i agree, that right ramp is almost useless, it kills the rhythm of the game.
there is no ball return to the left flipper, i'd take the premium/le ramps over the fire station.

another thing, the 2 inlanes on each side of the flippers are bare metal lane guide, no rubber post to try to nudge/control the ball.

I agree. Can't remember what I thought of GOT when watching the stream, but I love the game. The thing that got to me was "ok, who brought the dog" mode. Got tired of hearing that. I'm hoping the modes aren't too linear, or at least vary the call outs. I know it's early so possibly these concerns will be addressed. Oh and it needs a loud voice for Super Jackpot!

Just constructive criticisms. Love what they are doing with the game.

Speaking of which, why is the firehouse so damn big? You have a good point on the bare metal lane guides. I'm surprised they didn't put at least one rubber post in there.

Hard to watch on an iPhone. Ouch my head! Perhaps that was from the horn blowing in the pops??!! WTF man? How about just one horn when two items match and maybe one more when all 3 match? The rest need something else for sure. First impression is that this game is really going to kick ass! However it's gonna have to be premium or LE all the way. For $49.95 I will even take the topper too...

1) agreed
2) yeah if you can't close the outlanes much or tone down the slings it could be rough sledding indeed
3) That's the problem with "big intro" multiballs...great at first but pretty soon you wish you could fast forward through them (TAF I'm looking at you) And the code is considered prototype so I expect there will be much more
4) Toppers ugly but to me most toppers look out of place and useless. Keep it clean and don't put expensive closet clutter up there in the first place.
5) Except for Dwight of course nobody knew how to play it...and it showed but what did you expect? Most of these reveals nobody knows how to play 'em and I guess that's half the fun. They'll be better gameplay videos down the line.

I think the sound was pretty decent... as far as sounding "classic" it really *should* as there were some "classic" sounds lifted and shoved right in there...WOZ,NGG,etc. NOT hearing the main GB constantly was a great relief.

Overall I'd say it came off reasonably successful.

We can always drill some pilot holes and screw these in?.

image_(resized).jpeg

To add to this, how can you call a jackpot 'super' if it can be cashed in at 1 million (on a High scoring game).
I know you are meant to build it up but maybe it should be a jackpot until a certain point. That way you know when to cash it in? Maybe by changing the colour of the insert? 1 colour for every 10/20 million point iteration?

Also the DMD animation is so long for the super jackpot that the ball has already retuned to the flipper by the time you can see how much it's worth.

Hi Dwight!

Looks great - my first impression are similar to a few others. First, I'm starting to remember the 80s and how nuts that theme music drove me after awhile. Other sounds/ music were excellent and pops didn't annoy me as much as others. Agree the flips could pose challenge for casual players who may punt out of drain fustration and not care to go deeper - his signature aside - but a challenge for more experienced. Not such a fan of longer video modes so far but a work in progress?
Maybe that topper with the blue light special is one too. I like the fan better so far.

Can't wait to see more from other models soon. Did this influence you one way or the other?

And that animation . . .

Guys, the flipper gap isn't an issue. It's part of the design, and it's intentional. We've never closed the gap on other Trudeau games in the past. In fact, we often add lightning flippers to games that are too easy without them.

I don't think the flipper gap would be much of an issue if it wasn't for those outlanes. If watching the video, so many balls drained for stupid reasons, and it appears there's no way to close them, and there's no rubber post to help with nudging. Note that the entire time they were playing, they pretty much gave up on saving outlane drains with nudges.

I know it's a prototype playfield, but something has to be done there, slingshots drained the ball to the outlanes many many times, and simple rebounds and missed shots excessively went into the outlane drains. I actually don't mind the gap at all if the outlanes are balanced, but as it stands I could tell the people playing in the video were getting pretty frustrated towards the end as many had quick and brutal games that drained like crazy.

