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Pinball Builder: A Construction Kit for Windows

aka: Pinball Construction Kit, Pinball Construction Kit: Maak je eigen flipperkast
Moby ID: 943

Description official description

From the creators of the Pinball Dreams/Fantasies series comes a pinball construction kit for Windows. Choose from 8 table layouts, each with 4 different flipper/outlane configurations. Choose the base for your table, add all the bumpers/lights you want, and play the table. You can change all the scores and the letter combinations as you please.

You can also play without editing one of the eight sample tables which the layouts are based on. The tables are also playable in DOS, featuring the traditional scrolling mode. They can be played in various resolutions from basic 320x200 / 320x240 up to hires modes 640x480 / 800x600 / 1024x768.

This package was included in Encore's "Pinball Madness 2" collection in 1999.

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Credits (Windows 3.x version)

13 People

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Critics

Average score: 51% (based on 8 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.2 out of 5 (based on 3 ratings with 1 reviews)

If you think you're going to make Pinball Fantasies 2 with this, think again.

The Good
Well, I guess it's nice to see a new pinball editor since EA's construction kit way back in '84. It's fairly simple to place objects on the table. Finally, they were nice enough to include some tables for you in case you decide to never touch the editor again.

The Bad
After Frontline Design/Digital Illusions crafted the lovely Pinball Dreams/Fantasies series on Amiga (ported later to PC), their publisher, 21st Century, had to make a hell of a followup if they were to release a construction kit. Let us count the ways they garbled it up:

1) You MUST be running in 800x600x256 mode under Windows. PB doesn't even do this for you.

2) Your table design must be selected from 8 premade tables; they call it 32 because each has 4 different flipper/outlane combos, which doesn't add much (I get to speak my mind here better than the game description :).

3) You can only add a few different targets, which MUST go in pre-established regions. You cannot add or move lanes and ramps.

4) You cannot change the dot-matrix-display messages - the Teddy sample table still has Alien table messages in it.

5) I realize MOD support for Windows in 1996 was weak, but having it on Amiga and DOS for 4 years then only allowing MIDI in the Builder is just mean.

The Bottom Line
And when it's all finished, your table is, at best, half as good as any in Pinball Dreams. You would probably have more fun hacking the graphics of one of the REAL 21st Century pinball tables.

AFAIK, the original developers had little to nothing to do with this release.

Windows 3.x · by Andy Voss (1861) · 2006

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  • MobyGames ID: 943
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Andy Voss.

Additional contributors: Dae, PolloDiablo.

Game added March 2, 2000. Last modified January 19, 2024.