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Drained!

This Flippin' Podcast·podcast_episode·2h 13m·analyzed·Nov 23, 2022
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Nick Baldridge reveals Drained, his first P3 custom playfield with a 1964-era gobble hole and vampire-themed gameplay.

Summary

Nick Baldridge discusses the release of Drained, his first custom playfield module for the Multimorphic P3 platform. The vampire-themed game features a single-level playfield with a gobble hole mechanic (unused since 1964), 15 different vampire modes, and a focus on simple but nuanced rule design inspired by classic EM and wood rail games. The episode covers the design process, mechanical layout philosophy, gameplay mechanics, and community reception.

Key Claims

  • Drained is Nick Baldridge's first physical playfield module design for the P3; he has made five games total for the platform (one homebrew, then Ranger in the Ruins, Silver Falls, Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion, and Drained)

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge stated directly in the podcast episode

  • The gobble hole feature in Drained has not been commercially present on any pinball machine since 1964

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge explicitly states this design innovation in the episode

  • The game features 15 randomly-selected vampire modes, except for the final one which is a wizard mode

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge and Taylor Reese confirm this in their gameplay discussion

  • Taylor Reese has played Drained and found it addictive despite struggling initially; he was kept confidential about details until after gameplay

    high confidence · Taylor and Tommy discuss Taylor's playtest experience at length in the episode

  • Ranger in the Ruins (Nick's game on the Cosmic Kart Racing playfield) has been on location for almost six weeks and Tommy finds it highly replayable with strong 'one more game' appeal

    high confidence · Tommy discusses his direct experience with Ranger in the Ruins at his venue

  • The P3 defaults to five balls per game due to the two drain points on the playfield, but can be adjusted down to single ball if desired

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge explains the ball count design rationale

  • P3 machines have multiple flipper buttons and shadow flipper options that differ from traditional pinball, creating an adjustment period for new players

    high confidence · Tommy discusses feedback from location players about the P3 control scheme differences

  • Nick collaborated with Charles Wolfe on the music and sound design for Drained and released a podcast discussing the audio composition

    high confidence · Tommy and Nick reference a recent podcast with Charles Wolfe about the audio side of the game

Notable Quotes

  • “I've added a feature which hasn't been present on any pinball machine commercially made since 1964, and that's the gobble hole.”

    Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Key design innovation highlight; major mechanical feature unique to Drained

  • “There's nothing else like it that I can think of... the gobble hole just got me because when I walked up to the game and I saw that there was a gobble hole I was like, of course there's a gobble hole. But then of course the way that it's tied into the rules is just amazing.”

    Taylor Reese @ mid-episode — Enthusiastic endorsement of the core mechanic from a firsthand player; validates design intent

  • “I have not experienced that with Ranger in the Ruins like every time I play it I want another game on there.”

    Tommy Skinner @ late-episode — High praise for Nick's prior work; demonstrates proven design talent for replayability

  • “Everything's adjustable. So if you don't like a five ball game – and I would encourage anybody who gives it a try to try it at five ball and see what you think – but if you think that's too long playing or you would like to make a change you can always reduce it down.”

    Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Accessibility and customization philosophy; demonstrates player-first design approach

  • “You've got a natural knack for programming things that give you that one more game quality, and not everyone who designs pinball machines have that.”

    Tommy Skinner @ late-episode — Recognition of Nick's design talent as a distinct competitive advantage in the market

  • “The wood rail games are just beautiful in the way the rule sets are designed. They have a simple way of identifying which shots are important because it's actually screened right on the playfield.”

    Nick Baldridge @ late-episode — Design philosophy rooted in historical pinball; explains approach to player communication

  • “A friend named Coleman Martin did all of my CNC work, and I'm very thankful for his help. He CNC'd just the blank module pieces, which then I routed out for targets and inserts and everything.”

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonTommy SkinnerpersonTaylor ReesepersonThis Flippin' PodcastorganizationCharles WolfepersonColeman MartinpersonDrainedgame

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Drained is officially releasing as Nick Baldridge's first custom P3 playfield module; has completed testing and is ready for distribution

    high · Nick discusses the release, Taylor has played it, episode focuses on game announcement and features

  • ?

    design_innovation: Gobble hole mechanic, unused on commercial machines since 1964, integrated into Drained's core rule set with modern context

    high · Nick explicitly states 'hasn't been present on any pinball machine commercially made since 1964'; Taylor confirms the feature's appeal

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Nick's approach to Drained draws heavily from classic EM and wood rail game design principles, particularly risk/reward mechanics and playfield-centric shot identification

    high · Nick discusses Target Pool inspiration, vellum paper drafting, emphasis on playfield visibility over backbox complexity, avoiding extended buildup phases

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Drained designed to be immediately accessible to new players while maintaining nuanced strategy for experienced players; simple rule base with high complexity ceiling

    high · Nick and Tommy discuss balancing simplicity with nuance; Taylor's experience of learning the game over multiple plays; configurable difficulty settings (1-5 balls)

  • ?

    content_signal: Nick recently released a podcast episode with Charles Wolfe discussing audio composition for Drained; Tommy recommends listening to it for deeper understanding of game development

    high · Tommy mentions the podcast exists and recommends it; Nick confirms Charles Wolfe's involvement

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.401

0:00
Thank you for watching. Welcome, everyone, to this flippin' podcast. We took a little five-month vacation. Life changed severely for some of us. I'm Tommy Skinner. I'm with my partner in crime, Taylor Reese. And we are recording because we have a very special guest today. that is going to be discussing a brand new pinball game. So, Mr. Baldrige, would you like to introduce yourself? Hey, everybody. Thanks for having me, Taylor and Tommy. Absolutely. I'm really excited to be here tonight and on your podcast to talk about the release of my new game, Drained, for Multimorphics P3.
1:26
Super exciting. Hello everybody Tommy and I have been busy but not too busy to not talk to our good friend Nick I'm fortunate that I'm local to Nick's which I mentioned before but I've actually had a chance to play Drains and I will say that we are recording on a very rainy dreary night in Richmond Virginia where Nick and I both live near and I just had to run out and help my wife not change her tire. So I'm feeling a little flustered, but I am thrilled to be talking about your game. This is your second game with Multimorphic now? I mean, I know you've done three, but I didn't know if this – because you did Ranger in the Ruins.
2:22
And then the other – what was the other – how many have you done now? Silver Falls was the second one and Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion was the third and Drained is the fourth.
2:37
Drained is the first physical layout you've designed for the machine, right? Correct. I think before we go any further, we should just do a quick summary of the P3 to let people know. I know we've discussed it before, but in case anyone new and Random is listening. The P3 is a pinball machine built by the company Multimorphic, and its big premise is essentially the back one-third of the play field is interchangeable. And not only is it interchangeable, you can also program different games on the physical layouts that have already been designed and exist. Their biggest, most recent first licensed game was the Weird Al game, Museum of Natural Hilarity. That really kind of finally drew them into the mainstream. But you've been working on the platform for years now. I've been interested for years. I ordered mine a year and four months ago, a year and three months ago at this point. And it finally got delivered not too long ago. And I'm still waiting on some more play fields. and that's one of the reasons I've been so interested in seeing the process as you've designed this game, sharing a lot of it publicly as you've gone through and then finally like us getting to see some of the artwork and some more of the details and Taylor I'm very jealous that you've gotten to play it already and when I tried to talk to you about it you were like kinda hush hush dick which was like I get it but I just wanted to know if you had a good time and you were like what do you know and I was like I'm asking you, you played it and that was all I heard I was told not to talk about it that's okay I understood. I knew what was going on. I get it. You passed the test. Yeah, he passed. He didn't tell me anything. He's like, well, have you seen it? I was like, I saw the Whitewood that he posted publicly, and I think I got no reply for that. I was like, all right, all right, cool.

  • Nick designed the playfield using traditional vellum paper drafting with rulers and drafting tools before cutting wood, with help from CNC specialist Coleman Martin

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge describes his design and fabrication process in detail

  • Nick's games tend to feature simpler rule sets and early meaningful gameplay as opposed to modern games that require 30 minutes of buildup before the core experience

    medium confidence · Tommy and Nick discuss design philosophy and player engagement throughout the episode

    • Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Identifies collaborator and fabrication workflow; shows outsourcing of specialized work

  • “I take a lot of lessons again from EMs and wood rails especially... in a reflex style game where you're flipping and you're trying to stay alive... I try to gear my games to different types of players, new players, people who've never played pinball, expert pinball players.”

    Nick Baldridge @ late-episode — Core design philosophy; emphasizes inclusivity and playfield-focused gameplay over backbox complexity

    • Ranger in the Ruins
    game
    Multimorphic P3product
    Museum of Natural Hilaritygame
    Cosmic Kart Racinggame
    Target Poolgame
    Silver Fallsgame
    Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosiongame
    The Walking Deadgame
    Richmond, Virginiaevent
  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Drained playfield fabricated using traditional vellum paper drafting, CNC blanking by Coleman Martin, hand routing and installation by Nick Baldridge

    high · Nick describes detailed fabrication process including vellum paper design, CNC work, hand routing, drilling, and iterative tweaking

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Nick Baldridge demonstrates proven ability to design games with high 'one more game' appeal; Tommy identifies this as a rare and valuable design skill

    high · Tommy's extended praise of Ranger in the Ruins replayability; stays at location playing for hour+ beyond intent; contrasts with other modern games

  • ?

    product_strategy: Nick moving from software-only games to custom playfield modules signals confidence in P3 platform growth and willingness to invest in custom hardware

    medium · First four games were software on existing playfields; Drained is first custom module; indicates progression in platform commitment

  • ?

    venue_signal: Tommy has P3 on location since late July with Ranger in the Ruins; reporting strong ongoing playability and operator satisfaction; recently added bartending role suggests venue viability

    high · Tommy discusses venue operations, having P3 on location, player feedback on control schemes, recent schedule additions

  • ?

    community_signal: This Flippin' Podcast returned from five-month hiatus with major guest (Nick Baldridge) and game reveal; demonstrates community interest in podcast format for game announcements

    medium · Episode opens with acknowledgement of hiatus and framing of Nick as 'special guest' for game reveal; implies deliberate scheduling

  • ?

    player_feedback: P3 players report adjustment period needed for control differences (multiple buttons, shadow flipper); not immediately intuitive despite traditional pinball background

    medium · Tommy reports player feedback about multiple flipper buttons causing confusion; notes improvement comes with familiarity; identifies shadow flipper as solution

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Nick prioritizes playfield-visible rule communication (screenprinted values, lit shots) over backbox-dependent rule depth; influenced by EM/wood rail aesthetics

    high · Nick explicitly discusses this design choice in response to Taylor's question about player communication; contrasts modern games requiring backbox reading

