Ottawa, ON
I hear rumours of a VE in the horizon.
Best rumour this year!
(Topic ID: 160397)
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TRON: Legacy (LE)
Stern, 2011-
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I will take anything. The sam or spike II but the rumour is new art, LCD.
Kaneda confirmed yesterday night that Borg is already working on it.
It’s coming!!!
Open the portal!!!
Quoted from RikeIsland:Maybe with the new Spike three system we will get our Tron.
Not sure why would be need spike III?
2 weeks later
Quoted from SLAMT1LT:They should remake this game using all the technical wizardry of today. I've since created my own 'Legendary Edition' which goes far beyond what a real pinball machine can do. The original Stern game is ok, but only really scratches the surface... there's so much more potential here.
Share it!
Quoted from Lethal_Inc:You know if they remade this it would be at a premium price if not more. You willing to drop $10K?
Yes
Quoted from Saltimbanco:We're simply getting ready for next year's Tron VE hype thread! [quoted image]
Hehe.
Takeeeee my money.
Also …love that graphic!!!!
Quoted from snaroff:Amen. I've owned 3 TRONs over the years...one of the best! Here is the current beauty Never gets old...fast, furious and really brutal.
[quoted image]
Agreed. But I am not willing to pay TRON PRO prices of this old tech, I am holding off until the VE which will happen and will most likely be one of the biggest cornerstones for next year as most of the other licenses are really WEAK sauce. I do not need a marvel pin and dont think anybody does either.
But a nice TRON... I think that is Stern is smart, if James Bond sells well then they will another hit to maintain momentum.
Tron hits the right spot with a light BOM - really the pro has nothing in other than the disc - but just needs lit up ramps or it is just underwhelming to play once you play it with.
Add to modern sounds, better animations and callouts to the LCD/gameplay, a light system using the new LED kits we have in music pins (Led Zeppelin, Rush), lit up those ramps and you have a home un without even trying. This will open up the field and give Stern sometime to come up with another heavy hitter right after...
Quoted from snaroff:TRON isn't "old tech"...sure, it lacks an LCD, but the ColorDMD on it rocks. Many of us have all the awesome mods, which includes some very cool work on the soundtrack. I have many modern games and I TRON gets played just as much as the more modern Sterns (along with Metallica, AC/DC, etc.). The rule sets and shot choreography on many of these older games is stellar.
I'd love to see Stern come out with a new/improved TRON, but somehow I doubt it will be any better than what we have today. If I'm wrong, I'll upgrade In the meantime, I'll enjoy what exists. As DaveH says "Life is too short"...this thread is already 6 years old! WTF...
Yes it is not terribly old. not bad I guess.
Quoted from JackG:With Bond 60th being only available to a small amount of people at a high price, nothing is off the table. Tron VE might as well be limited to 500 and starting at 25k. This will probably be the way of Stern in the foreseeable future.
since this thread is about to become price/inflation for the next page or so..
KEEP THOSE TRON PICS COMING.
Quoted from beelzeboob:I had it for a few years...wouldn't get another one if re-released. It's one of the nicest-looking games out there, but it was too one-dimensional for me. Light up the entire "ladder" by completing the modes, and do the wizard mode (and mini-wizard mode if you didn't complete all the modes). When you finish the wizard mode, there's really no payoff. It just restarts. I'd love to play somebody else's again, though. It's a ton of fun for the short term.
I have my share of pins that are deep and LONG... I do not need every pin I own like that. Sometimes I just want to shoot it and walk away with a smile. That is cool.
I had Simpsons for a bit, talk about deep rules, now tell me what it feels like to get 80% into the game to drain your last ball lol. It is not fun to play a deep game all the time, it is a journey to be enjoyed every once in a while for skill level. I am not IE pinball (forgot his name) or Papa that can finish almost any game, lol.
I think Tron has it's place. If they remake it with new rules, it would be very cool if they kept the original ruleset as well. So you can go into a deeper vs old-school Tron.
