The Aussie Pinball Arcade
Aussie Pinball Forums => Pinball Mods => Custom Games => Topic started by: swinks on October 28, 2012, 07:58:41 PM
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The guys from P-Roc now Multimorphic are gearing up for a pinball of there own:
"We're fast coming up on the Nov. 1 deadline for the $1000 discount on P3 pre-orders. Since we'll be at the Houston Arcade Expo Nov. 2-3, we'll extend the discount offer through the 3rd. After that, pre-orders will be available at the standard price of $9995.
We're aware that it's quite a leap of faith to pre-order a new machine from a new manufacturer, especially before we announce our first two themes, and that's the main reason for the $1000 discount for early buyers. The prototype machines we took to TPF, PPE, and Expo served as proof-of-concepts for many of our new technologies, interactions, and gameplay features, and we appreciate all of the feedback we've received so far. We're especially thankful to those of you who see the potential of the platform and share in our excitement as we move forward. To those of you who have already pre-ordered, we sincerely thank you for your early support and look forward to delivering a machine that exceeds your expectations. Please note, all pre-order money is being held in escrow until production begins. It is not and will not be used to fund our current operations.
To re-iterate some of our plans...
- The P3 is a pinball platform... 1 machine, many games apps and shot layouts.
- We're planning for production in late 2013. If we're late, pre-order customers will receive compensation for each month production is delayed.
- The machine will ship with at least 2 complete software apps and at least 1 upper playfield module (shot layout).
- The machine will ship with multiple mini-games, including at least one that can be customized with customer assets (pictures, sounds, etc).
- In the near future we will be announcing more details on our first two themes. One will be licensed, one will be original.
- We'll be offering various cabinet options (artwork vs wood grain, optional backbox, optional coindoor, etc)
- The machine will be open-platform, meaning anybody can create games for the machine.
- The playfield spec will also be open, meaning anybody can design/build an upper playfield module (shot layout) for the machine.
Please visit http://www.multimorphic.com or email me for more information.
Thanks.
- Gerry"
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OK- Got all that but im a bit confused as to what this is? Did i miss a post on an actual machine so i can see how the concept works?
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agree it sounds confusing but it is there new P3 pinball with a standard layout for the front half with a lcd underneath that has apps (mini game programmes that can track the ball and interact with min games) and the top play field is supposed to be adjustable to add a bit of variation.
I think the owner has to programme and theme - bloody lot of money for something you still have to invest money and time in. But I could be confused, and I think they are coming out with 3 themes in the future.
Not one for me but posted purely for interest for others.
From Pinball News
"Last month we broke the news of plans to manufacture the P3 pinball platform by the company Multimorphic. Now we are able to reveal more details about the machine's design and unique features, and also announce the opening of pre-orders for a special edition model.
While most of the attention has focused on the P3's LCD monitor and the ball-tracking technology, one of the many unique features of the P3 is the upper playfield, which has been described as having an infinite number of shot possibilities.
The prototype's upper playfield
Multiple entrances and exits provide plenty of shot variation, but P3's modular design takes things one stage further. Instead of a fixed number of shots, the entire upper playfield can be removed and swapped for one with a completely different design and feature set.
Removing a large section of a pinball playfield is traditionally a job few would tackle unless it was really necessary, but the Multimorphic team have made it easy to swap upper playfields with just a couple of screws and connectors to undo.
Owners will be able to choose from a range of different designs or even create their own. Multimorphic are planning to produce a number of generic designs with themes such as "outer space" as well as several more specific themes. The P3's software automatically detects which upper playfield is installed and presents the player with a selection of pre-installed games which work with it.
Multimorphic's Gerry Stellenberg says changing the P3's upper playfield and game software is like transforming it into a totally new machine. "Each combination of the base P3 and an upper playfield is comparable to a complete single-themed machine from another manufacturer. One advantage with our system is we can and will create multiple, complete game apps for each playfield. Another is that the cost to own multiple upper playfields will be less expensive and require less floor space than owning multiple single-themed machines."
Another new feature of the P3 is the total lack of a switch matrix. Most modern pinballs use a 'matrix' arrangement, and scan the columns of switches to check for switch closures which connect the column to one or more rows.
Instead of a matrix, Multimorphic have developed a new serial switch board which connects upto to 16 switches and reports their status back to the main computer. Multiple boards can be daisy-chained, allowing the connection of as many switches as the game requires.
While this reduces the complexity of the under-playfield wiring, it also makes it easier to connect or disconnect additional groups of switches, such as those on an upper playfield. Connecting the switches to a local controller board also helps to isolate them in the case of an accidental short to a high power device such as a solenoid.
Another new driver board which is also about to be released helps manage single- or multi-colour LEDs. The LED driver board can drive either 84 single-colour LEDs or 28 RGB LEDs, with each output capable of being set to 1 of 256 brightness levels. In the case of RGB LEDs, that equates to 16.7 million colour combinations per device.
Boards from the P3
The LED driver board also includes some higher-level programming to make it easier for game writers to create dynamic multi-colour lighting effects without having to code them all individually.
And as if all these innovations are not enough, Multimorphic have redesigned some of the most basic elements which have been common to almost all pinball machines.
Rather than have a tilt bob, the game has an accelerometer to detect nudges, shakes and bumps. Sensitivity can be set through the software, with no danger of the tilt bob not being installed properly (or at all).
The built-in accelerometer also provides leveling information, allowing both the horizontal and vertical playfield angle to be measured and displayed, with audible feedback when the correct level is achieved, making it far easier to set the game up correctly and eliminating the need for a bubble level.
If all these advances have you reaching for your credit card, Pinball News can also reveal that pre-orders for the P3 will open this Wednesday, 8th August 2012, through the Multimorphic website.
The new-look Multimorphic website
The first P3s to go sale will be 250 special edition models at a price of $9,995, although this can be discounted by $1,000 if the full amount is pre-paid by 1st November, 2012.
For those who prefer a little more time, anyone ordering and paying in full by 1st January, 2013 will instead receive $1,000 in discount vouchers, worth 50% off a range of Multimorphic and PinballControllers.com products such as game apps, upper playfield modules, replacement parts and controller boards.
Anyone not taking advantage of either of these two incentives will be able to claim $500 of discount vouchers if they pay in full by 1st March, 2013.
Finally, if all 250 P3s are sold by 1st March, 2013 then one lucky buyer will be selected at random and receive their P3 for the princely sum of just $1.
The special edition model will include a number of unique items such as a signed certificate of authenticity, a special edition machine plaque, various unique animations and artwork, access to a private P3 discussion group and a special edition P3 T-shirt.
