Yup, I would agree with that. Hard to not get caught up in the little things though.

I think what's making us freak out is the non refundable deposits. If this is the only video we see before that happens I'm not impressed, however if we get to see a video of the fully completed product (not work in progress) before our deposits become final I'm ok with this "work in progress" video.

Good grief, I don't get it, a 1000 ppl send in money without seeing the game, then panic about a grainy prototype video.

Don't sweat it. Half the planet is hopelessly dumb. The other half understands "work in progress" and appreciates the update very much. Keep up the good work!

My reaction as I read this thread today...

EpRYQ.gif

I think people who are making a stink are just looking for a reason to back out.

By posting this video and having them say they are out right away, when clearly you have indicated this is a work in progress, further supports this, so I wouldn't worry about learning any lessons from this. I, and I am sure many others, appreciate all the little scraps of info that you give us.

I am not in the race, but I hope it is a run away success and you sell thousands of them so that I can get a beat up routed one cheaper after everyone has their new shiney ones.

They already said they are going to give a "warning" before the final approval to allow time for people to back out if they want.

Yah, these forums can be tough for sure, certainly no play for the thinned skinned. In this case there are a good sum of nervous individuals that are looking for a reason to stay on or bail. For me it’s mostly about the game playing true to the original or better (preferably). If it plays less in any way, the original MM owners are going to use whatever it may be, to beat us to death with, in an effort to minimize the remake version.

Good advice.

lol.... thats what I was thinking...

perhaps they would have been better off releasing "sneak-peak" tiny SECTIONS of the playfiled layout and requiring people to puzzle it together over a 2 year period

And I'm just the opposite. I want to turn down the LED brightness so I can better see the playfield artwork. So, yes, I do hope the brightness will be adjustable as well.

I understand work in progress, please don't let a few naysayers ruin the party. I noticed things mentioned but it's early still.

LMAO, Must be difficult to get work done babysitting Pinside!

It probably would have helped if you mentioned either in the post or on the page where the video is posted that you knew about the castle sequence and flickering LED issues. Without mentioning that up front it makes it seem like you didn't think those things would be issues.

Sure, you can point to the line about software being tweaked as needed and your bases are covered. I think it just would have helped temper reactions if you pointed out the two obvious things in the video to get ahead of it.

:shrug:

I don't understand people lamenting the new electronics. Who seriously wants 15-20 year old electronics(remember, most of the boards in MM were developed a couple years before the game)? Try and remember what computers and cell phones were like back then. Does anyone want to go back to one of these:
dkmb86g_479d4jjqng4_b.jpg

Thats some great whining right there folks.

What if the people who paid the $1k deposit are on a secret update list..then we can get updates and such without the public freaking out hahah. Prototype is that...a not fully working version in the process of becoming production.

It's not like that has ever been done before.

Looking forward to it.

As a software guy, I have seen plenty of releases come with a 'known issues' document so that people don't freak out when they encounter one. That's what Eric is suggesting here.

At Expo when you announced the thing, you made it sound like it was essentially done - you're just waiting for WMS to sign off. Then you post a video with two glaring issues most people would have a problem with, without any kind of a hat tip to the fact that you know they exist.

All I'm saying is, it would have helped some of the negative reaction if you got in front of it, rather than just shrugging it off after the fact as "it's a prototype".

Umm no he didnt

I think you're off base here. Rick has been very clear that Roger will look at and approve the game when it's done, ETA this year. Rick just said the appointment was the first week in January, close enough.

"essentially done" is a bullshit term, but yes, if the guy has been working on it for 24 months, and it's 2 months away from done, then IMO it's essentially done.

Do you think they're going to release the game without the castle working right? Or the LEDS working right? Do you really think that's going to happen? That's where they are today, I appreciate seeing it, and so do most people. Lay off.

Watching the video a second time, it is impressive what they've done and I am excited about getting my game. I'll take Rick's statements that these last details will be dealt with.

Wait. I'm the bad guy? How did that happen?

