Hey man, show a little courtesy. The actual main animator for Halloween does pop up in these threads. Rather than say that they're horrible, why not give some constructive feedback. The main animator really wants to do the game and theme justice

Also, it must be tricky to do the animations and have them look good when they are currently coded to loop until the player makes their mode shots. So the same animation looping over and over is bound to look a little strange.

It's not the looping that's the problem, it's the fact that it's not smoothly done. Like there's basically 3 or 4 frames with some bobbing of the head added in, and it's....jerky. I get what the idea was here, and it's not a bad idea, but the differences in shading, and the lack of more intermediate frames are killing that animation for me. The one where she's looking straight ahead and the looking-back-right one look like they were drawn or modeled by someone else entirely, primarily because there's a highlight on the cheek and the back of the face, respectively, while all the other positions look flat shaded. The hair is flat in all of the frames. He'd have to say if that's because it's not fully finished or not. I don't know the movie well enough to comment on how it looks versus the movie. A bit of shading on the other two poses, and adding a heavier black line under the jaw on the looking forward frame would bring them more in line, and clean that specific animation up, IMO. The style just needs to be more consistent from position to position.

I don't know how you'd make it NOT jerky and still have her wildly looking around like that, so that's the lesser problem to me, by far.

Just my personal opinion. I'm not saying this to be harsh, but aside from the repetitiveness of the sound, this was the most "stand out not in a great way" part of what we saw of Halloween. I didn't say anything about it earlier because again.....I have no clue if this is considered finished content or not, and frankly...my opinion on Halloween specifics doesn't matter. I'm not a buyer and wasn't ever going to be.

*edit* removed "specular" from my description....because it was wrong.

Can't you guys even give them a chance to fully code? You know this is not the final product, and they said on the reveal it will take months to get everything in. Chill, and let's watch it develop

As you currently have 19 movie clips and 19 upvotes...
I expect to have a new movie clip for every upvote going forward...(but happy either way)
To steal one from chuck wurt...haha
Thanks for chiming in.
We believe spooky we believe!

For those keeping score:

Spooky - 19
POTC. - 0 (for all intents and purposes)

Well done spooky.

I completely agree with you here. Apparently not much of the animation is there. I know for a fact he does killer work. If your just some rich guy that needs to bitch because ur not being spoon fed shit every second piss off. Wait for the final product don't destroy people who take a lot of pride in this and want to make it an enjoyable experience. If people are such great artist try doing what he's doing.

Wow! Take it easy on the animator. He has said it’s his baby. He loved Halloween 1978. But he’s an artist…with his own take on things. Good lord, this is his baby. Constructive criticism is accepted, but some of this is over the top. Sometimes hiding behind a keyboard brings out the worst of humanity.

The animations needed help. It was my biggest gripe with yesterday's stream. Fixing the animations and adding more real movie assets will turn this game into something very special. It has been said they are adding alot more assets. Just not sure if the animations will properly be addressed. I truly hope they do.

That said I really appreciate all of the hard work and effort that has went into this game thus far. I'm in and staying in. Hope this is not taken the wrong way.

Can't believe I didn't check deadflips channel. People are going to be really happy with their purchases.

I ordered a Halloween CE and was curious. Any possibility I can swap my Halloween Software to play the Ultraman software? I mean layout and switches are the same, just aesthetics is different. Would be great to flash the software I'm in the mood to play. Please Spooky, hook it up!

I asked this in the stream but I did not get a response. Just like Shrek and Family Guy. Would be cool to have two for 1

You will be able to interchange software between both games...there should be no issue there. Spooky doesn’t recommend it but...it’s not gonna brick your game.

How come they do not recommend it? Mainly asking if it's a support issue or subtle differences in layout

I have no clue if this is considered finished content or not, and frankly...my opinion on Halloween specifics doesn't matter. I'm not a buyer and wasn't ever going to be.
*edit* removed "specular" from my description....because it was wrong.