Special edition buyers will also get the opportunity to supply their own audio and video elements to be integrated into a mini-game which is unique to the special edition model.
Production is not expected to begin until the fourth quarter of 2013 but Gerry is adamant it will take that time to build the machine he and the team want to produce. "We're serious about building a high quality machine, and we're going to dedicate our resources to making sure that's what we do. Quality isn't just about making the physical machine feel solid and reliable, though that's a big part of it. It's also about delivering fun, complete, and well-tested software, and making the machine easier to set-up, test, clean, and maintain."
To help discourage any slippage in that production date, Multimorphic say they will give all buyers an additional $100 50%-off voucher for every month past 31st December, 2013 that it takes to start production.
With the pre-order phase now open, the P3 really is poised to become reality and Pinball News will keep you fully up-to-date with all the latest news on this exciting new pinball platform."
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agree it sounds confusing but it is there new P3 pinball with a standard layout for the front half with a lcd underneath that has apps (mini game programmes that can track the ball and interact with min games) and the top play field is supposed to be adjustable to add a bit of variation.
I think the owner has to programme and theme - bloody lot of money for something you still have to invest money and time in. But I could be confused, and I think they are coming out with 3 themes in the future.
Not one for me but posted purely for interest for others.
So its like Virtual pin with a real PF as an upper mini PF?
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nah real pinball, with a lcd under a clear plastic playfield that can also track the ball and has some funky targets and at the top of the lcd then the top playfield is a real pinball as well.
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maybe this will help, a bit of old school asteroids
notice the sling shots mechanics and flipper mechanics can not go through the screen so operate very differently horizontally to the apron with lever arms. The lcd would allow you to do different graphics and I suppose lots of new things.
this vid shows some of the subways and targets
and a old vid to explain the design
&feature=related
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Played it at Expo, very cool concept but has a long way to go before it is ready. It is a full size machine fun and fast, very clever actually.
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Details about first two themes (announced at Texas Pinball Festival 2013) here:
http://www.pinballnews.com/games/p3/index5.html (http://www.pinballnews.com/games/p3/index5.html)
and on the Multimorphic website here:
http://www.multimorphic.com/index.php/p3-platform/p3-themes (http://www.multimorphic.com/index.php/p3-platform/p3-themes)
SV
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thanks for the update, nice find
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here's a updated vid of the game system, it will be interesting how graphics will be merged into playfield, but for me not sure on the tubes and slings / flippers operating via rod extensions.
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I really like this idea. Would love a programmable pinball machine. Price seems a bit steep though. Good to see all these new pinball games.
I always thought AC/DC could have benefitted from an LCD underneath the playfield in place of Angus's head/Hell. It could have played live footage of the band and a virtual pinball game instead of the physical lower playfield.
Cheers!
Adam.
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Checkout this seminar by Gerry Stellenberg (creator of the P3) at the recent Texas Pinball Festival, this guy is the Steve Jobs of pinball (looks a little like him too).
http://www.youtube.com/embed/cSsOq47Uht4?autoplay=1&rel=0 (http://www.youtube.com/embed/cSsOq47Uht4?autoplay=1&rel=0)
After watching this, I'd have to say that Multimorphic is, by far, the most innovative pinball company I know of at present.
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How is this not being discussed *at all* ?????
_________________________________________________________
I know it's been a while since our last public update, and I apologize for the delay. I know many of you are anxious to see our progress, and I'm anxious to share it.
In November of last year, we organized a focus group to collect opinions on not just specific things about the P3 machine and the games we're developing, but also on the way we're releasing information and how it's been perceived. We have a number of other discussion topics planned for the focus group to address, but we've already gotten some very valuable feedback.
One of the more common responses by focus group participants was that the prototype P3 machine and 'software' we've been showing doesn't look polished enough. It's clear that while many people see our vision and are willing to follow along our journey to realize it, others simply want to see a final product with new innovations and amazing gameplay.
The unfortunate reality is that we can either reveal in-progress development in the form of our prototype machine and demo software, or we can remain silent until the machine is fully developed. I personally see a lot of value in releasing information early and getting feedback, but I also think that Multimorphic suffers from the vocal minority publicly expressing negative opinions on things that haven't yet been flushed out. The good news is we're approaching the end of our early concept days and can start showing real game developments.
Hopefully it's obvious to everybody that we are not just another traditional-style pinball startup. There are a lot of companies putting development teams together and announcing new single-themed traditional machines (many of them using our control system products, like the P-ROC and driver boards), and the industry is better because of them. I personally think it's absolutely great for the hobby to have all of these new machines on the horizon, but I remain firm in my opinion that the industry won't grow and advance by building traditional machines.
In order to advance the pinball industry and help it grow the customer base, we have to innovate. We have to design new playfield mechanics. We have to design new types of interactions. We have to design modern assemblies. We have to design new types of rules. We have to modernize the control system. We have to modernize manufacturing techniques. We have to make games easier to service. We have to improve the price-per-game value. We have to improve the customer experience.
That's what Multimorphic is about, and that's what we're doing.
As I'm sure you can imagine, the details in engineering an entirely new platform infrastructure to support our modular game configurations and the new features the games utilize is an involved process, and we're working through it. People ask us all the time why we aren't using an existing cabinet, existing flippers/slings, or a traditional ball trough configuration. The answer is, quite simply, it doesn't make sense to. We have to break the mold in order to advance pinball, and we're not afraid to do it.
It's important to emphasize that while we *are* breaking the mold on the engineering side, we're not breaking the mold on the gameplay side. The P3 can and will present games that play similarly to traditional games. However, it can also do and present so much more. In fact, our first game (Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl) is set up very much like a traditional game (intentionally), but we're enhancing the gameplay with a few of our innovations. Other games, such as Cosmic Cart Racing, will experiment with slightly different gameplay paradigms and further explore how diverse games can be with the P3.
Operationally, we've made a few changes. Because of the overwhelming desire of the public to actually see and play our vision, rather than being forced to imagine it, we've serialized development of our two games (LL-GG and CCR). We're concentrating first on Dennis Nordman's LL-GG concept, and we're doing our best to get it into a feature-complete (physical features) and playable game (2-3 modes) by the Texas Pinball Festival at the end of March in Dallas, TX.
We also hear the feedback on our pricing structure, and we've begun evaluating ways to alter the structure to make the platform more affordable. We've always understood that a $10k price tag was very high, but unfortunately it's just very expensive to re-engineer a pinball platform and deliver a product with the number of innovations we've designed into the P3. That said, we have some ideas on how we can hopefully lower the price and compete at parity (or better) with many of the traditional game manufacturers. Rest assured, if you've already pre-ordered a P3, we will absolutely ensure that the pricing advantages you received by ordering early remain, even if that means refunding part of your purchase price.
