The air seems to have changed on unfinished code in pinball shipping.

This was one of my truly largest concerns about four years ago. I have watched the manufacturers up thier game on code.

Iron maiden has set a bar. I love pinball and have patience in spades. I am very happy to play what is out now.

But like the way the air has turned on code. I'm a positive guy I just want to say good things. Mostly.

I don't like to focus on the negative, but I will not ignore it.

i like the competition amongst quality releases.

I keep seeing Steve Ritchie on dimpling floating around the Internet. I am totally going to joke him on that when I see him at a show.

I love Steve Ritchie.

Brevity, I don't have it, sorry.

This is why I may buy both lol

Both if it's an option. Nice.

Well the tide has turned if Lonnie is gone... Those titles seem to have suffered the most.

Lonnie? Gone?

I have a GoTG pro with custom metallic blue armor, blades, shooter rod and speaker lites I'd sell to buy a Deadpool pro.....

Lonnie is gone, or they have 4 programming leads now? IMO, they need one more programming team than they have design teams to give the programmers time to finish up the code after the game is released. Things feel better now than they had just a few years ago.

Poor Lonnie

lonnie (resized).jpg

Definitely play them both before you buy. Both are good but only one is great imo and remember Munsters is coming at the end of the year and Elvira is coming next year.

eh? That's keith.

Plus the Beatles and Ritchie's unlicensed game.

Usual Pinside shit; some people say he's gone other's say he's still htere yada yada

Damn, well I could correct it, but best to leave it unfinished like WOF code

Come on PW we know know you're a ho ... so get that Maiden now. Design was complete before Stern got it, so it's not like you'd actually be breaking your own rule. This is something Keith did, and it was just for you and code is 97% complete.

..and take a look at the souped up GOTG pro pinlawyer has. You need some new pins in your life bro.

Nope. I'm sticking to my guns.

My pinball dollars are deep in development, stay tuned.

See what I did there? It's a PW79 of the union address.

In my own mind I'm really funny.

PW79 is it taking longer than you anticipate for your interest to develop. You going to release your dollars at the end of next month? Next PW79 of the Union September 4 or 11th because of the holiday.

I personally asked Lyman about the WOF code back at the MGC show last spring (also listed as a code contributor). He responded that he did not participate in that code and was frustrated that people thought he did and keep asking him about it. He said that he thought it all came about from a picture being taken of Keith and him in front of a WOF promotional poster and people probably jumped to that conclusion. He said Keith was the programmer and years ago Stern wanted to pay him to finish the code. Of course Keith moved on, and according to a post from Keith several years ago, Stern had his code and could finish it ... but they never did. Gary Stern hates this pin (according to another poster in the WOF thread), so they will likely never revisit the code to complete it.

Corrected to Lyman.

Sorry I corrected my post in that I had asked Lyman about the WOF code that he is also listed as being an author of.

Pfft. The way Stern treated Keith back then, I don't blame him. And Gary did the license for the machine. He shouldn't license things he doesn't like. They did the best version of Pinball WoF, but it's still not a great pin because some themes shouldn't be pins.

I dunno...I have to disagree. I like the theme.

Of course, I'm an old guy who lives in America. No one outside of the U.S. knew or cared about the T.V. show and no one under 40 here liked the theme. It was doomed from the start. It was the third theme for the layout and at that point I think they just wanted to get it out the door. They were blowing them out at insanely cheap prices toward the end.

I love mine and it's gonna be one of the last pins I ever sell.

That was me. Gary's mood did a 180 when I mentioned how much I loved Wheel. WOF and Playboy are Gary's least favorite Stern pins.

I wasn't big on the theme, but I kind of liked the game straight out of the box (I had a NIB when they were cheap) because of the EM-style chime sounds - then they gimped them and made it sound a whole lot less like an EM. Also, the poor attempts at moron voices (I think it was "keith's" character?) got grating after a while. I will say that with the flipper gap set up like it was and the outlanes, it changed my play enough that I couldn't mix it up with other pins because I found myself doing things that worked in WoF but were bad on virtually any other pins.

How about we make some "Justice for WoF" T-shirts and wear them to shows where Gary will be. It's a longshot, but if Stern still has the code, let an apprentice look at it and at least zip up the obvious stuff.

I really liked WoF when I had it. I liked the uniqueness, but you're right. Play on WoF is so different, you need to play that, and nothing else or your tendencies get all messed up.

The whole family misses it. Great family pin. Non-pinheads don't care at all that the layout is different.

Will there be a BOOM today?!

I'd take a BOO instead and get GB over the finish line.

You'll probably see a Star Wars topper before GB ever gets finished.

Stern will be bankrupt before any of this happens

Relax! It’s a joke...

Probably, but we will see. At this point it'll been a while for both.

We should all relax, it has only been out for 876 days or so. We don't want to rush them or anything....

Exactly. One line of code a day, no more, no less. After each line of code is written it must be submitted to an internal and external review board. Once approved by both boards the next line of code can be worked on.

This has to be true as why else is it taking 6-12+ months for code updates to come out? Lol

When Stern has SW toppers available, they need to reveal via launch party style. Of course that assumes it occurs while SW is still in production. Beautiful Stern topper $800 ... machine sold separately.

Well, it has been exactly 603 days since the last code update. So absolutely no hurry to get some new code...

Sorry, but Stern is doing great stuff recently. But if I look at GB, Kiss and Aerosmith. It seems like Stern forgot about them... GB is my only game right now, wich I play multiple times per week. Its playing great I dialed it in nicely. But every time I play it, i wish the code wasn't as buggy and incomplete as it is now. So I am looking forward for a nice and BIG update wich hopefully doesn't just fix the bugs...