You have no clue? You watched the video to obviously Critique it but you didn't hear bug say over and over that the code is early and alot it being added in?
Sorry I just can't anymore with this nonsense...lol

You have no clue if this I finished content or not??? You watched the video to obviously Critique it but you didn't hear bug say over and over that the code is early and alot it being added in?
Sorry I just can't anymore with this nonsense...lol

$$$

Was Bugs shirt at Allentown last week a hint or just another red herring?

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It was an amazing troll job.

If nothing else, it would be a licensing issue, as machines are licensed for one theme.

I am just guessing, but I am sure they don't want to have to officially support it on the IT side.

Oh please, STFU. The guy complained that the other guy didn't give any positive suggestions to improve it, so YES, I took the chance to go back, actually look at it, and clearly outline what bothers me about the animation. So, you either get bitched at for not saying why you think it sucks, or you get bitched at by some 46 post lurker just waiting to find an excuse to get a dig in, for explaining why immediately after someone wants to know why. This place is such a ridiculous sh----hole some times....

If you actually listened to what they were saying in the video, it sure sounded like the stuff that was actually being shown was considered finished content, but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, and so should other people, which was my ENTIRE POINT.....but clearly that was too dense for you to chew on.

This exactly. They pay a per-game fee to the IP owner.

Im kind of with u on this. I have never owned a Spooky but its getting close now. JJP has no customer support and i dont like Stern pins. I have and love my older bally williams so im really trying to decide where my $ is going now. It was going towards toy story but im not buying jjp nib ever again.

Im in agreement 100% here - to me it just didnt look good. Especially the one where she was looking around. Im sure they have a long way to go (in a way they dont though?) but Im not sure I understand the direction with the still jerky images and some lighting affects. Wasnt clicking with me. Maybe the video clips will compliment it. Hopefully I am proven wrong and will like the final product - I have no understanding of what the animator is capable of or have seen examples to base anything on other than a post here. I wish I did as then I could understand the final vision.

Music was too repetitive - these were the 2 things that really stood out for me.

As for the code and ball staging etc - full confidence in that improving as Spooky has mentioned as much.

Yeah, and to be fair, I have some criticism about Ultraman as well. Scores look small and harder to read than HW, and they may need to tone down that sound that plays when the ball hits the slings....like...I can definitely see that getting to be annoying. It's super loud and when they're being hit all the time in multiball....oof. I like the sound effect, reminds me of 80's pins, but the volume on it might need some looking at.

We already know there's at least one bug currently with sound levels. Could easily be a part of that.

I dunno, I thought both games LCD screens looked fine and I am more than ok with what we've seen so far. Halloween I thought had a kind of a sweet comic book vibe to the animations, felt like I was seeing an old school Marvel comic adaptation of the movie. Loved those as a kid so I dig the animations so far. Looking forward to seeing what else is added in.

That has been my only criticism so far. The screen is not as readable as Halloween. Not a fan of how they laid out the information for players. It really isn't a deal breaker for me since it's not something I am looking at most of the time. Hopefully they can redesign the layout a bit but I am not holding my breath.

I can't see complaining about how the display looks on a Video Stream. Same with the lighting and the sound.

These are not things that have much chance of coming across well in a Stream Setting.

Both games looked like they played great. Not a lot of issues there that can't be ascribed to mics, and setup.

Very excited to be in on an UMce.

*disregard, quotes were messed up causing confusion

........the screen part is a direct feed from the machine to the compositor software. It's not like there's a camera pointed at it from far away.

LEDs always show poorly in digital photography because CCD sensors pick up extra light that we can't actually see and put it in a visible spectrum on the screen.

That was a quoted part of my post, actually.

I am speaking from first hand experience playing the game. Again, not a deal breaker but the layout and design of the assets could use a bit more design direction.

No complaints here just observations and opinion. I don’t prefer the comic book type look on a classic horror theme. Makes sense on Avengers but on Halloween? Brief moments of it are fine but the same image going through the same jerky cycle over and over idk. I’m guessing what we saw was just way too early but still what I did see is not my thing.

Some would say who cares you won’t be looking at the screen while playing and I would agree - but as a buyer I’m interested in the whole package being as amazing as possible.

