So I've been working on a new game myself for the past year called Ghost Squad. Just CNC'd a playfield a few days ago that I hope to have stuffed for Midwest Gaming Classic.

It's a humorous game whose premise is that you're a team of "Ghost Hunters" like all those green night vision shows on TV. I feel modern pinball is sorely lacking in humor and my game aims to address this.

The goal is to advance your "investigations" in 6 typical haunted locations / modes - a hotel, theater, bar, prison, hospital and war fort. Modes are advanced by shooting a path 3 times or collecting pop bumper hits.

Each mode has a unique "Ghost Boss" you must battle. Ghosts are animated on the DMD, and there's also a moving, 3D printed glow-in-the-dark Ghost Bash Toy on the playfield. This toy has a bank of 3 motorized targets in front of it, like AFM, a mini-orbit under the ghost, and in this orbit, a magnet to "catch" (possess?) your ball, and an IR beam so you can bash the captured ball out like BSD.

There is also a motorized "Spooky Door", a Motorized Scoop "Hellavator", a subway, and a ramp shot where you must JUMP the ball over a chasm.

Ghost Squad is fully scripted with over 140 pages of dialog and 11 different characters including the ghosts. We have the voices about 70% recorded. The dialog is a bit more adult than an average pin but it's the kind of stuff that'll go over kids heads, like MM.

The idea is, take the game in hopefully a playable form to MGC, see what people think, and if there's demand, make it available for sale.

I'm happy to answer any questions, and can post more pics upon request.

PICS: "Final" artwork (plastics not shown), clay "bigature" model, 3D printed copy, CNC playfield.

IMG_20130214_143939.jpg gs_wood.jpg IMG_20130129_172855.jpg

RE: Ben Heck Zombie Adventure, remember that's a JPOP game which has me as an evil scientist. So while I've lent ideas, that's mostly a JPOP gig.

I will really try and have this for MGC. We've had a playable whitewood since last summer, but then pay projects got in the way! Drat!

GLIR is Ghost Locating Infrared, since FLIR, while a generic term, is also a company.

And yes, I know of the Sega arcade game (notice how the title isn't on the PF?) So I'm open to suggestions!

RE: videos, there's several on my YouTube channel, including the original "Ghost Squad" Halloween special that inspired the game.

https://www.youtube.com/user/benheckdotcom

I used 8 ply Baltic Birch. Woodcrafters near my shop carries it.

Yeah the title doesn't need my name. I think the concept "sells itself" pretty easily. If not "Squad", Team, Group, Posse... something that sounds good. By all means, lend me suggestions!

The tagline of the game, regardless, is "To Them, The Paranormal... Isn't"

"War Fort" sounds dumb but War is a short word that fits easily onto an insert. It's all about expressing a concept as quickly as possible.

We still have a few parts available, specifically Bartender of Haunted Bar, Ghostly Prison Warden and Hippie Psychic Chick.

I'll probably do the voice of the demon for Wizard mode.

Ghost Patrol could work... But are the ghosts cops? Mall security guards?

More ideas:

The Paranormals.
Paranormal Activities.
Scared to Death
Ghostly Protocols
Ghost Writer
Ghost RIDER
Beyond the Grave
Did You Hear That?
Green-O-Vision

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Squad

NONE of these things are even remotely related to ghosts. Don't think Brand Confusion would be a problem.

So far I'm liking Creep Squad or GSI: Ghost Scene Investigation, though again, that might be stepping on toes.

Here's the Wikipedia page for Sega's Ghost Squad game: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Squad_%28video_game%29

It's trademarked, but maybe we could get away with it. I agree Ghost Squad is the best.

Or possible Ghost Wars, like Parking Wars / Storage Wars...

Haha that's funny!

I am hoping John does the voice of the Theater Director Ghost, since he kind of reminds me of Tim Burton.

RE: the system, yes Chuck "Spooky" Emery is using it to get his game up and going so once the kinks are worked out I'd like to make them available for homebrew.

It programs just like an Arduino for ease, fun, and profit!

If anyone's interested, I'm going to Ustream working on the Ghost Squad playfield today.

http://t.co/NfVVmKz0Ql

Any questions post them to the Ustream chat. Enjoy!

Been working very, very hard to get this game playable for Midwest Gaming Classic.

Some video updates:

Thanks to Andrew and Jesse for all their wiring help this last weekend!

First I should mention this is separate and different from Ben Heck Zombie Adventureland, which is a JPop game featuring myself as a Zombie Overlord. That is a JPOP game with me in it, Ghost Squad is a game designed & written by me (with input from others)

Back to Ghost Squad, the idea here is to make a pin that can be reproduced and sold. Which is why we went with a custom theme. We'd also like to sell the [driver] board set to other homebrew folks. It can be programmed in the Arduino environment.

If people like the way it shoots, the voice calls, the animations, etc, the idea is Spooky Pinball can run a batch. It is a standard 128x32 [green] DMD game, stereo sound.

