Alright everybody please remember to tip your server, let's give it up for her... now put your hands together for the beautiful Vanesssssaaaahhhhhhhh. ("When Doves Cry" starts playing)

Sorry I thought there was a mini strip club inside the game for a second

.

cookies.jpg

You got the patter wrong ... well, at least for Kiwi strip clubs ... have you ever noticed that the same announcer works at every strip club? I don't know how they do that. Maybe they are clones, like in the movie MOON ...??

(please read this aloud in a deep manly voice that sounds super fake... capitalised for ease of reading ... but flow all the words together so that it sounds like one long word ...)

"AahhhhhhhhWellllll Gentlemennnn ItsaLovelyNightHereAt (Mermaids/Showgirls/Lollipops) AndWeGotSomeSuperHotLadiesHereToniggggghtForYourEntertainment ... DontForgetThatAllOurLovelyLadiesAreAvailableForPriiiiivaaateSeeeesionsInOurDeluxePrivateRoomssssss! NooooowwwwwwwwwwwwPleaseWelcomeToTheStageTheLooooooovelyTifffffaaaaaaannnyyyyyyyyy (or Storm, Diamond, Lexus, Angel, Sapphire, Jade .... all the usuals)

LOL

rd

I think it's fine. Funny thing is if Stern didn't make the Starfield Projector and rather some Pinsider made it after the fact, everyone would say it was an awesome mod and want to buy one. But since it's a factory item, it gets crapped on by the Stern haters. What exactly did everyone expect it to do? Project a 3D image in mid air? Project some kind of Pink Floyd laser light show? I bet it looks way cooler in person.

Your wrong
All I expected it to do was project stars not red blobs

As a matter of fact yes. And with the price increase I expected it to cook my popcorn while reading through this thread too !

Since you are into star trek use your imagination a little*......
(*Sarcasm)

It could be worse, like waiting a couple years to get a game*.

What kind of stars ? Like the Sun ? Or Xmas, star of David maybe a brown eye star ? How about Lady Gaga ? She is a star .

If Lady Gaga was in a plane and it smoked a hole in the ground all you lost was a good aircraft.

I think it would have looked goofy on WOZ as well. But at least some weird dancing red "tic tacs" might have fit into the theme on Woz (munchkinland) as opposed to Star Trek. But either way, It seems distracting.

I got a chance to play ST Pro in Houston. I was underwhelmed by the game. I think the ruleset is decent (hitting warp 9.9 causing an extra ball to enter play is cool), and some of the playfield design is not bad, but I don't think ST is nearly as good as ACDC or MET. I think ST's playfield design is better than ACDC, but not as good as Metallica. I think Metallica is a more satisfying game to play. And I much prefer Star Trek as a theme over Metallica.

I was expecting more of a pink Floyd laser show rather than a disco ball

If there is a motor that spins I'm sure it can be slowed down. First thing I'm doing depending on if I have a sigma display when my le arrives Is cracking this thing open and getting a model number or something off that laser mech to see if me and alibaba.com can change it.

On a side not I have an idea that uses an oled screen if someone can msg me if they are good with the arduano stuff

I have nothing against the actual projector. Would probably be a nice feature in a lot of games. Just not really sure it fits with Star Trek. That's a theme that should have a focus on toys since there are so many cool toys you can work with in that theme.

I thought it was tied in with the original opening credits for the show while "Captain Kirk" was doing the audio?

Gives a cool disco effect

I doubt if people would congratulate the modder that came up with this

This "option" looks kinda desperate to me... and risks making the LE look like a bloated pimpmobile in a way...
kinda like a nice BMW or something and then putting spinner rims on it.

I like the pro myself. Lean and mean - rubber on the outlanes and enough led's to properly blind the player during the experience. Ripe for adding your own junk...

The LE just seems desperate to justify the 3k bump - lights on the sides of the backbox... really?

On the other hand I could see this "laser show" looking good in Rollergames... goes with the outfits and it's another SR game to boot.

Agree with the 3k bump... but I think the Lights on the backbox rock. Ofcourse; will have to see in person to be sure.

I had low expectations but when I look at the sky at night, stars appear white/yellow most of the time so I guess that is what I was expecting. Or is that unrealistic?

Slipper Flippers stupidest gimmick ever , nuff said .

Had Stern not mentioned a "Star Field Projector" in the sales literature, but instead a "Red Matter Mode", this would have gone over MUCH better. In the final battle to destroy the Narada and Nero is when the "red globs" should be projected onto the playfield. Then it would all make sense to those that watched the first JJ Trek film.

Did Stern "really" buy one of these and install it into the whiteboard and think this could be called a star field?
Regardless, I have not waivered from my STLE purchase. Great Theme, nice rules, good flow. I'm all in.

Price aside, the results of the projector appear to be awful which is what I was expecting.

