Ryan,if he’s the guy working on Sonic Spinball!I think Sonic would sell a shit ton of pins.

I'd love to see more Nordman designs, no pinbars included.
But a New designer would be best for the health of the industry.

Message from the Freeeek Kingdom.

I remember it was rumor reported over 6 months ago that Dennis went to CGC.

Agreed. Nothing against Nordman, but new blood is always a good thing

Harry Williams
after the discovery of finding his old unused designs and the success of Sterns 'The Beetles' machine, they are using a successful name and format to bring all new games

They should go after Scott Danesi. He has a loyal following and brings much much more than just layout to the table (music, light show, coding, etc).

I wonder if Scott would leave Spooky though.

Good point! Spooky only does a game every 18-24 months though and aren’t they committed to both a game from their coder and a game from Ben? If so, it could be a long time before Scott is back up to bat. I’m ready for my third Danesi game though.

What rumors? From where?

Just to clarify as this post has a whole bunch of incorrect information.

Scott is a contractor. He works at PBL and designs games. Just so happens that spooky built his past two games

Their coder is an incorrect statement.... actually is their Grapics guru David vanes. Guy is awesome.

Ben’s next game is a CGC/spooky game being built by CGC.

Asking a question is “a whole bunch of incorrect information”?

I’m very much aware.

Graphics are not code?

I’m looking forward to this.

Scott also has a proven track record of success. With 1300 games sold and TNA 2.0 coming, there has likely been more Danesi games sold than American Pinball games to date. His games just have the "it" factor and desirability that AP games are lacking. I hope we see more games from him in the future.

Just picked up Houdini, my first AP game.

It’s been posted many times, but build quality is second to none. They use some COTS parts vs. Stern’s in-house designs and boards. Takes some tweaking, but once dialed in, they play great.

Art is subjective, but I think a common complaint with AP games is the layout, theme and animations. Code is phenomenal with all three games.

If AP had a traditional (fan) layout with a new designer combined with their build quality, I think they’d be in great shape. Theme and animations would be icing on the cake.

Yup, seems like a lot of other manufactures have better build quality than stern and I’m looking and waiting on a theme I like to get them.

No need to get defensive. We all make mistakes. I just felt it was important to correct since when a moderator makes such statements (even with a ?) then can often spin out of control.

That “moderator” handle gives and extra air of authority to those that are new/lurking and don’t know you. Misinformation can be damaging to some of these people so better off to just nip it off.

I love TNA and had a blast playing R&M when I had the chances.

I do think some of the shots in TNA and R&M could’ve been dialed better. I’m sure that aspect will only improve with his future games. I love the fast returns of his scoop shots, but need to figure out the rejects as they are very common on TNA and R&M.

Graphics are definitely NOT code, just as audio is definitely NOT code.

People that do animations/art or sound are artists. Coders are engineers.

I mean if you want to get technical, not every coder is an “engineer”.

Broad strokes.

Not everyone is interested in specifics of this stuff. Most people’s eyes glaze over when specifics of software and design are discussed, so its hard to know where to draw that line.

On top of that, many artists can code (maybe even well) but we all have different things we are ‘better’ at or like working on more... an EE may be able to do mechanical work, but they would probably defer to someone who specializes in that.

Idk, a programmer and a software engineer have decently different roles.

In my experience, no business actually makes this distinction (other than academia): in a company that demands “software engineering”, everyone (including those without specific training in it) are expected to adhere to a set of specific design requirements/processes. In those that don’t demand it, everyone is just a software/IT person.

Since all your statements are always mistake free, his name is David van Es.

Thanks for the spelling clarification. I suck at spelling. Luckily the facts were correct despite my poor spelling.

Biggest point. He is a great guy and I am excited to see what he comes up with.

What Happened to Joe Balcer?
Did he move on?

Back on topic, I think AP could benefit from a new, younger designer with an interesting story. The biggest buzz over the past few releases has come from Scott Danesi and Keith Elwin, two young designers with a compelling background.

Scott designed a game in his garage and carted it to shows. Keith is a top ranked player who brought a fresh design take with high energy, kinetic flow.

