Based on the bits and pieces of what has been shown so far, Homepin's TAG is going to fit that bill. It seems to have a real world under glass look to it, and some really unique mechanisms. (Refer to the video uploaded yesterday in that thread) Worth a look if you haven't seen it.

Sounds like Dialed In. There's only two basic rules to it, and then there is complexity layered in under that to add variety and nuance. Also some really unique layouts.

I would like to see Stern do a non-licensed theme with innovation, and killer custom art. I would love to somehow recapture the Bally/Williams magic of the 90's. The amount of high quality games churned out in the 90's blows me away, how did they do it?

I know Gary said he will never do a non-licensed theme, but my question now is "Why not?" Times have changed and pinball is on a comeback, perfect opportunity for Stern to explore a non-licensed theme. Even if they did one non-licensed game every year, it would peak my interest.

That's why I sold my Star Trek. Just felt like it was green mode shoot the lights, red mode shoot the lights, blue mode shoot the lights.

@Aurich. I agree shot "hand holding" is getting out of hand. I think what pinball needs more than anything is new blood and new ideas, which makes Mr Danesi's TNA the exact game the hobby needs right now. Most of our designers have been around between 30 and 40 years. At this point things are becoming a little more formulaic than I would like. On a second topic, weren't star rollovers redesigned to make them easier to deal with for WNBJM?

Dunno. They're in TWD too, so maybe. I just know that I've filed clear out of them and it sucks.

Ah, so that's why they used buttons, hadn't thought about it that way.

I hate those buttons though, they change the ball trajectory too much at moderate speed or slower. They need to be rounded more and not have as strong a spring on them.

image-2 (resized).jpg

no more pop bumber's please, maybe one used out in the open would be nice but the 3 that offer next to nothing at the back of the game are so done now.

I really like the single pop myself. Steve Kirk'S games come to mind and now TNA. TNA might have the best use of a single pop that I have seen and I love my Meteor.

What's a reverse inlane? Can anyone give an example?

I'm gonna counter the people that want more easier rulesets. I just don't think easy rulesets are always best for home environment. Layered rulesets such as DI, WOZ, TWD, GOT are terrific. Sure IM, TNA, etc...are welcomes from time to time but having layers is huge IMO at home especially since pins cost twice as much as they used to.

Check out Fathom. The outlanes and inlanes are reversed.

Fathom, Vector, Mr & Mrs Pac Man and Skateball to name a few that use it. Bally used to Use them in the early 80's. Also called "crossover" return lanes and they were awesome.

Simple doesn't have to mean easy.

I wouldn't, just as a random example, classify The Shadow as an easy game. But the rules are very straight forward.

I don't find the modern trend of stacking and manipulation of order of elements like Star Wars or GOT appealing. There are fans of that of course, and they're being served, I'm just looking for other things in pinball. I want games that are easy to explain, but hard to master. That's where my replay enjoyment comes from.

Pat Lawlor describes this as then carnival game. Easy to explain, hard to beat.

Marc

There are lots of games like that. MM, AFM, POTC, CP...they all have a main toy that represents different "bosses" each time you fight it. In MM, each time it's supposed to be a different king/castle. AFM a different ship attacking a different city. POTC different ships/captains. CP different boxers.

The Shadow has two things I would love to see again on a modern pin, player controlled ramp diverters and a more creative use of the now standard "pop bumper space" on the playfield.

I agree with making the theme match the gameplay. Played Dialed In & Star Wars Pre on location at Cidercade in Dallas. Dialed In was so different, so fun. Star Wars Pre felt like a set of graphics slapped on a generic pinball. Aerosmith, Walking Dead, Batman 66 don't feel like that.

What video was uploaded? Can't find a thread. What playfield details have been released?

I searched YouTube " Homepin TAG" And came up withis video. Not sure if this is what people are talking about it is a low res video and you can not see playfield . But the Music is awesome .

If you read back through the Homepin thread, there are a number of videos showing various mechs (like the Tracy Island mech where the ball launches up through a swimming pool) and toys like the mole (when you hit the mole target, the Mole toy turns on and the drill spins).

Edit- Some Links below:

The drill is whatever, it's cute but it doesn't actually interact with anything. But that swimming pool, that's slick. Could maybe be slightly faster, might get old that slow, but very clever. I like things that actually affect the ball and play if you're going to be interactive.

Interesting Mike seems to have cloned our pinHeck system for this game.

I can tell by the fonts they didn't bother changing and how display is rendered. Having spent hundreds of hours staring at it. Like a parent who can make our their child's cry across a packed room.

The drill (The Mole) is concept only and yet to be approved and may or may not make it in the final machine. Although it doesn't interact with the ball, it does add to the world building aspect of the game. It is not just another static toy on a spring. The pool (Tracy Island) I assume will be one part of a bigger multi ball launch sequence. Time will tell.

