(Topic ID: 48668)

Wizard Blocks...

By mechslave

10 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 242 posts
  • 68 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by Ahoernchen
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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There are 242 posts in this topic. You are on page 5 of 5.
#201 9 years ago
Quoted from chessiv:

you could live off of 100k for the rest of your life?

Yea, I think Neo needs to go back to school to study match. He had to be saying 6 figures and thinking 7 or more...

Jaz

#202 9 years ago
Quoted from ecurtz:

Just noticed it's the "birthday" of the main Pinball 2000 patent - 1 more year until you can make that Sorcerer's Cubes™... https://www.google.com/patents/US6036188#legal-events

I'm pretty sure this is a utility patent (didn't check to confirm that though). If it is, then it's actually 20 years which looks to be March 14, 2020 before it expires.

Jaz

#203 9 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

I think if you kept reading you might get it. The point is someone could get paid to do coding for WB , Lyman , someone else, anyone. I am sure Stern could be talked into letting one of their guys moonlight on an old game like WB in their spare time. Are you not? It's not like it's a threat to them.

If it were something that Lyman wanted to do, was passionate about and got approval for, sure. The reason I'd expect Stern to object is that it's a directly competing product. It's not a "threat" to Stern per se, but it sucks dollars out of the pool of available pinball collector dollars when it ships. IE: People who might have bought the new Stern might buy Wizard Blocks instead.

#204 9 years ago
Quoted from rommy:

LOL - Stern does not own Lyman. I am sure he could do whatever he wants in his free time. If $100,000 for 3 nights a week and one day a weekend sounded good to him, he might do it. Anyone might. And what if he could do the whole thing on weekends alone? Or in 5 minutes because he is the master ?
Y'all are too easy!
The real point though is one could hire "someone" to complete code with Kickstarter money. There could be a crowd funding project for WB. Once a certain amount is pledged, THEN we decide what to do with the money. Reverse engineer, start fresh, etc. If $10,000,000 showed up would it get done? Yes. $1,000,000 ? Might not get it done. So somewhere in between. And if you don't reach your goals...what do you lose?
Ok , no, the real question is if you make a game did you make it or did someone else? I am used to the factory being the maker. Or is the Worm the maker? I can never remember. Shai-Hulud!

You know contracts often have non-compete clauses, right?

#205 9 years ago
Quoted from Jazman:

I'm pretty sure this is a utility patent (didn't check to confirm that though). If it is, then it's actually 20 years which looks to be March 14, 2020 before it expires.
Jaz

Right you are, I looked at the wrong chart. Actually isn't it based on the assignment date, so sometime between our numbers in early 2018. It would be nice if Google's patent search just showed that stuff.

#206 9 years ago
Quoted from chessiv:

Good pinball programmers should easily make six figures. On the low side but six figures.

But it shouldn't take a good pinball programmer a year to do a game, assuming they aren't starting from ground zero. Of course if you're insisting on using the original Pin2k development system / computer that would be MUCH harder, but I assume you'd want to replace that.

#207 9 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

maybe so, but it's all I would need to not have to work again.

Quoted from chessiv:

you could live off of 100k for the rest of your life?

You forget, Neo lives in the land of $800 pinball machines where cows fart rainbows

It would be easy to live on 100K for him

I kid...I kid....

Chris

#208 9 years ago
Quoted from chessiv:

you could live off of 100k for the rest of your life?

Yup. I'm good with my money and set myself up good, so when my house it paid off, I don't have to work anymore.

#209 9 years ago
Quoted from Jazman:

Yea, I think Neo needs to go back to school to study match. He had to be saying 6 figures and thinking 7 or more...
Jaz

You guys forget what he sells his pins for

Quoted from CaptainNeo:

Yup. I'm good with my money and set myself up good, so when my house it paid off, I don't have to work anymore.

Is your house no longer in Wisconsin? Have you not seen property taxes in this state?

