Quoted from rubberducks:In the footage from SDTM it still looks very early to me, though I suppose that should not be surprising if they're still working heavily on system code (or were until recently) as Charlie seemed to imply.
A lot of lit shots still don't result in any response from the game's display, audio or lights, or do but don't link up very well - it's pretty disjointed. Alice is now very talkative (that is a change), but I'm not sure that's a great thing given the at best mixed feedback on his voice work. Especially as some of the callouts are needlessly long winded - "You hit the skillshot" instead of "Skillshot!" - and therefore often tend to run in to each other. Timing or staging of audio effects, which do sound good, seem like they need a lot of work still.
What is there on the display looks great, but it doesn't seem like that much progress has been made.
Also seemed like a lot of good hits to lit shots during modes weren't getting any response from the game at times. So quite buggy.
First signs of the RGB GI and inserts are now in, but quite limited. They should completely change the look of the game once properly implemented - imagine TNA without all that.
Still seems like there's not really much outside of the main dungeon crawl (modes) and two multiballs.
All the players are still struggling to control the ball on the upper pf by the look of it. However the spinner issues and balls dribbling out of the secret passage seem to mostly be a thing of the past, which is a relief.
From what I'm seeing, it's quite similar to early BM'66 at the moment, in that it's going to take a while before we see where the game is headed. BM'66 was a clunkfest with mostly absent game code and media. BM'66 is still a bit clunky now, but does have excellent game code and media integration. It just took considerable time to get there. Hopefully that'll eventually be the case for Alice. If they're over the bulk of system code work now, I'd guess it'll still be another 3-6 months before we really get an idea of how good the game is likely to be.
I remain unworried as my spot is one of the latter machines, and this is somewhat expected, but it probably is a bit disappointing for the people with early spots who may have had different expectations.
As an owner, I disagree with your assessment. In the latest code update (that I have), when not in a mode, lit shots could be for combos, lighting the mystery scoop, changing the monsters or progressing towards getting the secret passage.
Callouts from Alice sound fine. He has some sarcasm and snideness to his tone. A lot more callouts have been added.
The RGB lighting is coming along quite well. The start of Frankenstein MB is very cool. The GIs have dedicated colors during Insects, Vampire, & Ethyl modes.
During the Zombie mode which is a roaming shot, missed shots causes all the lighting to turn red. Skil shots, combos and multiplier effects are all great, and of course the ball save strobing light and sound is badass.
All 9 monsters modes are there (hopefully finding items throughout the rooms to help defeat the monsters will be implemented soon).
There's Frankenstein Monster MB and Crypt MB. You can also have a 2-ball MB during any of the modes if you have a ball in the Crypt lock.
Upper pf requires some good nudging. You're either knocking down the drop target multiple times to get the ball lock, shooting back to the lower pf via the left ramp, going for the Vampire target, or the Guillotine shot. Sometimes you need to let the ball drain to the Crypt. There is an extra ball target on the upper pf that has not been implemented yet. A few of the modes already have victory laps shots after beating the monster, with more coming.
Comparing it to early Batman '66 is just not accurate. I've owned Batman since the start and have experienced all versions of the code. Noone that's about to receive their game should be concerned as you suggested.