Wakefield, MA
maybe he's leaving Sterns payroll to work directly as a Kapow contract designer. just wild speculation on my part. the JJP rumor doesn't make a lot of sense, but who knows.
(Topic ID: 297550)
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1 week later
Quoted from Jaybird815:One could just as easily say, Steve at Sterns latest games sucked LZ, BKSOR, etc. and now he’s the JJP savior. I’ve seen just as much of this around here.
Not everyone agrees with your assessment on LZ and BKSOR. Personally i feel LZ Premium is a fantastic game and BKSOR Pro is solid too. I'll be interested to see what he can do at JJP.
I'm a big fan of the EM mech. It can be a ball lock, a captive ball, can kick the ball forward or backward and hands down the best spinner of any game. it also takes up zero space on the playfield when not in use. there arent many mechs that interact with the ball in so many ways. on the flip side- the spinner wire needs to beefed up to handle the punishment it takes. is it the greatest toy? no, but its in the conversation. So is the Black Knight.
Quoted from BrianJ1337:His last game (LZ) flows like a Mf but because it doesn’t have a bunch of toys people aren’t fans apparently. Easily one of his best games he’s ever designed IMO.
I agree LZ is an awesome game. It didn't get the love it deserves because it doesn't have all the eye candy that GNR has. It's definitely more of a game for the hardcore players. Sometimes less is more when it comes to designing games that are fun to play and hold up over time. I hope SR can bring some of this design philosophy to JJP in his next game.
Quoted from flynnibus:I don't know what to say.. besides I can't agree with your assessment. The rules are basically 'just keep making combos', the PF is barren without a single interesting shot, the writing is basically non-existent, the video assets are bland, the art visuals are not really stand out. It's the most phoned in game in recent memory... The game reeks of "here is a Playfield, now go make something from it...". The game gives the player no journey, no motivation, no payoff/reward. The only payoff for the player is a higher score - because there is nothing in the game to make dance, alter, or see revealed. The only saving grace is the powerful zep music, which of course has nothing to do with the game.
Lead Balloon.
If making consequence shots in combos is what gets your rocks off... we can find plenty of other games where there is more than that to do in the game. Hell, you don't even have to look that far back.. look at the shot flow in Jurassic Park... That has crazy cool combos and layout. Not just shooting an orbit, and two ramps with returns to the flippers over and over.
If all you're trying to do is make combos then you're playing it all wrong. I can see why you may feel the way you do. Making combos are rewarded but are far from the focus of the game. I'd suggest try playing the game with a focus on staring/completing "tours" and i'd be willing to bet you'll find a new appreciation to the game. The rule set is excellent and its enhanced by the great flow of the shots. As you get deeper into the game song completions become more important and lead into some of the best wizard modes of any machine.
Quoted from flynnibus:I say 'combos' but I basically mean just hitting the lit shots over and over... and of course focusing on capitalizing on cashing those shots as combos into the multiplier boost and just advancing your album sales by making lit shots. The scoring rules change as the game evolves, but not really the objective for the player. That's why the game is boring. Hit the lit arrow, hit the next arrow, maybe doing so enabled another special scoring opportunity, but overall it's still the same thing over and over and over. Great I started a tour... now what.. oh look, same thing, hit objectives to score points... objectives in the game basically just open up new software based scoring opportunities... nothing really to change for the player, the obs, or even the tone/pacing of the game.
The choice to keep the song playing virtually the entire time forces the pacing of the game and modes to essentially be fixed ... the same as if those modes weren't running. This is why the game is seen as flat.
It plays out like the game that is always the same, but occasionally has different scoring opportunities while everything else in the game basically stays the same. BORING
I fully disagree that its boring and feel the game is a lot deeper than you're giving it credit for. Personally i love the way the game integrates the music and the fact that its a music pin that actually plays music the entire time you're at the machine. the great thing about pinball is there something for everyone. Obviously this game isn't for you. We can agree to disagree on it. Cheers
Quoted from TheLaw:Do music pins not usually play music the whole time?
not all the time, some games make you earn the privilege of playing a song, others play the same song on every ball or only plays snippets of songs. LZ is on of first games to play a full uninterrupted songs.
Quoted from TheLaw:It is?
My IMDN & MET played music the entire time; sadly.
Just thinking I believe kiss plays continuously & Aerosmith is a clone ao I ASSume that one sees too?
Or where those not full songs?
Yes- the games you mentioned all have complete songs- but they don't play uninterrupted. As you start modes/features the current song stops and change to a different track. Also the music stops between balls. On LZ the song you choose at the beginning of the game plays the entire time. the only way the song stops is if it the song is over or the player decides to end the song and move on to another. Whether or not this is a good thing is personal preference. As a music pin collector i like thats its different than other machines.
Games like ACNC/ JJP GNR make you earn the right to hear a song (or you get "pity" music on ball three)
Games like Stern Rolling Stones, DE GNR, Beatles don't have complete songs in them
Quoted from VALIS666:Has there ever been a double row of drops? I want to say I've seen that once before, but maybe it was just in my dreams.
Bally Vector had them, i wouldn't be surprised to see others did too.
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