Predator - by SkitBPinball

[Cow Corner]

I put my name down for a machine - #215 of 250 run - am stoked 

Are there any other AP members getting one?

I was very tempted but no I won't be buying one. Only have room for a few machines here and I want to go on some golf holidays as well next year.
Congrats mate, i hope it exceeds all expectations, top theme for sure!

[swinks]

here is some line art released, hopefully a bit more by the end of the show.

I am hoping for a real jungle feel with the artwork and would be cool in hunt mode if the black lights reveal the predator.

[swinks]

here is a vid from the Chicago Pinball Expo - the black ramps are not staying, the manufacturer couldn't get the right plastic before the show for the guys show machine.

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[swinks]

all 250 have now got names assigned but SkitBpinball are still keeping a list of any new interested parties in case of drop outs.

[swinks]

The predator is being run by a p-roc system and a single board computer. Someone on Pinside asked the question and thought it was a good fact to pass.

Guy asked - "I am intrigued by this single board PC/SSD mounted in the head that you'll be using. Got a link to something similar that can drive the P-ROC?"

Kevin said - "That depends on what you're doing with your pin. If you plan on running PinMame to keep your stock rules available, then you're going to need a fairly strong PC to drive it. If you're planning on simply running your own software all the time, it doesn't take much to run a P-ROC at all. For something off-the-shelf, you can use a BeagleBoard. From the talks I've had with a few P-Roc'ers, the Raspberry Pi doesn't quite make the cut, though, unfortunately."

[swinks]

I asked the question if the play field was silk screened, direct laser ink jet or overlay
 SkitBPinball said  "We're trying out an overlay kind of process for the playfield right now. It's a pretty fancy process which makes it nearly impossible for the playfield to groove or for the art to fade or wear off. The test playfield we have here--even though there is no art on it yet--plays butter smooth and shows absolutely zero signs of grooving or peeling"

I asked if the cabinet was going to be silk screened, direct laser ink jet or vinyl decal
 SkitBPinball said  "The cabinet art is applied with vinyl decals. We talked with the proprietor of a local vinyl shop here and showed him our old prototype cabinet (the one from Allentown) and voiced all of our concerns. After some lengthy explanations as to why certain things happen (peeling, fading, etc.), we were comfortable enough to let him give our newest prototype a shot and we are not disappointed in the least. We've left sun-lamps on it for a few days straight in very tight spots (like an 8 inch square on the side) and there is absolutely zero signs of fade. We've also held a hairdryer against the corners (read:problem areas) with no peeling issues. For those of you who saw the game on the Chicago Expo floor, you could see the cabinet looked as professional as any other game in the hall."

[swinks]

My question about the overlay caused a bit of a stir and I think it was a good thing for people to at least be aware of the play field overlay.

SkitBPinball said "Wow! I guess this is a big drawback to sharing information as it develops   My post about the playfield art application just says what we are trying out right now. To ease all of your minds, there are a couple of things to be said here:

The process we're trying out is not a sticker on wood by any means. Formica is a close idea to what it is, but it's not exact. We are actually still in the dark on the nitty-gritty of it because it's military technology and civilians aren't privy to the information.

It has been out in the real world for some time now, and has proven to be nearly indestructible. Delamination was the number one concern we talked about, and the contractor was extremely confident that it would not be an issue.

Lastly, we've talked with Classic Playfield Reproductions and they have shown interest in doing the playfields for us, and we all know they do fantastic work and they do it through the conventional means that have been tried and true for years. This is one of the options we were looking at that WILL increase the price of the machine, so we were looking into something a little different that could compare to the quality that is needed. If it doesn't make the cut, then CPR is the only other option we're willing to follow. As potential owners of the final product, voice your opinions now. If you're genuinely uncomfortable with what we're considering, let's just leave the idea on the table of potentially increased cost for the comfort of knowing exactly what we'll be getting by going through CPR."

It will be interesting to  see the developments / innovation through their hard work, could be a great thing for pinball.

