Last year at expo. Actually I was more than a bit mental. Lyman was playing in the tourney and I kinda doorstopped him so he'd sign my Medieval Madness translite had a chat with him then about batman and he was really looking forward to working on the code. He was a total gentleman!

Hopefully see him at pinburgh this week...

Lyman is a legend

BM66 is a dud

Thumbs up.
Thumbs down.

Ditto...

Double ditto!

Triple ditto!

Quatro ditto

Maybe Friday we will get the much needed code update?!

Back to playing (and modding) TWDLe for now.

I don't post private emails however I feel that it's important in this case to relay this to the Batman 66 community who have been waiting patiently on updates. And to see what the game developers have been up to in the background at Stern Pinball.

Below is an email from Mr Gomez, I have been asking a simple question and what is when will you be releasing the Bat66 code. This was his response and I hope that if he reads this that it's okay with him.

Start of email

Hello,
I received your email asking about the status of Batman code. As we attempted to do releases every 2 weeks it became clear to us that the types of features that could be released every 2 weeks would be minor and the complaint would then be about the lack of significant impact of those features. This means that the work required to complete bigger features requires more development and testing time than a 2 week duration will allow.

In addition it is not uncommon to discover bugs related to the new code or how it interacts with the existing code during testing, which in turn regresses the release for fixing and re-testing.

Lyman and I are personally committed to delivering a product worthy of the legacy of games that we have created thru the years. To this end he is working on the game full time and will remain so until the game is done to our satisfaction. This particular game requires significant effort due to the breadth of material available in the Batman 66 theme. We have every intention of delivering on the promise of a great game.

We are very close to doing the next releases which contains many of the features that the community has been asking for including substantially more video, speech, sounds and more evolved rules and play events.

Thank you for your patience.

GG

That email right there, is what should've been sent out over the Commisioner Gordon email list. And cross posted here for others to see.

Communication!!! That's what we wanted to see and hear. Confirmation on larger scale work underway, reaffirming that they are seeing this pin through all the way and putting their reputation on it.

Thank you for sharing that. While most of us already guessed most of it, if they would just communicate with us things would be largely better overall.

thanks for sharing that.

Why they just dont put that on their facebook page is baffling to me.

A little communication goes a long way toward easing people's concerns about Sterns commitment to this game.

Man, great e-mail!!!! I have (had) 0 doubts this will be a monster of a game when done......there was just too much passion (and landmark history) from Gomez (yes Gomez) and Lyman, when they talked about it.

This is a true boutique machine....naysayers...just get over it.....

Knowing he's working on this full time only furthers my reassurance in the decision to purchase one of these......going to be amazing!!!!

easy now...if we go past 9 in spanish, I'm out....

Wow, ballsy. No way this is true, unless his definition of "full time" is the inverse of his "every two weeks until we getcha there." They are NOT both working full time on a game that they didn't even bring ONE of to Comic-con with them. Plus, the added time between Gomez drops did not result in substantially more features than we were seeing with the shorter gaps, with the exception of Bat Turn. Total PR email with lots of spin and very little substance.

Yeah for people who dont know spanish they might know the difference between quatro and quato

C9j0jmcN8Qpx.gif

I don't put you on "ignore" as you have valuable and interesting insight at times...truly don't understand your venom on this title, however. Are you losing big $$$ or expectations on one? Trying to justify the continued negativity.

I admire your expertise (claimed) in your discipline, but it seems you would be rooting FOR a comment like this, as opposed to immediately refuting it...maybe they didn't bring it because Lyman wants it done.....come on, man......

they didn't bring any other games because it was a Star Wars pinball lounge!

too funny....Cinco ditto....I'm stopping there....

Well, it BECAME that, but it was promoted by Comic-con as simply their "Pinball Lounge", new for 2017. Could have easily had other pins in it, especially one that Gomez states he is so passionate about.

Wow, you don't give up do you. Just sell the game and move on. You'll be much happier, and so will every other owner of B66.

I always have valuable and interesting insights. Just sometimes people aren't ready to hear them.

But seriously, three reasons.

One, the code was and is in the worst shape of any modern Stern pin at launch and still is today. Period.

