I love the art dots on the dmds.. such a cool part of the machine. I know they wont go back but my favorite games are prior to the lcd invasion.

I prefer the large display like JJP uses. Stern’s is kind of small and makes the speaker panel look goofy IMO. Stern likes that because they want to keep the translite/backglass a thing…..mainly I feel so the LE has a unique feature. And it’s cheap for them to produce.

I don’t think we need to make DMD’s a thing again but push for the rest of the older games to get color animations. COLORDMD has been doing a great job on that.

I like the LCDs because of the info they can show, but everything has it issues.
Shitty concert footage is just as bad as a rubber band Aerosmith cartoon.
I play TWD all the time and im never bothered by n DMD...and yes those updated Refake DMD animation looks amazing.

Color-DMD size is all we need, bigger screens just have too much BS you're never going to read/see if you're actually having a good ball. And F Stern for going to such a small GD font for scores when they went LCD.

No way. Look at a game like Godzilla. The hilarious cheesy movie clips make the game. Same with basically any movie based pin. Now would I prefer a DMD in a game like AIQ? Yup

I'm actually indifferent on the matter. Mostly because I grew up the alphanumeric displays. As long as the ruleset isn't too ridiculous; I'm fine with any type of digital display.

Yeah............ No.

I'm old enough to remember the constant bitching about how pinball needed LCD games to keep up with technology, and how DMDs were proof that manufacturers were cheap and stuck in the stone age. Also comments that pinball was dying since younger folks would NEVER play a game with an old fashioned, dated looking, DMD, and how this was killing the industry.

This thread just seems to prove that no matter what the manufacturers do, or don't do, people will complain.
There are plenty of great DMD games out there. Play those all you want.

Pinball should have stayed with alphanumeric

Let’s go back to score reels with each their own coil. Haha actually I liked with CGC did with remakes. Personally I don’t NEED a full LCD.

Less graphics means coders can make more varied modes, etc since they don't all need a team of artists to support them

The kind of display doesn't matter to me, I just don't want the video content to look cheap.

Video clips can be kind of cool, I guess. But part of the charm of licensed games, to me, is that they take something you love and build on it.

There was no Power in the original Twilight Zone, and certainly no episode with a spooky gumball machine. The game designers gave us cool literal callbacks to the show AND created new stuff, like the gumball machine, that fit the theme and made for a good game.

If they could have put anything they could imagine on the display, would the game be the same? Probably not. Would it be better? Maybe... maybe not.

I like the big dmd like in Maverick ,Baywatch ,dots are good

Please explain.

I love dots as much as the next guy but DMDs had their time. Time to move on.

You don't really want DMDs back, since that's an LCD, you want pixel art.

And pixel art is just a style like anything else. It doesn't have to go away. Clearly it's not, since this game is using it lol. But if you look at modern video games it's the same thing. You can use 3D (like any AAA game). You can go hirez but more hand drawn (say, Hollow Knight). You can use pixels (Stardew Valley). It's just a creative choice.

I think what most pinball displays are missing honestly is more cohesive creative visions. The most successful games are the ones that pick a concept and really roll with it. And if that's dots like CC is doing, great. If it's comic book art (Alice Cooper) or polished movie clips (Hobbit) it can still work.

I don't feel like any choice needs to happen, just ... make good choices. A lot of modern LCD games feel like a mishmash of styles to me, and that's what I'm less of a fan of more than any particular choice of technology to make them.

First off I agree, but old enough that was like 4 years ago….

I want both. why not? variety is the spice of life!

Once you go jumbo you won't go back. ColorDMD is by far the number one best mod for BW and pretty much any DMD game.

I really like the DMD dot style art and would love if some newer games had that same style instead of boring clips ripped straight out of a movie.

That was part of my point and might not have come across claerly. The complaing about dot art being unacceptable in modern games was very recent.

It's not like it would be some long term nostalgic throwback. It would be (I think) dated looking, and exactly what people were saying they did not want.

No wonder consumers drive manufacturers crazy.

Some games are clearly better with LED/LCD displays, but others certainly look fantastic with dmd. CCr absolutely CRUSHED it with this dmd presentation. It is phenomenal, but LCD really is the future...so we should probably just get used to it.

As an interesting side note...I think it would be cool if a dmd or LCD were both given as options. Perhaps in different game versions (ex. pro vs. premium)?

I don't think we'll ever see that, as it would take much more time (therefore money) to have graphic guys working on 2 different styles of displays instead of 1.

I love my Walking Dead and TZ DMD’s, but in my opinion, certain games would be better with an LCD screen. (G.O.T and Ironman come to mind).

Regarding the Bally Williams remakes, yes, bring on the HD DMD format!

I would love to see/ OWN a TOTAN remake with the new HD format!!

Real mechanical backglass animation. bring it back! I think this is why the ewer topper are so hot. We like toys that are interactive and move!

That ship has sailed unfortunately.

You can’t go home again.

