Some of deeproot's Innovations

Cary Hardy·video·27m 58s·analyzed·Sep 22, 2020

Analysis

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TL;DR

Deep Root reveals pin bar touchscreen and cabinet innovations for Raza; mixed reception on design changes.

Summary

Cary Hardy reviews Deep Root Pinball's innovations revealed after an NDA embargo lift, covering their Raza pinball machine launch. Key features include a novel pin bar touchscreen lockdown display, innovative cabinet designs (standard and floating backbox variants), pin armor playfield protection coating, and an assisted one-person setup system. Hardy discusses the pin bar's revolutionary potential for rules customization, player accounts, and location/home mode flexibility, while noting some quality concerns (orange peel texture on pin armor) and future planned titles including Fire and Brimstone, Food Truck, Merlin's Arcade, and sequels to Whitewater and other classics.

Key Claims

Deep Root will not be producing widebody cabinets for Raza, only standard Bally Williams-sized machines
high confidence · Direct statement from tour information: 'There are no plans as of right now, at least on doing wide body. So as of right here and what they're launching, at least this title is going to be Raza's you know standard uh Bally Williams style cabinet'
The pin bar is a horizontal touchscreen on the lockdown bar that comes standard on all Deep Root machines and serves as the primary start button
high confidence · Detailed explanation of pin bar functionality: 'The pin bar is a horizontal screen on the lockdown bar area of Deep Root pinball machines and comes standard on all Deep Root machines... there's not a physical start button not a physical start button the only way you can start your game is by using the pin bar'
The pin armor coating resisted damage from a 16-ounce hammer and 750-gram pinball drop tests, unlike standard clear coat
high confidence · Demonstration results: 'those along with a regular pinball definitely left dents or craters on the normal clear coat and did not leave dents or craters on the pin armor'
Yukon Yeti is described as a sequel to Whitewater
high confidence · Explicit clarification from Hardy: 'Notice the TM logo right there... Who doesn't want a sequel to Whitewater? Okay, that was one thing I wanted to make sure, before I mentioned that it was clarified on here. So yes, this is going to be a sequel to what we all know as Whitewater'
The cabinet features a pneumatic hinge-assisted glass lift system that allows removal without setting glass on the ground
high confidence · Description of hinge system: 'you remove the plate where the screen is at, the pin bar, and you do a slight lift of the glass or the side rails, and the thing just comes up like a damn DeLorean door'
Pin armor coating currently has an orange peel texture rather than smooth glass feel, which is a quality concern
high confidence · VIP feedback: 'the vip group had concerns regarding the quality and look of the pin armor coating as it is currently not as smooth but more like an orange peel robert mentioned that this was an early version of the pin armor'

Notable Quotes

“It just comes up like a damn DeLorean door. I mean, it was very pleasing. I was like, I like the hell out of that.”
Cary Hardy@ 6:32 — Expresses enthusiasm for the pneumatic glass lift innovation, establishing positive reception of this mechanical feature
“The pin bar is the most powerful revolutionary innovation ever to be added to a pinball machine.”
Deep Root Pinball (via citation)@ 12:09 — Deep Root's own marketing language for the pin bar; reflects their positioning of this feature as paradigm-shifting
“We want to challenge the last few decades of pinball by changing from a habit of walking up to a deep root machine and saying, where is the start button? To walking up to any non-deep root machine and saying, where's the pinbar?”
Deep Root Pinball (via citation)@ 12:32 — Reveals Deep Root's strategic intent to make pin bar the standard expectation for future pinball machines
“I see potential here, guys. There are innovations here without a doubt and some of them are definitely not going to be accepted off the cuff because it's not what we're used to.”
Cary Hardy@ 26:29 — Hardy acknowledges that while innovations are real, community resistance to change is predictable
“It's just a guarantee that that's going to happen so due to the fact that they have changed the back box it's going to be a mixed bag with people”
Cary Hardy@ 5:15 — Predicts community backlash against novel backbox design despite some positive reception

Entities

Deep Root Pinballcompany Cary HardypersonSteve BowenpersonRobert Muellerperson This Week in Pinballorganization RazagameFire and BrimstonegameFood Truckgame

