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Episode 467 - CCR 2.0 and Internet Play, QFG, RF, MR updates, what we've been working on, 1959 Bally Ballerina

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 2m·analyzed·Jun 1, 2020
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Nick Baldridge discusses Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0 updates and extensive Quest for Glory development.

Summary

Nick Baldridge and his new co-host Ava discuss recent P3 updates including Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0's single-player and internet play modes, the extensive development of Quest for Glory (a complex RPG-style P3 game with day-night cycles, 70 screens, and multiple character classes), progress on Robo Frenzy (an electromechanical arcade game), and upcoming projects using the Cosmic Kart Racing playfield. The episode covers gameplay mechanics, art direction, voice acting, music orchestration, and the technical challenges of creating sophisticated pinball software.

Key Claims

  • Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0 includes a new single-player mode allowing standard three-ball play, in addition to arcade mode and local network play

    high confidence · Nick and Ava discussing the Multimorphic update released for Cosmic Kart Racing

  • Quest for Glory has a day-night cycle with four phases (dawn, day, dusk, night) that progress automatically and affect gameplay

    high confidence · Nick explaining the core mechanics of Quest for Glory during development discussion

  • Quest for Glory features 70 different screens with backgrounds being redrawn and expanded by a paid background artist

    high confidence · Nick detailing the scope of the Quest for Glory project

  • Nick fixed approximately 70 bugs in Quest for Glory over a single weekend

    high confidence · Nick stating: 'Just this weekend alone, I have fixed about 70 bugs'

  • Quest for Glory is based on the original 1980 video game by Lori Cole and Corey Cole

    high confidence · Nick crediting the original game designers and confirming the 1980 release date

  • Quest for Glory has three playable character classes (fighter, magic user, thief) with different puzzle solutions available per class

    high confidence · Nick explaining character class mechanics and their impact on gameplay

  • Internet play for Cosmic Kart Racing requires other players to be online; if insufficient players are available, AI opponents fill empty slots

    high confidence · Nick explaining the matchmaking system: 'if there are not enough players that are online currently and you want to start the match, then it'll fill out the rest of the slots with AI'

  • Cosmic Kart Racing has approximately 900 LEDs on the playfield

    medium confidence · Nick stating 'Cosmic Kart Racing has just a tremendous number of LEDs I think it's 900 and some'

  • Nick is working on a next P3 game using the Cosmic Kart Racing playfield, with the domain already purchased

Notable Quotes

  • “Cosmic Kart Racing is basically all ramps or orbits or like... quick turnarounds... in pinball terms, that's like a flowy playfield. A flowy? Yeah, because the ball just kind of flows back to your flippers and it's always moving.”

    Nick Baldridge @ early section — Explains the design philosophy of the Cosmic Kart Racing playfield layout

  • “The most complex pinball I have ever seen created so far... It's very, very complex since it is a role-playing video game. To switch all that over is a lot.”

    Nick Baldridge @ mid-episode — Highlights the unprecedented complexity of Quest for Glory as a P3 game

  • “It's literally like a video game, but in a pinball machine.”

    Ava Baldridge @ Quest for Glory discussion — Concise description of Quest for Glory's hybrid nature

  • “I've been working on this project, like, the programming portion, not even the rest of it, just the programming, which is, I mean, obviously the main part, but... he's been working on that for like, what, a couple? Probably four months?”

    Ava Baldridge (referencing Nick's work) @ mid-episode — Indicates the substantial time commitment to Quest for Glory programming

  • “Nothing beats the human opponent though. I just think that is so cool.”

    Nick Baldridge @ internet play discussion — Expresses enthusiasm for the competitive multiplayer aspect of Cosmic Kart Racing internet play

  • “This is a scratch build electromechanical game and it is far more complex than any production electromechanical game I've ever seen.”

    Nick Baldridge @ Robo Frenzy section — Describes the ambition and technical scope of the Robo Frenzy arcade game project

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonAva BaldridgepersonMultimorphiccompanyCosmic Kart RacinggameQuest for GlorygameRobo FrenzygameLori ColepersonCorey ColepersonRyan Claytorperson

Signals

  • ?

    code_update: Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0 released with single-player mode and internet play functionality, enabling matchmaking with human opponents and AI fill-ins

    high · Nick and Ava confirm the 2.0 update includes new single-player three-ball mode and internet play with matchmaking system

  • ?

    product_launch: Multimorphic released internet play feature for Cosmic Kart Racing allowing online competitive play across multiple P3 machines

    high · Hosts discuss playing internet matches and Multimorphic's coordinated online play event

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Cosmic Kart Racing exemplifies 'flowy' playfield design with ramps and orbits; magnet assist on right ramp aids skill development and enables multiball (Meteor Shower Multiball)

    high · Nick explaining the playfield design philosophy and magnet mechanics enabling ball locks

  • ?

    design_innovation: Quest for Glory implements RPG mechanics unprecedented in pinball: day-night cycle with 4 phases, save functionality, character classes affecting puzzle solutions, 70 unique screens, dialogue system

    high · Extensive discussion of Quest for Glory's complex systems, which Nick describes as 'the most complex pinball I have ever seen created so far'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Nick Baldridge collaborating with Ryan Claytor (artist) and multiple session musicians; background artist hired to redraw/expand original artwork from 1980 Quest for Glory game

    high · Multiple credits and mentions of contracted artists and musicians working on Quest for Glory and Robo Frenzy

