Fuckin' A Dude!

Now if I just had my game ...

Knox giggling uncontrollably when you drain to quickly.

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They definitely *were* working on code updates for TBL. Finishing modes, WIFI, high resolution (rather than dot-ised) option for the DMD, general polish etc etc. That was before the shit hit the fan (or became obviously unresolvable) with ARA, though.

Hopefully if and when games start shipping again, they pick up where they left off.

If Koen can't or won't do it, IMO someone like applejuice might do a good job, for the right pay.

Dass ist not what I said or implied Herr Misinterpreter!

THIS is exactly what I was stating:

Do it three times in a row and you get the "Friend With the Cleft Asshole" consolation multiball?

Yes, finding 2 different contract manufacturers in 2 different countries, will nary a pin shipped in they past year. Also, EAs going on 4 years. Amazing indeed.

I guess Koen will continue doing it if they pay him as the money will be there coming in with more sales happening with the Chinese TBLs hitting the market hopefully.
Anyway he's no Alien from Pluto , someone else could be involved too , there's programmers out there.
Appljuice is one of them, got to get paid too..

They could do a lot toward generating interest in the game if they improve code while nothing else is going on.

The stagnant code has little to do with manufacturing and assembly. It's just a reminder that these guys are broke.

There is ZERO reason for anybody new to throw money at this train wreck.

If it were me, and it were my company (I've been CEO a number of times), I'd probably tell my team to step out and find other contract work for a while until cash flow started up again. You can't burn capital without income, so until they got their company back in a positive direction, I'd probably pause code production.

It would be different if there were recurring revenue, of course.

And how is cash flow going to start up again? That's the problem.

They can only sell the promise of a game.

I should say, "if cash flow started up again." They can sell TBLs with the code where it is, then add to it.

That won’t help their plan if they are not able to do « better ».
Let them work some weeks and we will see if any updates

It's update Friday!

Has anyone pre-ordered or know of anyone that has ordered TBL 2.0 recently? I'm not talking about Early Achievers but new blood during these difficult times.
I realise my question is kind of useless here but I'm curious about how many they might have on the books.
The higher price and completely changed environment has me wondering.

Reread your own post. Where are they going to get the MONEY...to hire a programmer for new code?

Maybe how normal startups operate, having a viable business plan, funding from a bank, venture capitalist, savings, or friends/ family who believe in them. It would show potential customers some validity to their business, and could generate some confidence, and lead to new sales.

They are relying on strangers to fund them AFTER they ran out of money and failed to deliver. It is a last ditch effort, and does not instill confidence, and will not generate cash.

It's a longshot to think funding will come from new customers who can see they are broke.

Ask yourself, would you give them money knowing what you know now? It would be beyond foolish.

Not as easy as all of that. While TBL has its original roots in pyprocgame, Koen did massive improvements and changes to it to meet his needs, including a total new display system/methodology. In addition, the way the game logic is then setup is also going to be different. How the 'modes' (both 'code modes', and 'game modes') interact is going to likely be unique to TBL. The status of the rules and that implementation may not be obvious, etc. So, not saying another programmer can't step in, I could name a few folks with some background in pyprocame and experience coding machines on the platform, but it is not like they are going to be able to just pick right up where Koen left off and get going on it. There would be some period of time of acclimation and investigation needed. Keep in mind some of these programmers would likely not get involved unless they had Koen's blessing. That was certainly the case with Magic Girl, where I know a couple of guys who would not get involved unless applejuice got paid.

Having Koen return to work on the code is certainly going to be the best option for owners and DP as it will be faster and far more cost effective.

I’m on the cointaker list. Cointaker isn’t even taking deposits though. Guess we aren’t gonna pay until they have games in hand.

what is the current price?
thanks

I was in with Nitro about a year ago and then got out about 8 months ago and then went back in about 4 months ago. I have a $1000 deposit and the total cost is $10,000. I believe I was like 297 the first time, I don't know what number I am now. I'm ready to send my check when Tommy tells me my game is there!

There is very little risk reserving a spot right now and if they opened up another 100 pre-orders, I think they could probably fund the whole thing better. While I understand EAs being upset about getting their games last when they paid first, there may be some kinks that need to be worked out and they should get more polished and complete games when they do.

This what i meaned .. dont know enough about Spooky, but CGC ... yes .. no risk in my opinion ...
Ordering from Skid-B and his main dealer Mad ....

It is not cheaper to build in China?

I was on the fence to buy one if price were in relation with the market but if it is 10k€ I am out for sure.

No idea, but Euro price might be different than USD price?

I think you don’t know the honor and the privilege to pay 20% tva taxes ( and also currency change is no longer in favor of euro).
For exemple, AS pro is 6500-6600€ here. What is the price in US?
About TBL, my dead line is 8000€.

That's actually $10,000 USD so I don't know what the Euro price would be. I'm paying $9500 for my JJPOTC LE and this is a far more limited product and a dream theme for me so it's worth it.

It was already the same price 10k$ for EA games. Correct?

Forgot to post this earlier but when I picked up my Alien last week at cointaker I saw this. Talk about an absolute tragedy. Damaged during shipping!

