(Topic ID: 84460)

P3 Features (innovations)

By gstellenberg

10 years ago


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13
#1 10 years ago

One of our main goals with Multimorphic and the P3 is to bring new ideas and innovations into an industry that's seen very little change in a long time. This list shows many of the features we've already implemented and shown (or discussed) publicly.

Multiple physical games via swappable upper playfield modules
8-ball physical ball lock (LL-EE)
Multi-featured ramp locks/accelerators (CCR)
3-axis crane with integrated bash target and magnet for carrying balls (Heist)
Rapid fire ball launching out of multiple VUKs
Network head-to-head gameplay (local and internet)
Twitch-Connect - Giving Twitch viewers a way to participate in gameplay
Interactive lower p/f artwork
The smoothest RGB fading in the industry
Dynamic shot labeling and instructions
Scores / status / animations in the playfield (where you're looking while playing)
10-second cabinet artwork swaps
60-second physical playfield swaps
'endless' ball trough (capable of holding more balls than one would ever need in a pinball game)
Wall/Scoop assembly
Open platform mechanicals
Best-in-breed servicability
Handicap accessibility: one-handed play
Player removal
Player profiles
Optionally different game-settings per play in the same game
Team play (balanced or unbalanced)
Game save/restore
Global and event-specific audits and high score tables
Digital leveling
Force-detection integrated into gameplay
Publicly available game development kit
Optional backbox display w/ dynamic content and/or game translite images
Free game trials
USB and Bluetooth Headphone support

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

#16 10 years ago

It's cool for me to see different people pick out different features as their favorites. That means we either bribed the right people or made some good architectural decisions (or both).

Quoted from jamieflowers:

just a question. Since the code is open sourced does this mean that all games will be original? I am not an expert but it is my understanding the most license holders have pretty strict quality control over the license.

Our first two games are original themes (Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl and Cosmic Cart Racing), and they'll be open source. We're absolutely considering various licensed themes for future games, and as you suspect, it's highly unlikely those will be, or even can be, open source.

We're trying to foster an open development paradigm for pinball. Our P-ROC software stack and pyprocgame development environment have been open for years, and the pinball community has greatly benefited because of it. P3 game software will continue that trend as much as possible.

I think it's also worth stating that we don't think of open-sourcing game software as an excuse to, or a reason to, ship games with incomplete software. For the kind of money you are spending for pinball machines, you shouldn't have to be beta (or even alpha) testers. Expect more and vote with your money.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

#20 10 years ago
Quoted from Plungemaster:

You know what would be awesome and innovative?
An HD video of the game being played.

It's coming. I promise.

We've got one video in editing now, and I'll do a full rules-walkthrough either next week or right after TPF.

The game improves substantially week after week. Deciding to do a video when the next big feature is just about ready is tough! By the time you see the video, everything you might point out will have already been addressed. Heh - we should put it on an around-the-clock live webstream.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

#24 10 years ago
Quoted from gweempose:

How far away is this game from production?

I would honestly love to give you a specific production date, but doing so would be irresponsible.

We've basically designed and built Multimorphic and the P3 on our own dime, with unpaid employees and help from passionate members of the pinball community. From these modest beginnings and resources, we now have:

- (arguably) The industry's most powerful and extensible control system (P-ROC/P3-ROC + PDBs)
- (arguably) The easiest to use and most feature rich software pinball framework(s) (pyprocgame and netprocgame)
- A P3 library/API that sits on top of the framework to provide P3-specific functionality
- A fully integrated graphical subsystem and game engine
- A fully re-engineered cabinet and playfield infrastructure for serviceability, modularity, and modern features (all defined in detailed CAD drawings)
- A large portfolio of pending patents

With these as the building blocks, we've been working through the design of our first two games (Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl and Cosmic Cart Racing). LL-GG is feature complete (mechanically), and software is nearing 75%. We'll have it at TPF next weekend (March 28-30) for everybody to play. It's no longer a vision; it's now a real, playable game with unrivaled innovations and gameplay.

Anybody who's built a complex product before knows that building a working prototype is one thing, and getting it through production is something else entirely. Our design work has been done with manufacturing in mind, and we've been building relationship with fabricators, suppliers, and assemblers, but it'll still be a time-consuming and expensive process.

If we continue to operate on our own dime, we'll get to production, but it will take a little longer than hoped. If we get support from the community and pull in some investment money, we'll get there much faster.

Therefore, if you know anybody with the interest and means to invest in our vision and help define the future of pinball, please have them contact me at gstellenberg (at) multimorphic (dot) com or (ph) 77-gerry-pin. You'd possibly even get a free P3 out of the deal.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
http://www.pinballcontrollers.com

#34 10 years ago
Quoted from Kneissl:

I thought the P-ROC was a sweet piece of hardware, with equally sweet software.. this sort of leaves it in the dust.

Thanks! The P3 is built on top of the P-ROC. It's our example of what pinball manufacturers could be (and should be) doing with an advanced control system.

FYI - I just started a new thread with the video announcement:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinball-has-evolved-videos

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

1 year later
14
#41 8 years ago

Another innovation we've built into the P3 platform is one-handed play for handicap accessibility. This feature is now built into our base platform software so that every game developed for the P3 pinball platform, including our first game Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth, has the option to enable one-handed play.

Here's a full thread dedicated to one-handed play: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/one-armed-pinball-i-mean-it/page/3#post-2693310

Handicap accessibility is very important to us, and we're working through a list of features to make the machine easier for everybody to play.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

11
#43 8 years ago

This is one feature that I honestly hope everybody copies: "Player Removal"

The logic is simple. If player removal is enabled via a setting, it's ball 1, and it's not yet the last player's turn, holding the start button for 2 seconds will remove the last player in the game. Even if it is the last player's turn, they can still be removed if they haven't yet plunged the ball. Holding the start button for 2s after ball 1 will do a soft-restart as usual (if enabled).

When on coin play, removing a player returns a credit.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

1 week later
4 months later
#48 8 years ago

Just updated the list with a note about upper playfield modules weighing only 24 lbs each. This of course will vary from game to game, but both LL-EE and our 2nd physical playfield module come in at 24 lbs.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

3 months later
#50 7 years ago

Here's a pic of a P3 with an upper playfield module stored under the machine. Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth is installed in the P3, and Cannon Lagoon is in the case under the machine.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

IMG_20160624_174513_(resized).jpgIMG_20160624_174513_(resized).jpg

2 years later
#51 5 years ago

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.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

#59 5 years ago
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.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

#61 5 years ago

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.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

1 year later
#63 3 years ago

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.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

3 weeks later
#64 3 years ago

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

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

2 months later
#68 3 years ago

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!

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

1 week later
#69 3 years ago

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

#73 3 years ago
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!

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

1 month later
#75 3 years ago

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

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Leveling HD v4 (resized).jpgLeveling HD v4 (resized).jpg
1 month later
#76 3 years ago

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.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

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