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.188

0:00
What's that sound? It's 4 Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to 4 Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldrige and my new co-host... Ava Baldrige! Hey! We're back. It's been... Three months. ...a long time. I've been working super hard, and Ava has too, but on different things. So... Well, if you're working on the same thing, I don't know. And we'd be further away. Alright, so first up, let's talk about some of the new games that we've been playing. They released a big update, they being multi-morphic to Cosmic Kart Racing. The internet play and... And the single player mode that allows you to play a standard three ball game. So previously, Cosmic Kart Racing had the arcade mode where you could race against three AI opponents or you could play on a local network. So if you had multiple P3s, you could line them all up and play together. We only have the one, likely only to have the one for the foreseeable future. Until I convince my mom otherwise. Well, yeah, and I would need to figure something else to leave if that were the case. No! Yeah, so at the moment, one is what we got, and we've been playing Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0 is what they call it. What do you think of the single player mode? I really like it. I have been playing it for a while. Three months, right? Yeah, maybe just a little bit about that time. Um, but it's... What do you like about it? I like, um, mainly the play of how it, um, you have to complete stuff, except I usually cannot complete stuff. That's my big problem, too. Um, one of the neat things about Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0 is that, uh, each shot kind of progresses you towards something else that you need to do. It's kind of like heist in that regard, but things stack a lot more clearly. And there's a lot more shots to make. There's a lot more things to shoot at and keep track of. A lot more scurrily things, because there's toys and like other things in the heist. Yeah. So the Cosmic Kart Racing Playfield is one of my favorite to shoot because there's so many different paths. It's very cool. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, I just remembered something awesome. Yes. Yeah. The longest ramp, it's the right ramp. It will actually take your ball, well, like in the arcade mode, I'm gonna skip ahead for a second. In the arcade mode, when you're playing, there's a little hole in the back of the playfield at the top, and it drops onto this ramp and it scoots backwards, And it holds it there with a magnet and then it counts down three, two, one, and then it launches it super powerfully, which is awesome. Yeah, the magnet assist on the ramp is super cool and in Cosmic Kart Racing 2.0, the single player mode, when you shoot the ramp the first time, the magnets kick on and help you get all the way up, even if you're not quite as good at hitting that square as you should be, which is really nice. And then that enables the ball locks. So the next time you shoot it, it'll lock a ball and hold it on a magnet. Then you shoot it again, it holds it on the next magnet. And you shoot it a third time, and it holds it and starts multiball. Which is really cool to see. It's called Meteor Shower Multiball, which I think is a great name for a multiball. What do you think about the graphics in the single player mode? Um, I'm gonna be honest, they're not my complete favorite graphics of all time. I still like Heist a little bit more, I think, compared to this. I do really like the graphics. It's all, um, well, obviously animated. Um, but, um, they're pretty good. Yeah, I like them. It's like a space background and down in between the flippers is a star and the star, when it's lit in a particular color, will enable ball return. Oh, I did not know that. Yeah, if you're watching it, it's pretty cool. And then when your ball return is gone, then it'll change color. Oh. It's pretty cool. How did I not know this? I'm pretty sure I would have to look at it again. I wish I was looking at it right now, but I'm pretty sure that when it's blue you have ball return enabled or ball save enabled. Ball return. I'm thinking bingos. Yeah. Wrong game, Dad. Ball save enabled. And when it is red, you do not. So what's kind of cool is that star is animated the whole time, Um, but on the playfield, the different shots have very long chevrons that are animated, um, and they look, they look great. Um, there's not a whole lot of activity otherwise. There's some, some different things that pop up and so forth. Um, but I, I like the, the clean and less cutted, cutted? Cluttered look. We can't talk today if you couldn't tell. Yeah, having a hard time here. Um, so, uh, that's Cosmic Cart Racing 2.0. Um, like I mentioned, that's one of my favorite playfield layouts for the P3. Um, Heist has a ton of things to shoot that are very interactive. Yeah, they're not necessarily just ramps. Cosmic Kart Racing is basically all ramps or orbits or like... Quick turnarounds. Yeah. Some sort of way that is turning around the ball. Mm-hmm. So that's called, in pinball terms, that's like a flowy playfield. A flowy? Yeah, because the ball just kind of flows back to your flippers and it's always moving. But one of the things that I appreciate about that design the most is that the shots actually change based on how much speed you have. So if you kind of limp it up and around the orbit, it'll stop partway through and then drop into a hole. Yeah, or if you shoot it on the left side, I think, and it will make a U-shaped turn. Or, like, there's a bunch of different ways. Like, you just have to play with the, um, what's the word I'm looking for? Layout? No, like, powerful, what's the... Speed? Kind of, yeah. Well, we're just going with that. Yeah, so I think it's really fun and I've got something cool to talk about with that. But before we get into that, they also released the update which you talked about earlier this episode. Internet Play. Now, Ava, would you believe that there are people who say that that is not fun? No. No matter what the thing is, there's always going to be people who don't like something for some reason. Now the thing is, the only thing I don't like about this version is that if there is no one online, you won't be able to play basically. Yeah, I mean there have to be other people to play with. So what they did is when they released the update they said, hey, let's all get on Saturday and be on for an hour. And so you and I jumped on and we played a whole bunch of matches. You and I took turns. I did not win any. Are you sure? Yes. I thought you won one. No. I got second place one. I didn't win one. I lost to the stupid computer. This isn't fair. I demand a rematch. It wasn't a computer, it was a present. No, it was one of them was a computer. Oh, that's right. That's right. So the way that it works, it's like a matchmaking service and depending on who's online, you'll We'll get matched up with them, but if there are not enough players that are online currently and you want to start the match or the host wants to start the match, then it'll fill out the rest of the slots with AI. And so Ava lost to an AI one time. Which isn't fair. I demand a rematch. Well, but playing against humans, what did you think about that? It's very fun and a unique experience compared to just like computer playing. But it is very challenging in the beginning when you start playing it. Just I think because you're trying to focus on so many different things. Like you're looking in the corner, who's ahead of me now? That's the thing that I found is that I was paying a lot more attention to that map when I'm playing against humans than I do when I'm playing against computers. Yeah, I don't even think I realized it when I was playing against AI. Well, I've been lucky enough to play in LAN play, that's local area network, when I was at the Texas Pinball Festival. Multimorphic had a big booth. Right, she's pointing to a badge. Multimorphic had a booth and they had multiple P3s and so they were showing off the network capability and that was really fun. But yeah, playing solo, at least for me, I almost never look at that map. You know, I might glance at it once or twice, but it was like constantly I was looking at that thing on the internet game. Like you're like, like you always have it in like your peripheral vision. It's always like you're hitting the ball, but you're always like sideways glancing. auspe Tour Can Sign Out Nate Boyer Lemm Graber Captio J Problem click anything everybody moon 대박 the yeah out of but in since other means out there but uh... everybody gave come they're So it was a lot of fun. I can't wait to do that again. I think maybe we should set up some kind of recurring thing. What do you think? Yeah, that would be fun. Yeah, like once every week or two and get together and spend 30 minutes or an hour and... Yeah, that would be fun. ...walk away with the champion. It will be me against the stupid AI because I deserve to win. Well, um, yeah. Nothing beats the human opponent though. I just think that is so cool. It's neat to, uh, it's like Mario Kart, Cosmic Kart Racing, if you haven't played it before in the arcade mode. So there's power-ups and you can use them and those power-ups will sometimes influence the other people. So, Ava and I are playing and the walls and scoops pop up because somebody used an item against us. It's pretty neat. Oh my gosh, I just remembered something ridiculous about this. Okay, so basically, whenever I play arcade mode or the online internet mode, I always shoot the same ramp over and over again. Like, I wish it was green, but I've already shot it before, so it just...