Signals

?
business_signal: Deep Root offering optional Pin Pod premium shipping crate as reusable option for all pinball machine types, not exclusive to Deep Root, suggesting logistics/distribution strategy evolution
medium · Hardy: 'this cabinet is not strictly for deep root machines only so if you actually want to spend the money to buy this particular pin pod you can use this for other machines as well'; optional paid add-on
?
business_signal: Deep Root conducting controlled VIP media tour with NDA embargo to manage narrative around Raza launch and future pipeline; releasing technical documentation strategically to reset perception after failed previous launch
high · Hardy notes embargo lift allows discussion; references previous launch that 'did not go as planned'; VIP tour was selective 6-person group with detailed documentation release
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sentiment_shift: Community exhibits skepticism toward pin bar design despite innovation; Hardy notes people compare floating backbox to aquarium/fishbowl and generally resist stylistic departure from tradition
medium · Hardy: 'some of the things that I was looking on Pennside when it comes to the comments is that people were wanting to compare this to an aquarium or fish bowl'; predicts 'naysayers' will object to change
?
design_philosophy: Novel cabinet backbox designs (Cylon-style grille and floating variants) generate mixed community sentiment; Hardy predicts naysayers will resist stylistic departure from traditional Bally Williams aesthetic
medium · Hardy: 'the fact that it's different is going to draw controversy because not a lot of people like change... it's going to be a mixed bag with people'; mentions Pinside comments comparing backbox to 'aquarium or fish bowl'