Here's my takeaways:

First, anyone who owns a TWD can't complain about the drains on this pin! (Sorry Kris )

- left ramp was awesome and back handable!
- full right orbit loop shots were amazing
- spirit guide and awards were great!
- slimer looked good, fun, and wasn't overshadowing the rest of the game. But seemed too dependent to start key modes which could make it a repetitive grind? This could just be my lack of knowledge of the rules.
- animations and dmd were great - minus the awkward side scrolling animations, those just take away consistency from the rest of the dmd and don't fit.
- not a fan of the negative reinforcement mode. Cool in theory and fits the theme, but needs some pin integration or will get old fast.
- not a fan of the right ramp. But maybe with some cool sound effects or something can be made satisfying? I think the PREM will really shine the most with its right ramp return to the left flipper rather than the pros right ramp. PREM right ramp reminds me of RBION.
- modes: while they looked fun, someone pointed out to me that if you don't complete them you have to play them again. Not a fan of that. I miss old school ways of starting modes where it could be partially randomized on what mode is started yet can be controlled by normal pinball play (i.e. LOTR, FGY, TAF, etc...). And modes need to be one and done - reward extra for completing it, otherwise move on. Only time you should play the same mode twice is if you've beaten the game, otherwise it feels grindy - and if it's a short ball playing game, there's no need to prolong or over extend modes. Although I do give a pass to GOT on this subject because the way those modes and wizard modes were designed make it not feel linear or grindy at all...at least on the pro. When I saw GB layout and insert matrix, I see much potential for stackable fun modes.

Overall the game looked full featured and great for a pro version. I liked the sound effects and music but do anticipate more variety as code matures.

- my predictions for the PREM/LE is that the tunnel/lock ramp will be awesome, the right ramp feeding left flipper will be superb, the ecto goggles will be a cool trick but nothing special long term vs the regular shot on the pro. And lastly, the magnetic slings; these things are going to make or break be PREM/LE. A staple design of 99% of all pinballs and they decided to change it. Risky!

EDIT: I also want to include that the overall theme integration seemed top notch!

I have to say I'm impressed with the dots! It seems further along than GOT when Danger Played live and I was impressed then. Can't wait to play it!

Anyone know in what order the games are being shipped? Pro's, LE's and then Premiums?

Sorry for the duplicate posts... Cleaning up my mess.

?

I have to say I'm impressed with my skill set at jacking up the last 5 posts. Sorry again!

I believe it's going to be all LEs and some pros, then a big run of pros, and then premiums. After that it will be pros and premiums based on demand.

I was only able to watch the first 20 minutes so far, but I liked what I saw.

Looked fast and fun to me.

I agree about the car honks being too in your face, but that also may have been bc they had to crank the volume since they were building pins nearby.

Im assuming there is a up post on the left orbit like congo? I saw the ball stop quite afew times after the right orbit was hit then just drop ?Also has 2 diverters like congo to drop it into the pops ? Really has alot going on for a pro and can't wait to get my fully loaded premium with ball lock and subway. Code looks great for beta and sld be lots to do for a long time with lots of shots and features and ways to approach the game. It will be a good trade of and upgrade since I just sold my cftbl. Im a huge john t fan with his not fan layouts.

I am really excited after watching the plays. I have a premium preordered, and my only concern is that left ramp. The pro's left ramp is much shorter then the Premium/LE. I am really hoping the extra steepness is not going to cause a whole bunch of bricked shots. The ramp was so smooth and fast on the Pro. I am seriously debating whether I should downgrade to the Pro.

I have never heard the ramp was any shorter only it doesn't drop under the playfield or tie in with the right ramp.

Well, I tuned in and first things that hit me was the color, striking, the playfield is very nice. They show some of the playfields build in the factory and they look very nice and shiny.
The other thing I noticed was the display, I just can't get over the idea that it is still DMD. It looks old fashioned and I got the feeling that I was looking at just another pinball machine, nothing really special, a solid Stern job. They just know how to build these games and get them out fast. It seems like a trick.
I was hoping to see the premium of LE with the ecto goggles and subway ramp, maybe those features will make the machine extra. Maybe when you play the game you will get sucked into it.....for now I just wait to play it first and be sure I like it before taking the plunge.