OK... now onto some game status! I'm incredibly excited to start discussing LL-GG in more detail.
*** LL-GG Playfield ***
As we've been saying, LL-GG is intended to be a mostly traditional-style game with certain gameplay enhancements. As you can see in the attached playfield image, the LL-GG playfield has mostly traditional features, but we've still put the Multimorphic vision into the design, and we're doing some things no production pinball machine has ever done before.
The design is a mixture of high-speed flowing features and features that give the player some time to rest and appreciate everything that's happening in the game. The left and right ramps are very smooth and fast and return the ball to the right flipper. Also, because of our unique trough design, we can 'create' flow to the left flipper (more details on that another day).
Clearly one of the most exciting two features on the playfield is the 8-ball physical ball lock. Yes, that's an 8-BALL PHYSICAL BALL LOCK, and as cool as it is, the way we're integrating it into software is even cooler. You'll have to stay tuned for that.
The other main feature is the 5" LCD in the middle of the playfield above the center targets. Multimorphic is all about dynamic artwork, and we love having the ability to vary the graphics above the targets and change what they represent during the game. Incidentally, the 4 insert lamps in front of the targets will be removed from the design after we implement the software to drive the small LCD.
*** LL-GG Gameplay and dynamic p/f artwork ***
At Expo 2013, we demo'd a concept for a static p/f image, complete with an image of Lexy Lightspeed surrounded by traditional-style inserts. The intention of the static p/f image is that it'll be on the LCD when no game mode is active. So it will contain the main game status, the mode inserts, etc. Since expo we've totally re-vamped the static p/f to achieve the same goal in a much more interesting way. See the two 'map' images, which both show our static p/f image in the in the context of the full machine.
The image is showing a map of the entire game setting, which is an alien research facility "area 53.1", hidden deep in the swamps of Florida. The upper half of the map details the facility. That's the 'bad guy' area. The lower half of the map is the 'good guy' area, where two local boys (Ronnie Earl and Little Larry) live. The overall game theme involves Lexy and Lookie (their saucer crashed while orbiting Earth) befriending the boys and working together to Escape the 'evil' facility and get back into space.
The first map image shows an unhighlighted view of the game features. Most buildings or regions represent a game mode. As you can see, there are no traditional style insert lamps on the basic map layout. We're using the benefits of our huge dynamic display to highlight and label things in a much more informative way. See the 2nd map picture.
The 2nd map image shows the 'Weapons Lab' highlighted. This is what you'll see when a mode is lit. Whichever mode will start next is highlighted with a short description. The mode start hole is the hole just above the upper right corner of the display, and you'll notice some arrows that will animated brightly to tell you to shoot that shot. Notice also the LITE LOCK letters over the agent barracks. Some of them are opaque, and some are transparent. We'll use these different presentation styles to inform you of your progress.
Incidentally, now that our static p/f design is nearly ready, we can start working on upper p/f artwork that will tie into it. That's why the upper p/f is still a whitewood. Once our artist finishes the cabinet artwork, he'll start working on the upper p/f artwork (including plastics).
Note also our 'apron LCD'. That's where we'll keep scoring and overall status information. In this game, there's a row of icons at the bottom of the apron LCD. These are the items that Lexy and crew are collecting in order to battle the facility and Escape. They therefore represent your overall progress through the game (similar to the blue lights in AFM). Note that this image shows two icons (engine parts and a fuel molecule), representing that you've completed the warehouse mode and the swamp mode. Because those modes are complete, both the warehouse building (to the right of the crop circles) and that part of the swamp (top part of the good guy section surrounded by trees) are greyed out (and can't be restarted until after the finale is attempted).
When you actually start a mode, the playfield image will change and become more dynamic. See the warehouse picture. In the warehouse mode, you're trying to navigate through rooms in the warehouse and collect parts to repair the ship. Because the game is a mostly traditional style game, ALL of the modes are based around physical shots. In this mode, the walls and scoops are used to create a set of doors. Your goal is to shoot through the doors necessary to navigate through the warehouse. The number of rooms depends on your skill settings. While navigating through the rooms, we're enhancing the gameplay with some virtual interactions, namely blowing up virtual crates with the physical pinball to uncover ship parts.
Because we're using the walls/scoops in the warehouse mode, play is confined to the LCD area, but that's the only mode where that's true. All other modes make heavy use of the upper playfield shots. For instance, the swamp scene involves shooting the pop bumpers, both ramps, and the side hole (though it's also enhanced by virtual interactions on the screen). Other modes like alien attack, will be purely physical, not involving virtual interactions at all.
*** Translite ***
Last reveal is our new LL-GG translite. This is not the final version, but it's pretty close.
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As I said above, our goal is to have LL-GG playable at TPF. We're playtesting the warehouse and swamp modes now, and we'll soon be integrating the static playfield concept and working on additional modes.
As always I appreciate all of you supporting our efforts. Feel free to email or call me with any questions, comments, concerns, etc.
- Gerry Stellenberg
Multimorphic, Inc.
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and the translite - Dennis Nordman is featured
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This is really starting to look interesting.
Here is an old clip showing the way the playfield can be disassembled for cleaning/maintenance:
&feature=player_detailpage
Here are some pictures from a showing of the latest P3 prototype at the creator Gerry Stellenberg's house ahead of the Texas Pinball Festival in a couple of weeks:
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/204187-i.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/204187-i.jpg.html)
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/204189-i.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/204189-i.jpg.html)
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/204188-i.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/204188-i.jpg.html)
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/204186-i.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/204186-i.jpg.html)
Here is another view of the upper playfield module:
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/2014-03-012139192.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/2014-03-012139192.jpg.html)
And here is the flipper area showing the player's score and other information:
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/2014-03-12134406.jpg) (http://s1128.photobucket.com/user/antswanmail/media/2014-03-12134406.jpg.html)
Here's a list of features posted by Gerry:
Re-engineering a pinball machine is no small task, and as you can imagine, there's no shortage of details to address. I think it's safe to say that no other manufacturer has attempted anything close (by a wide margin) to the engineering effort we've tackled, just as no other manufacturer can offer many of the innovative features we've designed into the P3. We're almost there. The efforts are paying off. The machine is starting to deliver on the promises we've been making. But... there's still work to do, and we're doing it.
Let's talk about some fun stuff!
- 8-ball physical ball lock
- Rapid fire ball launching out of multiple VUKs
- Interactive lower p/f artwork
- The smoothest RGB fading in the industry
- Dynamic shot labeling
- Transparent flippers with dynamic coloring
- Scores / status / animations in the playfield (where you're looking while playing)
- 10-second cabinet artwork swaps?