For MGC I hope to have the following working:

1) Hellavator Multiball
2) Doctor Ghost battle (voiced by Dennis Nordman, 2 ball multiball)
3) Hotel Psycho Ghost battle (voiced by Bryan F'ing Kelly, 2 ball multiball)
4) Ghost Photo Hunt! (hurry up shot making mode)
5) Haunted Bar Ghost battle (voiced by Mrs Chuck Emery)
6) Pin Gulp caddy attachment

New video, showing how to advance Abandoned Hospital mode and fight "Ghost Doctor" for 2 ball multiball.

Yeah I did the art, I used to be a graphic artist. Still need to do plastics, backglass and cabinet. You'll notice the game title isn't on the playfield in case we change it, I'm well aware Sega has an (albeit old) arcade shooter called Ghost Squad.

Hospital Mode, running through with audio & DMD.

Sorry the music is a bit loud. Can't really dial in the volume until I play it with glass on.

Oh yes, this game has tons of dialog. I guess we'll have to see how it plays out at MGC, without any "glass off" cheating.

Maybe condense the "mode advance" dialog, and keep the Ghost Battles rich in dialog, so they retain character.

Going to try and have Haunted Bar (Ghost Whore) and Hotel (Pyscho Ghost) modes ready for MGC as well.

Dots are Photoshop images, manipulated in After Effects, output as Bitmap Sequences in Adobe Premiere, converted to DMD dots via a custom Java programmed by Christ Kraft.

Some notes:

Ghost Squad as seen at MGC could only start 3 modes (a miracle we even got the programming that far) So there were a lot of shots that "did nothing" that will indeed advance modes in the final game.

I am going to trim down the dialog yes. It's really tricky to convey information quickly!

I'll post backglass and cabinet art once I get around to making them.

I'm working on a mode for Ghost Squad today. Watch it on Ustream! http://t.co/NfVVmKz0Ql

Ghost Photo Hunt mode! (shoot X lit camera shots in X seconds)

I'm still thinking about changing the name.

Right now I'm leaning either:

Phantom Force
Specter Collectors

Seems like anything involving "Ghost" already has a ghost hunting team / website / video game associated with it.

Thoughts?

Ooo, I like "America's Most Haunted".

It REALLY sells the idea it's a reality show.

Swinks, I use ABS. Though the Spooky Door on the prototype game was the "weaker" PLA and it's been bashed for over a year.

We'll hopefully have the backglass art done soon. I am going in a strange, but appropriate, direction with it.

-Ben

New RGB color changing ghost:

Attached: America's Most Haunted logo

// Error: Image 115423 not found //

Yes we will be bringing production units of AMH to Expo.

This afternoon we worked on the Wizard mode - here's a sample:

Initial run of about 25, to cover everyone who's already committed to buying one. Then we open it up to new buyers.

Would like bring 1-2 to Expo and not come back with them

Cabinets have recessed RGB strip lighting (where you'd normally put mirror blades) for general illumination. This allows the whole game to "go green" for night vision ghost hunting, red for Demon Battle Wizard mode, etc.

STL files of all 3D printed toys will be available to print your own, make replacements, use different colors, etc.

Flash new code to PCB using a USB cable, or make your own rules using well-known Arduino IDE.

I also plan to export ALL animations, music, and voice to a large video on YouTube, so people can get an idea of the theme and rules.

Latest video, demonstrating the Wizard Mode:

Price: We don't want to say until we get a complete BOM in hand. But it will be competitive.

Progress: We'll have production units at Expo. All of the art and features will be revealed beforehand I believe.

I think people will get a kick out of the game. It shoots fast, the mode goals are all different and there's lots of humor.

Plus you get to hear Dennis Nordman say "Stop slapping those balls around!"

We'll announce a price 1) once we have a final BOM and labor estimate 2) once we have a full production copy of the prototype built and can show everything

Chuck wants it to be "here's the game, here's the price".

The game is about 85% programmed. Basically polishing stuff at this point, adding combos, etc.

One thing I'm working on is the RGB lighting. This game has RGB GI built into the cabinet.

This video demonstrates how this lighting works with game play.

Yes there's a few inserts that have changed on the PF, nothing major.

There's art on all the plastics now, wasn't any at MGC.

This is the latest PF. Shows playfield plastics, but not ramps or mechs.

Main changes since MGC:

1) Uses standard 3 bank Target mech like Spider-Man, AFM or Tron.
2) Art has "no print" zones around holes to avoid chipping.
3) VUK that whacks ghost with a ball is gone. Slowed things down too much. (it used to be where "Advance Theater" text is now.
4) Chamfers around Spooky Door saucer and Spirit Guide hole, to help the ball "get in there!"
5) Added text wherever possible explaining rules
6) PF plastics have art now.
7) Has a manual plunger and a real Skill Shot (go for Pops, ORB rollovers or Basement)
8) Mode lights show progress towards Fight Demon wizard mode.
9) Super-atomic 14 amp 48 volt power supply.

