Pinball Noir

Pinball Noir
Date available	March 2022 (early access); February 2023
Category	Zen Originals
Based on	Classic noir fiction
Designed by	Zoltan Vari
Achievement	"Shooter eliminated": Score the Double Super Jackpot during Mobster Multiball by finding and defeating the shooter.
Plunger mechanism	Diagonal onto playfield
Skill shot type	Plunger timing
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	3
Outlane protection	2 magna-saves
Number of main missions	8
Wizard mode type	Final multiball mission
Number of side modes	N/A
Number of multiball modes	2

Pinball Noir is one of the three Zen Originals that released with the launch of the Pinball FX reboot in March 2022. Inspired by noir films and stories from the 1940s, primarily The Maltese Falcon, the player takes the role of private eye Seamus as he takes down crooks and uncovers the mystery of the Fat Man.

Missions

8 missions must be completed to qualify the wizard mode, The Raid. All missions are played with a single ball, though not all of them can be played at once - some can only be started if the ball lock is in a certain position. Missions can be repeated to increase the jackpot scores during the wizard mode and are suspended during multiball.

• Mobster Multiball: The game's main multiball.
  • 3 balls must be locked, with strong shots to the spiral ball lock, to start Mobster Multiball. If the lock is in the wrong position, one of the targets on either side must be shot to turn the ball lock to the correct position.
  • Once all 3 balls have been locked, multiball will begin. Shoot the gangster cardboard targets in front of the spiral ball lock entrances, then lock a ball there, to score a jackpot (1M x2 or x3 depending on the position of the ramp diverters) and briefly reveal the location of the shooter in the building at the back right of the machine. The jackpot value can be multiplied with a strong shot to the left lane that goes all the way into the car VUK.
  • Collecting up to 3 jackpots and locking the balls will score the Super Jackpot worth 3x the value, and begin a video mode, for a chance to score the Double Super Jackpot worth 6x the jackpot value. A building with 32 windows is seen in the back-right corner of the game, and only one of them will score the double super jackpot - this can be determined by looking at the building after scoring each jackpot, or by shooting the Femme Fatale target, as described below. Use the flippers and launch button to make your decision within 10 seconds.
  • The Femme Fatale target remains active during multiball, and completing the process described in the Femme Fatale section will tell you which building window the shooter is in.
• Follow That Car!: This mode is split into two parts - the player must first traverse the road, then tail the car. This objective can be activated at any time during single-ball play, regardless of whether other missions are active.
  • Shoot the car ramp twice to qualify the road mini-playfield, then shoot the car ramp again to activate it. The goal of the mini-playfield is to press the launch button with precise timing to magnetize the ball along the road within 5 seconds, with each turn providing a shorter and shorter amount of time to press the launch button. After completing the course in under 5 seconds, extra ball will light and a value will be scored based on the seconds remaining (usually around 1.5M). The required time decreases with each successful attempt, to a minimum of 4 seconds.
  • Once the course has been completed successfully, the car ramp will remain lit to start Follow That Car! proper. As the ball navigates the mini-playfield, the player must send another ball into the area before the ball leaves - it remains magnetized at each spot for 3 seconds. Shoot the car ramp before the other ball leaves to score the value from the first phase multiplied by the number of magnets that weren't used and win the mode.
• Find the Evidence!: Making shots to the left and right ramps increases the multiplier for bumper hits by +1x, up to 3x, and changes the position of the diverters on the crime scene platform. Once the two diverters are facing inward, either ramp will send the ball into the bumpers. 100 bumper hits must be collected to start Find the Evidence!, where the player must make shots to either the left or right ramp for hurry-up values starting at 5 million points. Only flashing ramps score the hurry-up award - if the player makes a ramp shot that isn't currently lit, the mission will automatically end in failure and must be restarted. The mission ends in success after 5 ramp shots.
• Femme Fatale: This objective can be activated at any time, regardless of whether missions are active, as long as the spiral ball lock is in the left position. Shoot the Femme Fatale roto-target once to cause it to start rotating for 10 seconds, and attempt to make a shot to the target as soon as it lands on the frame of the Femme Fatale's kiss. Collecting the kiss wins the objective and either scores anywhere from 4 to 10 million points. Shooting the target when the furthest insert is lit also holds the bonus multipliers to the next ball if they have been increased.
• Double-Crosser: If the spiral ball lock is in the right position, two shots to the upper loop within 20 seconds of each other will start a quick hurry-up mode. A cardboard target of a crooked police officer will appear between the left orbit and left ramp, which must be shot within 30 seconds to score a hurry-up value starting at 1M and win the mission. Defeating the officer within the first 10 seconds also wins the mission for 6M and lights an extra ball. This can be done from either the upper or lower flippers.
• Small Talk: Shoot the left saucer five times to start a conversation with the Femme Fatale - the last two digits will always correspond to the starting value of the mode, 1M + 100k per attempt. The first shot to the left saucer locks in the lit phone dial number (between 10 to 1 over 20 seconds) as a multiplier for the value, and each shot to the left saucer during the mission scores the value - magnetizing the ball above the flipper and flinging it around the left orbit. Shoot the left saucer 3 times to to win the mission. An extra ball can be lit by scoring at least 10M during this mission.
• Hidden Clues: Ramp shots that divert to the flippers light the center sinkhole for "investigate" for 10 seconds, to advance towards starting Hidden Clues. Once three "investigate" shots have been made, a mission will begin where the player must shoot lit CLUE lanes for 1M each. If the 20 second timer runs out, another CLUE shot will light and the player must make this as well. The player must collect 3 CLUE shots to win the mission, determine the identity of the "Fat Man", and light an extra ball.
• Lurking Shadows: Making 3 shots to the left orbit (+1 each time this mission is completed) causes midnight to approach, starting a hurry-up mode where any orbit shot scores a hurry-up value starting at 3M points, increasing by that value for each shot made during the mission. Making 4 orbit shots wins the mission in success. Shooting the right orbit in single-ball play before starting this mission increases the hurry-up value for each shot by 500k points.

