claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.024
Don vents about Dungeon Crawler Carl allegedly going to Multimorphic; expects Barrels announcement soon.
Scott Danesi is confirmed to be working on Dungeon Crawler Carl for Multimorphic
medium confidence · Don states 'I heard whispers for like a week now' and later 'Scott Danesi is on a dungeon crawler car. It's coming from Multimorphic.' Multiple sources mentioned but no official confirmation.
Barrels of Fun is expected to announce a new game within the next 4 weeks (likely August-September timeframe)
medium confidence · Don states 'I think sometime in the next four weeks, they'll probably release their next game, take some deposits' based on Winchester production being ~180 units completed and timeline shifting from August/September to October/November.
The next Barrels of Fun game is rumored to be SpongeBob, but Kale's Discord post suggests it might be G.I. Joe instead
low confidence · Don heard SpongeBob rumor from five different sources but notes 'Kale just dropped something in his Discord' suggesting the next one 'isn't Spongebob, so maybe it's going to be G.I. Joe or some such.'
P3 machines struggle with location reliability and are difficult to route commercially
high confidence · Don cites multiple firsthand experiences and community reports: Weird Al had problems at Ace Goge and Madison mall, Erika's P3 locked up during livestream at Texas Pinball Festival, operators report distributors avoid stocking them, and machines frequently go out-of-order at locations.
Jerry (Multimorphic leadership) has poor communication with customers and critics
medium confidence · Don describes interactions where Jerry turned off Portal before TPF, dismissed suggestions, and made dismissive comments at TPF booth. Don states 'Jerry, as it seems, does not like criticism at all' and 'I shut that one off on you too, and walks away.'
Yukon by Chris Turner is entering production in July as promised
high confidence · Don confirms 'Chris Turner today. And his dungeon morphing Yukon machine is going into production. Now, this guy told us that it was happening in July, and dadgum, it's happening in July.' Chris Turner text confirms code updates ongoing through Expo completion.
“When the best thing that somebody can say about your games is they wish that that license was made by another company, you can see how enthralled I am not at the prospect of Dungeon Crawler Carl being made by Multimorphic.”
Don @ early — Encapsulates core criticism: Multimorphic's great licenses are trapped in an inferior platform; high-level industry opinion.
“He looked at me like with daggers, like, how dare you? Oh, how dare, dude's the Jerry Thompson of pinball. How dare you?”
Don @ mid — Character attack on Jerry (Multimorphic leader) regarding dismissal of arcade edition suggestion; indicates interpersonal tensions.
“If they would do that, I would be a buyer to second. It would be amazing. I want it to happen. So there it is. I heard Scott Danesi is on the P3 Multimorphics new machine.”
Don @ mid — Speculative hope dashed by rumor confirmation; emotional turning point in rant.
“So I know it's not just me. And I know in the right hands, you know, and if you have a good relationship and happen to get lucky and click your heels three times, the service is going to be good.”
Don @ late-mid — Acknowledges P3 can work but reliability/support are luck-dependent; reveals broader systemic issues.
“I've traveled the country to go play Portal at three different locations, like at shows, at Pintastic, at TPF, and then somewhere in the Pacific Northwest or something. There's another show like I've played a ton of Portal. And for someone that never owned a Portal, like probably more than most people.”
Don @ late-mid — Demonstrates genuine dedication to Multimorphic games despite criticisms; credibility builder for his perspective.
“What they're going to get, if it is for Multimorphic, is a game that doesn't hold up on location, a game that's not going to be available everywhere like Harry Potter is. It's going to be a game confined to the basements where it's going to get 75 plays and then sit there and get dust, and that really sucks.”
Don @ late — Core market analysis: Multimorphic platform incompatible with mass-market license potential; DCC wasted on boutique hardware.
machine_intel: Dungeon Crawler Carl confirmed as pinball game in development; artist posting artwork on social media; Matt Deniman publicly acknowledged licensing deal ~9 months ago; community expectations heavily favor boutique manufacturers (Barrels of Fun, Spooky) over Multimorphic.
high · Don states 'Matt Deniman, the guy that wrote the book, let it go, I don't know, nine months ago that a pinball machine was being made' and 'the artist that's doing art for the game, has been posting it on his Instagram or TikTok handle.'
rumor_hype: Strong community preference for Dungeon Crawler Carl to be made by Barrels of Fun (with Carl D'Angelo as designer) rather than Multimorphic; speculation driven by belief that boutique manufacturers better understand IP and provide superior product quality.
high · Don: 'everybody that wants this game wants it made by a boutique manufacturer, wants it made by Barrels of Fun or Spooky Pinball' and mentions Carl D'Angelo working on homebrew before being diverted to Winchester.
leak_detection: Scott Denisi rumored to be designing Dungeon Crawler Carl for Multimorphic P3 platform; Don initially skeptical but now believes it's confirmed based on week-long whisper campaign from multiple sources.
medium · Don states 'I heard Scott Danesi is on the P3 Multimorphics new machine' and 'I heard whispers for like a week now, but I'm like, that's so far-fetched. I don't see that happening. And then dag nabbit, man, I think it's happening.'
product_concern: P3 machines exhibit chronic reliability issues in location/venue settings; multiple field reports of ball loss, lockups, and frequent out-of-order status; operators avoid stocking due to support burden and low profitability.
high · Don cites Weird Al problems at Ace Goge and Madison, Erika's P3 lockup during livestream, testimony from operators avoiding route, distributors not stocking, and personal observation: 'It's rare that I find a robustly routed P3.'
groq_whisper · $0.015
Matt Deniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl author) is being contacted by fans trying to determine which pinball company is making the game
high confidence · Don states 'Matt himself has put it up post saying, listen, you guys, you got to leave my family alone because everybody's contacting him trying to find out who's making this game.'