high confidence · Nick stating: 'I have purchased the domain, so um...' but declining to reveal the title yet

  • Robo Frenzy is Nick's first arcade game and is purely electromechanical with complexity exceeding any production EM game he's seen

    high confidence · Nick: 'This is your first arcade game? Yes, and it's purely electromechanical. So this is a scratch build electromechanical game and it is far more complex than any production electromechanical game I've ever seen'

    • Sophie Baldridge
    person
    Molly Baldridgeperson
    For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcastorganization
    Lexi Lightspeedgame
    Gaming on 10organization
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Quest for Glory in advanced development stage: 70 bugs fixed in one weekend, most background artwork complete, music nearly finished, needs 20 more backgrounds and 30-40 sprite animations

    high · Nick providing detailed development status update on Quest for Glory production pipeline

  • ?

    community_signal: Cosmic Kart Racing internet play fostering recurring multiplayer sessions; Nick and Ava planning weekly/bi-weekly competitive play events

    high · Hosts discussing organized online play event and planning recurring 'recurring thing' for multiplayer matches

  • ?

    technology_signal: Nick identified SDK gaps in Multimorphic's P3 development kit; Multimorphic accepted feature requests for next SDK version to support complex games like Quest for Glory

    high · Nick: 'There are some things that I need which are not present in the SDK, and I've presented those to Multimorphic and they've taken them into consideration for the next version'

  • ?

    machine_intel: Nick developing untitled P3 game using Cosmic Kart Racing playfield; domain purchased; title withheld but will be revealed; early stages of development (~20 hours work mentioned)

    high · Nick: 'I have purchased the domain, so um... I'm not ready to release the name yet' and Ava unable to remember the title after multiple tellings

  • ?

    design_innovation: Robo Frenzy is a scratch-built electromechanical arcade game exceeding complexity of any production EM game; first arcade project for Nick Baldridge; collaboration with artist Ryan Claytor

    high · Nick describing Robo Frenzy as 'far more complex than any production electromechanical game I've ever seen' and confirming it's his first arcade game

  • ?

    product_strategy: Quest for Glory features dual high-score tables: primary (50-500 points) and secondary (game completions with dates), enabling continued achievement tracking even after primary table fills with perfect scores

    high · Nick explaining the high score implementation: secondary table 'shows the 10 highest scores' and tracks completion dates to allow players to place multiple times