Two, Gomez personally stated that they would incrementally update every two weeks. Never happened, even once, the gaps kept growing after Feb, and now they're at 9 weeks since the last update. None of the updates have been substantial, with the exception of the Bat Turn one.

Three, Gomez is still playing a game with customers about the B'66 reality. There is NO WAY he and Lyman are currently working on Batman'66 full time, 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week each. Nope. The output just doesn't reflect it. I've been involved with software most of my life, on hardware systems that were WAY more complicated than what they're using and the changelogs simply don't reflect the time elapsed since the last drop @ full time. Now, maybe Lyman is executive producing and another programmer is working under him? Okay, but that's still not "full time" on Batman'66. Any way you look at it, Gomez is still not coming clean about the situation. Once the next Sterns are out with their names on them and 1.00 or better code at launch, we'll know what game(s) they were two-timing Batman'66 with while telling us they were working on Batman'66 "full time." You can apologize then.

But if that critical thinking to a logical conclusion on this subject upsets people, "ignore" on me doesn't hurt my feelings in the least. In fact, I've used it a couple times myself and it's FANTASTIC for people that get on your nerves. I highly recommend it when needed.

It's for sale. Everyone can get together and buy it.

You gotta be kidding me right?

Pay attention to the above statement. That is all we care about.

Once again, while frustrating, we all knew it was going to take time and the end result would be great.

That's hysterical. You use zero "critical thinking" when evaluating JJP and DI. Very hypocritical and biased analysis.

Plain and simple.

No. We're just tired of hearing the same one over and over.

Especially when you have nothing but speculation to back your claims up.

Bingo

The

The problem is your so called "critical thinking" is flawed because of your emotions. Even if you decided to believe in this product, and believe in Lyman and Gomez, you would never admit it because you have too much invested in playing the villain. You can make assumption after assumption all you want, but they are based on no actual fact outside of a timeline you arbitrarily set and a comment Gomez made that was not thought out, and one he just explained. I can base my opinion on things I have personally seen and heard, so I think I will take the fact instead of ego any day of the week.

Gomez is playing. I am not. What you see is what you get.

Actions speak louder than words. All we have is words with Gomez on this, and all of them are misleading so far.

That email pretty much states the 2 week schedule was going to result in code updates being dripped fed to us.

I wouldn't be surprised if Lyman told George straight, that his 2 week comment while he was away is crazy and he can code BM better and quicker if he does a couple of big/substantial updates and that George is just going to have to swallow his words and look abit of dick with his 2 week promise.

The wording of that email would back that up a little as the wording used is "we" attempted to do releases every 2 weeks it became clear to "us" that the types of features that could be released every 2 weeks would be minor. I would say we and us is used as George is probably a little embarrassed at the reality of his comment and is making it more of a team realisation, not just his own, even though we all know it was on him, I don't think there is or was any dishonesty, I just think George is out of touch with that area of game development and again its an embarrassing thing for him as he is VP of game development

There is also a pretty strong case that Lyman took charge of the way the code was going to drop and put it on his terms, look at the updates we have had...

We got some added content, new mode and then ALOT of polish and cleaning up what was already there to make the existing code as good as possible, now we are set to gett a major update. Looks to me Lyman cleaned up everything that was there to allow a bug free game prior to the big update drop.

I can appreciate you don't like the game...can't appreciate why you continue to engage in a negative way...especially if you're selling it...just let it go....we all know your take....the email shared today was positive, not negative.

Fact- DI could have gold plated code, I will NEVER own it...can't stand the theme, and several other elements. Do I go to the DI thread and rag on it every other day? ...no...pointless. I stated my opinion on the game and moved on.

I absolutely love my BM66LE, despite the unfinished code. Unless you're planning on giving credit to Lyman and team when the game code is done ( and it will), then I just don't get it....

Okay, but looking at the big picture, what we have is NOT 7 months of work "full time". No way. That's a large part of a development cycle for a whole new pin's software! Gomez is still shading the truth. .57 to .75 is not 7 months worth of work. I can't help you if you believe it is.

Hey if Lyman cranks out a classic in the end, he will have performed what at this point looks like unimaginable alchemy. Batman TDK was the game he could not make golden before. If he can finally make almost the same layout work at his usual high level, I'll be first in line to congratulate him, and he will mightily deserve it.