    • 4:31
    Well, welcome, Nick. Thanks for letting us be a – thanks for joining us to talk about your game. I'm super thrilled for you that you've got your first module done.
    4:49
    Because that's pretty much what it – is that what it's referred to in P3? What's the back area? What do you guys call it? It's a P3 family. Playfield module. Yep. So this is your first one. And, I mean, I think you should just tell us about how you came up with the game, why you decided to actually do your own module opposed to what you've done before where you've utilized an existing P3 module.
    5:21
    Yeah, just tell us about the game, and we can get as deep as you want to get into it. There's a lot. There's a great – Nick just released a podcast. Now, I'm not exactly sure when we're releasing this, but there is a great podcast that Nick just released with the person, and I'll let Nick give his name because I'm blanking on it, the audio side of the game. I just listened to that, I think, yesterday, which was great. But listen to that. You really understand how much it went into this game. So, Nick, why don't you just start breaking it down for us, man? Sure. Yeah, that podcast was with Charles Wolfe, and he composed the music and sound effects for the game.
    6:09
    I have built, actually, this is my fifth game for the P3. The first one was a homebrew effort, and I just wanted to kind of learn the platform, figure out how to make games on the software side of things. and I enjoyed it so much that I started making these other software games, utilizing existing playfield layouts.
    6:37
    And Ranger in the Ruins was the first effort after that homebrew effort. And that was my first commercial game on the platform. So through that, I learned quite a bit more about what it takes to make a commercial game, make it viable, make it something that has the coin-op features which are necessary for both a home environment and an arcade environment.
    7:09
    And then I utilized that knowledge and kind of built on it for these other games that I've made on different playfield modules that I own. So I'm also a customer, a happy customer of Multimorphic, and I just enjoy the concept of having a pinball machine that I can reprogram and create an entirely new experience using the same playfield layout. But I also enjoy designing playfields, and I've got a few different concepts. And the first one that I wanted to work on was Drain, this game.
    7:48
    One of the things that I find can be unusual in modern games is an arrangement that's similar to some EM games. So EM games, I think, especially wood rail games, are a perfect mix of risk and reward. So you're spending a lot of time building up different aspects of your game and then cashing in in points or in replays or what have you by hitting specific shots or by completing certain objectives.
    8:29
    And so modern games tend to reward in different ways. They tend to reward with light shows or big sound buildups, mechanical movements, those kind of things. those are rewarding as well and they're fun.
    8:45
    So not to diminish that at all, but I think that it is interesting to be able to approach a gameplay mechanic like a single-level play field with a ton of mechanical action in the back third in a modern context. And so the P3 allows me to do that. So with Drained, what I started with was the layout that I had drawn. And I am kind of old school in some ways. I draw on vellum paper, which is like a tracing paper, an art paper. And I have this huge roll of it. So I can roll it out to the size of a pinball play field and then figure out using rulers and drafting tools the angles for bounces and so forth. So before I actually cut any wood, I have a layout basically completed. You know, it needed some tweaking, but the basics were there on paper. from the layout, then I cut a rough white wood. And I've had help from a lot of different friends.
    10:09
    A friend named Coleman Martin did all of my CNC work, and I'm very thankful for his help. He CNC'd just the blank module pieces, which then I routed out for targets and inserts and everything.
    10:30
    And that's how I did my initial placement, just with hand marking on the wood, routing it out by hand, drilling, installing things, tweaking things, filling in, moving things around.
    10:47
    But the things that I added add up to that kind of retro experience. So up in the top third, I've added upper slingshots, and they're angled towards these two curved banks of targets.
    11:05
    Those targets are key, and I took the idea for that from a game called Target Pool by Cotley. It's an EM game where you plunge, and as you come down the center, there is this triangular shape, and you're trying to hit just a tremendous number of targets, which are angled on either side. And when you do that, it enables a roving replay feature. So you hit a specific target, you get a reward. so those that angle and that those specific angles of the slingshots have been modified slightly to change the gameplay experience but the other interesting thing about the p3 is that there's no plunge so you don't plunge straight up into the center instead the balls are launched from the back and I wanted to utilize that feature in an interesting way as well. So I added two banks of drop targets, which are right in front of the launchers.
    12:15
    I say right in front, but they're a little distance away. And when you launch the ball, it fires into the drop targets and then can ricochet back into the pop bumper. There's a single pop bumper mounted in the center in the upper area. or it can fall down and hit the slingshots on either side or just roll out and down to the flipper.
    12:38
    And the way everything is constructed, the ball typically rolls down to either the left or right flipper. So you generally have a bite at the apple there.
    12:52
    So on the gameplay side and the layout side, changing that up a bit was key. So the drop targets, the pop bumper, and because there's no entryway, I was able to squeeze in another two targets that are behind the drop targets, the drop target banks behind the pop bumper.
    13:16
    And the angles of those drop target banks are set in such a way that you can sweep the entire bank. If you have the angle just right, it'll not only sweep and clear that bank, but it'll also hit one of those targets behind the pop bumper and then fall back down onto the pop bumper. So it's a pretty cool little effect if you happen to get your geometry dialed in just so.
    13:41
    But on the risk reward side, and there's a ton which I can talk about this, but I've added a feature which hasn't been present on any. pinball machine commercially made since 1964, and that's the gobble hole.
    14:00
    The use of the gobble hole is also great, and I have to say that I will say, since I've actually played the game before, and I think it's really interesting because it seems relatively minimal. I mean, there's a lot to the module that Nick built because it's just packed with targets and stuff like that. But when you're playing it, it's, I don't know, it's interesting. Like, the P3 is an interesting platform because you really have that, just that upper third. But I didn't feel like, it doesn't feel like it's sparse and then you just have this chunk of stuff up top.
    14:42
    And, yeah, it's, I don't know, it was really interesting playing it. because it just seems like, oh, there's just, I don't know, like you just have these targets, and it's like, oh, this is going to be, I don't know, it's an absolutely different experience than anything that I can remember playing.
    15:02
    And, like, you know, the play field is packed, and the way that it plays, like the balls kicking out and stuff like that, it is really, it's a really fascinating, modern pinball. I don't know. There's nothing else like it that I can think of. I don't know.
    15:25
    I'm sorry. I think it's just the gobble hole just got me because when I walked up to the game and I saw that there was a gobble hole I was like, of course there's a gobble hole. But then of course the way that it's tied into the rules is just amazing. So I'll let you keep going. well yeah so um thanks thanks for that taylor because yeah it's it's it's kind of hard to describe and i know i'm just kind of feeding you a lot of word salad here but uh i just wanted to give you an idea of how this was all created on the geometry side and the way it all comes together is uh you know mixing together the elements of the sound package the art package and the light shows. You know, everything works in concert and everything has been thought out very carefully to enhance the player's experience in some way. So the gobble hole, even though a gobble hole is traditionally very punishing, so there are some layouts where there are six, seven different gobble holes on a play field that were utilized back in the 50s. And some of those games are insanely fun, despite the punishing nature of losing your ball constantly.
    16:44
    If you get dialed into the way those games play, the reward that you can get from those games is just fascinating. And the way that they build and can carry over.
    16:59
    So a gobble hole has a lot of stigma because it's a second drain on the play field. you can shoot a shot and then lose your ball, which is kind of a big bummer. But if you do it just right and you build up your game and you have something special happening on the play field, then it doesn't have to be a big bummer because it's this huge rewarding shot. Right. I kind of think it's like outlaying specials. So on a lot of EM games, you complete whatever sequence they have and then it lights up a special that alternates out lanes. That's kind of a bummer because you've got to drain in order to get it.
    17:41
    So those games I've always felt have the wrong kind of reward or reinforcement because it's making you drain out of a side in order to get that reward. But if you can shoot a shot, and in this case it's right up the center, it is straight up the play field. So you have to hit it with intention.
    18:04
    But when you do, it feels really good, at least I think so. So would you agree, Taylor? Yeah, the gobble hole is really, yeah, it's like I felt like every time I was trying to make it, I just could not do it. And then, yeah, I would just, I would nail it. I would nail it when I was trying to hit anywhere on the play field. So I think you need to talk about – so the gobble hole is basically, to me, it seems like that's your almost like a super jackpot shot or something. You're building a value or you're strategically trying to build up to qualify that gobble hole so that it is actually worth something, right? Right. That's fair to say. Correct. Yeah, I think if you get into the rules and kind of explain how the gobble hole becomes something you want to shoot for, it will make a lot of sense. Because that's where I think the thing that really hooked me on playing it was that the rule set is relatively simple. There's a lot of nuances to it, but it's relatively simple. And then you do, you have that, the gobble hole becomes like the most important shot. and the struggle to make it after you build it up to the point where you want to make it is really, it's just like you're just always kind of like on edge about, you know, can I collect? Have I qualified it? Should I shoot it now? Because isn't there a way to, yeah, you've got to describe the game. Like you've got to describe the gameplay like just the basics of like how many balls you have, the way that the ball count works, right? Because there's certain, can't you add a ball and stuff like that? Yeah, if you get into that, I think it'll help make sense of that. Yeah, so I guess the part that I haven't talked about at all is what the game is, and it's themed based on vampires.
    20:06
    And so that was kind of the starting point. And the deal is that you're two different friends who become unwitting vampire hunters, and you stumble across this castle one day when you're walking with your friend in the park and inside there's this coffin and it's sitting on top of this dais or this set of stairs right at the top of the play field.
    20:32
    So what you're attempting to do when you launch the ball, there are two targets which are lit and they're the targets on either side of the gobble hole and they're named Slay and Vamp. if you hit those targets the vampire will wake up and the coffin will open and at that point you're battling the vampire so there's 15 different vampires in the game and each one is essentially its own mode so there are different targets or sets of targets that you have to clear in order to stun the vampire and make it easier to hit the gobble hole you can hit the gobble hole at any time during the game of course if you hit it while the vampire is still asleep, you just lose your ball. You die. If you have awakened the vampire, it's called a sneaky staking. So you sneak into the gobble hole, and that gives you a particular set of bonus, award. And if you clear the vampire's mode, then you get a much higher reward.
    21:39
    So essentially the targets which are laid out all over the playfield are different tools that you can use to fight the vampire.
    21:49
    So on the left-hand side, you've got a bank of six targets which spells garlic. On the right-hand side, you have a bank of six that spells steaks.
    21:59
    The drop targets are mirrored, and they spell mirror. And the targets behind the pot bumper are holy water. There's also an additional four targets in the front. So Flanking, Slay, and Vamp, you have Flaming Torch and Silver Sword. So if you collect all the tools and complete the Vampire's Mode, you get the biggest reward. But each of these different sequences can stack, and they can stack within the Vampire's Mode as well.
    22:33