    • 11:43
    So then I can't get anything else except for like the one thing in the beginning, But then I'm like constantly shooting it so it'd be great if it was for any other pinball machine except for this. Yeah so that's Cosmic Kart Racing has just a tremendous number of LEDs I think it's 900 and some. It is ridiculous it like glows. It's all over the back third of the playfield and the light shows are really cool the little chase modes and so forth with the different colors. This year, eight-time national진θεول 세계상같 hö сд But Eva was mentioning Freshgram. This is a method of searching. But Ava uploaded this to YouTube According to emotionally boned friends that there are these information about cleanschoots's because if you want to change colors with 충shot Art barracks, Digital Boxes, So, next up, let's talk about a different game. I wonder what it is. It's called Quest for Glory. I never heard of that before. So, I have been working like crazy on this game. A long, long, like if you were here, you would know how long he's been working on this for. He's been working on this project, like, the programming portion, not even the rest of it, just the programming, which is, I mean, obviously the main part, but I mean, but he's been working on that for like, what, a couple? Probably four months? Yeah, the whole project started about six months ago. Yeah. So, I think, maybe it's only five months ago. It's been a long time. Anyway, it's close to six months. Also, I was a fairy. Yes, so what we've done is recorded all the voices, either placeholders or real ones. Ava, her sister Sophie, and my wife Molly are all fairies. It's fun. Their lines are ridiculous. So the fairies you come across in one specific screen and only at night time. And if you are rude to the fairies, they make you dance until you die. Dance, dance. So it's really fun. The whole game is really fun and clever. It's very funny. Like when you read the dialogue or listen, it is like, it's very funny. But of course I can't take any credit for that. That was all... Well yes, it was all the game. ...by Lori Cole and she and her husband Corey Cole worked on the original game and... Oh my gosh, even their first names... It's a masterpiece. Ryan. Lori and Corey, yep. Oh my gosh. But anyway, so I have been working on that. I have been creating and fixing a ton of bugs. A ton. Just this weekend alone, I have fixed about 70 bugs. What? Yeah, which some of them are extremely minor, some of them are really major. But the whole thing about the system, this is a pretty complicated pinball machine. It has a day-night cycle, which proceeds automatically. So after you sit on the screen for a particular amount of time it switch to the next phase of the day Are there more than just like day and night Are they like evening There four different phases So there dawn day dusk and then night Night. Yeah. And different things happen at different times of the day, and also on different days. So it keeps track of the number of days in game that you've been playing. Also. Yes. Something that is really cool. You can save in it, which is I'm not gonna talk about that. Um, anyways. Well, no, I couldn't, I literally couldn't shoot the shot. So, in order to save the game, you have to hit... It's like Lexi. Well, also, it's using the Lexi. It's using in lanes and out lanes. So, um, the different lanes, you have to light all four, and then it will save your game. Every time that you shoot all four, it also advances the day-night cycle by one position. So if it's on dawn, for example, it advances to daytime. So the bugs in that are pretty heinous and sometimes really hard to find because there are things which are influenced all throughout the game. And if I fix a bug in how the day-night cycle operates, then it can break everything that relies upon it. Just so you know, this isn't like a simple game at all. It's the most complex pinball I have ever seen created so far. Like, well not... Well, thanks. Well, I've only seen a couple created. I don't know about that, but it is sort of... It's very, very complex since it is a role-playing video game. To switch all that over is a lot. Yes, and it's a lengthy game too. You know, for me, who's making it, I know the solutions to all the puzzles and so forth, but if you don't... No fair. Yeah, it'll take you a while. The other thing about the game that increases the length of time that you would play it is that there are three different character classes. So you can start and pick if you're a fighter, a magic user... A magic user or a thief. Yes. Ow, I just... You okay? ...dumped my finger. Is that a thing? It is. So, depending on which character class you choose, different puzzle solutions will be available to you, and those puzzle solutions will present themselves as different shots on different screens. So, there are 70 different screens, and each of them I am paying a background artist to redraw the original artwork and expand upon it. It looks really weird without the people. Like you can talk to the people, but you can't physically see the people. It's like the background work is all done. Well, most of it, I think. In good chunk, yeah. Yeah, so, but not all the character artwork is done. So when you play it, you're basically, when you're supposed to be seeing a person or like a monster... There's nobody there! It's like talking to a ghost. Right. That was my ghost voice. Kind of creepy. Well, um, yeah, I've been thinking about putting in placeholder artwork for that. Thank you. It's very creepy without the actual people. I've done it for the monsters, but I haven't done it for the other things. Not... The people. Good enough. Anyway, uh, so... I'm judging his work. I did stream the last build that I had on the physical machine a few weeks ago. Put that on my YouTube channel and I'll be streaming again in... Shortly. Another week, maybe? Once the problem is fixed. Yeah, there's a couple of relatively large bugs that I would like to see resolved before then, because they impact being able to continue your game at a later time. Also, thank you for everyone who watched it. Yeah, absolutely. And thank you in advance if you plan to watch the next one. Also, big thanks to Multimorphic who has been just extremely patient with answering all of my questions. They have done a fantastic job of making sure that I have everything that I need. Their software development kit is very fleshed out and provides the programmer with a ton of stuff. But obviously, with the scope of the project that I'm doing, there are some things that I need which are not present in the SDK, and I've presented those to Multimorphic and they've taken them into consideration for the next version. So I'm excited that perhaps some of the stuff that I'm doing can help other people indirectly. Also, if you're from Multimorphic, thank you! Yes, and just thank you in general for the three and all the awesome games because we are having a blast. So the current status of the game is that I need an additional 20 backgrounds completed and about 30 to 40 different sprite animations. Are those the characters? Yeah, those are characters. Backstage
    21:27
    They're having to draw a lot of extra elements for the animations. Of course, in the originals, there's just a small handful of pixels, and the artist is completely reinterpreting those. And by the way, the graphics are amazing. Yeah, thank you. So you didn't draw them, Daddy. I didn't, but I have been orchestrating them. I've been fine. I will give you some credit. Thank you. Anyway,
    21:53
