Due to the immense size of the previous thread that was started earlier this year, I'm going to attempt to condense all the relevant info into a more concise post.

First off, there was a brand new video posted to the website (www.skitbpinball.com) tonight that shows off some of the fancier features of how the game works both in the gameplay and behind the scenes. I hope you guys enjoy it, just keep in mind that it is a bit lengthy (closing in on 20 minutes, total) and there are some quotes in the sound clips that are slightly NSFW that can be heard in the video.

Game information: 100% custom game based on the P-ROC hardware available at www.pinballcontrollers.com. Game is officially licensed to carry the Predator brand and has a giant list of sound and voice clips cut from the movie itself. There is a vulgarity switch in the settings menu to turn off all swearing, if you have a family-friendly game room and aim to keep it that way.

Industry information: There will be no more than 250 machines produced, to which all pre-orders have been filled. We will keep a running waiting list for those interesting in the case of someone backing out of their order for whatever reason. Marco Specialties has signed on to provide all the parts for the game, Matt Reisterer from BackAlleyCreations will be making the playfield toys, and CoinTaker Amusements will be providing all the lighting for the machine. Pinball Inc. will be custom producing the ramps for the machine, and it will come stock with an all new sound system provided by Flipper Fidelity.

We are bringing the game to the Chicago Pinball Expo this month, as well, so if you're in the area or on the fence about going, just come see us and have a blast at one of the best pinball shows in the country.

Production information: We expect the start producing our first handful of machines within the next month or two, meaning we SHOULD have a few people out there with Predators under their (gigantic) Christmas trees. Price range still hasn't moved from the projected $5000 range, either, and I will certainly let everyone know immediately if that has to change for some reason.

If there is any info you feel should be added to this initial post, either PM me or just sound off below.

Yep. CoinTaker amusements is considering making a special lighting unit for the game to get better coverage of the UV across the field. We'll know more after we meet up in Chicago.

There will be updates to the website (and of course here) when we get the artwork to a point it can be shown as a whole playfield piece. It would be kind of a pain to change at that point, but if for some reason it is overwhelmingly disliked, it might have to be. That's about all I can say for now. From what I've seen so far, though, I can't really see anyone being disappointed with it.

The one we've been using is a PinLED display, but we're looking into the Vishay models right now, as well. It all comes down to the best display we can get without having to add a mint in parts to each game and messing with more voltages (no stock plasma displays for this one).

Tommy Boy would be a sweet custom pin! Get on it, IceMan, I'll buy one

We just got the design back from the printing company yesterday, and we should be sporting the shirts ourselves while at our booth in Chicago. We won't have any to sell on the show floor, but you'll be able to order one from us if you like them.

No shaker motor stock, but it will be coded for it with a connector in the harness that leads down to the front corner of the cab if you wanted to hook one up to it.

Honestly, I never understood it, either. It was pretty sweet in Jurassic Park back in the day, but anything past that I don't really get.

Wow, has this thing generated a lot of fuss... We love it here, especially when the wife's friends try out the game and get legitimately offended by it. I haven't talked about it here yet, but it is one of a few Easter Eggs we put in there, so it only happens under a certain drain circumstance. If you do happen to get the call-out, remember to hit both flipper buttons right away to hear the second part, "It's cuzza the echo..." Another one you can spot in the video is while Tracking mode is starting up, Billy says, "The only way outta here is that valley that leads to the east..." Hitting both flippers immediately after that will add the second part of it, "...and I wouldn't wish that on a broke-d*ck-dog." There are a few more, but they are too offensive to post up here, and I want to leave a few for others to find on their own.

This should be a blast. Everyone within reasonable distance of this show should really try to come out. More than just pinball going on! Check into it a bit more at http://www.detroitfanfare.com/

We're tossing the idea around now to see if it will be possible to make it to SPF. It's all going to depend on the resources we have left after Chicago Expo and the FanFare show.

The games are being built in the order in which they were ordered. The production number requests was just a way that people could get a specific number if they wanted one. Has honestly caused a lot of issues on our end, but I think it's cool anyways

After a lot of debate here at the shop, we won't be leaving blank spots in the production run. We will maintain a waitlist until all of the games are eaten up.

There it is

If anyone would like to order the shirts we are wearing at the Chicago Expo you can head over to our website @ skitbpinball.com and hit the donate button. Donate $25 and include your name and shipping address. Make sure to include what size you would like in the comments.

Shirt.jpg

I looked at Mail Chimp very briefly and it looks like a service that will plaster ads for itself all over what goes out. The best lesson in internet etiquette: The more a website wants you there, the less you want to be there.

Please call us immediately if it lasts more than four hours.

Should be worked out Monday or shortly after that. We'll definitely send out another email when we get all this sorted out.

On another note, has anyone checked the website lately?

To keep this classy, I'll just say thanks for the pic. Also, if jonnyo sells tickets to the mud wrestling we might need two. You know, for market research or something.