    So you're constantly moving towards something. some tool is being collected, or you're completing shots which stun the vampire, those kind of things. So the game is, by default, it's five ball, because there are two different drains on the play field. I wanted kind of that old school feel. So you have five chances to kill vampires, and in a perfect game, you can actually slay ten vampires. now if you have five balls and you have to lose one in the gobble hole you might be asking how you can do that as taylor mentioned there's an add a ball feature so if you complete stakes the first time a second ball will launch and while both balls are active you can actually shoot one and slay a vampire and then use the second one to start and complete a second vampire so there's a lot of nuance in there with how you choose to approach the game you can just go straight for the vampires and try to knock them out as quickly as possible one of the testers really enjoyed the challenge of trying to complete 10 in a single game took him quite a while to do it but he did eventually get there that's not an every game occurrence, though. The other challenge would be completing these different tools. If you complete these sequences or sets of tools and then start the vampire battle, it will spot some of the vampire shots for you in the mode. So you get kind of freebies, and it changes the remaining shots that you have. It reduces the remaining shots that you have in those modes. so everything's adjustable so if you don't like a five ball game and I would encourage anybody who gives it a try to try it at five ball and see what you think but if you think that's too long playing or you would like to make a change you can always reduce it down you can bring it down to a single ball per game if you want to for each ball that you remove though it will give you an additional spotted target so at the start of each ball before you launch the ball it'll flash up the thing and say hey you got some targets spotted and those will work towards your sequence completion and they're applied at semi-random they actually work in the player's favor in different ways but you can spot targets in multiple ways actually within the game while you're playing so even on a five ball game, you can still spot targets. You can spot them at the in lanes and out lanes and you can rotate those. You can spot them by hitting the side targets and completing those or by completing the garlic sequence on the left hand side. So each time you do that, you spot a target.
    25:42
    And when you're hitting the garlic targets, from what I remember, don't the inserts change colors, right? Aren't there different stages for each one. And then can you also explain, give an example of what a mode would entail? So basically each vampire is a mode.
    26:06
    Yeah, so if you could talk a little bit about that. That's kind of like after I played for a little bit and just kind of got used to the geometry and stuff, I actually was starting to try to figure out what the modes were. And how many vampires are in the game? you said 15, right? 15, correct. And so you will, and those are randomly chosen. Except for the last one. Except for the last one. Okay.
    26:32
    Yeah, if you could talk a little bit about that, like, maybe if you could describe, like, if you walked up to the game and you were going to play the perfect first ball, like, what would the perfect first ball be for you?
    26:46
    So, for me, it's always about sequence completion. The more sequences you can complete, the better your bonus is going to be. And this is kind of unusual. If you've played any of my other games, I'm not big on bonuses, typically. So this is the first game that I've made that has an end of ball bonus, and I wanted it to be rewarding. So something that you want to accrue and acquire through your ball. So as you shoot and complete these different sequences, depending on the difficulty of the sequence, your bonus will be increased or multiplied or other effects can happen at the end of the ball.
    27:29
    So for me, stepping up, if I want to play the perfect ball one, I'm going to try to collect all the tools first and then start the vampire battle, get as many of those shots spotted as possible within the vampire mode, and then slay the vampire. The longer that I find, the longer that I stay in the vampire mode, the easier it is for me to drain.
    27:56
    And I guess that's true of any pinball, but there's added pressure during the vampire battles because the walls and scoops, which separate the screen portion of the P3 where the ball is rolling and being tracked at all times will raise up right in the center and they block that gobble hole shot. So that's the sneaking shot that I was talking about. So they're constantly moving up and down, and the reason for that is mechanical.
    28:26
    If there's a ball trapped behind it, you know, I want to be able to allow the player to have the ability to recover from that. So I knew that would be part of the design going into this. If I block that shot and a slow roller gets stuck behind it, there needs to be a way to free it. So they move up and down on a pattern.
    28:49
    And you can just wait and then shoot the ball right in. Or you can play the mode. And the modes, all of them except for one, which is kind of the wizard mode, have six different shots that are needed to complete. Now, the shots are randomized, not randomized, that's a bad word. The shots change based on the vampire. So at the beginning of each ball, it'll tell you which vampire that you're going to battle.
    29:21
    And when you start the vampire, when you awaken it by hitting slay and vamp, and the coffin rises up, different inserts will be flashing, or the pop bumper will be flashing or a lamp that's underneath the central plastic will be flashing to tell you that you need to hit specific targets or you need to bring the ball back into the launchers or you need to hit the pop bumper in order to stun the vampire. And as you hit these shots and you're working through the mode, the light show changes. So initially, the lights go down when the vampire wakes up, and as you hit these shots, the light becomes more and more intensely bright white, as if you're opening a curtain and shining the sun on the vampire. So once you open it all the way, the vampire is stunned and can no longer raise the coffin lids. They keep trying to fall.
    30:20
    So in that way, you have a clear shot for the gobble hole, and then you can take that and earn the biggest bonus possible.
    30:30
    So that's my ideal ball one is, you know, being an expert at the game. There you go. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I found the game to be – I found it to be very addictive. I think it seems because you approach it, you know, because it's, you know, a single level and stuff like that, it's very approachable. It seems like, oh, it's going to be very straightforward. But, yeah, it's like there is a lot to unpack, like, once you start playing.
    31:02
    I'm not the best pinball player, so I struggled. That's a lie. I struggled, but I did start to get the hang of it. I think, like, the last couple games I played, I started to really kind of, like. And I'll say that's part of the P3 system itself. Having now had mine on location since late July, that's what a lot of my players that I talked to down there kind of said is, like, it takes an adjustment period. Because while it is traditional pinball, it does have differences than traditional pinball. And largely, like, one of my players said, like, the fact that it has multiple flipper buttons confuses me. And I'm like, you can play shadow, right? Like, you figure it out over time. part of the problem is like shadow you always use those buttons as you switch from game to game on the p3 you don't always use those buttons you know and as simple as that might be for those of us that are ingrained in pinball or ingrained in the p3 system itself it does definitely throw off new players to it but as far as what you were saying about the game drained taylor and its addictive nature uh that is what i've experienced in my uh personal time playing ranger in the ruins Nick's other game that was designed for the Cosmic Kart Racing play field. We've had that on location now, playing Ranger in the Ruins for, I think, almost six weeks. And, like, it's one of those games that I just, when I rarely have time to be down there, actually, but when I am, I can play a couple games on it because it's so brutal and so fast. And I always just want to play, like, one more. I think it was two weeks ago, I started bartending at my location on Wednesday nights, and we closed at midnight, and everybody left at, like, 11.45 that night. So I was like, cool, lock the door. I get to play a couple games, and next thing I knew it was like 12.45, and I was like, oh, shit, I got to go home. So, yeah, like I thought it was just going to be a game or two, and then I was like, oh, I got five items. I can get more. I'm getting closer.
    32:58
    You've got a natural knack for programming things that give you that one more game quality, and not everyone who designs pinball machines have that. Like their game can still be really fun. Like I like The Walking Dead, but I have a game on it, and I'm like, cool, I can play Walking Dead again next month. I'm good. like I'll walk away and be fine with that I have not experienced that with Ranger in the Ruins like every time I play it I want another game on there wow that huge praise thank you Tommy I think thank you you brought me fun and enjoyment man I appreciate it I want another game on there Wow that a huge praise Thank you Tommy Thank you You brought me fun and enjoyment man I appreciate it I think one of the things that's like a lot of modern games, you know, it takes a half an hour to get into the game.
    33:37
    You know, a game with a simpler rule set, it feels like you are just thrown into it. Like everything matters. It's not like you've got to, you know, you've got to, you've got to build up, you got to get to the mini wizard mode before you're really going to make any points or really see the story unfold. Like here, it's just like, boom, you're in it. And yeah, I think that that's, I think that that's the thing where it's just like, you don't have to, you don't, yeah, you just don't feel obligated to, you know, try to survive to, yeah, to, to seize anything. Yeah, that's really interesting. I think even with, like, you know, going over to Nick's house and playing his multi-bingo game, it's so addictive just to plunge, like, you know, five balls, try to get, you know, a bingo. Or, you know, the simplicity of those games is really attractive.
    34:43
    And, yeah, I don't know. I feel like this has the aspects of that. which is really interesting in hearing Tommy talk about it with Ranger of the Ruins. Yeah, it's really interesting how you are just like you're in the game.
    34:58
    Do you think that – I mean, obviously the rules are very nuanced, though, because that's the other thing is like Nick and I were talking like while, you know, he's showing me the game and I'm playing and he keeps getting into it and getting into it. And it is a very nuanced game. And I think as a designer, do you find that getting the information to the player, I feel is one of the biggest issues with pinball in general. How did you, because the game is simple, the layout is simple, but it's obviously nuanced. How do you approach that as a designer trying to get the player who's immediately like, that's the other thing is you're thrown into the game you don't have this like 30 minutes to kind of like build up to go if i do this enough times it's going to like this it's like you're in it you've got to know what to do yeah how do you convey that to the player when they step up to your games so i take a lot of lessons again from ems and wood rails especially um the wood rail games are just beautiful in the way the rule sets are designed. They have a simple way of identifying which shots are important because it's actually screened right on the play field. You know, this one is worth 10,000 points or it's worth 100,000 if you complete whatever sequence. So that's something I feel in a modern context, which has been lost. And I know we've talked about this before, Taylor, when I come over and play some of your games, I have trouble identifying what I'm actually shooting for. And I know I sound ridiculous sometimes when I say that, but I have not, in playing a lot of EMs and wood rails, the thing that I find is that I spend a lot of time looking at the play field while I'm playing. I don't spend a lot of time looking at the back box. And modern games, some modern games have these extremely in-depth rule sets that require you to spend a lot of time looking and planning on the back box. But in a reflex style game where you're flipping and you're trying to stay alive and you're planning your moves based on the shots which are lit on the play field, that's not the way that I prefer to play. So I try to gear my games, and it's kind of a difficult task, but I try to gear my games to different types of players, new players, people who've never played pinball, expert pinball players. And I know the game sounds difficult because of that extra drain, which is on the play field. But the way that I communicate to the player and what they need to do and how they need to do it is through the combination of the light show. So I flash the lights, which are important. I flash them in distinct colors and explain what those colors are, either through choreography or through gameplay. So when you start the ball, every single ball, the lights for slay and vamp are flashing red. And when you hit them, they light solid. So, you know, you've already hit it. but I also utilize the P3, and the P3 is fantastic for providing information to the player on the screen. You can provide text for the player to read. You can provide context with virtual inserts. You can provide moving targets that the player can hit. So in Drain, I use a combination of all three.
    38:40
    Again, using the example of Slay and Vamp, you hit Slay or you hit Vamp, and it lights up virtual inserts, which are down on the playfield in front of the player, near the flippers. So as you're looking down at the playfield while you're watching the ball, you're also getting the message of what you've hit and what you need to hit.
    39:01
    That's included with all the sequences. So you spell out garlic. You can look at the playfield at glance if you choose not to look all the way in the back where the action's happening with the slings and everything, you can see which letter in garlic you need in order to complete the sequence.
    39:21
    So it's a handy way of communicating directly to the player. And the same goes for score. So score is very important.
    39:32
    There are pinball games which have story elements and situations that you're trying to complete in order to advance a narrative.
    39:44
    But setting that aside, the basic concept of most pinball games is that you're trying to get a bunch of points.
    39:52
