Copy of email from Scott Gullicks - Riot Pinball is below.
Hello WOOLY Fans!
We've had a busy year since WOOLY's first public debut last year at the Chicago Pinball Expo. With the overwhelming positive response we received from Expo we decided to build another prototype and keep refining the game.
The second WOOLY prototype is now fully functional and ready to go for this years Chicago Expo! We tried to keep this build as true as we can to a production model with our limited budget and have succeeded in making another tremendous game that looks and plays great. While there are many things that still look "prototype" it's another step ahead from our first prototype which most people thought looked like production quality.
Here's a quick recap of the additions and modifications:
- New Interactive Toys:
- HADES pop up toy raises out of the playfield and includes comedic taunting.
- Pandora's Box has a physical ball lock.
- Professionally made playfield with direct print graphics.
- All premium cointaker LEDs
- Multiball!!! We now have 5 different multiball modes!
- Addition of many, many more hurry-ups and overall deepening of an already deep ruleset. See the attached file with a list of features in the code.
- Upper flipper shots optimized: Upper ramp is now much easier to hit, upper orbit flows fast with a clean shot.
- Improved the Charon Loop/plunger lane geometry: ball returns to the right flipper smoothly now on clean shots to the loop. Plunger shot elevates right away above the loop and enters the playfield at the same area as before.
- Cleaner, more professional vacuum formed ramps (they're still prototype right now and hand cut, but much clearer and smoother than the first prototype).
- Lots more animations, audio, and voice call outs.
- Laser cut ball guides.
- Direct print plastics
The best news from this past year is that we now have an agreement with Spooky Pinball for them to manufacture WOOLY! Spooky has shown their commitment to building quality pinball machines and is the only boutique manufacturer that is actually shipping games. They have the capacity, resources and knowledge to build great pins. With Spooky Pinball being able to make our games we felt that we are now ready to start taking official Wrath of Olympus orders.
Here are the details on pricing and timing:
Cost: $7950.00 USD + applicable taxes, fees, shipping, etc.
Shipping Estimate: First units starting to ship Q3-Q4 2015.
Minimum Number of Units: A minimum of 100 orders will be required to start production.
Maximum Number of Units: As our first release we have decided to make WOOLY a limited production of a maximum of 250 units.
Payment:
Phase 1:
-$1000.00 USD secures your Wrath of Olympus pinball machine. As WOOLY followers, everyone on this list is receiving this information first, and has first access to securing their spots. The official announcement will go out to the public at Expo. This initial deposit is due by January 1st, 2015.
Phase 2:
- Once a minimum of 100 spots have been secured with payments I will be sending a confirmation email out along with additional information requiring an additional build deposit of $3,500.00 USD. This deposit will be due by February1st, 2015.
- If we don't get 100 build deposits all monies will be returned minus any paypal, CC fees, etc.
- Refunds due to not reaching the minimum build quantity of 100 units will be processed after February 1st, 2015.
Phase 3:
- Once the minimum 100 spots have been secured with these two initial payments, this money will no longer be refundable - the money will be used to directly pay for parts to build YOUR game. Essentially production will begin which includes ordering and manufacturing the longer lead time items like the incredible direct print playfields, professional CNC'd thermoformed ramps, molded toys, etc. If there are additional buyers after the February 1st, 2015 deadline that would like to purchase a WOOLY any special refund requests may be transferred for those that need to.
- Once we move into production a special goodie bag full of WOOLY and Riot Pinball gear will be sent to those buyers to help tide them over through the manufacturing process.
Phase 4:
- When your game is done being manufactured the remaining balance will be due. Once final payment has been received your game will ship.
Phase 1 Payments can be sent via paypal to:
scott@riotpinball.com or contact scott at
scott@riotpinball.com to set-up alternate payment options.
Please include the following information with your payment:
Full Name
Address (including Country Pinball Machine will be Shipped to)
Email Address
Phone Number
As always, please feel free to email me with any questions! Due to the large number of people on this list and the number of questions that may come up, please give me some time to respond as there may be a few frequently asked questions that arise that are not on the FAQ below that I will be better off handling all at once.
Again, thank you to everyone for your support on this project. I look forward to seeing WOOLY's in people's homes sometime next year.
-Scott Gullicks
Riot Pinball
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: What if I pay my $1000 and I decide I do not want to buy a WOOLY?
A: If you contact me requesting a refund of your $1000 before February 1st, 2015 your money will be refunded to you in a timely manner minus any fees incurred during the transaction.
Q: What if I pay all of the $4500 and I decide I do not want to buy a WOOLY?
A: If you contact me requesting a refund before February 1st, 2015 your money your money will be refunded to you in a timely manner minus any fees incurred during the transaction. If the request comes after February 1st, the deposit is no longer refundable and the request will be denied unless there are additional buyers after that time frame in which the deposit can be transferred.
Q: What happens if you don't get 100 buyers that pay the full $4500 by February 1st. 2015?
A: All monies collected from other buyers will be refunded minus any fees incurred during the transaction.
Q: Why are you making the payment process so difficult?
A: I want to lower your risk and mine. If we don't reach the minimum build order of 100 with the initial payment of $1000, that money is much easier to deal with and refund than the full $4500.
Q: How will you handle Warranty?
A: All parts will have a 6 month warranty. Buyer will pay shipping of defective parts back to Riot Pinball, which will then ship replacement parts.
Q: Will the software be open source?
A: Due to liability with the high voltage coils and a need to offer a warranty the code will not be open source. All code improvement suggestions can be sent to
scott@riotpinball.com and may be implemented in potential future software updates.
