You're one of the biggest offenders. No surprise to see you chime in. It must suck to be that angry all the time. Do you need a hug or something?

And Alex takes the bait. Alex, he isn't actually trying to have a conversation, he was just insulting Keith and calling him a baby having a tantrum in order to try and make sure he doesn't come back??? What? Sorry SB, what were you trying to do? It sure looks like you called Keith a baby. I can't imagine why he wouldn't want to engage in such a fruitful discussion ... I'm not even going to put a sarcasm tag on that.

Did you see something saying they won't have that? Are you saying that JJP would remove one of their best features and the second best utilization of the massive LCD?

(Second best to the implementation of looking at the main screen and seeing the status of everything. That is the best feature, followed closely by the "What do I need to do next" screens you are asking for. And yet you are acting like they wouldn't have this fantastic feature. Poppycock.)

I just figured they'd have it by now if the game was 50%+ done according to jack

Sounds like you figured wrong. You might want to ask Jack when it will be in if it is such a concern for your enjoyment of the game.

Nah not baited. I know his game. It's just a shame that the trolling has gotten to RGP sized proportions but they add "color" so it's condoned. The basement hasn't fixed it. There is only one way to fix it and the solution has been presented multiple times and it's just not being utilized.

Way to point out the site owner's comment and publicly criticize it.

Why not opening this new thread Robin was talking about not so long ago?:

Can we turn the focus on this thread back to how myself and some friends got to play Hobbit, uninterrupted, for as long as we wanted yesterday, and how awesome it was? I mean, we played so much Hobbit that we were actually SICK of it. It was pretty sweet. Had to cleanse the palate with a game of Diamond Jack on the way out.

Also, there was pizza.

And stop comparing the trolling to RGP - I'm pretty sure no industry figure was bashed and baited as mercilessly there as I've seen around here, to their face, on RGP. And we used to have Steve Ritchie and others as regulars.

I digress.

How is it not different? While most 3rd and 4th flippers might only have 1 or 2 dedicated shots they are usually satisfying when you make it. Some dedicated shots that come to mind are:

Spider-man: Venom
Getaway: Inner loops
Dr. Who: "O" Ramp
TZ: Piano and Camera
TAF: Left ramp, train, graveyard
Tron: Right ramp, Gem

I know there are bunch of others and granted some of these can be made without the extra flipper, however it seems they were added for that purpose. Now there is no rule that says 3rd and 4th flippers need a dedicated shot and if it's there on TH just to "hit things" then that is fine. Keith is a genius and I am sure he will come up with something creative for that flipper. But when I see games with 3rd and 4th flippers I can usually tell even before playing what the dedicated shot of the flipper is based on the location, layout, inserts, and artwork, etc. I don't see that on TH and IMO it feels like and afterthought and was just added for the sake of having a third flipper. Doesn't mean Keith can't make it worthwhile and I am sure he will, however I agree with others who think it's a "secret" because it's still a work in progress. Not a JJP hater and TH is a theme I want to own someday, however I am sure others will see my opinions differently.

I think I counted 8 or 9 shots for the upper flipper. It is so cool when the drops are rotating really quickly and you have to make the shot. Or the trolls taunt you then when you are late, they drop and you miss the shot. I forsee plenty of action for the "useless" flipper.

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Thank you...now give us some detailed impressions since you got to play it so much!!

I love that the purpose given for the upper flipper, "to hit things with", was found to be entirely vapid. LOL.. What the hell do you think flippers are for?

SST has a "useless" 3rd flipper. You can hit all the same stuff with it that you hit with the regular flippers. It's the RULES that make the flipper become useful.

Nah that's really not my thing. I mean, it was pinball and it was fun. The rest of you suckers are just gonna have to wait. Also the pizza was from Patsy's - Frank Sinatra's favorite - and it's way better than anything you guys can get.

Wait. That was mean.