Do that Stern, I double dare you!
Disney business model is not simply a theme park and movies is not it?
I mean, historically, they probably made more money through licensing toys than anything else. Movies and theme parks are just how these things are channeled.
It certainly is magic.
Disney is currently pushing for 2 Star Wars videogames a year, another way of getting the characters in front of kids.
I am sure that once Tron Park re opens there will be a huge push for relicensing old contracts, what is easier for sales than reaching out to your existing client base?
Nothing.
So there you have it, Tron VE is happening shortly after or during the opening of the park. The pin will need to live somewhere in the park as well. Why would Disney not want to have an adult size toy in a Tron park? This will fit nicely inside the gift shop as you enter/exit.
It really is a no brainer. That, and the fact that has been confirmed twice and not once by Kaneda. Do not forget he was 100% correct with all his Bond rumours.
Current rumour is Borg already working on the game, it will have lcd, new art and new etc.
Bring it on!!!
Quoted from Jaytech10:I work with a arcade manufacturer on the side to set up conventions and shows. The last one I went to was a licensing show. Set up 2 booths. 1 machine in each. There are agents involved. They are flying me to Orlando for the iaapa expo. The gm told me at the licensing show how this stuff works. If Disney says that they 5 million for the tron license. Stern might pass. Stern has to get approval from art to videos too. Who knows how much gets rejected. We see msrp or map prices only. distributors have to make money too. Disney is not cheap to work with.
Pinball is a multi billion industry.
A license like Tron that is needing to compete with Star Wars will never be as expensive as other contracts maybe?
Not the first rodeo for either one. We are just guessing but my feel is that Tron is cheaper than Star Wars
Quoted from thedarkknight77:It’s not about Tron, it’s about good business sense and all of Sterns greatest hits will be remade. The hobby has grown and Stern is healthy, but it can all change overnight. In business, you are expected to grow YOY no matter what hurricane is thrown in your way. Go listen to the last Nike earnings call. Inventories across all industries are about to change from an all time lows, to an all time highs. All of those newbies that got into the hobby can flee just as fast as they entered, they don’t have a decade of devotion to this hobby. I am not saying there will be a crash, but inventories will elevate on the used market and within dealers………..last time I checked Stern doesn’t profit from used pinball sales and I don’t see many new people entering our beloved hobby during an economic slow down.
been saying this for over 3 months but people insist that this is still 2005.
Quoted from MK6PIN:Lmfao....thanks for a Sunday chuckle!!
Did you lmfao or chuckle?
I am confused.
Must have been a shart?
Quoted from PinballManiac40:LOL! Not in Canadian Loonies, not Euros, not any currency.
You are just bad at math?
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Not at all. Multi MILLION dollar business, that it is. Not a Multi Billion, like you said it is.
I think Stern alone with 3 cornerstones for sure not. Never said Stern is pulling these numbers. I am pretty sure I said the “industry of pinball”
Then add the rest of the industry, including other pinball brands, and, maybe all modders, pinball shows, pinball parts resellers.
Still not a 1 Billion?
Gotta be really close if it is not with the crazy profits on anything pinball.
Quoted from Saltimbanco:Just to make sure what that new Stern game would be called..! [quoted image][quoted image]
How is this NOT epic if it was to be made now with 2022 pinball tech.
Take my f money!!!
Quoted from MK6PIN:Revived a reason to post pics of this amazing game
That's about it
Moving on, and will revisit in another 6 years..( bored, waiting on Bond stuff
I am waiting on bond as well, only to really figure out what that jetpack is all about because so far it does look like it does nothing important.
Moving on from Bond.
you all got Limited Premiums, only 400 of these Premium machines were made.
Because these premium machines were limited to 400 units, they added to the PREMIUM machine a plaque indicating which one of the 400 machines made you got.