#210 9 years ago
Quoted from mechslave:

I'd ask that the all-knowing peanut gallery find somewhere else to post if you aren't going to add anything to discussion other than "Move ON!" and "Stop beating a Dead Horse!"
You do realize that for years the reproduction of MM was thrown in the same category by the all-knowing peanut gallery of negativity, right?
And by the way, if everyone is SO SURE that this is a dead end project, maybe Rick should just release all the code, parts list, designs, drawings, etc for public use. I mean, since everyone is so positive nothing will ever be done with WB. Then release everything to the pinball community, and I can make one for myself. Sound good?

Sounds good to me. I'll build the damn thing myself. Maybe they should do a $900 parts in a box edition.

#211 9 years ago
Quoted from ralphwiggum:

You guys forget what he sells his pins for

Is your house no longer in Wisconsin? Have you not seen property taxes in this state?

I know what my taxes are. They arn't that bad. Not in my county anyway. now if I lived in Franklin. :O

#212 9 years ago
Quoted from chessiv:

You could live off of $100k for the rest of your life?

Only if he doesn't plan on living very long.

#213 9 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

Yup. I'm good with my money and set myself up good, so when my house it paid off, I don't have to work anymore.

I forgot Neo has no concept of real economics

#214 9 years ago

must, be. Or i'm pretty damn good with money. When you spend a good portion of your working life making around 12k-15k a year. you get pretty damn resourceful and good at managing it.

#215 9 years ago
Quoted from CaptainNeo:

must, be. Or i'm pretty damn good with money. When you spend a good portion of your working life making around 12k-15k a year. you get pretty damn resourceful and good at managing it.

Living modestly can definitely help you extend your $100,000 windfall.

However, $100,000 would need to be earning additional money for you to even have a chance at retiring on it.

If you just put it in a checking account with 0% interest, and you only spent $1,000 a month ($12K a year), you would exhaust $100,000 in 100 months, i.e. 8 years 4 months.

If you only spent $500 a month ($6K a year), you would exhaust $100,000 in 200 months, 16 years 8 months.

If you only spent $250 a month ($3K a year), you would exhaust $100,000 in 400 months, 33 years 4 months.

If you can live on $250 a month, then I can see how you could retire on $100,000.
But if you spend any more than that per month ( or yearly average), $100,000 would be a pretty tight retirement.

Just food for thought.

Marcus

#216 9 years ago

that's true, but if you own rental properties and you need 100k to pay everything off, your living pretty good off of rent income for as long as you need.

#217 9 years ago

Quit teasing Neo.

He has inhaled so much isocyanate from clearing playfields, that he might not be around in 16 years, LOL.

#218 9 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

Quit teasing Neo.
He has inhaled so much isocyanate from clearing playfields, that he might not be around in 16 years, LOL.

16 ? you give me longer than I gave me. that clearcoat probably will be the death of me.

#219 9 years ago

Silly me - I thought I was on Pinside, not The Retirement Channel.

#220 9 years ago
Quoted from calvin12:

You know contracts often have non-compete clauses, right?

and non compete clauses have iffy legality

#221 9 years ago

#222 9 years ago
Quoted from Ahoernchen:

What does the Playboy machine has for nice modes? Spell the month's, what will happen after that?
And other features?(shaker, magnet, captive ball, spinner [real/virtual], kickback, multiball,...?)
Same questions for Wizard Blocks (modes and features?)

You shoot it in her virtual hole to get the mode going. Then work your way around hitting all her key sensor points. If you finish the mode early, she gives you a disgusted face and rolls over to go to sleep.

#223 9 years ago

Please don't forgett to make photos and videos for me.

#224 9 years ago
Quoted from Ahoernchen:

Please don't forgett to make photos and videos for me.

Haven't forgotten, haven't had a chance to see Steve since I brought it up. I'll try and remember to ask him if he's cool with it next time we chat.

1 week later
#225 9 years ago

#226 9 years ago
Quoted from Ahoernchen:

@chessiv
Is it easily possible to use the WB Roms with nucore?

maybe but the WB software was far from being done.

#227 9 years ago

#228 9 years ago

chuck was already working on this with Nucore. If the code was done, it could easily be included with nucore if permission is given to do so.