It wil be fine they design the le first

Look at the photos. It is pretty clearly much shorter.

Watched some of the Dead Flip stream. Looks like a solid game which should turn out to be a classic. Love the art, call-outs and music.

Couldn't help feeling a little disappointed with the lack of a Lebowski-style LCD, it would be have been cool to see the clips from the movie which correspond to the call-outs.

Nevertheless, don't want to be a glass-half-empty guy, this is by far the Stern title I am most interested in to date, look forward to playing it on location.

Game looks fast and brutal with a fair amount of pop bumper action .....reminds me of how twd plays which I love so I really cant wait to have this in my collection

Just to be different: didn't like the playfield layout and gameplay confirmed it. Just had no idea what was going on -- I can't believe people complained about GOT rules being too complex! Flow was actually better than I expected but not great. Don't care for the toys either but I realize I'm in a great minority here as people love the game

It's hard to tell from that overhead camera view, but are those PKE lanes next to Stay Puffed going to difficult to see?
When looking at the Premium / LE flyer, looks like a city model and ramps block the view.

So, I can't post the prices because the only one I was interested in the day the pictures dropped was the Premium.

Since your location is "unknown", I can't recommend who you should turn to for better business. You could live right here in Dayton, or you could live in Alaska or Paris for all I know.

I'll say this though - definitely not $6800. With my distributor, the more business I do with them, the better prices tend to get. If you're having it actually shipped instead of picking it up, that could also be a major factor (read: I go pick mine up since I'm lucky enough to live close to multiple distributors).

Then again, when I did business with GEX for TWD Pro, the price difference between picking it up from a local distributor vs having it shipped all the way from Colorado was only $150, and that was when TWD was impossible to find.

After seeing the complaints on the ramp layout for the Pro, boy, am I glad I am going Premium now.

The right ramp on Star Trek returns to the right flipper. But it seems more satisfying. I bet if they add a nice sound when it hits the switch it will be much better.

I was really looking forward to this pin after I saw the flyer and pictures, it looks so nice. I'm thinking of buying a premium so obviously it will play differently than the stream but I some concerns, all of which have all been mentioned before. My biggest concern is this looks like a drain monster, that wide flipper gap will be a real turn off to new players, a few games and they will give up, I've seen it before on other pins that aren't even close to this flipper gap. I think most people will tolerate out lane drains if it's not excessive so it will be interesting to see how the magnetic slings will impact these drains on the premium model.

The art package, layout, toys and theme look so sweet but it's too bad they didn't upgrade the display.

So confused on the pricing I thought that there was set pricing now for this game mandated by stern? Still seems like people are getting better deals?

I'm not worried about the flipper gap or the outlanes - we'll be able to adjust those if desired.

I only have one concern - linear mode progression. Am I reading the rules correctly in that we'll be playing "Spooked Librarian", "We got one" and "okay, who brought the dog" before we can play any other modes? If so, that is really disappointing and I won't be keeping the pin for very long. Roadshow had linear mode progression and I got so sick of those starting modes that I dumped the game and will never rebuy it.

I understand the modes are following the order of the scenes in the movie - but I would rather see them randomized within their tier (i.e. The library tier may start with "Back off Man" or "Spooked Librarian".)

Unfortunately because of some of the Distributors bitching over the last couple years about pricing it has caused Stern and their lawyer team to try and mandate new distributor rules to try and level the playing field. You have some distributors that are satisfied making a couple hundred off a game and then you have distributors that try and sell MSRP and make $500-$2000 per game. Big margin difference. Price fixing is not good for any industry and I think it is somewhat unlawful. We live in America, the land of the free and encourage capitalism and entrepreneurship. The customer should be the one who influences pricing not the manufacturer. Stern is the only company I can think of that has required their distributors to quote pricing strictly verbally over the phone and never to be put in writing via email, etc. It is 2016 and it is like a secret society with 'speak easy' mentality when purchasing a pinball machine. I think Stern needs to let the distributors have control of what they would like to sell a game for as long as they do not advertise a price below map. Who is Stern protecting by price fixing? Car dealers have MSRP, but that does not mean people actually pay MSRP. If a distributor bitches about how they are not making any money and have to go above and beyond when it comes to warranties and service then they are just concerned with their profit margins and not the customer. If selling Stern Pinball Machines is not profitable then drop your distributorship and quite bitching. There are plenty of people who will step up to the plate and sell Stern Pinball machines at a fair market price and be satisfied with the margins involved. Let the customer determine pricing and have the choice to 'choose' who will earn their business.