Stern then caught up with the idea and said, HA, let's just make a PREMIUM that is exactly like the LE but let's remove a couple of things and call it premium with unlimited numbers. The UNLIMITED PREMIUM was then born as we currently know it.
For more tips please follow me on my YouTube channel.
Quoted from punkin:[quoted image]
lolol
Quoted from JodyG:Well for those of you who would rather play now instead of wait for later, I have the ramps done and available for both Pro and Prem/LE's now. I was honestly shocked at how many sold right away when I first released them. For the relatively few Tron games Stern made, those of you who have them were quite enthusiastic about purchasing new ones!
do you also offer the ramps pre drilled for the Premium/LE?
I am thinking that those with a pro that have the Eli kit, should opt for the LE ramps as these have the holes you need...
Quoted from cooked71:No question it would sell.
I’ve always thought The Simpson’s, with upgraded spike 2 LCD, would also be a no brainer.
Simpsons is nice but it does well with led as is.
A new simpsons woule be nice, but less clunky, more flowy and better flippers.
Whereas Tron just needs to make use of the assets better and better sound, simpsons would be better off being a total new game.
I will laugh at all of you next year. I will make sure to post pics of my VE while Olivia is working the game. I will make sure to mess it up prior to her arrival so she has to stay longer.
Play smart boys.
Quoted from gprotein:You do that next year, and Ive been playing smart with mine since 2011
booooo
Quoted from Ashram56:Well, if he's not a dev, he probably don't know much about coding. And he probably is not a dev if he owns a distributor
It would not be a trivial effort, unlike his claims. Sw development is always underestimated, and given Spike2 architecture, it's so different to SAM (both in topology and coding methodology) that I would absolutely not call this an easy task. Doable, sure, but not one engineering writing code in his own on a desk, at least In a reasonable time-frame.
You just literally saw a game working in sam and spike 1 in the photo above and yet you insist this is mission impossible.
Lol
Literally the only difference between spike 1 and 2 is, the interconnect shut off, dmd vs lcd and a faster computer.
I think you guys are overthinking.
I will laugh at this when Olivia comes over.
Quoted from Ashram56:I did not say it was impossible, I said it was not trivial.
And as for this guy skill VS mine, indeed I did not meet him and I don't know him. But I know MY skills. And as it turns out my, my day to day job is about embedded device project, and how to bring them to market, HW and SW included. So I do know quite a bit about what it takes to build these things.
And the comparison above was about running the same game code on two different platforms. That part is easy, there are multiple examples today on how to do that. Writing a new code with assets on a new sw infrastructure is a different scale.
But Stern can absolutely do it, they have the resources and skill.
And by the way, your comment is completly wrong about the transition, because, well.... Tron is not a Spike 1 game, it's SAM.
It's just not trivial as some imply
Ghostbuster runs sam and spike 1
Spike 1 and spike 2, same board system without lcd.
No, I was not wrong.
Quoted from Trekkie1978:I spoke to my distributor about a Ton VE and he said they would sell like hot cakes if they did it.
Me personally, I wouldn't mind a VE with new art, ported to the Spike 2 with some updated code. The way the current code sits, I don't know if I would want one. I've been to portal several times on the one my friend owned for a few years.
Throw some updated code in there with a lot more to do...count me in.
A pin is as easy as you set it up. I used to get to the wizard mode of iron maiden every few dozen games… changed the pitch and a few little things and I can barely get past the modes now.
Quoted from punkin:I don't like either of them. Not immersed in the theme and that's what does it for me, no matter what the theme is.
I agree with this gent. I dislike both of those pins, they feel soulless. Spiderman is long playing and uninspiring, just boring to shoot endlessly and horrible callouts throughout and boring choreography and modes, even the bonus scoring, that spiderweb sound is cringe worthy, reminds me of a little kid learning to spit to look badass... It will never enter these premises @Saltimbanco, lol but feel free to drop off Tron and Shadow any time. lol
Tron cabinet needs to be the grid and the portal, something really cool and out of thid world.