Hopefully the guy who posted on here has some amazing stuff up his sleeve and this is just the beginning

He seems real adamant to hit a homerun for the Halloween owners. People don't talk about their projects like that if they think they're not on the right track, or if they're not real excited to be doing their job. I don't think anyone needs to worry at this point, just typical Pinside flying off the handle, but with an added twist of "HOW DARE YOU CRITIQUE ANYTHING OBJECTIVELY" going on....

Seems quite a lot like another situation that's been going on, come to think of it.

You forgot the whole "STOP BEING SO IMPATIENT" thing

Personal bias, not going to lie about it. Frankly, I would've been fine waiting even longer for the stream.

Anyone else thrown off my the whole "Spooky" branding. I get it fits them, and it was cute when they started out, but I feel like they're a rapidly growing company, and maybe it's time for a rebrand.

Ultraman isn't "spooky", neither is R&M. Feel like they sort of typecast themselves with this name.

Emery Pinball maybe? Just always see that BSD plaque and Ghost on my TNA as a weird eyesore.

Anyhow, that's just the marketing in me coming out.

I like that we have another serious player here to give the big boys some competition. You need that in every industry!

I find it pretty endearing actually. The less corporate... the better.

.

I like the branding, it sets them apart. “Emery Pinball” doesn’t sound necessarily fun, interesting or exciting to me. And not every game that Spooky makes has to be a horror slasher supernatural thing. It is working for them and they selling out games. Why try to fix what’s not broken?

Agreed. I personally love the branding. It has personality that fits the company and team culture. It’s more fun/offbeat than scary… which fits their non-mainstream themes.

Have to find a new angle to bitch about lol.

Have you seen the underside of a R&M machine?! It doesn't get any more "spooky" than that!

If the company gets big enough they can have a Board of Directors.

An... EMERY BOARD.

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Many worse names for companies out there than Spooky Pinball!

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Do you expect a serious or gruff pin from Stern? Or I suppose it could mean a boat’s ass as well… do you expect an ass pin from Stern?

Good points made!

I agree. Up to this point the whole Spooky team have done an amazing job and I am sure all aspects will get a lot better and tweaked over time.

The Light shows look awesome and gameplay and playfield look great.

Yeah,After rewatching the stream and just concentrating on the display, there is definitely some more tweaking work to be done there.

Just my observations and not griping as I know Spooky have more coding to do.

-sound from slings, I love the sound, but seems overpowering everything else in multiball (I know the sound coming through wasn’t ideal so maybe not noticeable with in person play)
- I love the display style from the show(some tweaks no doubt still to be done)
-Font style (not bad but could possibly be bettered more Ultraman-ie)
-text positioning at times.
-there were some Kaiju battles and instructions to start modes that constantly had text across the screen telling you what you had to do, maybe this doesn’t need to stay on the screen all the time once you have had time to read it and the playfield has flashing clues. This was covering up some cool video clips.(also see dial section of screen)
-Maybe where the dial is on the LHS this could be opened up as a screen(when required) for instructions, to keep them seperate from the main video plays and combos and score flashes etc.
-not sure if any instructions are in the callouts(as in TSPP ‘shoot the garage’) as could not really here call outs in the setup that was streamed.

-Maybe the ‘super jackpot values’ on screen in multiball could be done like the ‘next combo value’ or interchangeable here. (Please also see dial area of screen)
-text also stayed up on the screen there and overlapped with new text at times. Looks a bit messy.
-red text on red background of map difficult to read. The white text looked great.
-I like the animations coming in from the side. These are pretty awesome.
-the video clips from the TV series are fantastic.
-haven’t seen any games in person but the scores were difficult to see/read.
-hopefully someone can tell me. Not sure what the red light under the dial on the screen indicated.
-not sure why there are 3 seperate boxes for balls left. Pretty sure I am not going to have up to 999 balls remaining. Maybe there are other plans for this section?
Maybe this area could be used for something else. This could be your super jackpot score area. And then the ‘balls left’ could go under the dial on the left side. Possibly. This will line up boarders etc around these section more evenly.

As said not griping just observations and I am one that is super happy with my purchase of Ultraman and can’t wait to play in person.
Awesome work done so far from the Spooky Team. Keeping the pinball passion alive and well.