- 60-second physical playfield swaps
- How about a 14+ ball multiball that's actually playable (no-joke, it's coming)
- Open source code
- Open platform mechanicals
- Network connectivity
- Best-in-breed servicability
... and the list goes on.
- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
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This still looks interesting for sure.
BUT, the pre-order, put money down before delivery concept, was MURDERED by JJP with its machines being so so very late.
I want to see one in person, should be a mix of Pin2000 and normal pin plus 10 other things.
Is the pinball world ready for this, or is it ahead of its time > ???
need to see a polished finished item with better side-art.
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...need to see a polished finished item with better side-art.
The side art will be interchangeable and customizable.
Here is a new teaser video of the latest P3 prototype running the game Lexy Lightspeed:
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interesting style game and like it leads you through a interactive story….
not a fan of the cabinet leg set up and still not sure on the looks of the sling and flipper mechs - hard one as the monitor is underneath, though overall a clever setup overall.
thanks for sharing
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Here's a gameplay video:
It came with the following message from Gerry:
Hi all,
I'm extremely excited to present a couple of videos that highlight the progress of the P3 as we continue on our journey to deliver an evolved pinball platform.
There's a lot of activity in the pinball industry right now, much of it stemming from our efforts with the P-ROC control system and the pyprocgame open-source pinball development framework. What's notable about the activity is that all of the new pinball startups, except us, are building traditional style machines (single-themed games on traditional platforms).
We believe that building traditional style machines that sell based on the popularity of the chosen theme is a good thing, but it isn't going to help pinball survive, much less thrive, in the long run. What pinball needs is a machine that addresses the price-per-game problem, the floorspace issue, and the extreme lack of innovation seen in the industry over the last 30 years.
That's where the P3 comes in. Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl is the first game being developed for the P3. The platform is evolved, and the game is too. See for yourself:
[link to 2 videos above]
The game continues to improve daily as we bring it closer to production and as we prepare to show it off at the Texas Pinball Festival later this week. In fact, these videos are already a bit dated, and they were recorded less than two weeks ago. In other words, there's a lot more excitement to come. Stay tuned and look for more frequent video updates! We've come a very long way in a surprisingly short amount of time, and there's still an unbelievable amount of work remaining to be done.
Thank you for all of your encouraging emails and continued support. We couldn't do this without you, and your words of encouragement always help to fuel our fire.
If your schedules permit, please come to TPF (http://www.texaspinball.com) and see the machine in person! I always enjoy the opportunity to talk to you all about pinball and how we're taking it to the next level.
Sincerely,
Gerry Stellenberg
http://www.multimorphic.com
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...need to see a polished finished item with better side-art.
Cavey, here you go:
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...need to see a polished finished item with better side-art.
Cavey, here you go:
great idea especially for the home owner but could be a issue for a sited machine - there would be lots of black cabinets
makes me curious on the cabinet construction, do you know if it is ply with a thin sheet of metal or timber frame with metal panels ????
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great idea especially for the home owner but could be a issue for a sited machine - there would be lots of black cabinets
makes me curious on the cabinet construction, do you know if it is ply with a thin sheet of metal or timber frame with metal panels ????
Cabinet has a metal frame, not sure about the inside sections but there must be metal there as well, I'll find out.
I believe they have an alternative set up for sited machines (or was that Heighway pinball?), I'll ask about that as well.
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Ok, yep, entire cabinet is metal, frame and panels.
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great idea especially for the home owner but could be a issue for a sited machine - there would be lots of black cabinets
Gerry has said that there will be a "Kit" available that will stop prying fingers from being able to remove the art on location.
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cool, I give him credit, alot of fresh new ideas
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The coolest thing about this platform is that they are going to allow ANYONE to develop and make their own games for the system which means there will be a lot more games coming out on the P3 in the future.
Basically it is like a gaming console for pinball...
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This machine is way ahead of its time. Very smart everything.
Is there enough pinball shots on it....
Its a game that just has to be played in order to really get the feel for it.
I take my hat off to the guys who have stuck to their dreams on this machine, Passion and dedication are two words that come to mind for sure.
Hope it does well in Texas.
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Just thought I'd update the thread with some more videos, this system is really coming along:
Teaser video:
Video from Expo (P3 starts at 34:35):
Overhead video:
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very cool, thanks for sharing.
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Thought I'd let everyone know that Multimorphic has changed it's pre-order model and there are only a couple of days left to sign up. See the post from Gerry Stellenberg below. I have signed up to show my support for the concept, although I most likely won't be able to follow through with the cash when the time comes.
Just announced: P3 pre-orders are now NO money down, risk, and no obligation. Please support our efforts to deliver an incredible, progressive pinball platform and help move the industry forward.
While we've been able to operate our company up to this point on the backs of our founder, staff, angels, and early supporters, the pre-production phase requires us to pay 3rd party vendors to build parts, assemblies, and machines and to implement rigorous test processes (assemblies, machines, UL, CE, etc). Therefore, the pre-production phase requires us to raise additional capital. As exciting as the P3 is to all of us, and as passionate as we all our about its potential to move the industry forward, investors need more convincing before they'll take the plunge (literally and figuratively). It's the same catch-22 that all paradigm-changing products/companies encounter. We need money to realize our vision and build a customer base, but we need to realize our vision and build a customer base in order to raise money. Here's our solution:
We are now offering a No Money Down, No Risk, No Obligation Pre-order, and we're asking all of you who are interested in supporting our efforts to sign up now and reserve your P3. A strong showing of support from potential customers will fuel our pre-production fundraising process and help convince investors that there's a large group of folks excited to see the P3 reach production. Here's how it works:
- Fill out and return the pre-order form at: http://www.multimorphic.com/index.php/p3-pinball-platform/pre-orders#. This will reserve your place in the production queue with absolutely no money down and no obligations.
- When we wrap up the pre-production process and start procuring parts and preparing for full production, we'll ask you to send in payment for your machine. We believe you'll all be blown away by our production machine, but if you're not and want to drop out, simply don't pay us at that time and your order will be automatically cancelled.
In addition to fully deferred payments, we're offering additional incentives to entice people to sign up. Every few weeks, we'll offer new incentives, and everybody who's already submitted a signed pre-order form will participate in all incentives announced between their pre-order date and production. That means if you pre-order today (with no money down, no risk, no obligation), you'll receive every incentive we offer up until we enter production.