To derail this thread a little further, some of you had expressed some interest in the venue we regularly patronize here in Michigan, and they finally have a list on their website of the pins available (which is actually slightly outdated already this weekend).

http://www.sharkclubhowell.com/pinball.php

Took the donation button off of the website, and will be placing the order for those t-shirts on Monday. And yes, Scott, you'll be getting one, also.

Ok, guys, we're back from Expo and I kinda took a day off to catch my breath. Was a fantastic show and I got a chance to meet a bunch of people and talk a lot of pinball. Big shout out to PinballDad for coming out to chat and TweedleFuzz, even though we didn't get a chance to talk much, for showing up at the exact right time to see Matt and I installing toys and throw some pictures up for everyone. I can't exactly respond to everything that's been posted here since I took off on Tuesday (when I left, this thread was on page 57!), but I'll do my best to touch on some concerns and observations.

Yes, we are. Of all of my concerns about how people are going to receive this game, shot count is not one of them, whatsoever. If you look at a few of the shots, you'll see they've got a bit of a "different" angle, specifically the VUK and the left ramp. These shots are angled this way to make backhanding them part of the intended shot path. This way, you always have safe flow from either flipper to either flipper. Left flipper can either go up right ramp to land on the right flipper, or you can backhand the left ramp to get another shot from the left flipper at-speed. From the right, you can either left ramp to get it to the other side or you can backhand the VUK for, you guessed it, another shot from the right flipper at-speed.

On a side note, let's not talk about BSD right now. I just sold mine at Expo this weekend and I'm already sincerely regretting it...

This was something of a happy accident. The majority of the design inspiration came from a few different games, but they weren't Terminator or BSD, actually. For the true "inspiration-games" that influenced Predator design the most, you'll have to look back to some System11 stuff. The fact that no one has nailed it yet at least suggests that I've done my job fairly well Once we had it assembled and flipping, a friend of mine pointed out that it kinda feels like a T2, and I just said "Cool, that's kind of appropriate" and we left it at that. T2 is one of the best designs out there to date, and it's just neat that it's another Arnold pin.

That's right. The two stand-ups on Predator are used for lighting locks, so they are super important, but you have to be really ready for some ball-saving if you're going to contest with them. It's a risk vs reward thing. Predator has been designed to reward good shots with controlled returns, but if you're looking for a solid score, you're going to have to battle with those center targets at some point or another.

Exactly my thoughts. Every shot on Predator is worth something and builds towards something else. During development of the shot map, targets were considered all over the place, but in the end, we were struggling to find a use for them, so they were just scrapped.

We knew the game needed SOME "randomizers" (I like that term, btw), so we controlled them as best as we could. The targets in the center are the biggest, yet most imperative to gameplay, as they light the locks, and then there are the pops, of course. The pops on this game have been as isolated as possible while still maintaining their position at center stage. It was EXTREMELY hard for me to have the pops there at all, considering the game starts by launching the ball into them, and both locks throw the ball right back into them. The answer to this was the position of their potential exits, which limits the different ways the ball can come out. You might be put into a ball save situation because of the pops on Predator, but they are placed in such a way that throwing the ball STDM or right out the sides is extremely rare. Somewhat related, this is why I said "no toy bashing" either. Pardon my language straight away, but I f*ckin HATE being punished for making a shot in a pinball game. Targets are one thing, as they've been a risk since the inception of pinball itself, but too many new games are coming out now that are very dependent on their randomizers. Tron is pretty good about it, but the disc at the top middle is a monstrous oversight, if you ask me, and it is hugely important to the play of the game. Then they make you hit it like 90 times to get the mode started. The target bank is a risk to begin with, but the centrifuge behind it is a gigantic STDM liability and is too important to ignore. Transformers is probably the worst example, as Megatron, Optimus and Bumblebee are (arguably) the three most important shots on the whole machine, and they are ALL a huge drain risk. Megatron fires directly at your right sling, which needs no further explanation, Bumblebee is a dead-stop captive ball that never has a safe return to anything, and once Optimus is able to be bashed, you get all kinds of wild, unpredictable ball action. Couple this with the amount of times these shots need to be hit, and you end up with a game that is unplayable, in my eyes, at a tournament level. /soapbox

I'm working on adding a players' guide to the game onto the website, that will be up before the game ships. Until then, if there's any questions you have, I'd love to go over them here to clear anything up.

This is a great idea, but more for the website than here on the forums. I doubt one would argue they wouldn't just get lost on here.

It has, we just didn't really see the point in redoing an entire cabinet to show "logistic" artwork changes

You shouldn't be so reluctant to share information like this. This is in no way looked-down-upon, and conservative is always a good way to go about it. That's why the payment plan is totally optional. You've got your holding deposit in and you're on the list, so you can hold out until the very last second to make your final decision, comfortably knowing that your game isn't going anywhere until you make the call.

Totally optional.