#229 9 years ago

does PPS have the rights for pin2k stuff?

#230 9 years ago
Quoted from northvibe:

does PPS have the rights for pin2k stuff?

A letter was posted recently that they were the sole one with Williams license rights. ( I think Wayne posted it ? ) so yes, PPS would have the P2K stuff.

LTG : )™

#231 9 years ago

#232 9 years ago

The released version of Nucore does not run Wizard Blocks. There's very little point in enabling it to do so. The software is incredibly shallow and currently there are only 2 or 3 playfields (one working and two close?) that could even use it. If Rick, or someone else, decides to actually produce WB they would want to start the software from scratch and not continue the existing (very old and outdated) project. Some are chasing this like its a holy grail but honestly it's really not. When you play the working prototype it gets really boring very quickly. Killer playfield though =)

#233 9 years ago

Thank you very much Chuck.

#234 9 years ago

This guy is working on his own private WB project - it looks... amazing although I don't think it works yet:
http://pavlovpinball.com/phantasmic-pinball-creations/

#235 9 years ago
Quoted from mfresh:

This guy is working on his own private WB project - it looks... amazing although I don't think it works yet:
http://pavlovpinball.com/phantasmic-pinball-creations/

George falls under the category of talented, but no business's model sense. What George is doing will only be a one off and never anything more. He's tried in previous years to reach out to people(gene and designers) with no success and feels scorned. So now he's gone into seclusion and just doing what he wants for him self only... Old school guy could build anything, never work well with others? Maybe maybe not... But it also is others don't want to work with him from what he's told me a while back... Anyway leave George alone, he prefers it this way now. Amazing talent wish he was in the USA and working for pinball into the public hands.

#236 9 years ago

#237 9 years ago

I must be missing something here, if JJP can produce a complete machine which includes full color animated video, and sell it for $8K or less, how the hell can it be impossible to make a playfield kit for WB which already has a fair bit of development already done, and sell it at a reasonable price

There were 11,700 P2K machines made, if a kit for WB or any P2K title was made available, don't you think you could sell at least a thousand if the price wasn't insane.? Not sure what the magic price point would need to be, but would have to be less than what Stern sells a complete game for.

#238 9 years ago

I bought both P2K titles NIB and still have them, HUO of course. If a top notch kit was made for some other P2K title maybe I would buy it and another complete used SW:E1 in order to put the kit in a dedicated cabinet. But I would not take apart either one of my two existing P2K games for any P2K kit.

#239 9 years ago
Quoted from dgpinball:

I must be missing something here, if JJP can produce a complete machine which includes full color animated video, and sell it for $8K or less, how the hell can it be impossible to make a playfield kit for WB which already has a fair bit of development already done, and sell it at a reasonable price
There were 11,700 P2K machines made, if a kit for WB or any P2K title was made available, don't you think you could sell at least a thousand if the price wasn't insane.? Not sure what the magic price point would need to be, but would have to be less than what Stern sells a complete game for.

Your right your missing a lot!
No game designer, no established factory to use with out scheduling, no engineer to finish designing parts, no sound guy, no voice actors, no programmer, no manufactures not delaying your parts cause they only service stern with no compete clauses, no company building wire harnesses, there's way more I'm not even close to scratching the surface, then u have to probably pay more then the competition for these people cause u can double your build time if they don't have experience, then production issues, schedules over runs, bla bla bla... Not to mention none of these people will take the job knowing there's no job security guarantee after the build cause your only talking about a one off... And wrap that all together... Now tell me, u think Rick can pull all that off and make kits for less then a stern game! NO PROBLEM!!! U can be his financial guru for sure.

#240 9 years ago

#241 9 years ago
Quoted from Ahoernchen:

If I know what I have to change or enable on the nucore computer than I can go into the next step. But it only makes sense if I am able to run the WB-rom-software.
So I need Chuck's help to know what I have to enable or change.

There is nothing you can enable or change to make it run in Nucore.

#242 9 years ago

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