Falling-Down-michael-douglas-28317456-1280-527.jpg

I'm in for one of these too. I WANT it to come out great. I'm not attacking anyone. Meh, I can't win.

i guess it's not surprising people are so touchy and drama-prone about this project. some folks have 8 grand on the line, some see the whole thing as a threat to their income, and finally some simply have portions of their ego tied up in its success or failure. honestly that last group tend to be the loudest. folks just gotta remember to keep perspective.

Looks like they are using a beaglebone black as their main CPU.

http://beagleboard.org/Products/BeagleBone%20Black

Your gripe was that he didn't come out and address the castle bug and the LED bug but instead generally addressed the fact that the game still has some bugs.

I personally don't understand, what's the big deal? How exactly should he have worded it?

Not griping - just pointing out it would have helped with the knee jerk negative reactions he got.

He was going to get them anyway There are certain people on here, not matter what is done, how good or how bad will break out the pitch forks.

It's a shame the small percentage of people are so noisy.

Well the good news there is that if that board ever fails, $45 gets you a brand new replacement.

I'd also love to pick one of their engineer's brains about the "Pinball Controller" board it's plugged into.

it has a 3d gfx accelerator built in!!! 3d dmd!!!

I say we give Rick the benefit of the doubt that it will be as advertised in the end. Those of us that freely laid down $1000 trusted enough to do that. I guess some only see the glass half empty.

I personally appreciate any teasers he gives.

Funny that someone who is so derisive of open source is using an open source board and OS in this...

No - he's saying if you SET EXPECTATIONS UP FRONT - you'll manage people better.

Part of that is acknowledging what you know to be an issue... vs making blanket 'its not done yet' CYA types of statements.

Notice he did come back and post 'before anyone has a coronary..' type of post about the dragon... so there is some semblance of being aware of heading off what he thinks would cause a stink. It would appear Rick didn't think the castle or LEDs were worth mentioning in the same degree of 'warning - incomplete'.

Rick has said repeatedly he wants to make things as close as possible to the original - EXCELLENT... but he has also shown just as much support for COMPROMISES... which ultimately necessitate deviating from the original. What those compromises are... obviously are up to PPS. It's not unreasonable to think they need to make more compromises yet.. including ones even they are unaware of yet.

And now Rick posts they will have RSharp around the first week of January (and earlier was looking at this month). If these are the intended dates... doesn't that make you think twice about how much they think is left to do.. if the approval check comes in less than 2 weeks... wouldn't that make you think in their opinion what they have is close to done?

What is considered 'close enough' is open to interpretation. It's entirely possible Rick's impression would differ from others. Not being forth coming on what he thinks is 'missing' yet when posting the video leaves it open to interpretation on what PPS considers done or not.

i don't remember him being derisive of open source, just saying it was completely impossible due to their licensing agreements with williams, etc.

Wow....way too much speculation being read into everything Rick says at this point. Just relax and get your deposit back now if you are that freaked out over a prototype video. You can always pick one up later.

Eric and Rick need to resolve any issues between them so they can get to work on CCC after MM is done!!

Wow I'm impressed I like seeing the pictures of under the pLayfield it looks beautiful all new instead of the dirty beat up outdated look of my old MM makes me think about selling it?

Welcome to pinside, where groupthink rules!

And some of us are simply offering observations, which are quickly twisted and attacked by people with far too much time on their hands.

Perspective, indeed.

I have an MMRLE on order and I to was excited to see the video of the "prototype" being played.
Not concerned the least about some bugs. They will be addressed. Williams will sign off only on a machine that plays like the Original. This is a fantastic project and Rick will make it right. I'm impressed with the care that Rick takes to make sure it's done right. There is no gain for Rick to make something that's crap. How could you possibly hope you would sell anymore new title machines in the future. C'mon people relax. Enjoy the process. It's going to be great when we get our MMRLE's in the New Year.

for certain. I'm just a normal customer who pointed out something he saw in the video.

That happens a lot on pin side, but I don't think that's what happened here.

Wait. This is now shipping Q2? I thought it was shipping Q4. Hellz Yeah. I can't wait.

Rick don't let people get you down. I'm sure it will all work out in the end. I think its funny that many people buy NIB Sterns ( Me included ) and never play them. They all pay in full for those. I guess they all complain about code thought

I love what your doing and can't wait for the CCC remake.

chris