Sorry to quote myself, but what if this was the premium content solution?

You pay a fee for the ability to override the built-in songs.

Easy to program. Mr. Y. gets a portion of the fee to compensate for any jerks pirating songs. Everyone gets the songs they want.

I think we all know there should only be one downloadable song for this pin.

The modes are all themed after the songs that are in the game right now, this isn’t a jukebox style game (ala Metallica, Zep, etc) where it would work to just swap songs IMO

Speaking as a pinball game programmer, this is not easy. User added content opens the door to a wide range of issues and requires tons of special consideration and handling. All depends on how it is done and how the music is incorporated within the game. Simple playback is easy, but how it is integrated with the game is difficult. How do you handle the new songs? Replacing/override, addition? What if you try to add sixteen dozen songs and wind up hearing the first 18 99% of the time? Not to mention the possibility that the songs might need to be massaged/remastered to fit within the soundscape of the game.

There are many other considerations as well - that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Seemingly simple, but as with many pinball programming tasks, probably more complex than anticipated.

Plus what KevInBuffalo said applies to this game in particular, also IMO.

I’d vote to let Gerry stay on more important things than adding songs..like manufacturing. I’m sure he has enough on his plate with hiring, training and building games.

BINGO!

Folks haven’t received or played their games yet and already requesting changes/add-ons. How about you actually play as designed first!?!?

I'm deliberately not learning too much about gameplay. I'd rather be surprised when receive mine.

That said: I'm sure there is a mode for the food court: How many food related songs has Weird Al released?

Again with my disclaimer above...

I'm only looking for simple playback, and accept any downsides of substituting a song as my responsibility.

Something along the lines of:

At game start:

Search USB drives for a root folder named "Weird Al Music".
(If the folder is found: save the drive reference, stop the search.)

At song start (or if the mode is still playing when the song ends successfully):

Check the "Weird Al Music" folder for a sub-folder named for the song title.

If the sub-folder is found:
Count the number of mp3 files it contains.

Case "Weird Al Music" folder does not exist:
Case the sub-folder does not exist:
Case the sub-folder contains 0 mp3 files:
Play the built-in song.
End

Case the sub-folder contains 1 mp3 files:
Play the mp3 file in the sub-folder.
End

Case the sub-folder does contains > 1 mp3 files:
Pick a mp3 file at random from the sub-folder to play.
End

At mode is still playing and mp3 playback fails:
Play the built-in song.

I didn't expect this to go anywhere: It was just the easiest way I could think of to get different songs into the game without having to develop a bunch of new modes along with all the accompanying rules, artwork and sound effects.

Small bonus: It would also keep score comparisons as equal as they can be in pinball, as all the machines would still have the same rules and scoring.

BTW: Feel free to ridicule my pseudo-code. It's been a while...

Not ridicule, but pointing out that that scenario would be very difficult to support. Different USB drives have different speeds of access/filesystems/etc. Would they be fast enough to index and stream all at game start? Maybe not. What if files are not in mp3? Spacing is different on directory name. Filename contains unicode characters (and filesystem supports it). What happens if the drive dies during access or is removed during play? There are a billion different potential problems.

It's truly a more difficult problem than you might imagine, and would require a large amount of custom code to support.

In my view not a big amount of gain for the complexity of implementation and support - it would also greatly increase the complexity of release testing for any additional patches to the game.

LOL this

Well, the idea behind the additional content is pump more into the pin. Given each song is a mode in itself, additional songs would be additional modes that increases its randomness and replay value. So in your suggestion, that would make it more of a general jukebox as there would be no game modes assigned to the songs. This idea is more in line of the "free add on content" suggestion where the songs would just be alternative tracks to already implement modes. Essentially, it would be another song over the germs mode playing. Doesn't really add anything, but gives it more songs.

Oh, this is not something "right out of the gate" to where Gerry would have to shift resources to immediately. This idea is something for him to think about and work down the line. He's already implementing additional modes currently. So no, this is not shifting any focus after talking with him. He simply asked me to test the waters with the idea and see what the community/customers think about it. This idea is designed more down the line anyway as it's sole purpose is to keep the game fresh for people. So after playing tons of balls and getting "bored" (to use that term very lightly), they'd release add on content later and freshen it up to keep you playing more.

I'm not sure how many of you know what "Beatsaber" is, so forgive me if this goes over your heads. This is kinda like that, otherwise, im gonna try and explain it. You pay for the game, get a solid foundation and get the balls rollin. Then as it ages, they release a new "album", which has additional tracks and modes each "season", (release times per season can be months or every year or whatever they come up with).
So after a year of initial release, they come out with the "alapalooza", album release which will have "X" amount of tracks/modes from. Then the next season (a year or whenever after that), the next random album. The amount of modes and tracks per album release could be a couple or a bunch. This keeps people coming back to it, keeps it fresh to the times as they can use any newly released albums of his in the future, and of course...turns a profit....

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If new content was fully fleshed out, with new modes related to the new music and integrated well into the game, I would definitely pay a reasonable amount for DLC down the road. If it was just new songs tacked on over existing modes (say Biggest Ball of Twine in MN randomly playing over the Amish Paradise mode), then I would not be interested. Even though I would LOVE Twine being in the game somehow! It would have fit in so nicely...

Exactly! If you haven't yet voted in the poll, head over and please do. Gerry is watching that to make a decision. You're looking to vote for the "paid premium add on content" and literally described the "free add on" as the additional music dubbed over other modes that you wouldn't like.