Here are the first few incentives. If you submit a signed pre-order form to us by 12/31/2014, you'll receive the following:
1) A P3 t-shirt (sent with your machine)
2) A custom-engraved plaque with a name of your choice (sent with your machine, message/name details TBD, first 250 machines only)
3) A $250 discount on the final purchase price above and beyond any other discounts applied to your machine (first 500 machines only)
4) A $100 discount/rebate on your machine for EACH pre-order referral you make that results in a pre-ordered machine eventually being paid in full. For example, if 10 people identify you in the "referred by" section of the pre-order form AND they wind up paying and taking delivery of their P3, you'll get 10 * $100 = $1000 in discounts/rebates. If your accumulated discounts exceed the cost of your machine, they can be used for purchases of future Multimorphic products.
Obviously we know that a large number of folks will choose to drop out when it comes time to pay for their machine. At the same time, we're convinced that people will fall in love with the production P3 and LL-GG when they see it; so we're confident that the our production plans based on risk-free pre-orders won't be negatively affected by cancellations.
- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
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Thanks for the heads up, sv. ^^^
Just added my name to the preorder list to support this progressive concept.
The animations look great and the ball physics smooth.
Great to see pinball is evolving. Any pinball company (whether startup or established) that doesn't adhere to this philosophy is inevitably going to become obsolescent.
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OK, the latest video of this system just came out.
Gerry held another play-testing session at his place in Austin, Texas, today. They are gearing up for the Texas Pinball Festival next month.
This latest video shows two P3 machines side-by-side, both running their first game Lexy Lightspeed (remember this is a multi-game system). The machine on the left is the new manufacturing prototype, the one on the right is an older prototype. This is the first video of the new prototype.
The new prototype is basically the last iteration of the system before they go to production. It has many new innovative features which, no doubt, they will demonstrate at the upcoming Expo.
One thing that is apparent from this video however is the improved GI lighting. The GI, backbox and even the P3 logo between the speakers are all RGB lit, and can be adjusted by the owner.
Stick around until the end of the video, as a more experienced player gets on one of the machines and starts making some shots towards the end.
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Multimorphic are about to make all the other manufacturers of pinball look rather pedestrian to say the least.
IMHO they have successfully morphed from where Pin2000 sadly died in the arse & taken the (pin)ball & run with it.
For imagination, innovation, determination and a passionate attitude for the advancement of our game, these guys take the cake.
$%$ $%$ $%$
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I am not a fan of it at all. Each to their own.
I would not like it if all of pinball went this way.
In some ways I am very glad Gary Stern and most of his designers are old school.
JJP has made some advancements, but any further than that, and you lose too much of the DNA of what pinball has always been.
Maybe if I play it I might change my mind.
I wonder what others think ?
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Big fan of the concept although I have reservations of too much video. The playfield is too open. I know there are digital targets to hit, but pinball is also about taking risks, and that means targets that can cause ball drains if not hit sweetly. So this system would need physical obstructions in the middle of the pf as well, not just up the top but can't see how this could be done. I can see a good player never losing a ball pretty much with this configuration. Dunno?
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Also a fan of this concept, but I would only want one in a collection of at least a few pins.
I think games could be well implemented if thought out properly.
Will watch with interest.
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Big fan of the concept although I have reservations of too much video. The playfield is too open. I know there are digital targets to hit, but pinball is also about taking risks, and that means targets that can cause ball drains if not hit sweetly. So this system would need physical obstructions in the middle of the pf as well, not just up the top but can't see how this could be done. I can see a good player never losing a ball pretty much with this configuration. Dunno?
I've heard a few people say similar things. Gerry Stellenberg (the main designer) has stated in the past that they are working on ways to have more "floating" playfield elements which can be placed in the lower portion of the playfield, such as ramps, pop bumpers and even "reverse" scoops. I think once they accomplish that there may be a lot more interest.
Every part of the machine is modular. Other than the upper playfield, you can also swap out the flippers, the targets down the side of the playfield, the flipper button panels, etc. for different configurations. So there is the flexibility for different games to be physically very different.
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Very interesting. That could work
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Multimorphic are about to make all the other manufacturers of pinball look rather pedestrian to say the least.
IMHO they have successfully morphed from where Pin2000 sadly died in the arse & taken the (pin)ball & run with it.
For imagination, innovation, determination and a passionate attitude for the advancement of our game, these guys take the cake.
$%$ $%$ $%$
+1 Well said.
Competitive innovation is the only aspect that is going to motivate the old dinosaurs like Stern from falling into the tar pits of obsolescence, whilst at the same time still keeping the core aspects of what pinball essentially is in place. I am very much looking forward to seeing one of these machines in the flesh and giving it a test run.
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To much video for me. They will need to be careful to not over animate the video, such that ball will get lost in the animation. !@#
All I see is a one foot deep congested pinball playfield and a two foot deep video game. It will kill the debate about 'photoshop' art Vs hand drawn art: When the machine is off, there will not be much art to look at.
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Here's some recent videos of some of the more innovative features:
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There is so much Innovation in this machine it is crazy.
The features are just fantastic and certainly allows pinball to move forward.
It is really amazing what they are doing here.
Now in saying that, the build Quality looks garbage
It looks like a very clever backyard prototype.
These guys look like they can design and make workable concepts that make the big manufactures look stupid
But every one of those video's could not hide the poor esthetics on the build quality and the attention to small detail.
These guys should be employed as concept designers by the big pinball makers because they would bring pinball to a new level and would blow all our minds with all their ideas of innovation.
But they should not be put on the factory floor building machines because there is no attention to detail on the esthetics.
Speaking frankly the finish is ugly but the Innovation is second to none
It would be a $10grand machine only if it was professionally built but not the way it is atm.
If it was polished off, built by a pro and there was more attention to detail on esthetics it would be an amazing machine. that is the only criticism i have of it.
I especially like that it can be "Fan modified" which will make the machine stay relevant for years and years to come.
Regards Rich
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I enjoyed your post. Extremely well written Guyricho.
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We will hopefully get a better idea of the build quality of the new prototype at the Texas Pinball festival at the end of the month. Gerry is giving a talk there and I am hoping that he will show everyone the machine inside and out.
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OK, everyone, prepare to be amazed, a new video from the Multimorphic team just came out. Pinball is evolving again, finally!
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This was in the email I received from Gerry along with the video:
Our new promo video just went live: &feature=youtu.be
There are a couple of important things to point out:
1) This video shows a number of ways game designers can make use of the P3's modularity to vary the physical shot layouts and features in their games. People have long questioned how versatile the P3 could be with only the upper playfield section being swappable. Hopefully it's now clear that designers can implement practically any feature seen in pinball before, and they can do it just about anywhere on the playfield. It just requires a different way of thinking and in some cases some new engineering. We've obviously already floated the flippers and slingshots over the playfield. Floating pop bumpers and inverted scoop-type-features are coming, as are floating targets, spinners, and even ramps.
2) Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl now has an episode name: "Escape From Earth". This, combined with a new intro animation in the game, should allay the confusion about Lexy being a Galaxy Girl and the game being based on Earth. As you've all seen by now, we operate backwards from most pinball companies. We focused on making our machine (the P3) and first game (LL-EE) functional and playable first. Then we started making them pretty (artwork, game/mode introductions, etc). In short, Lexy and Lookie are shot down by the evil agents in Area 53.1 (deep in the Florida swampland). Gameplay is centered around helping them escape.
Texas Pinball Festival, here we come! Hope to see many of you there.
- Gerry Stellenberg
http://www.multimorphic.com
And this is from a new thread he created on Pinside:
Hi all,
We've received a lot of feedback about the modularity in the P3, and many have had questions about whether or not the upper playfield region is enough space to provide significantly different playing experience. While we believe it is, we've also discussed the ability to add swappable mechanical features anywhere over the entire playfield, and we've been promising conceptual images to illustrate this.
Game designers have more freedom than we can easily explain in short messages or videos. Suffice it to say, they can create just about any feature that exists in current pinball machines... they just have to think about it and engineer it a little differently.
Also note the game name change to Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth. She's still Lexy Lightspeed - Galaxy Girl, but in this 'episode', she's battling the evil agents of Area 53.1 to escape from Earth and return to her adventures in space.
It's time for pinball to evolve!
- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
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It is a cool concept and I like the idea of swappable designs. I had a chat with Gerry a few weeks ago in regards to designing a swappable component / game and game theme for fun for them to then programme and manufacture. He said that the design parameters will be released soon and he encourages pinheads to come up with their designs BUT there lays a bigger challenge which will limit this potentially massively of what he is hoping people will do:
- yes I can or you can design the rear third layout layout though need experience in solidworks or the like and some cab art (illustrator or Coreldraw)
- but then you need skills to do playfield art - moving animation graphics
- and then on top you need skill to work with complex programming beyond that of dmd and game rules programming for the playfield programming and sensor tracking. All this then means that a very very small and select market of potential designers would even contemplate this.
Personally I think he is very innovative and stepped up pinball design up in a cool way as the playfield looks cool but would of been great to see this game done in 2 playfield styles to win people over, and to show the potential as many people will think it has gone too much to the video game side.
- playfield style 1 - as per the current with the video animated playfield and how it looks like a video game
- playfield style 2 - very similar to playfields that we know with the typical playfield art and inserts and the inserts light up or could have small cool animated explosions in the insert and flow beyond the in theory insert when a physical target is hit, flames from a car exhaust insert showing a car getting away if you reach a certain goal. Then when a set of goals is achieved a modified playfield with relocated inserts is shown with new goals - game advancement. Of if the game proceeds in time - ;like ball 1 is morning, 2 is afternoon and 3 is night and if you are lucky you survive the day you are awarded a 4th ball and it is morning again with the playfield lighting changing on each ball.
Having these 2 styles say at Texas pinball show with the same game rules but with the 2 different visible playfield styles (video game v's classic insert) could of captured what the market likes best or analyse what age groups like which version.
For me I would prefer the playfield style 2.
Sadly unless P3 do the programming for your game design I can't see too many people issuing them with designs & programming to manufacture and be part of the P3 selection.
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Interesting idea Swinks with the traditional-style playfield. So, I think what you mean is that you would still have the LCD screen on the playfield but have simulated inserts and artwork to replicate those of a traditional playfield rather having the ball interacting with the video elements on the playfield.
Yes, I think what you are suggesting would be useful as an intermediate step between traditional pinball and the more innovative ways in which the P3 can be used. It's interesting that Gerry has been calling Lexy Lightspeed their 'traditional game' and their next game 'Cosmic Carts' will be even more radical.
Maybe it would be easier to design the kind of game that you are suggesting on the P3 because you would not have to utilise complex animations and the sensor tracking. It think it would be cool to see an 'EM-style' game on this system.
I think the great thing about the P3 is that all these different kinds of games are possible on the P3 and you will potentially be able to swap between them.
I think there are a lot of very clever programmers out there who would be able to design games for this.
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Yes still have the lcd but with insert looking art but with flashing and animated art in the inserts - of a graphic of a feature person head turning to watch the ball during some features and then the view of the art and inserts change when after some goal are achieved. Maybe the sensors could be used for fun simulated playback of a combo shot or a drain shot where a character taunts you. I personally don't like the shoot the lcd floating target or the asteroids mini game - each to their own.
I am sure there are clever programmers out there, but are they into pinball as to get one that wasn't into it for your own game design would not be cheap to hire - $20k or more at a wild guess and that is the problem I believe as no one will then venture down this path.
Gerry alone is debugging the infrastructure / game template for a while now and knows his stuff, what chance does a person with the package of skills going to have to complete a ready for production in a few year period?.
I one thing I really dislike about the machine is the stance and those pinball legs - just doesn't look like a pinball - merging to Ikea style ????
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All good points.
I know that there are a lot of people on Gerry's Multimorphic forum that have been working on their own custom games using the P-Roc controller, so there may be people there who are also interested in making games for the P3.
We'll have to wait and see what's in his developer's package I guess. I certainly hope that lots of people jump on board, the more games get made for the system, the more attractive (and cheaper for each game) it becomes. I understand what you are saying about the obstacles, however.
I can also see how this might be easier for a group of people to create a commercial game. All you need to design is your playfield modules and the software rather than the whole machine.
As for the legs, I'm pretty sure they have changed those, they are much more like standard pinball legs now (we'll see more of the production models at Texas this weekend).
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cool, still think he has done a fantastic job and am looking forward to getting a developers package.
I am keen to design something, just wish there were a few aussies to team up to cover all the areas.
- back 3rd playfield desgn (want to give this a go)
- toy design (want to give it a go)
- digital playfield art (could help there)
- plastics art (could help there)
- programming (mmm definitley need someone here)
are you getting one SV?
want to design a game?
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I am a big fan of Multimorphic's truly groundbreaking approach to pinball *%* *%* *%*
Despite being an older dude myself, I reckon that pinball has always been and should continue being dynamic & cutting edge.
It's inevitable that there will be some departures from "traditional" layouts and furniture. Machines have been developing all along, from battery powered countertops to woodrails to EM's to solid state to 90's era to Pin 2K. Why should things stagnate?
I personally have no ambitions/capabilities to mess with programming or game development (happy to rely on Gerry and maybe others) but I'd be very keen to fiddle around with artwork and physical modifications.
Another refreshing aspect of Multimorphic is their "no money down" version of pre-orders particularly in light of recent events.
