(Topic ID: 77386)

Hobbit Update

By B9

10 years ago


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You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider karl.
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#536 9 years ago

Looking good. I am wondering if there will be some "Shadow" like ramp action since there will be extra buttons (if I understood Jack's seminar speech right?) and those ramps looks like they could have diverter options on them?

Would be fun if that is the case.

#707 9 years ago

Since 100 000 is for Morgan Freeman, I bet there is a lot of other actors from the film willing to do it for a lot less.

Come to think of it, it's a bit strange that even he would want that much. He's not that big a star. Could it be the movie company is behind this enormous price and it has nothing to do with the actors? It's a shame for sure. Pro actors can really add a lot to a game.

Why not contact John Rhys-Davies? He has already done two great pinball machines and Gimli is the son of one of the dwarfs in the movies. Stretching it a bit here, but personally I would be happy to have his voice in 3 of my games

#713 9 years ago
Quoted from Captain_Kirk:

I think you mean Martin Freeman. Morgan costs even more....God is expensive!

Morgan would be fine too though

1 month later
#1132 9 years ago

I bet this is a deja vu moment for Keith. Same thing happened with the same guy on TSPP, didn't it? My bet is that the Hobbit is much farther along than TSPP was(according to that message from Jack) and if it isn't, who better to finish it off than Keith? Worked pretty well the last time.

Maybe Jack prefers to hire a designer pr. game only instead of having one on, full time payment.

Pretty sure there is no reason to start worrying about this. Maybe he has done all that is needed of him for The Hobbit and if so, that is good news.

What I really want to know is who they have hired for that 4th game

6 months later
#2954 9 years ago

Hey Keefer, how is the code coming along?

Really looking forward to seeing this pin coming alive with some mode awesomeness.

I really like the idea of using the third flipper to activate the kick back feature and I am sure you will find plenty of other uses for the third flipper, also.

This pin must have been a Herculean task, but if anyone can make it shine it is you.

Keep up the good work!

1 month later
#3693 9 years ago

If this is the same machine that was presented in Germany, December(makes sense to not ship another prototype to Europe so soon after that show), I think it had the extra thick decals and playfield protector. Booth the decals and protector made the machine look much more shiny I seem to recall was said by on-site reports.

#3701 9 years ago

I have a feeling that a third barrel will be the first official mod for The Hobbit

#3765 9 years ago

Sounds like you are just looking for things to not like about the machine, DarkWizard.

First the ramp and now lucky shots? What about the wizard hole, the shot up the bumpers, the lock rollovers, the mystery targets, etc, etc? They could all be shot by accident. Not to mention all the drop targets and standups behind them?

#3888 9 years ago

I talked with someone that was at the show. He did not get to play it that much but like some have said reporting from earlier shows, the game was not leveled correctly and the flipper coils were set to low. He also said that the game felt a bit woobly (if that is the right word?) Maybe the legs needed some tightening? The machine was still fun, though.

He also said that you got a beast hurry-up for every innlane. I hope they reduce that in the code. The beasts looks like a fun part of the game but they could be overused if they pop up that often.

Judging from the pictures and videos so far, I think they nailed the look and feel of the beasts. The final versions looks so much better than the first prototypes. Especially after seeing them installed in the machine.

Personally, I think this machine is gonna be a blast to play when set up right

1 week later
#4057 9 years ago

Really looking forward to the game and I do understand that the recent changes (decided in oct-nov)
have put a slight delay on the production start. They'll be worth the extra wait, I'm sure.

I am a little disappointed that there have been no official word from JJP about the delay though.

Production was gonna start late December-early January and in the latest newsletter from JJP on 19th of December there was no word on the delay. More than a month later there is still no word from JJP about the delay.

When I layed down my full payment for the machine it was gonna be out summer 2014 (thank god the movie was delayed) so this machine could end up a whole year to late from what I was told when pre-ordering. (Not much of a progress when it comes to delays from WOZ, really)

I new this could happen when I ordered so I am not angry or anything but a few words from JJP about the latest delay would be nice. I have heard anything from February to May on the rumor mill.

I really think it is a wise move by them to not accept early pre-orders on Pat Lawler's new game and I am truly happy that they are able to make that game without it. Everyone benefits from that decision.

But hey, it was my choice to lay down money early so no regrets

#4058 9 years ago

In less words, any news, JJP?

#4122 9 years ago

Thank you for the pictures and video, Agima2000. Much appreciated.

I really think that the game is shaping up to be a real stunner. The wait is always hard but I truly believe it will be worth it.

