Wanna go on a Road Trip?

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·25m 47s·analyzed·Feb 12, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Don reviews rough homebrew Road Trip, praises ideas but criticizes tight mechanics, poor art, and design team's resistance to feedback.

Summary

Don reviews Ramps Road Trip, a new homebrew machine from Bob (formerly More Brewing Company), who previously designed Elf. While the game has interesting mechanical ideas (cow drop targets, rotisserie mechanism, coil-heavy layout), Don identifies significant design and playability issues: the main ramp is too tight and steep, the playfield lacks visual cohesion, art quality is unfinished, and the design team appears resistant to constructive feedback. Don expresses concern about their confidence and suggests they need objective oversight from experienced designers like George Gomez or Eric Meunier before release.

Key Claims

Ramps Road Trip is from the maker of Elf, a homebrew with a new company called Ramps Pinball Manufacturing (formerly More Brewing Company)
high confidence · Don, direct statement about game origin and company name change
The game features a walrus toy placeholder that should be a sea lion, reflecting inaccurate San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf theming
high confidence · Don, personal verification and conversation with designers
The main ramp mechanism is too tight and steep, requiring full-strength plunge shots to hit consistently
high confidence · Don, hands-on gameplay experience and design critique
The design team responded defensively to constructive criticism, suggesting they already know everything
high confidence · Don, personal interaction and observation during the event
The game uses FastBoards like Labyrinth, but Labyrinth had more resources for the coding team
high confidence · Don, comparison and concern about code support
The playfield art doesn't look like established premium pinball games (Evil Dead, Deadpool, Avatar, Ninja Eclipse)
high confidence · Don, visual comparison and assessment that game is still in early design phase
If priced at $4,999 (not $11,000 equivalent), Road Trip could be viable as a novelty location machine
medium confidence · Don's conditional market positioning assessment

Notable Quotes

“A homebrew machine from the maker of Elf has arrived upon us, not only with a new machine, but a new company. A new company that's changed names.”
Don @ early in episode — Establishes that this is a significant industry move—a proven designer launching a new manufacturing entity
“I swear every time I try to get this cool skill shot, I'd blast the ball right into one of these acrylic cows and it would bounce right off. It wouldn't even drop.”
Don @ gameplay section — Documents a specific mechanical problem with drop target response that frustrates casual play
“So, I asked them, like, so this area right here near the Golden Gate Bridge where you have this plastic, there's a walrus there. Like, what does this area signify? And of course, their response was, well, this is the San Francisco area and down at Fisherman's Wharf area.”
Don @ design critique section — Illustrates tension between designer intent and thematic accuracy; Don's local knowledge challenges their design choice
“This main mechanism of the game. It's kind of hard for me to hit it even with a halfway decent shot. It's got to be like a full strength plunge to get up there. And his response was, you know, well, once you play it a lot, you'll learn it, you become more accurate and then you can get it more often.”
Don @ ramp mechanism critique — Captures the defensive posture: designer dismisses accessibility concern with skill-gate argument rather than engaging design feedback
“The top needs some work. It needs a George Gomez, it needs an Eric Meunier, it needs a Spooky Luke, it needs like somebody that's not, that can be objective with these guys and isn't so intimately emotionally tied to the game that they can't just change things.”
Don @ remediation suggestions — Names specific legendary pinball designers as the caliber of outside expertise needed; signals lack of professional design oversight
“It needs a project manager to make it all work. It's close. It needs some help when it comes to the art on the playfield.”
Don @ summary assessment — Diagnosis: the game has potential but needs professional project management and art direction

Entities

BobpersonDonpersonRamps Pinball ManufacturingcompanyRoad TripgameElfgameLabyrinthgame Evil Deadgame Deadpoolgame

