Alright! Back from the Houston Arcade Expo and decided to work a little bit on the game for a few hours. Tonight I was able to put together a prototype spinning flasher assembly, only on my little project they're all going to be RGB.

Here's a shot of that unit:
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and here it is in action:

Also, Playfield artwork should be applied soon. Two coats of primer have been put down so that the artwork colors really pop when its put down (since its a clear vinyl overlay). The masking over the inserts is in the middle of being removed in this picture.

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More updates to come!

(Note that this Wizard Blocks is a fan art project. No game assets are available for distribution or sale. Wizard Blocks is a registered trademark of Planetary Pinball Supply Inc.)

Indeed it did! The person who bought it had sent me pictures. They really aren't that complicated at their core, but the way that the game had driven the spinners is a bit complicated for today's technology. The original game had a gear box and a central cable drive to turn the spinners (like a speedometer in a car), but now since we have smaller gear motors and servos at affordable prices and they've been standardized, its a lot easier to make these.

I will have to change the spacing on the deflector though as I think it lets a little too much light out. Otherwise, the parts fit together perfectly (3D printing for the win).

For the tests that I'm going to do, I ran two copies of the playfield artwork. One on clear vinyl (that doesn't print white), and one on white vinyl. I determined that the inserts wouldn't be bright enough with white backed vinyl, so I'm going with the clear. The issue with the clear is that the artwork will look faded if you put it on bare wood, so it needs a white primer. The primer will also help seal the wood for the application process.

To apply the art, me and a friend will use the wet method where we spray the top and bottom of the decal with soapy water so we can continuously reapply the decal until we get the registration right. Spraying the top of the decal prevents any scratching of the surface when using a squeegee to get the air bubbles out. I light the underside of the playfield for this process so that we can use the lit inserts as a guide.

Many vinyl shops have a vinyl cutter and can run the artwork through as a service if you have the cut lines drawn for them. If the artwork you're trying to apply is a standard Williams/Bally piece of art, maybe Rick has some overlays and you could ask him.

I have tested overlays for previous pinball projects and haven't had an issue so long as the application was done carefully.

What is peeling on your game, the base coat of paint? Did you remove the masking while the paint was still soft? Many times the paint will come right with it.

Is that primer a semi/high gloss primer/paint? I usually lightly sand mine before applying so that the adhesive has something to bite on to. The Wizard Blocks artwork is printed on 3M adhesive-backed vinyl. Was yours adhesive backed or did you have to apply a glue?

Hey guys and girls,

BIG update here! We finally got the playfield artwork applied and are putting the playfield back together. I might actually get to take this thing to a show someday! There are a few minor registration errors with the white mask in some places, but all in all, I'm very very happy with the quality. Once you really see the artwork on this game, it really just gives it a whole new vibe. Some of the insert labels will be changed, but I really can't wait to turn this playfield on and see how it looks lit up!

More to come!

Laying the artwork out

Close up after trimming

Aerial shot after trimming

Thank you all so much for the kind words! Hopefully will get this thing blinking tomorrow!

Not just yet. This was printed on a high gloss surface, so thats where the shine is coming from, its also very thick.

Thank you so much! Yeah, I really enjoyed reading about your endeavors, and the craftsmanship was unparalleled. I also admire the fact that you took your own approach and creativity with your game. I believe we may have exchanged emails a number of years ago.

I took a slightly different approach as I'm trying to keep things in line with the original vision as much as possible. Though I think that the widebody version would be wild to play! The widebody pin2k thing was fun when I did Demolition Man 2000.

Looking forward to seeing what you do! Glad to hear from you and have you back!

So happy to hear this! You're a beast in the woodworking and general carpentry space, and I can't wait to see what future progress holds for you and your games

So so sorry about the delay. Things have been busy behind the scenes. The prototype ramps have been fabricated and it was no easy task. The benefit is that these prototypes can also potentially serve as molds being that they're high grade stainless made by one of the best guys in the biz.

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We'll be fitting these babies on the playfield really soon.

Ask and ye shall receive!

