So did I.

Getting close to our 2nd target of $700.

I like ice cream!

Bump for ice cream, and a good cause.

Expect the rule sheet sometime during 20XX.

Sounds like a JJP game release schedule (;

A good day to donate to a good cause.

Donated $20

So POP has proven it's good at collecting money and game donations, but it's a little weak in the "here's what we actually DO" department...since you're now several fundraisers deep this year it might be good to take a second to demonstrate what's being given back. Like two or three years ago I heard you'd be taking pinballs into hospitals for kids to enjoy? Is that happening? All we're really seeing is successful fundraisers! Which is great! Just curious.

Happy to elaborate to satisfy your curiosity.

In order to start POP as a legitimate non-profit corporation I needed 1. An idea and 2. Money to fund the idea. It was not two or three years ago that the idea came about. It was almost exactly one year ago. Pinball Outreach Project became a non-profit corporation on April 19th, 2012 and received our legal package on May 19th, 2012. After that I began fundraising to cover these start up costs and any ongoing operational costs. It cost almost $1000, through legal zoom to do this. Once that happened I now have 27 months to file for the 501c3 status.

So the initial fundraisers I had went to cover these fees. We also have to file for taxes, maintain a website, bank accounts and such. I’ve spent time designing a proper logo (which was 100% free), a proper website (spent $80), printed materials, etc. I thought it was important to have all these things in place before approaching some stuffy board of a hospital. Also, the program is designed to be one that travels from hospital to hospital however a few months ago I decided to broaden the mission to include community centers or any place where children could benefit from the program.

In December, I piggybacked onto someone else’s tournament and asked people to bring toys to donate to the kids at UCDavis Children’s Hospital. After the holidays I drove them to the hospital and left the POP program materials for the head of Child life services there. At the same time I also, through a connection presented program materials to UCSF Children’s Hospital. Neither of these hospitals has welcomed the program yet but I’m not discouraged. I’ve reached out to Oakland Children’s Hospital and have a meeting in the works with a board member at Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto. I have also contacted the Marin County Boy & Girls clubs. These things take time, it’s a process, and I’m more excited than ever about what POP will do.

Continuing to raise funds is absolutely necessary to the future success of the program. Thanks to Kevin, Bowen, Mark, all the PAPA volunteers and staff, and all the people who donated by playing pingolf, and the other tournies at PAPA we now have $2300 to help continue to program. I’ve started using that money to work with a local screen-printing shop and SF Pinball location to make a shirt and swag design to leave with the kids after they participate in the program. I personally signed up to volunteer with PPM with their after school program so we can partner together in the future with education efforts.

As far as games, I’ve only had one donated to POP that I’ve actually seen.

There’s our year in review although much more details are on pinballoutreach.org. I know once the program is accepted into a hospital it will hopefully be much easier to get into more in the future. To answer your question: Yes, IT is happening. It will take time though. I consider our first year a success in setting the foundation for the program and have now switched gears to make this year the one where we put everything into action.

$50 more to go for the 2nd target.

Not just a bump....another donation.... Come on guys, we want this to work or not.

Receipt no 07G42098H08763052 another $25

Due to my work schedule I cannot promise a specific date of completion, because I would either release something inferior or just move the date. If you want me to be truly faithful to recent pinball rules, I can release a 1.0 rulesheet on a specific date, listen as everyone pans it waiting and wondering when the final version will be ready, then release several updated versions, including one I consider final, while everyone continues to add feature requests while asking whether it is truly the final version.

Maybe you could release the bottom 18 lines of the rulesheet as a teaser Bowen.

Bowen,

Will you be communicating with Lyman on the finer points of the rules, or are you simply going off what you have gleaned from playing the game yourself?

It's pretty obvious everyone is bloody gagging for it though. That's why $500 was donated in just a few days. Also now a rulesheet is 'pending' it will possibly deter others from writing one where they might've otherwise because they know a quality one is on the way.

Come on, leave those maths books alone and get ACDC done. I don't understand how to get a big jackpot!

We will make the $1000 required for a good ruleset. I will make sure of it.

Meh -take your time and do it right Bowen.
All for a great cause!

I also would rather he took his time and did it right.

I'd rather see a Bowen Power Pack released at xmas with a bunch of typos and false info

+1

There's a difference between taking your time making something and taking your time to begin.

What I'm saying is we own Bowen now and if we shout "Jump!" he should reply "How high?"

Wait till the code is completely finished then work on creating a ruleset..

If we raise enough he will do an update. Just dig into you pocket and help out Richard.

Yeah not saying that donating is not fine, but like show many updates are left?? I heard the code will not be complete till it gets to 2.0 and if that is the case then it could be another year away??? No point in doing a ruleset now given that there might be 5 more updates say? like donate the funds then wait till the code is complete..

The game is well over a year old now. I think it's safe to assume that there will be no more major rule changes. If you look at a game like Spidey, the rules were basically finished at version .6. All the dozen or more updates after that were just fine tuning and polish. It finished at 2.6.

The software numbering system used at Stern makes very little sense. It would never fly at a software company. The next release could be 2.0 or there could be a few more updates. Either way, there won't be any major surprises.

Except for "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap Super Secret Wizard Mode" ...

Live song mode would be pretty big. There's now an option for it in the menu but it cannot currently be enabled.

Yes, that would be a big update, but I don't think it would impact the rules much.

If at all.

Agreed. If anything it would just expand the game even more which would be a welcomed addition

ok, it was bothering me, so I just donated $25 to put us at $700! UPDATES!!! Great job everyone, thanks Bowen and alveolus for getting this started.

Though we still need $300 to make it a "good one"

WooHoo~!

+1 on this. $300 more.

Bump for a great cause.
Anyone else out there hoping for a rule sheet for ACDC from Bowen?
How bout chipping in a few bucks?

So. How far along are we on this?

I sold my AC/DC so Obowen-Wan Kenobi is your only hope.

Ha I was thinking about this last night as I tried to restart a multiball with a VIP pass and it didn't work. I wondered to my self why?

It's been three months. How long do we have to wait? Not trying to start a fight, but I know a lot of us donated within the first week thinking this project was about a month or two out.

You probably didn't have enough VIP passes to hit the required shots. The VIP pass will make a shot for you. During multiball, hitting all required shots (the 5 note targets, I believe) will add a ball. If you have already made 4 of those shots, and hit the VIP pass, you'll add a ball (and get a short ball saver).

I missed this the first time around. I am in for $25.

In no way was I complaining. In hind site, I can see where this could be read as both a complaint and poor timing. It wasn't meant that way, really.

Harry aka Dude

Don't worry about it.
Not everybody keeps track of PAPA or Bowens personal life.

You guys are up to $725. I'll repaste the link for anyone who does not have it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Asx0Mq3oRqzUdDhMeFE0dW9TbktXcGxVZ1dWMDNGb0E&usp=sharing

Also, for anyone who would like to know what some of this money is going towards specifically:

-In Sept. POP is bringing two games to a SF Children's Hospital.
-On Sept. 7th POP is bringing two games to the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of the North Bay annual picnic for the kids to enjoy.

-Nicole