Welcome

From a players perspective, what are we going to get with the LCD display? Are they games within games? Is it like playing video games with a pinball? What is the USP? Thanks

This is great news. I was hoping we'd see the technology you were showing off in the P^3 prototype get to the market. It really is light years ahead of what everybody else seems to be doing.

FYI, here's a video of Gerry showing off the P^3 at TPF:

I was personally amazed at how well the system could track ball trajectory and velocity with a relatively small array of optos. There is a lot of potential with that technology.

Have you thought about any ways to create physical barriers in the game without obstructing the playfield/LCD or making them permanent? I guess that would be the holy grail of this type of design?

Gerry,

Thanks for making this a reality. I'm supremely excited, and think that your new platform is the revolution that pinball has been waiting for. So excited, in fact, that I will be making this my first ever NIB!

Thanks,
EV

Have you taken your P-Roc and/or P3 machine to GDC in Austin??

Now here's innovation! Dynamic playfield art? Transparent flippers, colored from the underlying lcd screen? Ball tracking techniques? This game could be the first to literally put pinballs on fire, making them leave smoke trails, blow stuff up on impact. I love it!

But there are some huge difficulties as well. With such a prominent position for the LCD, you'll need an extremely talented artist to do the graphics and animation. Integrating the video into the game is not easy. What worries me most is that the LCD may really limit the possibilites design-wise. The prototype games remind me of the Pin2k machines. They were awesome but also a bit boring when it comes to the shot layout (small cabinets, all shots pushed all the way to the back).

All in all, this project is definitely headed in the right direction and -in some ways- impresses me more than x-men and woz combined. I'm not ready yet to pre-order but will be watching P3 closely

Oh, and welcome to the site Gerry!

Exciting stuff for sure, Gerry! I wish you and your team the best of luck, and look forward to following your progress.

Gerry- thank you for all of your efforts to date and best of luck on your future endeavors!

USP was unique selling point.

My 12 yr old just saw the asteroids video and said he hopes I get this pin! I think tons of explosions/fireballs etc coming at you could be very cool. I also think youngsters will be more interested in this pin by combining the screen with pinball.

May have to go on a pre-order list at some point!

It's interesting but it's really just an evolution of Pin2k to my mind, which didn't interest me because the whole point of Pinball is that it's a clever mechanical contraption, it's real. When you crack solid holograms the ball can ride or hit, let me know

Well this looks cool.

Welcome to the Forums Gerry! Will you be making a trip to the Northeast area anytime soon to showcase your new machine? Looking forward to your success and bringing some new innovations to the table....pinball table that is

Are you hiring and do you offer competitive benefits?

Love what you guys are doing Gerry! Great technology and thats what I call taking it to the next level. Boy would I love if the LCD was 3D for the home! Fireballs coming out you in 3D down the playfield.

There was one in Allentown, PA recently, its about a three hour drive from me. Thats certainly do-able and its big. Rotten Dog was there too I think. Just happened this past May. Maybe some of my local pinsiders can jump in on this but I would hope there is one maybe a bit closer? I'm fairly new to the online pinball community, though having played since I was a young lad. Much respect Gerry! Hope to see the machine in person soon!

I think the biggest thing I like out of this possibility is moving virtual targets. Much like you've already shown in the "Rocs" game. Having a target that requires a unique shot angle is a lot of fun (think the crane on BDK).

Another idea would be making the pinball a virtual "paintbrush" or virtual "eraser". Kinda like the carnival BB gun game where you have to wipe away all of the red star with 100 BBs, you could have a large target in the middle of the playfield that you would have to "paint" over or "erase" using mulitple swaths created by the traveling ball.

Another idea would be having a "dashboard" or "toolbar", kinda like Windows, where you could have operator-selectable info show up on the LCD. Want the score to always be visible in the playfield? Check the box in the set-up menu. What ball you're on always visible? Select that option as well.

I think the biggest thing to have front and center in the player's line of vision is a countdown during a timed mode. Imagine the pressure of trying to make shots with giant numbers counting down in your face!

Later,
EV

I don't see it discussed yet, but how well does the tracking technology work in a multiball scenerio?

I've had the pleasure of not only meeting Gerry, but also getting his help on transistor soldering for my LOTR, so I may be a bit biased.... But besides being behind what I think is the best innovation potential for pinball in many many years, he is also a great guy!

He began his infatuation with pinball like many of us: simply playing pinball. So he and the P3 -- now Multimorphic -- team have taken great care in their design and continued evolution of P3 to keep what makes pinball great for players as part of P3.

One ingenious innovation he hasn't mentioned yet is that P3 has the ability to dynamically adjust your flipper strength according to game conditions. So for the ROCs (think Asteroids) prototype mini-game, if you don't defend adequately and let enough asteroids hit your shield / flipper area, your flippers lose flipping strength as more and more asteroids hit you. The possibilities on this nugget alone are endless (getting hit with a potion that weakens you, forcing you have to hit some shot(s) to regain your strength... or perhaps having reduced flipper strength in an "underwater" mode).

I know that they are either working on this or have the solution for this that will do so accurately. I'll let Gerry answer which Prototype version gets this ability.

Brilliant. I've been watching this, this is definitely exciting news.

As others have said, the problem with the LCD screen in the middle is that you can't obscure it with anything, so you have this very wide open area that on one hand, is great because you can project any kind of imagery you want on it.. very cool.

But on the other hand, for example, while you can display an asteroid or some kind of interactive target on the LCD and have the virtual image interact with the ball (i.e. make the asteroid explode), you are (as of yet) unable to have the ball interact with the image (make the ball deflect as if it actually hit something physical). This is something the folks at P2K were able to do by using a holographic-type projection onto a physical playfield. That doesn't seem to fit in your design.

