It's ok, since it is running the PinHeck system (clone), it will be easy to swap out the music for something else on the SD card. I am sure aftermarket AV updates will be developed.

he may have cloned the system but he didn't clone the SD / USB part as it is chip swap out

apparently he has stated he will change a few physically things but in the Head 2 Head interview he also said "if you don't like it, don't buy it" and that the software was considered finished so dare say the music as well.

Yeah, the original Thunderbirds music was part of the charm.

Can someone who has played it please tell me if there is more than 2 shots to the left side of the middle ramp? I see the Mole stand up target and a half orbit to another stand up target with the ball coming back down

The playfield seems like everything is rightside of the playfield or middle ramp?

nup.....

It's cool that there is another option/company.
Don't get me wrong, i really hope homepin succeed but for a first game it should have been more impressive.

from what i saw and videos.

the playfield looks average, shot wise.
center ramp seems to feel clunky/not smooth.
get that led strip on the right side of the ramp out of the game.
ship is way too big for the game and add the other ones, it's the thunderbirds.
no orbit shot, no flow but more of a stop and go game, maybe that's just me.
guitar solo doesn't fit the theme.
multiballs is out of sync with the call out, 5,4,3,2,1 and then release the balls, that could be fix.
needs more call out.
game needs more light.
i'd change that apron for blue.
flipper gap is wide as hell, yeah play better, casual player will walk away after a few balls.
slow death pass and roll over from one flipper to the other not possible most of the time.
a lot of balls sdtm, monster drainer.

some people will like it but for me there is no wow factor.

cabinet and backbox looks good and seems well built.

did anyone notice there are no jackpots?

This game....yikes.

It has already been said that some if this will be addressed.

Nah, strange. I did however here some original music in game, what mode was that as I am sure the nostalgics would prefer that to be playing most of the time as that guitar rift would grate me after a while.
Look forward to your full review R.

Gauging from the head2head podcast they heard from multiple people that did not like it or aspects of it but did not want to publish a review

I think the music is changed via hitting 2 targets but not mode driven, so until you hit those targets you listen to what’s on.

easiest conclusion to draw: Stern has nothing to worry to about

whatmeworry.jpg

So mostly negative reviews then?

my third post on issues with the layout.

bumpers are completely out of play [and take up a good amount of room!]. already hidden behind the 'red island' under the center ramp, there is no direct shot at them from either flipper. from the left side of the pf, the shot up the left alley to the kickback only bypasses them both on the way up, and the way back down - almost never interacting with them. from the right, the T2 ramp block lateral access to them. an entire bumper is out of play anyway because the surface area of 2 halves back up the 'red island' [highlighted in pink]. so, increasing the size of the 'new red island' to include the bumper nest, we have a HUGE amount of playfield space that is basically out of play.

as pointed out previously, the long rubber under the t2 ramp restricts play. it sends all balls passing thru the upper lanes to a common right exit and down the alley. this serves to block any balls from passing north/south between the upper and middle playfield in this area.

the two blue standups that change the music [under the palms and vertical to the player] appear rather inaccessible. some unused playfield space in the tracy island area [enclosed in white] as well.

having followed this thread, i understand the time and effort that has gone into this project. at the same time, im not going to be shy about voicing an opinion that I believe is an honest assessment. there are glaring problems with this layout. even from 1000s of miles away they can be seen. as much as i would like to be able to provide constructive feedback, it is difficult for me to see any quick fixes. given the time that has elapsed and the expectations many had, this design is quite a disappointment.

tag04 (5)_LI.jpg

is it brilliant? probably not. but come on.....some guy whose been a member a whole 4 months wants to school a guy whose been in the industry a lifetime and just designed and built an entire factory and multiple new products in a foreign country while going through some unfathomable life changes ........... using screen crayon scribble.??

its a sample unit .. a tester .. a show display .. whine whine whine they go but hey .. what have YOU done lately?

"fools and children should never see things half done"

I’m sorry but this argument holds no water. He has never built a pinball machine before. Boards yes, pinball layout, no. If I remember correctly, Mike promised a famous designer was building the layout. Where? Just because someone has been doing something in a relative sense to an industry, does not make them good at it? I concur with the assesment few posts above. I can’t find a reason for those pops short of taking up space. How is there no orbit shot?

Was hoping mike would be in here for one of his trademark hissy fits by now due to all the complainers.

Trademarked, or "borrowed"

Come on guys... No need for drama or instigating it.

Mike has been doing very well to stay out... though I imagine it is painful and difficult to read some of what is written.

I continue to be impressed by what he has achieved. That is awesome!

Regarding the game itself/playfield/fun factor... etc. Sure this one may not be everything for everyone but hopefully it hits enough notes for enough people to be successful.... and then the next one makes even more people happy... and on and on.

If Mike can be successful making fun pins at a more economic price point that is something to be applauded.

