Owner of Pachinko Parlor Facebook Game

[Gameswarp]

Hi there,

My name is Gavin Koh and I am the developer of Pachinko Parlor on Facebook. The game is also deployed on the Chrome Web Store (as a small sampling) and Kongregate. The game is wholly a one-man effort, and since I'm pretty bad at drawing the artwork found on real Pachinko machines, I resorted to using royalty free photos to serve as machine backgrounds.

I may have released Pachinko Parlor a few months back without any fanfare, but I am now looking to move forward and seeking feedback and ideas from whatever resource I could find. And hence, when I chanced upon PachiTalk, I immediately signed up for it. All my research on Pachinko was done using the Internet, and that included a couple of views on Youtube so I can understand the atmosphere inside a Pachinko Parlor better. I have never played a real Pachinko machine before nor have I had the fortune to visit Japan too.

For those who have not tried my game, please do take a look at it when you can; just click on one of the links above.

I have appended a couple of screenshots here for those who don't prefer to use Facebook. it shows a sampling of the 16 machines I have "hand-crafted" so far.

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Thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to engage with the community.

Regards,
Gavin
Founder of GamesWarp (PC and apps review and news) and GamesWarp Studio
http://www.gameswarp.com and http://www.gameswarp.com/studio

[heima]

Welcome Gavin.
We will all be giving your game a try.
I like how you set the pins to follow the graphic (snake and pumpkin)

[heima]

I have been playing the snake. I like that the gameplay rules change, but I need some indicator to let me know that they are about to change. The shooter swap from left to right was a confusing surprise, as well as the "ball barrage" that mysteriously held balls at the top, and then released them. Thes are nice touches, as well as the moving pockets, but I would like something to tell me that these features were about to be activated. This takes away the surprise, but also takes away the confusion.
The skull and crossbones is also another good idea, but if there was some "Legend" that let me know I needed to avoid it, as well as explain other playfield features, that would be good.
When I hit a jackpot, I gained coins. While a betting man might like that, I would have rather had more balls added to my supply. This is like real pachinko. I understand a want to deviate and be creative, but having jackpots pay in balls, keeps the want to continue play. (for me at least)
I do like how the pins light as they are touched by the balls. Consider adding effects to the pins, like a fast chaser light streak when a nearby pocket is made.
The tune you have for the pocket is ok, I think something a little longer and less simplistic, and matching the theme of the pachinko would help.
In all, a very nice attempt that will a little more tweeking, can become a great game.
Oh, some on screen instructions in the legend might help as well.

[heima]

Another thing. The shower of balls over the score area, is that intentional, or a bug? If intentional, it is a nice touch, but it is also distracting, so much that I thought it was a bug.

[Gameswarp]

The skull and crossbones is also another good idea, but if there was some "Legend" that let me know I needed to avoid it, as well as explain other playfield features, that would be good.

Well, the legend is available over on the Community Page. Point noted though.

I'll duplicate the legend here too:
62167_350613358387372_1674390752_n.png
Here is the current list of Collectibles in the game:
#0 - Upside down apple: Anti-gravity. All balls will float upwards.
#1 - Ying Yang: Will stop all spinners from spinning, restoring balance.
#2 - Jolly Roger: Destroy balls and deducts 10 balls.
#3 - Bomb: Destroy ball.
#4 - Spider Web: Freeze all balls in the game.
#5 - Mirror: Swaps the launch tube from left to right and vice versa.
#6 - Hand: No effect. WIP
#7 - Lock: No effect. WIP
#8 - Split arrow: Multiball. 5 balls will be created.
#9 - Spinning figure: All spinners will spin at top speed (which may cause balls hitting them to ricochet).
#10 - Candle: Lights up all barrier pins so you can see which type they are.
#11 - X Barrier: Acts as a large barrier pin.
#12 - Lightning: Balls are launched at twice the normal speed.
#13 - Unlock: No effect. WIP
#14 - #21: Speed boost. Boosts ball in specified direction.

Another thing. The shower of balls over the score area, is that intentional, or a bug? If intentional, it is a nice touch, but it is also distracting, so much that I thought it was a bug.

That was intentional and meant to get your attention.

Thanks for the feedback though... it was very useful. Hope to hear more too.

[Card Shark]

Welcome to PachiTalk!

Really looking forward to trying out your games.

[cardwwi]

Welcome

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!!

[hanabi]

Hello


Welcome to PachiTalk!!

[mxfaiman]

to Pachitalk!

Your game looks to be fairly nice there. There would be a few things I would change if I made it. One would be change the nail color to yellow and make the highlight in red and black. On some graphics it is hard to see where the nails are. Also I'm not a big fan of the sound when you got the balls hitting the nails.

I will say though your random bounce pattern of the balls is fairly good. I have seen games where the balls fall and it is totally fake, sometimes they don't even touch the nails. Though I did encounter one glitch while playing one of them. Ball got stuck on the pins and stayed there. But it is very realistic to what would happen in real life.

Screen Shot 2013-10-27 at 7.58.50 AM.jpg

[naha13]

Pretty neat! I have to agree with Max about the pin and launch hammer sounds. Check out some youtube vids for how they sound. It's part of the lure...