    And points only have meaning within the context of any game that you're playing. So if points are the major thing that you're trying to acquire, it's important that they're in front of the player and you're able to see them easily. And so that's another thing that the P3 does well, because I've got a little virtual cutout down right below the flippers. And that's typical on most P3 games where it'll show you your score and the score of anybody that you're playing with or against. so it's pretty a pretty cool platform for being able to communicate effectively to the player and players of all different skill levels so does that answer your question yeah I yeah I once you start talking about how you can communicate everything with the screen on the you know basically like the player is looking down at the play field at a monitor right so it's all there and yeah I think that you know I think that's the biggest thing when I talk to people about just pinball in general and the way rule sets have gotten so complicated and so deep you know I feel like drained the like I was saying you know it doesn't seem like it's that complicated but once you get into the nuances especially like when you're explaining it to me as I'm playing it I'm just like there's so much more to it than I am aware of and obviously like you know you're designing it so you have it's all in you know it's just it's natural for you to understand that that's something you need to shoot for I mean I just think it's interesting as a designer now that you've got five games under your belt and now you have a module, your first module.
    42:00
    You know, I guess kind of moving on, but why did you decide to do an actual module? I've been thinking recently about your game and I was thinking about, you know, I know that you come from like the hardcore scene and kind of there's a lot of DIY aspects to that type of music and stuff. And I think that that's something I think is really interesting about what you've done and have been doing in pinball is that I really see that DIY mentality of, like, you have an idea that you want to see that doesn't exist, right? So whether that be a multi-bingo, multi-horse race game, or using the platform to do like a DDR type of thing and to now get to the point of doing a module, like what pushed you to that point where you were like, I'm just going to make a game. I need to make a game on my own. Like what, yeah, just if you could talk about that.
    43:04
    Yeah, and it's just always been of interest to me. When I first saw the P3, I thought, what an excellent idea, having a modular platform where anybody can create a module and anybody can be a designer, essentially. But it's more complicated than that. I mean, that's the thing is like, I mean, to say that, oh, well, anybody can build a module. I mean, it is way more complicated than that. It's a lot of work. That's for sure. I mean, I'm not trying to minimize the amount of work that it is, believe me, but it is accessible. So if you have the interest, Multimorphic has a free SDK that you can download that includes module specifications.
    43:57
    And so, for example, I mentioned I'm pretty old school and I drew the thing first. and I used hand tools to route out the initial whitewood, well, you know, typically you would design it in CAD and then have the first whitewood CNC. But I don't have a CNC machine and at the time didn't have access to one.
    44:23
    So in order to make my vision a reality, I had to, you know, get creative, do it by hand. And as far as the drive to do it, it is exactly what you said. It's something that doesn't exist currently. I feel there's a small gap in the market as far as having this accessible rule set and play field layout that anybody can step up to and play, but also mixes in these extremely modern elements like the on-screen ball tracking, orbit shots without switches, all kinds of different aspects and, you know, the ultra-modern LED light shows, you know, all the things that can come together and make a beautiful modern pinball game, but with an accessible and easily understood rule set for the basic portion of it. Hit the flashing shots, shoot the gobble hole, you're good to go.
    45:32
    So that's kind of the idea, the basic idea. And then the drive to do it, well, you know, I'm fairly driven.
    45:42
    Well, you are obviously incredibly driven. just from a casual person who's I've seen the appeal of the P3 and I'm like, okay, maybe I can do something one day. I want to say like I've seen the community having been on the discord for over a year now is incredibly helpful because while you've been obviously the most successful, most successful and driven in creating games for the P3, there's a lot of people out there who are working on things. So that's like another thing that has intrigued me is like, they all seem to be willing to help each other. And I know you help a lot of people, just as you said, a lot of people helped you along the way on this. It's a really cool community as well. It is. So because I didn't have that CAD expertise, another friend of mine, Anthony Swan, did all the CAD layout for me. So I hired him to do that. And then I was able to use his work in order to get the next whitewood CNC'd, and I was able to go from there. So small adjustments were made over time, but that second bite at the apple was close to what the finished product was. It required, if I told you all the tiny movements, it would drive you insane like it did me. But things shift, you know, just a fraction of a fraction of an inch, But it changes the way that the game plays in just a remarkable way. So but getting that rough concept was important in order to move to the next phase. And I feel like it was very helpful for me to solidify some of the design ideas that I had. so initially I tried different things with post placement in between the different targets and the basic post placement on kind of the sides of the module, the garlic and the steaks has remained the same but the post placement below the central targets is very different than it was initially the targets, I have two oblong targets on either side and I called them the cape shot based on the artwork. But those didn't exist in the first whiteboard. I added them because I realized that I was hitting a lot of posts and I wanted some kind of reward for the player, even if they were bricking every shot, you know, need to need to give the player something. So that's what those were for. And then integrating those into the rule set was something that came later. so one of the things we haven't talked about is that I've added challenges for very good players like Taylor's Caliber where there's combo shots and you can start a combo either on the left or the right side and there's two different sequences and so there's this really cool, well I think it's cool, a chase light show that runs around back and forth on the play field as you hit these different combo shots Each combo sequence has six different shots. You might notice there's a repeating number in this game. Six is kind of the key number.
    49:01
    But as you chase through, the shots get more and more difficult, and one of them culminates with specific drop target shots, which is pretty rough.
    49:13
    But if you can do it, it's very, very rewarding. and the reward on the bonus side is also well worth it.
    49:23
    I don't think I made any combos when I was at your place. I will say that. Because I think you pointed those out kind of later, and I started to shoot for them, and I was just like, I can't even start to add that to the gameplay right now.
    49:39
    But it was cool that it was in there. And that goes back to the whole, yeah, once you start playing it, very it seems like a very simple way out like pretty simple idea but then there are these like nuances and it is about you're calling it a bonus because that's kind of you know it's like the end of the ball but it is like that's your collect shot so it is like that's where the value is in the game right like points wise it's like it's really like you're building it up to slay the vampire and that is your those are your points. So, I don't know, calling it bonus, it seems weird because I always feel like bonus is kind of like it's just some extra stuff. But this is really, it's the meat, right? The meat of the points is in the slaying of the vampire, right? It's integral to the game. You can earn a lot of points on the play field.
    50:31
    But yeah, you're correct. I wanted to make that very rewarding. And so So the context that we all have to frame that in is the end of ball bonus. Yeah.
    50:45
    But you can multiply. You can start play field multipliers. If you hit the pop bumper five times, it'll increase your multiplier. So you can rack that way up. Very difficult to do because depending on how you've got things angled, you're not going to hit the pop bumper on a solid shot. and then they zip back to your flipper so fast it can be difficult to react, depending.
    51:12
    But you can increase your playfield multiplier, but holy water, which is the hardest sequence to complete because it's behind the pop plumper, will increase your bonus multiplier. So if you can increase that bonus multiplier to a high number, it is extremely rewarding. and I should also mention all the talk of spotted targets and so forth you can spot complete sequences so you can spot holy and water without having to touch those targets so you can go for the low risk shots like the side target shots but you're playing down close to the flippers so it's dangerous to stay down there for very wrong. Or you can shoot up to the top and see if you can angle it just so, so that you hit those targets. But that is also very difficult and can be a big ask. So everything on the play field was built with intention and it's intended to reward the player, but also to give the player a sense of risk, a sense of danger. So to make things a little less stressful on the player, there are ball saves. So as Tommy will attest, there are no ball saves on Ranger in the Ruins. Which makes for a very entertaining tournament game, let me tell you. I bet. We have seen some tantrums.
    52:43
    And tilt ends game on that one. So even if you have the number of balls turned up, it'll still make you watch as your player melts down. So if you crank that up to three balls, it's pretty entertaining.
    52:59
    But on drained, tilt just ends the ball. And I have tilt warnings and everything. But that's all part of the design. And part of the design process is figuring out what is rewarding, what is punishing, what the player should be trying to achieve and what the player should feel with any given shot or action within the game. So everything that you see in any game that you play, not just my games, but any game was designed with pure intention. I mean, they figure out everything down to the very minute minutia of any game. So not even just talking about nuanced rule sets or anything, but just the experience of the game.
    53:49
    And that goes for anybody. But regarding my game, can I talk about the art for a second? That's what I wanted to go to next, just because I think it's one. I'm going to spoil it a little bit. Your wife is your artist for the game, which I think is just really cool that you guys can work that well together and not murder one another, because I'm not sure I would be capable of that. And then I just want to talk about the look. Like, the look is so unique and incredible, and, like, the color palette just reminds me of Centaur, which I don't know if that's intentional in any way or not, but I obviously love that art package so much that go on, tell us more about the art, because I'm curious about how that process came around. I just love the look of the game. Yeah. Well, I am really, really proud of the work that Molly did. She did all of the artwork for the entire game. There is a portion of the animations, which I'll talk about, that I did, but she did absolutely everything else. and so anything that you see within this game and there is a ton of artwork and in fact Taylor hadn't seen all of the digital artwork the last time that you came over I was still adding in some of the last pieces but you had seen all the physical artwork and a good goodly chunk of the digital. So, um, yeah, Molly, uh, is a designer and, um, she went to art school and, uh, I have a, an interview with her that'll be going up at some point where she talks a little bit about our process and working together. But essentially, um, I started looking for artists and I had worked with commercial artists on different games in the past. For example, the homebrew that I mentioned, which is a port of the PC game Quest for Glory.
    55:49
    I hired a variety of different commercial artists to complete different portions of that game, commercial animators and this wonderful background artist from the Netherlands, actually did the majority of the stills for that game. But for this game, I had a very specific look in mind, and that was an Edward Gorey style pen and ink drawing. And so I did draw inspiration from Centaur, the black and white art package, black and white and red.
    56:26
    And also from the work of Python Angelo, which was very influential. You know, the first pinball game that I remember playing was Pinbot. And his work is really interesting from an artistic perspective because it's almost sculpture with the 2D artwork. The plastics are built up in such a way that they combine to make a three-dimensional picture. And it's such a cool effect. And I really wanted to try to replicate that with the way the plastics work with the two dimensional artwork on play field. So I was looking for artists and I made some some posts around and I was talking to different artists and scared quite a few off.
    57:17
    Initially, I approached a few different artists and just the scope of the project freaked a few of them out. it is I can't overstate I don't think the amount of work that's involved in creating artwork for a pinball machine there is a ton of work and if you have a single artist who's doing the plastics who's doing the play field who's doing the digital artwork who's doing animation work that's insane So, again, Molly is amazing. And I've always loved her artwork. I'm very familiar.
    58:04
    I've been we'd been dating while she was in Art Foundation at VCU. And that was an intense first year program at school at the art school. And she went on to do design. But I was always really impressed with how she was able to render 2D objects and the way that she was able to render spaces. And she didn't do a lot of computer-assisted drafting. It was all manual at the time that she went to school. A little bit of CAD, but not a ton. so I was talking with her and I said it's going to be probably this amount of money and we really need to think about how we're going to budget for this because it's going to be a lot of money in order to get the look that I'm going for with this and I really think it's going to make the game stand out, it'll be beautiful, it'll be really eye-catching and interesting but that comes with the price tag obviously and she said you know let me let me try let me see if that's something that I can do and I said sure but just make sure that's actually something that you want to do because it's going to be a lot just a tremendous amount of work so she said let's give it a shot you can always switch to another artist if this doesn't work out but But could you?