I'm seriously entertaining selling a couple of my games to finance one of these babies, especially considering that they can be changed out &c so readily & quickly.
Another salient point for me is the enormous space savings given a smallish house.
One question: is there any inkling of pricing and method of acquisition at this stage?
Perhaps this might become clear at the Texas festival tomorrow . . . .
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DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!
100% agree, as you know! ^^^
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To be honest, I initially put may name down just to offer my support but the more I see, the more I appreciate how much thought they have put into every aspect of the design and how much I think this will add to the pinball playing experience.
At the moment there is a no-money down pre-order, the expected price for the P3 system plus two games is US $9995. They plan to have a cheaper option for the system with one game only, it hasn't been announced yet but I think it will be around $8000. Then, if I recall correctly, additional games were to be around $1500-$2000, but again, not set in stone.
I'm as much of a traditionalist as anyone, I don't even have a DMD game (my newest game has an alpha-numeric display) but of all the games being made today, I think that this one has the most chance of drawing new people and kids into the hobby. The playfield LCD can show newcomers what to shoot for very clearly, there's more space to explain rules in an intuitive way and there are already options built-in for team-play, handicapping, saving games, etc. Multimorphic attended a recent gaming and technology show in Austin, Texas, and Gerry said that the kids there understood what to do instantly (he also posted several pics of children crowded around it.
I don't like the Lexy Lightspeed theme, so I'll likely be waiting until more games are available but I'm certainly thinking I might invest in a P3 at some point in the future.
P.S. I had another look at the video and they are the updated legs so I think those are what you get.
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thanks for the info ^^^
my other concern is lcd / led screen for the likes of JJP and P3 games (especially the p3 as it it needs to be such a specific size), as many of us have older games and at least dmd's are readily available - what happens if a lcd / led dies in a 5 years time and P3 wasn't successful and not around (not that I wish it but the question has to be asked). Will it be a pinball 2000 scenario but a lcd in this case???
in the private P3 forum have they discussed the lcd / led replacement in a few years time?
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This idea is truly innovative. It is a bit limited because bottom half of the playfield is constant but still a brilliant idea. Jpop & other debacles have made buyers so scared that it's going to be tough for any new pin maker to ever make it to final production stage. I hope Multimorphic manages to get there - but tough gig to finance on your own. Interesting stuff anyway.
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Here's a video of the P3 at the recent Replay FX festival showing the 9-ball multiball:
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it is looking good and very clever design with the mechs and the open apron right down to the lockdown bar
do you have any links to videos of how he is shooting the ball, or even photos.... curious
cheers
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Here's the full announcement from the latest Multimorphic public update:
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After showing off our early technology concept machine in 2012 and then iterating on prototype implementations over the last couple of years, I am incredibly proud to announce that the design of the most feature-rich and innovative physical pinball platform ever developed, the P3, is complete.
It's no surprise that there have been no significant technological advancements or gameplay innovations in the pinball industry for decades. The traditional, single-piece, wooden playfield isn't configured to accommodate modularity, comprehensive ball-tracking, or dynamic playfield artwork, and traditional control systems can't support new, high-tech features. Developing a revolutionary machine, or just revolutionary gameplay features, would therefore be a time-consuming, expensive, and risky proposition for anybody.
As is true in most industries, significant advancements are typically introduced by startup companies, and in the pinball industry, we (Multimorphic) are that startup. We've spent the time and money, we've taken the risk, and we've succeeded in creating a platform that delivers on our vision for modularity and gameplay innovations.
It's taken a team of incredibly passionate and talented individuals to get us to this point, and the machine is just one part of the picture. Along the way, we've developed (and continue to develop) the most advanced control system in the industry, the P-ROC/P3-ROC and associated switch and driver boards. Hundreds of custom machine developers and a number of new machine manufacturers are using our control system in their machines, and it's what we use in the P3 as well. We've also been working towards a public release of our P3 pinball development kit, which will allow anybody to create games for the P3 Pinball Platform. This is the same set of development tools and libraries we use internally to create our games.
The P3 Pinball Platform, the P-ROC/P3-ROC control system, and our software development kit combine to enable an incredibly diverse library of games. We invite other companies to participate in building up the P3 game library, and we're doing everything we can to ensure it's easy for them to do so. At the same time, we're building our own games. As pinball hobbyists ourselves, we love traditional games with interesting shot layouts and deep, fun rulesets, and our first game (Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth) is exactly that type of game. With the development of LL-EE wrapping up (voice callouts are being added now), we'll soon resume development of Cosmic Cart Racing, which is another mostly traditional-style game with an interesting shot layout and fairly deep ruleset. After (or in parallel with) that, we'll continue developing traditional-style games, including both licensed and original themes.
In addition to developing a large library of traditional-style games, we intend to use the P3 to explore different shot layouts and gameplay styles in an effort to grow the pinball market beyond the traditional player and hobbyist. We've been talking about the capabilities of the P3 for a long time and asking you to imagine the possibilities, but those days are coming to an end. The P3 is so appealing to so many people that we've had a number of volunteers offer to help us develop our tools and games. Because of that, we've been able to develop some of our untraditional game ideas while the platform and LL-EE teams were busy with their own tasks.
At the 2016 Texas Pinball Festival (http://www.texaspinball.com), we'll be hosting a seminar on Saturday at noon. We'll be providing FREE LUNCH, giving away a bunch of great prizes (translites, t-shirts, etc), and revealing four new games for the P3.
I'll repeat that. During our seminar at TPF 2016 (3/19 @ 12pm), we'll be revealing FOUR new games for the P3.
To be clear, these game reveals won't just be discussions of themes and future development plans. We'll be showing you the games during our seminar and letting you play each of them at various times throughout the rest of the show. We'll therefore have a total of 5 games available for play at TPF.
We developed these new games to show off more capabilities of the platform, and they each have a specific purpose.
One of the new games is a full package that includes an upper playfield module, new cabinet artwork, and progressive game rules. It's much less intimidating to casual players than a traditional game. People will be able to walk up to it, instantly understand what to do, and enjoy a gameplay experience that progresses from simple to extremely difficult.
The other 3 games are what we call "mini-games" that work with one or more existing upper playfield modules. One game is built from the LL-EE code base, works only with the LL-EE playfield module, and delivers a short, fun game that integrates the most interesting mechanisms on the playfield. Another game is a children's game that works with, and utilizes, any upper playfield module. The last game is one that works specifically with the dynamic and interactive lower playfield and wall/scoop assembly, regardless of which upper playfield module is installed.
I apologize for intentionally not including any pictures with this update. We'll do much better than pictures at TPF!
