I don't really agree. It's a great movie, I'm a fan. But it's not really an action flick, it's a relationship comedy with props. It's not really ideal for DMD-style quick clips, IMHO. I'd rather see original animation to go with the art package.

GOT is sort of the same thing (not so much comedy) but because there's so much more material you can cut out all the relationship stuff for action okay. I wish it was LCD and not DMD, not a fan of ripped video dots.

For Ghostbusters I'd actually love to just have colored dots from the factory. Or maybe double rez ones like MMR. With simple animations in color. I suspect if it does have an LCD we'll get movie clips, just saying I'd prefer not to.

Nice gameplay video here.
GOT looks like fun even if it's YAFL from Stern (yet another fan layout) which simply means it's a long-ball-time game (not my preference).
The upper PF looks neat the way it seems to have its own version of inlane/outlane ball movement, rather than just being another whack-a-mole upper PF, and then the ball just drains out.

--
I'm hopeful about offering luxury comfort via programming, for home-players in a dark-environment who have invested big $$$.

Does Stern offer lighting settings in 2015?

Lighting Settings:
1. flasher seizures for each accomplishment (y/n)
2. disable all poorly timed flasher barrages (y/n)

With a setting or two, this whole operator-advantage-gimmick could be neutralized (or even in a code update)

A few questions:

I can't see in the vid -- What are you shooting for up top? Drops/Standups or ... ?

Also -- what happened to the lazy gradient shield, is that out of the LE, and still part of the pro? I can't unsee that thing.

-mof

looking forward to getting 'slimed' on the display, that would be really cool.

From what I can tell, you are hitting standups to complete parts of the Targeryan house mode.

haha. I just got done playing the shit out of a Pro this weekend (at least 50-60 games). I cannot tell you what the shield looked like behind the house sigils. But I believe you are right that it was changed on the Prem/LE, and left unchanged on the Pro.

You have to add an underscore in the file name to make it work. We had the same problem here. We did get it to work so we used 1.10 in our launch party, but we had a lot of random resets and eventually had to pull it from the finals.

This happened to the one near me too. Luckily it only reset twice on Friday, and one more time yesterday.

Again and again, we all have different tastes. A few hundred years ago when the people that went into a church to celebrate their faith in god had no TV, radio or cinemas and no pinball games^^. When they went into their churches they were overwhelmed by the show, the lightning that came in from the colorful windows, the exotic smells of the incense, the music of the gregorian chants. All this show was not substantial for the main thing, the religion. But the glory of it was a very special experience, something that could take them away from their real life. More and more people banned those thing, they didn't want all those distrections. They feared, that the show could became to important for the people. I am ok with all this, different tastes.......But sometimes I miss this kind of show. Now i have to go on rock concerts to get this ;P^^
For a few people playing pinball is all about the competition. To train in something and to get better and better, to master the machine. They hate every distraction from reaching their goal. For them a good lightshow is only needed when the machine has to celebrate when they done something good.
There are people that like concerts of musicians that only focus on the music in small concerts. Othere people want big stadium concerts with crazy light shows to experience something special.
I like excactly the same in my pinball games. For me the competition is only secondary. I start a game to have a few minutes fun and forget everything else. I want to get sucked into the gameplay and as important it is to make shots special for players, I want to get surprised by the whole show and the flow of the machine, when I speak of "FLOW", I don't think that a machine only has good flow when the ramps are coming right back for the next shot. The ruleset of a machine should also have good flow, it should mix grind, slow speed or fast speed gameplay with risk shots and hurry ups. And flashers and the lightshow should help do delivere to help mixing those things so playing it will not get boring.
The "crank it up modes" on metallica are awesome, everyone of them delivers a unique show that complements the unique gameplay.
If there are modes or moments in the gameplay when flashers are blinding me so the machine gives me a good fight, it only gives me more fun in playing it. If the gameplay has only those effects it can get boring.
What I saw in the streams from the GoT gameplay, I think I will realy like the Winter is Comming mode. The flashing lights put on a good show, are making this mode special and I think thats part of a good flowing gameplay.
But that is just me, if others think the light effects are blinding them, so they can't reach the next highscore....it's just not their cup of tea perhaps they should buy an other game. I want more of that in GoT!!!

