I think it's honestly too early to discuss much, we haven't seen much. But from what we have seen I thought the battering ram and the sword lock were clever ideas/mechs.

I'm curious how the upper playfield will play. It has full size flippers, so it doesn't seem like it's going to be super hard to keep the ball alive up there.

How does the battering ram toy work?

I hear ya about the possibility of long ball times on the upper playfield. I suppose there could be a timer for the upper playfield that when it hits zero the power to the flippers is cut.

I think you have to get over the art. ACDC is fugly but fun, and it looks like this will be the same. Look at all the shots this game has. I'm still really excited about it.

What! Helen looks great.

Game looks amazing. From a shooters standpoint.

I think that battering ram shot might be like the Bumblebee shot in TF.

It's that VUK with the wall elevator sticker on it (the most disappointing part for me...I was hoping for a REAL wall elevator). It's a two-level VUK (not sure how that works) that delivers the ball to the upper PF as well as the throne. What I'm really interested in is where all those entrances under the castle go. One's most likely an orbit, but there's like 3 more...

To me it looks like the sword ramp with the castle drop target in front leads to the upper PF. then in the back right of the upper PF is a spot where the ball raises and goes to the Iron Throne.

Hi all. My name is Artie. But you can call me Art. I'm here to talk about myself.

I thought for sure that Oldpinguy would chime in here with that joke...

Just looks like a fancy newton ball. But still, it's a clever idea.

I had heard before the CGI even came out that the upper playfield used full size flippers. I dunno, I'm sure Steve Ritchie knows what he's doing, just curious how it's going to work out is all.

I don't think the upper PF should have full size flippers.

Someone will surely at least put lightning flippers on it as soon as they get it.

Is there a link to any game play or mechs at all yet?

This is my theory on the shots. The shot to the left of the battering ram feeds the sword lock ramp. If you look under the back of the castle ramp you can see the plastic ramp that will feed the sword lock habitrail.

GOT_PF.jpg

I think is like the Bart Simpson skateboard shot on TSPP and it hits a switch that has a door/gate as the target.

might have the choice like on Tron by holding down the left flipper button?

Also on a very near layout.....Sopranos, where holding down the left button allows it to go right around the horn and set up for some immediate skill shot targets

As a guy who's done cgi for many years , I don't think that's a 3d render unless they have some insanely talented material writers which I kinda feel they don't.

I am excited to play both versions.

Not a fan of the mini playfield. Most come off as something of a table top pinball experience that becomes boring after an hour with the game. I will obviously have to see it in gameplay though.

Shit, I'm banned.

You're not banned. Taking about you is.
Crap, now I am banned.

Tough to judge without playing. The Pro playfield (or lower playfield in Premium/LE) is a basic 6 shot fan layout. There are angled target banks on the far sides which don't exist in a 7-shot fan layout so it has potential.

The upper playfield looks better than many made over the decades... almost a full sized fan layout too...full sized flippers, 6-ish shots, and 2 inlanes. Imagine of it also had slings?

It's got this deal that might twang the rubber
got_le_thing.png

I hope the upper playfield is easy to remove or it will be a bitch to keep clean

It's definitely a 3D render, it's obvious when you look at the high rez images. For example:

GOT closeup

That's clearly a render. That's relevant to this thread not because of the "a" word, but because it means that that's why you've not seen any real machine photos or videos, they don't have any yet, just a render.

Exactly 3D rendered.
When have you seen a STERN metal post chrome?
there always oxidised.

This is what I think about the playfield lay-out...

- left loop: normaal
- castle black shot: ??? will this end up in a saucer? a dead end? goes it to the mini playfield? to the iron throne?
- lock & choose your battle shot: I think this is the left ramp that goes to the sword lock on right habitrail and flipper
- super jackpot: this is a sort of captive ball shot look-a-like thing fun to hit I think...
- right ramp: with a drop target in front...I don't like that, it kills the flow and I think there will be a lot of airballs. the ramp Always ends up on the mini playfield? I don't like that too...
- right loop: I think this one will end up in a saucer (like acdc) becaus eit has inserts like mystery and extra ball
- I have no idea how the shots are on the mini playfield...

the pro will have a better flow for sure

Shots are all pretty obvious and clear except for the right loop on the LE.

The "castle black shot" leads to a direct kickback (think F-14) - it's even been written in this thread before.

The throne is reached by the left loop on the upper PF that leads to a VUK.

Personally, I like the layout a lot. Much more than most of Sterns other recent offers.
Don't see any problem with the mini-PF flippers being full size, the mini-PF has just about the same size as the lower PF on my BK2000...

Hi, Art!

Aw, crap...

It's probably unlikely that it can work like this. The sword and post is probably driven by a single solenoid, so one of them will be blocking a straight return path at all times. Based on the short video though, it looks like if balls are already locked there, we'll get a ball released to simulate the same speed of a ball rolling down the wireform.

