Thanks for all the comments.
For those who expected to see the finished version - we are sorry if we didn't meet your expectations.
For the many people who realise that is almost finished, but needs a little more work - we thank you for your understanding and your positive feedback.
To address the points:
1. This is not the final cabinet design and Phil (Epotech) had nothing to do with this cabinet design. The final version is weeks away from completion, and the flipper buttons will be perfectly placed (see lockdown bar/magazine)
2. Comments that the flippers are sometimes weak. The flipper power is adjustable. At the Party, we were running on only 20% of maximum flipper power. 100% would smash the playfield glass and destroy the playfield. The optimum is 30-40%. We chose low power for the Party as a precautionary measure only.
3. Right ramp - the ramp makers will be making an adjustment to the production tool. There is a bump at the entrance and it sometimes causes an air ball which ricochets off the top ramp protector. Nobody has commented on this - but it is easy to make the right ramp with a backflip from the right flipper. Since the Party, we have added a protector to the left side entrance of the right ramp, and increased the flipper power - it is much more reliable now
4. New motors for spinning wheels arrived today - 6 days late and too late for the Party. Yes, they will be 4-5 times faster
5. Stuck balls - on top of captive ball. Before the Party this never happened once. Not a single time. We had inductive switch targets for the lock targets but replaced these just before the Party with standard standup targets, to make the lock switches more reliable. This they did, but a negative side effect is that the switch was more "springy" and launched the ball onto the captive ball every 4-5 hits. Obviously this is an easy problem to solve
6. Screen/game crash - this happened more towards the end of the show. We believe we have a few software bugs causing this. However, it also appears the power cord was a little loose and could have been causing the resets
7. Lockdown bar/magazine - as discussed, the lockdown bar will be incorporated into the magazine. It will be seemless at the front with no raised parts and it will be comfortable for hands to lean on. Currently the lockdown bar sits too high, is uncomfortable for players and is harder to reach the flipper buttons. The new magazine is designed and about to be built
8. We are currently evaluating the backbox and whether a second screen can be incorporated there - maybe as an optional extra
9. Valentino - the motorized toy is not set up correctly yet. He was only there 'for show' at the Party
10. Software - this is 85% complete, as I mentioned at the Party
All-in-all, the game is nearly there. New parts arrived days after the Party and new parts are being built now. Our latest, and maybe final, PCB sets also arrived this week - and were therefore not on the prototype on show at the Party
Clearly, we will have ironed out faults, and have many new parts, by the time we have our 'official' launch party in central London in approximately 5 weeks time, and then by the time we get to Expo in October