Anybody who signs up by the end of the TPF weekend to buy a P3 will get all 5 games for free with their purchase of the platform. Whether you're present at the show or not, you need only to fill out and submit one of our pre-order forms (available at http://www.multimorphic.com) before Sunday, March 20th 2016 at 11:59pm CST. As is our policy, we won't ask for any payments until we start the manufacturing process on your machine, at which time you can decide to follow through with your order or cancel it with no penalty. Orders will be processed in the sequence they are received. Feel free to submit your forms now.
As with all of our promotions, all customers with an active pre-order on file participate in all new promotions offered prior to the manufacturing of their machine. This means that our earliest pre-order customers get these 5 games as well as everything they were offered previously, including Cosmic Cart Racing when it ships.
Please accept a sincere thank you on behalf of the entire Multimorphic team for supporting us throughout this endeavor. Your patience, support, and encouragement continues to motivate us all. With the platform design complete, much of our team is now focused on preparing for the manufacturing process and ensuring that our suppliers and contract manufacturing partners are successful in helping us build the most innovative pinball platform ever developed and deliver the best price-per-game value in the industry. Once all parts pass first article inspections and sample machines are built to our specifications and quality standards, we'll begin producing and shipping customer machines.
Feel free contact me directly with any questions or comments.
- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
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Just to keep this thread up to date - below is a flyer from Multimorphic about the new games they will be showing at the Texas Pinball festival in a couple of weeks. There is also an interview with Gerry from Multimorphic on the latest episode of This Flippin' Podcast, the interview starts at 1:43:
http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/episode-17-remixed-an-evening-with-gerry-stellenberg_72685
(https://i1.pinside.com/9/cf/9cf3f97b4ce8a1bcc28c5c7d2918781c78e3ce9b/resized/740/9cf3f97b4ce8a1bcc28c5c7d2918781c78e3ce9b.jpg)
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New promo video released today:
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Is it just me or do ALL the games look a little same same? Would like a review on someone who has played the games.
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I think some games are using the same layout and back 1/3 but have then different rules and lcd art and I think one different drop in back 1/3.
cool concept and nice work on his launch promo
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Here's a couple of screen grabs from the video showing the 2 different game modules. The second game, Cannon Lagoon, is a redemption-style game:
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/Lexy%20Lightspeed%20gameplay.png)
(http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m483/antswanmail/Cannon%20lagoon%20gameplay%201.png)
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This just went into production:
Hi all. We just announced publicly that the P3 is now officially in production. First machines are expected to come off the line in late March, with customer shipments commencing in April.
I'd like to offer a huge thanks to everybody who's supported us, advised us, constructively criticized us, or even just watched us during the last few years. We've stayed true to our vision and course-corrected along the way, and we're incredibly proud of what we've developed. The group of people who have come together to help bring this machine to life is top notch, and the machine is something to behold. Pinball is evolving; the P3 is proof of that.
Full text of our announcement follows.
- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com
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The last couple of months have seen Multimorphic reach a number of major milestones:
- All 2800+ parts for the first set of production P3s are on order, with some still being fabricated and others in-house and verified.
- We've selected and begun working with a contract manufacturing partner for P3 production.
- A bunch of patents have been granted on our core technologies, including all of our most revolutionary features.
- We've added a significant number of features to our software development kit and game framework.
- We're in trials with some web-based tools that will help us support both current and future customers.
- The specs for the P3's computer system are locked in.
All along we've known that showing early prototypes, partially-developed games, and a bunch of new ideas was a big risk. Some people like things in the pinball industry to remain as they've been for 30+ years, whereas others are eager to see product capabilities improve and new machines designed to address the needs of the modern pinball consumer. We decided early on that it was important to hear opinions from both groups of people so we could design a modular, multi-game platform with the potential to deliver that traditional pinball experience as well as exciting new experiences.
The modular design of the P3 is essential for multi-game capabilities and serviceability features, and it also modernizes the manufacturing and assembly process. Every major sub-assembly can be fully built to spec and tested outside of the playfield frame and cabinet. This means there is no critical pinball experience required for people to assemble a P3, and it allows us to effectively leverage contract manufacturing partners. That brings us to...
We are officially in production! For the last couple of months, we've been dedicating significant resources to supply chain management. With all of the parts on order or already received, we're turning some of our attention to helping our manufacturing partners successfully produce P3 machines.
Step 1 was to introduce the factory workers to the machine. We let them play and experience the functionality of the P3, and then we tore it down and showed them how everything fit together. It's an interesting experience to see the fruits of your 5 year labor broken down into a pile of parts in just a couple of hours, but the next step was much more rewarding. We watched as technicians who had never touched a P3 component before that morning put the entire machine back together (following our instructions of course), turn it on, and enjoy playing more pinball.
In the coming weeks, the relatively empty area seen in the pictures will fill up with P3 parts and people putting them together. That means we're only a couple of months away from shipping machines to our first customers. Those of you who have chosen to own a P3 will soon reap the benefits of the forward-thinking process that went into its design and our desire to deliver significantly more value for your money.
As we ramp up the production process, it's important for us to not only build high-quality first-run machines, but also to stage fabrication and delivery of parts for subsequent production runs, especially since some of the custom parts take 3-4 months to be made and delivered. While we'd love to wait until we have production machines out in the wild before asking the next set of customers to lock in their orders, it's impractical to ramp up the manufacturing site and then have them sit idle for 3 months waiting for more parts. Therefore, the time is approaching for us to ask the next set of pre-order customers to lock in their orders and pay for their machines.
We will soon be reaching out individually to more of you on the pre-order list. We're locking each of you in to a final price of $9875 (plus applicable tax and shipping charges). Those of you who signed up during the 5 game promotion will receive 5 games for that price (Lexy Lightspeed - Escape From Earth, Lexy Lightspeed - Secret Agent Showdown, Cannon Lagoon, ROCs, and Barnyard). If you're interested in a payment plan, we'll be outlining a payment schedule in the email.
If you're on the pre-order list and don't hear from us by the end of January, your order likely won't be filled in our 2nd production run. Feel free to email me in early February to request an estimated production date for your machine. Current plans include ramping up assembly in March, with first customer shipments going out in April, and building increasingly higher quantities after that.
We continue to be grateful for the support and patience you've all shown us throughout this process. It's a very exciting time for us, and we can't wait to see trucks rolling out with new P3 and unboxing pictures in your homes and locations. As you all know, that value of owning a P3 will continue to improve as the game library grows. Now that we've reached production, we can put a lot more of our R&D efforts into new games and game content. As such, this is only the beginning. Game on!
- Gerry Stellenberg
Multimorphic, Inc.
http://www.multimorphic.com
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