The best way to say seems to be this: All of the last pieces are falling into place right now, and we expect to have the completed game very, very soon. All the while, we have been sourcing parts and getting affairs in order to get said parts ready to build. Once that all comes together, games will be going out, and we don't expect that to take more than a month or two to get started.

I could see how someone would think that would work, but yeah, we have to agree here, as well. Just to clarify, we won't be doing that

This is probably the question I've gotten the most, and yes, there will definitely be extra translites available.

Me neither.

That's right. I get this one a lot, too. You can use the deposits over and over again if you like, doing whichever value you want until the time in which we would be building your game. If you catch up to it the day before, sweet, go for it. No stated end-date is exactly that: No stated end-date.

There will be another email going out sometime today better-explaining some of these things, as well. Just a heads up.

I'm sure some of you have noticed that the website has been stripped down and the youtube channel has had all pinball related videos removed. We're going through some big changes with our online "image," so please bear with us. It's not like we ever update our website, anyways, so I'm sure most of you won't miss that, but the previous Skit-B Pinball videos are now offline, as well. We will be making a more professional youtube account to go along with our site overhaul in the coming months, so we will keep you all posted.

Sorry to be so scarce, everybody. We're hard at work over here with lots of big things coming together and we're already looking towards Expo.
It's no secret that working with contractors to get parts made takes time and has holdups, but things are moving along quite well. We've gotten some stuff in recently that hasn't been shown/talked about yet that are extremely cool, like custom backbox lighting by CoinTaker lighting! The final game is coming together nicely, and no worries about a complete game this year
Website is assembled and is passing simple tests, so that should be up shortly. All donation appreciation packages have been sent out this week, as well, so if you've been waiting on your T-Shirt (thank you so much for your patience), keep an eye on your mailbox.
Lastly, update emails were sent out to EVERYONE, so if you didn't get it, email me so I can get it out to you again, but please check your junk/spam folders and settings first. Ted, this means you, too, buddy

Also on Twitter now as well. If you'd like to follow us there, you can use the following link:

https://twitter.com/SkitBPinball

Google+ coming shortly, as well, if anyone uses that... :-/

All of this is part of our little internet 'reboot.' The website will be back up in a little while, too. Getting ready for some big things to happen very soon!

New website is up now. Predator news coming soon, guys!

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I apologize for the radio silence, as it was referred to, but I have simply been too busy working on the game to be active in the preceding weeks. The expo hall is closed for the banquet, which I guess is going to be a regular thing now, and they simply will not allow me into the vendor area to work on the game. I will be back up there shortly when they reopen to get back to work.
It is no secret that this expo has already been disastrous for us, but there are some things I think that need to be addressed. First of all, I don't know where the notion of clearcoat killing the UV came from, but it's not true at all. The UV works fine and the clearcoat is flawless, even though it is technically still curing on the game because it is so fresh. The UV layer on this playfield is lighter than a production game, as we have never tried it on a full scale.
While it is true that Iost someone close to me this week, and I truly appreciate the well-wishes from everyone, I would have rather kept that off of the forums. This definitely had an impact on the progress of this build, but it seems like an excuse is being made and that isn't the case.
The website was bared and changed to allow for a big unveiling, which was waiting for this build, so it is coming. Many website plans were addressed at the seminar, as well, including customer polls and suggestions and a complete player's guide for Predator.
This build should have come together months ago, and I apologize to everyone who was on pins and needles waiting for the big reveal we've been promising. I would be lying if I said these delays were expected, and they are unacceptable; people are literally losing their jobs over this debacle.
It certainly sucks for us as a company to have a less-than-stellar expo appearance, but I'm taking this hit extremely personally. There are a lot of people who want to play Predator here at expo, but many of them which I consider friends or personal acquaintances are here, as well, and I had to let them go home without playing the machine at all and that absolutely kills me. People like Chris and Demian who I only get a chance to really see at expos, and Marc, who has been somewhat attacked on the forums for being overly critical, came all the way here from Texas just to see this game and was a very down-to-earth guy who honestly seemed like he was looking for more reasons to like the game. Personal apologies to all you guys.
The setbacks are many with this build, but with these setbacks come a lot of great announcements, as well!
Body toy is ineractable and swings with ramp shots.
Spine will be adjusted to fit on top of the vuk.
Powder coated cabinet trim is standard on the machine now.
Claw toy now "snaps" more than "diverts."
Coil strength is through the roof and flippers on this game can be set to ridiculous levels of power.
With the flippers dialed-in, sloppy shots are no longer an issue.
Plasma display is also now a standard item. Those who have seen it can attest that it is a marked improvement over the led displays were were using before.
Custom ball launch button is a standard item, as well.
Plastics add the depth to the playfield that it needed. Feels much more complete now.
Final big announcement is that this build is made exclusively from brand new parts manufactured for us. Once we have a chance to spend some time with the game and test everything thoroughly, the orders go out and the countdown to production begins!
At any rate, what you've all been waiting for is on its way. I'm sorry it wasn't here for you this weekend, but we now have the tools and means to make it happen more quickly than ever before.