Skinned body toy: Prototype toy in testing position. The newest (final, I'm thinking) will be here on Saturday with some other cool stuff. He will interact with the ball by way of the left ramp, but has a tendency to shake and sway with general nudging and pop-bumper-action that I really dig. Also, plastics will obviously play a large part in his appearance on the final game.
DMD/Software: The software in the game is our newest batch. A handful of major changes since it was in Chicago along with a TON of minor changes for balance control and debugging. Most notable difference in the software that you'll see immediately is the new DMD action. Literally every animation has been redone with lots of added effects, fonts, instructions... Lots of jazz on-screen now, but I don't believe it is distracting or disorienting at all. Many new animations have been added in, as well, in situations that didn't have an animation before. All of these things have been optimized for the new 16-color LED display, also. Also, lots of new sounds and call outs have been added to this build. The infamous "ain't got time to bleed" is finally present, along with some other good ones that hadn't been implemented yet.
Hardware: Outside of the clear ramps, if you haven't had a chance to see them yet, not a lot of change on the hardware side of this prototype. We couldn't get some things in line quickly enough to have our newest one available for play, so we brought "old faithful" from the Chicago expo. We actually had to sprint to reassemble it before the show, so if it blows up, uhh, it's Aaron's fault.
Company stuff: We have a few big announcements to make on Saturday during our seminar / fireside. All good news, stay tuned!
Artwork: Two quick things, here. First, the artwork is not finalized, but, as you can see, is VERY close. Secondly, we are getting a lot of input, reactions and feedback both here at the expo and here on PinSide, and it's fantastic. How any other company can make major decisions about this kind of stuff without consulting the fan base is beyond me. While we surely can't make changes for everyone, we most certainly take all comments seriously. Keep the comments coming, but keep them constructive. Also, "this is awesome" messages are always helpful
