Supposedly Lyman is "doing" code on all Stern pins going forward.

What that means is up for debate.

which means he will never be able to catch up

Who was the designer of WWE?

From the talk around here it sounds as if this is not a favored theme, but I don't thik it's bad, not as bad a theme as Mustang imo

To me it means that he's going to be spread too thin, and will not have time to concentrate on doing code for 1 pin out of every 2 (or even 1 out of 3?) Stern pins like he was doing before. And yes, that means he will never be able to catch up.

You mean who's not finishing the code so we can bitch about them for a year?

Exactly my fear.

We shall see. Sadly, it will probably take a year to see.

John Trudeau designed Mustang and WWE.
It's got some cool stuff on it, really want to play it BUT
the theme isn't going to make it into the house.

Unless its a few years down the road and a good deal...

TRUDEAU_WWE.jpg

Trudeau designed, Tanio on code (probably with a team).

Trudeau is a creative workhorse... just browse ipdb for all the stuff he did working for gottlieb back in the day.

Tanio is da man! the game is in good hands. Layout looks interesting, but theme is not for me.

Uh. Based on what exactly?

I like Tanio and ST had a promising start...but it's in limbo right now. Not his fault, I'm sure - but it is what it is.

The double T is a great match up in my opinion. Tanio definitely listens to the fan base and has some great ideas. This will be his game to shine and see what he can do and if he can make a name for himself.

He should be shining on Star Trek lol....shine on that one first!

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I agree but my understanding is that he was not lead on that?

ST needs to get polished! Still one of my favorites games to shoot but nearly unplayable at this point.
I am over it and I can see how close it really is to being great code which makes it even worse.

Why exactly is ST nearly unplayable?

Rob

Because he probably doesn't understand that there's nearly half a dozen different strategies to play it? Or He thinks all the missions are the same?

It is like chopping wood and odd buggy stuff in tiers II and III. Callouts 10 seconds behind occurance, lots of lagging, and poor priority. Still seeing competitive players opt to time out modes for more reliable high scores is a fail and should be fixed in code.

I have a long list of things to be fixed on a notepad but don't feel like digging it up right now.

The game has all the foundation but badly needs the polish. I can't stand playing something like this as I get bored quickly of chopping wood and start focusing on all the flaws.

I actually understand the game pretty well and have a couple hundred plays on it and play it at least a few times each week.

Right on. I agree with you in that some of the tier 2s and 3s are buggy and the game needs one more lather of polish. But chopping wood? Not to me. TF, metallica, now those are like chopping a tree down. Still fun games; but to me, ST is more fun > work.

It's the world of pinball we live. So many opinions, thankfully so many pins too

a big part of my frustration is I can almost see everything the game could be...

so close yet so damn far.

That happens with all of the newer sterns for me. They are heavily lacking in the polish and cleanup code dept. all their games unfortunately

Makes me lean towards WOZ being my next pin (pending gameplay testing - haven't played one yet).

That's one thing that bugged me right from the start on my STLE: timing out the modes made the most sense. Can't believe that they still haven't fixed that?

If you like Simpsons pinball party you will also like WOZ equally. I love both these games they are deep and everything stacks which makes it very exciting to play.

Oh good so that means Star Trek isn't getting an update.

Thanks for that. I have very limited play on TSPP and have mixed feelings about it. Been a long time since I've played one; but one time I had a blast playing it for an hour - another time I couldn't stand it. Two different machines so could have been the set up. Admittedly, I don't know the rules too well.

Problem with WOZ is its a hair over budget right now and I'm not sure how much I want to flex my budget. Still gotta play one for the final verdict.

Lead programmer on WrestleMania is Waison Cheng. Apparently he who loves wrestling, so that may be an indication the code is in good hands I'm pretty sure this will be a very fun game to play.

Whomever is coding NEEDS to code in so the flippers DO NOT flip everytime the slings in the ring kick and vicaversa.

Nobody wants to rebuild both sets of mechs twice as often and that is a ton of wasted wear and tear. They claim to want to make the game more reliable, so they had better had that feature coded in from day 1.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2s2AjJ4mZEM?autoplay=1&rel=0

Keith Johnson has spoken up about turning off upper playfield flippers, and he won't do it, because there is risk of an airball or something else random happening. And that is from one of the most experienced pinball programmers out there.

This is not his game, but it's likely the slings won't turn off.

I think they will turn off. There are Leds on the plastic that say "slammer when lit"

I could see this being the case if there was a potential for the ball to get stuck, but the worst thing that would happen is that the ball exits without being able to fiire the kickers. The powerfield on TZ doesn't fire at all times and it doesn't seem to be any problems there. Same goes for Shadow Battlefield

Unfortunately this is one thing that Keith is both bull headed and completely wrong about. Hopefully Stern programmers will get it right. It is both stupid and wastes wear and tear. It shows an arrogance and lack of concern for what is added value in your end customer.

