P3 Features (innovations)

I've done a poor job keeping this thread updated, but we continue developing innovative features into the P3 and the platform ecosystem. Latest additions:

* Multi-machine gaming over Wi-Fi: First introduced with 2-player head-to-head gaming in 'Heads Up!' and now up to 4-way simultaneous play in Cosmic Cart Racing. LAN play is already supported. WAN play is coming soon.

* Optional backbox display: P3 owners now have the option to add a 27" high definition backbox display to their machines. Many P3 games already put dynamic content on the display. Other games show their translite images. So no matter which game you're actively playing, the backbox display will represent the game.

* Publicly available game development kit - Available to anybody wanting to develop P3 games. The dev kit implements the game structure and control of P3-specific hardware. Developers can just add their game specific contents. Two 3rd-party P3 games are already shipping: Grand Slam Rally and Hoopin' It Up. Hoopin' It Up is a FREE download for all P3 owners.

http://www.pinball-magazine.com/?p=3876

#52 5 years ago

S V

solarvalue

Pinside member

11y 107K 3,514 8

Great interview with Gerry in the latest Pinball Magazine/Pinball News podcast. I didn't know that Multimorphic had moved to their own new facility. Podcast and pics here:

#53 5 years ago

WOZ

Pinballs

Pinside member

London

10y 52,800 992

IMO Gerry and P3 are the unsung heroes of pinball innovation, quietly and reliably making it happen.

#54 5 years ago

TPR

frunch

Pinside member

Point Pleasant, NJ

11y 135K 3,637 10

OP
Quoted from gstellenberg:
* Publicly available game development kit - Available to anybody wanting to develop P3 games.

I'd like more info about that, please! I checked the website but couldn't find anything about a dev kit.

#55 5 years ago

S V

solarvalue

Pinside member

11y 107K 3,514 8

Email them, they will send it out to you:
[email protected]

#56 5 years ago

TPR

frunch

Pinside member

Point Pleasant, NJ

11y 135K 3,637 10

Awesome, will do. Thanks!

#57 5 years ago

JFH

jfh

Pinside+ Addict

10y 161K 10,145

My wife and I took a close look at P3 this morning and are interested in the machine not only for the existing games but to develop them.

During my career I was a systems and applications programmer so I don’t think it would be hard to learn to develop a game but I would like to understand what’s required to do so. Is there some “P3 for Dunmies” or “Hello World” type doc/samples that would be a good guide to development?

How much can be done without access to the hardware? I’d like to do some basic stuff to see if I can before buying into the hardware platform.

Where do I find info on video requirements or space/length limitations? Or is that content just stored on a hard drive?

Finally, is there a better thread for newbie questions?

#58 5 years ago

S V

solarvalue

Pinside member

11y 107K 3,514 8

Quoted from jfh:
Where do I find info on video requirements or space/length limitations? Or is that content just stored on a hard drive?

Finally, is there a better thread for newbie questions?

Hi jfh , I am currently designing a game for the P3 (including an upper playfield). I do not have a P3. Gerry and TJ from the Multimorphic team have been extremely helpful in giving me everything I need. Contact Gerry on [email protected] to get access to the development kit. There is also a Slack channel which Gerry will give you access to. A lot of the hombrew developers hang out on there and can answer your questions.

#59 5 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Quoted from jfh:
My wife and I took a close look at P3 this morning and are interested in the machine not only for the existing games but to develop them.

That's fantastic. Did I get a chance to visit with you?

Quoted from jfh:
Is there some “P3 for Dunmies” or “Hello World” type doc/samples that would be a good guide to development?

Our dev kit includes every-growing in detail documentation and a sample game to get you started. Like solarvalue mentioned, please email [email protected] to request the kit.

Quoted from jfh:
How much can be done without access to the hardware? I’d like to do some basic stuff to see if I can before buying into the hardware platform.

Pretty much everything except final validation can be done without the hardware. Our dev kit combines with the Unity game engine and gives you a simulation environment in which you can 'run' your game. You can fully simulate switch events with keyboard keys, and you can move a virtual pinball around the 'playfield' by moving the mouse within the simulation window.

Quoted from jfh:
Where do I find info on video requirements or space/length limitations? Or is that content just stored on a hard drive?

All apps are stored on the system together. We currently ship P3s with a 120GB SSD. Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth uses about 2GB. P3s with all our our current apps use about 7% of the drive.

Quoted from jfh:
Finally, is there a better thread for newbie questions?

So far people are generally working on their projects privately and asking questions in email. Feel free to start a P3 development thread. We could do something similar on the pindev slack channel for more real-time discussions. PM/email me for an invitation to the channel.

#60 5 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

#61 5 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

New concept in pinball... free game trials.

Just announced to our customers:

"Today is opening day for the 2019 Major League Baseball season. Multimorphic and 86Pixels are honoring the day by giving P3 customers a 7-day free trial of Grand Slam Rally.

P3 customers can download and play the game immediately. It will work through April 3rd. Enjoy!"

Note - Grand Slam Rally is a physical pinball game on the P3. Real ball, real flippers, real targets, physical objectives. GSR requires the Cannon Lagoon playfield.

