CENSORED / MISSED tables' elements and features list.

[russian_martian]

UPDATE:
here in video Crow spotted what at least 1 thing on Medieval Madness still is censored - word "eaten" changed to "taken" on DMD wuring video mode

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Zen just announced what starting from Vol.2 Williams/Bally tables will be released on Steam in unaltered form. Vol. 1 tables will be returned to unaltered form on Dec 4 with Vol 2 update release (Fish Tales will be returned to original form too)

guys if someone posted negative review to FX3 or Williams DLC, please change it to positive if censorship was your main concern. it will be fair to developer.

UPDATE from official FX3 Williams FAQ:
https://www.pinballfx.com/?page_id=7989

Q:Pinball FX3 has a rating of E10+. Will Zen censor Williams tables that contain content not appropriate for this rating?
A:Zen Studios is happy to confirm that unaltered versions of all William™ Pinball tables will be released on Steam when Volume 2 releases. You will have the choice to play either version based on what is best for you. Unaltered versions of the tables will also be available on mobile.

Zen Studios is very aware that certain tables, such as Medieval Madness, have content that cannot be included in an E10+ rated game. At this time we are running the Family Mode version directly from the ROM on consoles, Windows 10 and Mac. Zen is not censoring the game any differently from what Family Mode includes. On Steam, the game is not running Family Mode; however, this can be turned on in the game settings if so desired.

We hear from both sides – those who do not want Family Mode to be the only option in the game and those who appreciate Family Mode, and we will work to find the right balance for this situation.



you can check list of what is removed/edited on tables in game menu ->"legal resources"

List of already spotted out censored / missed elements:
-------------------
All Tables:
-- pop bumpers miss bottom parts (on which ball is roll to trigger upper sliding part)
here is link to how bumpers should look on High Speed 2: Getaway for example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9JFBaDKxSc

Fish Tales:
-- added bubbles near pelican's pipe on sides art of cabinet
-- edited text on 2 cans on backglass
-- pipe removed from mouth of character near top rollovers
-- cigar removed from mouth of fisherman at center of playfield art
-- art on sides of table head: mermaids belly is covered with scales instead of be regular human skin
-- game flyer (mastery reward) has same edits as ingame table

Medieval Madness:
-- on backglass cigar is removed from Troll's mouth
-- on backglass blood is removed from King's sword
-- on backglass blood is removed from sword in "Medieval Madness" (letter "i") text logo
-- on backglass girl's outfit in left lower corner is edited "from bikini to full armor"
-- on sides of cabinet blood is removed from sword
-- [STILL NOT RETURNED TO ORIGINAL (word "eaten")] during Video mode on DMD text "child" and "calf" changed to "taken" from original "eaten"
-- "VO's using the version free from pertinent content of the "I'm Lord Howard Hurtz" line"
-- game flyer (mastery reward) has same edits as ingame table

Junk Yard:
-- on backglass cigar is removed from Bob's mouth
-- on playfield cigar is removed from Bob's mouth
-- on back inside of cabinet cigar is removed from Bob's mouth
-- on backglass upper part of girl's in thub chest art is covered with more bubbles
-- some voices/sounds during Toilet shots in Family mode [need to check which ones]
-- plunger rod and textures of cabinet around it are invisible, so you can even see floor through the hole
-- game flyer (mastery reward) has same edits as ingame table

Party Zone:
-- DMD animations (with beer) on Party Zone are still censored even in uncensored mode.

[UPDATE 4] Topic open post was edited to become kind of check list of missed elements (both censored or just missed/not properly added) known to date. It is not listing game bugs, because it is not about it.

Pinball kinda saved at least here on Steam and mobiles =)

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису Akos:

Hi everyone, got an update for you!

Family Mode will be turned off on PC. You will have the ability to turn Family Mode on in the settings if needed. We will continue to work on this issue now and in the future. For now, artwork will remain altered on Fish Tales with references to alcohol and tobacco being removed.

Thanks for the insight and the feedback on this issue

reference to mermaid will left too?
about setting of ROM is good news - and can here be liiiitle posibility to have access to other ROM settings for some "custom" mode?

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису Melo:

Цитата допису Akos:

For now, artwork will remain altered on Fish Tales with references to alcohol and tobacco being removed.

You mean, even with family mode being disabled?
Not entirely sure what that part means.

Will it remain altered for now, because it takes time to re-implement the non-censored graphics, or because of other reasons? Maybe because it's a free table and not a DLC, so it's part of the core game and needs to respect the core game's rating?

Could you please clarify? Thanks.

he means family mode setting of ROM on Medieval Madness - on Fish Tales are art alterations - they are made "by hands" and not regulated by ROM settings

[SinistarX]

I was pretty excited for these tables because of my confidence in Zen's greater ability to deliver and support pinball content, and while I appreciate the devs moving more in the right direction, these are still a hard pass for me as long as the edits are in place.

[BuddyMovies™]

Цитата допису Akos:

Hi everyone, got an update for you!

Family Mode will be turned off on PC. You will have the ability to turn Family Mode on in the settings if needed. We will continue to work on this issue now and in the future. For now, artwork will remain altered on Fish Tales with references to alcohol and tobacco being removed.

Thanks for the insight and the feedback on this issue

Regarding the ability to disable the family mode it is indeed a very good news. As for the artworks, it is a very very bad news, and it means that we will probably have other censored tables coming in the near future...

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису Monochromatic:

Цитата допису 🌌👽Tamachi-San👽🌌:

Regarding the ability to disable the family mode it is indeed a very good news. As for the artworks, it is a very very bad news, and it means that we will probably have other censored tables coming in the near future...

I think Akos means that it can’t be done in time for launch of Vol.1 but that maybe a future update will allow users to switch to the original art.