Look, I'm waiting for code on BM'66, just like you. The shading and half truths are what get to me, and I usually don't post unless there's some nonsense like this latest Gomez BM'66 fanfic-type letter. No one with a logical approach can believe it because the facts simply don't add up. When the next Stern game comes out with Lyman and Gomez listed that overlaps their "full time" Batman'66 development story timeframe, hopefully the light bulb will finally go on for all the people that haven't "got" what's going on.

Well this piece I'll give you and agree with. The code will come, and the game will be a masterpiece.....Batman says so...

Once again, you can't be F ing serious, then again, you've only been around here for 2 years.

Jersey Jack is the king of half truths.

That said, we all know what's what. And yet you still haven't figured it out have you?

It doesn't matter one IOTA what Gomez says, its not even your pinball machine, we all bought it because of Lyman etc. Get it? Doubt it.

Quit feeding the troll!

I love the email finally & agree that it would be nice if they would be proactive & give that sort of information before it becoming such a huge issue. Great update & I'm looking forward to a real code update...even though due to my limited care for deep code, I'm enjoying the game as is

And how do you know there is not 7 months of work when no code has dropped in 2 months. You just can't accept the fact that maybe, just maybe, there is a lot more to this than you know. This is a new platform with a large amount of video and audio clips to implement, and listening to the pinball programmers talk about the complexities of how all of this works, I can tell you it is a far walk from the old days of coding video games.....yes, I do know that for a fact. I work closely with large groups of programmers that do programming for electro-mechanical slot machines. The slots aren't really much different than how a pinball works, and I can tell you it takes months and months for those guys to get all of the video, audio, stepper motors, interactive displays, and a dozen other peripherals coded and working together seamlessly.

Look, you can't have it both ways. When the drops were coming every 2 weeks, you were complaining how minimal and meaningless they were, and I have no doubt the extended release time is a result of all of that criticism. But now they are taking their time to put together a quality release and although you have absolutely NO idea of what they are doing day to day, you are now complaining they are not working hard enough and code is not coming often enough just because "Gomez promised us"....... At the end of the day, who cares how many days it takes so long as it gets finished? If this is REALLY about business, and the fact you are losing money because you are waiting on code to put this pin out in the field, then remind me not to invest in your venture. A prudent business person would not have this sitting in a warehouse....he/she would have accepted the mistake of buying before the code was complete and turned the pin for something producing, even if it was at a loss. I personally think it will earn fine just as it is, but that is just me, and others may disagree. If you know so much about programming a pinball, why don't you contact Stern and lend them your expertise? I am sure you could work remote, and I'll just bet they would love to have someone on board that can cut their timelines in half. Hell, send me your resume and I will hand-carry it over...they are just a block away. Be sure to list all of the pinballs you have programmed so they can get a sense of the wealth of knowledge you have ......wait, that won't be a problem will it?

I don't believe it is, I agree with you that what we have seen so far is not 7 months full time work, however I don't think Lyman has been on BM66 for 7 months to begin with.

Look at what we know and fill in what we don't know with some educated guesses. Leading up to and past the BM66 announcement/release/launch he was working on Spike 2, fact no BM66 was playable and only shown in attract mode for a while after the initial reveal backs that up.

Then look at the code updates we have had, couple of small updates initially, then V 0.70 on March 22nd contained a huge Spike 2 OS update, that proves Lyman was still working on getting Spike 2 complete? maybe just optimised?

So at best he has maybe been on BM "full time" since the end of March? so that's 4 months!

I truly hope you move it on, that way you can remove yourself from this topic too!
Sick of seeing your negative posts regards BM66
Move on please........

Bump for a BM66 code update today.

IMG_4297 (resized).JPG

Got to play BM66 today finally for the first time and this game is not nearly as bad as people are acting like, matter of fact I kind of enjoyed it. I was expecting it to be a major turd from everything that I have read. I do think it was a cash grab, I do think it should have never left the factory with the code being in the state that it was, very piss poor on Sterns part. I also don't like the inflated price tag that they put on it and I hate the fact that there was no Pro model. If there was a Pro model at regular pricing I would consider this game for sure.

