Dinosaur Dynasty 3 is bringing pterosaurs to AtGames pinball tables

AtGames has announced Dinosaur Dynasty 3: Sky Titans. The new original pinball table focuses on prehistoric flying reptiles and comes to Legends Pinball devices on May 28.

Designed by Scott Shelton and developed by Magic Pixel, the table is the latest standalone entry in the Natural History series of AtGames Originals. The gameplay revolves around tracking moving targets across the sky and timing shots to build combos. Players can also trigger specific Pteranodon and Sky Titan multiballs. Hitting the right sequence of ramps sends multiple balls flying across the board at once.

Taking flight

The upper playfield includes a prominent "NEST" ramp. The digital environment extends well beyond the flippers and drops the table into a prehistoric landscape with active volcanoes and screeching pterosaurs.

The Natural History line has been a staple for AtGames over the last few years. The series attempts to mix scientifically accurate educational themes with standard arcade pinball mechanics. The original Dinosaur Dynasty was part of the very first Natural History pack. The sequel, Dinosaur Dynasty 2, arrived later in pack three. Both of those tables covered a broad range of prehistoric life. This third entry narrows the focus entirely to the skies.

Digital pinball goes all the way back to games like Devil's Crush on the TurboGrafx-16 and the Windows Space Cadet table. Modern virtual cabinets like the Legends Pinball series try to replicate the physical feel of real machines using haptics and high-resolution displays. AtGames relies heavily on Magic Pixel to build out its original library. Shelton has become a regular designer for the platform, recently working on the First Responder series with tables like Police: Street Patrol.

Hardware generations

The AtGames ecosystem is currently split between two generations of hardware. The older Legends HD machines run at 1080p and 60 frames per second. The newer Legends 4KP machines bump the resolution up to 4K. Magic Pixel develops these tables to scale across both ecosystems, though the visual fidelity obviously takes a hit on the older hardware.

Virtual pinball enthusiasts often debate the merits of original digital tables versus recreations of physical Williams or Bally machines. Original tables like Sky Titans can do things physical tables cannot, like animating a pterosaur swooping down to grab the ball. The tradeoff is that they lack the mechanical history of a physical machine.

Previous tables on sale

To coincide with the May 28 launch, AtGames is putting the previous tables on sale. Dinosaur Dynasty 1 and 2 will be half off on the AppStoreX platform through June 3 for Legends Pinball 4KP and HDP owners. Legends HD owners will also get a half-price discount on Natural History Pinball Pack 1 and Pack 3 on the AtGames eStore during the same period.

The new table will be available directly through the AtGames ecosystem. I want to see how the moving sky targets actually function in practice. Tracking aerial movement on a flat digital playfield is notoriously tricky, so Shelton and the Magic Pixel team have a specific design challenge to solve here.