BlahCade 106: Drop It Like Its Hawt

http://blahcadepinball.com/2017/07/07/Episode-106-Drop-It-Like-Its-Hawt.html


Lots of digital pinball talk this episode when we delve into Farsight’s releases and clues, and the huge announcement from Zen Studios. You can see what’s going on in the show notes so get listening and enjoy.

Just listened to the new episode. Whoever wasted a Williams/Bally license pick on FP2 ought to have their head examined. So many other, better choices. And, yes, who asked for this? No one. I'd love to get a direct answer from FarSight on this choice.

dtown8532 said:

Just listened to the new episode. Whoever wasted a Williams/Bally license pick on FP2 ought to have their head examined. So many other, better choices. And, yes, who asked for this? No one. I'd love to get a direct answer from FarSight on this choice.

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Here's a clue: According to ipdb.org, FP2 uses the Williams System 7 MPU. Guess which other in TPA table also uses that same MPU.

Black Knight which is a scripted horrid mess. System 7 is just an expansion of system 6 which was an expansion of system 4. Major improvements came with system 9 (Comet, Space Shuttle and Sorcerer) which was basically a prototype of the eventual system 11. Yes, I've read and listened to some Clay Harrell. NONETHELESS, there are much better choices for a system 7 title. I don't even need to list them because...it's pretty much ALL of them.

For F*ck's sake, why not do Defender? It's rare but obtainable because owner's don't really horde it. The name is popular with video gamers as well as pinheads. And let's not forget the "preserving pinball" tagline that Olbernolte would use in their Kickstarter videos. Well, wouldn't digitally preserving Defender be a more logical choice seeing that they only made 369 of them and IT IS a pretty decent game? FP2 is a waste of resources for FarSight to recreate.

Yeah but Defender almost certainly comes with tricky licensing issues. Williams still exists and still makes video slots; I think only their pinball division was closed down so they probably still own the rights to all their arcade games, including Defender.

Yeah, I wouldn't have picked Firepower II either, but of the list of System 7 games, the only one besides Black Knight I have played is Defender, and that was one game at a show and it was in pretty poor condition. At best you can say FP2 has "name recognition".

The highest-rated System 7 besides BK is Barracora, and I've seen it bandied about here and there; I think that would've been okay. Jungle Lord too is one that crops up from time to time.

dtown8532 said:

Black Knight which is a horrid mess. System 7 is just an expansion of system 6 which was an expansion of system 4. Major improvements came with system 9 (Comet, Space Shuttle and Sorcerer) which was basically a prototype of the eventual system 11. Yes, I've read and listened to some Clay Harrell. NONETHELESS, there are much better choices for a system 7 title. I don't even need to list them because...it's pretty much ALL of them.

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They might have picked FP2 because of that very reason? Kind of getting their feet wet with that sort of stuff first before going in and fixing the rest.

I mean, yeah, there were a bunch of other better choices, but if they want to redo BK, FP, and Gorgar, they'll have to start somewhere, just in case.

I know exactly who picked FP2 now, and he has been doing his best to convince me that it's awesome. I told him good luck with that. I know where he's coming from, but let's just say our taste in pinball sometimes veers wildly away from each other. Other times, and often with oddball tables, we're on the same page. He knows the forum's opinion now at least because of our conversation.

shutyertrap said:

I know exactly who picked FP2 now, and he has been doing his best to convince me that it's awesome. I told him good luck with that. I know where he's coming from, but let's just say our taste in pinball sometimes veers wildly away from each other. Other times, and often with oddball tables, we're on the same page. He knows the forum's opinion now at least because of our conversation.

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I have high confidence now that it's Norm, because you mentioned in another thread you'd been recording with Norm for a future podcast. But hey if we get an emulated BK2 / FP2 "double-pack" this month, I suppose we won't complain. As much.

Genie and Goin' Nuts have issues with their extra balls. Genie can go negative in ball count from earning more than 1 EB per ball and Goin' Nuts stops providing EBs after 2 or 3 for reasons unknown.. since no one else will mention it.

shutyertrap said:

I know exactly who picked FP2 now, and he has been doing his best to convince me that it's awesome. I told him good luck with that. I know where he's coming from, but let's just say our taste in pinball sometimes veers wildly away from each other. Other times, and often with oddball tables, we're on the same page. He knows the forum's opinion now at least because of our conversation.

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Norm. No one here is going to argue his passion. I understand passion in this hobby (obsession). I fully repaired the steppers/switches of a 40's flipperless extinct game only to find that the plastics were intrical to the game's operation and they broke with slightest amount of force. No replacements. The game was f*cked. It broke my heart that I invested so much time into a failed project. My dad still has the game sitting in his basement. Whenever he brings it up, I tell him that I don't want to hear about it because it hurts so much. I learned a lot though about disappointment.

Anyway, Firepower 2 is still a stupid choice.

3d printing may help bring it back to life.

jaredmorgs said:

3d printing may help bring it back to life.

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I discussed it with someone who does that work. The problem was that the plastics are connected to metal rings and there were 26 of them. Times two including the bases. The prices were just well beyond what the game was even worth. Labor of love only goes so far.

That sounds like a real shame, hopefully you can find a soultion