Signals

?
product_concern: Main ramp mechanism is too tight and steep, requiring full-strength plunge shots for consistent success; impacts casual playability and repeatability
high · Don's repeated hands-on testing: 'This main mechanism of the game. It's kind of hard for me to hit it even with a halfway decent shot. It's got to be like a full strength plunge to get up there.'
?
product_concern: Drop targets (cow targets) are stiff and unreliable; balls bounce off without registering on casual/moderate shots
high · Don: 'I swear every time I try to get this cool skill shot, I'd blast the ball right into one of these acrylic cows and it would bounce right off. It wouldn't even drop.'
?
product_concern: Playfield backglass and art treatment are unfinished; visual design lacks cohesion and doesn't match premium game standards (Evil Dead, Deadpool, Avatar, Ninja Eclipse)
high · Don: 'This doesn't look like the playfield on Labyrinth. It doesn't look like an Evil Dead playfield... It's still early. Not it's final design.'
?
design_philosophy: Design team appears defensive and resistant to constructive criticism; prioritizes their own vision over player feedback; dismisses suggestions as presumptuous
high · Don: 'they came off to me as if they feel like they already know everything. And, you know, my comments are kind of like, you know, OK, well, who are you to recommend this to me?' and 'his response was, you know, well, once you play it a lot, you'll learn it'
?
manufacturing_signal: Road Trip uses FastBoards (same platform as Labyrinth) but with unclear development resources and coding team support; raises reliability and long-term maintenance concerns

Topics

Homebrew Machine Design & PlaytestingprimaryDesign Feedback & Development PhilosophyprimaryRamp Mechanism Accessibility & TightnessprimaryPlayfield Art & Visual ThemingprimaryNew Manufacturer Entry & Company FormationprimaryDrop Target Mechanics & StiffnesssecondaryFastBoards Technical PlatformsecondaryMarket Positioning & Pricing Strategysecondary

Sentiment

mixed(0.35)— Don is constructive but critical. He appreciates the core ideas (cow targets, coil-heavy design, powder-coating details) and wants the game to succeed, but is frustrated by mechanical execution issues, poor playfield art, and the design team's defensive posture toward feedback. His tone is professional and encouraging, but the assessment is predominantly negative on current state. Hope for improvement tempers the criticism.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.077

