If Pat peaked, it was years before. Probably Twilight Zone. Road Show was just Funhouse times 2 and his Stern years were lackluster.

DI seemed to give him new tools to use and I would bet his next one for JJP will be even better. He may be climbing a new mountain. Haha!

?

There are no silly threads, only silly posters ...

Pat himself admitted that Twilight Zone in its final form only happened on the back of the success of Addams; and even then he should never have been allowed off the leash as much as he was and it would never ever happen in the industry again (though JJP Pirates may have proven him wrong). TZ is very much an outlier, as are his later Stern years where there wasn't nearly enough allocated resources to do his designs proper justice. But even with CSI during the leanest Stern period, you can tell Pat was still putting all the effort he could into his layouts.

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Pat Lawlor's games are the best in the business.

Is JJPirates his design?

You can make excuses for his Stern efforts but the licenses and art weren't very good either and I would imagine he had some say in that. If not then maybe a designer shouldn't get all the praise for their successes.

TAF is one of his best designs and there isn't anything new or mind blowing. It's just a great, simple design with the theme, music, art, and sound helping it merge together. Thing Flips is neat but if it was the only good thing about it people wouldn't play it still today.

I'm a fan of Ripley's because of the simplicity but brillance as well. The package around the layout isn't as solid as TAF but it is a very good game. One of his best if the art and sound were better.

Big Lawlor fan. Don't know if he's just a private person but I was surprised to not hear a updated interview (podcast anyone?) about his career, process, and return with Dialed In when it launched.

He’s busy making Toy Story!

We'll all find out in about 6-8 months.

Wasn't DI standard width because Pat insisted?

No, it is an Eric Meunier design. New, young talent.

why do you say that (hoping it's not a wide body?)

if you didn't like widebody games then i don't see why you have TZ, Woz, or TH. There is nothing inherently wrong with widebody games.

just curious on your comment.

LIONMA....what?

Di is my favorite pat l pin by a fair amount. I hope toy s is a standard body and loaded with features like dile and ill b a buyer.

sorry for the confusion, I clicked on the guy above you instead of you.

No. He's just getting started. Pat stopped into my business a year and three quarters ago, and he was all giddy like a school kid. Happiest I'd seen him in almost twenty years. Excited with JJP, the new guys, and to be back.

Great times ahead. For Pat, for pinball.

LTG : )

Agree.

Widebody's are too floaty etc.

Hobbit should have been a narrow body. Widebody just made it worse.

Hope Toy Story is narrow body.

This is great news. Having Pat Lawlor involved in pinball will always be a good thing. And if he can have freedom to create more masterpieces (and it sounds like he does at JJP), all the better.

Widebodies make my arms hurt after a long game of nudging the machine. I'm not against them, per se, just that I know going in that I will probably have sore arms at the end of a long game.

Pat makes great games! Even look at his stern offerings, all interesting layouts. Di is a cool layout, fun, not his best but good, I bet he will still give us many more great games

It's true

RBION is quite a bit better than TZ in my opinion.
A hell of a lot harder and has a quirky humour and excellent call outs . Love it sick.
I achieved 2, yes 2 Wizard modes in one 5 bill game on TZ so find it a little
Still haven't reached wizard mode on Ripley's yet.

I think JJP has a good thing going right now with Pat Lawlor and Eric Meunier making games. I like both games they have made for JJP so far.

I am insanely happy to hear that.

Are you suggesting JJP#5 will be revealed around TPF? Expo 2018 is 11 months off.

Nothing new or mind blowing? TAF was arguably the first game to have "modes" in the way that we know them today, with that concept still hanging strong 25 years later. The way it uses playfield magnets was pretty unprecedented. Thing Flips was certainly a standout. That's three major innovations in a single game.

Based on the timeline Jack mentioned was the goal when I talked to him at PAGG, the renamed PAGG (Golden State Pinball Festival) in May seems like the best time to announce JJP#5 and meet his release goal of 2 pins next year. PotC announced in Oct, shipping in Feb/Mar (5 month spread) and JJP#5/Toy Story announced in May, shipping in Oct/Nov (5 month spread). March to announce JJP would step on JJP#4 shipping, so I don't think TPR, although if they don't do that, they'll have the same problem on an Oct Expo announcement for JJP#6 stepping on JJP#5 shipping. But if they are tightening up the window from announcement to shipment (as has been the progression), then it could be announced in May and ship in Jul/Aug, leaving Expo 2018 clear to announce JJP#6/WW.

Pat Lawlor innovates and designs games that reflect their era wonderfully. His innovation is often stifled by the company he works for. Dialed in has a wonderfully interactive phone, a truly innovative theatre, and a moving target that is multifunctional in that helps and hinders the player, and a unique approach toward lighting and flipper manipulation. It is the most innovative pin since Bally let him loose in the engineering candy store. His less innovative designs are due to Stern's bottom line approach, even when they were doing well.

We won't really know if Pat has peaked until we see more games from him.

I am a fan of Pat's game and my gut says no - DI is not his peak. Not by a mile. As others have said, and in my opinion, his designs for Stern were limited by what Stern allowed him to do financially and by what the licensee allowed. That's the beauty of DI -- Pat had free reign to whatever he wanted with the theme and design. And now that he has experience with the JJP platform, I expect whatever he does next will be even better.

I think it's an exciting time and JJP is helping secure the future of pinball. Pat is designing again and he's mentoring guys like Eric, who clearly has a lot of talent. There need to be more new designers brought in. Sooner than we all want, Pat, Steve Ritchie, Borg, Nordman, Gomez, etc. will retire -- and we need them to pass their knowledge and insight on game design to guys like Eric in order to keep the game alive.

In this day and age, pinball a business where one bad game can likely be a company killer and two duds in a row would be almost certain death. Any new game is a risk, of course, but having an experienced designer working on it improves (but does not guarantee) the odds of success.

I imagine it's difficult to risk building a game done by a new designer with no previous experience without the proper guidance and support from an experienced team like JJP has.

So we'll see what Pat comes up with next and then we'll know where things are headed. I have no doubt whatever Pat does next will equal or better DI.