features of pinsims for comparision and ranking

the valued features

descriptions of why and how the valuing was done

points given

Win/DOS Many pinsims on CD only run under DOS. Most need about 540-570KB.You may use DOSBox for several pinsims to play on modern PCs no points
telling if running under DOS or windows (9x)
Year of release and developer/copyright Well the pinsims older than 1995 are hardly playable but even younger ones may still have funny physics. no points
year of release + developer/copyright
scrolling The playfield is scrolling up and down depending where the ball is rolling. The actually visible part ranges usually between 40-75% of the whole playfield. The pair of numbers describe the vertical/horizontal (estimated) percentage of the playfield visible. It gets annoying because most special targets (usually with big points) are located in the upper playfield. When holding the ball on flippers you only see the lower part of the playfield so you have to guess where and hope to hit the ramp.. that just signaled for big points.
In multiball you see the screenpart of your lowest ball.
2D pinsims without scrolling use only part of the screenwidth.
Higher resolution only lessens the problem.
points between 0-3 depending how good the screen is used
2D/3D The ultimate pinballfeeling will only develop with a 3D-view. 2D, the birdview lacks some realism but is as well playable. 2D = up to 5 points,
3D = until 10 points.
menu options
configuration
If you want to change some settings to your advantage or liking, this is where to look. Inclination, nudging and other effects such as volume of music and sounds or resolution may be changed. Usually I take the prefixed settings or the arcade modus. Lot of changeable settings will get 3 points.
# of balls In some programs you can choose the number of balls to play, others have either 3 or 5 balls. I play 3 balls for standard. no points
number of balls 3/5
multiball Multiballs with 2 or more balls is a nice feature that makes playing more thrilling. No points
Its only a yes or no
restarting Who cares for a game to continue when the first ball is lost after 5000 points and the high-score is at 50.000.000? On the real pinball you have to play on and the next game will cost you another quarter. The PC allows you to start the game again. The less keys to press and less time it takes the better. I give up to 2 points.
ballphysics Who ever played a real pinball knows about the natural physics. How close do the software get to the real the ballphysics? Not only old pinballs can give you the horror on ballmovement. 30 points can be earned with realistic physics.
graphics The resolution and the whole design, pictures and the way the layout of the playfield are done are valued in this step.. 10 points are possible.
difficulty Pinballs where you can`t play without the tilt-keys or special features that are almost unreachable won`t become my favorites. 10 points are given for games that you can play for a long time without being to easy or getting boring.
fun To have fun while playing the point difficulty in playing can`t be zero. Many features, videos or special tasks will keep you playing on. Balls that run out after 10 seconds or weird ballmovements only make me angry. A pinball you always like to play again will get 20 points.
layout/ game The layout of the playfield may consist of a few targets and a spinner or may be filled with objects to hit, ramps holes etc. 10 points for pinsims that won´t lull you to sleep.
specials Videogames, timelimited tasks, jackpots belong to a good pinball game. I can only speak of features I was able to get at when playing! Up to 10 points will be given.
tilt Older pinballs have the space bar for nudging in one direction. Nowadays nudging from left and right should be standard. Some let the ball even jump out of the outlane! The tilt-sensivity mustn´t tilt at first pressing of the tilt-key. Its difficult to say what a realistic nudging should be. up to 3 points.
comment Well some blabla that I might want to say about the table. My top of the pc-pinballs is „timeshock“, even when I couldn`t crack this one until now.
purchase of CD I`m sorry, but this point is exclusively of interest for the german area only.
You won´t find many of the pinball-CD´s in shops, the newer ones won´t be a problem to buy. The best way is searching in internet-auctions. ebay.de is the platform with the most offers (over 100 permanently). The offers in ebay.de (germany) differ from those in ebay.com.
its rare,
sometimes or
common
depending on the number of offers in ebay or shops.
points That´s the number of points the pinsim has achieved. Maximum is 111
personel high-score That´s the points I could get when fighting the pinsim.