Chris Trottier

I have to share this awesomeness with you.

This is a video simulation of Fish Tales, a Williams pinball table made in 1992. It comes as a free game with Pinball FX3.

I was playing this on my Steam Deck and having a horrible time because it was in landscape mode. But then a thought occurred to me: does Pinball FX3 support portrait mode?

Then I remembered that I have a 24” monitor with a 16:10 aspect ratio hooked up to a pneumatic arm. If Pinball FX3 supports portrait mode, then I can play pinball with a 10:16 aspect ratio. This is a hell of a lot closer to how pinball is meant to be played.

So I changed my monitor settings to portrait mod, flipped my monitor, and launched Pinball FX3. Sure enough, it works! I am now having the best possible pinball experience without having an actual pinball table!

Now this – right here – is the joy of PC gaming.

It’s not about specs. It’s not about who has the best CPU or GPU. It’s about being able to configure a game precisely how I want it to be played!

And yeah, playing pinball this way really is that good!

Oct 4, 2023 at 1:58amWeb
Show threadChris TrottierOct 4, 2023

On Steam Deck, I got Pinball FX3 to display in portrait mode.

To do this, I went into Desktop Mode (a.ka, Linux), changed display settings to portrait mode, then launched Pinball FX3 from the desktop Steam client.

For a smooth playing experience, I would play with a Bluetooth controller while perching my Steam Deck on a kickstand.

Not ideal but it’s perfectly cromulent!

Show threadBrent, in a jarOct 4, 2023
@atomicpoet Damn, local arcade got Creature From the Black Lagoon last week and now I am jonesing for a few games. Thanks a lot 😉
Looks really great, btw
Show threadAliOct 4, 2023

@[email protected] @atomicpoet ohhh! I have a 24” and a 32” monitor on arms that both support pivot mode. This never occurred to me.

I also have THE greatest pinball game ever of Pinball FX3…

Show threadChris TrottierOct 4, 2023
@grissallia Well, prepare to have the best pinball experience of your life without having an actual pinball table!
Show threadAliOct 4, 2023

@atomicpoet You were correct, Chris. This was epic.

My ultrawide is also on a pivot, but unfortunately while Pinball FX3 does recognise the resolution in portrait, it has no idea what to do and kind of breaks.

Show threadRob EickmannOct 4, 2023
@atomicpoet I’ve cobbled together the Frankenstein out of remains of a Arcade1up and a busted switch to play pinballFX, it’s awesome.
Show threadChris TrottierOct 4, 2023
@roberte3 That looks great!