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Woz
- Thread starter jonathan
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Well I spend more time than is healthy reading the WOZ threads on Pinside so I can probably answer some of your questions.
The code that was shipped was a V1.0 so technically is a finished code but rumours are that it is possibly only 20% complete which is good news in some ways and bad news in others. It's hard to tell exactly what is in these latest firmwares because there hasn't been much feedback from owners but I suspect there will be many updates over the next 6 months (purely conjecture on my part) or so with more modes, sounds, animations, music and lighting sequences being worked into the gameplay as it goes along. Currently there are switches that don't do anything, lots of missing modes when compared to what has been announced will be in eventually. Not sure if there are any major physical difference between the test machines and the shipped games apart from some of the boards and the new ECLE topper but hopefully there'll be more feedback from actual owners soon.
I'd love to know if Phil has been given a date by Jack which I guess might be the case given that Jon has been asked for full payment. I think it might be a while though seeing as it still looks like production isn't in Full Stern Ahead mode - see what I did there?
I'm quietly hopeful this will be a pretty good game at the end of it. I think the shots are there and the rules will be too. I think the lightshow has the potential to be spectacular and the build quality is looking solid. The main downers for me are the whole sound package is just an unpleasant mess right now. I didn't mind the music tracks when I heard them last year on their own but alongside the SFX and the custom callouts , neither of which I really like much, it turns me right off. Hopefully it'll be improved. Lastly, those flippers felt bad to me on the test WOZ I played. Very clunky and I don't know why.
Anyway, that's it so far I reckon.
Cheers Tim. 20% code - ugh
. If that's the case I'm amazed there hasn't been more of a backlash. I can't believe this far down the line that there are switches that don't do anything. It always annoys me when I look at the "poof" switch in TOM and know it's utterly pointless.
I was trying to work out how it now played from pinside but there seemed to be a lot of information about how they got a phone call and what the box looked like and very little on how it played. I know people don't want to slate their own machines but if I'd spent this much and waited that long don't think I'd be raving about it unless it actually worked properly. I know their rating system is really biased but why would anyone give it a rating (good or bad) when no one knows how it plays? (This goes for Metallic etc as well)
Fingers crossed they sort this soon. I'm meant to be stumping up another 2 grand in September for the Hobbit and as things stand I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling, Should I be 3 grand down on a machine that's not yet built from a company who hasn't yet delivered the goods on their first machine or do I bite the bullet add more money and go for an AC/DC instead and pick up a Hobbit when they hit the 2nd hand market? Not been impressed with the utter silence on the Hobbit front. I guess they've learnt a few lessons from WOZ and making announcements too early but it's an utterly different situation from waiting for the Predator machine - guess I've been spoilt there with regular updates on work in progress. On paper Predator is a far riskier investment but their updates and feedback have been really good (+ I'm only $200 down if it all goes wrong compared to paying 6 grand up front to JJP)
Hopefully it will get sorted soon. I do want the company to succeed but God only knows how stressful this must be for people waiting on their machines.
Oh, and just to clarify, I'm equally happy to slate Stern with their "buy our limited edition but you have to pay before anyone's seen/played it" policy. 7 grand punt on a machine that might be as good as AC/DC or as bad as Transformers/IJ4.
. If that's the case I'm amazed there hasn't been more of a backlash. I can't believe this far down the line that there are switches that don't do anything. It always annoys me when I look at the "poof" switch in TOM and know it's utterly pointless.I was trying to work out how it now played from pinside but there seemed to be a lot of information about how they got a phone call and what the box looked like and very little on how it played. I know people don't want to slate their own machines but if I'd spent this much and waited that long don't think I'd be raving about it unless it actually worked properly. I know their rating system is really biased but why would anyone give it a rating (good or bad) when no one knows how it plays? (This goes for Metallic etc as well)
Fingers crossed they sort this soon. I'm meant to be stumping up another 2 grand in September for the Hobbit and as things stand I don't get a warm fuzzy feeling, Should I be 3 grand down on a machine that's not yet built from a company who hasn't yet delivered the goods on their first machine or do I bite the bullet add more money and go for an AC/DC instead and pick up a Hobbit when they hit the 2nd hand market? Not been impressed with the utter silence on the Hobbit front. I guess they've learnt a few lessons from WOZ and making announcements too early but it's an utterly different situation from waiting for the Predator machine - guess I've been spoilt there with regular updates on work in progress. On paper Predator is a far riskier investment but their updates and feedback have been really good (+ I'm only $200 down if it all goes wrong compared to paying 6 grand up front to JJP)
Hopefully it will get sorted soon. I do want the company to succeed but God only knows how stressful this must be for people waiting on their machines.