However, if it does not adversely affect gameplay it will not matter.

image.jpg

Ability to disable the disco ball in software before FCS is all I ask.

I think the term "starfield" was a misleading word to use by stern. The only way to get a true "starfield" on the pf is to have the entire pf go black as well. Way I see it, they should rename it to "laser show" projector. From my understanding, and the way it looks in video, it seems to be give more of a red alert/danger feel to the game.

Just can't pass judgment until I see it in person. I have a feeling there will be different laser color mods in the future.

Yeah, I gotta wait to see this whole thing on video before making a final decision. I too expected the Starfield to be white dots moving on a dark playfield to either start a mode or something interesting. Still on hold though as I truly feel this is going to be a great game...

Don't even bother making a comment on Stern's page unless it's a glowing review of how awesome it is or it will be deleted.

This mod (which I refuse to judge based on a low-quality 10sec video) would look/feel awesome during the Shockwave mode on my TF.

Now I really want one for my TF.

AFAIK, this is the 1st feature of it's kind. Someone has to design and implement this. I would expect some kudos for the creativitiy.

For the 'complainers' who have children, do you tell them the original drawing they give you is a piece of garbage? What if their teachers at school were that harsh? Would it be ok (even if it were accurate)?

Be kind, or get yourself some chocolate before posting. :p

I posted a link to my disco vid (without a single bit of commentary) and they axed it. Ha!

Pinball is SERIOUS BUSINESS, folks.

are you high? Gary Stern and Steve Ritchie aren't six years old. do your children charge you $7000 for their drawings?

Why do I have a feeling they probably got sick of the disco references before it was out of beta?

Someone should call Stern and leave "Dancing Queen" on their answering machine.

With as much money as they're making, they should have more of a sense of humor. Nobody means the references in any bad way. It's amusing.

Jack played it and he likes it

Unplug it

It will be pretty funny if the final/actual projector integrates well into the game. We'll hear lots of crickets then.

I'm excited just to see it up close functioning in the game. Then I was to see how it works. I still don't know if it is just refracted laser light or led.
This kind of new stuff is great for the mod developers because it gives them something new to work with. Pinside has some VERY creative mod developers too.

You think Stern would try and hire some of the modders. Hell, one of the best moves Jack did was hiring Matt from BackAlley.

I hear ya, but you're comparing children that know next to nothing to engineers and designers who have actually been doing the specific job of making commercial amusement machines for over 30 years.

I just think this is one of those ideas that looked way cooler inside someone's head. Fantasy is marvellous, isn't it?

Damn straight I do.

This is what happens when my daughter doesn't give me art that meets my standards:

I don't think it really matters too much that the star field projector is lame. Since the software control is there someone will come up with a much better one. Problem solved.

Huh?

Problem solved?

Agreed. I would have hoped for some type of a play on the transporter with disappearing balls or a hologram projector...anything other than disco.

I don't see how "maybe someday someone will fix it" = "problem solved".

The projector as it is with the mirror ball effect is just silly.

To be honest, when I first heard about the projector, I imagined a static projection, or a projection that slowly fades in and out -- with stars of different brightness and size, and images of galaxy "swirls" and whatnot. Not too unlike the home projector kits that have been available forever.

Maybe that was tried and simply wouldn't work, but something tells me this effect was a quick afterthought, and they went with the first thing they came up with.

'Over promise, and under deliver' really rings home here.

Not sure if I will ever buy a NIB from Stern. I'd feel like they were laughing at me behind closed doors.

You don't have to "Feel like it" we are laughing at you anyway.

I don't think you understand. He *didn't* buy an $8000 machine with the disco add-on

(just j/k for the sensitive types out there)

Sorry, I should have been more specific.

It seems to me the majority of problems (other than software) we complain about when a machine is first released are eventually taken care by the creative types on this forum or the factory. So in the long run, they turn out not to be a big deal. Especially in regards to the LE purchasers, who in my opinion are more likely to implement fixes and improvements.

This doesn't mean I'm giving the manufacturer a free ride for putting out an underwhelming toy. However, I think the idea was good, and at least the hooks are in place for someone else to do a better implementation.

I disagree

$8K price tags shouldn't come with 3rd party clean ups

Really it doesn't affect me though as I will readily admit I am not a STLE buyer. Hell I won't buy NIB actually.... Unless the code drama gets corrected.

.. until Stern announces a Bacon pin. Then you're first on the list of LE preorders. I see you, pw79

I'd rather be laughed at, than be the subject of others pity.

STLE was definitely a hit at SPF today in Orlando. Two WoZ Pros in the same room did not draw the same attention. The starfield projector was a hit too. The LE is definitely an impressive package. Well worth the extra $1200 over the Premium. The things they are doing with the colored inserts are really cool. Lots of sweeps and fades and color changes. It will only get better over time. Mine is a keeper already and I haven't gotten it!