    the music is all in there now. Some of it I have reorchestrated. I would love to reorchestrate more, but some of them have upwards of 10 or more pieces within 10 or more instruments, and that becomes very difficult, as I've found when orchestrating with the session musicians that I've been contracting with. I'm not sure if they're, they're not necessarily, it's not easy to get them to play a piece. I'm trying to describe it in a way that's not insulting. To get them to play a piece of sheet music that they're unfamiliar with, not everybody has that skill or ability. So a lot of the musicians that I'm contracting with require extra steps be taken. So I'm looking at the sheet music and, you know, it all makes sense. I provide the file. I can hear, you know, the notes on the sheet music and it all looks good. But when I provide it to a session musician, sometimes they come back and say, I can't figure out what tempo I should play this at or things of that nature. And it took quite some doing. So rather than focus my time on that, I've been focusing on the programming and then And I can circle back and do the music later. For now... It does sound very good though, I will say. The original soundtrack is amazing and I've had a lot of fun on the reorchestrated pieces, putting that together. Do you get to pick which instruments? Yes. That's cool. In the original, it's something called MIDI, so it's all played with a keyboard. You know what would be cool? What's that? I just came up with an idea for a soundtrack. Let's hear it. You did multiple versions. This is like something for the future after you finish this, but like if you did multiple versions of the soundtrack, so like an acoustic, a regular, a classical. It's funny you say that. Are you going to do that? So I've done that. For the main theme in the game, it's played by eight different instruments. So there's a classical guitar, there is a trumpet. Harp? Harp is used on one of the tracks, but not that one. Oh. I'm pretty sure that's used in Irana's piece. That's a... No idea what that is, but okay. She hasn't played very much of it, but you have played it a little bit. Yeah. So what are your impressions, aside from the artwork? I like the gameplay. The only thing is it's difficult. So in the game, when you're playing it, if you didn't know, if you don't own a P3, it It has three buttons on the side and they're all used for different games in the P3. Um, but, they're, uh, so my dad decided to use all three of them. So it's kind of difficult to, uh, think about what you're doing while maneuvering your hands. But the good thing is that you can hold the ball in the flipper while, um, you're playing. So that's usually what I do. I'd usually like shoot it. Well, first I have to catch it because it shoots out of the ramp. Yes, it can take us over. It shoots out of the ramp. And so first you have to catch it before you can hold it. And then once you hold it, you can I mean, you can move any time without holding it. But it's just a lot easier, like ten times more easier. Specifically moving your character. Yes. Talking about. Or like talking to someone. So there are five different things that you can do, I think. That's right. Which is talk, walk, touch, look, and... Use. It's like the five senses. Sort of, yeah. But different. There's no here. Oh yeah. Anyway, so for walking, you only use the buttons. In fact, the ball isn't involved at all. Only one, um, the... Actually, no, you use more than one button, never mind. Yeah, so, uh, you use the flipper buttons to choose which exit you want to take. The normal ones. The normal ones, and then you use a different button to select that choice. Yes, and then the third button is used to select talk, use, walk, take, whatever. Right. Your, pleases your fancy. Um... So if you're not in the walk mode... You cannot... I cannot... Then that second button changes the item that you would use in the use mode. Yes. So for each of the different modes, aside from walk, chevrons will appear for the different shots that you need to make. So for example, if you put it on talk mode and you're on a screen with a person, then you can probably talk to them and the chevron will appear and you hit that target... Wait, probably talk to them? Well, not in every case. I'm not sure if I'm talking to a mug. I don't know, maybe you are. Anyway, so you hit that and then it will offer dialogue choices. Yes. One of the things that's kind of unique, not really unique, there's other games that have done this before, but it's kind of unique for a modern game is that there's a maximum score. So, and that maximum score is always displayed down in the apron. This is something I just added recently. I've had this since the beginning I think. Oh, no, no, never mind. I'm thinking of the high score thing. Yes, that I just added. So you can earn a maximum of 500 points. Okay. So for each character class there's a separate path to 500 points. You may be able to complete the game without hitting 500 points. Just so you know, 500 is a lot more difficult than it sounds. 50 is harder than it sounds. It's like, okay, so 500 is like a million in heist if you've played heist or like, like, Some 10 million I think. It's like the highest of like any, like, if you thought one high score was difficult, this one is out. It's pretty challenging. But I did just add, like Ava was saying, high score mode. So in the attract mode, it'll scroll through credits and I added two of them. Yes, one for like the regular playing mode and one for people who have beaten the game for like everyone who has beaten the game should flip on those. The last ten. The last ten who have beaten it, like the last ten who have played or the last ten who have beaten it. No, no, no, like the last 10 who've like beaten it are the last 10 who have the highest score. Just the last 10 who played and beat it. So for the highest score table, it shows you the 10 highest scores. So if there were 10 people that earned 500 points, then there would be 10 500 points in the list, each with their name. Okay, that makes more sense. And you choose your name in the beginning so it knows who you are when the game ends. And so it fills that out automatically. You don't get to put in your initials because you do that in the beginning. That's another cool thing is that you get to make a profile. So if you're wanting to play it again, I guess. Yeah, save your progress. It's literally like a video game, but in a pinball machine. Yes, it's quite a bit faster than it would be in many video games. We're not in the 90s anymore. And that's exactly when this game was made, 1980. Exactly! My point. So, um, the second high score table, the one that Ava was talking about that lists game completions, it also lists the date that the completion was made. So, in this way, I was thinking, you know, even if the main high score table's filled up with 500 points and it's unlikely that you'll get on there, Very unlikely. You can still place on the secondary high score table as many times as you're able to. Wait, so you're setting 500 as the default high score? No. The high scores range from 50 points all the way up to 500 in the default table. Okay. Yeah, so there's definitely, you know, room for you to place on there, no matter where you wind up with it. And as I mentioned, that high score entry is automatic, so there's nothing that the player has to do. I'll see if that's actually a good idea because, you know, that takes some of the thrill out of it. You know, knowing that you placed on there, you'd have to look in the attract mode and watch it to know. But I also added credits, and the credits are fairly extensive. There's quite a few different voice actors and musicians and so forth which have contributed to the project already, not to mention the artists. So, um, it's nice to have that in there and done. I've been collecting those names for so long, this is one of the last things that I had on my list to do. It like taking attendance for a thousand people but you don know their names Well I know their names though Well now you do At any rate so that going well and Wait, am I in the credits for being a beta tester? No, but you're in the credits as a voice actor. Ugh. Not good enough! We're all, except for you, but you have the establishment of- I'm a voice actor too? What? Oh yeah you are. Because I had to... I will replace my voice with other actors. Woohoo! My name is... The Sheriff! I had to think of a character. That's good. Not... Not accurate at all. So that's what's going on. If you would like to hear a more detailed breakdown, kind of week by week, as I've been doing this, I also do another podcast called Gaming on 10, which is about video games. John Popadiuk, Bob Betor, Keith Elwin, Laser Los, Bowen Kerins, Lyman F. Sheats Jr., orbit ramps, Automated Amusements, Python Anghelo, Joe Kaminkow, Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi.