Get up and go has got up and went, I hanker for a hunk of cheese. When I'm dancing I hold down and my boots kinda slow down, or anytime I'm weak in the knees. I hanker for a hunk of, a slabber slice a chunk of, a sniker day is a winner, and yet won't spoil my dinner, I hanker for a hunk of cheese, yahoo! Hey, who doesn't hanker for a hunk of cheese, especially right before dinner? What's up everybody? Don back here again. How are you to talk some road trip, man? Goodness gracious me, a homebrew machine from the maker of Elf has arrived upon us, not only with a new machine, but a new company. A new company that's changed names. Tilt Bob is no more, even though Bob is the dude behind everything. Ramps Pinball Manufacturing or whatever they're calling it. I was able to find out that the raccoon mascot in Ramps Road Trip is Ramp. Like, there it is. So, kudos for them for launching a company with a mascot, especially a cute little trash panda. I mean, how do you go wrong there? So, how's the game play, Don? It plays like a homebrew. It's got some issues and they seem to be, at least superficially, open to some criticism, some characterizations of how the game's playing. So, gosh, where do I start? Where do I start? Okay, you launch the ball and then The game is a shooter route of course. There's nothing much in the back right corner that you go into they've eschewed microswitches for those any current switches, so there's no switches that John Youssi In the game there if you short plunge to the back right of the playfield let it roll back down One of the cow targets will pop up I swear every time I try to get this cool skill shot I'd blast the ball right into one of these acrylic cows and it would bounce right off it wouldn't even drop what the hell man I was able to make some drop later on when I triggered it, but jeez brother. Okay, my first issue that I have with the game, and this is what as soon as I got up there like glaringly I saw it. There's a walrus on a plastic, right? A little toy injection molded walrus that you get off the shelf at a toy store. They're about $11.49. It's sitting there on the plastic next to the Golden Gate Bridge, which forms as a physical ball lock, which is kind of cool, on the left wireform ramp. All right. So, I asked them, like, so this area right here near the Golden Gate Bridge where you have this plastic, there's a walrus there. Like, what does this area signify? And of course, their response was, well, this is the San Francisco area and down at Fisherman's wharf area. They have a bunch of sea lions that have taken over, you know, one of the piers there. It's a tourist attraction now. You can go down there and play with them. And I was like, right, but you have a walrus there. So, it's just a placeholder until you get a sea lion and they're essentially there. All right, let's get to the game! What happened police officer? This is one of the few people that's going deaf, and I don't think it's fair to make comment, But he wasn't a different kind of person, And I think that was the case for dungeon Rebellion I used to live in San Francisco, right? Like I know these guys. I used to skate down there by the sea lions and such. And it's like a small detail, but you know, I'm trying to give them the constructiveness of the criticism. I played the game twice and then they wanted to interview me and I get why. And you know, he's asking me about, you know, shots and layout, what do you think? And it's like, I've only played this game twice. And then the kicker was when dude asked me about the art, because the art is not good. The art of the cabinet looks fine. I don't mind the cabinet art. The back glass, -,ерг已λτηrenal niet Kelsey ".. Over fuckdаже, So, what's the game going to look like? This doesn't look like the playfield on Labyrinth. It doesn't look like an Evil Dead playfield. It doesn't look like a Deadpool playfield. It doesn't look like anAvatar playfield. It doesn't, you know, Ninja Eclipse looks like an actual playfield. This not so much. Now, I'm chalking that up to this game is still early. Not it's final design. I think they're still ordering equipment and things and they're going to make a go with this. Now, look, when you design a or start a pinball company, you've got to have that first game, right, that first game out of the gate. because you don't have clout to approaching Squexideportage. regulations or evenun BLACK fautang에 and VEX is going to get payments anywhere you go burgers are a lot of constructional enough as the ball count going inings Rainbows the believe that the Lens Smart, Sou点ités bsa.com centsскихokay As always, thanks for tuning in, and I'll see you guys tomorrow! Text Product Power reformEDX USB RAM UP Convers ettino Bueno dudoy destino with IRS string Writhking and as a concept az ata Roidtrip thank and r prahtem and p romance style and stand stamina style stone and magic web The And so you know on its on its source or on its face road trips Not a terrible theme to go with I just wish it was designed as if different parts of the playfield Represented different parts of the country and then you can visit them all with a road trip tying it together But I'm thinking for a game like this. I want the play field look like high speed, you know There are some of those racing titles where it's like really real bright inserts, you know, nice, you know simple design 0 LASALLA sono la knowne central osnico components gli Butello,�� bitter domenico, You know, but I was giving him some some feedback. It's more I'll get to in a minute. And they they came off to me as if they feel like they already know everything. And, you know, my comments are kind of like, you know, OK, well, who are you to recommend this to me? And I really just wanted to make have them help them create the best game that they can because I want good games to play. I'm reminded that sometimes at work here, I come up with what I think are interesting ideas to improve quality and throughput. And I I see that administration really doesn't want to hear any criticism from me and so I just kind of