Alice in Wonderland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2013
Celts
Haggis, 2021
Magic Girl
Zidware Pinball USA, 2017
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland
Zidware Pinball USA, 2012
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Arcade Edition)
Deeproot, 2020
Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland (Xtra Edition)
Deeproot, 2020Quoted from blueberryjohnson:Picked up lots more interesting tidbits this week. Touching base with folks to see what is ok to disclose how. Hope to be able to deliver a weekend treat.
Will the mystery of Farewell Dinosaur Entertainment finally be revealed?
Quoted from TreyBo69:Will the mystery of Farewell Dinosaur Entertainment finally be revealed?
I'll circle back on that one to see if it's cool or not.
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:I'll circle back on that one to see if it's cool or not.
Huzzah
I'm hoping it was Robert being a blowhard about killing the dinosaurs of the industry. The non butt logo is a comet hitting the planet afterall...
Quoted from benheck:Rumor has it Food Truck was completed...
Somebody has to make a Fyre Fest-like doco of this...
This is very much not what I've been told!
Quoted from benheck:Rumor has it Food Truck was completed...
Somebody has to make a Fyre Fest-like doco of this...
Define “completed”
Quoted from Scandell:Define “completed”
If completed means are finished, then all 23 deeproot games have been completed.
Quoted from Scandell:“Completed” for Deeproot means “art is done”
There's more to a pinball machine than art? - Jpop (probably)
Quoted from Scandell:“Completed” for Deeproot means “Art is done.”
And since Art is the night shift janitor who used to sweep up at deeproot after hours . . .
Quoted from benheck:Rumor has it Food Truck was completed...
Somebody has to make a Fyre Fest-like doco of this...
What would be a decent retheme?
Quoted from lpeters82:What would be a decent retheme?
91yuosvHUHL._SY445_ (resized).jpg
Custom callouts by John Leguizamo
Quoted from littlecammi:And Art is the night shift janitor who used to sweep up at deeproot after hours.
Not sure about that. They had the janitor job posting up for a long time.
Quoted from benheck:I miss cooking on them. Back when I was 20 and working in restaurants.
I hear now's a great time to be looking for work in the food-service sector. They could probably have you in an apron and hairnet by noon tomorrow.
Quoted from benheck:That Chef DVD reminds me... I kind of want one of those large flat top grill cookers.
I miss cooking on them. Back when I was 20 and working in restaurants. I like how much surface area can be devoted to cooking.
Get a Blackstone. I have one and they are awesome.
63313e8d-927e-4ebd-b2bf-269672bd81d1_1.2777d985fa9cdc1afbd2f3738474afb3 (resized).jpegQuoted from TreyBo69:Deeproot bought manufacturing equipment. It wasn't just finally assembly of outside parts. CNC machine, SMD parts picker, etc... while clearly billing themselves as a manufacturer of pinball machines in their San Antonio facility. (Back when we used to speculate they'd build them in Mexico to bring down costs)
As the record as shown, always lean towards incompetence and/or Robert thinking he figured out a way to game the system.
Occams razor. We always over think it, when the simplest solution is usually the most valid. We thought RM had some sort of plan early. Clearly RM is a straight up idiot crook, no special talents needed.
Quoted from Roostking:Occams razor. We always over think it, when the simplest solution is usually the most valid. We thought RM had some sort of plan early. Clearly RM is a straight up idiot crook, no special talents needed.
I think we are selling him short. Super idiot crook, not just straight up idiot crook.
Straight up idiot crook takes $1M and never produces anything. Super idiot crook takes $40M and never produces anything.
The amazing thing is he could have misallocated investor money and straight up bought another pin manufacturer for that money and would have already been in the game, instant king of his own hill. But again, the super idiot crook looks at that play, says hold my beer, and doubles down.
Quoted from pookycade:The amazing thing is he could have misallocated investor money and straight up bought another pin manufacturer for that money and would have already been in the game, instant king of his own hill.
Didn't he show interest in trying to buy spooky early on?
