First Ever Gameplay Stream of Pinball Brothers Queen Pinball Machine

Knapp Arcade·article·analyzed·Feb 24, 2023

Analysis

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TL;DR

Pinball Brothers streams Queen gameplay with v0.86 code; shipping EU/US with weekly updates planned.

Summary

Pinball Brothers conducted the first official gameplay stream of their Queen pinball machine, featuring code version 0.86 with new content releasing weekly. The game centers on Queen band members mapped to playfield shots, includes 14 songs with varied modes, and showcases an upper playfield multiball feature. Machines are already shipping to Europe with U.S. deliveries scheduled for the following week.

Key Claims

Version 0.86 code scheduled to release next week, with new versions every three weeks
high confidence · Official stream announcement; Joe Schober (software engineer) confirmed timeline
Version 1.0 should be ready in a couple of months
high confidence · Pinball Brothers coding team statement during stream
RS-Pinball has already delivered 20 Queen machines in Europe
high confidence · Direct statement from distributor activities
U.S. shipment of Queen machines scheduled for early the following week
high confidence · Article timeline reference
Queen machine will contain 14 songs, each with different goals and features
high confidence · Official stream ruleset overview
Game experienced a freeze requiring restart during the stream
high confidence · Direct observation in article; indicates ongoing debugging needed

Notable Quotes

“The team that is coding the game expects to release new code every three weeks as they keep polishing and adding to it.”
Pinball Brothers coding team @ Stream announcement — Establishes ongoing development cadence and commitment to iterative improvement post-release
“The coding team's main goal is to balance the game to make sure that that there's no single dominant strategy to get the highest score.”
Pinball Brothers coding team @ Stream overview — Reveals design philosophy prioritizing competitive balance and depth
“Some are attuned to the music so that when an instrument has a solo you need to shoot it.”
Rules overview @ Stream — Demonstrates thematic integration of music into gameplay mechanics
“Overall Queen looks like it's shaping up to be a really fun game. The code looks much improved from its first showing.”
Knapp Arcade (article author) @ Article conclusion — Positive assessment of game development trajectory

Entities

Pinball Brotherscompany QueengameJDL PinballpersonRS-Pinball GmbHcompanyJoe SchoberpersonBrian DominypersonDavid ThielpersonKelly MazurowskipersonEuro Pinball Corp.companyPedretti Gamingcompany

Signals

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business_signal: Euro Pinball Corp. (Pinball Brothers/Pedretti Gaming joint venture) operating new larger factory; early European deliveries (20+ units via RS-Pinball) with U.S. shipments imminent
high · 20 machines already delivered in Europe; U.S. shipment scheduled for following week
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community_signal: Direct stream with HDMI connectivity option for streamers; early access to development builds at major festival events (Texas Pinball Festival)
high · JDL Pinball stream; HDMI streaming capability; newer code versions for festival machines
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design_philosophy: Intentional game design balancing multiple strategies to avoid single dominant path to highest score; music-integrated mechanics mapping band members to specific playfield shots
high · Joe Schober stated main coding goal is balance; 14 songs with varied modes; instrument solos trigger specific shot requirements
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announcement: First official gameplay stream of Queen pinball machine with v0.86 code; establishes public visibility and community engagement
high · Live stream conducted by Pinball Brothers with distributor and team members; official ruleset overview provided
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product_strategy: Aggressive code update schedule with releases every three weeks; v1.0 target in couple of months; continuous polishing and feature additions planned
high · Pinball Brothers coding team confirmed weekly/three-week release cadence and v1.0 timeline

Topics

Queen pinball machine development and rulesetprimaryPinball Brothers production and manufacturingprimaryCode development roadmap and release scheduleprimaryGame distribution to Europe and United StatesprimaryStreaming and digital engagement for pinballsecondaryCompetitive game design and balance philosophysecondaryMusic-driven gameplay mechanicssecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Article is enthusiastic about Queen's development progress and gameplay depth. Minor concern noted about freeze/bugs still requiring resolution, but framed as expected in active development. Overall tone is optimistic about the game's trajectory.

Transcript

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This afternoon at 2:00 PM EST the European streamer JDL pinball, the Austrian pinball distributor RS-Pinball GmbH and several Pinball Brothers team members conducted the first ever official gameplay stream of Pinball Brothers' new Queen pinball machine. David Thiel is in charge of the game's audio. Kelly Mazurowski is the animator. At the beginning of the stream, software engineer Joe Schober, who is programming the game along with Brian Dominy, called in and gave a brief overview of the machine's rules. The game that was being streamed contained brand new code, version 0.86, which is scheduled to be released for the game next week. The team that is coding the game expects to release new code every three weeks as they keep polishing and adding to it. The games that Pinball Brothers brings to the Texas Pinball Festival will have even newer code than what was shown in this stream. Version 1.0 should be ready in a couple of months. They said that the game is very deep with a number of different ways to play it. Players of Queen need to collect band members. Players can also collect band members' instruments and autographs, which act as shot multipliers. The four members of the band correspond to the playfield's four major shots: - Freddy Mercury Lead Singer represented by Center Ramp and piano drop targets - Sir Brian May Guitarist. His red special guitar is the game's upper playfield. This upper playfield has targets, a captive ball and a ball lock. The upper playfield has a dedicated Red Special multiball that has a risk / reward aspect to it. It can be delayed for bigger points. - Roger Taylor Drums - represented by the pop bumpers - John Deacon Basist - represented by the standup targets The coding team's main goal is to balance the game to make sure that that there's no single dominant strategy to get the highest score. Other random notes: - Skill Shots: Main Skill Shot Main Piano Drop Targets. Plunging into the In lane or Out lane opens several Super Skill Shots - Encore Multiball: a 45 second enhanced ballsaver that's triggered by the right outlane. - Wembley Multiball: the 4 major shots are lit for Jackpot -- once you complete those, you have a timed opportunity for a Super Jackpot on the left or right ramp, then a Double Super Jackpot on the "other" ramp. When you get them both or time out the Supers, all 4 main Jackpots relight. - Left Outlane: has a kickback that's earned by shooting the spinner. The kickback shoots the ball all the way up into the machine's orbit. - The Queen machine will ultimately contain 14 songs. Every song has different goals and features. Some are attuned to the music so that when an instrument has a solo you need to shoot it. Not all of the modes are fully programmed yet. - Streamers can connect an HDMI cable to get a direct screen feed for streaming the game to the Internet Euro Pinball Corp., a company formed Pinball Brothers and Pedretti Gaming to manufacture machines, is currently producing Queen machines from its brand new, larger factory. A number of machines have already been delivered in Europe, RS-Pinball has delivered 20 already itself. A shipment of Queen machines is scheduled to be sent to the United States early next week. Overall Queen looks like it's shaping up to be a really fun game. The code looks much improved from its first showing. At one point though the game did freeze and require restarting, so there's still some bugs to be worked out. As I write this, the gameplay stream is still live, so hop on over there and check it out. If you're reading this later, you can still click on the link to watch a replay. https://www.twitch.tv/jdl_pinball