Esp if Stern is marketing to OPs, that is an issue.

Enough already! I'm getting really tired of seeing these types of posts. I REALLY am. You sound like a broken record. Yes we get it, you hate unfinished code on games. Guess what? We all do. But Stern is a business and their decisions are not all always going to be in our (the collectors) best interest.

If you disagree with the way Stern does business, you should call them and voice your concerns. Or, if you really feel the need to complain in public, start a thread on Pinside and address the company and what you think they are doing wrong. Or ultimately, you can also vote with your wallet and buy a game from another manufacturer. It's a free country.

But please stop being so negative. Please stop attacking the people working on these games and pretty please stop making things so personal. Just because you know the programmers names doesn't mean you need to address them by it in every single post.

Let me give you my perspective: Having talked to some of these guys during my visit to Chicago in October, I can tell you that they are all extremely passionate about what they do. And they work pretty friggin' hard to make the games as awesome as possible with the time they're given. I also know some of these guys occasionally read Pinside, so I am personally ashamed to see some of the stuff people write about them here. Would you find it stimulating to read posts bashing your work on a daily basis?

Let's make 2015 a year of actually contributing in a positive manner to try and get things improved. If you want to help out and contribute to pinball and to this community, open a bugs thread for any specific game. Or open an ideas thread. I'm pretty sure these thread are being read by the Stern team and that they help them improve our games and code. That's what Pinside should be about.

Sorry if I sound upset, frankly I am. I don't think the Stern people (nor any of the guys working in pinball, also at other companies) deserve the crap they get from some people on here for things that are mostly out of their control.

What do you base this statement on? Not being critical, just curious.

Robin,
I have to say as a regular buyer of their games ( customer) I get his feelings . Especially at the 8k Price point. St coding and mechanical issues on TWD have left folks mad. I think it's fair to vent the negative as well as the positive especially when you are the guys paying for these games.

I think Robin is speaking as someone who has gotten some insight about the inner workings of Stern that the average person doesn't hear.

If Stern better communicated this to their average customer, there might be some better understanding.

Not telling your customers when or if a game will get an update, for example, leaves people feeling screwed over.

Change comes from the top. Can't blame individual employees.

Sure, I can also understand the frustration. Not everything is perfect. I'm sure there are plenty of reasons why things are the way they are. But what I can't understand is how personally attacking Stern employees helps anybody? Why not use the opportunity that Pinside brings to connect with the manufacturer and contribute positively towards change. People at Stern DO read Pinside. Let's help them improve our games: find bugs, give them feature requests, show them our wanted themes, etc.

Yes, that definitely triggered my response. Have you ever met or talked to anyone at Stern? These are all really nice guys. Talking to them, a few months ago, made me realize just how hard they work on creating the best pinball machines possible. Is everything perfect? Of course not! But there is a difference between normally communicating your dislikes and outright personal bashing.

If we could have one good resolution for 2015 I would ask everyone to be a bit more nuanced and think before you post something hurtful.

I hope we can all still voice our opinions here whether positive or negative. That's what makes Pinside or any forum so great... the ability to express our opinions both positive and negative. Pinside has given us the ability to drain threads and ignore posters among other things. We also have several moderators here to 'babysit' and take care of any extreme problems. I don't agree with everything Ice is saying but much of it I do. I think he should be able to voice his opinion and I don't see a problem with the way he has done it. I see nothing wrong with having a negative comment or opinion as long as it doesn't resort to personal attacks, etc.

You're the boss Robin but I personally didn't see a problem with Ice's posts... I'm sure Gary and Stern's customer service has heard worse.

On a different note I did like to see you jump in here and give your opinion. I wish you would do that more often. Not so much as a founder/moderator of a forum but just as a regular pinhead...

For anyone at Stern reading. PLEASE make it so the flippers DO NOT flip while the ball is in the upper ring. PLEASE make it so the upper slings do not kick when the ball is not in the upper ring.

I understand for Multiball thie may be difficult, but for normal ball play it should be addressed. As a potential buyer to place the game our route I do not want to be rebuilding flippers and upper slings twice as often as I should (esp sinc ethe upper pf will get used ALOT it appears).

This is a non-starter for me as I don't want to spend the time or money rebuilding these components more then I need to.

Isn't that the truth! Some of the best pinsiders are also now moderators and now they rarely post and help add positive to the conversation. They get the badge and now it seems can't have as much fun and discuss like a regular pinhead.

The Stern software song has been sung for a decade now.We all know the words and we all sing along.

Another no brainer idea for Stern programmers. The match sound NEEDS to be the sound of a fight bell instead of the aweful screech.

Another Free one for you guys to make the game better and also distinct.

Thanks for posting Robin. This stuff gets real old. If people don't want to buy a game, then don't buy it. No reason to whine and roast everyone about it. I really don't get it...