Playfield_Layout_5.jpg

Won't be under $5000, but BOM willing, not Premium/LE price either.

Voices: Yes they're just WAV files on an SD card. I'm also going to make the code public. Almost every line of code is commented so it's really obvious what does what. It's in C and programs just like Arduino. The A/V is on a co-processor and has a lot of assembly but you shouldn't have to touch that.

We'll have a download section on Chuck's site for:

1) DMD SD card files
2) Music/SFX SD card files (there are 2 SD cards in the game)
3) Game kernel (HEX file and source code)
4) A/V kernel (there's a port to flash that, or we can send you the EEPROM which is socketed on the PCB for that reason)

We'll have to add a legal disclaimer that modifying the code is at your own risk as you could, for instance, activate coils long enough to burn them out, or drive a servo past its mechanical limits ignored the limit switches.

We may also sell the PCB as a single-board game building solution, but that's not a priority at the moment.

I agree the game has a lot of dialog, my next one will have less! Deal?

AMH update:

Batch of 10 test PCB's "pinHeck" system in from China. Hand stuffing a few for the Expo demo machines. Once they've been all checked out we'll do a larger pre-stuffed order.

Chuck, Bryan F'ing Kelly Blue Shirt and friends put together the first production prototype over the weekend. It's looking really good, we're still deciding on some final touches. Excited for Chuck to finally release some pics. PF art is almost identical from MGC, but now has plastics, flashers, GI, etc.

This coming weekend we'll test the new PCB's in the production game.

Between now and Expo I'll be working on code to flesh it out with as much animation as I can, and Chuck will refine the prototypes.

We may sell the boards for game builders but that's not a priority at the moment. We also don't have a DMD conversion GUI yet (it's still command line!)

I am helping Chuck electrify what they built last weekend.

Follow me on Twitter @benheck as I'll be posting during our build next few days.

It looks really, really good in person. Great work guys!

Chuck deliberately didn't lock the flippers down for as long as possible, just to drive me nuts. We completed a production prototype on Monday.

So there will certainly be a complete machine at Expo, possibly 2 if Chuck has the time.

Code-wise, all the modes are in but I've got debugging to do.

I know it didn't help when we put AMH in a Pinball Zombies cabinet at MGC, but I had a game, Chuck had a cabinet, it was the best solution at the time.

I actually get this month off from my show, so next 2 weeks is (mostly) code code code!

Latest demo video:

I'll make a video of someone playing before expo! Usually I just film my day's work with my cell phone, but I have real cameras too.

But yes, I am putting "sub objectives" in all the ghost battles. For instance during the Prison Warden Fight, you can whack the Spooky Door to free ghost convicts. Basically whatever toy / shot isn't part of the Ghost Battle, I'm trying to use for other things.

I have these toys that actually interact with the ball, might as well use them!

Some making of videos:

AMH was started almost a year before Pinball Zombies (before Chuck started his company) and that's why it's coming out first.

Programming day!

Getting ready for expo!

I realized we could hack some controlled backbox lighting into the game at the last minute, so I'm going to go ahead and do it!

It's been a while since a game's had that, right?

We're getting a lot of great feedback from the show!

I figured the side art might be controversial, we may make different versions available.

See you all back in the hall at 11!

I knew the backglass would be controversial but I stand by it. The ghosts are fake, the people are real. I wanted to sell the idea of a reality show visually, since the theme isn't as easy to sell as "zombies!"

It was dimly lit at the show. We literally threw in whatever Cointaker bulbs (so, 6) we had left the day before the show. We tried a fluorescent bulb like Stern does but it totally blew out the display.

The final version of the PCB will have more GI control, so I'd like to do light strips like Predator did.

If Chuck has it set up at his Halloween party tomorrow, I'll get a video with my phone.

We are working on re-doing the backglass and side art. Attached is the direction we're taking the cabinet side art in. Simple, bold, iconographic.

IMG_20131104_234647.jpg

The backglass will be the same layout as it is now, but hand drawn. It will probably be re-colored so as to match the rest of the game.

The voice work fits the theme. We have a lot of dialog because we need to set up characters.

As an original theme - something pinball fans claim they clamor for - we need to set up our new characters and situations via dialog. As a ghost hunting reality TV show, the characters sound vain, bored, weird - just like their do in TV.

Found an artist here in Madison to take a crack at the backglass. Idea is to go hand-drawn, but keep the Ghost Hunters looking realistic to differentiate them from the ghosts. Sample attached.

Feedback:

1) So people just didn't like photos? The backglass being green night vision wasn't the issue? I really thought that would be the controversial part.

2) If we're re-drawing, we're thinking we'll make the people even more stereotyped. The valley girl will have bigger hair, the hero more square jawed, psychic older and more of a crazy cat-lady. Does this sound better than simply re-drawing the photos?

new_pyschic.jpg

We have to walk the fine line of "nice boobs" and "wife won't let pin in house"