Personally I think it looks spectacular now, in those pictures.

If one popbumber cap has become the center of attention for complaints, it bods well for this game

#4231 9 years ago

The red Smaug might be just a tad better looking, being presented like that, but not by much.

I am pretty sure that the difference will be even less when it is in it's rightful place in the game.

If I am wrong and I find out that the difference is bothering me I can always order a red one later. (not likely)

No use in spending 200$ extra before I am sure it is absolutely necessary and
they both look incredible, anyway.

All the latest work from Matt being presented is top quality and I believe I will be 100% satisfied with
my SE once it arrives on the other side of the pond.

#4312 9 years ago

I think that the layout of the backglass, as presented in the pictures we have seen is a stroke of genius.

The layout, as it stands now offer a splendid view of all your achievements in the game. When you trap the ball it is easy to see everything with just one glance and you know that you can always find the info for what you need in the same place without the other stuff being to close.

To whomever made that design, my hats off to you.

#4319 9 years ago

Really starting to consider rad instead of ordinary decals, but cheap they are not. 400$ more than ordinary decals is not exactly pocket money.

How about 200 extra, Jack and you have yourself a deal

I really think it is cool of them to offer things like playfield protector (not for me) and the thicker decals, though. It's always great to have options.

#4372 9 years ago
Quoted from dgoett:

I admit my post might have been a little harsh, but most of it was explaining how to play it.
The attitude of "I don't understand the rules and don't want to" just hit me the wrong way. I think "pinball people" would want to know the most about EVERY games rules like it or not so when you play in a league or tourney you can compete.
I do agree we should be more like neighbors and I'm guilty of severe sarcasm and snippiness sometimes. So, my apologies.

That's a very non pinside behavior of you

It's refreshing to see that it is possible for someone to do some soul-searching and admit that they might have responded a bit harsh. So many feel the need to defend themselves to death instead when they hear others think they went to far.

We all step over the line sometimes. It's how we react to criticism that defines us.

You took the route of total dudeness and I applaud you, Sir

#4373 9 years ago

Not a bad idea. Getting some wall dressing at the same time

#4424 9 years ago

My guess is that the only hold up now is getting all the parts for the game. I am hoping/guessing for a late March/early April production start.

I heard they plan on making ca 50 games a week when everything is set up. Should take ca 8 months for 1500 machines if they can keep up that impressive speed. That takes us to the end of 2015, so one year from now it will be Pat's game on the assembly line.

That is my guess, anyway.

1 week later
#4448 9 years ago

A news-letter soon would be cool. No news letter so far in 2015. At this time they are probably just waiting for parts so not that much to report, though.

They might be waiting with news until they have a confirmed building start date but anything would be better than nothing. I am not concerned at all for the Hobbit. I believe it will be great and the wait will soon be over but I do enjoy the newsletters

#4493 9 years ago
Quoted from Craig:

I am a fan of LOTR, but I've always thought the Path of the Dead mini-playfield is next to useless.

George Gomez made it even more useless in BDK a few years later. At least in Indiana Jones you can tilt the mini playfield with the flippers and there is some rewards for doing it right.

It do not bother me that much in lotr, though. At least with the path of the dead light mod it looks good

1 week later
12
#4583 9 years ago
Quoted from dirtbag66:

Good, awesome, great.
Now can we get to Pat Lawlor's machine, please?
I couldn't care less about a pinball machine that is based on a nine hour trilogy that is based on a 320 page book. What's next? A 12 hour miniseries based on a letter J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his nephew in 1963?
End rant.

Maybe you should hang out somewhere else, then? Why be in this thread at all if The Hobbit bothers you that much? There is no shortage of other threads on Pinside.

#4613 9 years ago

Comments in the other thread (linked to a couple of posts above) would suggest that the code is roughly 50% done (a lot further than earlier shows around Christmas) and those that played it at the party is mainly very impressed.

No news about shipping yet. Still needs a few more parts coming in first, it seems.

I like what I read in the other thread. Feeling positive at the moment.

1 week later
#4757 9 years ago

All this talk about production start is only wild guessing. Jack is not telling.

I have heard everything from April, May, 4-5 months, 5-7 months at the earliest, etc etc.

This is not a complaint. It is what it is.

I am only saying that is not wise to get your hopes up before we hear anything official. Even Jack probably does not know when production will begin yet.