    59:42
    Yeah, I mean, if it had been overwhelming or if there had been, you know, issues with the work that she had done in some way, our relationship is such that she would have understood.
    59:57
    And we clarified all that up front before she started on the project. So she was down to give it a shot, and I said, let's go for it. And I think the work that she turned in is gorgeous.
    60:12
    You know, of course, I speak with bias, but she did everything again in that Edward Gorey pen and ink style. And what I had her do, I would lay out a particular piece that she needed to do. And in some instances, I had a very strong vision for what I wanted. and then we would go through and refine it through a process and eventually the finished work would appear. Or she would have some reign to do some of her own design choices. So some of Molly's influences in there and typically the more lighthearted or humorous elements of the game are touches that Molly put in. and a lot of the more atmospheric portions are things which I required. So, for example, if you look at the artwork for the module, there's a vampire with its hands, and its hands are pointed in a fairly interesting way. If you were to hold your hands in that way, it's kind of an unusual way to hold your arms up like that. But if you notice, the fingers are pointing towards the gobble hole. So that's another wood rail throwback because the artwork is actually pointing to a shot that you either want to make or you don't want to make. And it gives that extra bit of integration to the game.
    61:45
    The way the plastics are stacked, I had the plastics around the back actually form part of the vampire's face. and then the flat part of the playfield that the ball rolls on is a vampire's shirt with its arms, but the backboard is the rest of its head and its eyes are inserts above holy and water. So not only do they track that, but they're also integrated with different light shows. So the vampire's eyes will flash to indicate that you've been killed or whatever the case is within the game. so it's all part and parcel of the art package and I just can't say enough good things about working with Molly on this project she just did such an amazing job on the digital side she made two large background images and then as you travel from castle to castle the interiors change So the same basic premise of that coffin up on the stairs exists in every castle. But then every vampire has their own little personality quirk.
    63:02
    And so they have these different, you know, ornaments or parts of their castle which are displayed and those change for each vampire. some of them are animated or interactive in some way and then some of them are just ornamentation but the other piece which was tremendously just intense as far as the work goes is the physical components so doing the artwork for the cabinet sides or the apron. Again, I had a specific vision for what I wanted for those things and how they should integrate with the game.
    63:55
    So it was very important to me that everything had a cohesive appearance and that all the physical artwork looked beautiful, at least I think beautiful, when the game is off or on and the way that the lights interplay with the artwork is also designed with intention. So the side targets, there are covers for the side targets, which you can have the ramp returns on the P3 because it's modular. You can take these ramp returns off where you can leave them on. But there are these covers which sit on top of the side targets. And those are designed with six different pieces of fine art. They're like fine art parody.
    64:47
    And these portraits are all supposedly famous vampires, the way that they've been redrawn. And they all have different framing and ornamentation as well. So it's just a unique art package. And most of it is black and white, but there is some red and some brown and different colors to indicate the different sequences. So it's it's ways for your eyes to be able to track.
    65:18
    And I had a friend over. Early in the artwork development process, and he happened to be colorblind.
    65:26
    And so initially, the the way the inserts were labeled, I was using different colors for them. and he let me know that he couldn't tell the difference between some of the different inserts. So I ended up going back to the drawing board on that and then running it by him. And so the final version there is colorblind friendly, at least with the particular colorblindness that he happened to have. So I was grateful for that feedback because that's something that I never would have guessed, you know, or thought of. But yeah, Molly's a rock star in short, and she just did a tremendous job. So proud of it. I'm so proud of her. I did have a question pertaining to the art, and I'm sure we'll get into this. Obviously, like you said, this is going to be a commercial release through Multimorphic. It's actually through my company, 4MadePenonlyGames. Okay, got you. So will you be building or will they be building? So I will be building. Yes. Awesome. As part of this because it wasn difficult enough I started a manufacturing company That a genius That was a very good plan I was just interested because of some of the previous titles that I have purchased I had the option of adding on artwork packages with Drained in the description that I read at least It comes with all the artwork packages.
    67:04
    Essentially, I'm guessing it's part of your vision that this is a full package game, and that's how you wanted it to be presented? Yes. So I see the artwork as a value add. It's something which I'm really proud of, and I would love if every user swapped the artwork if they chose to do so. But even if they don't, it's something that they can have and hold on to, or they can sell it or trade it or whatever they want to do with it once they have it. But I really want everybody to have the option of having that full experience. And so the purchase price includes not only the module itself, but also all of the artwork. as a non P3 owner so when you buy a new module it just comes with the module like does it come with like slingshots, slingshot plastics and all that or is that separate like that's what you're saying is a separate buy? You can choose to do that because the cabinet art on the P3 is actually magnetic so you can choose to buy the entire cabinet art package and swap it out. Same thing with the apron and starting with Weird Al, there's even a lit speaker panel design. I did see that at this time, Drain doesn't have one. Is that something you plan to add at all? Yes.
    68:26
    When I started development, the specifications weren't available to third parties yet. And so I got ways into the art package and then looked at that and said, I'll come back to that.
    68:42
    It does stand out in my lineup with that lit speaker, but I haven't been operating Weird Al, and that's the only lit one I have. It does look weird currently on the machine. So I appreciate that there will be others available as it continues to go forward. Because it is a very sharp-looking and small piece of the machine. It doesn't impact gameplay in any way, but it looks good in a lineup. It definitely draws people's eyes to the machine. Yeah, and the other piece of that is that my P3 doesn't have the lit speaker panel. It's the older style head. So I would need to swap the head or get a new P3 or have a buddy local that had one so that I could take a look at it. But I'm so head down in developing a game, I haven't really reached out to anybody that I know in my kind of area that could test it out. but yeah that is something that I plan it will be an add-on so that will be an extra cost at some point at this point in time however there is no lit speaker panel so what it includes is the module itself, the slingshot plastics, the side target covers the cabinet decals and the apron so all that will come with the purchase price of the game do we have a purchase price yet? we do, we do so the purchase price is $3,500 what? that seems relatively cheap well that's the advantage of having the P3 it is that is roughly half the cost currently of a Stern Pro which seems to be the next cheapest professionally manufactured pinball option out there and which is one of the things that as we've run out of space at my location and I have games that I don't really want to get rid of anymore, the P3, again, I know we've mentioned it, but that was like one of its biggest appeals to me is I could have one space at my location and operate multiple games within that limited space at a fraction of the cost of what some other games were costing me. So yes, the initial investment to the P3 can seem very high, but with the rising cost of premium models and LE models and collector's models from all these other companies, big picture, the P3 itself as a platform just made economic sense to me at this point. So that's not to say there aren't growing pains with the company as they have been growing. And if there's a learning curve to working on the machine, at least that's what I've found. It's not that it's difficult. It's just that it's different from what I'm used to traditionally working on. so everything I go to do when I do have to work on something, it just takes me a little bit more time because it's a new platform. I'm sure over time I'll get well adjusted to that. But, yeah, when I saw your price point, I was like, sweet, can't wait to add this to the location. So I was hoping that was going to be where it ended up. I know that's what you said you were kind of hoping for. So that is great news as far as I'm concerned. Well, thanks very much, and thanks for considering operating it. But, you know, that means a lot to me that people are interested in my work and particularly that you're interested enough to let other people play it. I think that's just the ultimate compliment. Thank you.
    72:14
    So, yeah, at $3,500, you know, I spent a lot of time thinking about the price point and what you get for the money. And so I mentioned earlier, everything is done with intention with this building my manufacturing up in order to. And I've I've been kind of scaling up for this in the background. I say scaling up, but it's just me. So it's important to remember that for amusement only games at the present time, when I have no orders is just me. So if this, you know, blows the walls down and I get hundreds and hundreds of orders or whatever the case may be, you know, I may need to look at scaling up and adding more people. But at the moment, I'm the person with the most experience with building this thing. I looked at contract manufacturer and I looked at having Multimorphic do the manufacturing and kind of turn keying it.
    73:18
    But at the end of the day, it just made the most sense from a quality control perspective to be able to do it myself. Multimorphic is, I'm in Richmond, Virginia, as Taylor mentioned, and Multimorphic's in Texas. So in order to facilitate having them make the game, I would need to spend time out there in Texas and make sure that they understand the build instructions, everything, you know, works according to spec, the stuff that they're putting out is correct. And when problems arise, and they definitely will with any manufactured product, you know, it becomes much more complicated to resolve if I'm not the person who's doing everything, you know, kind of soup to nuts. So that was the idea with doing it myself. And what I've been doing is, you know, putting my money on the line and the bank's money. So I got some financing and I've purchased enough parts to get manufacturing started. And I've got enough parts to make multiple games. And then additional orders, of course, will feed right back into the company and build additional games. But the important thing that I want to stress is that I've thought about this, and it's not a situation where I'm taking money and I have nothing that will be going out the door for some period of time. it'll be almost immediate that manufacturing starts. And once it starts, you know, as long as I'm able to maintain supply, and I've been working on that through this entire process as well, you know, the stream of games going out should be fairly steady. At least that's the plan. So we'll see. As I'm sure you're both aware, you know, things can change in manufacturing at any moment.
    75:36
    You know, stuff goes out of stock or a company starts, stops producing, you know, part X. So part of the way that I build this module is that I wanted to make it easy to assemble. and that was because I wasn't sure if I was going to do it or have a contract manufactured facility do it. But also I want to make it easy to maintain.
    76:04
    So everything, all of the... I appreciate that. Well, that's another thing. Like I've worked on enough games and I've done repair work in the Richmond area. I would go and do repair work in people's homes throughout actually multiple states. mostly on EMs, bingos, and wood rails, but I also did solid state in modern games too.
    76:29
    And what I found with some modern games is that it can be quite a task just to tear everything down enough to clean it, you know, just get the ball trails off of it. So in order to make that easy, I made it so that the entire module can be disassembled with three simple hand tools.
    76:53
    And from a topside teardown perspective, I made it tool-less. So it uses acorn nuts to remove the plastics. So you just remove all the plastics, and you have access to everything on the topside that you need to clean.
    77:11
    When you take the module out, I made it so that it balances. because it's a symmetrical layout and the way the modules are constructed, they have these launch tubes which allow the ball to lift up to the top of the play field from the trough.
    77:29
    And I use those to actually balance the module. So if you're sitting it on a flat surface, it'll stand up by itself. Not all the modules do that. And I find it's a strength when troubleshooting or adjusting a target or whatever the case may be. If you're doing it outside of the machine, if it can stand up by itself, it's very helpful.
    77:51