Multimorphic only had one distributor three years ago (a trailer/shed salesman) with poor distributor support
medium confidence · Don references hearsay: 'Somebody told me like three years ago, Don Multimorphic only has one distributor and it's a guy that sells trailers and sheds.' Notes current distributors avoid the brand due to profitability and support issues.
“I shut that one off on you too, and walks away.”
Jerry Koci @ mid — Direct quote of alleged dismissive behavior by Multimorphic leadership at TPF; inflammatory interpersonal moment.
“Don't you realize you're a pinball company and you're supposed to miss your deadline by months?”
Don @ late-mid — Self-aware humor; industry-wide pattern of production delays invoked to praise Chris Turner's reliability.
product_concern: P3 platform has complex mechanical components (16-ball trough, pop-up glass pillboxes, excessive opto sensors) that create maintenance and repair challenges for operators unfamiliar with proprietary design.
high · Don describes 'There's a trough in the back of the machine. That's different. It's got 16 balls in it. That's different. There's tons of optos in there. There's the glass pillboxes that pop up and down' and notes Zach Minney had ball jumping issues.
industry_signal: Multimorphic leadership (Jerry) characterized as defensive, dismissive of criticism/suggestions, and unwelcoming to customer feedback; anecdotal reports of poor service and blame-shifting during warranty issues.
medium · Don states 'Jerry, as it seems, does not like criticism at all. He doesn't like suggestions at all' and describes incident where Jerry shut off Portal before TPF. Reports of friend's machine treated as customer-caused problem with 'no help at all.'
market_signal: Multimorphic machines depreciate heavily; $13,000+ machines selling for $5,000-$6,000 on secondary market; indicates poor demand and buyer confidence in platform.
medium · Don states 'we've seen these $13,000 games barely get buyers at like $6,000 or $5,000' and later 'I have seen Multimorphic machines go for $5,000.'
product_strategy: P3 modular game expansion modules priced at near-parity with standalone machines (~$4,500 Portal Extended), undercutting the core value proposition of cheaper game swaps; Portal topper ($750) and magnet set ($400) add costs without improving core gameplay.
high · Don notes 'you want to have the extended version so you have the whole game... for that module where essentially you can a Bond Pro right now for that. It essentially the same price as a whole other machine.'
product_strategy: Multimorphic leadership rejected Don's suggestion for arcade-focused edition (smaller screen, simpler mechanics, better location durability) with dismissiveness; indicates locked product strategy despite market feedback.
high · Don describes pitching arcade version to Jerry: 'He looked at me like with daggers' and compares his response to 'Greta Thunberg of pinball. How dare you?' regarding fossil fuels analogy.
business_signal: Multimorphic struggles to maintain distributor network; historically had single distributor (trailer/shed salesman); current distributors avoid stocking due to profitability, aftermarket support burden, and complex proprietary design requiring specialized knowledge.
medium · Don states 'Somebody told me like three years ago, Don Multimorphic only has one distributor and it's a guy that sells trailers and sheds' and notes modern distributors 'love nothing more than customers and selling pinball machines' but won't stock Multimorphic 'They're just like not supporting multimorphic.'
product_launch: Yukon Yeti by Chris Turner officially entering production July 2024; code updates ongoing through Expo (late September/October); Chris Turner credited with reliable deadline adherence (unusual for pinball industry).
high · Don confirms 'Chris Turner today. And his dungeon morphing Yukon Yeti machine is going into production. Now, this guy told us that it was happening in July, and dadgum, it's happening in July.' Chris Turner text: 'A lot of the new music, fanfares, and sound effects are in. They will continue to get added via code updates.'
announcement: Barrels of Fun expected to announce next game within 4 weeks (August-September 2024); Winchester Mystery House production at ~180 units, targeting October/November completion; founders temporarily unavailable (Australia/Colorado travel).
medium · Don states 'I think sometime in the next four weeks, they'll probably release their next game, take some deposits' and 'David is out in Australia for the Australian Pinball Show' and 'Brian is over... hiking in Colorado.'
rumor_hype: Next Barrels of Fun game rumored to be SpongeBob (heard from 5+ sources) but Kale's Discord post suggests alternative (possibly G.I. Joe); high uncertainty on IP selection.
low · Don: 'The rumor is Spongebob. The rumor has been Spongebob for a while' but 'now that I've heard it from five other places, I think it's actually that' yet 'Kale just dropped something in his Discord and then I found out third hand. I think he's saying that the next one from Barrels actually isn't Spongebob, so maybe it's going to be G.I. Joe.'