magic to the whole package. 

Highlights for me -   

* The Sentinel loop(?) to the kick back to the deja vu shot - so great and innovative. 

* How the agent drop targets are integrated to the theme

* Modes - have only run through all the modes once but they made sense to the story. 

* Phone booth - took a while to figure out what was happening there. Concept is cool and innovative. One suggestion would be to add some graphics to make that more integrated into the look and feel. 

* While this was release pre-1.0, code is more complete than any recent Stern, which is notable. 

Thanks to the whole development team. Batman 66 was my first love virtual pinball table and Pincredible did it again with The Matrix. It's inspirational how this hobby is driven by the work and dedication of so many passionate people, and I'm so grateful to be the beneficiary. Thank you to all that provide so much joy to the hobby.

Wow, wow, wow, what an unbelievably good table this is! To think that this has been completely created from scratch just by the imagination and passion of a small group of communitymembers when worked on the table for years and then release such a quality product, for free!

This table perfectly captures The Matrix movies. The modes are great as you can feel the tension and sense of achievement when you complete them. The multiballs are fun, the spoon feature is very nice. To play this game in VR is simply amazing!

Deep bow and hats off to @daphishbowl @mpt3k and all others involved. You created a masterpiece!

WOW!

Stellar cab and fun to play! I love the mission selections and blue and red pill option for each!  So well done, it could be a real cab!

Four player game and cool VR rooms. 

Especially great in VR!!

Awesome work!!! 😘

WOW. Its amazing.  You guys put so much into this and it shows.  Thank you for the easy script options!  And having cab, VR, and desktop users in mind. I don't have a beast PC.  The script options let me use the slow PC settings and I'm running the table fine. Dell gaming laptop, RTX 3050 Ti Ryzen 7 5800H running an OTG ALP 4KP setup.   My rig couldn't handle the playfield pup, but once I switched that off in the script I'm running a fine 60 FPS.  This table is still amazing without the playfield PUP.  I cranked up the bgmusic a little too.  Its a killer soundtrack.  I'm a Full DMD Pup kinda guy.  I like to see the best of another awesome @hauntfreaks Backglass, and the PUP.   More thanks for designing this one to look fantastic on a PUP DMD.  I can't wait to dive deeper into the gameplay. This movie was coming of age cinematically, and maybe overall for me back then.  You guys are making a ton of Neo-Nerds happy with this one.  This is going to be at the top of folks favorite tables for some time I think.  Thank you team!

This is a masterpiece! WOW!  Love everything about this.  You guys are incredible or should I say Pincredible! LOL......I'll get my coat and see myself out.

This is a god-tier table. You held nothing back.

The shots are incredibly smooth, and the combos feel amazing—especially with the upper flippers. They make you want to push your limits and see just how big a combo you can build.

The Matrix was one of my favorite movies growing up. I wasn’t a huge fan of the sequels, so I really appreciate how this table pays homage to the trilogy while clearly focusing on the first film.

The ruleset is deep, with so much to discover. It keeps pulling me back in. Every time I get frustrated trying to finish a mode, I end up learning something new—a trick or a better way to hit a shot—and suddenly I’m hooked again.

This is a must-have for fans of the series, but even if you’ve never seen it, the table stands on its own as an incredible experience.

The choreography of the lighting and video is outstanding. The color transitions between modes are spectacular, and everything feels alive. The ball physics are spot-on—it has real weight and control.

I can’t wait for Daphisbowl to finish the real-life homebrew and bring it to Pinball Expo. The reactions are going to be unreal. Honestly, even Stern would be impressed.

This is what happens when a team of insanely talented people comes together with a shared love for a theme, a passion for pinball, and a drive for perfection.

It’s easily going into my all-time favorites. Everything here is top-tier—but the best part is how it feels to play.

This table is perfect for tournaments. It’s tough but fair. When you lose, it never feels cheap—you know it’s your skill that needs sharpening. The control is that precise.

I love the challenge. The callouts sound professional, like they were recorded by the actual actors. The VR room is incredible. The art package is pristine.

This will be hard to top.

Huge thanks to all the Pincredibles members and everyone at VPW who contributed. The amount of time and effort behind this must have been massive.

Well done. We’re truly lucky to experience this.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Update:

I forgot to mention that Keanu Reeve's  band Dogstar just got back together (after a 20 year break). I thought that adding a Dogstar mutiball as an Easter Egg would be pretty cool down the line. It feels like Keanu did the song Breach as an homage to the Matrix.

If the band Dogstar is in your neck of the woods, check them out.

My 2nd favorite song is "Glimmer." It features the Back glass of Cyber Race 1:19 in, and sort of ties the two tables together story wise IMO.

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I'm pushing 730,301,070 on my quest to a billion.

Top mode score - One left Behind - 377,500,000

I noticed some people having performance issues earlier in the comments. There are additional table performance settings in the script. These will be added to the F12 menu upon release.

Check line numbers 72 - 74 for performance settings.

Check line 81 for alternate Flipper mod settings. They are amazing. Very different feel. They be springey.

Check lines 126 - 131 for table volume options

For line 127, I crank the music up to 11; you might want to start around .8

I invented a new type of mode to play around with for beginers, intermediates and advanced ballers.

I was watching the Matrix in the background, and noticed that I could get some of the dialog to overlap, so I went ahead and invented a new mode / training thing that I call  Cinematic Mode:

The way the pinball flows through the table is vey similar to how the people in the Martix move around. It is uncanny how closely the modes and timing match as well.

