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Pinball Expo 2024 Recap [ 03 / 08 ] - Melvin Williams with Dutch Pinball Exclusive

In Before the Lock·video·7m 28s·analyzed·Oct 31, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Melvin Louwers details Alice in Wonderland's technical design and successful expo launch after 8-10 months of R&D.

Summary

Melvin Louwers (DPX/Dutch Pinball) discusses Alice in Wonderland's successful Pinball Expo 2024 debut, including gameplay philosophy, design compromises between aesthetics and playability, and technical improvements over The Big Lebowski. The game shipped recently with 500 units sold out, and features upgraded connectors, consolidated driver boards, and serviceability improvements using standard Williams/Bally components.

Key Claims

  • Alice in Wonderland limited to 500 units and sold out

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers states 'limited to 500, sold out' during interview about recent product launch

  • Alice in Wonderland dropped/shipped recently (within last couple of weeks before Expo)

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers: 'This thing just dropped recently in the last couple of weeks'

  • Eight to ten months of hardcore R&D work on Alice

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers confirms timeline when asked 'what, eight, ten months?' responding 'Yeah. Like hardcore, right? Yeah.'

  • Design philosophy prioritized aesthetics (80% focus) over pure playability

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers: 'People, I think that 80% about this game was about the looks, you know'

  • First whitewood prototype was unplayable ('brick fest') requiring major redesign

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers: 'if you think this was a brick fest, some people say, trust me, you couldn't get a ball anywhere'

  • Alice uses upgraded connectors and consolidated driver boards compared to The Big Lebowski

    high confidence · Technical breakdown discussing 'easy clip-on' connectors and 'all the drivers, except for the flippers, we have on one board'

  • All components sourced from standard Williams/Bally parts available on Marco Specialties

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers: 'Everything is just Bally Williams... Everything is off the shelf'

  • Game uses same technology base as The Big Lebowski (Fusion 360 design around TBL PCB boards)

    high confidence · Melvin Louwers: 'we created the game in Fusion 360... created around that on the same technology all the boards'

Notable Quotes

  • “The most beautiful thing is that it looks like a work of art, you know what I mean? It's like, it's not only a pinball, but I want to show the world that there's more than just a pinball”

    Melvin Louwers@ 1:58 — Explains core design philosophy prioritizing aesthetic/artistic value over traditional gameplay metrics

  • “It's difficult because you also want to create a good game, but you also want to envision what was the vision, you know? So you have to make a compromise... Do I change so much that it's for a better play, or do you change less for the better view?”

    Melvin Louwers@ 3:04 — Reveals tension between playability and aesthetic vision that drove game development decisions

  • “The first whitewood I built, if you think this was a brick fest, some people say, trust me, you couldn't get a ball anywhere. And I was like, okay, so the lines don't work. Now I need to go back to the drawing board.”

    Melvin Louwers@ 3:25 — Demonstrates iterative design process and willingness to fundamentally restructure unplayable initial concept

  • “I try to even though it's complex sometimes i just try to make it as easy going and serviceable as possible. It's not one board that everybody's afraid of. There are multiple boards in there”

    Melvin Louwers@ 5:09 — Reveals serviceability focus and learning from Big Lebowski's potential single-point-of-failure issues

  • “I try to ride in the good wave because all the headaches they had, for instance, with power supplies or whatever. We're now came to a point that everything was tested, was fixed and done.”