    So, again, everything done with intention, everything done with the intent to serve multiple goals, ease of manufacture, ease of maintenance and ease of operation. So I contacted Tommy as I was developing the software and asked you what you wanted to see in operator audits. what do you like? And I contacted another operator friend as well and you graciously provided feedback on what you'd want to see and I've implemented hopefully everything that you want to see in the game but as part of that purchase price as well something that's important to me is getting a paper manual. Not everybody works on paper manuals but to me they're like gold I fully agree I have spent a lot of time head down in a game where a rat has eaten the most important part of the schematic that I need so having the digital manual is obviously crucial as well but having that paper option in an area where you have no internet or you only have a cell phone so you're like stumbling through enlarging and shrinking pages trying to find the thing that you need is really important.
    79:17
    So with each purchase, there's a spiral-bound manual. It includes every game audit and adjustment, descriptions of each along with defaults. So you can easily, even though the P3 software and framework facilitates resetting your options to defaults, I wanted the ability to communicate to the owner easily. these are the defaults, these are why they were chosen those kind of things and to help in situations where you're at a bar and you might not want to spend a while trying to pull up the website and load up the manual you just have that handy reference guide right there Yeah, that's very welcome I actually was recently working on a game and even the Internet Penwell Database didn't have the full manual and I was incredibly shocked to find that this game had the manual in it. So I'm planning to get that scanned and submitted to them so that it's out there so the other like five people who own this machine can also have the manual. It'll be great.
    80:29
    Yeah, and the Internet Penwell Database, there are so many places that do such great things for the hobby, but that is just very important. part of making it so we can keep these games live. In this case, though, with the brand new game, you know, hopefully you won't need to touch any of that stuff for a long time. But if you do, having that there, I just think is really helpful. And an explanation of diagnostics and all those things. So you just have a quick reference on how to check your switches or look at lamps, how they're wired up. So you know, okay, this is connector J7. This controls these lamps.
    81:15
    Everything is laid out in such a way that it should be easy to maintain and repair this module, even in the event that I get hit by a bus or whatever happens.
    81:27
    I tried to make this as forward-thinking as I could. Just with the knowledge that I have doing in-home repair and especially on much older games where documentation is sparse or not available at all.
    81:47
    You know, what do I want to see? And then your input, Tommy, was just invaluable with the operator side because that's not something that I've ever done, operate games.
    81:59
    So I have to rely on people that do it. You know, who better to tell me? I think it's unique too with the P3 because you know I said mine's been out there I don't know four months now roughly there's not a lot of P3s on location still to my knowledge like maybe a handful so you know it can see how if it was designed and built by people who have at home collections it doesn't mean that they haven't played games on location but maybe they don't have that experience of looking at what I am going in to look at. Like, very quickly, I want to be able to see, you know, how many coins have gone into the machine, what the average game time has counted on the machine. Those are, like, the quick things I look at. And if there's any errors, like the credit dot thing on Bally Williams games from the 90s, very convenient. I go and I look, and Shadow almost always has a credit dot. The credit dot is almost always exit tube switch, check it, because nobody ever actually beats the upper play field on location, except for, like, tournament weekend, which is funny, because like tournament players will do that all the time, but casual players, like that ball doesn't go down the exit tube. So I assume that switch is broken and I go and I test it and hey, look, it works. So just those little quick things like that come in handy. And maybe those aren't necessarily built in immediately to the P3 platform itself. So having them start to go into new games is definitely something I'm looking very forward to. I'm blown away by the whole announcement that you're the one who's manufacturing this. Surprise. Yeah, that's really cool because I've just been waiting quite a while for some games from Multimorphic because they are backlogged. And like we all know, the supply chain issues, there's all sorts of stuff. Not mad about it. It's just reality of what we're living in right now. But knowing that you are doing this yourself and you've already built up a little part stash makes me want to figure out my budget here real quick and try to get one of these out on location as soon as we can for people. That's really, really cool to hear. do you have you know obviously there's like the perfect world where everyone who owns a P3 buys one of these did you have a small goal in mind where you were like if I sell this many I'll be satisfied anything after that is like a plus do you have that goal so share that you know part of this because there's this huge financial aspect in building a company alongside of you know the design work and the development work that goes into the game.
    84:32
    I wanted to make sure that if I did this and launched it and sold zero of them, we would be okay financially. So, you know, anything above zero is good.
    84:50
    Start with a buy call. Set the bar high, yeah. Yeah. If nobody buys it, you know, I'll survive. and my family will be okay. But if people buy it, then that's fantastic. And I would love for a lot of them to be out there.
    85:06
    So, you know, if you're interested, definitely, you know, order one and I'll be happy to walk you through what's expected. So remember, just keep in mind that I am the only person who is both constructing these and making sure that they get out the door to you. So I want to set that expectation because it's important that people know that it's just me. And you do still have a regular human full-time job as well.
    85:47
    I can tell you from a company that's supposed to just be making pinball machines, I received an email this week that, hey, you're up in our queue. once you pay us it'll take us eight weeks to build your game and that's from somebody that has a whole factory um so yes just like i'm trying to want people who are listening to this to maybe have a realistic idea i don't know what your time frame would be but that's what i was just told from a full-on pinball producing company that exists out there that's in the last week so yeah and it's it's the time frames are going to vary based on how many orders i get so if i if i get 100 orders on day one, which would be mind-blowing to me. But if that happened, then I would need to figure something out because it would take me a long time to produce 100 of them. I'm willing to be employed. Putting that out there.
    86:47
    That's good to hear. I don't sleep anyway, so I might as well add another job to the cube. Right. Yeah. So we'll see how it goes. I think that realistically, you know, my thought is that maybe triple digits of P3 owners will be interested in this. But I know that my games are not for everybody. And I know that this game will not be for everybody. And I will not be offended, you know, if people don't enjoy it or it's not their kind of thing. That's totally fine.
    87:26
    Those that do enjoy it, you know, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to provide an experience that they want as a collector, an operator, an owner. and my whole thing is just making sure that I'm able to do this in a manner that gets people their games as quickly as humanly possible, but with the understanding that there are real logistical challenges based on the number of sales that I have. staffing up will not be trivial because I'll have to train somebody on something I'm an expert at. You know, I can I can build these things blindfolded because I've developed it. You did put it somehow for beta. How many of these have you built at this point? So I built two different whitewoods and then a prototype. And then I've built an additional three samples. so I've got six of them built in total I reused parts on two or three of them or two of them, yeah, because I switched from whitewood one to whitewood two and just moved the parts over that was a mistake by the way the mistake was in moving the wiring as well, I tried to do it without having to rewire everything, that was a bad move Yeah, wiring is, yeah, just start from scratch. Start from scratch, yeah, because I would have saved myself a lot of headache had I done that. But anyway, so with six of them out there, I have, and I tried with the samples to see how far I could push it. So how many can I build? How many can I test? How many can I ensure are operating to the level that I want them to be operating on a commercial perspective? and I've got a good idea of what that number is and that number can change depending on the number of orders that I have in queue. So that's forgive my caginess. No, totally okay. I was just curious questions from someone who has the interest in doing what you've done someday.
    89:52
    Like just so you know, I mean, I look at you And it's genuinely inspirational to see how you've taken this hobby that we share and you've been able to become like a contributing member to it in such a unique way. Taylor, you've contributed to so many restorations with your Reese rails. I think that is really unique and amazing. I feel like I try to contribute by having a location where people can come play games. Like that's one thing about the pinball community is I think we all, not all, But a lot of us try to find a way to give back and continue its growth, although with its growth, there can be like headaches and frustrations. Like most of us love this unique hobby so much that we go out of our way to promote it, even accidentally at times through our engagement with it and the people that we meet and come across. I just think you've taken it to this whole other level in first developing software that eventually, you know, a physical gain. And as you've mentioned, you had your homebrew, as you call it, which is your Quest for Glory as well. Is there still any efforts being made to one day bring that to market potentially? So the deal with that is that the owners of the Quest for Glory IP are Activision. And Activision has been in the news a whole lot based on their treatment of women, which has been horrific, as we've seen. But also they have they're in line to be acquired by Microsoft.
    91:25
    So Activision themselves has not been responsive. However, Microsoft is much more friendly towards these kind of licensing efforts. So my fervent dream is that they might be willing to allow licensure once they acquire Activision. Activision should that go through.
    91:46
    They still have regulatory stuff to go through before that happens. So it'll be sometime before we hear.
    91:55
    But, yeah, that'll be the next move. And then just a question pertaining again to the system itself. I can't remember. Have you gotten a Weird Al already? I have, yes. So, in seeing that layout, obviously, there's, like, it has the VR work on P3 play fields are decals, essentially, correct? Correct. So, like, obviously, it's themed towards that license and has a lot of direct license things, whereas Cosmic Kart Racing and Heist are a little bit more generic in their art design. But I was just curious, having seen the Weird Al layout, which is packed and full of all these unique shots and devices and mechanisms, like, did your brain just start churning about, like, a custom game to build on that? Or were you so deep into developing Drain that that hasn't even crossed your mind yet? Oh, it immediately came across my mind. But, yeah, it's a matter of prioritization.
    92:56
    So Flipper Foxtrot Rhythm Explosion came out at the beginning of this year. and that to be fair it felt like you built that game in like two days like i know it wasn't but i remember you'd be like i have an idea and the next thing you know people were playing it yeah that one came together extremely quickly because i was able to do absolutely everything on it uh except for uh you know generate the music i i licensed the music from uh different creators but um uh yeah that that one was developed at a lull in drains development so i was waiting on artwork. And while I was waiting on actually the cabinet exterior artwork, we were working together on that, Molly and I. And, you know, while I'm waiting on that, I can't necessarily move the game forward because I'm interacting with her frequently and letting her know what I like or don't like about what she's done or if she needs to make any tweaks, those kind of things. so um but that's not exactly a full-time job so uh critiquing artwork it's actually the easiest part is saying hey uh i don't like this redo it so um during that downtime i was able to develop that game and i'm very um familiar with rhythm games and so uh i did what came naturally and made one. But yeah, with Weird Owl, as soon as I looked at the layout, I said, this is genius.
    94:33
    The way some of those shots work and the way that the ball travels on that play field is really unique and interesting, as you said. So I came up with an idea, and even though the artwork is themed to Weird Owl, I think Multimorphic does a great job on their playfield artwork in not making it so theme heavy. You know, it doesn't say Weird Al on every plastic or, you know, across the front of the module or anything. So it's fairly easy to come up with a concept that will work and not stand out to the player in a bad way, if that makes sense.
    95:17
    That's right. It's like almost like a clash of two different themes. So, for example, the gameplay might be meeting that back third of the play field where you're suddenly like, well, that doesn't match up. It crossed my mind because, so, like, the Lexi Lightspeed, which is essentially a space lady crash lands on Earth, I think, and is then going through Earth. But it's kind of like a generic forest-looking thing. And I love the movie Killer Clowns from Outer Space. And I've looked at that layout and I've come up with a full-fledged idea of how I can theme, integrate that into Killer Constance in Outer Space. And the whole, the art that is there and exists would work with it perfectly. It wouldn't be an issue at all. So I was just curious if that had crossed your mind on Weird Al. And again, that's, even though that's Multimorphic's first licensed game, I remember them stressing that, like, this is still going to be an open, you know, you can still design what you want on this layout, even though it's a licensed theme. which I thought was cool that they went to make sure that was part of their licensing agreement. So that to me is smart move by the company. It's it's just a really interesting model and it's it's very developer friendly.