I think they just need time to implement a way to switch art assets. I hope. So this should be good news I think.

not as if i like to be "that guy" or dont trust anything, but FarSight teached me to ignore such words as "may be in future" or "soon", teached in very hard way

[melchiah_kirk]

Цитата допису kaworu:

Цитата допису Monochromatic:

I think Akos means that it can’t be done in time for launch of Vol.1 but that maybe a future update will allow users to switch to the original art.

I think they just need time to implement a way to switch art assets. I hope. So this should be good news I think.

not as if i like to be "that guy" or dont trust anything, but FarSight teached me to ignore such words as "may be in future" or "soon", teached in very hard way

There are still ongoing conversations between Zen and platform holders which may or may not result in changes to our rating. This is as honest as we can be at this time. As things progress, we will keep you updated.

Fish Tales is free for all players. We must absolutely keep the content in line with what our age rating system is. At this time we are not prepared to release a version of Fish Tales without the censored artwork. It is possible this could change in the future, but again, we are going through the necessary steps with platform holders to make sure we would make the changes correctly and in line with what an existing player base would require (notifications, etc.).

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису melchiah_kirk:

Цитата допису kaworu:

not as if i like to be "that guy" or dont trust anything, but FarSight teached me to ignore such words as "may be in future" or "soon", teached in very hard way

There are still ongoing conversations between Zen and platform holders which may or may not result in changes to our rating. This is as honest as we can be at this time. As things progress, we will keep you updated.

Fish Tales is free for all players. We must absolutely keep the content in line with what our age rating system is. At this time we are not prepared to release a version of Fish Tales without the censored artwork. It is possible this could change in the future, but again, we are going through the necessary steps with platform holders to make sure we would make the changes correctly and in line with what an existing player base would require (notifications, etc.).

roger that, other bad aspect of this restriction - it closes possibility to have later such tables as Bram Stoker's Dracula for example - it is brilliant table (both game play and production wise), but it has both playfield art elements and DMD animations what are pretty ..hmm..lets say it :" very well implemented theme" i just launched it - and has people on stakes, partial nudity, bites to neck..pinball "culture" is adult oriented in most cases, and we cant blame it on that just as we cant blame tigers what they hunt deers - they are "pretty but nasty"

[Paratech2008]

Why was Farsight, via Pinball Arcade, able to release these tables untouched then? They don't have an M rating?

[Pinballwiz45b]

Super great news here! Thanks for pulling through.

I don't mind what's going on with Fish Tales TBH. It's still Fish Tales, modified art or not.

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису Pinballwiz45b:

Super great news here! Thanks for pulling through.

I don't mind what's going on with Fish Tales TBH. It's still Fish Tales, modified art or not.

play whiteboards - you dont care about art. man from you i was not expected to hear such ridiculousness. fish tales is important table for pinball history which deserve to be presented as it was made

[Pinballwiz45b]

Цитата допису Paratech2008:

Why was Farsight, via Pinball Arcade, able to release these tables untouched then? They don't have an M rating?

Maybe the ESRB didn't easily notice the details in the artwork? Maybe Fish Tales was paid content (starting from Season 3)? Who knows, really.

[Pinballwiz45b]

Цитата допису kaworu:

Цитата допису Pinballwiz45b:

Super great news here! Thanks for pulling through.

I don't mind what's going on with Fish Tales TBH. It's still Fish Tales, modified art or not.

play whiteboards - you dont care about art. man from you i was not expected to hear such ridiculousness

I know, still a pretty hot topic regarding this table. I'd REALLY complain if even more than that was changed. While I care about a game's art, I don't stare at it more than I want to play them.

That side cabinet change was still pretty unnecessary.

[Paratech2008]

Pinball Arcade is E10+ with Fantasy Violence, mild blood, mild language, Alcohol Reference, and suggestive themes, its out for the Switch and several consoles. So do the Pinball FX people want to sell to children under 10? Heck, on Steam children shouldn't be using Steam under 13 years of age. Exactly who is the target audience again?

[n3tizen]

@Akos @melchiah_kirk

I still do not know what is going to happen going forward given the way Zen is leaning into the ESRB ratings for this Williams/Bally thing.

Looking at the higher ratings there is going to be a huge issue coming down the pipe that will seriously impede the digitization of a lot of the classic pinball themes. Any game that has a gambling theme/element is doomed to get an ESRB rating of AO, the equivalent to an NC17 movie. Now, can Zen do Card, Billiards, etc based pinball machine under these restrictions, and still put it in the FX3 platform under the ESRB 10+ rating, or do they need to develop a stand-alone app that is compatible with the FX3 platform just for Williams/Bally recreations so as to avoid the ESRB conflicts?

Did no-one think of this? did no-one learn from the things FarSight did previously? Did the alpha/beta testers you invited not actually do their job?

Then there are some of the top 100 tables that are all obviously very sexually suggestive or that have things that are not covered by the E10+ categories in FX3? will they be censored, will they be altered, will they just never be considered?

There is a lot to be discussed here, and these issues should have been raised well before there was a retail release date.

[russian_martian]

Цитата допису n3tizen:

Did no-one think of this? did no-one learn from the things FarSight did previously? Did the alpha/beta testers you invited not actually do their job?

what i would add - my opinion about press builds of FX3 Williams which Zen share to some people. of course it is totally their right for who to give this and to whom not..but i had see video how one guy who got this press build copy plays Getaway.. he dont even know about secret mania (missed 3 cars 2 times) and crashed in video mode on 2 gear soon after it started! - i can understand what he is kinda media person and good way to promote game, but here are other guys like A-Jey or Pinballwiz45b and probably some others who stream, publish videos and have much more level of expertise in pinball. just my 2 cents