Watched the gameplay vid again, and yeah -- the lighting is off the charts unbearably blinding (for a dark room) -- way too frequently and at all the wrong times.

If they can just take into account that there's a user segment base that plays in the dark, and just have a user setting for that -- that would be a huge plus.

If you have all the lights ON in a room, I would suspect the lighting is FINE as is.

Recent moderns (from both Stern and JJP) just have incredibly unattractive lighting for dark rooms -- yet it's all fixable with programming to make all user segments happy. I wonder who will be the first to solve the issue?

-mof

The flashers are off the charts bright. There were shots that I could not see at all and since I wasn't familiar with the game, I didn't know if the ball was going to stop in the pops or come around for a full orbit so last second reactions were the only thing that could save you.

For instance in Winter is Coming. It isn't a mode, just a same shot hurry-up countdown, so it doesn't last a super long time. There is a Winter is Here mode if you complete so many of them.

I made a prediction on GOT based on the extended development time Ritchie had. It was a guess, nothing more. I was wrong.

Ghostbusters comes from multiple sources with established track records. Not a guess by me.

Duh! Liver Lip.

Very little action in the original Alien. Are you making a similar suggestion to Heighway?

I'm not against custom animation, but they need to get past dots and make some very nice HD animation. Make their first LCD pin shine!

It's one of the challenges for sure. And I think we're up for it. But I'm not sure that moving to high rez LCD screens is going to automatically be awesome, it's easy to play too many movie clips.

Anyways, we'll see what Ghostbusters looks like on shipping, no point in pre-emptively complaining about something before even seeing it.

Are you saying to just add an underscore to the entire file name and save it that way? I'm willing to try again.

We also had random resets on both GOT's with version 1.02. Not too many, just enough to be a pain. I thought v.1.10 was supposed to address the resetting issue?

What is the deal with ALL new Sterns on SPIKE having constant reset issues???

Thing is, there are two Kiss pro's at this same location that I have never seen reset, not even once. Not sure what the deal is.

You just have to add the underscore by the date. Look at other code files for the naming convention and match it.

Thanks!

My Kiss on location never has.

I was always curious about these kind of answers. Like how do you know? Not saying it is but rare resets may not always warrant the customer to notify someone to fix especially if they don't mind throwing in another buck and it doesn't reset again.

Prime example is I saw multiple people having lock ball trough issues on a TFLE just the other week on location. No one (not even myself) ever notified one of the floor persons. I just slapped the side of the game for the ppl playing it then it regiestered. Tons of ppl were playing that TFLE so with it bringing in so much money, it's doubtful the op is aware of any issues at all. No?

I just hope game makers don't stick to thinking it has to be an action scene. Something moody and atmospheric from Alien or funny from Ghostbusters can fit too.

Alien will be all about the atmosphere for sure.

I dunno, we'll just see on GB. This is new territory for Stern, no point in second guessing them before we see what they're up to. They hired 3D artists, maybe they're going to try and do more original stuff.

All I know is that I'm utterly over red video clips. Here's hoping GOT is the last time we see that.

At my location, it tends to draw a bunch of the hard core pinheads (since I'm the only public location in town). The majority of them belong to the league (as do I). I personally play the game a bunch as well. My cell # is plastered around for all to see, so if anything is up with my games, I get a text.

Also, the location keeps me up to date on refunds. If someone's game stopped, they would want their money back. And the slip of paper filled out has a reason field.

Let me tell you, my cell was never as busy as when I had WoZ on location. Stupid light boards.

They changed it to chainmaille on the LE/Prem that they didn't unveil until the actual launch party at Expo. The new artwork looked good (but I didn't think the gradient looked bad on the pro either so whatev).

I was told that they changed the artwork (and added throne on the pro) due to customer demand / opinion. It was clearly too late to change the artwork on the pro so that is the way it is, and will be (with the silver gradient). However, IMO, you won't even notice the gradient because if you take your eye off the ball for a second you'll drain. It is a very "in your face" and fast game! Come over and play my LE in a month

Is this fact, or just trolling?
I don't have a new Stern with the Spike system so I can't say that it's inaccurate, but I expect you're just running your mouth.
I'll donate $20 to Pinside if ALL new Sterns on Spike are having "constant" reset issues.

