Austin, TX
I do not represent Multimorphic in any way... just passing along this public update; unedited. It's not easy to transfer the pictures to Pinside from email.
As I mentioned in the last public update, we've slowed down the release of public information about Multimorphic and the P3, but I can assure you that doesn't mean we've slowed down development or have altered both our short and long term goals. With all of the new companies promising to build new pinball machines, and because of the surprising lack of innovation being offered by any of them, we made the conscious choice to be more protective of our ideas and to develop our features and technologies more or less behind the curtains. This is something we've unfortunately had to learn the hard way.
In 2009, we introduced the P-ROC. It was the first (and it's still the only) generally available and fully supported pinball control system, and it showed people that you didn't have to be an electronics expert to build a pinball machine. We took care of the hard part and let others implement the fun part. In 2010, we were contacted by an entity wanting to build a new machine around the P-ROC, and we've had dozens of similar discussions in the subsequent 4 years. Many are using the P-ROC, some have chosen to develop their own systems, and unfortunately multiple others have abused our generosity and willingness to help by copying the P-ROC.
Since 2009, motivated by the desire to bring new technology to the industry and to help the industry grow, we've continued developing new products and implementing new ideas. Our modular driver board system (PDBs) and our next-generation controller (P3-ROC) are also available for purchase by both individuals and pinball MFGs, and in 2012, we developed and let people play the first P3 prototype. With the P3, we announced our desire to introduce new gameplay features, while solving the floorspace and cost-per-game issues presented by traditional machines. For the P3, we've designed additional our control system products, including new opto boards, RGB LED boards, AC-to-DC boards, etc, and all of these boards will be available for public purchase.
I can confidently say that our control system is by far the most advanced and extensible control system in the industry, and the P3 exemplifies many of the advantages afforded by it.
In the last update I discussed our goal to bring multiple P3 machines to Expo with a nearly complete first game (Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl), and I'm happy to report that we're still on track to meet that goal. The playfield is feature complete (hardware and mechs). The software is about 70% complete (7 modes implemented, 2 remaining, various enhancements outstanding), and the artwork is about 80% complete (needing additional p/f assets, plastics, and backpanel art).
As we've discussed in the past, in order to build an advanced pinball game platform, we've had to build most of the machine infrastructure from scratch. We've considered every individual component needed to build a machine that executes our vision, and we've used existing mechanisms where it made sense and designed new mechanisms where necessary. All of this engineering work will have been completely wasted if the machines and games we deliver aren't reliable and amazingly fun to play.
To that end (reliable and fun), we're spending the last 2 months before Pinball Expo on two primary goals:
- Fabricating and testing our new assemblies
- Delivering a great (fun, challenging, interesting) gaming experience with LL-GGAs always, the schedule is our enemy. A few of the assemblies are already built and are currently undergoing functional and reliability testing, and a few will come together just before Expo. While the mechanical team is focused on that, the game dev team is focused on LL-GG development and making sure all of the new innovations work together to create an amazingly fun experience for pinball players.
As always, I welcome your questions and comments. You can contact me by email or by phone (774-377-9746 : 77-GERRY-PIN). If you're in or near Austin, TX and wan't to join us on our public play-testing days, please be sure to let me know. We'll probably host one or two more play-testing days before Expo.
If you're on facebook, we intend to post periodic updates there too. So be sure to 'like' us: https://www.facebook.com/MultimorphicInc
I'll leave you with a few images showing off some of our progress.
- Gerry Stellenberg
Multimorphic, Inc.
Toronto, ON
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