It has to be US$.

Real life story: I have seen a drawing on a napkin go to a engineer in the past, & he approved it. But it did come with his new blue prints.

Do not know how I am a fraud to use readily available pinball parts, like anyone else. Not inventing new electronics or other available pinball stuff.

Since the US has almost three hundred million more people than Canada. Maybe the US has more whales ?

And US has about 5 times as many real whales.

LTG : )

Well like your idea I have no logic to my question other then if you were speaking in terms of CAD then a US "whale" would only be investing around 77k with the exchange rate. A difference of 23k but again you're looking for that whale that doesn't care about money so 23k is irrelevant!

On a serious note .... what is your go to beer brand?

If you're re-using ramps, doesnt that mean you're playfield is gonna resemble whatever pin used those ramps? Plus you said 100% custom now it's not you really need to put this on paper so people don't continue to think you're a fraud.

Or just realize it's already dead.

I am not allowed to talk about my other favorite activity outside of pinball. That being said I almost always go for the lowest price, or in the past what gave me something extra for free for buying a case. For those that actually watched the short clip from Pintastic from TNT.
I am going on to Steve Ritchie not to drink my $8 craft beer, & thought it was a rip off. Just like the pricing in the hotel bar. Lucky for me the liquor store is next to the venue, & I had my $1 Canadian cans at the Duty Free at the border. Learned that you could buy as many as you want going to the USA. My wife gets her Bud by the suitcase (36). My time is spent at a local operators work shop. So I have a place to build at.

It will be a custom pinball machine. Do not know what more you want me to say. Guess that logic goes towards all the pinball machines made already.

I envy those that can drink the cheaper beers. I got hooked on the imperial stouts aged in bourbon and they dont come cheap but I love the taste. The cheaper beers just don't have enough flavor to them. I would save a lot of money if I liked the cheaper styles.

I believe he's eluding to the fact that if you're using ramps from another game then your game will not be 100% custom.

This can go either way as all pinball manufacturers have reused parts in other machines but not sure about ramps. Ramps are typically unique to a machine???

Gomez reused a ramp from Batman on Deadpool (twice). He was short on time when the original DP layout was scrapped after Trudeau was arrested and fired in the middle of the build. The lift ramp on the prem/le was reused from Mustang.

Also, Monday Night Football and Hook share ramps. The skillshot and Rufio ramps come from the same mold, but are cut slightly differently for MNF. Taking ramps and cutting them down into something else is fair game for a homebrewer, IMO.

Are there many whales on Pinside?

John, I would suggest checking out the Shady Maple buffet in Lancaster, PA. Last time I was there, they had whales dining by the bus load. I don't recommend the food though.

Is that still a big tourist attraction. We've been there a couple times.

Thar she blows

No thanks. I'm starting code for Spooky's next-next game this week.

Putting down the idea of using existing ramps is like dissing an architect because the building uses a conventional door. Would it be ok if he didn’t reinvent the pop bumper?

I guess it is...but I avoid it like the plague. Lancaster County "PA Dutch cooking" for is code for just adding a bunch of sugar to everything. Most natives think mayonnaise is too spicy, and their cooking shows it. So it's pretty gross to me.

Not so much a problem using preexisting ramps as it is claiming it will be the most blinged out game in the history of pinball. If you're using a preexisting ramp compromises in the design will be necessary.

People looking for the cheapest beer are usually just looking to get wasted. I'm not saying that's John's angle, maybe he's just thrifty. Some people like rolling rock, Coors and Miller genital draft. There's an ass for every seat!

No he said this was gonna be 100% custom. I don't expect under play field mechs and things like that to be custom but shouldn't the pin and it's gameplay be 100% custom? I thought that's what he was alluding to and that's what his pitch was? Maybe I'm mistaken. If I'm not mistaken, then reusing a ramp is gonna be reusing some portion of another pin that will play similarly and his gameplay is not 100% custom. Anyway no one's gonna give him a $100000 so it's kind of pointless.

I call semantics. Take a standard ramp, put it on a new pf, and it’s custom.

Your argument is like saying that most Stern pins are all the same because the ball shoots to the same three rollover lanes into a set of three weak ass pops… oh, wait a minute …

Well, maybe that's not a good analogy, but unless it’s the same ramp on the same pf in the same place, it’s custom.