Q: I don't like the music and sound bites, can I change them?
A: Yes, the music and sound bites can be replaced by owners with their own sounds if they are technically capable. Riot Pinball will not be directly supporting this process and will not be responsible for changes to the machine made by the owner.
Q: Will the background music that is currently on the WOOLY prototypes be on the production models?
A: No. We will have original scores for the production version.
Q: Will the troll head as the HADES pop up be on the production model?
A: No. This will be a custom sculpted and formed HADES head.
Q: What will change from the prototype to the production?
A: Professional CNC'd ramps and mounting, production tooling for HADES and the Pandora's Box, and overall some more fine tuning of the shots and how items are secured to the playfield.
Q: What happens after the 6 month warranty period if I have an issue?
A: Technical support will still be maintained by Riot Pinball. Parts will also be available for purchase through Riot Pinball or online suppliers.
Q: What electrical components are driving WOOLY?
A: WOOLY will be controlled by the PROC system and their PD boards. A cubie computer will controll the PROC.
Q: Will there be coin mechanisms in the coin door?
A: Yes, US coin mechs will be included. However a bill acceptor will not be included.
Q: Will there be any updates to the code?
A: Most likely yes. We strive to have everything perfect for release but I'm sure there will be somethings that will come up that may require updating as well as overall improvements and potential additions to the code. Updates will be able to be easily done via the USB port on the cubie.
Q: Will the machine have a service menu to help me diagnose problems and change features?
A: Yes, the machine will have a full service menu for helping identify coil, lamp, flasher problems, etc. It will also allow for easy adjustment of game difficulty and content.
Q: Will the production machines be numbered?
A: Yes. If you have a special number request please include that in your payment and we will accommodate as best as we can. First come first serve on the numbers.
Wrath of Olympus Rule Set
September 2014
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Gameplay:
Starting Modes:
Hit the lightning stand up targets by the ramps and then enter the VUK to enable the mode start. Adjustable feature setting from 1 target for easy to 5 targets for most difficult.
Main Modes:
Monsters
- Minotaur – hit orbits in any order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Cerberus – hit ramps in any order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Medusa – hit orbits in a specific order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Hydra – hit ramps in specific order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
Gods
- Ares – bash the drop target multiple times. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Poseidon – hit all three ramps twice in the right order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Hades – hit everything in any order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
- Zeus – hit everything in a specific order. Once all shots are made, hit the center drop target to complete.
Sirens
- Playing through the four monsters enables Sirens. Hit the VUK to start the mode. Hit the lit shot as it moves to avoid crashing into the rocks.
War of the Titans - collect 32 Titans by hitting the right combination of shots. Hitting the VUK with titans collected increases their value.
Multiballs:
- Ball Breaker – Two ball MB started by hitting the captive ball repeatedly. Hit captive ball for jackpots.
- Zeus MB - Three ball MB started by completing the ZEUS targets. Hit left and right ramps for jackpots and upper ramp for super jackpot. Starting ZEUS multiball a second time requires the letters to be spelled twice and increases for each new MB.
- Pandora MB - Three ball MB started by lighting the locks via the Pandora standup targets and locking 3 balls in Pandora’s Box. Hit ramps for jackpots. Locking balls in Pandora's box during multiball increases jackpot values by the number of balls locked (1 ball locked = 2X jackpots, 2 balls locked = 3X jackpots.
- Minotaur MB - Two ball MB awarded after completing Minotaur Mode.
- Medusa MB - Four ball MB awarded after completing Medusa Mode.
Skill shots – upper loop, right ramp, and bumper.
Inlane/outlane – managing lane lights builds the end of ball bonus multipliers.
Mini hurry-up modes
- Achilles - started by bumper hits. Hit the drop target to collect.
- Athena - Pandora Targets start hurry up. Hit the upper ramp to collect.
- HADES - hit the two kick-back targets to raise HADES. Hit HADES to collect.
- Cyclops - hitting the captive ball repeatedly starts Cyclops hurry up. Hit the drop target to collect.
- Charon - hitting the right spinner repeatedly starts Charon. Shoot the Pandora orbit to raise HADES. Hit HADES to complete Hurry-up. Completing also awards secret gift further along in the game.
Special Awards:
- Beast Master awarded after defeating all Monsters.
- God of gods awarded after defeating all Gods.
- Windrider awarded after shooting the left orbit repeatedly.
- Titan Champ awarded when collecting the most titans.
General Features:
- Shot Bonus - collect all the fire lamps. Once all fires lamps have been collected, the next fire lamp shot will enable a bonus multiplier for that shot for the rest of the ball.
- Pandora award – hitting targets and then Pandora’s Box give a mystery award.
- Fates scoring - increase or decrease your shot values after FATES is spelled.
- Hades kickback – left outlane drain is saved when HADES targets are completed.
- Athena Extra Ball – upper loop orbits build towards extra ball.
- Pity Extra Ball – quick drains and low score lights extra ball on third ball.
- Olympus - spelling OLYMPUS raises HADES for quick scoring.
- Move Your Chariot - hitting the middle spinner starts move your chariot. Hit the middle spinner to collect.
- Lightning Standup Targets - Hitting all five of the standup targets lights the lightning hurry up.
- Shoot the lit shot to strike lightning and collect the mythical beast. Collect all six beasts.
- Sneak Shot – hitting the upper entry to get to the VUK completes all shots to a Monster but still requires hitting the drop target to complete the mode.
Wizard Modes: Currently being programmed.
