Someone said that Popaduik refused to do this with you. Is that true?

Nope. Still working out a game plan. But there has been no outright refusal. We spoke today. Will talk more over the weekend.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Pin programming is 90% troubleshooting and that requires a full flipping game.

Does Jpop even have that to give?

Aaron must be pretty difficult to work with if JPOP is having to mull it over.

This is true. I mean, $programmer could do non-game stuff in the meantime(high score save, attract mode, music, sound FX, DMD animations, game flow code,auditing, service mode, etc) , but at some point you gotta assign point values to standup target switch hit events. Put A & B together. Whether it's done, or jpop doesn't like it and says "It's it's not... just... I'll deal with it later".

based on his MO, I can't help but be pessimistic than any of the "mulling over" is a stall tactic because people are upset. We'll still be here in a month while it's being mulled over.

If there was a real desire to shake things up and get things done, now is the time for decisiveness. That would be either working with the Fast/Mission guys, or having a new programmer complete the work in-house.

Weeks & months are ticking by with neither done. Though I suspect the art on Alice is coming along nicely!

I didn't intend to portray him as mulling it over. I won't be able to give an adequate "play by play" of my conversations/progress with John for pinside while staying focused on sorting out the opportunity as well as all the other things we need to get in order for the hardware to be released.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

I feel confident that if we are given the opportunity to work with a playfield, we can bring it to life.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Aaron you sound like the right guy with the right skill set to help JPOP get this pin moving... I know this owner is happy you are involved!

Ok so if JPOP turns Aarons positive energy and optimism into another "never work with him again" story (I.e., history repeating itself for the nth time) ; you guys should prob just try to get whats left of your money back at that point.. How many spirits crushed is it worth?

The fact that Jpop may entertain this idea means one of two things. First that he's so far behind that he's been outright lying about progress.. You just can't be that oblivious as to your own progress. Or 2.. He's going to scrap what's there, probably crush one more persons spirits (nemo guy) and change directions again. Why would anyone want to support a person like this in the future / beyond the ones that are stuck .. Youve got no other choice.. More for people on AIW and beyond.

For now, let's keep positive. We will know before long if this approach is going to gain traction. It it is a non-starter, then we will know before putting in much time and energy and the owners can decide what to do from here. But for now, the optimist in me says "let's see where this goes" and I encourage others to let this run its course before pouring on any more negativity than is already present.

Believe me, I recognize all the signs (history with other devs, etc) that this is going to be challenging. But I also see the glimmer of hope and that's something we feel is worth exploring. We are not going to go broke exploring this opportunity with John. If it works out it will be a big win for pinball. If it doesn't, then all of us who tried to help John can meet up at Expo in the fall to share stories and the first round of beers is on me.

Aaron
FAST Pinball

Good to see a level headed response like this, good luck.

I will already be drunk at the bar.

I wonder how many before you said the same thing.

egbVHi4.gif

Maybe..maybe not. The last post on the dev blog was Feb 6th and it was just a re-post of the factory stuff from the other blogs. The last meaningful posts were back in January when he revealed the cabinet and bg artwork with the atrocious looking Alice that reminds me way too much of this:

He's gotta put a game in your hands, simple as that.

If he won't (for legal / privacy reasons) then his paranoia outweighs his business sense and that's a recipe for disaster.

If he can't (because they games aren't done enough) then the project is so laughably behind no amount of hardware / coding will save it.

I have faith in you and your team Aaron. But I don't have much faith left in John.

WOW... that sentence speaks volumes!

Stiffler's Mom in Wonderland? lol

Whatever happens, I want the words "hope" and "faith" removed from the discussion. There needs to be tangible evidence and results.

I don't think others packed it in are losers by any means. The exact opposite, most, if not all, of them were absolute winners in other things they have done. I'm sure that most of them also thought what you are thinking "we are going to turn this around. John has changed, he understands he needs help, yada yada yada". These are folks who also had the skills John needed, skills to project manager, know how to bring products to market, know how to develop and deliver, software, etc. and ultimately it did not work. Maybe this time will be different, and I hope it is, but as Einstein said . . .

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I'm not sure what is being done this time is really all that different then what has gone on over the last couple of years. Maybe it is, and maybe this time it works, I hope so for all of those who have put their hard earned cash on the line. But as a betting man, I would not put my hard earned money down on it happening anytime soon.

Good luck, and I hope you succeed where others have failed.

I think the big difference this time is that Iceman and FAST are being very vocal, open, and transparent about the whole thing. A public light is being shined on this by them. As long as they remain open and transparent then maybe they have a chance. Once they start getting secretive then I suspect things may fall apart.

