Part of the appeal is the variety, both recreations of real tables and from-scratch originals. If you are looking for better physics, it isn't PinballFX you want but Visual Pinball. No simulation is going to be 100%, but the vpinball folks have built some very nice physics engines, the best apparently being those tables incorporating nfozzy physics.
Real pins are indeed insanely pricey, but you can still spend a lot of money on a vpin. The playfied display of choice these days is something like an 42" LG C2 OLED and you'll need to pair that with something on the order of a 3070Ti for smooth framerates on newer tables. The SSR audio mentioned in the article is another spendy item that use four Dayton Audio shakers that mount to the cabinet: the sound they transmit simulates the feel of a real ball rolling on a real table. Then there are motorized shakers, real plungers connected to analog sensors, anaglyph rendering to give you simulated 3D using passive glasses, etc.
The article also refers to a Way of the Wrench series on YouTube that will give you a great idea what goes into one of these things these days. Watch it for the vpin build, stay for all the things you'll learn about woodworking.
Real pins are indeed insanely pricey, but you can still spend a lot of money on a vpin. The playfied display of choice these days is something like an 42" LG C2 OLED and you'll need to pair that with something on the order of a 3070Ti for smooth framerates on newer tables. The SSR audio mentioned in the article is another spendy item that use four Dayton Audio shakers that mount to the cabinet: the sound they transmit simulates the feel of a real ball rolling on a real table. Then there are motorized shakers, real plungers connected to analog sensors, anaglyph rendering to give you simulated 3D using passive glasses, etc.
The article also refers to a Way of the Wrench series on YouTube that will give you a great idea what goes into one of these things these days. Watch it for the vpin build, stay for all the things you'll learn about woodworking.