It has been all but quiet the last month or so! The metal ramps came in two weeks ago. A HUGE thanks to Matt (of DOOM pinball and DeadPin fame!). This project wouldn't be possible without him.

Here's the things that happened this month:
1) Got the ramps mounted
2) Measured and sent the ramp entrance carriers to be waterjet cut
3) Got switches, lamps and optos wired in and tested
4) Got flasher motors and wall drive motors wired in and tested

Here's whats coming up
1) Finish wiring up the coils
2) Finish wiring up the GI
3) Mount in the ramp entrance and lift drive assemblies
4) Put playfield back in cab and get alpha code running for TPF.

As stated in the video, the game will be in the Multimorphic booth at the Texas Pinball Festival in March. If you're going to be there this year, come by and play it and say hello!

Let me know if you have any questions or would like any other information!

When tin snips just aren't enough to get a good cut on ramp mechs...

18GA 304 Stainless Steel. Put a nice grain on it and they look slick. These guys are top notch, so I'm confident that they'll come out looking great. Should be in tomorrow.

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Nothing like fresh ramp smell. Time to get these bent and put on the game!

These were cut by a waterjet (I posted a short video a few posts up of the machine doing its thing).

Ah! Awesome. Well, ramps are one of the biggest pains due to the 3D aspect of them. I had a very talented metal worker do mine according to a set of 2D drawings, and I give him a LOT of credit there. If you can break the ramp parts up into a series of 2D pieces, you can also send them out to be cut on a waterjet or a plasma. If you're making ramp molds for thermoforming, that just takes a bit of extra time and post-processing to cut the ramp itself out of the stock. This might actually be more attainable now with a DIY thermoforming rig. Freeplay40 can give you insights here, he's a friggen genius at this stuff.

If I had to do it over again:
1) Cut the ramp entrances as a series of 2D metal parts on a plasma or waterjet
2) Mate those together using a tongue/slot approach where the side walls fit to the base of the ramp like legos, or bend and spot weld tabs.
3) Use the cutting and bending approach outlined by bonnevil69 at http://www.pinballcontrollers.com/forum/index.php?topic=417.0 (or find someone with a CNC wire bender) for the return.

Absolutely, and Rick is the go-to guy for this game since its his license.

I wouldn't say this is the greatest game ever (remember what happened with BBB). However, it would've been the best Pinball 2000 game of the lineup. It really focuses more on shots than the video, so its very "pinbally". Really the video was used for the breakout portion where the blocks are stacked and a few other places to just indicate where or what you were supposed to shoot. By comparison, the video portion of Wizard Blocks was very limited and , in my opinion, less is more.

We'll see how it turns out, though!

Pat has been unresponsive (understandable as he's committed to doing his own stuff, and thats certainly his right). However, other members of the design team and former Williams employees in various departments have been insanely helpful and reached out. I've also been privileged enough to have a look at some of the old documentation revolving around this game. This project just wouldn't be possible without the openness and willingness of those others to help as well as the willingness to preserve many of these types of artifacts.

With that said, all of the modes that will be in the game will be implemented to the specifications of the designers at the point that WMS closed. Many of these different wizards and modes haven't been seen by anyone else but those who own the game.

Every step in this project has been an interesting one. With many of these steps, this game was actually a precedent to the existing whitewoods. Here's a few examples:
1) Many of the mechanisms on the game were prototypes, so the drawings weren't even completed, so they had to be completed by hand (often times fabricated from existing parts).
2) The artwork applied to this particular playfield is the only Wizard Blocks built to the original spec in existence with full playfield artwork (not counting George's custom widebody)
3) The software system that runs the game is leaps and bounds more powerful than what they had to work with back in the day, so I'm okay with diverging a bit from original plans for this particular part
4) This is the first game ever with rotating RGB flasher beacons, all of this had to be designed and built from scratch
5) The translite printed for the game will be the originally designed and hand drawn translite that I'm positive very few people have seen (though its very minimalistic)

Now in many ways, let me reiterate, I stand on the shoulders of giants. These original designers were awesome at what they did, and I'm glad they gave me a project worth pursuing.