It's fun shooting the trolls and the spiders! Oh, and there's a mode where the drop targets raise and lower in order, and your goal was to shoot the standups behind the drops, and not the drops themselves. That was pretty cool. Mostly I just liked getting multiball and shooting at stuff. My highest score was around 490,000 I think. I hit drop targets and the captive ball with the upper flipper. Also hit the ramp a few times but that was just good for a horseshoe shot which didn't score anything.

I like having a third flipper to hit dedicated shots. I also like having a third flipper to hit the same shots but from a different angle.

I don't think you can argue that having a third flipper adds value, we will just have to play the game (and wait for the code to get further along) to see how much value is added.

That sounds very cool, and unique. First I heard of that...thanks!

What a sweetheart. Well lets see what I else I got for Bruce...

The modes are all stackable on top of multiball and vice versa. But you can only light locks when lock is lit (and you can stack locks). But, you can change and start modes during multiball (left ramp changes modes, right ramp starts modes). The multiball on top of frenzy mode (points for switch hits) was lucrative, I think good for around 10,000 points.

Agreed that is fantastic! I would imagine if the ball was near the 3rd flipper when the bank opened on the left side that may be a time where the flipper could be used to hit a thing.

Got to head to Brooklyn sometime soon.

Al - any chance we get a Hobbit at Modern Pinball also?

Lol...

Thanks for your positive contributions to this thread. Some other questions: Did the code feel fairly complete, or did it feel like there was a lot of stuff still missing? I know Keith will continue to build upon the code and refine it, but did it seem like the core game was there? I am thinking Jack said back around October the code was at 80%...so I am hoping for a mostly complete game at launch. Did anyone get to any sort of wizard modes?

Not sure what to say about the code. It says .33 or something on boot up but it sure didn't feel like it was 33% done, much more refined than that. I think that 80% number is probably not hyperbole.

The only obvious "bug" I saw was the game yelling "Jackpot!!!" several times when multiball starts up. But you know this stuff goes the code could certainly have a ways to go. There's so many different modes I have no idea how done they are or how many I didn't play or what the wizard modes are going to be like.

As is played 2 different multiballs, a bunch of different modes, and everything was stackable. A much more finished "package" than when I played WOZ on test location the first time.

Glad to hear the upper flipper can hit the ramp. It looked possible from the photos. I expect there will be some benefit to making that horseshoe shot in the future.

Oh, what is the other one that is in? I've only played the first and I'm curious to hear the newer stuff.

Is Smaug and Beast multiballs stackable? If so, maybe these two. Or potentially one of the modes is a multiball mode.

There is a multiball for hitting the ramp to lock, and there is a multiball that starts when hit the trolls enough times. Don't know if spiders (the lower pop ups) advance toward that multiball as well. They are stackable.

I think this game is going to be epic.

So the scoring is lowish similar to WOZ?

Pinchroma also "Deactivated"? This thread takes another victim.

Ouch.

Lowish but higherish. Score seems to build up quicker.

I'd like to be the first to suggest a 100,000x score multiplier be added to the game software as an option. It's too hard to do that math in your head, so I'd like the machine to add the zeros for me.

Thanks.

Yeh looks like it - 490000 is a decent score on WOZ, but much lower than most modern games.

I disagree.

I want a 1,000,000,000x score multiplier. It makes me feel like I'm playing better.

Is the limited edition plaque going to be be a digital sign between the speakers? Has JJP shown the plaque yet?

Maybe because of this mentioned in the flyer:

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Sweet, nice catch.

Not too surprised by this. I'll bet JJP is just learning what Stern already knew - and that is monitor this site, but don't engage.

There are so many JJP trolls on here even I have a rough time keeping my composure and I don't even work for JJP. Pinside seems to be getting more negative since I joined last year - maybe I am the reason

EDIT: Perhaps people need to stop pissing on other companies, machines, playfields, slipped dates, etc. It's cool to say what you think, but to repeat it over and over all the time on every thread you can is ridiculous.

Thanks to everyone posting pictures, videos, and first impressions.

I don't think you understand the aspect ratio of a pinball machine.

Seemed to work for this guy https://vimeo.com/115532046

Thanks for giving everyone your report. I hope that people find what we are doing with the drop targets to be different and fun.