    32:35
    I'm a special designated corner in this house. Call it DDR Corner. And just call it DDR Corner and put a giant poster saying DDR. It makes sense. It does. I'll link that in the show notes along with the link to the stream if you're interested. You can see that there. And Ava, guess what? What? I've been thinking about my next P3 game. He never takes a break. I didn't tell him that he needs to take a break. Well, we'll talk about breaks a little later on because I actually have taken a couple of breaks. But, I agree. I never stopped developing. So, the thing that I'm working on now is going to use, Quest Reward uses the Lexi Lightspeed playfield, and the next game is going to use the Cosmic Kart Racing playfield. I wanted Heist. I was smiling, and then when I heard that it was going to be Cosmic Kart Racing, I literally deflated. So, the game's theme kind of precludes the use of... I want time! I know. We'll have to work together to come up with a... No! ...a theme that works with that. You know what would be cool? Hm? Is if you did a superhero theme for Heist since it's a... I like that. That's pretty cool. Like, cityscape. Yeah. Well, we'll have to see if I survive this second one. But you would have to make... I've been working hard. I just... You just punched me. No! I just punched you. Just punch me. I'm a nice, innocent person. Are you trying to frame me? Anyway. No, he's not. So, I'm working on that a little bit. A little bit? Just a little bit so far. Just a little bit. To him, a little bit means 10,000 hours. I haven't been on it for 10,000 hours yet, but... 10 hours. Getting there. 15. Not quite. 20. I'm not ready to release the name yet, but I have purchased the domain, so um... Dang it, you told it to me the other day and I already forgot again! She was gonna try and spoil it this time, but... No, I wasn't gonna try and spoil it, but I literally forgot it. I've forgotten it like three times now. That's alright, I'll tell you later. Um, and I'll tell everybody else. No, I had to trick you into telling me. I didn't act like anything. He just told me. I just asked him what it was and then he told me. Well, hey, it works. Anyway, so there's other games I'm working on too. You know Robo Frenzy? Yes, I do. That cabinet which is full of stuff, but no artwork. It is currently sitting in our basement not looking pretty. There's just a bunch... right now it basically looks like a giant plywood light mabobber thing. Very descriptive. I know, it looks weird. It looks like kind of like an arcade machine spider, but there's no legs. I don't know. There's a ton of lamps in it. Which look like eyes when they glow. So, without the artwork, it does look strange. Um, it's interesting. Anyways, but this is what we're talking about. Yeah, Ryan Claytor is the artist for it, and he has been very busy. He's a very good artist, too. He is absolutely a very good artist, and I'm very excited to be working with him on this game. He and I came up with the design and everything, so... So this is your first arcade game? Yes, and it's purely electromechanical. So this is a scratch build electromechanical game and it is far more complex than any production electromechanical game I've ever seen. Electromechanical arcade. So, um, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Basically, Ryan's been kind of backburnering this for a long time, and we've been working together on coin-off carnival number two, which is hopefully going to be out next year, 2021. Like in January? No commitment on the month yet. This is because he has too many projects, people. This is why he needs to take a break. Anyway. Anyway? You're trying to get off topic here. No taking a break. So Robo Frenzy will hopefully be done at some point soon, but Ryan has committed to a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule and we've been collaborating briefly each Monday, Wednesday, Friday on Robo Frenzy. Every time you say Monday, Wednesday, Friday, now I'm going to go, Monday, Wednesday, Friday! That sounds perfect. I say that all the time, so that'll work out. So that'll work out. No you don't. It's literally like the rarest thing you say. So in other game news, I've been working on multi-races as well. There's a couple of physical tweaks that I need to make before it makes its next show appearance, one of which is backglass artwork. Da-da-da-da. So at the moment... Wait, wait, wait. Yes. I have a question. Yes. About artwork. It's not for the back glass. Okay. It's just... In general? Yeah. It's for the pinball. For the cabinet. Are you spray painting? So for his last, for his multi bingo, you spray painted the cabinet with stencils. Are you going to do the same thing for multi races? Because I really want to do artwork. Um, well, if you've got a design, right now it's using the inoffensive design from Victory Derby. So it's just pinstriped, basically, on a flat color. And it works. I mean, it's pretty straightforward. But the cabinet is such a... This is basically him giving me as much freedom. Yeah, if you've got a design, I'm happy to look at that. And especially if it's a stencil design. I love stenciled artwork, so. Well, you'd have to make a stencil. Yeah. Because I don't have a specific giant stencil of something. Yeah. Well, I've shown you how I make them with poster board and then an X-Acto knife. Okay, the last time that you made one of those, I was... A couple years younger. Nine. Was it that long ago? When did you start making it? I think you were... Nine. Really? Nine. Okay. I was either nine or ten. It doesn't matter. But anyways... You were eleven? It does... No, eleven was last year! Actually, take... Okay, we're not gonna go into detail. All right, all right. Anyways... So I've contracted with another artist who is also fantastic named Joel DeGuzman. And... Or another artist named me. Well, Joel has been fantastic. I've been talking with him about the project. He's excited to do it and I'm looking forward to seeing his finished artwork. Have you seen his artwork for American Pinball? He did this character for them and it looks really good. I haven't seen that, but I have seen Ryan's work. Actually, Ryan has done an artwork for me that is amazing. Oh, that looks good. Oh, he's showing me the artwork right now of Amy Pym. Yeah, so this is one that Joel de Guzman made for American Pinball, and he's fantastic. You know, one of the fantastic pinball artists that I've seen, and I'm really looking forward to having his art on the machine. I think it'll complement the game. So, that's Multi Races, and hopefully in the next bit of time... Bit of time! In the next several episodes, maybe. He's saying, he never says stuff like Monday, Wednesday, Friday at a bit of time, so I'm just leaving him... Only for the podcast. I'm only making fun of him, don't worry. Alright, so Eva... It's not permanent. There's a new segment which I think we should start. There's a new segment! Hey, I said we should start it! Stop stealing my ideas! By I, I mean you. Uh huh. Yeah, alright. Let's talk about what we've been working on. Copyright, Dad! Let's talk about what we've been working on. Uh huh. Does that sound good? Yeah, my idea. Alright, why don't you start? Since I came up with it. Since you had the idea. I have recently been on, well not, a couple weeks ago I was on Lauren Gray's podcast, the Backbox Pinball Podcast, which she interviews a bunch of women in pinball. I was part of her little flips segment. That was very fun. She is like the nicest person ever. So yeah, you will link it in the show notes, right? I will, I will. If you haven't listened to that, I would suggest that Ava talks a little bit about Turf King. Yes, our game from many, many years ago, if any of you remember. Not that long ago. But you were eight. Eight. You were eight. Okay, you remembered that one correctly. Congratulations. Well, that one was documented. Was it now? Um... Was it now? So, uh, yeah, if you would like to hear more Ava, she is... Hey! Was it multi-bingo documented? Oh, you know what? That's