Gerry and his crew have down a fantastic job in being innovative but I have a concern - mainly the lcd as what happens in years to come, will they be available.

Overall it is a cool concept and I like the idea of swappable designs.

Personally I think he is very innovative and stepped up pinball design up in a cool way as the playfield looks cool but would of been great to see this game done in 2 playfield styles to see which wins people over, and to show the potential as many people will think it has gone too much to the video game side.

What if their was 2 playfield versions
- playfield style 1 - as per the current with the video animated playfield and how it looks like a video game
- playfield style 2 - very similar to playfields that we know with the typical playfield art and inserts and the lcd graphic inserts light up or could have small cool animated explosions in the insert and flow beyond the in theory when a physical target is hit, flames from a car exhaust insert showing a car getting away if you reach a certain goal. Then when a set of goals is achieved a modified playfield with relocated inserts is shown with new goals - game advancement. Of if the game proceeds in time - ;like ball 1 is morning, 2 is afternoon and 3 is night and if you are lucky you survive the day you are awarded a 4th ball and it is morning again with the playfield lighting changing on each ball.

Having these 2 styles say at a pinball show with the same game rules but with the 2 different visible playfield styles (video game v's classic insert) could of captured what the market likes best or analyse what age groups like which version.

For me I would prefer the playfield style 2.

Thanks for the input guys.

Don't get me wrong, I think this pin is cool and has a heap of potential and Gerry has been so innovative but I personally would like to see something in between even as a trial as I love the look of inserts and surrounding art but agree the instructions flashing up is cool as well. I just think the open field look (textured grass) etc is too much to the side of a video game. Hence why I thought something in between a classic pinball art and video game could be cool.

But in saying that I have not played a P3 so I am not criticising the work of Gerry / Multimorphic and take my hat off to him / them.

I just thought it would be interesting to do say Lexi Lightspeed in 2 styles at a show and get all the players and spectators to vote on their preference:
- the merged look with the insert look and animated art spilling out past the insert when a goal is achieved.
compared to
- the current machine and the way he has done the video game style art.

Imagine 2 machines set up side by side playing the same game but with the 2 art / graphic styles and see what happens:
- do the teenagers and 20's head to the newer style
- do the 30's and 40's like both or prefer the older or newer style
- do the 50's and beyond like the older insert style

At the end of the day it is just a thought and if something like this identifies what the market place likes then it could help Multimorphic design future games with a more targeted approach. Also at the end of the day it would be cool if sited but if a higher percentage of sales go to the home owners as these guys are cashed up prefer the insert style there could be a lot of missed sales.

not critical just trying to look at the concept from a different perspective.

as cool as this is and the potential that it has is great, but I have thought alot about it and just raising a real & practical point to consider and happy for people to explain it out as those of the focus group will know alot more so hopefully they can explain.

* if someone gets a p-roc system and for argument sake have a cabinet with all the cab accessories, power and speaker with a blank back glass etc. Their focus in building a custom pinball is:
- design the playfield layout
- build the playfield
- perform the wiring
- design the artwork for the playfield
- get playfield printed
- design the artwork for the dmd
- write the rules - meaning programming experience which seems to be the biggest challenge for most people

* for someone to get into a custom P3 they would need to buy a p3 cabinet with fully functioning game in it so removes alot of the build and technology leaving their focus to be the following if they are to design their own game:
- design the rear 1/3 playfield layout (as a basis)
- build the 1/3 playfield (1/3 of the work)
- wire up the remaining parts for the 1/3 playfield (1/3 of the work)
- design the artwork for the 1/3 playfield (1/3 of the work)
- design the artwork for the lcd which to me if just static would be x10-20s more than a playfield to allow for multiple different screens hence why in a previous post I thought of a static looking playfield with animation in just the inserts graphics and maybe 2-4 different playfields for different time of day or major goals.
- design and create the animated art for the lcd playfield which would be such a specific skill required by an experienced person and my biggest concern.
- no work required for the dmd (a bonus)
- writing the p3 rules for your game meaning link to animations and various playfield designs which at a guess would not be easy what so ever and a few times hard than a regular game and dmd.

The concept is cool, and if Gerry and team created the rules and programming then great for those to buy the addition playfield sections but to leave it to the public to create their own game with animation leaves me to wonder realistically how many people would contemplate taking this on.

If a bunch of skilled and experienced people in all the required areas that were passionate about pinball could pool together then it would stand a chance. I just think promoting it to people to design their own game will targeting a extremely small group of people.

Would love to hear thoughts of those wanting to design their own games of how you would tackle what looks like a mammoth task.

thanks for your view point, and agree for those with the one game layout could change just the graphics and rules and invent your own game, very cool

even when P3 come out with a few different rear 3rd layout so programmers can mix it up.

I am still keen to one day play a P3 system and have lots of game ideas aso keen to design a rear playfield but programming is not my thing....

Maybe people can team up?