Hi, sorry I missed this little gem from a few weeks ago!

Lyman did some lamp effects on the game and whatever normal system-type stuff he'd've been doing at the time anyway. I don't remember how the attribution stuff went down, but if it was up to me, I'm sure I mentioned him as a courtesy since he did help out on it a little. I helped with some display effects on BDK but am not listed there, so maybe he shouldn't be listed on WOF. Anyway, it was lamp effects and no rules or anything else.

As for being asked to finish WOF, I do not specifically remember that. It's possible it happened, and some other stuff that happened between Stern (the company) and I around then (involving my possible return to Stern) clouded my head from remembering that tidbit.

It IS true, however, that Gary hated the non-"Italian bottom" of the game, and went so far as to rework some number of games that change the area between the flippers. He was the one that was so hot to trot to do that license, to mine and others' objections, so not much else to blame doing that game in the first place other than the mirror. I had watched the show on and off quite a lot over the years and was intimately familiar with it, so as is typical for games I lead, it used the license as much as it could, and I'm very proud of the implementation as far as it got while I was there. As I've said many times, when your primary helper is supposed to be your boss, and he determines other stuff is more important and doesn't help you, not much recourse I have for the state it went out in.

Well the license for an game show really does not a lot in depth and for a show like wheel they it's more of the same. Maybe TPIR can work good as they of had of lots of different pricing games over the years. Seems to work the for the slots.
Wheel of fortune slots works goods as in that setting an big $$$$ wheel is a really good fit to keep making games.

Why did the EM chime effects get cut back in later updates? I liked the nostalgic sounds of the machine with the launch code, but it seems to have gotten worse over time with the mix being changed with no way to bring the chimes back up in the mix.

September update up:

http://www.sternpinball.com/community/stern-of-the-union-september-2018

Status of Code:

We are continuously working to update and improve software for our machines. There are always code updates and bug fixes in various stages of development; we will release them upon update completion. Here are some of the latest updates and the status of things in the works. As always, if you do encounter any bugs please feel free to provide information to [email protected]:

Batman ’66 – We hope you enjoyed the most recent release (0.94.0) and there is still plenty in store. We are hard at work on the next upcoming update.
Aerosmith – The upcoming Aerosmith release is now in final testing and will be released this month. KISS updates will follow this Aerosmith update followed by a Ghostbusters update.
Just because a game isn’t listed on here doesn’t mean there can’t be surprises from time to time.
If you would like to join our mailing list for all code updates for any of our games, please send an e-mail to [email protected] to sign up.

Accessories:

The Star Wars topper has been sent and submitted for final approval getting us one step closer to our formal announcement once it’s available. Iron Maiden accessories are all approved and should be available soon for purchase. Deadpool accessories are all approved with the exception of the final topper, but those items will be available for purchase soon. In the meantime, check out the following items currently available for purchase on the Stern Store:

Official Stern Iron Maiden Pro Translite
Official Stern Iron Maiden Premium Translite
Stern Pinball Player Anti-Fatigue Mat
All Stern Pinball accessories are available to purchase from your local retailer – http://www.sternpinball.com/find-a-retailer

Maiden topper. I'd love to see it. Not for $399, but still would love to see it.

So, Ghostbusters update around 2020. Got it.

basically! So disappointing.

Why does GB always seem to be 2nd or 3rd in the queue?

Who ya gonna call?

Trudeau's lawyer?

KISS it goodbye.

Just insane. Stern knocked it out of the park with Ghostbusters artwork and toys but is now doing the theme a disservice with taking forever to finish the games code.

thought GB was on Stern’s to do. At least they plan to make adjustments. I agree with you though, it shouldn’t take longer to adjust the code than it took to create the code first go around. Couldn’t Stern give it to a new programmer and provide direction? A few weeks later - poof it is ready to test. A few weeks later it is ready for release. GB fixed. Onto SW and then lowly KISS. Stern should then continue down the list fixing code in reverse order until they reach 2010 and IM.
Stern to become known as the company that doesn’t suck any more.

The layout & gameplay suck. Plus, if the main "toy" is Slimer that that kind of sucks. And a light up marshmallow man....not the best.
EDIT: Oh yeah but the art (besides the backglass) is great so there's that.

Have to disagree and I think a lot of others would too. Magnaslings, subway with ramp that drops under the playfield into a physical ball lock, moving slimer, drop targets, two captive balls, etc. Its one of Stern's most loaded up games to date. Yes, it doesn't have a traditional right ramp / left ramp layout...thank goodness!

Ghostbusters doesnt suck at all. Its actually a brilliant game that just beeds some tweaking to make it play good. I love my Ghostbusters and have no plans of letting it go. It got a bad wrap because of the playfield debacle and then the Tredau legal problems but GB is actually a killer game.

Of course, all subjective by everyone.

I had the pro, so none of those things. (not really a "subway" either but let's not get into a semantics thing)

The additional "things" didn't make it any better. For me it was a step into the past with bad DE layouts with more "stuff" that made for a more clunky design. For the bean/coil counters out there I'm sure the are more items in the tally sheet, but sometimes less is more refined. Fan boi or not, Slimer just is not that great of a toy. The idea is fine, implementation is a little meh

Some of the "bad wrap" was from people like me that bought it, and thought it was a POS. Trudau's sick ass shit didn't come out till later. Sometimes people like diff'rent things and it's not always and assault on Stern. You should know by now companies don't really factor in that much to me.

You certainly have a right to your opinion, even if it is wrong.