It was stated in the IGN article that stern is working with FarSight (was originally claimed to be ZEN) on digital versions of this game as well as previous games. This is likely why we are seeing such detailed 3D renderings.

To be it appears to be another standard fan layout. That basically means it will be liked by most in general terms.

I count 16 total shots to possibly aim for on the main pf of the prem/le version (no reason to even talk about the PRO as it is so stripped back)

Bank of 3 drops
6 fan layout shots
5 standups single placed between each shot
Double bank of standups on the far right (Really too bad these are not drops as they should be for the pricetag and would be way cooler for symetry of having drops on each side of pf)

mini pf appears to be 7 total shots (assuming the rught hand entrance is not a shot or at least one you dont want to shoot once up there)

That is alot of shots which is pretty cool just from the idea of lots to aim for and learn.

From inital thoughts, the game has much tighter shots than SR typically makes. I am excited to see how the geometry really plays. It could be tight yet doable = fun. It could be avengers tight = not fun.

Art aside (yes it needs to be said given how bad it is) I think this is JAFL (Just Another Fan Layout) with the modification of the additional mini pf.

At this point, GoT appears to be one of SRs best layouts of the recent past, but NO point in much further discussion until we shoot it and see how the code is. Poor code will break this game quickly. Fun code could make this game rock. Nothing can save it if it shoots poorly (I assume since Sr designed it and was given 2 years to do so, that it will shoot well).

Why is talking about the possible artwork on this pinball machine not allowed?

Because there are plenty of other threads discussing it and, quite frankly, some of us are tired of the constant bitching about it.

Amen.

Wait, when did it switch to FarSight over ZEN? I missed that.

Edit: Confirmed, the IGN article now states:

"Editor's Note: A previous version of this article stated that Stern is working with Zen Pinball on digitizing their games. This was an error; Stern is working with FarSight Studios on this project. The article has been amended to reflect the correction."

Nice.

I think the rule-set and mini-playfield will make or break the game. I really hope the mini playfield is fun to shoot and challenging at the same time. Looking at the playfield on the LE I see a lot of tight shots and targets I would typically want to avoid when playing. I hope the rule-set has a lot of risk/reward factored and makes some of these standups and tight shots lucrative to hit vs. choosing to ignore them.

From Left to right on the playfield of the LE.
-3 bank drops. - appear to light spinner. Hopefully they build some modes other features into these similar to Walking dead drops?
-Spinner Shot on left orbit.-Classic Steve Ritchie. Since the spinner is also on the Pro I'm guessing there will be some solid rules built for it.
-Castle Black Yagoff kicker - Since this is hidden under the mini-playfield it won't leave you much time to react when it fires it back at you. Will definitely keep you on your toes.
-5 yellow standups between ramps/shots. -hopefully some solid rules built around these or else I will avoid shooting them as they could be deadly!
- Left Ramp which leads to physical ball lock.-I have to give a big thumbs up anytime there is a physical vs. virtual ball lock! Sword mechanism looks cool!
- Battering ram- basically a captive ball but looks like it will be satisfying to hit.-I'm hoping it is implemented like the Bell in ACDC.
- Right ramp that leads to mini-playfield. I like that they put a drop in front of it which means that it won't always be available to shoot. I'm hoping they build rules into the drop to make it pop up and down similar to a troll mech in MM or the bad guys on CC.
-Right orbit shot that leads to saucer?-Not sure how this one will work yet.
- Standard Steve Ritchie pop bumper configuration.
-2 standup bank to light locks.- I like that they used these standups vs. the yellow standups which can be hit by accident. -since multi-ball will not doubt be a big part of the game it will ensure that you'll have to shoot for them.
-Mini playfield.- This is the big question mark to me. I have no idea how the dragon toy will interact and fire the ball back to you. Also weird to have full size flippers in such a confined space.-they will likely feel unpowered similar to the WOZ upper left playfield. I tend to prefer smaller/snappier flippers in these types of situations. Looks like a cool orbit shot that leads to the vuk/Throne.

Overall I'm excited to play it and hope Dwight comes up with a great rule-set to really balance out the shots and features!

I posted this question about the left ramp on another thread-

Will the right ramp feed directly through the upper play field and travel uninterrupted to the lower left flipper? Does it enter behind the battering ram or at the back of the upper PF (kinda taking the same path as the pro?) Id also think it would be nice if the upper PF flippers remained inactive unless the ball is brought to the field via the 'elevator'.

I think the upper playfield has 2 kickbacks? That would be insanely fast, as they would come at different angles.

How does one think the rules and play are affected by the slots and buying stuff with Gold?
Could this also make the game, with good code, one where even the smaller target shots are as important?