    Melvin Louwers@ 6:07 — Indicates deliberate strategy to leverage Big Lebowski's R&D learnings for reliability improvements

Entities

Melvin LouwerspersonDutch PinballcompanyDPXcompanyAlice in WonderlandgameThe Big LebowskigamePinball Expo 2024eventBarrypersonMarco Specialties

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Dutch Pinball prioritizes serviceability using standard Williams/Bally components available through retail suppliers (Marco Specialties) rather than proprietary parts, enabling owner maintenance

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'Everything is just Bally Williams... Everything is off the shelf... Everything... can get off of Marco Specialties' website'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Alice in Wonderland prioritizes artistic/aesthetic presentation (80% design focus) as primary value proposition beyond traditional gameplay, representing deliberate strategy to position game as collectible art object

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'I want to show the world that there's more than just a pinball... 80% about this game was about the looks'

  • ?

    community_signal: Melvin Louwers demonstrates iterative design methodology, willing to scrap initial concepts that fail playability testing and rebuild from foundation while maintaining core vision

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'The first whitewood I built... you couldn't get a ball anywhere... I was like, okay, so the lines don't work. Now I need to go back to the drawing board'

  • ?

    announcement: Alice in Wonderland officially shipped recently with 500-unit limited run already sold out; showcased at Pinball Expo 2024 with positive reception and long play queues

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'This thing just dropped recently in the last couple of weeks, limited to 500, sold out. The lines have been insane.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Alice incorporates multiple technical improvements over The Big Lebowski: upgraded connectors (easy clip-on vs prone to ribbon cable issues), consolidated driver boards for easier serviceability, maintained standard Williams/Bally parts compatibility

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

0:00
Yeah. Do you want me to flip it up right now? No, we can. I need the detectors in it. Oh yeah, we can start over there then.
0:23
Whatever's right there, it'll switch over. Okay. Hey, what's up guys? Hey, what's up, guys? This is our first interview here on the floor from Expo. I've got Melvin Williams with DPX, Dutch Pinball Exclusives. How you doing, man? Good, good. Good. This has been a journey. I'm not going to catch you guys up on the whole story, but we got Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This thing just dropped recently in the last couple of weeks, limited to 500, sold out. People are excited to play it. The lines have been insane. What's it feel like to finally get this out there, man?
0:50
Exciting and nervous at the same time. It's like when we set up these games, we're sending them from overseas, and trying to get these games running, and it was just a nervous thing. You know, you don't want that games break down during, you know, the first day you're there, but they hold up amazingly. Everybody loved the game.
1:08
So, yeah, I'm super stoked. Well, your best decision in a while has been two-ball on this because we got crazy lines. You get two balls to play, but it's enough to get the full experience, man. Well, I always tell people, you know what it is with this game? is like, it has some tight shots in there, and you always got to get familiar with the layout of a game, you know, and I don't believe that a two-ball play will get you there, but I just put it on two-ball just to get the lines flowing, you know, and just go back in line, and if anybody needs help or, you know, I'll help them out to see where the shots are. Nice, nice. So we've seen a lot on this game. I'm excited because you're going to lift the play field for us. We're going to get a look underneath and see what going on but before we do that tell me you know there been so much work into this like what are you most proud of when you finally get this out here about this game What your favorite thing about it I think that the most beautiful thing is that it looks like a work of art, you know what I mean? It's like, it's not only a pinball, but I want to show the world that there's more than just a pinball because it's, in 99% now, it's like these games go to your house, you know, you want more than just that. So I try to create and show everybody that there's more to pinball than just playing pinball. And I think also, you know, like we're doing. People, I think that 80% about this game was about the looks, you know. And it's lovely because always you have a conversation, but now you go to a different context of that conversation. We're like, oh, that's also cool, and this and that. So you touch more points on pinball itself. Yeah, yeah. One of my favorite things is, like, you know, since we interviewed you guys, like, three or four months ago, from the very get-go, you were like, we are making the game as it was intended to be. And to be along that journey and now see how that came together, it looks like there was no compromises on that vision. I mean, how does that feel to, like, really just, like, hit that and not stray and finally be there? Well, it's, how do you can say it? It's difficult because you also want to create a good game, but you also want to envision what was the vision, you know, and that makes it hard. So you have to make a compromise. Okay, do I change so much that it's for a better play, or do you change less for the better view, you know? So you have to get a balance in that, and it was really hard. So the first whitewood I built, if you think this was a brick fest, some people say, trust me, you couldn't get a ball anywhere. And I was like, okay, so the lines don't work. Now I've got to go back to the drawing board. what can I do to create this game get it flowing better and then you know add everything every layer to it And that was exhausting at a point Well, it makes it a unique piece in anyone's collection. I mean, you've got a lot of games from Classic, but now you've got a brand new version of it, a grand new gameplay. And it's different than everything that's coming out there. We've seen tons of new games on the floor, but nothing quite like this. So let's take a close look at the underside of this. All right, guys, so we're looking at the underside of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This is an area that many of us hang out, so you always want to know kind of what you're looking at. Is there anything different about this one from Lebowski? Did you guys have to make any major changes? Well, of course, as you can see, what I wanted to do is that we got new connectors. You know, in the old Lebowskis, there was some space between the connectors, and these have, like, the easy clip-on, so you don't want to pull your ribbon cable if you remove boards because then you just snap them out. So you can easily do these. As you can see, these have been upgraded from the Lebowski, so they're much bigger now. Same as here. We got now all the drivers, except for the flippers, we got on one board.
company
Jonperson