I see alot of constructive criticism based on the protos shows at pinfest. Hopefully he can review this with his team and see if it makes sense to implement. Of course I also see some digs thrown here and there, so you have to filter some of that stuff out.

I guess it depends what 'more economic price point' you are referring to. I didn't see any pricing for USA yet.
I imagine it will be hard to beat the Stern PRO pricing if thats the goal.

what have i done lately?
i just critiqued the game's playfield.
care to break it down for us as well, or are you really going to wait months for the reworked version before you say something?

how will Mike know what areas need attention if they are not pointed out? failure to provide criticism now may result in genuine deficiencies never being address properly, if at all. the current list of future 'adjustments' being bandied about recognizes none of the apparent pf shortcomings.

if my entire review was simply the read-between-lines mantra they like to use over in the TNA production thread, "the game is different and may not be for everyone", does that provide anything meaningful? of course not. what it does tell me is that that someone does want to get into specifics because he probably is a supporter/friend/holds position in the community or industry who may not look good should they provide negative criticism - even if it is an honest assessment. that is a shame, because those type of people probably have the expertise/skills/knowledge to provide some of the best insight. instead, we hear none of it due to some form of correctness.

look around. negative comments from others abound regarding the layout. mine are just a bit more definitive. per head2head podcast, others who played the game last weekend dont want to be on record as being critical of the game for fear of repercussions, creating ill will, or hurting Mikes feelings. are you among that crowd? as much as you would like to say something, you opt for silence as being more discreet. be careful, because that's the formula for turning someone who puts a 10 inch wall across the middle a pf with an orbit around it into an awesome genius.

believe me, i would much rather be positive and encouraged. i had hoped that the reveal was going to be something truly special. i think most of us are capable of realizing that what we saw fell short. i believe the points i have made are real concerns. i am always willing to admit to being wrong should things pan out contrary to my opinion, but it is not this day.

one last thing to think about. how are 3-5 balls going to react/flow during MB when there arent too many places for them to go on this restricted layout. when we get to see more gameplay footage, its probably something worth paying attention to.

so the shot on the lower right is one of those targets that oscillates back and forth, like from the EM era?

That's up there with the roulette wheel (from Millionaire and A-Go-Go and others) as design items I never thought would come back to haunt us.

l got to have a few games on it and it was ok, not the best game there, but not the worst either. I also played The Hobbit for the first time and for twice as much money, it's nowhere near twice as better.

I played both The Hobbit and The Thunderbirds last weekend and I kept going back to Thunderbirds. It was more of a challenge. Short ball times, and I will admit frustrating at times, but more satisfaction when I hit my targets.

Added comments below:

I say this to the critics: If you want a fast paced game with lots of flow, then go and buy Star Wars. If you enjoy a machine that encourages ball control, a capture-aim-shoot style of play that requires shot accuracy, then you will find satisfaction with TAG. The more I played, the more satisfying it became, because once you are dialled in (no pun intended) the very clear objectives were very satisfying to achieve.

You don't need a manual for TAG. The objectives are clear, but not easy to accomplish. You need to work for them. It will kick your arse, and that in itself, although frustrating, will keep you coming back for more.

Is it a perfect game...of course not...but it is one hell of a first game from a new pinball company. Mike will make tweaks to the game, improve it where possible and at this price point, it is one hell of a buy if you want a game to compliment your collection.

I'm certain that the Homepin team have learnt a lot from the development of this game. If TAG is not your cup of tea, then I'm certain that Homepin's next machine is not far down the road, and that might be more to your liking.

I think it's noteworthy to mention that some of the most critical comments have been from peeps that haven't actually played the machine personally, just going off/extrapolating from others comments. I don't think people are being very fair in their assessments to be honest, was Williams, Bally, Gottlieb, Stern's first ever machine's awesome and knocked it right out of the ball park? I could be wrong about this but i feel that some of the opinions have been solely driven by personality based judgments not by the actual machine itself, maybe that's more a reflection on the the way society has become and our need's/ demands for instant perfection and gratification!

before getting started, let me make one more observation. while i pray they will see more action, the wireforms appreared to be used solely for dispensing MB balls into play. never saw them used to return an active ball to the inlane.

sorry, but top Australian players who gave it a go, couldn't endorse it. that's essentially an expert opinion.

is your logic here that those who haven't played the game are unqualified to comment even though they are basing their comments on the opinions of those who have played it.?