He has played ALL NEW Sterns, each and every one of them and THEY ALL reset on him.

I thought that only Predator was having "constant" problems with ALL the machines.
What? Too soon?

It's not fact. I've had a KISS Premium since early September and not had a single reset. Or any other problem come to think of it.

The HELL you say??????? That cant be possible!?!?!?!?!?!!!!

Steve Ritchie likes having his games bright.

Rob

I have owned EVERY Stern since Spike came out and every single one has experienced reset problems when they first come out. They seem to get the issues worked out with code eventually, but if you have been paying attention at all, this is common knowledge at this point that with the onset of SPIKE, resets happen.

Not trolling one bit. Considering I am one of the biggest Stern supporters and have these all on route, it IS in fact an issue that they have intermittent resets.

He's a smart man.

Bright GI is definitely the way to go... Now I sure would appreciate having the capability to choose to not be blinded by backglasses, inserts and flashers when I'm trying to stare at a reflective silver ball in a dark game room.

-mof

You do know the definition of "constant", right?

And you sir,are completely wrong.
The Ghostbusters pinball will be based on the cartoon(comic).Not the classic.

The brighter the better! Makes the game more challenging when the lights strobe an go crazy.

Using your logic, it sounds like any distraction to increase challenge is welcome in your book. Interesting. Do you perhaps welcome playing without flipper rubbers for that added challenge? Let me guess -- do you play without wearing officially sanctioned tournament gloves as well? Bare-handed play? Pinkies only? Where does this end?

Look "You know why I'm here..." -- I'm just a simpleton looking to challenge my sense of physics, geometry, and reaction time and not so much my retina's ability to refocus under varying contrasting lighting conditions. I leave that kinda of eyeball gymnastics up to sophisticated doctors to conduct on me...

-mof

So just remove some of the flashers, or put a filter over them, or point them in a different direction, or replace them with weaker bulbs, or whatever else might work. Doesn't seem like a big deal to me. It's not like everyone here doesn't mod game lighting to suit their tastes.

...is this even a thing....

I consider myself to be a noob, but this sounds ridiculous

How-to-win-papa-2016-its-all-in-the-gloves.png

Touché

The GOT I played at EXPO reset on me, I just landed the ball to start Multiball wherever the hell that was. It was the only game I played of GOT during the weekend so I don't remember much about it except that she crashed

Most lighting on new spike games including flashers are on rgb boards so its harder to mod or change

The GOT I played at Explo worked great, didn't hear of it resetting at all the whole day of play. Ever think maybe its the power supply that its plugged into?

No thanks.

The intelligent solution is to deal with it at a programming level. Ideally there would be an operator mode and a collector mode. By choosing collector mode some of these blinding features would go away. By choosing operator mode all the blinding gimmicks would stay in. The reason you want to leave all the bulbs in his because there are times when using a flasher adds to the game. It's a matter of timing not the bulbs themselves.

Thanks for playing,
-mof

Really didn't give it any thought whatsoever except that I had a multiball coming and bam she gone. The guy (tournament player) that was playing on the same machine as me at the time (2 player game) said it had happened out in the hallway on a different GOT in the tourney. I didn't witness that one do it so who knows if it did or not but I know it happened on the one I was on.

The LE sure seemed to hold up well, Robert put up over a billion points on it.......so who knows what the issue is.

PinGremlins.

Edit----Ill let you know how my premium plays when it arrives

It isn't point related. I put up over 1.4 billion on our game, but it would reset at 100 million on ball 1or 800 million on ball 3. Our op is working with Stern to help fix the issue.

Are you guys sure a little 3 yr old didn't stealth his way past everyone and hold down the start button? That's what I found was causing my reset issues

Damn Ninjas!

Edit----Ha! That just made me remember, I was playing The Shadow at the bowling alley a few weeks ago and this little kid kept pressing the button to switch the ramp diverters.....Grandpa of the kids was standing right there and did nothing....I just said "Hey! what are you doing, stop that" Then I Will Farrel'd a bear paw swipe to knock them out the way<----JK, I didn't, but would have been extremely funny to me.

I do not like these little 'flasher boards' on the spike games. They may be ok in specific uses, but should not be used in the large plastic flasher domes like on the KISS slingshots. They are not as bright as a normal flasher.

Rob

Patently wrong.