This is definitely my thing as a designer, the Heighway Pinball widebody format pretty much demands an approach that experiments with and utilises that extra width at the bottom that the player wouldn't normally interact much with. Full Throttle has the cross-playfield loop that feeds through to the reverse inlane/outlane/inlane, and Alien has the mini-bagatelle ballsaver (an adaptation of the feature Dennis Nordman originally intended there). But most of my designs, whether standard or wide, try to create a different configuration or feed into the lower sides of the field. You'll be seeing more of this.

Dialed In, WOOLY, Total Nuclear Annihilation and TNBX (being a fan-game without creative restrictions) have all demonstrated the time to bring this approach back is now, particularly since the era of using a designer's name to sell a game is fundamentally over. Which means, first chance I get, it's time for me to dust down some half-completed character-filled original concepts and put them to work. They never really went away.

What do I also want to see that's 'different'? More unique gameplay 'hooks' that the rules are based around. Nothing wrong with 'modes' per se, but it's the predictability in how the typical mode chain is started and tied to the ruleset as the central core that makes them tiresome. Credit to some of the newer Sterns in how they utilise modes in such a way that they don't really feel like 'modes' at all, and say what you like about their current infatuation with excessive multipliers but at least it's a different way to approach a game.

Actually, if I remember correctly from when Homepin showed the original mech, I asked how it works and Mike said "the harder you hit it, the deeper the Mole digs." So I wonder if how hard you hit the target influences the angle of the drill. Not sure if this will make it into the final game but a pretty cool concept, especially if it is somehow tied into a mode.

Dialed in has that exact boss mode with a "health" bar for you vs the game. You have to hit the phone for it to tell you the shot that needs to be hit, then you can only take their health down by hitting said shot. Really awesome mode and cool experience. Jjp isn't without fault, but innovation like that is why I love their pins.

Agreed, stern tried and failed to do the health bar thing numerous times. Dialed IN's integration of it seems to be spot on.

I know that the market has shifted towards machines being sold to private collectors rather than operators, but I'm still really surprised that we haven't seen some type of internet/wifi connection to pinball yet, considering the now ubiquity of wifi hotspots. I imagine that, in conjunction with an app, a machine could push alerts and audits to operators when critical functions of a pinball have failed. If an innocuous switch fails to register, it wouldn't warrant a red flag to be pushed out, but if a flipper EOS isn't operating (indicating perhaps a flipper failure) or ball trough errors, and other game-breaking errors, the operator is immediately notified so that he or she can make the repairs.

The feature could also be used to push earning reports that can be parsed graphically so that an operator can better judge when to move a machine, and what machines have more earning power just at a glance.

I would like to see something that just makes you say wow.

TAF - Thing hand
JP - dinosaur eating a ball
MM - Exploding Castle - pop up trolls
FH- Rudy taunting you and spitting out a multi-ball

I realize there are some games that have emulated some of this features, but it is now time for the next ooh and ahh that these games created when they were introduced.

Rules that are not so complicated that when a non-pinhead comes over they understand what to do, but the game is hard to master so it keeps a replay factor.

We could not be all pleased.
The aim is not to format pinball machine with all features that exist (bash toy, magnet, spinner, disc, diverter etc) but in the contrary make each machine unique and it starts with playfield design. Just be creative

The only thing I can say is I prefer hand drawn artwork.

now lets all agree (resized).png

For me, I'd like to see more horror. Proper horror, not kid-friendly PG-13 stuff we've seen before. A Saw game would be my choice for a Halloween release. With enough creative genius, this would be a fantastic pinball game. If it was me, I'd even create the 'Shocker' - flipper buttons that generate a mild electric shock (buzzing vibration feedback, but with the right sound and light show, enough to convince you of an actual electric shock).

big (resized).jpg

It would be cool granted. I just feel pins that have a universal appeal will do better overall, because they limit their buyers with themes that are too adult. Even if I thought a Saw pin had the greatest layout of all time, I already wouldn't be able to own it with a 5 year old at home, same goes for TWD and BSD unfortunately.

The world could use another scissor flipper game like Paragon or Alien Poker! Everything you said was done by Bally in the late 70's and early 80's. They were so unique, we need more outside the box thinking. I also love those one timer outlane flippers on Zaccaria games. Bally tried a similar concept with Embryon.

What about the ball eating Xenomorph in Alien?

If it actually works!

There's a good example for designers - when designing, remember what the game looks like from the PLAYER'S Perspective. The placement of the alien reduces its cool factor impact. Imagine if it was angled from one of the back corners so you could see the iconic shape and silhouette. Or if it was a multi stage reveal toy. First the head pops out....then it eats your ball.

This +1

cloned pinheck or just extracted your DMD art? If he really cloned the board off your github page he's breaking the "creative commons non-license" statement you have included in it.

There's no reason to extract the font art since it's in a format only useful to my system.

Also the end of ball bonus display is exactly the same as AMH.

TNA has a lot of new thinking, it's not a 'me too' pin and isn't about pushing the price point higher.

I'm disappointed with most of what Stern has been making lately.

I haven't seen it. Those other mechanical features I mentioned helped me catch the pinball bug. The Thunderbirds video look cool. I like the swim pool mech.