Lastly - sadly had to cancel my pre-order so one less to Aus

[Retropin]

I asked the question if the play field was silk screened, direct laser ink jet or overlay
 SkitBPinball said  "We're trying out an overlay kind of process for the playfield right now. It's a pretty fancy process which makes it nearly impossible for the playfield to groove or for the art to fade or wear off. The test playfield we have here--even though there is no art on it yet--plays butter smooth and shows absolutely zero signs of grooving or peeling"

I asked if the cabinet was going to be silk screened, direct laser ink jet or vinyl decal
 SkitBPinball said  "The cabinet art is applied with vinyl decals. We talked with the proprietor of a local vinyl shop here and showed him our old prototype cabinet (the one from Allentown) and voiced all of our concerns. After some lengthy explanations as to why certain things happen (peeling, fading, etc.), we were comfortable enough to let him give our newest prototype a shot and we are not disappointed in the least. We've left sun-lamps on it for a few days straight in very tight spots (like an 8 inch square on the side) and there is absolutely zero signs of fade. We've also held a hairdryer against the corners (read:problem areas) with no peeling issues. For those of you who saw the game on the Chicago Expo floor, you could see the cabinet looked as professional as any other game in the hall."

Artwork got UV laminate over it and base product was probably changed to SUV

[swinks]

From the guys themselves:
"update video today. If you missed the Chicago Expo last month, this will be your first time seeing the new prototype machine. Tons of minor and some major updates were made to the machine since the previous prototype and I think you will be happy to see the changes that were made.
You'll notice the lighting patterns have changed dramatically as to be less obnoxious during gameplay.

Some animations have been changed to better reflect what the final product will look like (note the Killing Spree and Replay animations).

Brand new, properly formed ramps have been installed on this machine. While they are certainly not the final designs and the fact that they are not transparent is certainly not permanent, the shot placements and angles are.

Center targets and the pop bumpers behind them have moved further up the playfield for playability. We have gotten significantly less "death shots" off the center targets in this build.

Many software updates and tweaks have been made for better playability and balance, as well. More to come, of course, during and after more play-testing.

So let's move on to the video itself. Over the recent course of this project, we live, eat, sleep and breathe essentially nothing but Predator. That being said, it's easy to slip our minds that many of you have never gotten to play a complete game on Predator or have even seen a complete game being played.

With that in mind, we shot video of two complete games being played. First exhibition tries to focus on multiball modes and the integration of the Hunt feature, while the second playthrough focuses more on conventional mode-based gameplay.

A lot of editing went into the presentation of the video update, but it should be said that once the gameplay videos start, they are completely unedited and unmodified. What you see in the video is exactly how the game plays as it sits today with all of its flaws included. We like to think we are aware of all of the flaws in the video, at least, but feel free to let us know your concerns and comments. After all, this is how the game grows and is a big part of why we do our updates in the form of videos in the first place.

At any rate, here's the video. Let us know what you think, but go easy on Sulkie Stevie. He's very sensitive!"

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

[swinks]

SkitBPinball put out a reminder
"December 14th is going to be a pretty busy day for us, I can tell you that right now. You are right in remembering that date, but we're trying to be an lenient as possible with pre-owners. If someone has special circumstances that prevent them from being able to make their deposit, PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY (kevin@skitbpinball.com). While we have a very real need to know who is serious about this project, we certainly don't want someone to lose their game because of a timing issue, especially during the holiday season. That being said, once Dec14 comes and goes, if we haven't heard anything from someone, we have to assume that he/she would be giving up their spot. That's when the waitlisters will start being moved into the pre-order spots.

Oh, and on that note, we have lost very few pre-orders, especially compared to the numbers I was worried about, initially, but I can tell you there are some spots opening up. I'm not sure if it's enough to cover the entire waitlist, but we'll know more on the 14th."

[shootar]

There will be a couple in Qld 

[swinks]

latest video

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[swinks]

some updated points of interest

1. Yes, only 250.
2. Don't forget the card-pc that will be running it, as well.
3. Hand drawn art
4. Playfield will not be silk-screened. There is just too much detail in the art to use the old-school approach, so we have to go a very different direction. Small update on this: The playfield artwork will NOT be any sort of overlay as previously mentioned. We have experienced some infamous delamination, and that is not acceptable. Playfields will be clearcoated for decades of dependability.
5. LED displays, yes, but not likely Pin-led. Working with Vishay right now.
6. Software updates will be in the form of new micro-SD cards if needed. There will be web options for software-savvy types, as well.
7. All toys will be interactive in one way or another. And no 'toy-bashing.'
8. Yes, shaker motor will be coded and wired, but will not be included.
9. We've seen so many cool topper ideas. We may include one, but right now we haven't decided. It will mostly depend on cost.
10. Yes, all LEDs throughout provided by CoinTaker lighting.
11. Flipper Fidelity sound system
12. The power supply is universal with very little modification. If by "modification," I mean you simply hook the power cord into it a different way. Very cool, for sure.

[swinks]

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 

[Crashramp]

That's a very cool looking toy. It'll be good to see it all come together in its final version.