Transcript

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0:00

Good news guys is that I've got information right here that I was wanting to talk about and luckily the embargo has been lifted and we are able to talk about it now. So we're going to go through this week in pinball's website showing you a lot of the things that I got to see this past weekend. so let's get started by all means if you want to see all this yourself then you need to go to thisweekinpinball.com if you have never heard of this website i don't know why you have not heard of this website i will put a link in the description down below jeff always gets the deep dives the inside scoops and information that you're typically not going to get from anywhere else. Now, obviously, there's still a lot of things that I will not be able to talk about and discuss, so that's why I'm going to be primarily discussing information that is available as public knowledge via This Week in Pinball's website. All right, so primarily this portion of the website is going to be discussing basically that, hey, we opened up the doors to these six individuals and it talks about how we got to see a lot of the innovations and that there were leaked pictures and do not show the final features of that cabinet guys let's do a note here it says the information is being provided to give perspective and context to illicitly leaked confidential information all vips are released from the nda about anything discussed in this article, which does not include things seen on the tour told to be off limits or prices and addition features. All right. So here's one thing that I wanted to talk about, because this is something that has been wanting to be discussed by people that work there. This is what they were really excited to show the world and what a lot of people were poo-pooing on, rather, when it comes to what the hell this lockdown bar does. What does it look like? Is it a touchscreen? Is it just another DMD display? What is it? People wanted to know. So the cabinet will be a standard size Bally Williams cabinet with a lot of features on there that would be considered to be standard. They have no plans as of right now, at least on doing wide body. So as of right here and what they're launching, at least this title is going to be Raza's you know standard uh Bally Williams style cabinet we'll have the standard coin door the cabinet will be built with high grade laminated Baltic birch and have reinforced joints with proprietary hybrid dovetail and special adhesive process and that's something that I want to comment on is that while I was there I did notice that the cabinet did seem pretty solid guys the types of uh hardware that were inside the cabinet for the leg mounts and everything the brackets are the kind that i put on my personal machines to give it more stability those were on there so that was something i really liked was that the cabinet did seem very sturdy okay this says there are two types of cabinets the arcade edition cyclone style grill this cabinet looks more standard with a familiar hinge bar linking the back box to the main cabinet the back box has a panoramic wrap backlit artwork it contains 24 inch ultra wide high res display in a Cylon style grill now one thing I want to comment on is that this picture has not been altered at all this is a very clean display guys this is something that I was like man that display actually looks pretty darn good there was no kind of fading or anything like that It was very sharp. All the images that were on the display for us to see were very bright, contrasted. It was very good. I was actually impressed with that. Then you have your X edition and extra edition floating back box. The backlit panoramic wrap floats above and floating back bar with two vertical support columns that contains a 24 inch wide ultra high res display. So what you're seeing here is going over the two style of cabinets, one being like what we're typically used to seeing on a Bally Williams cabinet. And then you have the X edition and extra edition, which is what you see in these images right here. Now, some of the things that I was looking on Pennside when it comes to the comments is that people were wanting to compare this to an aquarium or fish bowl and many of other things. And technically I could go and look at a regular Bally Williams and compare it to anything as well. But some things that I, there's a lot of things about this back box that I do like. And honestly, I think a lot of the people have no problems with the way it looks. And this is something that, you know, uh, was discussed is that the fact that it's different is going to draw controversy because not a lot of people like change. And this is change. You're changing something that we're used to not seeing on pinball. When you do that, you're going to get the naysayers it's just a guarantee that that's going to happen so due to the fact that they have changed the back box it's going to be a mixed bag with people i see but uh honestly i i don't have a problem with it i've even seen some photoshop um edits that people have done to change the way it looks uh either way that's not a big concern to me uh let's go on down here now this is something right here that I thought was really cool. We were going over, this is the all models proprietary hinge assisted lift and drop glass frame and lock bar seal. So as you can see the way this glass comes up with the side rails attached and the glass is in a fixed location and it's on these hinges right here with the pneumatic system. So what's really good about this whole system guys is that you are going to be able to remove the lockdown bar if the cabinet remains the way it is right now. Things could change. But if things remain the way they are, then you remove the plate where the screen is at, the pin bar, and you do a slight lift of the glass or the side rails, and the thing just comes up like a damn DeLorean door. I mean, it was very pleasing. I was like, I like the hell out of that. I mean, it was really nice to be able to just get the glass up or out of the way so you can possibly work on a machine or whatever without having to set the glass on the ground and break it. That's a very nice feature. I'm totally on board with that. I really enjoyed that This section goes over the PC and components and the 4 audio option More on that later Custom subwoofer with enclosure and amp It's going over a little bit of the particulars when it comes to the CPU and the PC. There is, let's see, toppers. All games and models will include a capped connector socket on the top of the back box, which allows drop-in topper attachments, providing electrical, data, audio, etc. The topper is kept in place via pre-drilled holes. Alright, so if you can see these holes that are right here, if you can see these holes that are pre-drilled right here, then that shows you that there is already either one, a topper already made, or two, a topper is in the works for this game. And we go over the three options for the cabinet side panel art. The vinyl-based wrap, common to most modern pinball machines with an additional gloss coating. Then you have the direct print on wood with pin armor coating providing high gloss hammer tested protection. Then you have the backlit double printed PETG lighted side art panels that are featured on the extra limited edition games. You probably have seen these before on other games. I don't know who makes them honestly off the top of my head, but I've seen stuff like this. And if I described it well enough to you, then you would probably think, okay, that sounds pretty flashy and cool. Some other available options, standard glass or anti-reflective fingerprint resistant glass. Additional GI lighting to underneath the glass frame provides variable diffused lighting of the play field area. 4.1 audio option. More on this below. All right, the tour group saw some, but not all of these features. The lifting glass top worked smoothly. We did not see the Cylon-style grille with the panoramic wrap backlit artwork, but did see the floating back box with a panoramic wrap backlit artwork as pictured above. The backlit side art panels that come on the extra model are due to arrive at Deep Root this week. So the extra model that we saw had placeholder vinyl-based wrap for the sides. Now let's talk about the pin bar. This is the word, and they trademarked it and everything. This is what Steve Bowden was really wanting to talk to people about. So whenever he's talking about the rules of the game, it's going to really be implemented into the pin bar. So let's go over the pin bar now. The most intriguing innovation on Deep Root Pinball Machines is the pin bar. The pin bar is a horizontal screen on the lockdown bar area of Deep Root pinball machines and comes standard on all Deep Root machines, regardless of the title or model. So this is something that they're going to be implementing into what seems to be all of their games. This is going to be their primary thing that sets them apart from other manufacturers is implementing this pin bar into their games when it comes to form and function and everything like that, rules and all that kind of stuff. and we can show the pictures right here to give you a better idea what all you can do with it. So the pin bar displays a ton of resources and information about the game, including animations, timers, a shot log, more on that below, scores and multipliers, recommended next shots, and more. It also serves as the start button and the menu, where you can change gameplay settings, diagnose issues, and log in under the DeepRoot account on any DeepRoot machine, whether it be in your home or on location. Now, these were some of the questions that we brought up definitely whenever we were getting shown this was, okay, this is all good for home-based stuff, but what about locations? Are people just going to be able to go into settings and change different things and stuff like that? But it turns out when you first set up your game, they turned it on and booted it up, and you go into like you normally would on a lot of hardware that you purchase for your home, like let's say PlayStation or something like that. It's like, hey, we're going to go through the setup mode. let's first connect to your wi-fi so then it shows it's got bng capabilities on wi-fi you connect to it a password for that and then you choose whether or not this is going to be for private locations wait it's private for your home or for uh locations there's two options to choose from and when you choose the other option for like locations then obviously there's going to be a password required in order to get to all the special features and everything like that. But as you can see in the picture, he's in testing mode, and you can go through the options right here for testing switches, solo noise, lamps, general illumination, and sounds. And you see you have statistics, support, Rasa settings, gameplay settings in the system, and stuff like that. And this is all touchscreen, guys. So you're able to, in real time, click on certain things to change your audio and everything. You can be in the middle of your game, and you can click on settings and then use your finger to adjust the audio volume level and stuff like that in real time.