The Raid

Once all eight missions have been won, The Raid wizard mode can be started by locking 3 balls in the spiral ball lock. Once all three balls are locked, the wizard jackpot value will be determined, worth 1M x the number of missions completed; this jackpot can be multiplied the same way that jackpots during regular Mobster Multiball can. This wizard mode is a two-stage event, with each stage timed for 90 seconds with an unlimited ball save timer:

• During the start of the Raid, the player must re-lock three balls by shooting the crime scene platform with either left or right ramp shots.
• After the three balls have been captured, two more normal balls will spawn, along with "the Fat Man" - the suspect you've been after all this time, represented as a larger and slower pinball. During this phase, all jackpots are multiplied by the number of balls in play, and the balls have to be locked in the spiral ball lock for more jackpots. Locking the "Fat Man" ball scores a Super Jackpot worth 2x the jackpot value, and locking all three balls scores a Mega Jackpot worth 4x the jackpot value and releases them all to begin the process again. After the 90 seconds expire or the Fat Man has been captured, the Raid ends, and all mission progress will be reset so the player can attempt to reach the wizard mode again.

Perks

• Skill Shot: Skill shot opportunities are given at the start of every new ball, and after a ball has been locked for Mobster Multiball (as long as a mission isn't currently running). Holding down the ball plunger rod causes the spiral ball lock to rapidly rotate. Plunge at the right time to send a ball into the empty slot on the spiral ball lock for a skill shot. Skill shots score 500,000 points and increase the bonus multiplier by +1x.
  • A secret skill shot, worth the same value, can be scored by plunging the ball such that the rail around the empty slot pushes the ball into one of the spiral ball locks.
• Ball Save: Each new ball and multiball mode starts with 15 seconds of ball saver time. If magna-save is qualified with an outlane drain, then the ball save will also activate.
• Magna-Save: Spell (FLASH) BACK at the return lanes, which cycle with the flippers, to activate a magna-save at both outlanes that can be activated by pressing the launch button. Up to 3 magna-saves can be stacked at a time.
• Bonus Multiplier: Making skill shots increases the bonus multiplier, which can be held by collecting the kiss from Femme Fatale.
• Extra Balls: Extra balls can be lit at the center sinkhole by winning the first phase of Follow That Car!, defeating the corrupt police officer within 10 seconds during Double-Crosser, scoring 10 million points during Small Talk, and finding all 3 clues during Hidden Clues.

Tips

• Get used to how the TURN targets operate, as these are integral to playing the table well - they prevent shots from being made, are required to score big during the multiball modes, and can also be very dangerous shots if you aren't paying attention.
• The toughest missions to complete on this table are Follow That Car! due to the precision required to properly "tail" the opposing car, and Hidden Clues due to the precise shot-making required to win it. However, these also result in extra balls, so you might want to play for these missions early on if you haven't collected many extra balls yet.
• Keep the magna-saves lit at all times to guard balls that can drain after shooting the TURN targets, and remember that ramp shots that feed the return lanes will also qualify the scoop to advance towards the elusive Hidden Clues mission that has the potential to act as a roadblock for the wizard mode.
• The Raid wizard mode is where the truly massive points on this table are at, particularly if you can capture the Fat Man before locking any of the smaller pinballs. However, as this is a timed wizard mode, you'll have to play your best and be sure to lock all the balls as quickly as possible. Two Mega Jackpots can be scored if you're quick enough!

Easter Eggs

• The pictures seen on the Femme Fatale roto-target are of Rose Camara, one of the hosts of The Pinball Show, though she doesn't voice the character.
• Unique callouts can be triggered for "death saving" the ball using the magna-saves.

External links

• WIP development video