[Gameswarp]

I will say though your random bounce pattern of the balls is fairly good. I have seen games where the balls fall and it is totally fake, sometimes they don't even touch the nails.

That's because I am using a physics module that comes with the game engine I used to design Pachinko Parlor. So, the bouncing will never ever be fake.

mxfaiman said: One would be change the nail color to yellow and make the highlight in red and black. On some graphics it is hard to see where the nails are.

The original feature of black pins lighting up upon contact was intentional. There are a variety of pins in the game: most pins are designed to be normal pins, while others may be pinball style pins (your balls bounce off them), or explosion pins (your balls cause them to explode and disappear). I intended to design other kinds of pins too... things you can't find in a Pachinko machine. There is a "candle" powerup that lights up all pins for you so you can see which pins have been designed into the machine. But otherwise, it would be kept in the dark so that you have to guess which pins does what.

But if it is an overwhelming request to remove that "blackness" (which seems to be), I can easily enable all pins to be lighted up to one light grey color. And I'll still keep the "candle" powerup intact to show you what each pin type is.

mxfaiman said: Also I'm not a big fan of the sound when you got the balls hitting the nails.

naha13 said: I have to agree with Max about the pin and launch hammer sounds.

Noted guys, I will try to look for appropriate pin and hammer launching sounds.

Thanks again for all the feedback. It has been very useful. I will be updating the credits to mention this.

[Gameswarp]

Though I did encounter one glitch while playing one of them. Ball got stuck on the pins and stayed there. But it is very realistic to what would happen in real life.

Oh yes, I forgot about this point. If balls stay frozen, it is because you probably hit a Spider Web power-up - this will freeze all balls for a few seconds. Just wait a while and the balls will be released from this state.

I have also updated the game one more time to add two new features:

• The machine background (ie. the image) now has the capability of flashing whenever a ball enters a score trap.
• Pins are no longer black in color when inactive.
• New sound effects for balls hitting pins (click sound), and balls entering traps (ding).

Thanks.

[mxfaiman]

Oh yes, I forgot about this point. If balls stay frozen, it is because you probably hit a Spider Web power-up - this will freeze all balls for a few seconds. Just wait a while and the balls will be released from this state.

That wasn't the problem. The ball stayed there, no matter how long I played it. I think I stopped after about 5 minutes and it was still there. When I left and re-entered the machine it fixed itself.

[Gameswarp]

mxfaiman: The ball stayed there, no matter how long I played it. I think I stopped after about 5 minutes and it was still there. When I left and re-entered the machine it fixed itself.

Ok, noted. Will play the game and try to duplicate this error. The problem is getting the error duplicated. If I can do that, I should be able to deduce the problem and think of a solution. At the same time, I shall be designing even more levels, and improving the Facebook integration (sharing, etc.) and user interface.

As an aside, I have no idea where to get a launch hammer sound effect (yes, it sounds distinctive). I can't find any good launch hammer sound clips nor isolate a good one from Youtube.

As for the integration of balls and money, that would be something I have to think about carefully. The intention was to have the money accumulated in Pachinko Parlor and use it freely in other games I intend to publish. I could do away with the money element and mention some conversion rate elsewhere, but then I need to think carefully about that.


Thanks.

[mxfaiman]

As an aside, I have no idea where to get a launch hammer sound effect (yes, it sounds distinctive). I can't find any good launch hammer sound clips nor isolate a good one from Youtube.

I could record something for you. Afterall I set the notification on my phone as a vintage payout sound (below). Might take me a few days before I can get the time to do it.

[Gameswarp]

@mxfaiman: Well, I was playing more than an hour, and I never once got a ball to become stuck. And when I say stuck, I am looking for a ball "freezing" in space with nothing beneath it and no "spiderweb" freeze power-up activated.

Oh, stupid me... I relooked at your photo which shows the second machine with the ball being stuck (on the middle right side). Yes, the ball will get stuck there on that arm (and the opposite side too). To nudge the machine, just use "." (nudge right) and "," (nudge left); there's no TILT like in Jackpot. I could redesign that machine slightly to prevent any balls from being stuck there, by making that single corner pin a bouncy type. Or, I could relocate some pins slightly.

Thanks for the sound effects, it would help tremendously for authenticity! Take your time.

[Gameswarp]

Machine #17 - Hearty Roar! has been added to the game. The background for this machine depicts a Chinese Lion Head - the type you will commonly find during Chinese New Year. It was great fun designing this Pachinko machine.

level17promote.jpg

@mxfaiman: I have also added a shortened version of the payout sound clip you provided. Please see if this helps to improve the game. Thanks very much. I would love to update the credits to include your name under Sound Assets. Otherwise, if you prefer, I shall be using "mxfaiman of the Pachi-Talk forums".

For those who have played the game recently, please refresh your browser cache to be able to see the new changes.

Thanks.

[heima]

I could record something for you. Afterall I set the notification on my phone as a vintage payout sound (below). Might take me a few days before I can get the time to do it.

Thats the sound!

[Gameswarp]

Hmm... now I'm a bit confused... Heima, are you saying the mp3 contain several events - a launch hammer sound, a ding for entering a pocket/tulip and the sound of coins being deposited in the tray?