To me, if you can cross that hurdle.. if there was some way of having some kind of disruptive force acting on balls over the LCD, then you'd have it all. It sounds pretty far fetched, but I don't think it's impossible. For example, it might be possible to have magnets underneath the LCD panel that can represent obstacles that block or deflect the ball. Know what I mean? If you could do that, then the sky would be the limit!

I don't know what a magnet would do to an LCD screen, but I know old TVs didn't like them much.

Looks awesome Gerry. Can't wait to see this project progress!

Jeff R.

Holy grail. Use the force Luke!

Gerry, just wow. So happy to see you putting this into a machine and letting us in on it. Your floating slings and flippers are an engineering feat. being able to "change games" , really cool. How will you pick cab art though? And what about the translite/backglass? LCD also so changeable?

Can you give us an idea of what you would like for first run production numbers? just something rough like maybe 200 or maybe 1000.

Congratulations, and best of luck.

Welcome! Good luck with your new company,I am very excited to see where this goes and will be watching for updates as well...

Perhaps you could add a slingshot visual effect when the ball hits it. Also, are you saying the detection optos will be extended to the flippers? How else would the game know to flip the flippers on its own and make consistent shots? That would be one heck of an attract mode!

I love the new technology...WOZ is why I got back into pinball....... For me, its all about the new innovation and technology, love the vision and entrepreneurship!

I'm right down the road from you, love Austin and went to school at UT....I'm a lawyer, CPA and financial planner, if you need any help along those lines let me know, I'd be willing to help for some burgers and beers!....LLC instead of Inc., Intellectual Property, tax planning etc....

GL

You definatly need a back glass! Just would not feel right without it.Keep up the innovative work!!!

Honestly, backbox isn't really necessary other than to hold speakers.

Backbox with beautiful hand drawn art and interactive lighting - done in a unique way.

Make the backbox into a FISHTANK!! j/k

Outstanding! Sign me up for one!

Wow... Looking forward to see it somewhere in France!

A backbox is a must - even at home I would feel something is missing without it. LCD would be great - but costs and delays might be prohibitive. What about a backglass/translite that could be easily customized / replaced? (One you could change for a reasonable fee?)

Shame on me...never visited Texas so far: now a good reason to do it

I have seen this a couple times before and I am still excited to see the finished product and ultimately what can be done with the technology going forward.

Excellent work thus far keep innovating.

Gerry let me say this is great stuff!!! Awesome.

I've done a lot of work using LabView and National Instrument Modules and PCBs along with custom electronics to develop and fabricate test stands for testing Controllers, assemblies and complete Modules. They're HQ'd in Austin.

You products and developments are just super cool. I hope I get a chance to use your products.
Keep up the Fantastic work and continue to keep us up to date with your progress!!!

Very cool. Here are some ideas that come to mind which you may or not have already envisioned:

1. Pinball machine with built-in wifi Internet connection.
2. Downloadable software updates from the Internet.
3. Online source for game software mods. Supported by a user community.
4. Ability to browse and download rule/theme changes. Getting bored? Download something new.
5. Automatic upload of high scores and initials, etc. to a global high score board for that software.
6. Online multiplayer (dare I say simultaneous) with other players via an online link.
7. Online real time pinball tournaments with players from all over the globe!

If the market had all of this I would dare say that MM would look antiquated.

One of the aspects I love about the P3 (at least in prototype form) is how different from a "regular" pinball it looks. The P3 should look the part of the high-tech leap forward that it is. I very, VERY much think that aesthetics play a large part in this. I love the fact that the P3 cabinet has a ton of white and chrome, and very little black. Sets it apart from other machines. The P3 looks very much like an iPhone compared to old standard cellphones....

I agreee that not having some sort of back panel would be weird, but how about this?

Mount an LCD TV that has good speakers vertically as your "back panel". No thick box, just nice and clean. Make a standard .jpeg file graphic that shows when the machine is on, and make that interchangable. Kinda like a MS PowerPoint slide show presentation. Heck, you could even make the picture be user selectable/installable. Don't want the fancy "P3 Pinball" picture and would rather have pictures of your kids up there while you play? Just upload the file.

You could have some REALLY interesting things up there while you play....

By having it just a static picture, that would reduce development time/cost. If you just use an out-of-the-box LCD TV/monitor, all you have to do is figure out the bracketry.

Later,
EV

I think it is innovative and different not having a backbox but it seems like a waste of potential real estate. Maybe you could do something like have a jack to hook up to a monitor hanging on the wall that emulates the screen in the game for others to watch?

Great idea.
Maybe HDMI outs so you could connect to LCDs and surround sound systems as well. You could use , as others have mentioned, your own LCD for the backbox.
Personally I like the ideas presented here. But call me old fashioned, I'd like to see some semblance of a back box, whether with the Pin or add your own LCD.

I'd imagine it would be fun to have a multi ball mode with 1 real ball and 2 to 3 other virtual objects, bouncing and reacting to the flippers as if they were real, in conjunction with the real ball.

Lots of good ideas here and at the PinballControllers forums, some more I haven't seen mentioned.

Virtual lower playfield.
Training mode where it displays exactly the path of each shot.
Generate a display of the ball's "eye" view.
Combine with camera for creepy mirror universe portal view into another P^3.

You're old fashioned

I'll be honest though, the concept of hitting a virtual playfield object with a solid ball doesn't sound appealing. You're going to need really great sound designers and animators to make those virtual impacts have some meat to them, even though the ball travels without impediment.

There's a psychological joy when you careen that steel ball off of an object with a solid hit. That joy will be absent and have to be recreated somehow via sound and image to create a tactile fidelity to the action.