Zone Fury VPX WIP

[MuZRoku]

Hey all,

 

For anyone interested, here's a little look at my current VP project: Zone Fury VPX. Zone Fury VPX is a conversion/rebuild of the VP9 version I made back in I think 2012, and will be my third table for VPX. This has always been a favorite of mine and I feel deserves the rebuild.

For those who hadn't played the VP9 version, Zone Fury is based on the Zone mode in the Playstation 3 game Wipeout HD. In Zone Fury, the goal is to get to as high a Zone as you possibly can. The table starts out at Zone 0 (Sub-Venom), and you advance Zones by making ramp shots, orbit shots, completing ZONE, and accruing 10,000 in bonus. You progress through the Zones as in the original game. From the Wipeout speed classes early on, up to and beyond Zone 75 (Supersonic), accelerator triggers on the ball accelerate the ball as you progress through the Zones.The force of the bumpers also increases with each named Zone. The idea is that the game gets progressively faster the longer you play.

The game is essentially unchanged from the VP9 version but I did put in some enhancements:
-I'm using JP physics at the moment, as I'm most familiar with them). Not sure how to set up nfozzy physics but I probably need to learn nfozzy at some point.
-Replaced the old shoot-again light with a LED display on the playfield that will display the remaining ball-save time similar to what Spooky did on games like Rick & Morty and TNA. It also shows *SA* when you've won an extra ball. The original Zone display on the playfield is unchanged.
-Changed LOCK to light all three locks when completed in any order for the first multiball. After the first multiball, completing LOCK will still light only one lock at a time unless completed in sequence. Makes it a little easier to get the first multiball.
-Table remembers the status of LOCK drop targets across players/balls for multiball purposes
-Table remembers status of ZONE lights across players/balls
-Bumper force during normal game play now player-specific. While copying script elements from the original to VPX I discovered I never implemented this correctly in the original.

-In addition to the flippers, the GI lights will also change colors when you reach named Zones.

-New DT backdrop based on the original.

-I'll be installing some cylindrical dome flashers on the table to use at certain times. They're on the table but not working atm. Haven't decided how I will use them yet and their positions may not be final.

-The ramps are slightly altered from the VP9 version.

 

The hope is to complete and release before end of this summer. The table does run a complete 1-4 player game, but I still have quite a bit of work left to do on this one, including some graphics left (though they're mostly done at this point), some sound work (clean up sound effects and mod the music so it'll loop better), build a B2S backglass similar to the one I made for Crazy Cats, some scripting of things I'm thinking of adding that were not in the VP9 version. May try to play around with the overall lighting, haven't really tried the LUT lighting options I see on other tables made by authors better than me.

[MuZRoku]

Here's an update in case anyone is interested. This one is progressing nicely, though the table can be a bit brutal to play lol. Lot of risky shots on the table and missed shots can result in instant drains. 

 

Most of the graphics work is done as well as most of the sound work (still need to finalize the music). I managed to find a library of sound effects to use in the table which greatly helped.

B2S backglass is done and pretty much finalized at this point. In my last two releases I included the B2S with the table, wonder if I should release the B2S separately with this one, as I've seem people do the table and B2S separately.

The dome flashers are now working though I may code up another sequence or two with them. currently I have sequences for locks lit, multiball, and end of game. Still learning the fine art of incorporating light shows into tables.

I also added a progressive combo system for the ramps ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 points, and adding things like 2x, 3x, 6x scoring for 30 seconds if you get far enough. Sustaining the combos won't be easy as each ramp increases the Zone as well as the ball speeds.This was not in the VP9 version.

I also added a start of ball skill shot which goes from 10,000-50,000 points, advances 1 Zone, advances the bonus multiplier to 2x, and adds 3 seconds to the ball save time. This was also not in the VP9 version.

I've added an option to have the table turn off the countdown timer while the ball save (though the lights on either side of the display will still blink until the ball save runs out, getting faster as the time winds down). I noticed when building this on my 10-year-old PC that I was taking a frame-rate hit when the ball save is active using the display, so I added this option to help out lower-end PCs like mine in case they ran into this issue when playing. By default the display is on, and newer PCs/cabinets shouldn't have any issue with it on.

 

Things I'm still planning/considering are:

 

1) Implementing a color-change scheme for the lights for multiball which would be separate from the current zone colors. Basically it would be the same idea. When the battle zone in multiball gets to certain points, change the colors.

2) Adding some options to give a player some control over the music the game plays.

3) Still need to add at least some basic DOF functionality, but I'll likely do that just prior to release.

 

Take Care