12:00

There's also features in the game that you're going to be able to utilize this lockdown bar. I'm not sure if that's discussed below. Let's read further first. All right. The pin bar is the most powerful revolutionary innovation ever to be added to a pinball machine. It takes the modern touch display used countless times a day in our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and kiosks and creates a permanent blank canvas for us to expand pinball with infinite possibilities. It links the physical world to the digital. It opens doors to nearly endless new ways to interact with your pinball machine. We want to challenge the last few decades of pinball by changing from a habit of walking up to a deep root machine and saying, where is the start button? To walking up to any non-deep root machine and saying, where's the pinbar? the pin bar development took years with methodical consideration of thousands of engineering and gui design concerns to make sure we were going to tie a touchscreen to a pinball machine that we would get it right the first time some of the considerations that follow show how much engineering has to go in and adding a touchscreen to a pinball machine aspect ratio and size i mean this is a lot of stuff that i don't really think i need to go through if you want to get all this information by all means this and we this week in pinball.com guys so ability to start a game almost as quick as the traditional start button but add extra flexibility and options now if you notice that if you look at the pictures of the cabinet guys there's not a physical start button not a physical start button the only way you can start your game is by using the pin bar you would walk up to this particular game and there's a start button there then you have the options to choose to add a player and stuff like that all in there. So why is the pin bar so revolutionary? Here are a couple of thoughts that we have on the immediate impact the pin bar brings to the pinball experience So it goes over just what all you able to do and the perks of having this Usually visual content or many video games can only be controlled by the existing flipper buttons or adding extra buttons, which substantially restricts interactivity, experiences, and features. A multi-touch high-res screen provides unlimited and dynamic interactivity just like your smartphone. Rules and content. The existing system does not allow robust on-demand and flexible updating and customization of rules set and content. A touchscreen is the perfect input-output canvas for a framework that allows unlimited ways to add new content on the fly and seamlessly change the digital rules of a physical game. So virtual keyboard for inputting settings and profile information that works the same way when it comes to entering your name or initials at the end of your game no longer do you have to use the flipper buttons and go over you can actually type in with the qwerty keyboard your name or initials stuff like that but if you have it for home use then your account's going to be connected and you no longer have to insert your initials anymore anyways because you have told it that you are the person playing this game so that's another thing that's pretty cool about that a number of players settings skill shot shop store concept inventory management. So things like this, guys, it's mentioned in here. So like during the game, whenever you go to the Atomic store and you can use your tickets to buy items and these particular items are perks on the game. And so whenever you go into the store on your screen down there displays options of what you can do and touch screen, just like on your phone, whatever you choose, whether you can click and drag or whatever you choose, what you want all on that screen right there instead of having to use the flipper buttons this and let's see here uh all kinds of audits and maintenance screens for operators out there there's a whole bunch of features guys I don't want to go through all of them so by all means go to this website and read through it yourself I'm just trying to give you a lot of the the basic stuff here plate builds are built with Baltic birch plywood and all plate builds come standard deep roots pin armor protection coating so now we're on to the plate fields and yes you can see there is a hammer on the table right there he has the play field that was brought to the Houston show last year and the play field that has the pin armor on it that is next to the hammer and everything right here so here we have crystal she's in on the demonstration right here to show the the hammering that was done with the play field as well as dropping a regular size pinball and then like another pinball that's like i don't know five to ten times the size of a regular pinball and weight and everything uh then you have underneath the play field you have what i thought was really good this has been implemented on other manufacturers as well on certain games and stuff but pretty much a blueprint of where everything goes. I think this is going to be very helpful for assembly purposes and everything on the line, as well as at-home repairs and everything, so you know where everything's at. Everything's got markers on there for connectors, LEDs, brackets, and all that stuff and junk on the back like that. It's basically a nice little blueprint layout for both manufacturing and home use. The two groups observed a demonstration with the 16-ounce hammer test in the huge 750 gram pinball drop and those along with a regular pinball definitely left dents or craters on the normal clear coat and did not leave dents or craters on the pin armor however the vip group had concerns regarding the quality and look of the pin armor coating as it is currently not as smooth but more like an orange peel robert mentioned that this was an early version of the pin armor when you run your hand over the play field it does not feel smooth like glass during brief gameplay later in the evening on a play field with pin armor the ball did seem to roll normally and act as if it would on a normal play field there was no noticeable unusual changes in ball activity on the pin armor so like it states here there is an orange peel effect so that's up to subjectivity when it comes to that if that's something that you want to see or don't see on your play field but this was uh brought up obviously because he mentions it right here and hopefully this is going to be uh getting better down the road with further testing and troubleshooting to get that closer to what we pinball enthusiasts would prefer on our play It feels a nice, smooth glass surface. But as far as protection-wise, yeah, it was there.