get shut down or like you know isn't that great bless your heart thanks for thanks for the tip and so I've learned to just not even offer a constructive anything you know and just treat this as just a job so I kind of got that feeling and I really don't want these guys to be like that I want them to take all this feedback that I'm sure they've gotten throughout the whole weekend I know I give them a ton and use it to implement and make the game better like like Chris Turner did man he came up with a game that was fantastic So, I'm just worried about some confirmation bias. What are the problems with the game? So, launch, you shoot into an orbit, comes down to the left flipper, seems to work relatively okay. The left ramp is this big, long, fair, it's pretty wide open, easy to shoot into, and then goes behind the playfield, which I like, any time you can go back behind the backplate. And then it just kinda, you know, returns and dribbles out from the top. The problem is that back third of the game really doesn't have anything compelling to do up there. There is an extra flipper. Again, it doesn't really seem to go anywhere. There's a mid-course flipper right in the middle of the playfield that whenever you do get a shot into that ball guide heading to the flipper, if you hold the flipper up, it will bring up an up post to stop the ball momentarily and then release it softly to your flipper. But there doesn't seem to be anything really compelling to hit off that flipper. And you know, the ball was coming to the flipper anyway, so you can just hit it. I don't know. Wort or latitudeağı sid contrary significa codenameplateницу that vey piñata více no técnicasde ce hier normálmente concepto di fór della rferência de patria in a qué也 cśl вокругlage la Fallsie calculada tá hoy a ponto do banismo opісțana, sicilinstanzai heritageá strangely bel quSTR Imperial bosses de los Melc zeros finsboarduné Baîost accidentales na tässä lí pilotáativosuga! The game was a bit of a mess, but I was able to get it back and I was able to get it back again. So, problem number one, this is the main mechanism of the game. This needs to be fairly forgiving and you should be able to walk up and hit this and get up there. It's too tight. For sure it's too tight. I was sending shots that I thought were fair up there and they would rattle and not go up there. The only times I was able to successfully get a ball through there, it was shot full strength and pretty bang on accuracy. Now, this being the main mechanism of the game, you need to be able to just hit on the fly and have balls go up there. Cause that would be interesting, right? John Youssi this even with Iron Maiden when you're just bouncing balls around, you can get to all the ramps. Let's go to Evil Dead for folks that have played it. The left ramp on there is the one all the way in the back is where its circuit goes, but it's nice and shallow and it's fairly wide at the bottom. It's an easy ramp to get even if it's not a full strength shot. Atbuz 49 Eye, and THANKYOU fo Splits for previewing the pumpkin download! Click années nonprofit, Click söyl Kristen Charles Wolf, Truncy Charles Wolf, Cookiecause, All these kinds of stuff elements in game somosbased an honor不好意思 por даadasACHT vi бир ern pcему initтьсяoding Understood. formats Modulation hell EAW unquote. This main mechanism of the game is suffering from tight entrance and steepness. And I think that the only way you can fix it is by making the ramp less steep by making the diverter lesser which would require a lot of superheroes the investigaci Monsterntech hastput and it is also existed well In both cases it is more or less straightforward the CIPE then there is nothinginhofferent in making the diverter lower which would require a lot of engineering which has me a bit worried Now as I played the game I was able to hit the side shots when the rotisserie was going to the left or right wireforms a little more frequently And when I talked to the guy I'm like you know this is the main mech of the game, it's kind of hard for me to hit it even with a halfway decent shot it's got to be like a full strength plunge to get up there. And his response was you know well once you play it a lot you'll learn it, you become more accurate and then you can get it more. The posting from the These guys I got the sense that they kind of you know Bob's done an elf before it's won awards and such so you know I think he's gonna kind of go with what he thinks is the best and not necessarily have that match up with what the buyer thinks is gonna be the best and When you have people coming up and I heard this people would walk up and they play it and said hey man I love the game and how it plays original themes Yahoo bgjaht NATIONAL adorable dick parach, hij shades recomm�ed by bgjaht NATIONAL Muchas love by animals vitu price in Starbucks authentic bgjaht jumpin my help Thescote Transcript by Alex Ivanov I made this video and no other voices are backected by copyright pope and they just listen for another two minutes and pay tree money for a few days or days. Transcript by Alex Ivanov I made this video and no other voices are backdated for a few days or days. Transcript by Alex Ivanova I made this video and no other voices are back..) for a few days and pay tree money for a few days or days. Detanyggert wooden when people looking dis Mindful of people staring for fun facts or and you kind of shut them down and it can be something as simple as like yes that needs to be a sea lion or we need to change this part to like you know Alaska or something because there ain't no walruses in san francisco bay and just there's not there i've looked man i would love it if there was walruses there there are not um you know so like things like that um i i do like a lot of what they put in the game there's lord knows there's plenty of coils underneath there like the bottom of the playfield looks absolutely loaded the top needs some work It needs a George Gomez, it needs a Eric Meneur, it needs a Spooky Luke, it needs like somebody that's not, that can be objective with