high · Technical breakdown: 'new connectors... we have now all the drivers, except for the flippers, we have on one board' and 'Everything is just Bally Williams... off the shelf'

  • ?

    product_concern: Alice initial whitewood prototype was fundamentally unplayable ('brick fest'), requiring substantial redesign to achieve playable ball flow while maintaining aesthetic vision

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'The first whitewood I built... you couldn't get a ball anywhere... lines don't work. Now I need to go back to the drawing board'

  • ?

    business_signal: 2-ball play mode implemented at Pinball Expo specifically to manage demand/queue volumes rather than as permanent game setting, indicating overwhelming visitor interest

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'I just put it on two-ball just to get the lines flowing, you know, and just go back in line'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Alice development utilized Fusion 360 CAD modeling to design playfield around existing Big Lebowski PCB technology, enabling faster iteration and technical consistency while reducing custom board development

    high · Melvin Louwers: 'we created the game in Fusion 360 so we could look what space we had and then we created around that on the same technology all the boards'

    • 4:50
    So if there's any issue whatsoever, these are still SMDs, but there's not really a work involved to get these going. So you can fix it yourself, even if it's SMD. And then again, this is just one board. you know just take it out put a new one in so it's i try to even though it's complex sometimes i just try to make it as easy going and serviceable as possible it's not one board that everybody afraid of there are multiple boards in there so it's not that if one breaks down you got to replace the whole thing and in lebowski you had a lot of power outputs i think there was like a five and a 12 or even a couple do you guys have that on this one as well so we got auxiliary five okay okay already out there of course we got the stumbler board in yeah that like a 12 and a high bolt coming out We have even extra drivers In the back box of course we have the all auxiliary for extra 5 12s all that stuff So we try to really think to get more stuff in. And is this all like standard stuff you can get off of Marco's website in case if there's any issues with like flipper coils? Yeah, yeah. Everything is just Bally Williams. We try to use as much as normal, like the pop bumpers, drop targets. Everything is off the shelf. You know, these were all been made on the technology where TBL was built on. And I got to ride in the good wave because all the headaches they had, for instance, with power supplies or whatever. We're now came to a point that everything was tested, was fixed and done. And then we put it in this one. So I hope it's, you know, I try to get it as bulletproof as possible. So I'm curious about that process. So you probably worked on this in your own shop from an R&D perspective for a long time. I know you've been working on this for, what, eight, ten months? Yes. Like hardcore, right? Yeah. Did they send you a bunch of parts and say, hey, bring us something that looks kind of like our system? Or did you bring your own system and then it got kind of broken down from there? No. So what I did, the first whitewood I built, I had a TBL board system just in the cabinet. And I just run all the wires. I was playing on a hacked version of the TBL. and from that point on we knew everything when everything worked then Barry told me okay you know what I'll do now I'll just because Barry did all the designs for the for the PCBs so we created the game in a Fusion 360 so we could look what space we got and then we created around that on the same technology all the boards.