The head of the game should be shaped as a recognizer and the translite should and must have a pulsing portal.
Or maybe the head is just a recognizer. I think it is just such a cool theme for something unique.
Quoted from arcademojo:I finally bought a color DMD for my LOTR after owning it for 7 years.
With that being said. I'm 100% sure the next vault/upgrade will be a new LOTR with movie footage.
Lol, this is like me looking for an old Data East for 2 years, bought one 6 hours round trip, 2 days later 3 of the same appear near by.
Anyway, lol, it is Tron though. But maybe lotr is next. Cheers
Quoted from tdiddy:The issue I'm seeing is .....finding those Mods from 6 years ago. Tron is great but when it's modded out, it's amazing. The EL ramps aren't in production nor is the arcade....2 big mods to make the game that much special. Hopefully if a VE does come, someone will revisit those mods
I believe the arcade is in fact being made... is not it?
Saltimbanco
Quoted from acedanger:Sorry peeps No Tron VE is coming the absolute thought of this to me is utterly ridiculous. Best case scenario is a possible re-designed Spike 3 Tron.
nah. spike II is fine.
Quoted from punkin:[quoted image]
Where's my fuckin VE Stern?
Lolol
Quoted from dts:How many Tron Pros are out there? I'm close to picking one up, before they announce the Vault! Sounds like Jimmie at 86Pixels will make another EL run at some point. I've heard that playing Tron with ceramic powerballs is a lot of fun.
El? Eli ramps?
We need to know more about this please.
Quoted from Goronic:I don’t know if there will be a TRON VE or not, but the amount of “Told Ya!” posts will be unbelievable.
Ha! I just want Tron VE for that alone. I don’t even want the game anymore!!
Lol
A new game with extended code where 82 Tron is included could be epic.
I want Tron VE with extended code, that is all I want, and lit up ramps please!
Hey if we are getting trolled. Which we did in the last 2 days, severely. It’s because this is working.
Keep at in!
Come on Stern!
But I said it before I say it again… market is about to go belly up! Most recent games are ALL in stock.
Want a rush? No problem.
Things are not selling above market, tbe nib flipping is done.
What do I mean by this:
This is the perfect time to pump out a vault or two, to keep things rolling while other inventory isnt moving.
Ve is coming!
Quoted from punkin:We're a bunch of stoneheads sittin round the campfire dreaming at 2am. Quietly enjoying a conversation.
Then DebbieDowner get's up cause she can hear us and comes out and starts bringing everybody down and arguing about the realities we are not even concentrating on and trying to fuck the whole conversation up because she can't sleep knowing we are quietly enjoying ourselves.
Who's missus are you FlyynnyDeb?
I'll go wake your man up and get him to take you back to your tent.
lol
Quoted from Saltimbanco:Full screen on a Tron VE would look awesome, like on those dual virtual games..!
[quoted image]
this is how all machines should be!
I find current Sterns, often times minimize the scoring too much, not to mention JJP! lol they have so much crap on their screens I do not even know what I am supposed to look at.
I like the idea of 2 different screens, one for the fun stuff and one for just the scores. I know I am dreaming! but hey!!!!!
Quoted from Aurich:I don't really like sharing things before they're done, but I'm having trouble not showing my in progress on this one because I'm having a good time with it, and I think it's coming out great.
See if I can hold out, in the meantime I'll be a horrible tease.
No need to show me anything but just say the words ramps and lights, and maybe we can have an idea where you are going with it.
Is it lit ramps?
Like…you know, Eli ramps but not, just made by you.
If you tell us by pm we can keep it a secret.
Ok so I did a thing…
Reached out to Eli Kurtz again after my last attempt for help on recreating the tron ramps.
He sold the design to pinbits. Now pinbits is out of business.
He cant help nor sell me the plans…pinbits own it.
Anyhere here knows who pinbits owners were? I want to offer to buy the designs off them and replicate the ramp mods.
