Are you sure about that?

Gee, with that desk organized like that....no wonder he lost the WOZ order sheet.

jacks messy desk.jpg

Yes it will use buttons like P2K pins had, action/flipper buttons

image.jpg

I think there is a possibility that a lockdown bar button ala ST or ACDC will be used.

There is a possibility the diverters will be controlled by both a center button AND an extra flipper side button. Center button is good for new players so they know it's there (or at least that is how Jack explained it). I think I convinced Jack at Allentown that an extra flipper button is also necessary for gameplay, so advanced players don't have to remove their hands from the sides of the cabinet. So with both buttons present, problems all solved for a couple extra bucks.

Ugh.... would love that option on ACDC.... I hate having to work the cannon button during multiball...

Lockdownbar top button would be a bad idea... Jack mentioned clearly multiple button action on each side of the cabinet.

How about the control of that left side diverter angle near the kickout lane?
- Would it be an idea to have a radio knob like adjuster to set the angle, followed by a dual flip action to launch the ball manually.

With all the little things people want and expect the bucks add up.

That would be sweet!

OK... hows this?

fun2.jpg

That's the whole point. Risk vs reward. Have to take your hands off the flippers. DE would have different bonus things happen where you would have to fire the guns and what not as well. I like stuff like that. makes you have to play better to pull it off.

Ok.. but I would have figured you would have photoshopped him reading it upside down.

he's not George Bush.

But is that the only change you found?

More like Obama

Unlike Obama, G.B. has been seen in pictures with books upside down in his hands. Obama is smarter, just not very good with money.

great idea.... bring politics into a JJP thread....

Thought that was verbotten?

I got a warning once for just saying we made a mistake in 2012- without even referncing politics.... lol.... anyways- there's usually enough fireworks here without bringing non-pinball topics in, eh?

There really should be a locked thread with real The Hobbit news so we can avoid most of the BS.

Is Jack starting up a proctology side-practice?
Sorry, just the doctor in me.
232082.jpg

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/bushbook.asp

Snopes says you are incorrect.

In political arguments the truth is never relevant...

You've fallen for some poor Photoshop, my comrade.

Whatever, dude. GB went to Yale and was a Rhodes Scholar. Now back to pinball.

Back on topic please...

Gross. Thumbs down for posting that pic.

Sorry, but as an Oxford grad I feel obligated to correct this statement. Bill Clinton was the Rhodes Scholar.

Reading books is becoming a lost art.

But it was on the internets so it must be real.

The mistake was made in 2011

Stand corrected. I'm getting my POTUS mixed up. I still regard Yale grads as being literate.

http://www.pinballnews.com/games/hobbit/index.html

Well, that would be a short thread for sure.... look at whats heralded as "updates" now: pictures of jack reading a book? lol... he couldnt have found an easier crowd to please....

It was a Facebook post...Is Stern posting random Superman and furniture pictures considered updates as well?

JJP keeps their customer base more in the loop than anyone else in the industry. Over a dozen code updates were released for WOZ and throughout the entire process Jack, Ted, Keith and Alex offered updates about the updates and responded to feedback on the JJP Google group. Jack has also been active on the JJP Google group by posting weekly.

What updates has Stern released about their next game...nothing. With JJP we have seen nearly the entire layout for The Hobbit, videos of white woods, images of updated cabinet art, who's doing the audio, updates about custom voice work, updates on the number of toys. That seems like a good amount of information released.

JJP should keep their customer base in the loop they hold on to their money longer than anyone else in the industry.

Yup, and in the end they have the only NIB pin in the industry worth a $7.5k+ asking price. I don't mind waiting for a quality game that actually has a lot of toys, and complete code like I did with WOZ. I don't see anyone dropping their Hobbit preorders for a Mustang LE despite that game being out...

Iv'e seen you post this before the answer is still the same. JJP has to keep their customers in the loop because of the preorder money. Also, Stern has a track record of building games and JJP doesn't...yet.

I hear what you are saying about the preorder money and updates. Agree 100%.

Apples and anvils...

Stern doesn't need to keep me in the loop- they have a unique model: whens I pays them, theys gives me a pinball machine
That aside, I'd probably also direct you to the MMr thread- not quite sure anyone could ask for more real updates.....

On the otherhand, part of me really wants to see NO updates on the pin till it ships- I'm anxious to see what they do and I feel dribbling out every detail (to be warped, Photoshopped analyzed and revealed) will leave precious little magic for the end...

You keep throwing out this nonsense regarding the WOZ software updates like it's something of which JJP should be proud. The only reason WOZ required "over a dozen code updates" was because the code was seriously incomplete when the first games started to trickle out from the factory. All but the last three releases (1.2x, 2.0, 3.0) would reasonably be considered prototype level code.

BTW, I think you spelled "weakly" wrong.

Yep. It's called spin.

well here we go again! The gangs all here in a what.........Hobbit update thread!

Your darn right they should be prod of it. Keith mentioned that WOZ is the most complex game he's had to code for yet and the fact that he, Ted and JP made the game as deep as it is today is pretty impressive.

Code updates were released nearly monthly for the game with open communication from JJP about when the updates may drop as well as what may be in them. That's a nice change of pace compared to other games...

Also, coding for a LCD based game sounds more complex compared to DMD based games so yes JJP should be proud to offer their first game (also the first to use an LCD) with complete code less than a year from when they began shipping.

From Keith Johnson's Pinball Magazine interview.

"PM: Is it very different to program a display effect now than when you were programming dot matrix displays?
KJ: It’s more complex. With dot matrix animations all you do is say, “Here’s a block of graphics I want to show, whether it’s for full screen or part of the screen, and then put in some text down there.” With what we do, we have a lot more to think about. There’s a lot that needs to get onto the screen and it takes a lot of time to send data to the graphics card before it gets displayed.

We’re managing what the data is – whether it’s a movie, a sprite, or text, or whatever – and we’re trying to keep that as slim as possible. Then we’re trying to get everything to show up in the right spots, so that it looks pleasing and not like it’s just thrown up there.

With dots you have a very limited area that you can work with. It’s just very obvious which things fit where, whether you’re going to use a small font or a larger font. With what we’re doing, which is a 1360 x 768 full HD display, there’s a lot more tweaking in terms of what the exact right spot is to put down text, what’s the best way to show this movie while the ball is doing something else. It’s a lot more attention to a lot more things than you would have to worry about with a dot matrix."

Why does the "gang" keep picking on poor Panzer?

Back to Hobbit update thread……. or I'm about to

haha. I'm fine with it really. It's the same people over and over again. This has been going on for months now. I'm actually getting pretty good at guessing who down votes my JJP related posts at this point!

As for another Hobbit update I recall Jack saying something (at this years MPE) along the lines of not being able to release playfield artwork until after the second film had been released on DVD and Blu Ray. With Jack posting The Hobbit pic on Facebook with part of the artwork showing I hope that means we will soon see the rest of of the playfield artwork.

Months for you, years for the rest of us….. You know what the facts are Panzer, and so do they…..you must have a ton of knots on your head banging it against the wall. Woz is a great pin, Hobbit looks cool, AND especially now that Lawlor has taken over design should be awesome, and then of course his next pin.

Why do I care? I don't know, I certainly don't need another pinball machine, the madness is taking over!

It just doesnt really matter cause for those that are so dead against any amazing machine they are the ones who lose out in the end. just sayin

You are correct sir. Also im sure the PF art work is going to look amazing. Or maybe it already does!

Wait.. Lawlor is leading on Hobbit?

page 22 seems to be the pages of thumbs down. With all that thumbing action going on, maybe some of you need to stick some of those in your butt.