these guys and isn't so intimately emotionally tied to the game that they can't just change things. I gotta see that that rotisserie and that ramp is easier and more repeatable to hit because it sure is a lot of fun. And right now that was the most frustrating thing I was having during my playthroughs was just not being able to get up there. The game was a bit of a pain in the ass to play, and it was frustrating. The cow drop target issue is still a problem. I've seen this with new games as well. Drop targets are stiff, you need to adjust the spring and the sensitivity. I saw that on Metallica, man. That first drop target up to the graveyard area would just send balls back until it really broke itself in. So, you know, maybe it's some of that. I like the idea of cow drop targets. I think that's awesome. It's one of my favorite things of the game. There's like a, I don't know, a Ford Bronco or something with ramp driving it in the back. When you hit the stage, you're like, oh, I'm going to hit the stage. It's like a, I don't know, a Ford Bronco or something with ramp driving it in the back. The game is like a Ford Bronco or something with ramp driving it in the back. When you hit the stand up targets underneath it, it bounces and jostles. Like that's cool. Like there's cool stuff in this game. It just needs a project manager to make it all work. It's close. It needs some help when it comes to the art on the playfield. It needs the playfield to feel like an actual pinball playfield and look the part. And some of the shots need to be altered so they're more enjoyable and they flow through. And there has to be something celebrated Free Pinballοι, Wet Pinballbuch, Fin интересно Pinball exhibitions, Mode αυτό, Pinball charging Support Bget, Fake Pinball, There's no problem with bringing something like this to a show and let people play it, but let us get into some ideas about how to improve it and move it forward like that. Reading through my notes here. Writeback is empty. Okay, adding music to the game. I don't know about the legalities when it comes to this. Now what they're saying is if you're going to have this game on location, that feature is locked out. you don't see a pinball tecnologiaается a person being decentralizedHe said library,internuh táенный aged game, core bindings,as eating entre tabasco. Carこれkoreer sähekiwa á pedestused by the time or something. cross jumps kickdesign.i he's będzie a public that is the barrackisilo ko dragon ni deţ denà八引elrus." Bášč responsibilre a la He rан pațekdio. Frustratiło�čí rampcońskě baģtișčik bestiuģă héčnenē ob Sharing solbni marriages sťúComeã Sksóbtzikely I'm not a fan of the word pinball because I don't know there's a problem with that. But legally, can somebody go after you if you sell a product that allows the end user to add music to it? I think it's a great area that you have to kind of skirt around. You have to be able to show like when Stranger Things comes out when Big Lebowski comes out when Jurassic Park comes out like it shown that no like like there not a way that we put in here that will allow you to add music alimentos Jake terminarNazmy m Boulder motherboard ti paint $At$$ $4$$$$3.63 Kay мbie ważneks $$ confessiocal my pleasure mehex Ex Ц, substanti müs gymnas around FT everybody which hogybe es The Design of the roller coaster loops around this t-rex that's on the back glass now nobody listening probably has any idea about this But the type of track that was used in the art is not tracked from anyone specific coaster manufacturer It's kind of an amalgam of different ones And it's just like to my eyes It looks like kind of cringy because it doesn't really match up with that and so I asked the guy like where'd you get your? fiancexp deed numicaBut if Twos 75ぁYA42 Podcastx27.20 burns the as often as I kinda got a brush off, you know, like, like, I don't, I don't know, art and here's the theory behind why it's there. It's making a halo around the T-Rex and it's like, I get that, but I think, you know, B&M invert track would be more visually striking or at least, at least make all the track look like it's from the same manufacturer, you know, it's, this one's like a mix of like two or three different styles. Anyway, all my, all my help that was there, uh, you know, it didn't seem to really, did really register, you know, um, I would've thought they would've had a ledger or something, like, do you have comments and things? Involvement, Este winners Macho � continuo As of now, all games have their own wages & Delivery.anas Elliott Beats kardeş Some features michaelc Approed called produçãoTony 포인 ejie no champions More than 393 You know, but I know they're looking at like look we powder-coated the legs We powder-coated the lock down bar and the the standard edition side rails you don't even get that with a Stern premium you need a Stern le you know to get that so because this game is a wide body and We powder coated the armor and you know We put all this money in coils into the game where we won $11,000 because this is as good as labyrinth and it's just it's not it's not so I could see them going completely Sideways if that's where they're looking If they deliver this thing at like $49.99, Ed Boon, I think they got a product. You know, I think it's a novelty. This would be fun for location if you already have everything else. They're using fast boards for this game. Labyrinth used fastboards. Labyrinth had a lot more resources behind the coding team than we saw with ramps, which is a complete unknown. So how's this thing going to hold up? Too early to judge. So the bottom line is I need more information about this game before I can really weigh in. I'm not sure I'm seeing where this ship could really go sideways. I hope not. I want good, compelling, fun games to play here. Let me find some kind of outro music that we can use that's reasonable. I don't want to use this YouTube video. I don't want to play the Wings thing again. Let's just listen to some Dragonforce. Radio http://www.info.blogspot.com, http://www.hub.blogspot.com http://www.blogspot.com