Oh, and just to clarify, I'm equally happy to slate Stern with their "buy our limited edition but you have to pay before anyone's seen/played it" policy. 7 grand punt on a machine that might be as good as AC/DC or as bad as Transformers/IJ4.
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IMO they have tried just *too* hard with this game and the result is similar to Hollywood productions that have been endlessly rewritten and tinkered with - somewhere in there once was a good idea/film but its just a confusing mess now.
The whole debacle has dragged on for a ridiculous length of time. Seriously, every pinhead I have spoken to has long lost interest or excitement in WOZ. Which is a real shame with so much effort that has obviously gone into it.
The whole debacle has dragged on for a ridiculous length of time. Seriously, every pinhead I have spoken to has long lost interest or excitement in WOZ. Which is a real shame with so much effort that has obviously gone into it.
I'm surprised they even went with the old oz theme considering the new trilogy has started
This is the first machine to use this board set, this LCD x 2, these RGB LEDs etc. etc.
Of course it's going to take longer than a year to get it all put together. Stern have decades of practice, take a year getting machines into production and still put games out without full code. The next pin will take a fraction of the time to code with all the background work done. The next one after that even less.
Stern games use orange dots for animation. Most of their lights need to be set to 'on' or 'off'. Take a look at that video again and if people still can't see why this is taking time it's not worth explaining it.
Say what you will, jack has sold 1500 Woz and nigh on 1000 Hobbits off the back of nothing, he's doing something right.
Of course it's going to take longer than a year to get it all put together. Stern have decades of practice, take a year getting machines into production and still put games out without full code. The next pin will take a fraction of the time to code with all the background work done. The next one after that even less.
Stern games use orange dots for animation. Most of their lights need to be set to 'on' or 'off'. Take a look at that video again and if people still can't see why this is taking time it's not worth explaining it.
Say what you will, jack has sold 1500 Woz and nigh on 1000 Hobbits off the back of nothing, he's doing something right.
The machines currently in the UK have prototype board sets, they weren't reliable and iirc haven't been updated to v1.0
The code currently out is a work in progress. V1.0 was the bare minimum they were willing to put out as a playable game. They still have 3 software guys working on this full time. 1 being the guy behind TZ and another behind TSPP/LOTR. Code is the least of my worries
I ordered in September 2011, I expect a container to the UK in the next 12 weeks or less. That's fine by my as another 12 weeks of code will only make this a better game.
The machine will be in a better place to be judged at the summer shows imo.
Games are currently going out 10-15 a week. They plan on getting this to 10-15 a day at full steam ahead. There are around 500 games worth of parts ready and waiting once the board sets arrive
Compare Metallica LE to TRS. The pinball world has a lot to thank JJP for
Cheers for the update Jon. 12 weeks doesn't sound that bad. There was talk at one time of internet connectivity. Is this how the new updates are going to be delivered? Or was this idea later scrapped?
Got no idea how long a container would take to get here and through customs? Couple of weeks? Guessing the finished version won't quite make it in time for the summer show.
Got no idea how long a container would take to get here and through customs? Couple of weeks? Guessing the finished version won't quite make it in time for the summer show.
i'm desperately hoping that at the August show we will be treated to a finished WOZ, a Metallica, a Full Throttle, a Predator, and a Captain Nemo. there may be some early fallers at the first few fences though .......
poor old Jonathan must feel like he's the only one defending WOZ in here. that's not true, loads of us are keen for it to kick ass. come on Jack, surprise everyone again by pulling out something special from your hat.
poor old Jonathan must feel like he's the only one defending WOZ in here. that's not true, loads of us are keen for it to kick ass. come on Jack, surprise everyone again by pulling out something special from your hat.
Spoken like a true Fanboy
Now personally I dont like stern machines for the old "flappy flippers and don't feel right" mentality. AC/DC was the best since Spidey methinks, and Spidey was one of the best games to come from stern (if not IMO THE best). However he announces a title, sells all the preorders, and they are rolling off the production line weeks after the announcement.