    96:24
    So with that in mind, with Drained, you know, I had the same thoughts. I mean, obviously, there's a very strong artwork and theming of Drained. but as well one of the aspects that I like about older games is that they tell you what the inserts are for, what the targets do on modern games it can be a challenge to understand what exactly this lit shot actually is, what does it do if I hit the blue one and is that any different than the green one which is lit right beside it they're both blinking at the same rate You see what I'm saying? So it can be tough. So on Drained, you know, I did label each of the inserts on the artwork. So you can see garlic and steaks, flaming torch, silver sword, slave vamp. But the way that the play field layout is set and the way that I've developed the game, third-party development is definitely possible. And one of the things that I did in testing this is testing the first party games like Shoot and Scoot or Barnyard on this module. and interestingly I found that this module is my favorite for playing shoot and scoot because all the targets are arrayed in such a way that it's easy to hit the appropriate lane at least to me who developed this game so maybe that's part of it too but the big component of shoot and scoot is you're trying to hit a specific target to move your avatar into a particular shot lane and avoid obstacles and spikes that'll chop you up or blow you up or whatever the case may be. So even though it's got that strong vampire theme, it is pretty easy to make those shots and make that adjustment that this is a different game. Even Barnyard, which you'd think, you know, maybe some of the more sinister appearance of the vampire would throw that off. It's actually, I find... I'd say, no, that works good with Barnyard in my brain. Pretty appealing and fun, yeah. So, anyway, everything was made with intention, and third-party development, I've included the definition file for the module. So if you're an interested third-party developer for Drained, and Multimorphic hasn't packaged in that into their latest SDK yet, which they haven't yet, but it will be the next SDK release before that is included. If you're interested in developing, just contact me at any of the addresses at 4amusementonlygames.com. Info at 4amusementonlygames.com is probably the easiest one to get me.
    99:37
    And I will be happy to share that module definition. So there's a few different elements of this play field which are unique. And I've abstracted away some of the ways that coils pulse or that you activate different targets. So in developer speak, each coil is pulsed for a particular amount of time. And I have settings in the module which allow you to set how strong the pulse is So drop target reset for example You want the coil to pulse more strongly because you want them to reset more firmly because of whatever mechanical adjustment that needs to be made. So you have a software adjustment that allows you to kind of adjust out the mechanical. Common in most games. But the thing on the development side is that that's abstracted away, so all you have to do is call a particular event and then it automatically gets the setting and will pulse at the appropriate time so you don't have to create your own setting for that pulse time if that makes sense. It basically makes it a little bit quicker and easier for someone developing on that play field in the future because you've already written in the stuff and it's kind of like dropping it into place in the right spot then? Yep and I've developed alternate rules and basic framework definitions for things like the gobble holes, so it can launch back into play if you do a particular thing, or you can use it as a playfield exit otherwise.
    101:18
    Just all kinds of goodies there. But speaking of goodies, one thing that we haven't talked about is that this game includes a bell and a knocker. So as As part of the sound package, one of the things that I wanted to do was to incorporate more of that old school kind of wood rail feel. So completed sequences and a variety of other things within the game will fire off the bell. And then when you wake up the vampire or if you hit the gobble shot in particular contexts, the knocker will fire. the game also offers replays which are adjustable you can either offer free games or points or you can turn them off entirely but those will also fire the knocker so the knocker is everything is mounted to the module so you just have the connectors on the module itself there's nothing extra that you have to do in order to play drained and that was also by design i wanted to make it Pretty easy to get into the game, swap into it, swap out of it if you want.
    102:32
    So that was all part of it. It's got to be like the first game with a bell in it since maybe Fire? I'm guessing.
    102:43
    It's been a while. I'm not sure of the last one. I know somebody recently modded Stern Ali to have a bell, and they modified the code so that the bell would go off, like the ring bell in between rounds. That was interesting. But yeah, contract manufacturing, professionally manufactured game. It's been a while since there's been a bell in a game, I'm guessing.
    103:04
    Yeah. And of this particular type, it's been quite some time. So it's going to be interesting to hear people's reaction to that. I think it's fun and surprising and unique. especially in the modern landscape where we're so used to particular soundscapes from games. Very theatrical.
    103:31
    And this is a bit of a return to what, you know, I really enjoy that tactile feel from pinball. So that tactile reward, you hit the shot, you hear the bell, you understand you've done something of consequence within the game so that's really important to me that that feeling comes across and we haven't talked about the composer and that was something that Taylor mentioned at the beginning but I hired a composer named Charles Wolfe and he did all of the music and sound effects for the game the voice call outs were all scripted by me and then I hired 17 different voice actors. There's a different voice actor for each vampire, and then a different voice actor for the two main characters, and the main characters swap back and forth based on sling hits. So you'll get call-outs throughout any given ball from either of the central voice actors. One of the central voice actors is really upbeat and kind of oblivious to what's going on, says a lot of jokes and puns and things. And the other is a lot more serious and just very, just deathly serious about the whole prospect. So it still says the occasional joke, but they tend to be a little more grim with their delivery.
    105:06
    So that was really fun. But Charles Wolfe was a dream to work with. He is a classically trained composer, and I was looking for a chiptune composer. So I wanted kind of a Castlevania-esque soundtrack to the game. I'm a huge fan of the 80s Castlevanias in particular, and I was hoping to find somebody that could embody that kind of spirit that those games provide with their music. and I think he just knocked it out of the park, to use a tired phrase, but he just did an amazing job, and if you'd like, I did do that interview with him, and I found him just a fascinating person to work with. I've had the great fortune of working with multiple fantastic musicians and composers. Scott Denisey did the music for Silver Falls.
    106:13
    And I hired a bunch of different musicians and then did the reorchestration of all the music in Quest for Glory.
    106:22
    But working with Charles Wolfe was really special as well as working with all of those fantastic people that I mentioned. And he really understood the project and he brought passion to it that I was I was really pleased to have that energy kind of match. And we really worked well together and he was able to turn things around super quickly. revisions. So this was his first pinball project. And he played pinball, but he wasn't super familiar with different aspects of pinball, like a tilt sound effect needs to be relatively quick because you're warning somebody, hey, you did something bad, but you want to get them back into the soundscape of the game fairly quickly. So those kind of things needed a little bit of back and forth, but I will just say again, he was amazing to collaborate with because he understood exactly the vibe that I was going for and was able to provide it very well. So, and Taylor, you've, you heard the finished audio. Would, would you say that it, it goes well together? It flows with the, with the game, the vibe of it? I don't remember a ton of it, but I don't, it wasn't like it. I mean, I felt like the whole game worked well together. So it definitely, you know, it wasn't one of those things where it's like, Oh, what is this? You know what I mean? Like, it didn't stand out in a bad way. No, no, no. Yeah, absolutely. I've heard the preview from the awesome promotional material you made, the postcards that actually play on a vinyl record player. and I've listened to mine several times. I think that was such a cool idea for you to put some of the music out there that way. And, yeah, I agreed. As soon as I heard it, when you first shared it, I was like, oh, this is like Castlevania. That was immediately what popped into my mind. And that was before, I think the sound leaked out before the theme had at all and anything like that. And, like, Castlevania was the first thing that popped into my head. And you probably, like, snickered if I said something about it. But yeah, once the theme was fully announced and there's like the whole play on words of drained, obviously being the vampire context, but drained also being what we do in pinball. So like it really is just clever and well, well done on the whole design aspect of the theme and the machine itself.
    109:01
    Thanks very much. Yeah, it's it was a lot of fun to to create this game. And I am so excited to be able to share it with people after working on it for so long for me.
    109:19
    So I started this. I was just looking back. I started this in August of 2021. And so it's it's been about a year and a half that I've been working on this game. And I have really tried to make it something that is fun and enticing to different players. And I hope I've succeeded.
    109:44
    But I really am excited, again, to see what the reaction is. Because at this point, when we're recording, I don't know. You know, again, it could be that nobody wants to buy it. Although Tommy has indicated that you'll have one sale. There we go. It being ready so soon. So like financially, it might take me a little bit. But yeah, this will definitely be going on location at North End Pub in Lafayette, Indiana at some point. Both because one, I love to support fellow hobbyists who are making things in a hobby. And two, I'm genuinely intrigued by the entire design of the machine. I love the look of it. So like, yeah, I I want it out there and I want people to be able to come and try it out. That's one of the motivations I had for operating the P3 to begin with is that I know they offer unique games that you can't play everywhere else because there's not many of them out there. So I like to put things at my location that are unique. And I think it's really interesting because this has the potential to be very rare and unique even within the P3 side of things, especially, again, being in public. So, yeah, you will have one guaranteed sale. There we go. Give me a little bit of time. like when you say immediately we're recording on tuesday november 15th like when when can people order this do we have a date or is it just like when you decide so um i'm glad you asked tommy uh the reveal stream is planned for november the 28th and that's uh twitch.tv slash buffalo pinball So Kevin from Buffalo was one of the beta testers, and he has graciously agreed to do the reveal stream. And he's been a great collaborator, has brought an interesting rule to the game. So initially, the walls and scoops lift and lower based on a time frame. but it was possible to sneak a ball in the side just based on the geometry and wild bounces you would have to do it at just the right angle and just the right time but it was possible so I was trying to think of a reward that would be useful and kind of cool so what I ended up doing because that only happens during the vampire battles and this was Kevin's idea was to spot one of the shots in the vampire mode if you happen to bounce into the scoop.
    112:24
    And so it gives you that bit of progression, a few points, but really it's a very valuable shot because some of the shots within those vampire modes are very difficult to hit, for example. Taylor's not in the line. As soon as you started describing that, I immediately thought Dirty Pool was coming. so yeah each vampire has different shots which are required and and some of them it might be holy in water all the way in the back and and those are those are difficult shots to hit so if you're not totally dialed into the geometry you know or have have a good way of hitting the top of that pop bumper it's it's very difficult to get those on a on a random bounce so being able to spot those shots is kind of crucial. And that's the idea of collecting those tools before you start the vampire battle because spotting those can be key depending on the vampire. Some of the vampires have very easy shots and it just depends on the theme of the vampire. So each vampire's personality quirk is present in the shots which are required to complete that mode. And the light show is also indicative of that vampire's unique personality. There's a different set of coloration for each target based on the vampire.
    113:58
    And Taylor, also, when you came over, you had a great idea, I thought. We had talked... Do you remember this? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We had talked. Did I have the onscreen targets active at that time when you completed the side targets? I think you I think you had some of them. OK. Yeah, because we we definitely talked about those. So there's a hurry up which will happen randomly throughout the game. And it's a bat that will appear in one of three different positions. that bat is programmed to be enticing to shoot. The music totally changes. There's a big call-out, big light show, kind of build-up to this thing. And when you hit it, it's very rewarding. You get that sound effect hit and light show again. But the way that it's structured, it's a risky shot. each of the three positions that that hurry-up target can appear is kind of risky if you hit it dead on. So you've got to balance the risk with the reward, but it's hard not to take the shot if it's present. When you complete the side targets, there is a special hurry-up shot that is either a group of rats or a group of spiders that will come across the screen, and you can hit those for a few extra points.
