This is coming along far better than I imagined!! I didn't want to want this game, but fuck it dude, I'm not sure I can resist now!! (sorry about the cuss word!).

How well do you think that will play though in terms of giving anything close to a bowling experiance...? Do you think you'd be able to get a split for example??

Congrats on the 300 BTW... Did it set off a load of bells and sirens?? That 299 must have been a bummer dude!!! I can't imagine how it would feel rolling that 12th ball!!! I'm getting nervous just imagining it!!

Anyway, back to the underplayfield bowling lane... I'm worried it will be a bit of a letdown to be honest... I think the game would benefit from using the nice screen they have to provide a much more involved bowling experience... with angle, speed and hook being variables you can select with flipper presses and scrolling bars... the ball could be followed down the lane as it hits the pins...

That's my main concern with this game!! I'm all for the rest of it! TBL is my favourire film, white Russian is my favourite drink and I actually wear clear jelly sandles, although I admit I was inspired by The Dude!

Just tried to pull the trigger by the way, my bank refused payment... Maybe they know something I don't!!

You guys over the pond have got a better deal than us in Europe where the game is being made... we have to pay 7550euro ($9585 at todays exchange rate).

What's people’s opinion on how well the 'bowling lane' will work out in terms of a good toy? I'm struggling to work out how a player would score a spare from a 7/10 split for example... Or even if a gutterball will be possible... I'm worried it will end up being a frustrating/annoying gimmick rather than really adding something excellent to the game...

Surely using the display is the way to go here for some genuinely engrossing bowling simulation...!

This is my only real concern about the game...

I think we agree on that one... as opposed to the beauty of pointy elbows

From the brief videos I saw of this mechanism it didn't seem possible to get even a strike... It may be similar to a puck bowler indeed... was a strike possible on those by the way?

I just think it would be a real blast to take advantage of the big LCD screen and have some serious bowling simulation, with hook, speed, angle and, as the player launches the ball, a foot moves towards the line... a final press of the ball launch stops the foot and rolls the ball... the closer to the line means the accuracy is improved... but don't go OVER THE LINE!!

They could maintain the Bruswick Licence in the graphics and change the sub-playfield toy to a couple of 2" flippers that aim the ball at a moving target that arches round a Corvette (Drac-track style)... the target has a crow-bar piveted on it and when struck swings down onto the car... With the apprpriate phrase!

I know, it's not gonna happen... just my fantasy...

Hopefully it will be the same scenario with the bowling lane on this game

At the end of that video they show the pins being retracted (in a little dance)... so clearly the mech has the ability to retract the pins... this is very encouraging!! If they do that, then sensors can make it possible to get spares from splits... All it would need is a sensor on the rear wall to pick up a hit on the far right or left in conjunction with a hit of the right (or left) pin to make the game retract the opposite (or adjacent) pins to simulate the action of the stuck pin flying across the lane... Maybe even an adjustable eddy-sensor (aka Roadshow etc) that can detect the proximity of the ball at the right or left... if it's close enough AND the pin on that side is hit, then the game will know that the pin should fly across... If it starts to react when the pin is struck too head on, the player can tweat it to get it right...

Also, with retractable pins, the precise timing of the struck pins can tell the game the angle that the ball went into the rack and therefore the trajectories of the struck pins can be simulated by retracting the pins that would have been hit by the flying pins!! If they work closely with Brunawick I'm sure all the information to link these timings with what pins get hit from flying pins can be worked out!! Retractable pins make all this possible!!!

Just been looking here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten-pin_bowling#Bowling_terms_and_jargon

Check out 'Dutch 200', 'Emergency Services', 'Grandma's Teeth'... loads of stuff for DP to get their teeth into!

It would be f-ing awesome if the various pin arrangements left after the first ball could be simulated based on the timing of the stuck pins!!! Come on DP, you can do it!!

I want to see cock and balls down there!

You should pitch in here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-big-lebowski-real-preorder-list/page/11

Congrats!

I very much doubt it... they really need to fix that if you can't...

My question to anyone who played it or watched it being played at Expo is: was it possible to get a strike?

The only way I can see for them to be able to do this is if they add a proximity sensor at either side of the rack of pins (mounted in the side wall probably), and if the ball is close enough to the sensor AND it hits the 7 of 10 pin, then it would retract the opposite pin, so you would really have to hit the pin on the outer edge as in real life...

So when you saw the strike, do you know if the pins physically contacted adjacent pins to knock the 'up', or was there some fancy electronics that timed the hitting of pins to simulate the scatter of the stuck pins and then the game automatically retracted the pins that weren't actually hit (but would have been if the pins were loose!)?

I'd love it if this bowling lane was a realistic as possible!!

I was wondering the same thing... Is it actually a smaller ball down there than the 1 1/16"? Is it the actual gameplay ball used? If it's a captive ball, it would be cool to have bowling ball looking balls!! If DP don't do it, I'm sure someone will make after-market versions...

OK, so can someone who played the game or saw it being played explain how it's possible to get a 7/10 split AND be able to get a strike... There must either be some interaction between the pins to make a ball that can roll between the 7 and 10 pins be able to knock them all down in one roll... Or, if they don't contact each other somehow, they must be using some timing software to determine where the ball hit the rack and then retract the un-hit pins... Am I wrong!?

Personally speaking, just to make the bowling feature more realistic... I'm assuming they put a lot of thought into this 'toy', so why not make it as real as possible... a proximity sensor on either side will tell the game how close to the outer edge the ball is, and if this coincides with hitting the left (or right) most pin, it will retract the 7 (or 10) pin to give a spare...

Anyway, my question was, is it possible to leave a 7/10 split, not to collect one... Did anyone see a 7/10 split (or ANY split) being left?

If the ball is too big to fit between the 7 and 10 pins without hitting at least one of 'em, then I guess the answer is no... but I haven't seen the game in action...

Apparently they have some graphics connected with a 7/10 split, so logically it would make sense that it's actually possible to at least LEAVE a split...

That video didn't show a split being left... it also didn't show a strike being made... I think the ball used in that video is smaller than the one they had in the game at EXPO, to make strikes possible at EXPO... That's just speculation based on previous comments in this topic... the question is, did anyone see a split being left at EXPO?

I agree that in the video the ball used will definitely allow a split to be left, but how will THIS ball make a strike? My understanding from posts made above, such as:

and:

imply that the ball used in the bowling bit is the same size as the normal ball (1 1/16")... Which is bigger than the one used in the video (unless the pins are freakin' massive!)...

If they ARE using a small ball down there which is able to fit between the 7 and 10 pins without touching them, and if the pins don't interact with each other, then how is a strike possible...??

The point is, that if the ball is big enough to give a strike without any interaction between pins, then it has to be able to hit the 7 and 10 pins simultaneously, in which case it won't be possible to leave a split... ever...

The only way they'd be able to achieve a strike AND to be able to leave a split is if the ball is small AND there is either some interaction between the pins OR there is some clever electronics that retracts pins that would have been hit if the pins were free to move... Just trying to figure out what of these is reality...

Personally I'd like the bowling feature to be an engrossing part of the game rather than a bit of a gimmick that will impress friends

That's great!

Did it use the same size ball as the upper playfield?

Was it the same size as the 'normal' playfield balls?

What you're saying ticks all the boxes in my list of concerns with boxes at the side I was hoping they'd use some electro-wizardry to make it work good, so I hope you're right!! It would make an awesome game even more awesome if the bowling feature worked as close to the real thing as possible!!