I just need to have this convo with the decision makers at pinbits, unless they hate money, maybe there is no other reason to not sell the plans to these mod.
Please reach out to me with any info
Pinbits
Offer still standing.
I would like to know who the owners are/were so I can reaxh out to them.
Real names ans/or facebook accounts would be really really helpful.
https://media.giphy.com/media/6uGhT1O4sxpi8/giphy.gif
I give up, do not know how to link up a GIF here. lol
Quoted from digitaldocc:lol. ok ok. I looked it up. You're refereeing to the eli kit. As it turns out my Tron Pro has one. Yeah, somebody needs to get these going again. I couldn't imagine my tron without it. And if that mod fails....and we don't have replacements. Not good.
Go Fandango Go.
Thank you for the support.
I got a lead from somewhere else on this platform, but I have still failed to make contact with Pamela and Martin.
I got an address, a phone number and an email. The email did not bounce so it got somewhere.
No answer yet.
Anybody here who is still in contact with these people due to perhaps a friendship that goes beyond this hobby and/or forum, please pass along the message:
I want to purchase the plans under license, fully, partially, outright, or any other agreement they see fit to produce more of the Eli kits.
Unfortunately I do not have the engineering background to build it from the ground up, so continuing off Eli's design is paramount to get going - for me -
Another alternative that I have thought is reverse engineering an existing unit. For that I will need an original mod - to which I might have access to in some degree - and reproduce the boards needed by the help of others. I do not want to go this route if I can avoid it, will be the last resort.
I am not sure how the mod is triggering the different colours so this might require some basic programming that I am also unable to do since I am not a programmer. Can I learn? yes, but I already have too many projects on the go and do not want another one nor have the time. I can however execute a fully developed mod with proper plans and instructions.
IF former pinbits owners do not have the time to sell me the plans I believe they won't have time either to stand against me reproducing these this way?
One way of another I will try to get this done. I am trying the right way first, second I will try my way and see if it is doable.
I prefer the right way:
Ideally I want the original plans, it will save time, pain and money. It will also make money to the former Pinbits owners in any agreement they see fit.
So if you are reading this and you know these people, please reach out to them and pass the message, give us a hand.
If you need or want my contact info please reach out. Thank you.
Let's keep Eli's mod alive.
Quoted from snakesnsparklers:Eli's development thread on the ramp lights might have some useful info: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wthack-tron-pro-near-98501
Eli's kit has a small control board that piggybacks onto one of the MPU connectors and reads the data bus, so it knows the state of the outputs to the driver board (lamps, flashers, and solenoids). It does not know when any switches triggered (unless a switch trigger affects a lamp, flasher or solenoid and thus can be deduced).
Here is another thread with some install videos of Eli's kit: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-pro-step-by-step-video-how-to-install-elis-ramp-mod
The alternative kit - The Total Lightshow by redshift (TimeBandit), also no longer in production, uses a separate board that intercepts the switch and lamp matrix data and uses this info to drive the ramp lights. Here is a thread with some more info on that: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-end-game-in-mod-control-is-here-matrix-interceptor-statestream
Both of these mods are great. Eli's was first, but in my opinion the Redshift kit is superior in control and mode detection. Any new kit developed will be heavy on both the hardware and software side of things.
I never heard of time bandit’s option.
Is he active here? Willing to sell these.
TimeBandit contact me please
I went full re… old school today and send an actual letter to the pinbits address I was provided by another pinsider.
Let’s see if the gods are in our favour.
I have also reached out to Mike Hull the creator of the other mod that is cooler than Eli’s, sooooo…
Something is gonna give! I will keep at it.
If anybody has contact info to Mike Hull TimeBandit please get in touch with me.
Quoted from punkin:Repair tech?
Once that smt chip goes kaput, say goodbye to the programming in it. No tech will fix that.
If the mod isnt saved somewhere so it can be programmed again with the smt programmer then you are sol.
That said, it might be unlikely it breaks….
