Thunderbirds is SUPER RARE and was going for less than $3000 used the last time I saw one. Don't confuse rarity with desirability. Get the game that makes you happy.

I still haven't had hands on with a Thunderbirds, but it was basically just an example of rarity not translating into desirability. It's not the only pin like that (but probably the worst one from what everyone says).

Well, first things first - that weird art border thing they're doing around the video clips has to go. Doesn't help anything at all and just wastes about half the available screen. There can be no success without addressing the elephant in the room, first.

It's become so legendarily bad, I'm looking forward to being disappointed when I eventually get hands on it.

I was thinking more of a F minor.

I'd take an AC/DC lower PF with a full-size/full weight pinball all day over a Shrek/FG/Munsters one with a mini ball. I *hate* the ones with the tiny balls because the physics are just completely messed up and it's not fun.

Well, for the record, I'm not a fan of mini-lower playfields in the first place. If you're going to do it, make it a big lower one like KRULL with a full size pinball. For mini upper playfields, JJGnR is one of the better implementations. It's not an afterthought, and key to the game.

More current activity talking about the game and code in the Halloween thread because the code (buggy and incomplete as it is) seems to be much further along. This thread is basically talking about the fact that the code seems to be a mess and very bare-bones. Not much to promote here if you're Spooky. But that does feed the feeling of abandonment and dive in prices for places in line. I get that.

Is the next update making the video full screen and getting rid of that surround that shrinks the video to a window within the screen? That's the single biggest change Ultraman needs ASAP.

Thanks for the reply. I understand the challenge of adapting the 4:3 original ratio to the wider screen on the pin, but putting it in a window makes the already small video even smaller. Using the whole 4:3 source video and just cropping off about 5% from the top and bottom, you can fill the screen with it and leave room for scores and whatever else on the sides. It'd give much better visibility without all the wasted, unproductive space that's there now.

Here's the current display (left) next to a rough mockup (ignore the hand, I just cut the shape the 4:3 video would occupy, and ultraman's hand was over the video) of what I'm talking about with the 4:3 source at slightly oversize with about 5% cropped off the top/bottom. This would be a much better visual experience, actually highlighting the integrated footage from the show.

ultraman-screen-compare (resized).jpg

It's just such a waste of space. I mean, *maybe* if you had a JJP sized screen, but with the screen that's there, the pixels are valuable. If people like the frame, fine, but reduce the size of the area wasted that the static images are in so the moving pictures are larger.

No apologies necessary! Opinions are opinions. I'm not against the graphics per-se. They're just way too large relative to the display with the action on it the proportions are out of whack. If people like them (not me, there's plenty of Ultraman on the backglass and cab for another static one taking up valuable real-estate on the display where moving images are supposed to go), shrink them a bit so the screen can be larger.

Or, win/win make an option on the system menu for the action display. Mini/Max. Everyone wins.

Stern did a GREAT job managing the Godzilla screen, which is why this sticks out as very amateurish. Trying to pull it back towards tasteful utility.

Oh, I'm certain that anyone that does UI for a living would be horrified at the Ultraman screen layout. It's extremely inefficient. As others have noted, the Halloween layout is substantially better by comparison, just on a functionality basis. The worst part is, as a big fan of Ultraman, I want to see Spooky get it right, but they're a LONG way south of the mark right now.