Figured this thread needs a fresh comment after ~20+ days. Anyone else receive their module/P3? I'll be waiting another 7 months, so no news here.

4 months and no modules,cant get them built ,no labor .

I paid up for mine last week, hopefully soon!

There was a Weird Al and Heist at Pintastic last weekend. I had to try them to see if I should keep my P3 order or not. Lets just say I won't be cancelling LOL

The downfall is, now that I have had a taste of them, the waiting game is much worse

Full P3 or module(s)?

My new estimated build date is late July/early August. I don't have the email in front of me with initial build date estimate but it has definitely slipped. Hopefully they're getting the ducks in a row and they don't reach that 6 month threshold for order cancellations

Full system w/ Al, Heist and CCR!

Killer! You'll be buying Lexy Lightspeed before you know it!

My module arrived today! Looking forward to putting some time on it. I've had my P3 for a while, so I'll need to install the upper left flipper/side target assembly to replace my existing side target assembly. I did the same for Heist with the upper right flipper, so I have a good idea of what to do, but I expect a ton of documentation as per usual. I'm super excited to play it.

I’m coming over!!

Congrats!!! Really looking forward to getting mine!

Game is extremely fun. The light shows and sound package are amazing. Hitting that spiral ramp off the launch is so fun. Beautiful work, Multimorphic! I can see this eating into my dev time...

Congratulations,first that I know of.
Have fun and stream it!

Well, I finally played Weird Al this weekend at Pintastic. After a half dozen games, I am sad. The P3 system is just not clicking for me. Maybe after more plays I'd be happier, but it was frustrating to realize the platform was getting in the way of me and Weird Al. Neat idea, yucky feeling in my hands. But I've learned not to write off pins until I play them a ton so we'll see...

You may want to reach out to Gerry. I have P3 #1 and have no scratches visible on mine...

Yucky feeling? Mine feels and plays like all of my other pins - not following...

lulz.gif

Right there with you. In for the combo. After watching a bunch of Heist videos, I'm just ask excited to play that. Doubt I ever hit that 15 ball multiball.

I didn't notice any sort of off feeling with the flippers or anything else when I got a chance to play it last weekend. Everything felt great actually, which surprised me. The only other time I played a P3 was way back the first year it was shown at Expo. At that time I thought it felt very strange and there was definitely a difference in how it felt vs most other machines. That is gone now, and it felt every bit as good as a Stern to me.

The only weird feeling to me was the feeling of the flipper button "landing pad" on my hands. That took a little getting used to being a raised surface, but it wasn't a problem and after a few minutes I got used to it. The biggest thing that will take some time for me is learning how to use separate buttons for the upper flipper, but I know that can be changed in the settings if it becomes too awkward. I'm guessing after awhile I will adapt and wish all other machines had that though.

Sorry to hear, but you can always change your mind! I’m sure these games will be available far into the future

Add me to that list, we’ll Weird Al and Heist, I’ll probably add a CCR too as it would be fun doing online multiplayer.

I keep forgetting that I ordered one of these at TPF.
Then I get a little excited and quickly disappointed when I remind myself that it’s going to be months and months before I’m even close to my turn.
I was cool with the wait up front but having a tough time staying patient. Crossing my fingers the MM team is firing on all cylinders knocking out games.

I hear ya. I put a deposit down on a Halloween and I won’t even see it before JANUARY of 23.

For everyone that put down deposits, I'm curious: are they transferrable/sellable? I've seen plenty of Halloween and Ultraman deposits for sale, but not one Weird Al. I figured either you can't transfer it (ouch) or everyone is so dedicated they'll ride out the wait. Anyone willing to put down a deposit and wait a year for a pin they hadn't played is pretty friggin' dedicated!

Why would I want to transfer or sell my spot, the game is freaking great! I don't remember this being covered leading up to order banks opening.

As far as I'm aware, the deposits are transferable with a fee. I got hands on time with the game at Pintastic, and I'm cautiously optimistic about the game. I didn't get enough games in to form a strong opinion, but what I played was enjoyable. I'm keeping my pre-order unless something goes catastrophically wrong.

You could probably get a refund with no questions asked because of delays they're experiencing, heard several people have been given that option. The game takes some getting used to with button spacing from lockdown bar, flipper feel, extra buttons and heavier weight of the game. People that just want the comfort of the usual pinball feel and layouts may have a hard time at first, if you've been in this hobby long enough it's a welcomed change IMO.

I believe Multimorphic will transfer the deposit for a $100 fee. I also think they are giving refunds if they miss your ship date by 6 months.

Just in time for the long weekend! I'll be unboxing it on stream later today after the podcast
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What are the other boxes? Topper, and ?

Also, how close did they get to your original shipping estimate ?

I would imagine that's the LE art and plastics.

Yeah it's the LE package plus some other goodies I ordered along with it.

…some “other goodies”

Up and running! Here’s the extras I got: a USB button box and the apron art for Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

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Can’t wait to see the topper installed.

Still learning all the ins and outs of a P3, what do you use the USB port for, charging devices or is this a potential future enhancement?

Can’t wait to get mine.

You can use it for a few things, software updates, USB headphones or for a USB Wifi Dongle (which is what I’ll be using it for mostly).

i wish sorcerers apprentice had cabinet art as well.

I seem to recall Gerry mentioning if there's enough interest, they'd do it. I'm sure they gauge sales as well as actual inquiries. They also have the "P3 Core" artwork which looks pretty good