Much of pinball works when you have someone to root for. I think that's where Spooky (Charlie, Scott), Stern (Keith) and JJP (Eric, Slash) have succeeded and Deep Root (JPop) failed. AP could use a new designer to bring back the buzz.

Completely agree. AP needs fresh young blood. I keep thinking Mark (nightmare before Xmas) or Scott G (wooly/LOV) would be a great fit.

Could be cool to see Scott D also.

Outside of designer I actually think the biggest thing AP needs is a new code team or new direction in it.

Big part of the reason TNA and R&M are great is the code.

Same thing with stern... the new coders combined with new designers are the one/two punch

I think the best currently unused/underused possibly available designer is barry driessen

In my opinion what stands out in a negative way is theme incorperation and how it is presented on the screen.
Octoberfest could actually worked well as a theme and playfield layout is not bad at all. With a more crazy, goofy and fun presentation. It would have been great.
Now its just wierd, not funny and whats presented on the lcd is mostly just ugly and old looking.

Josh Kugler made a couple home brews before going to work for American Pinball. He could design a game and he already works for them.

Kind of a huge distinction. One just creates code on a platform, one creates the platform, how it will function, the future etc. the roles are very different some businesses may mix them but when mixed the inexperienced software programmer is a bad fit to create... we have dealt with many software and hardware projects with these issues.

I would recommend we take this convo to a separate thread, as ‘the eyes glazing over’ I mentioned earlier is occurring here. I love talking about it, as it isn’t just what I do for work - it is fascinating to me in all aspects.

These are all semantics. Depends where you work. The role you describe as creating the platform, how it will function, etc, is called in my company the “Architect”. That’s my role. The developers implement the design. Sometimes it’s called the “lead developer”

If interested: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/software-design-hangout#post-6050067

I’ll ask the same question...

What happened to Joe Balcer???

Agreed, in all the excitement and debate the 400lb gorilla question got ignored.

Less Balcor the better for me, never been a fan

I’d love a sonic!

Maybe it’s a secret? Anyone want to share? Joe Balcer

I do agree, a "non" pinball industry designer would be fun to mix it up and bring new ideas in!

He may not be going anywhere, maybe they're just transitioning roles a bit. He's done 3 games for them, he could use a break and more time to work on another title. They are also doing redemption games, so he may be assisting there as well.

Care to elaborate on that? I think the code on API's games is a solid match against any manufacturer's offerings from both an "objective" standpoint (simply counting the different features available; i.e. how much stuff is there to do?) and a "subjective" standpoint (unique rules, making good use of all the shots/targets on the game, offering a variety of strategies to approach the game, etc). If you disagree, I would like to hear some concrete examples where you think API falls short.

I enjoy games where every shot is rewarded. EHOH and IMDN are like that. Even if I miss, I build towards something.

Houdini is like that, too. There are tons of modes, movies, missions, jail escapes, multiballs, magic shop stuff, etc. to shoot. I have zero complaints with code, and I enjoy the animations as well.

Oktoberfest seems to be cut from the same cloth, and it’s on my wishlist after owning Houdini. I’m pretty sure I’ll have one soon. Build quality is great, code is great, and the team accepts criticisms with an open mind.

As I mentioned previously, I think the team could benefit from a more traditional layout from a new designer, but code-wise, you guys are crushing it.

Then you might give Hot Wheels a whirl. It's a fast flowy fan layout.

Thanks!

Hard to disagree - Houdini and OKT AND HW are deep enough, lots of variety and multiple paths to the end goal. The latest Houdini update is amazeballs!

Damn quarantine means I haven’t really played anything new. The only way I’m able to try stuff is to purchase.

The Hot Wheels theme would keep me from owning, but I’d definitely drop some quarters. Oktoberfest, on the other hand, has the theme, layout and code to land in my game room. I was able to play at TPF before the world went to shit, but it’s come a long way. Kudos to you guys for all the hard work.

I think its great when company representatives are here interacting in a good way.
I hope your next game is a smash.

It does not sound like you actually want the feedback so I see no reason to put the effort in to giving my opinion with a long list of specific examples.

I hope you guys get a better theme to work with soon and the ability to really dig in with some passion. I know that you specifically are capable of amazing things.

I wish you nothing but the best Joe.