Further, they are making use of concrete additional information offered them by observing actual gameplay videos and detailed images of the playfield. when put together, thats plenty to formulate and justify the degree of criticisms made thus far.

i disagree. most appear to be talking about the actual machine itself. and while no one seems to have real problems with the art, engineering, and sound; those critical of the gameplay/playbility are in the majority. perhaps you need to take another look.

and what is a 'personality based judgment'?
according to wiki:
Personality judgment is the process through which people perceive each other’s personalities through receiving certain information about others, or meeting others in person.

their first games were decades ago.
you convenietily left off all the modern startups: JJP, Spooky, HP, and American. seems like WOZ, AMH, Alien, and Houdini have/will turn out OK. Nobody was asking Homepin to hit it out of the park, they were just asking them not to strikeout.

claytonkershaw.jpg

I think like every new game that comes out people are passionate and have opinions, views and hopes - and with that hope the game will be improved to then lead to a much better game. Look at the new JJP Pirates game - that is incredible and the way it was launched lets the game sell itself, and I personally am not into the pirate movie fan (never watched one) but the game looks like it would entertain you for years and very tempting. Thunderbirds art wise looks much better than I thought which is a big part of the battle - well done mike and team, the sounds - sound from reports is great though the integration does seem odd, and the big one for people is the layout and last ability - yes it is good value but still needs to entertain you for a while but based on the video released it seems like the layout needs improvement and the last ability just isn't there in my opinion and when Mike states that the rules / programming is 99% done as they consider it done doesn't leave people alot of hope. Look at JJP with 22 modes so many targets and shots and ways to play the game - more than twice the value.

Don't forget Mike shoots down other companies use of computers in games, race, nationality, people's opinions so to a degree he will get a certain response back.

look how JJP launched their proto-type Pirate game in comparison, yes base model will probably be $12-12.5k AUD here in Aus but so much to do.

There's no way in hell you could ever compare Thunderbirds to the new Pirates of the Caribbean
(edited)

On another note:

As a result of a collaboration between gianfri and Homepin it's now possible to resurrect Zaccaria G2s with dead MPU boards, or to keep a spare.

Get those mothballed beauties working.

ec49a62e332e2fe5dbe8a9fd85929b13f79bd400 (resized).jpg

here are 2 more videos of showing last night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=suYTD8ygbXs

America's Most Haunted menu:

Thunderbirds menu:

But remember, Mike claims this "all comes included with microcontroller dev kits".

" imitation is the best form of flattery " ?

I don't think the implication is imitation.

It's that the code is directly lifted, without attribution.

AFAIK Ben isn't upset that his code may be being used, he's upset that it may not be being credited.

https://github.com/LonghornEngineer/Pinheck_Pinball_System/blob/master/LICENSE.md

Photos: pinHeck prototype board, and then what Homepin cooked up.

How much more obvious can this get?

pinheck_proto (resized).jpg

homepin (resized).jpg

You didn't give permission? Are you going to take legal steps?

You rely on Wiki for your understanding of terminology? Ohh Deaaarr, that explains it then

sorry, next time ill consult sigmund freud.
just wanted to use a verifiable source to show you didn't know what you were talking about, at least as far as context was concerned. and i certainly dont need to show anyone how great your comebacks are. you did that yourself.

No SMT in the Pinheck board and I thought there was to be none in the HP stuff??

Considering i didn't reference your assessment of the machine in my original post specifically and the diatribe you followed up with personally attacking what is essentially just an observational personal opinion, and now the above, that pretty much sums up what kind of person you are so TY for bringing that to everyone's attention.

i only pointed out that the context of your use of 'personality based argument' appeared stupefying. by providing the terms definition, others could determine if it made any sense to them as well. if you feel my sarcasm when telling you 'nice comeback' is a personal attack, feel free to get a moderators opinion. certainly cant be worse than your insinuating that i must lack intelligence for relying on wiki for a quick definition.

i honestly dont worry too much about how others perceive me. youre not going to hurt my feelings. i dont need to be liked. if anything, id be content just knowing a few people benefited from my opinion if/when i contribute something i genuinely feel is worthy.

one thing i do not like are people who disagree with me that are unable to present a sound counter argument. especially if they have flaws in their logic, but believe they made their point. its a waste of everyones time.

sorry you were unable to offer your own reaction/impression [now that you have finally seen something], on a machine that you couldn't wait to see. instead, you chose to admonish those who have. sorry if your and so many others hopes for TAG have been dashed for the time being, but none of us can ignore what we have seen.

Moderation notice to Mancave and Greenhornet: give it a break, take it to PM or face a thread eject.

I saw that Dutch Pinball's contract manufacturer is building their Big Lebowski games in China as well now.

I hope he does but remember, this machine is made in China (where the business may be incorporated but who knows) where there aren’t exactly laws surrounding IP theft. The sad part is, they thought it wouldn’t be found out? The second these machines land, someone will just dump the eprom/rom and we will see that the code was directly lifted. I’m pretty sure of that. At that point, let the excuses begin.

Probably would have made sense just to ask for permission to use the pinheck system and give credit, though A lot of this hasn’t made much sense to me.

Whats Obvious?
They use the same processor?

Painted habitrails, last seen on...Roller Coaster Tycoon? Am I forgetting some other examples?

Also, last time we saw palm trees on a playfield...Surf N' Safari?

roller (resized).jpg

surf (resized).jpg

Powder coated. WOZ ECLE has emerald green habit rails.

Palm trees seem to be a popular add on for Jurassic Park and Congo. I bought some for JP, but haven't added them.

Batman66 also.