The Who playfield? And can someone clean up the bottom of that do not turn on or flip game warning sign?
Quoted from blueberryjohnson:[quoted image]
They seriously need a better 3D printer. For a company that was literally gonna seemingly fab and manufacturer their own PCBs this was a bit disappointing. It’s like hobbyist level.
Quoted from ForceFlow:Didn't he show interest in trying to buy spooky early on?
Does it count as buying when your offer is $0?
Quoted from ForceFlow:Didn't he show interest in trying to buy spooky early on?
That and Pinball Life.
Quoted from toyotaboy:DO NOT TURN ON or Flip Game!
> SKULL ELECTRICITITY<
Check with M____ prior to
energizing or testing game
Management
Amazingly well done, but I have a different interpretation:
Employees must wash
hands before returning
to Ponzi scheme.
Quoted from Bryan_Kelly:That and Pinball Life.
Bryan! You're still kicking!
Also, hopefully people now understand why some of us hated Deeproot so much. They were a destructive force for the industry and also yes, he very clearly planned to be a patent troll.
Coincidentally, soon Robert will be living under a bridge 
Quoted from benheck:Bryan! You're still kicking!
Also, hopefully people now understand why some of us hated Deeproot so much. They were a destructive force for the industry and also yes, he very clearly planned to be a patent troll.
Coincidentally, soon Robert will be living under a bridge
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Remember the “leave Britney alone!!!!” Folks who couldn’t understand why people were being so mean and picking on this plucky upstart who just wanted to make awesome pinball machines in the face of adversity?
Yeah, I know, seems hard to believe. But there were people who felt that way.
Quoted from benheck:Also, hopefully people now understand why some of us hated Deeproot so much. They were a destructive force for the industry
Bobbie also tried to buy off, so to speak, those of us in the Jpop lawsuit. We rejected the Goodwill agreement based on our distrust of a very arrogant POS. It seemed too good to be true and we all smelled a rat. I'm proud of my fellow plaintiffs and our lawsuit.
Consider if we had taken the deal. We would be set back 4 plus years right now and legally starting from scratch. Believe me, I wouldn't be doing anything at this late date and Jpop would have skated.
For those following our court case, I will concede it is highly, *highly* unlikely we will ever collect a dime from Jpop. And I'm more than good with that.
But to those who say or believe Jpop will get away with it are flat out wrong. We forced Jpop into bankruptcy and we have a legal judgment hanging over his head. And he is now acting as his own attorney as legal proceedings continue.
Some of you might not understand the emotional toll that can take on man. Trust me, Jpop has paid a price and continues paying, while we are on cruise control.
And bad boy Bobby isn't enjoying life right now either, which gives me satisfaction. I never gave the SEC much thought before, but now I'm a fan.
For a while I just thought Robert was an asshole. But then yeah, the June 2019 deadline. He made that "double or nothing" offer that's when I realized it was a scam (but had no idea how big of one)
Hence my "bird in the hand" comment re the double or nothing and Robert's legendary response/rage quit.
Between the screaming of a new born, a trophy wife who is now attached to a broke bum, and the likelihood of a ten year jail sentence looming… how do you think Robert’s been sleeping lately?
Quoted from TreyBo69:Between the screaming of a new born, a trophy wife who is now attached to a broke bum, and the likelihood of a ten year jail sentence looming… how do you think Robert’s been sleeping lately?
Really well. Because despite all the bullshit he's dealing with, he still knows, deep down inside, he's smarter then everybody else.
Quoted from TreyBo69:how do you think Robert’s been sleeping lately?
In a PinPod, sucking his thumb.
Quoted from toyotaboy:Check with M____ prior to
energizing or testing game
M___ could be Patrick... or Hatrick, but that's a rare name.
Quoted from Mr68:Trust me, Jpop has paid a price and continues paying
Thanks for putting a huge smile on my face.
