Buddy,
Can you post any video?

modes and huge changes in 1.0. HUGE.

This is going to painfully difficult waiting on The Hobbit as the excitement about WOZ is building. I am looking forward to news once WOZ starts shipping (which is when I figure the updates will come.)

That's awesome news!

Somebody get their butt down there and shoot some gameplay video, please!

+1 - Been looking for some video showing the progress for what seems like weeks now

Sounds like 1.0 was always going to be the release software

I hope so. Can't wait to get mine!!

That's good to hear. And, by the way, thanks for all the info you've been providing. I've certainly learned more specific info about my WoZ following you compared to the info provided on the private forum. It's very much appreciated.

Just off the top of your head, how frequently would you expect code updates to continue? While I'm not planning the unboxing party just yet, I've heard from a reliable source my machine will probably ship by 5/10/13. I'm just curious what you think (guess) the code will look like by that time.

Hoping if all goes as planned I should see mine sometime in June by my own estimates.

Buddy, I sure am glad things are going well down there!

Just to give a shout out for Buddy...I just ponied up my Hobbit LE deposit to Buddy this week. He has a few more spots left. Buddy has been a great guy to work with. I'm passing on WoZ for now but am excited about the possibilities for the Hobbit. If you are thinking about buying WoZ or Hobbit, I would seriously considering talking with him.

Darin

Looking forward to some video. Happy for you guys with preorders!

I played a game on this machine today. I haven't paid much attention to the JJP threads because this theme is revolting to me. With that being said, build quality is top notch. I don't know if flipper strength has been an issue lately, but there was no issue hitting the ramp or any other shot on this machine. The line stayed deep while I was there, I waited half an hour to play. Thanks to doughslinger for making the trek.

Thanks for the info. I know you said that you haven't been following many of the WOZ threads lately, so you might not know exactly what's new/what to look for in the latest software revision, but did you get to play any modes or anything?

To be honest, I didn't pay any attention to modes. I don't think I looked at the LCD once while playing. There was no rule card, I just looked for shots that are satisfying. There were a number of those.

Pretty please! Someone go & shoot some video & post it. The pinball world needs to see this update!

video!!

ditto, video please.

Yes there are modes in 1.0. Or at least modes in the traditional sense. There already were mode based scoring multipliers.

Are we to assume 1.0 is what will be on games shipping to customers?

Hope we get a detailed review soon to see if the ruleset is completely there and everything functioning (at least the rules up to this point)!

That's good to hear. And, by the way, thanks for all the info you've been providing. I've certainly learned more specific info about my WoZ following you compared to the info provided on the private forum. It's very much appreciated.
Just off the top of your head, how frequently would you expect code updates to continue? While I'm not planning the unboxing party just yet, I've heard from a reliable source my machine will probably ship by 5/10/13. I'm just curious what you think (guess) the code will look like by that time.

I can't say it will be ever X days or weeks but it will be FREQUENT.

There are 2 types of mechanisms for update. A "rollup" update which increments your version of the game code. It's a smaller download and a quick (seconds) update. This update will grow over time as we make more releases as it will encompass all previous releases from 1.x (shipping version). For those of you they play online games like mmorpg's you are familiar with rollup packages.

The second mechanism is a FULL game flash. Meaning OS and Game code. This is an iso based download which is "burnt" to a USB stick. It's a larger download and it takes a few mins to burn it to a usb stick using a tool such as unetbootin but is a "fresh" install and it resets the game to factory. With each release you will have the option to choose which route you want to go. This is the equivalent of a full reinstall.

At some point it may be necessary for version x.x (for example) to do a FULL flash which means there were more updates to the game above and beyond game code function. At that point all future roll up packages will start from that point.

This will ensure you ALWAYS have the most up to date game.

image.jpg

First of the progress sheets. I have to find the others.

image.jpg

Nice, thanks.

So we now officially know 1.0 is the "release level" version. Jack said the game would release with incomplete code, he must have been talking in the grand scheme of things then? In my mind incomplete code is big stuff like missing modes, light show elements, inserts that don't signify anything, shots that don't do anything, basically the stuff we have seen up to this point as the game has undergone development.

But now that we are at the base 1.0 version, which I'm assuming is the first official major release, do these basic things work now? Can this game be compared to previous ones in terms of how far along the software has come? Is it fully playable now?

Is the Atlanta WOZ with production level Celeron hardware, too?