All those who went before them were under the fear of the NDA and afraid to say anything.

Keep shining the light, Iceman. Keep the information flowing. Keep reporting on progress.

Ice, can you fill us in on a very specific analysis of where the game(s) are at?

Basically what we've been begging for for the last several months.

What is the state of the game?

What is left to do?

What are the hold ups in accomplishing that?

What is the projected time frame of finishing that?

John has never answered that, so if things are "180" then I would like a detailed response for that.

In addition, there is this question:

What is the plan for production, how are they being built and how quickly can they be built? Is the Spooky 2 per week a reasonable level for a boutique? If he thinks he can do more, then how?

I don't see it...

image.jpg

I hope all these boutique games get made. I wish JPop, DP, SkitB and any others all the best and hope they all succeed. I hope all the buyers get their games. More pinball is better, IMHO.

These fiascoes have convinced me, however, to never, ever give anyone one red cent of my money until they can put a finished product in my hand. This would include JJP and PPS.

Sorry, not worth the headache.

I guess the first test of that, is to see if this type of info gets honestly shared . . .

Be nice to see a gantt chart or high level project plan, showing all of this -- that would make a lot of people happy.

You need to hire Sgt. Carter as a project mgr. to get Gomer going in the right direction again.

I agree and pray that you are on the right track.

Probably just me...more so in the bg art that he posted. Something about the face. I like some of the Alice renderings better than others. The one you posted is fine as are some of the earlier ones. The bg Alice has this really stern look which somehow reminds me of Jennifer Coolidge. I am just hoping that JPOP tweaks it a little more. Color will probably help too.

Aaron,
Did jpop ever come up with a sound board for the system? Or is that still non existent?

If the code runs a computer of some kind (as it would with a PROC, Johns Board, OR FAST) then that can output the sound and you just need an amp.

Ice, don't mean to load you down with questions for JPOP, but could you also clarify what John's expectations are for future payments? Does he have the funds to produce any games without further payments? At this point, I am not willing to send him any more cash until he has he has churned out a good number of MG's and not at the point where he is promising to go into production (does that make sense?)

We have all known, for some time, that John needed an external force to get moving on these projects. I just want to say a big thank you to you, Aaron and the Mission guys for stepping up and trying to do that in a positive way.

I wouldn't be worrying about AIW at this point. LOL! If that game ever happens it will be like 5 years from now.

I would be interested to know about the partnership with Antonio (Quetzal) if Aaron/FAST takes over.

From my perspective Iceman and Aaron have a good shot at making it work. The only person who could make it fail now is Popaduik himself.

So true, man! So true!

This is pretty disrespectful to at least some, if not all of the people who have worked on John's projects thus far. For example, the guy who wrote the bulk of the existing code for both MG & RAZA, developed the system for the RGB insert lighting, was instrumental helping build & test john's PROC replacement and much more had a contract to be paid for the work he did. Everything he was given he did do. And John stopped paying him the salary he needed to live on, so he stopped working for John and found other work. To say that he didn't make an impact (or earlier, call him a 'loser') is BS.

Totally agree.

You have no control over what Jon does and can't guarantee the statement above. It's great you're trying to help him but that's all you can do. I understand you're from Texas but back down a little on the rhetoric cowboy.

Couldn't disagree more. I wasn't born and raised in Texas but I love the Texas attitude. Texas gets shit done.

I'd like to know John's reasoning for not paying this programmer? We're told by StevenP that John is "frugal" and sitting on tons of money, but is he really a Scrooge McDuck and not paying people their fair wage?

This is a question of character here that I would like addressed.

Icey, I haven't picked that up at all. The overwhelming mood is one of "I hope you guys get your games"

Nobody wants to see someone lose $10,000 or $16,000 bucks. Or $26,000 in some cases.

rd.

I dunno. I've been more and more uncomfortable with this whole situation. Is the only way "we" get our machines is if the people that get screwed get cut loose completely and eat it? What's past is past, and screw them as long as we get ours?

That might sound harsh, but I'm wrestling with this. We're all pinball guys, I don't want to see people hurt.

You'll probably ask me next what my solution is then. I guess I was hoping for some sort of reasonable explanation, that's why I was asking, something I could be comfortable with. If there is none, or you're right with your analysis, then I'll have to think about it some more.

I appreciate your efforts though. Maybe this is just a shit show, people have been wronged by John, there is nothing that can be done about it now, so perhaps your thinking is correct and its just about salvaging something instead of nothing.