Quoted from benheck:For a while I just thought Robert was an asshole. But then yeah, the June 2019 deadline. He made that "double or nothing" offer that's when I realized it was a scam (but had no idea how big of one)
There was always something really off putting about his demand of "faith" asked of the zidware customers. To sign a legal document before anything was shown. And the deadline to SIGN was 2018. The 2019 deadline was because he missed his release window and had to start honoring his agreements about potential cash payouts, but again he incentivized everyone to stay in, and few took the cash.
Faith... When you see religious words RUN!
Something to consider... The Five Days of Deeproot was supposed to be TPF 2019. Didn't happen, and around the same time he starts missing payroll.
Guessing his original runway assumed thousands of games flying off the shelf that spring, but when that didn't happen... Well here we are.
Quoted from frolic:There was always something really off putting about his demand of "faith" asked of the zidware customers. To sign a legal document before anything was shown. And the deadline to SIGN was 2018. The 2019 deadline was because he missed his release window and had to start honoring his agreements about potential cash payouts, but again he incentivized everyone to stay in, and few took the cash.
What was the point of all of it? I still don’t understand the motivation - was it just to avoid future lawsuits because of JPop’s involvement? Or was it a way to buy loyalty up front?
Quoted from benheck:Faith... When you see religious words RUN!
Bible Adventures... Don't worry, we're running
Since we all love Robert stories (and I hope to be able to share a bunch more of those soon), it's easy to think of deeproot as nothing but a shit show.
However, there were also smart people at deeproot who dedicated a lot of time and effort into projects that will unfortunately never see the light of day. I'm glad to be able to share some of their work so it doesn't totally disappear down the memory hole.
Provided with commentary from the source. Links are to full-res videos because I don't know how to embed them (let me know if you do).
Technology/manufacturing nerds, I'm counting on you to bring color to whatever the hell we're looking at.
2 - lt9OMbS (resized).jpg
LED current @ 5V... I think =P
5 - WAfkdB4.gif
Just the tip (https://imgur.com/WAfkdB4)
7 - 9izeOEJ.gif
I/O board. Daughter boards had access to 12v & 48V. You would essentially build a custom machine by populating the coils or lamps/motors daughter boards. (https://imgur.com/9izeOEJ)
8 - fAUOVpK (resized).jpg
Then we made 12V or 48V only boards. Same thing as earlier but the Inputs were removed.
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Voltage isolation is a necessary evil.
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Two motor driver boards
11 - Md7GULz (resized).jpg
LED indicators were really nice for troubleshooting
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Surely no one would install these backwards ...
13 - O3EncV6 (resized).jpg
The green boards were expensive, so we added most of the components to the main board and only made the mosfets removable. (Small green board) I think some people love thru hole components because they like inserting things in holes....
14 - w5sj1Ip (resized).jpg
Robert soda selection
16 - b5AVSpc (resized).jpg
RED 5V, BLUE DIG, YEL 12V, VIO 48V, but we ran out of VIO so we used red, T H I C C instead...
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https://imgur.com/VfoXmy2
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Able to kill the 48V for servicing mechs inside.
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These were neat boards. We ended up not need to replace that many mosfets at this stage. However, we figured it would make demo to show a quick repair.
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We measured other games flipper strength, like dialed in & gophers. (https://imgur.com/f1rJLfA)
21 - AkUxeJA (resized).jpg
So this is fun. The brown noses would ask for 10 games worth of boards. We would optimize our sheets to lower the cost. 2 weeks later they would arrive. Then we would only receive parts for 2-3 games. When asked where the remainder of the parts are, they would reply they ordered less because money is tight.
22 - JJgHFxk (resized).jpg
Cable tested, we couldn't afford the rights parts sooo better than nothing.
23 - Jad2fQ1 (resized).jpg
Someone forgot to order the fuse holder. The substitute works.
24 - JuzDxTQ (resized).jpg
This was for the cycle tester! Someone forgot to cal the voltage regulators and signed off as "CALIBRATED"
Wow NDAs getting shredded left and right here!
FOod Truck sure looks like it would have been a banger.
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