a good point. See! Anyway, um, so, Ava was on the Backbox Pinball Podcast. Check it out. Uh, that was... I have been working on maps. That's been a thing I've been doing. He's been sleeping, which is actually good for him. Yes, so I've been staying up super late working on Quest for Glory. And playing video games. But mostly working on Quest for Glory. Yeah, he has done a lot of Quest for Glory. Yeah, they did release a new Persona and I just can't- Don't get me started! Okay, I won't. So I've been taking- Hey! I've been taking naps, taking little breaks, trying to keep my batteries recharged because I have- Thank goodness, because otherwise background music gets stuck in your head. So what's next for you? I have recently dyed my hair again, only the bottom half, well not even the bottom half, it's like the bottom third or whatever. What color? So a couple years ago, I dyed my hair purple, blue, and aqua. All at the same time? Well, at the same time, it was like gradient and it wasn't all my hair. Because um... Some of it was someone else's hair? No! I mean... He doesn't like me. What? Anyways, um, I dyed it, uh, aqua, cuz there, that was the color that most pops up my hair cuz my hair is brown, like dark brown. Not as dark brown as yours. Yours is like black hair. Mostly gray now, but... It's not gray. It looks kind of silver actually. Thanks. Uh huh. And, um, but, yeah, so. Dyed hair. Yeah, aqua. Yeah, looks good. Um. Thank you. When I was, uh, your age, I dyed my hair a whole bunch. You should see the pictures. Oh my gosh. Are there any that exist? Okay, not from my age, but like when you were in high school. Oh. He was rocking a mohawk. He was in punk bands. He was wearing a leather jacket that he still has that wears 10 million pounds! Yeah, um, so... Seriously, I don't know how you could walk in that thing. It's just so heavy. Uh, you get used to it. Do you? Yeah. Do you? Anyway... Would you like to hear what else I've been working on? Besides your napping skills? I'm in the middle of St.Francisco. Hey, I gotta do thessä. How cool are you. You're doing great. Jill, we're gonna get you heavy. Yeah, come on Joe Hen. Hey, you doing great. I really wish I could. It's so awesome to be playing games and learning theater in winner's shop and winning a women's SCC. Oh, my goodness of course. Can you please give me a large hug. I'm just a Hollywood Saturday shop. Want me to play a를ne connaink? The president asks me to play a enterprise game. How many songs do you play Yes, he asks you to tell me which The Valley Company, Subsidiary of Walter Kidde & Co., Inc., Mirco Playfields, Tim Kitzrow, Scott Danesi.
    45:53
    Ocean IQ andемся.com you hello for ச Mal upper state of the flesh Honorable And hockey. So talked people through their problems and I thought it was a good use of time It was like a couple hours I showed people how to read schematics and find their problem Schematics are fun to read Yes. I love schematics. Turskink schematics were great. Yes. Bally did a great job with their schematics in my opinion. He taught me how to read them. Yeah. Maybe not the best reading. I don't know if I got it all. Well, you're out of practice now. Well, yeah. I was like... Eight. It's time and I have you work on that slot machine too, the Super Circus? Which was very fun and it didn't take very long compared to our other projects that we've done. Yeah, the difference being that there's just a lot fewer parts but it did have was essentially a mixer motor in there and we took that completely apart and put it back together. It was disgusting, just saying, you know. It was disgusting. It was like revolting. Yeah, and the assembly was really weird. It was all held together with gravity. It was interesting. I'm just gonna say that. Yeah. If you have that game and you understand why it's suspended, well not suspended, but like it's in gravity, it's interesting. Yeah, it's really strange. And disgusting. It was disgusting, yes. It was full of goo. But, uh... Yeah, and we had to clean it with a teeny tiny Q-tip. And keep in mind, this thing is not small. It's made up of steppers and it's like all connected by this one pole, basically. One giant motor shaft. Um... That was very interesting. But anyways, we're not talking about that. We are talking about the EEN Repair Clinic Online. Woo! Yes, so I'm going to link, um, to the thread on Pinside that, uh, talks about that. Mark has set up a sign up sheet and I'll link to that as well. If you're interested in being an observer, there are observer spots as well. It's well worth the time. I think, you know, everybody can learn something from everybody else. And I think it's a really neat use of your time. So, Ava, what's next for you? I am excited because our, well, okay, so me and my sister are homeschooled, but, um, because of COVID, uh, everyone is homeschooled now. But, uh, originally, me and my sister were homeschooled anyways, but our school ends, well, our school ends in a week. June 5th, I'm waiting. Counting down the days, the hours, the minutes, the seconds, the milliseconds. That's good. 1, 2, 3, 4, rise and fall. That's really soon. So what are you going to do in the summertime? So, I am planning to still do my math course that I'm taking online. I'm planning to be reading more. I know I sound like I'm total geek, but... Hey, you're my kid. I'll play some video games. You're welcome. And I will hopefully be playing outside more. Still distancing, but like I can...we live in a cul-de-sac so there's...I get to bike around a lot. Although my bike is too small! I've heard a lot about this in the past couple days, so hopefully we'll take care of that. We'll take care of that before the next episode. We'll see. So I won't be complaining to you. Or taking my bike. Yeah, I'm currently using an extension of my mom's bike and my dad's bike because I'm too tall for my bike, but my sister is the right size for my bike. So now she has my bike, I use my mom's bike or my dad's bike, my dad uses his bike, my mom uses her bike. It's just a mess. But anyways. Yeah. So, the other thing I've been working on is Coin-Off Carnival, which won the Space Prize, the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo first place for graphic novels. A round of applause. Yay. Well, thank you, Ava, and thanks to everybody who voted for that. It's much appreciated. So, Ava, what's the last thing you've been working on? I have been playing acoustic guitar, which finally I've decided to actually pick up and use. I asked for it a couple Christmases ago, but I finally decided to put it to some use. But yeah, it's been fun. That has been my judge. Well, yeah, it's one of those things that if you stick with it, it'll be a lot of fun, I think. Me and my friend are starting a band over Facecall, over Duo. It's pretty interesting. Because she doesn't have an actual keyboard, but she knows how to play a piano. So she has an app on her computer where she plays the piano on her computer while we're FaceTiming and I'm playing the guitar on the other side. It's very interesting. So we're like a weird band of two people who one is using a real instrument and one is using a computer. That's uh, these modern times. Who would've thought? Who would've thunk? And lastly, our dog. His name is Thor. Like the superhero, Thor. I said you need to give him a tiny hammer and a cape and then he'll transform into the real thing. Thank you, we wanted to thank all of you and each of our guests for joining us this morning uh, I wanted to thank the sponsors for coming uh with tonight's show um uh, we want to pay that out to theanta fragrantyl Wirka B multicultural issues uh, it was a pleasure to talk to so many people in the industry today and I think um we will so, thank you again for joining that I wouldn't have been able to do this throughout that more than a year so, no it's it's been a great y et-tion for me, now that I've um done it and uh, yeah coming back to the 지안 � tomorrow morning uh, there will be a give and take in the event as well so when we get there below no- 베리 administered constancy at boliviani corpus fundapp.com b been able to đến 저�청자�쳤ия.com 아 그러다 erosion 내가 feels 삼일철 보시 acknowledgedusions 당 Verse w tune 청자스 상活ago Ur cit Ava picked a random year from 1931 to 1978 and the year she settled on was 1959, which is the year that Bally's Ballerina was produced. This is a video pinball machine. Yes, if you listen to my Lauren Gray podcast, you know why I picked this one. Yeah. So, um, this game is a magic screen game. Yes. It has, uh, a couple of features which set it apart from the other magic screen games. Um, it has a magic screen that goes all the way to letter H. Dun-nuh-nuh-nuh. Well, why are there arrows, though? There's... I'll explain that. Okay. So, when you first earn the magic screen, it lights A, B, C, D. The Magic Screen Unit advances. It lights either an arrow or the next letter. So, um... Wait, you have to light the arrows too? Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's terrible! It takes a while. So, what they did is they made it so that the rollovers here are separate from the time tree. So on most Magic Screen games, the rollovers will advance the time tree automatically. On this game, what they do is advance the Magic Screen positions. Okay. Which is pretty cool. So on your first ball, if you manage to hit the rollovers and little bit... Wait, wait, wait. I have a question. Is this... does this one move the background around? Yeah, it's a magic screen. It's what moves? Mm-hmm. Yeah, it rotates on a chain. Magic screens are so cool, by the way, if you haven't ever played one. They're amazing. Yeah. They're some of my favorite bingos. That's one of my favorite features that they ever invented. Ba dum ba dum. So, the other thing that sets it apart is that it's got this top row feature. So the top row on the playfield, the numbers 1 through 7, can be flopped. The funny thing about the top row feature is it's on the top row of the back. That's true. I hadn't thought about that. But if you hit the, there's two buttons, 1 to 7 and 7 to 1, it'll change the alignment. 1 to 7, 7 to 1, dun dun dun dun dun dun. So if you sink a ball in the number one on the playfield and then hit seven to one, it will change that to the number seven on the back glass. So you have to do it in one to seven, two or three. Either reverse order or regular order. But you have to do it in that specific other... And you have to... That's terrible. I would never do it. It's very confusing to me, but the number four obviously in the same position no matter which. Yeah, it's like, it's really weird because it, um, it looks really bold compared to the other numbers because they're all so tiny because they have to fit, um, two numbers and then the weird or, um, but this one's just, like, very... Out there. Bold. So, Ava, why don't you talk about the theme for the game? The theme, I might say, is without, you guessed it, ballerinas. So is there a specific ballet that they're referencing here? We're looking at the playfield and there's it looks like a castle in the background. I have no, basically it could be Swan Lake. Although I have no idea because if it was all their costumes are off. And by the way if you are a ballet dancer like me you would know you cannot dance outside with your shoes. The There's a curtain, but it looks exactly like outside. The scenery is too good.
    56:47
    Yeah, whoever decorated this, they did a great job. Yeah, here they're dancing on sand, which I feel like is probably easier, right?
    56:57
    But it's um, it's really great artwork. I really like the artwork. It's really pretty. The, uh, the birds surrounding the... Oh yeah, and there's a lake. And there's a lake. With boats on it. Maybe it's... although I... Are there boats in Swan Lake? Yeah. It's some... There's swans, right? Yeah, it's some sort of ballet. They probably took every, like, scenery... Common troping. Yeah, and put it together and then just put ballerinas in. Yeah, that's possible, but... But yeah, the most, the most like common one that I could think of right off the bat would be Swan Lake. I think they were trying to evoke that idea for people. But we'll never know. Not without talking to the artist, I guess. So one of the things that I really like are well drawn curtains in Backglass Artwork. That annoys me so much. It's just like the randomest thing. I think they're cool. No, no, no, not if they're good curtains, but if they're poorly drawn curtains. It annoys me so much, and I have no... probably because I'm on a stage. I've been on many stages before, but it just annoys me so much. So the traditional bingo gameplay takes place in this game. It's five balls for a nickel and you can put in additional coins to try and earn extra features and increase your scores. So I brought up an image of the back box thanks to Dennis Vogel and his contributions to the Internet Pinball database and we're looking at the mixer motor on the back door. And it looks exactly like the one in Super Circus that we were talking about. Except this one is clean. It's clean, first of all, but also it's mounted horizontally instead of vertically. So instead of being held together by gravity, it's held together with what you... Hardware. ...would come to expect, yeah, metal. So I'm going to link to this picture. There are two, I think, different types of ballerina pinball machines. So you have to look for this specific one. Yeah, I'll link straight to this image which will show them the other images. Yes. Okay. So this is a great game to play. I find myself playing it a lot, mostly because when I programmed it for the multibingo I managed to make a ton of bugs in that 1-7, 1-1 feature. Great! It was... I don't know why that... Maybe it was just like your off day. It was just your off day in programming. I don't know, but for whatever reason, when the game would restart, it wouldn't restart. It wouldn't restart. But for whatever reason, when the game would restart, it wouldn't reset that... It just wanted you to spend more time on it. It did. It wouldn't reset that relay. So the way that I programmed it, it's just a relay, just like in the game. Yeah. And so the relay, when it's in one state, everything is 1-7. When it's in the other state, it's 7-1. So when it restarts, it just lets go of the relay and then it's 1-7. But for whatever reason, that was broken. I ended up, I've put a lot of play time on this in the multi bingo. It's a very fun game though, I recommend it. Yeah, and you've played it quite a bit on the multi bingo as well. Mm-hmm. It's well, obviously. Have you played a real one? Uh, I might have played a real one. It would have been a while ago though. Yeah, I don't know that you have, but I have. We have the playfield downstairs though, mounted on the wall. You know who's got one? Who? Ryan. Like... test that question... yeah... Then I have definitely played one. He didn't have it in his house when we went to visit so... Oh then never mind. But anyway, it is a fun game. I really enjoy it and if you have the opportunity to play one, I would suggest that you sell it. Or get one. Or get one even better. And if you were wondering what the inside of the Super Circus looked like, it looked I don't know if you guys are familiar with Super Circus, but it's basically the same thing. It's not exactly like this, but vertical, and much less pretty. Yeah, and fewer components too. Yeah, it's basically just the top rod that's mounted on. Yeah, that mixer motor is what that's called. It's basically what Super Circus looks like in some... Except, I think Super Circus has more steppers, like sets of steppers. The Clean. It was, yeah. So anyway, thanks very much for listening. I know this was an extra long version. We've been away for a really long time. Well, it's like two podcasts in one, even better. Yeah, yeah. So thanks for joining me, Ava. Yes. And thanks for listening, everybody. If you would like to get in touch, you can reach me at 4amusementonlypodcasts at gmail.com, or you can call me on the bingo's line. 724-BINGOS1. 724-246-4671. You can listen to me on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast, or you can listen to me on my website, which is for amusement only dot libsyn dot com. Yep. Thanks very much for listening. And keep flipping. I'll talk to you next time. Goodbye.