It felt like the more I played around with these ideas, the bigger the shadow of daphishbowl was getting. It was starting to hurt my neck to look up that high. At him.

Here is the Cinematic Challenge:

Rules:

1. Play the table in cinematic order including Believe, training, and déjà vu
2. No multiball during the modes - you can play them outside the matrix to reset them
3. No cutting short any of the videos or options with the flippers (we want to try and watch the cutscenes with fresh eyes every time to pay our respects to the time and effort that went into cutting the scenes together as our way of saying thank you - with our actions. Also, the timing of the challenge is calculated with the scenes in their entirety.)

Note - this is my copy of The Matrix - your times may vary by a few seconds or so depending on your copy

To start:

1. Locate a tv near your pin -cue up Matrix 1 to 0:43
2. Press play on the  movie and start a 4 player game together
3. Notice the dialog overlap between the pin and tv screen. Pretty freaking neat. 
4. At 1:20 The TV will be a black screen, when the little ball of light becomes pinball sized, plunge
5. Hopefully you can enter the Matrix before  Trinity is raising her hands. Press the action button when she is looking at the screen with hands raised. Press right flipper (red flipper) when the third door of the agents closes shut. Try to over lap either the Agent or officer's dialog.
6. try to end the mode around the same time as the movie. 
7. go right into the next mode - Wake up neo - and overlap the opening cut scene

Here are the first 5 acts (up to the second wizard mode)

Act 1 -

0:43 Trinity in a jam / Wake up Neo

Act 2 -

29:00 - Extraction 

39:00 - Believe

48:00 - Training

Act 3 -

1:18:30 - déjà vu

1:22:30 - One Left Behind

Act 4 -

1:53:45 - Subway Showdown

Act 5 -

1:41:00  - Morpheus - Part 1

 I am still fine tuning this. It seems that this route starts the mini wizard part 2 first.

I am having a blast with this table. I showed it to a guy not familiar with virtual pinball, and he was fooled for a bit. Thought is was a real pin until I changed the table to a different one.

His expression told the story, and sums up this review.

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If I was to describe this table, it would be a healthy slice of.... Onion Cake.

1. There are a lot of layers to this table
2. While this table is Super Sweet, it is NOT a piece of cake
3. When I bite into this table I usually cry a little bit....because it is so good
4. Onions usually make me cry when I cut into them
   1. This table must  be an onion cake
5. Your results may vary

Happy Combo Coding💻

What else can be said, except that this Pin is Incredible!

The Matrix Trilogy is among my fav film of all time. So much I made a small 20 minute Matrix inspired movie with my kids MANY years ago (before Youtube was a thing).

So when I heard that the next Pincredibles project was going to be an ORIGINAL VP table and it was going to be The Matrix... oh hot damn!

This table shows what amazing craftmanship and sheer passion can get you when you are willing to take the (very long) amount of time to invest in an all new creation in this hobby. At every level, all effort was put forth. The fantastic layout, the "old Stern pin with movie art" look, the sound and music, the callouts, the PUPDMD, the modeling, the VLM and BTK integration, the code, the MANY inclusions from the movies that only fans would appreciate,... and most important... the FUN!

This is why I love virtual pinball!

Just like for the theatrical debuts of The Matrix sequels, I cleared my schedule to be here for day 1. I expected miracles and I still wasn't ready for this masterpiece 🤯 Easily the most creative design, best soundtrack, best PUP presentation, best use of a property, and even less than an hour in, I think this may be the best pinball I've ever played. Thank you for all the love and effort the team put into this. I can't thank you all enough ❤️

Great table but performance isn't great 

Even with slow PC adjustment it's still very jittery. I'm using what I believe is the correct vpx.

Script shows a duplicate code error still as per comments section but at least it runs after a fresh install. 

Ryzen 5 , GPU 3060 

I've never watched these movies so maybe that's why the game's rules seem so inaccessible to me. What's the white rabbit? What are the spoons for? Why does the frame rate stutter when I have a 3080ti? Hoping the playfield pup integration and frame rate get smoothed out for the 1.0 release, although why the initial release isn't already 1.0 should have been telling.

Not played it much yet, but looks fantastic.  Thanks all.

Beautiful table! Incredible job!! Love the look & the music and it plays beautifully!

What an amazing example of how good a vpin can be! Thanks to all the work and those  involved with this project. It's such a good balance of difficulty and inventive shots. The emp and spoons make decisions tactical and super fun. The modes and the variety here will keep me coming back to this and wanting to show it off to others. 

Fantastic work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks, sounds and plays Amazing! The pup pack is Awesome! 

Thank you very much to EVERYONE Involved! 😎

Beautiful and stunning! Well done! 

Thank you so much for this work of art. Absolutely perfect!

I can't thank the creators enough for providing such a great game! It's truly amazing that they create such awesome tables and then share them with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Oh my God this Pinball is unbelievable Good. Thank you all that are involved in Building this Gem

super super super super awesome. Sadly i'm still hovering around 50FPS on my 780M mini PC with the performance script options all dialed down but it's not too bad considering what's going on here. This is wildy cool!

merci

Me and my Trinity absolutely love this table. It feels as a real pinball table, but better than a Stern. Unique modes and lightshows. Thanks for everyone who helped! 

Holy smokes! This table and pup is awesome!! Thank you!

Amazing work lads, I cannot thank you enough. This is one of the tables that i always boot up to show people the power of VPX . Cannot wait for what is on the horizon, keep up the amazing work.