I was invited over for a private session with Nug, to go over his Coconut Island project now it is mostly complete and playable.
I will give an unbiased review for the game, as this helps Nug out with fine tuning and I'm sure most of you would like to know what it plays like.
Firstly when you walk up to the pin, the decals stand out a mile, Spacies did a fantastic job, beautiful bright artwork, looks like a mass produced pin from the 90s (actually better than most!
), you would not think that a home made pin lived inside.
Playfield artwork - Nug had some negative comments about the artwork on the PF, but I think what you need to consider is this is a 'home made' pin, no big budgets to throw at artists, just a few masterful brush strokes from Nug himself.
I personally like the artwork, and don't have any problem with it or the hand painted text, it fits into the theme fine, but Nug is thinking of getting Spacies to make an overlay in the future anyway.
PF layout - Firstly Nug needs to make up an instruction card for the apron, it is very hard to work out what to do without some guidance from someone who has played the game before.
There are some great loop shots (mowing lawns) that feed to the upper right flipper which need a little tweaking of the ball guide as it can roll back SDTM but works aprox 50% of the time.
The main ramp that feeds the rotary diverter is perfectly placed to alow a shot from the upper right flipper or the lower right flipper.
The lower mini PF is great, but needs some text up there to point out the ball lock. I tried for the ramp shot off it the first few times then realised that I should have been shooting for the ball lock.
The rotary diverter if a great toy, moving around during the game when activated by the targets below or when you have enough coconuts to begin the next mode.
Coconuts are scored by a few targets and the pop bumpers, if the artwork was rehashed I would suggest to add them to the artwork below the targets to give a clearer idea of what targets award the coconuts.
There is a circle of lights in the PF for the advance multiplyer which also act as a clock for mode time counting down as time runs out. Excellent idea giving you a visual reminder.
The shot up the ramp to begin the current mode is steep and challenging but when you work out the 'sweet spot' it is a good shot.
The ramp that the ball travels down after leaving the diverter to start the mode snakes its way up the back of the pin into the toilet, very good ramp to use as it gives a brief pause and allows you to realise you have just started a mode and to get ready to work out what to do next.
The ramp on the right side of the machine leading to the mini PF is a very hard shot to make from the flippers, I think I got it up there by luck more than skill, you can also reach this mini PF from one of the positions of the diverter.
Game play - fast fun PF, great small loop shots (when tweaked correctly), Multiball is very hard to start, but I like this, I get sick of games just giving away multiball with no skill required, so in that regard challenging.
Skill shot requires you to gently launch the ball into an outer loop on the left of the PF, it is a very hard to judge shot, I dont think I made it intentionally, but managed to recieve the award by flipping the ball through there before the time ran out.
Nug mentioned that he may add another skill shot so there are two randomly selected. This second one would require you to hit a star rollover in the centre of the PF. I think this is a great idea.
Out lanes are killers (reminds me of my HS2 LHS outlane
), need a little rubber to bounce the ball off so you can save the ball with a gentle nudge
The modes are a little hard to start, you need to gain a certain number of coconuts to relight, and this was possibly as I didnt really know exactly which targets to aim for to gain coconuts.
But when they are started they are great, there are a couple of very challenging modes which keep you on your toes, barflies is particually funny with some classic sound bites
Sound - as said before there are some classic quotes and sounds through the game, most people will recognise a few voices
, the sound fits the theme perfectly and Nug has done a top job mixing is all together for the game.
So overall I was quite impressed by Nugs first effort of a 'home made' pin, sure there are a few small things that need some fine tuning, but I can not begin to imagine the amount of time and effort (and sleepless nights) Nug had to put in to get it to this stage.
Amazing stuff that one bloke from Geelong (with a little help from another
) can design, layout, produce artwork, manufacture, wire, and program such a complex mechanical machine
Well done mate