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The original price for EA games was $8500 US

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-big-lebowski-preorder-club/page/6#post-2486262

There are some here who would have that fixed and running in one day!

The rumors was 300 TBL's were ordered by CT and Nitro. Your question is - how many of those are unassigned to a customer, right? What with some waiting lists, CT and Nitro may have a handful of games that people dropped out or that they overordered. I'll bet it is not many though. Hasn't pricing remained the same at each distributor - everyone gets the same deal?

Was that the TBL that was at Expo?

I believe number 200-300 were ordered by CT and Nitro. This is 100 units, not 300. The first 200 were the remaining Early Achievers that stayed in.

That price was only for dealing directly with Dutch Pinball. You were given a little discount, congrats. You were also automatically qualifed as a TBL EA. Unfortunately that's the group of loyalists that are getting royally fu@ked. All new ordered pins, which it sounds like is really 100 TBLs are preordered and accounted for with customers from CT and Nitro. There also appears to be a wait lists that may be separate from existing orders.

So it doesn't seem there is a lack of buyers. Which means - as soon as DP can build the games, they can be sold and shipped. So what's the holdup? Also 200 EA's games should be built alongside these new builds. All vendors, suppliers and subcontractors MUST BE FULLY PAID too. Which then begs the question... how many additional orders beyond the 100 preorders are needed to put HP into the black? I'd be interested in one. Figure that's gonna be around early 2019 and $10k price point might make sense.

No that was one that was damaged in shipment to a customer. I guess CT took it back and issued a refund? They probably decided not to ship it back or were waiting for direction from DP on what to do with it.

Hmmm. If you don’t know the difference between Dutch Pinball and Heighway Pinball you are in for a surprise when you unbox it and an Alien jumps on you

That is a physical metaphor for Dutch Pinball. What could have been.

No new shit newsletter again this week?

Next update at Dutch Pinball Open.

Lots of good parts!

I hear it's the debut of two from the new manufacture. It's about to get interesting....

Yes a bit of money for Koen from DP and back to work on that coding stuff for more fun...

I recall Melissa say/write at one time that there was nothing to expect in that direction as it was more damaged than the pictures would tell...
So 55 out there less 1 for good.

There's also that story about an early owner ( # ? ) that had his game delivered at his home a bit early by the transport company that got hired on that occasion..
The delivery guys thought the owner would appreciate a little help before he arrives home so they decided to open the box (!!) and tryed to settle the game up and managed to fuck-up the game ( back-box fell on the cabinet or something !!)..
When the owner arrived home he woudn't take the game obviously...
F...!!!!!!
Kinda unwanted white glove delivery gone wrong big time sort of nightmare

I will gladly take that busted up TBL vs. nothing at all.

That's likely mine #47 along with I believe 2 others destroyed in the last shipment that was heading to the west coast last year. It was so close to being home! Tragedy is right!

What's the deal with all the resets? Anyone else experiencing that? I saw the same thing happening on the machine at Expo

I don't know about the reset and that's the first I've become aware of them. I will be sending that link to DP for them to review.

You need more info. Was it a hardware reset (down to the bios) or a game reset back to attract mode. Big difference.

Dear Rens,

Welcome to your regular update of the production of The Big Lebowski™ Pinball (TBL)!

Our last update was about the pinball Expo in Chicago where we introduced our new Contract Manufacturer: Xytech Module Technologies, a Dutch company with a factory in Suzhou, China. Barry and Guus visited the factory and built the first Engineering Sample with the Xytech team.

Yesterday we received the second Engineering Sample, built by the Xytech Team without any help from Dutch Pinball. We are very excited to inspect the new game in detail as you will understand! The first impression is very good! Here are some pictures:

Dutch Pinball Open
We now will have to evaluate and test the new engineering sample and if all goes well, we will bring it to the Dutch Pinball Open (DPO) in Eindhoven, that takes place at November 11 & 12. During this weekend the game will be played a lot so we can get a good impression of the quality and the durability. For more info on the DPO: https://www.nfvpinball.nl/dpo.

Questions:
We also received some questions from EAs, so here’s a short FAQ:

Q: Who will supply the playfields?
A: The playfield will still be supplied by Mirco Playfields, Germany.

Q: What about your previous contract manufacturer?
A: Our attorney advised us not to comment on questions about them anymore. So we won’t.

Q: Will there be future code updates and will the software be compatible with both TBL versions?
A: Yes. We are working on a smaller update which will be released very soon and when the new games ship they will include complete code version 1.0 (including Wizard Mode).

Q: When will I get my TBL?
A: At this point we don’t know yet. We understand how difficult it is for Early Achievers to wait and wait. We and Xytech will do anything we can to start production of new games as soon as possible. We will also make sure you Early Achievers will have your advantages for waiting a long time. Thank you again for your patience and trust.

We hope to see you in Eindhoven to play the Big Lebowski™ Pinball at the Dutch Pinball Open!

Barry and Jaap

Our next update will be on Friday November 17.

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I think this is a nice update and show progress is made.

Barry, Jaap and Guus will now for sure test TBL2.0 made in China very rigid and @ DPO it will be played for 23 hours, quite a test.

We ain't there yet but progress is made.

Am a happy dude