19:27

But there is a lot of discussion about how they had this device that is able to retrofit and attach to the bottom of your pinball cabinets. Theirs as well as old ones. and one person set of convenience changes a safety issue into a safe easy way to set up or break down your pinball machine all deep root machines come with the attachment plate already installed on the undercarriage of the cabinet the attachment plate should be compatible with the majority of other standard body machines once attached to the attachment plate the appliance can be extended to guide the lowering of the front of the machine from the seated position lifting the back of the machine to install and bolt the rear legs and vice versa. Once done, the application can be stored underneath the machine or removed. This one-person setup is expected to be demonstrated during the upcoming virtual pinball expo. Deep Root also is working on an assisted leveling guidance prompts you whether to raise or lower each of the four legs to put the playfield in factory preset 6.5 degree level position via the pin bar. So that's also pretty cool right there guys is that you're going to be able to level your game because the game is going to tell you what to level. That's a pretty interesting thing right there. Special foot locks make adjusting the legs easy so you don't have to use the turtle approach when climbing under and lifting the machine with your back to adjust the leg height I sure many of us out there have done this so this is also a cool little feature The pin pod Now the pin pod was one of the first things that we were shown look at this this is a very massive crate that they put together in your machine is we'll go down some more pictures right here to show you what it looks like inside of this I guess that was it okay but it's all it's it's it's well contained I'm not going to deny that it's well contained but this is an option you do not have to have your game shipped this way but this will be an option for those of you out there that do want that extra protection on your cabinet as well as the ability to reuse this because this cabinet is not strictly for deep root machines only so if you actually want to spend the money to buy this particular pin pod you can use this for other machines as well it's not only for deep root it's adjustable inside there so you can use other machines anyways this is an option and but there is an extra cost to it all right let's see some features deep root is planning for 2021 there's a lot of stuff there that doesn't need to gone over software wise this is going over a lot of other specifics with the software and everything a lot of this is just a lot of words that i'm sure a lot of you don't want to hear me just read to you. So I'm not going to. If you want all this information, by all means go to thisweekinpinball.com. And this is what I was talking about earlier. We offer a simple admin end user security system. Access to machine settings requires a two-step authentication process. First is physical security by requiring the physical key and coin door are open. Second, that a four digit pin is known and entered. Admins can only change the environment setting to home use or private or event or location use public that applies preset settings to protect your game these affect access to settings elements of login and log out omni channel the omni channel allows you to access your scores on deep root machines and log in to any deep root machine wherever in the world even if it's not connected to the internet what huh how that's interesting to be able to log in if it's not connected to the internet okay pin access this is a web and mobile offering by deeproot that brings scores and leaderboards and other community features to deeproot owners and players as described by deeproot so it's basically an application that allows you to see how you're doing compared to other people that are playing the game because it the game records where your shots are going and what you've done and that's gone over right here in the shot log and scoring features once again a lot of words here don't need to read it to you uh three model system that has gone over right here and future planned titles. Holy snap, they're going to go over these too. Okay, so Fire and Brimstone concept. Relive the Old Testament alongside the prophets of ancient times, build up faith, or suffer the fire and brimstone of the wrath of God. Features, first multi-denominational religious pinball game.