2 weeks later
#5110 8 years ago

Here you go, Pantor80

#5113 8 years ago
Quoted from oyvindmo:

Payments are made in US$, and each payment is processed according to the exchange rate at the time of each payment.
In my case, if I had paid in full at the time of ordering, I would have paid about NOK 42000. Had I paid in full today instead, I would have to pay over 40% more: NOK 60000. With the periodic payments, I will actually end up somewhere around NOK 49000.
There is no Norwegian distributor for JJP, but for comparison the price of a Premium Stern here is currently NOK 58000.

Just to add to this: If you pre-paid 2 years ago, you will still pay vat/taxes from the currant rates when the machine ships and arrives in your Country and that is no small change in this case.(but still a lot better than buying a new machine in today's prices)

Also: The price for a new Stern premium in Norway is 58 000 nok without vat. A year ago it was 55 000 included vat. Now it is 58 000 + 25% vat. The prices now is out of this world. Gone up from 55 000 to 73 000 nok in a year

2 weeks later
#5627 8 years ago

Wish we had another Hobbit thread with only: Real news, videos of the machine in action, actual machine experience, etc.

This thread is giving me pinside fatigue.

1 week later
#5789 8 years ago

That game is ready...set..ship. Looks fantastic, Sounds fantastic = probably is fantastic.

Great work JJP team. Only problem is that I do not have it in my living room yet

Can't wait!

#5854 8 years ago

Big thank you to those taking videos and pictures at the show. It really is appreciated.

Seeing probably the first production game in action is a real treat.

My only concern at this moment is that maybe I should not have chosen the gold version. Silver looks better overall. Had it not been for that left side cab decal it would have been an easy choice but I think I will stick with the gold, even if it might be a little dragon overkill

Congrats to all of the JJP team who have been working like crazy to make our game even better.

And who better than Ted and Keith to give us the icing on the cake.

3 weeks later
#6224 8 years ago

I am sorry to say this, but this clip reminds me of this thread at the moment

3 weeks later
#6502 8 years ago

I have been pondering back and forth in my mind for a long time now, after seeing the LE model in the recent show videos.

Finally decided to revert back to LE from SE. I just have this feeling that the silver look will suit the game better.

I used to think that the SE cabinet decals was enough for me to go down that route but I have kinda warmed up a bit to the LE decals, over time.

They are far from perfect but they do not bother me like they first did and they present more variation. Funny how having all the extra time makes you change perspective

I now think that the overall feel will just be to dark with not enough variation, and also a bit dragon overkill, perhaps?

3 weeks later
#6938 8 years ago

I will leave the drama queen convention alone and just say that I am really looking forward to what Jack will say in a couple of days.

Sounds like there is some actual news to come, on this weekend's seminar. Hoping for some good stuff.

#7032 8 years ago

Agree. I am really looking forward to everything they will add to this already great looking pin. Probably lots and lots of video clips still to come, also, on top of everything you mentioned above, PanzerFreak.

I am also really looking forward to seeing what Keith comes up with in the rules for the lockdownbar button. I feel that the extra button could be used for so much more than what Stern has done with it. This is not a complaint about Stern (hard to criticize "punch it" on Star Trek) but there is more potential there, I feel.

If they manage to utilize the left drain kicker(giving you a clean shot with the upper flipper etc.) and the diverter on the ramps to it's full potential, this could be one epic machine

#7259 8 years ago
Quoted from DaveH:

From playing it over the weekend, you guys are talking just enough. It really was a nice surprise to see so much work already in there.

I believe keefer was talking about both of them answering at the same time

#7261 8 years ago

Sorry. Just trying to help That'll teach me

3 weeks later
#7484 8 years ago

SilverBallz, It is not an official date or anything. He was asked what his best guess was and he said that was a date he was aiming for.

He also said that this was a conservative guess (not exact wording. watched it on a phone cam and can't remember the exact words)

At least he is saying what he is aiming for. Much better than total silence.

I was told by my distributor long ago(5-6 months ago) that the Hobbit would probably not go into production before fall (as I would imagine others have been told also) so this timeframe is not a shocker for me. Would I still pay up front 2 years ago if I knew about all the delays? Who knows.

All I know now is that I am seriously looking forward to this game, still.

JJP is not alone in the delay apartment. There have been delays like this with both Heighway and Dutch Pinball also (I have games on order from both of them) I guess we read more about JJP delays because more people are eager for the games to hit the market (I hope)

Anyway. It is what it is. Pinball is hard

#7486 8 years ago

Agree, frolic. But it can be a factor easy to forget when you read complaint after complaint

#7488 8 years ago

I can testament to that waiting for Stern to make their code acceptable is no fun ride, either.