Well I am not going to spend $7k US on custom ramps unless they are gold plated, & whale is found. I do drink higher end beverages also. just like my favorite free oysters night. Ben is busy & there are lots of retired pinball designers & artists that are not on Pinside Most Hated Club.

Never expected a pinside thread to have me Googling, "Are lobotomies still legal in Canada?" but here we are...(they are banned in Ontario, but seem to be legal everywhere else)

Zzzzzzzz....wheres gryszzz.....zzzzz...

Ben is not busy, everyone knows Spooky doesn't work on the code until after the game is released!!! (too soon?)

All in good fun Ben!

Semantics is the excuse people use when losing a debate.

He said 100% custom. If he is reusing a ramp from a previous pin, that in no way, shape, or form can be 100% custom gameplay. Somehow that reused ramp is going to mimic another pin and its gameplay.

Words and the meaning behind them matter.

If i am giving you $100,000 you most certainly are.

What else do you plan to skimp on, besides using yellowed plastic ramps?

Not that I disagree with you, as this thing/vision/dream is never going to be built…and if it is it won’t reach the level of quality that Predator even attained…but John Borg has used very similar ramps in basically the same location on Austin Powers, Iron Man, Avatar, Metallica, and GOTG (probably more that I am forgetting, Borg loves that ramp location and design)…and those games do all feel very different from one another.

Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize that he offered 100% one-off games for $100000, my apologies.

Your knowledge of Borg design is commendable though.

Which brings up a great point actually, I'd rather pay someone $20000 to completely reskin and retheme a known great layout.

Not that I plan on doing it but that's what I would do and save $80000.

I'm not so sure about that. Just because you take an existing ramp doesn't mean you have to put in the same location. A different location could make a game play very differently. Since he wouldn't be paying for tooling he could also use one of the more intricate ramps you don't typically get with home brews.

I think that is harsh and untrue.
I think the fair description is clueless which will lead to lost money from a whale, but I don't think his intentions are to steal money

I’ve been trying to figure out the license and the one that keeps coming to mind is “Dumb and Dumber.”

But, after reading through this thread and the original whale hunt thread, I think that’s giving GWJ too much credit.

So, I’m putting my money on “Dumb and Dumber 2”

I'm sorry, but there's no fucking way in hell!

Look up "train wreck" in the dictionary and John's pic will be next to it.

The hunt continues for the big whale investor.

Man, you are a man with a mission. Why do you care about this so much that you make these strong allegations? GWJ doesn't deserve this.

Why? 1st he said it's a 100% Custom and now it's not. What else is going to change that we won't know about until too late? There's been too much fraud in the pinball world we should not be encouraging this type of behavior. To be fair I guess he hasn't committed fraud at this point.

Put your money down though.

If John fails to get his whale, I hope he tells us with a post that is as memorable as the final words of the greatest failed whale hunter of them all.

“Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!”

This thread could be as long as Moby Dick by the time it is done. And I really think John should change is avatar to Captain Ahab

John,

What does your "hunt" entail? I am hoping it's more than just your posts on Pinside stating that you are hunting?

Admit it, now you are just fucking with us

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I’m thinking more old man and the sea here.

So you gotta give GWJ a couple nods if we are being fair. 1) He doesn’t seem fazed with whatever is thrown at him 2) Perseverance rates a 10 for his commitment to his idea.

That still doesn’t get you a finished pin if you seemingly have no idea what you are about to undertake. But all the same they ain’t bad personality traits to have. If we could just get rid of the delusional aspects here he’d probably be ok.

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Actually, that's it!

It's not even a hunt. A hunt would imply some sort of determination. He's lazily asking for 100K on an online forum with no evidence of any business plan. He has 0.0 percent chance of making this happen.

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So much to be concerned about and reusing a production ramp is what you choose to hang your hat on? Now that’s pretty bizarre actually…

I have spent many hours looking at all the ramps Marco has for sale and imagine how I could incorporate them into a homebrew. That alone makes my design unoriginal? GTFO…

Certainly the old man was more about determination despite repeated failures vs being driven by obsession, but it is a marlin not a whale and he does eventually get it.

So are saying you believe John will land his big fish?

No this is a real hunt for hopefully a big whale investor, & now actively expanding the hunt to Canada & the World. Custom pinball, guess I should not use 100% if I did so it is now changed. I have worked on hundreds of pinball games, & still do in my wide area. Same with numerous playfield changeouts, & cabinet repairs.