Been busy working on the physical ball lock we'll be implementing in the next prototype, this is still a WIP.

Behold, Pandora's Box - Life and Death, Beginning and the End. Ball locks will be lit by completing the ZEUS targets in the upper playfield, balls are locked by hitting the right ramp. When ball lock is enabled they will be trapped similar to LOTR, when not lit they will pass through and go direct to the right flipper inlane. Box will be translucent most likely with "gold" painted highlights. Should have a really cool effect with the lights and flashers shining through when they go off.
pandoras_box_screenie.jpg

One last reminder, those special pacakges being offered are expiring at the end of the month. Get your orders in. If you have any questions or want to get on my WOOLY list, email me! [email protected]

Lol! After designing the box and getting it into my full CAD assembly, I honestly can't envision WOOLY without it. For something as simple as a physical ball lock, it will add ALOT to the game - achieving the multiball is going to be more interesting (and rewarding), it adds another location to physically stop the ball and show some cool animations, it's a better (more obvious) way to redeem the pandora's box award (enabled by hitting the two stand-ups underneath the box), it's aesthetically pleasing and is kinda neat how it bridges the pandora orbit that feeds the right flipper on the main playfield, etc. etc.

Well, WOOLY prototype 1 made the long freight journey from MN to PA without any damage or incident. Sigh of relief. Nothing like handing your baby over to complete strangers. For those that can make it, stop by and play a game or two at the Allentown pinball fest in a few weeks!

Thanks Kressy - the hours of work that has gone into this project is pretty amazing. I've been averaging over 20 hours a week for the past two years, combine that with the 700+ hours my software guy has put in and we're getting close to 3000 hours into this project. I'd say we both will still be putting 20+ hours a week into this project for the remainder of the year as well.

I highly recommend people designing their own machines if they have the itch - but if they do, they should be passionate and practically psycho for pinball - 'cause it's a heck of a lot of work and a huge opportunity cost for what you're giving up to be working on the machine and not doing something else - like playing pinball! Seriously though, if anyone has questions on the process feel free to PM or email me and I'd be happy to help/at least let you know the steps I've taken so far.

Always happy to answer questions -

1) Please keep in mind the machine in the videos and the game that will be at Allentown is a PROTOTYPE that was hand built. There's a couple of things that are getting ironed out in the next prototype and I imagine there will still be a few more things that get ironed out after that.

2) because I built the playfield manually - a few of the inserts didn't end up completely flush and smooth - there are a couple right in front of the ramp entrance that are slightly raised which are causing the ball to hop and jump and sometimes jump off the ramp. Next build will have a professionally made playfield to address this. We also put a clear guard over the top of this prototype for Allentown to stop that.

3) I altered the path on the left and right ramp on the next prototype as well to make the ball bath a little more smooth and interesting - this should also help to keep well struck pinballs completing the ramp shot. Stay tuned for a new image of the CAD model for WOOLY2.

4) I looked long into designing drops or targets under the upper playfield but there just isnt room. All of those things need to pass through the playfield to get mounted and right now that entire area has teo flipper assemblies taking up the space. Considering my design intent was to have a fast flowing game having that area just be a loop seems to work very well. At the end of the day the game already has 14 stand ups, the drops, 3 ramp shots, 5 orbit shots, a VUK, and a subway - it's been my play experience that ha been more than enough in WOOLY to hold my attention and interest!

Thought I'd send out another mini update on this fine Friday. Files have all been sent out for our next set of custom playfields and plastics, all hardware is on hand, and the second WOOLY prototype is going to be well under way. The first prototype has been going through major code updates and mini bug fixes for the past couple of weeks and is getting prepped for Allentown. We've also added some more hurry ups, light shows, custom match animation, a cool ball buster animation, under cabinet lighting, and awards for defeating each monster and god including a couple of fun multiballs as a reward. We still have a ton to add as far as code, audio, and animations, but we're a hell of a long way into the process. The CAD design is pretty much finished as well - check out the images below showing the new ramp designs, integration of Pandora's box, the special door way to confront HADES (by the captive ball - HADES pops up out of the playfield to wreak havoc on the world), and a bad ass custom painted helmet that will be lit indicating "START BATTLE" (mode start) is ready. Also included is another quick video of game play - a little tough to see what's going on, but hey, you can't have too many videos, right?
wooly_update_apr18.jpg
helmet_painted.jpg

Start Battle is achieved through 3 different shots - the easiest is a direct shot to the VUK located right under the helmet. The second is done by knocking down the drop target right under the "start battle" text (the CAD render has a white section that will actually not be printed and will be clear so that you can see this path and the drop target - the plastic provides a cool spot for the text as well as being effective at preventing air-balls off of the drop target) and then hitting that shot again will lead to a subway which feeds the VUK. The third method is by hitting the same subway via the upper right flipper just below the upper ramp. We're going to have easy and normal options for starting the battles/modes and I liked the idea of having multiple ways to get to start that mode - as you play you'll find some shots are less risky or worth more and it will influence your shot decision.

Magnets - yes indeed, I thought long and hard about this, but for this version of WOOLY they will not be present. Mostly because there is just no space! I feel like I've put just about everything than the kitchen sink in this pin - the BOM is already getting super pricey and with all the inserts and lamps in the middle of the playfield there really just isn't much room to put those magnets (the ones I've found are a good 3-4" in diameter and take up a lot of space).

Might be a good after market mod for some of those clever pinsiders out there though...

And yes, HADES pops up in front of the captive ball. The god mode insert is a lamp that will flash when the ball saver is on and do some cool lighting effects when you get to the wizard mode. This was a little tribute to my love of video games - in God Mode you can not be defeated, so I figured it would correlate well to a ball save where your ball gets to continue.

Just a quick update with a couple more videos shot by my software guru, Frank. WOOLY is prepped and ready for Allentown, be sure to stop by and say hi to Frank and play a game or too of WOOLY. We have the pin running just like a normal pin now with it booting up with the flip of the front cabinet switch (something minor to most, but feels good to have WOOLY not only looking like a normal pin, but also booting up like one!). As usual, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to post them or send them directly to me - [email protected] As usual, if you'd like to get on the list for special updates and offers please email me as well.