If you think that is a good video we just need to end the discussion there

Does work fine for just an overview and looksy (look-see?)

Any chance someone could go over the different skill shots that are selectable at the beginning of the game...please (can't thank you guys enough for the reviews and time spent).

Check_switch_26 also deactivated

By the sound of the post also a JJP employee. WTF is going on?

Directive from above?

What's Jacks' user name again?

Just an FYI:

All the JJP employees deactivation is NOT a directive from management.
They simply deactivated their accounts because they were tired of the constant beratement and trolling.

Sometimes I feel like....

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Just hot-glue these to the monitor glass until you have sufficient scoring inflation..

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Hell, I'd forgotten about this til just now... JJP has their own forum.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/jersey-jack-pinball-woz

If you're truly interested in their games and not just looking to troll, email someone (Jen?) at JJP for access if you don't already have it. I'd expect the S/N ratio there is a lot better than on pinside.

Stupidly posted in the Hobbit update thread . DOH!

VIDEO:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/2016-hobbit-update-thread-1/page/10#post-2945220

Review :

Artwork and playfield are absolutely stunning . Playfield was shining like a diamond.

Gameplay : I had a lot of fun playing this.

Pop up's were very active and also evident during the Multiball. F

For most of the first game i concentrated on trying the ramps , which i was able to backhand from either side, even on the fly.

The pitch of the game (shallow floaty) and flipper strength (seemed at a weaker setting) allowed for this to occur.
As previously discussed the book was very helpful , when you remember to look at it to know what the rules are for the mode or what shots are active to advance to a lock / mode.

I like the lock rollovers on this much better than WOZ (which i am not a big fan of) because of the placement in the middle of the field with nothing directly behind. You can hit the rollover and get a hit on something else.

Multiball was a real blast and it seemed like there was an initial maybe 2 ball multiball with added balls for achieving (i dont know) ?? Not sure which multi i was in but the pop ups were a big part of it and it was really fun knocking them out of the way and watching them being taken down by software to open up lit shots behind them.

The kickback lane was used nicely to hold balls to start whatever mode is associated with it. You can fire the ball out of the kickback with the Ring button. Sorry i didn't get a good handle on the rules . The operation of the game was impressive though do to the variety of places the ball can go. I like games that hold the ball to let you view animations with the ability to cancel out etc..

Captive ball was not installed , so i don't know what happens when you hit that.

Had the mode with the moving target and it seems like sometimes you hit the target right as its gonig down and you don't get credit. I could be wrong.

Side targets seem like they would be very hard to hit without a cradle. it's the only reason i could see setting up your game "floaty" or shallow. The inlane ball returns on this (especially right side) were almost stopping the ball. might have been due to white fluffy rubbers, but it seems like an area of concern for flow.

The sound was incredible and is begging for a sub , although the stock sound comes very close to reproducing a bass deep enough. When smaug speaks there is a ton of bass , so i can see a sub giving you the "shaking the floorboards" feeling we all know and love. This is why my ears are ringing constantly.

I only remember trying for bag-end shot once but it is a nice long shot and challenging. There is a lot more to do on this pin (shot-wise) than i initially thought , especially with the kickback lane being used for starting things.

Feel of the game was solid like woz which is no problem at all. layout is much better IMO and the theme rocks. It was a bit overwhelming trying to learn rules and i was just batting the ball around waiting for stuff to happen. luckily the pin can deliver in that aspect for newer players to enjoy it.

The ball did not get stuck anywhere while i played.

That's about all i can remember. Purged my brain shortly after.

Thanks to Al (pinaholic) for inviting me down and i hope my non shaky and maybe even rotated shaky video helps people that are waiting for this pin.

For someone like me who wasn't very excited for this pin , i am very excited to possibly own one in the future. Keep the faith .

ez

I am unfamiliar with this element. So you can stack balls in an outlane and shoot them at will? Is it a lock? Is it both lanes? I noticed the ball pause when draining on the right side but also saw someone mention it being due to a tight playfield layout. Any more insight you, or anyone can give on this part of the game?