All in all though it's a a beautiful game and it's not bad at all. I think once the code gets finished that you guys are going to have a very nice game on your hands! Don't let the haters get you down guys!

We're not letting any haters put us down...all us owners know it's already fun and when the next code drops it should be a killer......Loving it

Off topic - where'd you get that back glass? I tried google and couldn't find it. Is it custom? Very cool!

On topic - It's gonna feel like a different experience after the next code update, and I can't wait! I check their website a couple times every day just to be sure I don't miss it.

Therein lies the problem with the world. People believe everything they read. Even if it is wrong. Fake news!!

- KISS is shit and the code is broken. (It's not)
- BM66 is shit and the code is shit (It's not)
- Rob Zombie is shit (it's not. It's great)
- XMen is shit. (It's f**king awesome)
- WOZ is great (it's shit! Lol!!) <--- that's a joke

The older I get, the more I think people are not mentally able to process facts properly and come up with some sort of rational conclusion by themselves. Unfortunately, most people just want to be sheeple. So sad.

rd

Yes its custom! thank you! Wait until you see TWD alternate trans-light I am making. Its epic!

I don't see many people saying those games are "shit". And if you do then you should know it's some internet loudmouth trolling for attention. Things in life are rarely black and white... usually a shade of grey. People may hope for more code updates,etc but they don't usually call it "shit" right out of the gate. A hundred posts later they seem to amp up their language but that's the "forum effect".

Unfortunately you fall under this category somewhat when you call Woz "shit". I haven't played it enough to have an opinion but I SUSPECT it is not "shit". You had me until then.

Why would you criticize others for something and then immediately indulge in it yourself? See THAT'S the problem with the world

About a month away from the one year anniversary date of when Stern started asking for deposits on Batman66. I think it was $2k for LE's and $500 for premium. I hope we get an update before that date comes.

Haha .. I was dropping a funny.

Woz is ok. Just not my cup of tea.

People are allowed to have an opinion, for sure! But it just proves my point when Who-dey says that he thought BM66 was junk because that's what he has read on Pinside.

A few pinsiders played RZ ONCE(!!) on early code, and called it "shit". And worse. Now, other people who haven't even played it are parroting those comments. Most haven't had the chance to play it because there are only 300 of them, so they now think it is no good. I had people coming to my place for league night who told me "I heard that RZ is no good?" because they read that on pinside. Then they play the game and want to buy one.

rd

I think one of the best looking of the modern Stern's. I also think it is pretty fun as it stands. It just has you waiting for more with the minor villains, etc. Once the new code drops it is going to be great.

I never said I thought Batman66 was junk, I said I was expecting that it would be a turd from all the bad publicity it has gotten. BM66 was a dream theme for me big time. The streams that I have seen did not impress me with Batman very much but I still kept an open mind about it and I think it's pretty cool now that I've played it. Honestly the only thing about Batman66 that sucks is the way Stern marketed it, priced it, and released it. That game would have sold so many damn copies if they would have priced it right and had a Pro model that it would have been ridiculous.....and a decent starting code would have helped as well. It was one big cluster F from the get go. They also ruined GB with the playfield debacle, another game that would have had monster sales, and I think they just kind of screwed up SW as well. I know these games all sold well but they could have sold a lot better than they did.

I do read a lot about the things I like because I like to learn about things. I don't put all my faith in what people say by any means but if you have a large number of people saying Star Wars sucks or whatever, there is probably a little something to it chances are. You also have to realize that everyone has different opinions and that is ok too, nobody is going to like every pinball machine out there. Some people say TWD sucks, some people say GB sucks, GOT, AS, AC/DC etc....that's ok and I'm ok with that. The only game I think that sucks that you mentioned is RZ, I don't like it even a little bit sorry. I've never played WOZ so I don't know.

It's funny you mention GB and SW which is already out coding BM66.
To me these are all iconic licenses.
And Data East whiffed on all of them.
It's really a study on how to take iconic imagery and deliver a bad art package.
Does Data East even have an art dept or does the local 3rd grade class do it?
Did I say Data East......I meant Stern