Hi folks... Just some general feedback on the comments du jour...
- Yep, shooting the tank can be dangerous, but there's no reason to avoid it, just play it smart. Y'all know how angles work in pinball: it'll be safer to aim for the outer targets to reduce the chance of the ball rocketing back SDTM. The scores for attacking the tank keep increasing the more shots you make on it in a ball, so it can get quite lucrative. You also have the option to shoot the "Charge Methane" shots around the playfield to charge up your Methane Blaster for a do-or-die insta-kill shot!
- The game's shots aren't really overloaded to one side or the other, because there are so many options for playing the game. You can focus on tank battles. You can focus on ice cream missions. You can go for Air Strike Multiball. You can be Defender of the Cows and fight UFOs every chance you get. You can work on advancing your flank units to power up features all around the game. Heck, you could even just shoot the pops to go for Meltdown and Quantum Accelerator. Go for a different approach every game, have fun with it!
- Re: the ball lock issues on the Dead Flip stream ... the machine was examined this morning, and they found something was out of alignment on the lock mech. Sounds like something probably got whacked while transporting the game to Jack's studio, since it was working fine right before leaving the API factory. Really unfortunate that the Demo Gods decided to throw lightning bolts at the game, but certainly not normal, as people know from games at the shows or on location.
- I saw a few comments about "placeholders"... not sure where that's coming from. I think the only "placeholders" in the game right now are A/V for some of the final wizard modes, and I didn't think anyone made it to those on the stream.
- The overhead light bars do NOT need to be removed to lift the playfield.
I appreciate all the kind words from folks, and (believe it or not) even appreciate constructive criticism. (True story: at shows and tournaments, sometimes people come up to me and say "Hey, you worked on Game X, right? That's so cool, I love that game!" I'll often respond like: "Thank you so much, I appreciate it! Hey, what is your least favorite feature of Game X?" Definitely catches them off guard, which is kind of the point -- it can be a great start to a really insightful conversation.)
Thanks!