However.
What I am after is keeping the magic alive at a bigger scale and not just the one off.
Maybe there is no other way that startint from zero?
I just refuse to believe that people would leave money on the table.
Quoted from ahdelarge:Fun fact: Timebandit bought my Tron and now it's in Perth, Western Australia.
Sad I sold Tron all those years ago, but it seems like it went to a good cause with Timebandit's work for Tron owners.
hook me up with Timebandit, I would like to continue his work.
Quoted from ahdelarge:Haven't spoken to him in years. We live in different parts of the country.
just asking for a quick connection, you seem to have dealt with him before, you probably have a contact info of some kind?
You could just mention that there is a person interested in continuing working with his mod and sell it to the community. You would be doing him a service in informing him about it.
You do not need to do anything else, other than pointing him out to this thread and hopefully he reaches out to me.
Quoted from Ashram56:Ah well... Guess I'll have to hook up my logic analyzer on the data bus and see if I can interpret something. I've been wanting to do this for a while anyway, so...
I know how to control the lighting, that part is not difficult (using high power WS2812 protocol PCB board). What will be difficult (well, sort of) is to use metal machining for the LED diffuser (they are power hungry, 5W each, so they need a robust cooling system).
The difficulty will be to write the microcontroller code. It's not super complicated, but it needs to get done, and I'm mostly a HW guy.
So if anyone besides me with an engineering background wants to contribute to the exercise, hit me up.
Now we are talking…
My new to me tron needs lighting.
I can support the rest of the efforts including ordering, preparing and testing…
This is exciting!!!
Until then I am elevating my Tron above and beyond the rest of my lineup as such…
4635A925-8325-4C39-ACE9-B38A84DC108B (resized).jpeg 3 months later
Quoted from KJL:I haven't corresponded with Martin in years but for some reason I thought Cliffy was friends with him and Pam. Maybe he knows.
Thank you Sir the suggestion, I did try Cliff. Yes I was able to get in touch with Martin, long story short, we did exchange emails but I was ghosted shortly after. The excitement was short lived on their side but it is quite alive and well on mine, that said, I will focus on working with Ashram56 for now which has some great ideas and I trust that in time we might have something better than what has been already done.
That said, I made it clear to Martin that I am available to bring the Eli’s back. Still have hope that he turns around and we get those done.
I think that people having them already might benefit from having a backup not to mention that it is such a wasted effort to not use their lesson’s learned.
Quoted from punkin:[quoted image]
Likely Stranger Things.
Quoted from doublestack:Doubt it, but there will be a 6 year long thread speculating it.
George Gomez said it is likely a vault of Stthing soon with new mechs, and there is a strong rumour (for over 3 months now) that
Tron is already in development with new art.
Quoted from doublestack:I would really be into another STH. Tron is not a great game besides the soundtrack to me.
STH still kills on route. Sold Tron as it was a dog.
Tron is a fun game for me, brutally short ball times and shallow code. Good to have at home for when I want a quickie.
Lol
4 weeks later
Quoted from PinballManiac40:Same ones I heard
except that Stth was just hinted by George Gomez himself on TPN whereas the rest are really just rumours.
10 months later
Star Wars is a trilogy that transcends generations and make Disney millions of dollars in merchandise alone every year. Luke, Leia, Han Solo will continue to make Disney money until the sun gets cold, however, how many people are out buying Flyn and Sam's figurines?...
I dont think Tron and Star Wars are on the same league when it comes down to licensing, the OG Star Wars has a lot more reasons to be licensed again and again as it perpetuates itself in time, like other licenses and characters do (not from Disney but for example Pokemon, Super Mario and else).
Tron has no memorable characters unless you are a fan, but it is niche segment and a dying one, nobody cares about Tron. Where is Flynn in Tron 3...? Jeff Bridges still kicking around and not part of it.
In my opinion, Tron legacy has zero chances of being vaulted and less now that tron 3 started filming.
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