I don't think the game is prod mobo level but I can't say for sure. I highly doubt it.

Every major function is working. Additional Rules and modes are getting implemented.

I'd say the code on WOZ will be similar to any other pin released recently.

Look at ACDC prem/LE:
It took several releases before the rgb LEDs worked properly. Modes adjusted. Features added like VIP passes, encore wizard mode, the light on train, etc.

I should have taken video while standing in line FOREVER to play, then gave up my spot to my dad so he could play since I played at IAAPA last fall. It looks good from what I can tell, but didnt even put my hands on it this time because everyone in front of us seemed to be loading up 3 player games to get in more time. I could see more modes and I like match feature with the tornado throwing the numbers at you.

Did anyone get the match? It's awesome the way it breaks the screen and hits the knocker at the same time.

Not that I saw. But ACDC was right beside it rocking out so couldnt hear most of WOZ from where I was.

Thanks for posting the video

Ok. That was a good tease. I'm ready for more.

Cool to see some new stuff! Looking forward to more!

Weird how the wizard scoop kicks the ball back out before the "extra ball" animation ends, I assume that'll end up getting tweaked. It's hard to tell, is lights out a 2-ball multiball like Blackout in Judge Dredd? It looks like the kicker from the crystal ball kicks the ball up (which returns to the left flipper, right?) but then there's suddenly a ball in the pops, too.

Woo. "Lights out" mode.

2 ball multi for LO

Safe to say- we wont be hearing Jack scolding Stern again for releasing games with unfinished code - at least not anytime soon....

Probably not but remember Jack has never done this before.

Besides 90% of the people on here say the same thing about Stern code releases.

Agreed. He was obviously criticizing Stern (at the time) without really knowing what he was talking about...

Agreed. I think we can all agree they (Stern) push these games out the door with unfinished code.

The irony was Jack condescendingly calling out Stern about it when he now will have to play the same "update/upgrade" game....

Anyways, looking forward to seeing one of these in the wild!

But, still, there is a difference between programming the rules for a game running on a platform finished since 2006, and programming the rules for a game while simultanously developing a completely new hardware platform and operating system that's capable of doing things never before seen in pinball.

So, to be completely fair, we must want until 2020, which will give Jack the same amount of time on his platform as Gary has had between WPT and the infamously incomplete X-Man. If Jack's still releasing games with incomplete code in 2020, then he really didn't know what he was talking about.

You make an interesting point. Most of the development time this far has been building the underlying framework to support woz and games of the future. I wonder what it will look like in 2020...

Fixed

Glad to hear some progress was made. Look forward to a longer video and possible shipping info soon.

"We're off to see the"..."HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

lol

Finally got home. Here are some videos shot by Buddy and myself from today.

Thanks,
Ryan

It may just be a simple touch but I really liked the trees on top of the pop bumpers.

Oz_trees.JPG

Okay, but isn't it even more ridiculous that a long-established company like Stern continues to release incomplete games after 7 years and 19 titles all completed on the same SAM platform... but now we should say "ha ha, so there!" to Jack on his very first attempt creating something entirely new?

Let's look at some history for perspective. According to a news release dated January 31st, 2003, Lyman Sheats was hired by Stern to "design the operating system for the company's new hardware platform. He will then program the software for the first game to use the system." (Reference: http://www.pinballnews.com/news/lyman.html )

Obviously, they're talking about SAM. And the first SAM game was WPT, released exactly 3 years later in February 2006. And WPT wasn't even a Lyman programmed game - that was a Keefer game. Lyman's first accredited machine isn't until Spider-man, over a full year later in May 2007. Don't forget that Spider-man was trashed on initial release because of its horribly incomplete software. So, one could say it took Lyman (and obviously others on his team) over 4 years to create the SAM platform and program his first released game. That's all with a well-established company with vendors and staff and a building and tools and pre-existing mechanical designs. And honestly, how revolutionary was SAM compared to Whitestar?

Now, look at all Keefer's done in the last 2.4 years on a new platform that's a hell of a lot more ambitious than SAM ever was. Obviously, creating WOZ was far more work than anticipated, but JJP - even as a new startup - is already running way ahead of Stern's schedule. The real test will be how complete their second and third (and 20th) games are upon release.

Good post. Add in coding the LCD videos and RGB LEDs and its even more impressive. Sterns machines back then were just white bulbs, you just had to program them to turn on or off

Agreed. A good post to put things into perspective.