Personally? I'm looking forward to Andy H's new machine - There's much more innovation that seems to have gone into it than to WOZ....
I'm hoping i'm proved wrong and that WOZ all comes good in the end, as we need a 2nd BIG player (And hopefully a 3rd!)...
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The problem is between JJ and a certain faction of the pin community ....mainly those who have stumped up the cash ....this thing has been hyped beyond all possible realistic expectations. It could never live up to the billing, and its prolonged painful birth isn't helping. At best it will be another ok pinball machine, but it isn't the 2nd coming, it isn't the great leap forward that was hyped, it isn't guaranteed to better/more fun/more reliable than any current Stern games ( and to keep knocking Stern is both pointless and incredibly short sighted) , and it isn't gonna single handedly reignite the publics interest in pinball machines.
No chance of Predator being out by August. Xmas at the earliest. Suspect the UK ones will all come in the same shipment so that will also delay it. Of the ones you listed I think Metallica and FT are the most likely. Really surprised how quick Andy's built his compared to the bigger companies.
i just watched John Trudeau on youtube talking about heighway pinball. i can't be sure, but i think he was talking about FT (FT? really, again?) when he said it was all done bar the programming
go go Andy!
Team Heighway!
go go Andy!
Team Heighway!
Gary Stern was asked about JJP in a Chicago news paper. His answer
We are the only manufacturer of pinball machines in the world. One of our former distributors decided he should make pinball machines. He’s made some samples; it’s taken him two and a half years. I’m not gonna tell you my opinion. He says he’s gonna ship one day. He has taken payment for a number of the games as much as two years ago, and he has yet to fill more than half a dozen orders. Is that a competitor? In order to be a competitor, you have to manufacture pinball machines.
Full article here
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicag...pinball-capital-world-spi/Content?oid=9606461
Fairly standard stuff apart from the JJP bit
Cheers
Ian
We are the only manufacturer of pinball machines in the world. One of our former distributors decided he should make pinball machines. He’s made some samples; it’s taken him two and a half years. I’m not gonna tell you my opinion. He says he’s gonna ship one day. He has taken payment for a number of the games as much as two years ago, and he has yet to fill more than half a dozen orders. Is that a competitor? In order to be a competitor, you have to manufacture pinball machines.
Full article here
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicag...pinball-capital-world-spi/Content?oid=9606461
Fairly standard stuff apart from the JJP bit
Cheers
Ian
Has anyone seen anything of the forbidden planet machine he was speaking about?
There's about 20 out so far with more each week. Even Stern had to start somewhere. Would Stern have released the types of game they are atm were it not for JJP? Or would we still be playing BBH and TRS plastic filled turds?
A whitewood was at the UK Pinball Party a couple of years ago but I've not heard much about it since then.
Better asking on the Yahoo group as most of the guys involved are on there and not here.
Back on topic.
Rules coming along nicely. Ill probably never see half the modes mind
And still to come:
2 more munchkin modes totalling 4.
Haunted Modes to multiball
2 (or 3 i forgot) more crystal ball modes
jackpots across multiballs
Battle the witch (what you see isn't that mode)
scoring multipliers
etc...
And still to come:
2 more munchkin modes totalling 4.
Haunted Modes to multiball
2 (or 3 i forgot) more crystal ball modes
jackpots across multiballs
Battle the witch (what you see isn't that mode)
scoring multipliers
etc...
A massive improvement on the code that was at the LPC. I love the ball save mode - very clever indeed! Should be very interesting to see where this ends up.
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D
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The fact is that JJ has tried to make a WMS widebody game, and he has done that...only problem now is that its boring!!!! fast ACDC or mental fast metalica... slow wide body yellow brick road capture Dorothy with your flying monkeys and tin men....... or!!!!!! hang on!!!! smash an electric chair....... or or or before its even been officially announced kill kling ons and star trek ****!!! i hate star trek but................ JJ Abrahms awesome movie with explosions....sorry but is it me but does munchin road sound pants compared to steve ritchie and lyman Khan multi ball???? maybe its me
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Fishing is boring. Fish Tales isn't boring.
Of course mate
When is the unboxing going to be ? Have you heard anything as yet Jonathan ?
Makes sense I suppose but it just another delay on you getting your game.
Well you have waited this long a little longer won't make much difference.
Well you have waited this long a little longer won't make much difference.
I'm still in with a shout then!!