I was going to jump in and say going backwards is dumb, but - I think Aurich is right. There is a whole sub-genre of video game art which is specifically dedicated to games and artwork which looks “8-bit”, and is not a far cry from DMD art. If it’s appropriate for the period/genre of the game, why not?

But go back to the actual DMD technology? There’s really no reason at all to do that.

Deadpool sort of has this.. It's using the same HD display but it opted to go mostly 8-bit graphics (but you still have the resolution to really display all the information on one screen), or if you want the occasional deadpool breaking the 4th wall you can still do it. Maybe we jumped too far away from artwork and just need a balance of both?

The new pin2dmd editor supports animated gifs, some great work being done on Last Action Hero with actual movie clips.

Not HD, but looks great.

And the extended color palette is AMAZING. Plus there’s a double-size LED panel capability now.

Dmds look terrible in modern games. First thing I did when I got my MET was replace dmd with colordmd.

I don't care for movie clips used during games. If I want to watch the movie, I'll go do that. Give me something new.

Shadow is a great example of this. New dialogue, new adventures, etc.

Back in my day, we had 3 numbered wheels that flipped in a circle. If we wanted to score in the thousands, we painted a 0 on the back glass...and we liked it.

back-in-my-day (resized).jpg

Good point on the customization angle. ColorDMD has its 4 or 5 basic filters, but there are THOUSANDS now for video emulators, and even a few more modern ones would be pretty amazing to see as options.

That is what I was thinking when I saw the comment below but I will do you one better. "We should go back to just having bulbs illuminate digits on the backglass to show your score, man. Who needs all this fancy crap?"

Post it notes man. Considering how I have heard people say "lower scoring games are less fun... because numbers???" just take a post it note and add as many digits as you want. You can even make your different displays score different amounts if you want to give some players a leg up or leg down. And think how much fun a 60 to 80's game that scores in the trillions would be? Probably be more fun than Godzilla with its wimpy smaller scores

This isn’t a DMD. Color DMDs aren’t DMDs either.
They’re just custom sized LCD screens that have every single frame hand-crafted to mimic a DMD.

It’s like high-end MSPaint it’s a computer screen but broken into little dots. They fill in every single dot with the same “aspect ratio” and just display them on an LCD.

I read this and heard Dana Carvey's voice.

Funny, when I typed it I heard Dana Carvey's voice.

I've never owned a DMD game I haven't put a ColorDMD in. And Metallica has some really great dots, that shine with the color.

If there was a 'high rez dots' upgrade, like these Chicago remakes have for Monster Bash and Cactus Canyon, for Metallica I bet it would sell like hotcakes.

But I still would want dots. Not concert footage, not 3D graphics like Iron Maiden.

Great example, I forgot about that one. Deadpool is a strong candidate for "leaning into" a style. They picked a direction and made it work.

I think for a game based on a movie it can work fine. There's a lot I would have liked to have been able to do with the LCD on Alien (and who knows, with Pinball Brothers actively supporting the game maybe some day it will happen) but I'm still really proud of the job Kelly did with the clips for it. But he didn't just make the display a "movie jukebox" that barfed up clips, he put in the extra effort to edit them, add style and flair like old school VHS noise and static, and really focused on making them fast and punchy.

I had a little input, but he did the vast bulk of the work, so not taking credit here. But still, I'm not so modest to avoid saying I think it came out great. You just have to add a little love. Kelly put the love in, and it works. Put the love into dots and they can still shine. Do something else and it can also be awesome. JP at JJP is a wizard with the polished animations. He does a more "slot machine" style, with all the chrome and trimmings, and it looks great.

I don't like to be negative about people's efforts. But look, some LCD games looked phoned in. They have 10 different font styles, random 3D renders that look like PS2 games, and just aren't great packages. I think if you keep it simpler it's better. And that's one thing dots do well: keep it simple, keep it focused.

I played a Monster Bash Remake today, and I thought the dots still looked fantastic in 2021. Perfect blend of modern and classic.

Totally agree. It amazes me how much people beg for actual footage of bands or movies in games. I love my Ghostbusters because it's all new and totally original. Very creative.

So do you not like it? Aren't LEDs just dots anyway. My ColorDMD looks just like that but nicely colored dots. Best mod ever.

Bahleeted

Thanks for the compliments...

What he said - working with 64 colors in a 128x32 pixel resolution..

There are a lot more clips in here now, including a movie trailer that runs in attract mode too.

It would appear this is already a lost art and it would also appear, with the influx of new "pinball enthusiasts" that there is a lost appreciation for that art. These fans of pinball are demanding everything and expecting it!

Monitors/displays in pinball were going to happen once the cost of adding and coding them was justified. This happened years ago. There is no turning back now. This is not a happy accident. It has little to do with what the pinball fan wants or appreciates. Just like features and code...

There are (mostly free) pc tools that allow for much faster dot creation. But, I would think that only a one off game like TNA or throwback on purpose "90's theme" game would benefit from some a thing. That would be just fine with me and I would play it!

If you can't stand the new solutions, don't buy them. Just look for games from 1992-2015.