    115:34
    But there's also timing-based changes within the game. They're disabled by default, but they can be enabled. And all this is outlined in the manual. But one of them is a midnight madness mode.
    115:51
    And this was a great idea. I like that. People used to say at our location, now we close at midnight, But pre-COVID, they were open until 2. And people would be, like, fighting over Congo for Midnight Madness. It was hilarious. Well, I give Taylor full credit for this suggestion because he suggested, hey, Midnight Madness. People love it. And I said, you know, that's a great point.
    116:18
    I've never added a Midnight Madness mode to any of my other games, but I thought this would be fun and thematically appropriate. I think the theme is just perfect for it I have another idea but I don't want to say it because you've got to get the game out there but you could do it where you tied it to sunset, I don't know how you could do that There is another timing based Easter egg It's not an everyday thing but it might be tied to a particular day or days. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I love that type of stuff. But yeah, I felt like it was a perfect... I mean, a Midnight Madness mode is also great because it's one of those things where you just want to be playing at midnight.
    117:10
    That's such a treat in itself. And then it happens or happens unexpectedly to somebody. That's always fun too. When somebody's like, what? I don't even know what's going on right now. So, yeah. So, shall I spoil what happens during Midnight Madness? No. No? No. I know. What players can I know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't spoil it. Yeah, that should be a surprise. I'll stream it eventually. We'll get it in the future. Sounds good. So, the other on-screen target that I added was an alley pass target. as you go through the in lanes on either side a moon will appear and it will cycle through the entire life cycle of the moon. I saw that. Yeah, while the moon is active, if you hit it with an alley pass, well it's intended for an alley pass, you can hit it with a random bounce but it's tough then you get some extra points and a little light show and a little sound effect reward. But everything I should mention builds to different high score tables. There are a ton of high score tables in this game. I count left orbits differently than right orbits, for example. Those alley pass shots are on their own high score table.
    118:27
    Everything is intended to be rewarding and lightheartedly amusing in some ways. So hopefully all that comes across when you see the game. I think it's inevitable that once people see the gameplay, they're going to want to play it. I just think it's intriguing. It has a beautiful art package. You know, I think everything has been really well thought out. But it is a, yeah, it's definitely one of those games where it's like you just have to get another game. And I think that that is what, yeah, I think it's what's going to make it a successful game.
    119:14
    You know, I think it's, you know, it's a tough thing because, you know, Multimorphic is not that game where it's like in everybody's basement.
    119:23
    So it is like how do you get the word out? So hopefully, you know, everybody will tune in to Buffalo Pinball on November 28th to check out the reveal.
    119:35
    What's the, and after they see the reveal and they want to put in their order, like what's the best way for people to contact you to actually, you know, if they have questions about the ordering process or anything like that, like what's the best way for people to get in touch with you? So the ordering process is going to be conducted over email and that's simply so that I can manage it. I'm going to, I took kind of the idea from Multimorphic's last release, and I'm going to have a first-in, first-out approach.
    120:10
    But essentially, there's a website, drainedpinball.com, and on that site, there are ordering instructions. It's very, very similar to Weird Al. There will be an initial communication. You say that you want it to a particular email address, orders at 4amusementonlygames.com and that's orders plural. And then I will respond back with an invoice for a deposit.
    120:40
    Once the deposit is paid, then I will give you your place in line and I'll be able to communicate to you approximately what your place is, but I won't know until you've paid your deposit. Because I might give you the invoice and then you pay it a week later. I'm not going to necessarily hold your spot for somebody else who's going to pay. People who pay money are going to get the thing before people who hold on to an invoice for a month, if that makes sense.
    121:09
    And that's more business choice. Well, yeah. So and again, this is all structured to be self-sustaining. So people will obviously have to buy the thing in order for me to fund additional modules and so forth. Even with the funding that I had initially, that went to paying for these initial parts allotments and everything. So once these initial ones are sold through, then there will be a queue. But the idea is that I'll be ordering parts right away.
    121:47
    as soon as the first order comes in. So it should be, I should be able to roll everything forward on and on and get everybody their games as quickly as I humanly can.
    122:04
    But yeah, the ordering process should be fairly straightforward. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. You can either reach out to me at orders at 4amusementonlygames.com and Baldridge at 4amusementonlygames.com.
    122:19
    Info at 4amusementonlygames.com. They all go to me. You are the company. Correct. Support at 4amusementonlygames.com. And that's an important thing to note as well. I'm doing all the support for the module. So if you have problems with the artwork that you receive or you have problems with the module,
    122:40
    you'll need to reach out to me at support at 4amusementonlygames.com. or any of the other email addresses, but ideally that one so that I can help prioritize myself. But at any rate, hopefully you won't have any issues, but should you? And as I say, it's inevitable. These things are manufactured by hand. They're tested by hand, but then they're going to be shipped across country or around the world. and something could happen anywhere once it leaves my custody. So I want to make sure that everybody is totally satisfied or as satisfied as they possibly can be with their purchase. So I take warranty very seriously. There's a warranty, a written warranty, which is included with the manual. and I have matched the terms of what Multimorphic provides as a first party, which is two years.
    123:45
    So should you have any issues with the module, obviously you can reach out at any time within that two-year period and I'll be sure to take care of you. And if you have issues afterwards, obviously reach out as well, but the warranty covers the first two years.
    124:05
    that's awesome that's great to hear because some pinball companies i know do not offer warranties nearly that long so that is the excellent to hear and again i think uh your reputation is very well respected within the hobby and people who are going to be buying this understand they're buying a product that you're endorsing and not only endorsing but designing building and manufacturing uh which is amazingly impressive and that just says a lot to me about what the quality of the product will be. I hope everybody feels the same, but obviously I am interested in making sure that all of my customers are taken care of, feel like they're getting a value for their money, all of the things that we all want from every product that we buy. So if you're not feeling comfortable with this model, you know, I apologize. This is what I'm able to do. and you don't have to buy it. Don't feel like you need to buy it if it's not something that you want. If it is something that you want, I'm extremely flattered and I'm really excited to get it to you. But again, I just want everybody to understand what's involved.
    125:20
    And as a side note or a main note, really, I just want to say that Multimorphic is a dream to work with. They have been so amazing throughout the process of creating my homebrew Quest for Glory, understanding the platform and the software and what's involved with programming for the different play fields. But they've also been amazing in their support of all the commercial games that I've made. And that learning experience and that communication chain has been invaluable to me for building this game. and they have been extremely supportive. This is the first third-party module for the P3, and they've been just wonderful to work with. And if anybody out there is interested in pursuing this, you don't have to take the route that I took to get here. This is just Nick's crazy way of doing it. But reach out to Multimorphic and get that process started. As Tommy mentioned, there's a Discord. We all try to be very helpful, and we're all interested in what everybody's up to, both as consumers but also as third-party developers. So there are multiple people, as Tommy mentioned, that are making modules, and they might be approaching it in an entirely different way than I am. I just happen to have run across the finish line first. But it is an intense amount of work, as Taylor mentioned, to get to this point.
    127:02
    And it is extremely rewarding to see people play my game in a location that's not my home or a show that I brought my own game to. So I am just so grateful for the opportunity that Multimorphics provided with this platform. The logistics for shipping and constructing a module are so much easier than constructing and shipping an entire pinball machine.
    127:35
    It just makes this all possible. And they're just great people and great to work with. So, yeah, Multimorphic. However, this game, again, I will stress, is for amusement-only games. It's my product. It is not a Multimorphic product. So, again, if you need support or if you're interested or if you want to order, it's all for amusement-only games. But drainedpinball.com is the main takeaway, though. So, DrainPinball.com, get those orders in. Looking forward to the debut stream on November 28th on Buffalo Pinball's Twitch stream. $3,500, play field, plastics, apron, cabinet art.
    128:29
    In the future, there may be a lit speaker panel that will be an add-on. 15 vampires, hand-drawn artwork, amazing Castlevania-like soundtrack. I'm excited for this game I'm excited for you to be able to do this I know that it's my dream to one day Eventually design something that people can play So I'm sure I can't imagine the excitement that you're feeling Seeing this come to fruition Especially after all the I can't even imagine the hours you have spent on this In addition to everything else you have going on in your life So congratulations You're so close to the finish line Of shipping these things out there As a commercial product It's just really freaking cool to me Yeah, congratulations, Nick. Yeah, I look forward to seeing the stream, and I wish you nothing but success with this project. So I hope you sell too many units, and then you have to hire a bunch of people.
    129:32
    Yeah, that would be amazing. I agree that that would be really cool. on one hand and really scary on the other. Very scary.
    129:45
    But thanks so much for all your support, guys. I really appreciate it. Absolutely, man. Absolutely. And Tommy, your support of operating one of my games and just being able to hear your experience with it is just so cool. I can't tell you. Like I said, man, I'm proud to have it out there and I genuinely really like nothing against Weird Al. it's a cool game. It's got a lot of unique things. Ranger in the Ruins is more fun on a game-to-game basis for me to play currently. So, like, that's why I've left it on there. I didn't change it to Cosmic Kart Racing or anything. I just enjoy playing Ranger in the Ruins, and I'm fortunate that my location lets me operate things I want to operate, so everyone else is going to play Ranger in the Ruins for a while. They're stuck with it, huh? They are for a while at least. We'll see. I've got Heist coming, and I've got Lexi Light's feed coming. And when those come here, obviously I want to get those in there and experience them myself because I've only played them at shows and I want to see what other people think of them too. But yeah, Ranger in the Ruins.
    130:47
    Yeah, I think some of the similar aspects to this, to Drained, it's relatively simple to understand what I'm going to do, but then the ability to do it game to game keeps drawing me back in there. I look forward to this and any other future projects you continue to work on, be it this platform or anything else. And one day I'm going to make it to a show and I'm going to get to play the multi bingo as well. Awesome. Well, I look forward to that day. And thanks. Thanks again so much, guys, for having me on to talk about this. I could not think of anyone I would rather talk to about this than my friend Taylor and my friend Tommy. So thanks so much. Thanks so much. Oh, and side note, thanks for the book for my son, Conrad. but he will not go the F to sleep still. So he's sleeping like five to six hours total a day. My life is so different. Taylor, we will catch up on all of this at some point. We will. It was good to see you. Yeah, man. Thanks again for coming on this flipping podcast to talk about your project, Trained.
    131:53
    I got to go make a peanut butter and chocolate sandwich because I haven't eaten yet and go to sleep because I have another wrestling practice in six hours. All right. Well, thanks so much for doing this, guys. I really, really appreciate it. It was our pleasure. Nick Baldridge, Four Amusement-Only Games with Drained. That's the newest title from Four Amusement-Only Games, streaming November 28th on Buffalo Pinball. And we'll be coming to at least a location in Lafayette, Indiana soon. There will be one in public here relatively soon. Very exciting. All right, guys. You guys have a good night. And Tommy, I'll talk to you soon. Yeah, we will have to do this soon. All right. All right, guys. Good night.
    132:44
    Good night. Bye.