#62 5 years ago

GKG

goldpins

Pinside member

Castle Rock, CO

12y 54,150 198 12 14

Hey @jfh, I have a P3 and created the Hoopin’ It Up game (free P3 offering) I’m local to you so if you’d like to come down and see my development environment including the simulation/packaging/loading processes, just let me know.
Thanks, Greg

1 year later

#63 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

I just updated the list to include head-to-head internet play. We and a bunch of our customers played Cosmic Cart Racing against each other in a internet party environment yesterday, and it was a blast!

CCR is the first game to have head-to-head capabilities. More will follow soon. This opens up a whole new world for pinball.

3 weeks later

#64 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Just added USB and Bluetooth headphone support to the list. Both are available now to P3 owners.

2 months later

#65 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Interactive physical toys!!!

#66 3 years ago

SJS

Sjsilver

Pinside member

Richmond, TX

12y 59,300 457 17 8

Love those magnetic ramp locks!

#67 3 years ago

SJS

Sjsilver

Pinside member

Richmond, TX

12y 59,300 457 17 8

The Crane ain’t half bad either if I do say so myself.

#68 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

You should have seen the early concepts for the Lexy spaceship lock. It's quite a bit different from the original concept. Being able to release balls onto the ramp and/or drain balls into the trough, even at the same time, is unique and really useful. I guess storing 8 individual pinballs is pretty unique too!

1 week later

#69 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Just added "Twitch-Connect" to the list. This gives Twitch streamers a way to optionally let their viewers affect gameplay.

It's been attempted before in various ways in homebrew efforts. Our implementation includes full platform support and is therefore available to developers of all P3 games. It'll be shown first in Cosmic Cart Racing.

#70 3 years ago

KJM

KevInBuffalo

Buffalo Pinball

11y 131K 3,184 11

OP
Quoted from gstellenberg:
Just added "Twitch-Connect" to the list. This gives Twitch streamers a way to optionally let their viewers affect gameplay.
It's been attempted before in various ways in homebrew efforts. Our implementation includes full platform support and is therefore available to developers of all P3 games. It'll be shown first in Cosmic Cart Racing.
- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Congrats on the launch of this, Gerry! It's going to be a fun one

#71 3 years ago

FEH

KickahaOta

Inactive member

3y 44,550 87 1

OP
Quoted from gstellenberg:
Just added "Twitch-Connect" to the list. This gives Twitch streamers a way to optionally let their viewers affect gameplay.
It's been attempted before in various ways in homebrew efforts. Our implementation includes full platform support and is therefore available to developers of all P3 games. It'll be shown first in Cosmic Cart Racing.
- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Really neat concept! And I personally look forward to any reason to blame my poor play on the Internet.

Are there any plans to allow direct Internet play, like the recent Oktoberfest online demo? If the latency is low enough, it could be a cool way to let people like me more directly experience the platform.

#72 3 years ago

PJT

ThisNotes4U

Inactive member

Ellicottville, NY

12y 58,550 334 3 6

OP
Quoted from gstellenberg:
Just added "Twitch-Connect" to the list. This gives Twitch streamers a way to optionally let their viewers affect gameplay.
It's been attempted before in various ways in homebrew efforts. Our implementation includes full platform support and is therefore available to developers of all P3 games. It'll be shown first in Cosmic Cart Racing.
- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

I'm hoping Buffalo Pinball gets t show it off first. Kevin is a straight shooter and never sugarcoats it.

#73 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Quoted from KickahaOta:
Really neat concept! And I personally look forward to any reason to blame my poor play on the Internet.
Are there any plans to allow direct Internet play? If the latency is low enough, it could be a cool way to let people like me more directly experience the platform.

We've put a ton of thought into how to make network gaming fun and to deal with variable and potentially long latencies. We have a long list of interactions we'd like to add, but remote activation of flippers isn't one of them. Cool gimmick, but it would probably never be fun. That said, we've started with some interactions that seem to work really well, including some that might affect the flippers.

We also expect twitch integrations to evolve over time as everybody learns what helps or hurts the gameplay experience. This definitely isn't a feature that gets implemented quickly and locked down. So feel free to watch our upcoming streams and send feedback. We'll continue to actively develop the feature, and we hope 3rd-party P3 game developers will too.

Quoted from ThisNotes4U:
I'm hoping Buffalo Pinball gets t show it off first. Kevin is a straight shooter and never sugarcoats it.

He does!

#74 3 years ago

KJM

KevInBuffalo

Buffalo Pinball

11y 131K 3,184 11

Quoted from ThisNotes4U:
I'm hoping Buffalo Pinball gets t show it off first. Kevin is a straight shooter and never sugarcoats it.

Soon, soon!

1 month later

#75 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Did you know that some P3 games integrate force-detection into gameplay?

Leveling HD v4 (resized).jpg

1 month later

#76 3 years ago

GSS

gstellenberg

Did you know...

In the Launcher carousel, you can enable background music for each app! Go into Settings -> Audio and enable background music. Also crank the music ratio up to 70% or so. Then the highlighted game will play its background music.