I bought Star Trek and Metallica new and waited a year before the code was any good. By that time, I had grown sick of waiting and could not enjoy the pins like I ought to, so I sold them both.

I realize that some would rather have a bare-boned code pin than no pin at all but for me, having the actual pin and waiting endlessly for a code update was torture.

Since The Hobbit is so delayed and we have seen the proto in action, I am pretty sure that the code will be ok at launch. Same with Heighway. More uncertain about Big Lebowski, since so little has been shown or talked about regarding code progress on that machine.

1 week later
#7563 8 years ago

Worst thing about the pre-order model = All the people complaing about it

(coming from one who has 5 titles on pre-order and are sick of the waiting game )

#7694 8 years ago

I feel a song will make it's appearance right about now.

2 weeks later
#8196 8 years ago

Full Throttle has been in development for a longer time than The Hobbit but they have only been taking pre-order money for a year.
There are plenty of things to be critical of with H pinball also. Stuff that would get a lot more attention if it were happening in New Jersey instead, but no one is having any agenda against H pinball yet and it is their first game so most of those who have pre-ordered are prepared for a few delays, including me.

Therefor, you do not see so many complaints here on pinside. Let's just say that delivery dates keep slipping and slipping and months into production they have only delivered ca 10 games, so not exactly a flying start. But this will probably change soon, I hope.(it's their first game so they are allowed to have a few hiccups)

The thing that is so great about Heighway though, is the communication. The ceo of the company will answer any question you have right away and give you a detailed explanation for any questions you might have. Other companies will say the following only: It's still on schedule, have faith or we do not talk about when it will be finished (now can you guess which company each statement is from? )

The real test of ability will not be seen before Alien, though. Full Throttle has a pretty small run(so far) compared to that game. So I feel that comparison with other companies like JJP will have to wait until we see how they handle that game.

About the Hobbit, I agree that the waiting sucks, but personally I have heard late fall for more than 6 months now, so I am not that surprised that we hear late October now.

I was hoping for September (and in my house before Christmas) but if it really starts full production by late October I am ok with that now. At least we know that they have enough money to give us these games for certain.(for all I know they might have done it without the cash injection but things would probably have taken even longer)

Getting the game is the most important thing for me.

#8386 8 years ago

I dig the gold. A little more unsure about the LE version. The main reason I changed back to LE was because I thought the seaside bronze looked better.

The new one looks really nice up-close but very brown (not my favorite color on a pinball machine) on the cabinet picture, at first glance.

Maybe I just need a better picture of the cabinet since I like it up-close?

Anyway, I really appreciate their attention to details like this. I probably just need to get used to it a bit more before giving final judgement

5 months later
1 month later
#9664 7 years ago

I think stacking modes would be just too much to follow at the same time because there is so many other things also happening.

As long as the modes is not linear (having to start the same mode first each time) I am totally fine with the way it is. You can stack modes with multiballs and multiballs with multiballs. Plenty of stacking already. It would just be to chaotic to be able to stack the modes because of the countdown and progression clips on the monitor.

From what little I understand, you can qualify more than one mode at the same time and choose the mode you would like to play. That is a cool feature that I applaud.

Only been watching videos so far, but what I am missing is more callouts during modes and multiballs. Stuff like only one shot left, the title of the mode, etc. Everything is starting to shape up nicely but everything would make more sense with a few more callouts. You are not always able to look up to see whats happening on the screen. The power of callouts is the one thing I feel are lacking in most newer games, though. If done well, they can really make a huge difference.

It would also be cool if the main multiball had more layers, like lotr of bop 2.0. It is one of the key features of the game, but so far it looks like it is just jackpot after jackpot. Next time, you start over again. How about when you get to the second multiball the dragon heads down to laketown if you reached a super the first time. Just as an example

I know most Stern games does it the same way, but I just love those few games that has more intricate multiball rules.

Since I have just been watching videos, I might be totally off regarding the multiball rules. If so, I am sorry. They seem ok now, but there is clearly room for some improvement in that department, to make everything a bit more exciting. The feeling of achievement is really important for me.

I am really excited to see the rules mature. I am already impressed by what they have come up with for this game. And all the groundwork seems really impressing and are most certainly a herculean task that not just anybody could pull off.

I am really happy that we have Ted and Keith working on this. If anyone can bring out the best, it is those two. Maybe we are even a bit
selfish and have set the bar too high?

So this is not meant as a complaint. Far from it. Just a few observations. It is already pretty epic.

Heard from Jen that my game will reach Europe in May, so the excitement level is reaching Andromeda Hights right now

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