Totally late response here, but I was out of commission over the weekend (and Monday) and wanted to write this when I had an actual computer in front of me. First I wanted to say that BOT overcomes most of what I hate about Gamesalad games. It still suffers a bit from the way levels load/etc, but in general it does not have the (sub)standard feel of a GS game. I used to cringe when I saw that logo and often would give GS games only a few moments before deleting them. BOT and Bumps are the only GS games on my iPhone right now (and while Bumps is very much a GS formula game, it's a lot of fun!) BOT is a solid old-school adventure game with exploration and combat - the new control scheme worked pretty well IMHO, and I had a lot of fun with the game. And, as a pinball fan, I would give any pinball game you made serious consideration, whether it be arcade-y pinball like B.I.T.S. or something more serious. Your single vs. multiple tables question reminds me of a conversation I've had with Matmi a few times - I would absolutely die for a Kerby's Pinball Land clone on iOS. Their Monster Pinball is close, but is a big string of connected tables, rather than sets with a boss at the top.
Unlike with the secrecy of BOT, I decided to post a screenshot of my progress so far with A Fiery Pinball... The screenshot shows three fiery pinballs in play. The flaming trail is longer, based on the speed of the orb. Personally, I find it quite satisfying to watch the screen light up as the fiery orbs streak across the screen. ...but this is only the beginning. A lot more lights and flashy colors are needed on the table. The big box in the middle is for scoring and for game messages. The top five lanes are for letters... F-I-E-R-Y. I'm still working on how the multiballs will be triggered. I don't want it to be too easy, as there will be too many orbs on the screen, but too difficult is not fun either. With real pinball games, it seems that every square inch of space is valuable. That's what I'm trying to achieve here. I don't want a certain part of the table to feel like dead space. So, the table design might change. I have tried other designs, but this is the one that I keep coming back to. I think it has a good mix of stuff to do. Also, the table is not as hard as it looks. There will be blocks (or something similar) that will burn away. (I haven't put them in yet.) This makes the game easier at first, but then increases the game's difficulty making it inviting for casual gamers, but challenging for those battling for the top spot on the Game Center Leaderboards. So... maybe your opinion has changed. Do I keep going or is this a waste of time?
Here's an update on this project... it's been put on-hold indefinitely. I just wasn't feeling enthusiasm with this project. I liked the idea and the way the game played, but I wasn't impressed with the look. Plus... there are some really good pinball games on the app store already. So, I started a different but somewhat similar project. I'm not ready to announce what that is just yet, but I think it's a higher quality project and has a better chance at success.