I kinda like the linear approach. Have I got wrong or do you have to complete the mode to get to the next?

Hate activating a mode and then letting it time out to move to the next and ultimately wizard mode.

Agree. I get bored fast of linear rulesets and it does appear to be fairly linear.

Do you really want to play the same 3 modes every single time you play the game? I don't.

Me neither. It's kinda be like roadshow, where you have to play the taxi/spring break missions all the time.

Skip that topper Stern it looks awful.

It's pretty early code. I'm sure it will change a lot between now and when all is said and done with the code including adding more animations and callouts.

I believe which scene you want to start is selectable? If not it should be.

I do like the modes cannot be stacked. With story objective based modes I think it's best to enjoy each one and attempt to complete it. LOTR does the same thing and it works great.

the bare metal lane guides are not much of a problem. Metallica has the same setup and it's fairly easy to nudge, you just need a different technique. With a post, you can give a little nudge forward to bounce the ball up. With the metal posts, you just give a little nudge to the side so the ball rolls to the inlane instead of outlane. It's a six dozen of one, half dozen of the other type situation, in my opinion.

I think the rules will get polish - but the rules as far as how they play/flow into each other is set. It is linear and as was posted in the rulesheet the first mode must be finished -completely- before advancing further in the rule ladder. In fact if you look at the games Dwight has done over the years this ruleset is pretty similar to others he has done.

the game looks very hard. that's good

I feel the same way to an extent. I just hope that what mode you want to attempt is selectable. I think the player does have some control though over what mode they want to start based on the row it's in?

To reach one of the two wizard modes all 9 scenes have to be completed, not just attempted. That will be a fun and rewarding challenge.

I'm concerned about the flipper gap as well, and the pin being too brutal. I'm still working my way up on skill level, and for difficult games like TWD or IM that are typically not fun for average players or people who don't want to nudge a bunch, I've added thick posts for out lanes to help(friends and family loves these games now), how do you fix a flipper gap that is too large?
Draining is part of the game, but too much or feeling shorted and it's not a fun feeling(I was getting that sense from watching the stream). Hoping there are more multi ball modes and less horn sounds as well.

Still very positive on the game, its going to be incredible, and can't wait. Love the classic songs, could listen to them for hours upon hours

After watching the gameplay video my thoughts are it looks awesome. Music is crisp and during a couple modes I had a thought of how good a Polk Audio sub will sound paired with the game(Currently $119-Amazon). The GI lighting is fantastic on the PRO and the Premium/LE model will be spectacular with color changing inserts-it will be a stunner. I cant wait to see the magnets and how they affect the ball in play. I am not sure about right ramp on pro, I would like to play it and see how it flows compared to being returned to left lane. The DMD needs some polishing. Are the cards going to be random or can you just memorize a pattern-Star-Bacon-Star-Bacon-Square-....? Mabye could add some more cool video modes like Ecto-1 going through traffic on streets, Proton beams using flipper to control left to right trapping ghost, etc. The art is simply stunning and Zombie Yeti seems like a really cool humble guy. I can see this machine being a huge success for Stern and operators which is great for the industry.

I think that people worrying about the right ramp on the pro is silly - that shot is a major shot in the game and, according to the playfield, will be used for PKE, collecting ghosts and uses a RGB arrow insert for whatever else. There is simply no way that Stern would not design that ramp to register a successful shot to it. No way.