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Keeper of TASBot
I have great news - Mike has consented to a trial run of having a couple of pinball machines set up at AGDQ 2015!

I've been acting as a liaison between the speedrunning community and the pinball community and I'm proud to announce a wonderful fusion - pinball wizard mode speedruns!  The concept is simple - nearly all 90's and later pinball machines have a wizard mode, or a natural culmination of the game's theme.  For Twilight Zone it's completing Lost in the Zone, or for Attack from Mars it's becoming Ruler of the Universe.  Beating the wizard mode on modern pins in the shortest amount of realtime can be a fun challenge due to deep rulesets with multiple possible paths of completion and.. er... extremely realistic RNG mechanics.  AGDQ 2015 stands to be the first time this concept will be put to the test at scale, and I can't wait to see what happens.

There will be two yet-to-be-announced pinball machines set up to accept donations, with 100% of the donations received going to the Prevent Cancer Foundation.  One pinball machine will have a camera over the playfield and will be streamed with live commentary to http://twitch.tv/pinballjoe by the man himself and his volunteers, contingent on their availability.  While the pinball community typically uses metrics such as points in league play, the concept of speedrunning isn't unheard of; the primary issue has been a lack of good record keeping, which is something that's about to change.  At the end of the marathon, the winners for each pin will be recorded and the fastest times will be announced.

As a pinball collector myself, I'm always glad for an opportunity to provide new venues for people to become familiar with modern pinball.  If competition isn't your thing, don't worry - the second machine will be set up with no cameras for general play, although we may still have a clock so you can practice.  We also hope to rotate different games through, subject to availability and logistics (because storing and moving pinball machines is hard :).  If donating for every game you play is an issue, don't sweat it - the games will be set to free play at all times, but as noted any donations you can give will go to a good cause.  So, if you're attending AGDQ 2015 and you happen to walk by some pinball machines, don't be shy, come on over and have some fun!

I'd like to take an opportunity to thank everyone who made this possible (with a much more official list later) - first, CoolMatty deserves thanks for suggesting the idea, coordinating the staff response, and working out physical floorspace.  I should say upfront that pinballjoe has already put in many hours organizing the stream and helping make connections and I suspect the number of volunteer hours he'll put in by the time this is done will exceed everyone else's combined.  The director of http://replayfx.org/ out of Pittsburgh is providing the pinball machines for free for the enjoyment of attendees; I know exactly how challenging it is to move pinball machines around and I applaud his willingness to help out and share his passion for pinball.  Lastly, the members of the Free State Pinball Association (FSPA at http://fspazone.org) and the DC Maryland Virginia Pinball league (DMV Pinball at http://dmvpinball.com) have been extremely helpful in connecting resources and have my thanks.

This is a rare opportunity for two communities to come together and I look forward to seeing how this experiment plays out, no pun intended.  Here's to a great trial run, and happy flipping!
Thread title:  
Edit history:
Withhelde: 2014-12-18 06:27:50 pm
Thinker & Dreamer
When  I was getting into pinball, I actually had thought of speedrunning tables (such as Addams Family's Tour the Mansion and and defeating the King of Payne and Royal Madness in Medieval Madness)

What tables will there be at AGDQ?
Edit history:
dwangoAC: 2014-12-18 06:47:09 pm
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from Withhelde:
What tables will there be at AGDQ?


I would love to be able to answer that question, but I Joust can't coMMit to anything just yet.  I can say it WoZ a lot of work to secure space for even two machines and narrowing down the list has been a TotAN challenge.  I've certainly asked for a LotR machines.  If I get what I'm looking for I think iTZ going to be a great lineup!
Thats a good question Withhelde .. What games would you or others like to see?

Something with interesting game play (modes with good callouts, really satisfying shots) but also an achievable wizard mode that isn't a 30 minute grind...
zzzzzzzzzz
This is awesome, as was the arcade idea.  As for requests, I really just want something that doesn't have a huge open area in the middle like most modern quarter-eaters but a lot of interesting action in back instead.  If I can request any one machine, it's Banzai Run, but I don't really expect that to happen.
www.twitch.tv/ghoul02
Oh man, I can't wait to see which pinballs go up. I've played more than my fair share of pinball, and consider myself quite decent at them. Can't wait to see what the two are.

I can vouch that LOTR is both a fun and slightly easier game, which is a bonus. One of my favorite machines, the others being Medieval Madness (which is expensive and rare) and the new X-Men Pro model, with Twilight Zone very close behind.
Edit history:
dwangoAC: 2014-12-19 02:52:35 am
dwangoAC: 2014-12-18 10:59:39 pm
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from snorlax:
This is awesome, as was the arcade idea.  As for requests, I really just want something that doesn't have a huge open area in the middle like most modern quarter-eaters but a lot of interesting action in back instead.

As noted in the other thread the arcade games will have to wait for a later year when we have more space but I don't personally have anything against them and I think I speak for CoolMatty as well when I say that all of us would like that to happen at a future marathon.  We were lucky Mike said it was OK to use the space we've already committed. Smiley
Quote from snorlax:
If I can request any one machine, it's Banzai Run, but I don't really expect that to happen.

While Banzai Run is potentially doable, it's an older 1980's System 11 game without a wizard mode (although I confess it's a classic Pat Lawlor design that's a lot of fun).  Unfortunately I don't think it's a good good choice for this go-round but perhaps next time.
Quote from Ghoul02:
Oh man, I can't wait to see which pinballs go up. I've played more than my fair share of pinball, and consider myself quite decent at them. Can't wait to see what the two are.

While we're limited to only two set up at a time due to floorspace, the hope is we'll be able to bring a few more pins and rotate them through, possibly with a waterfall system where the off-camera game on one day becomes the on-camera game the next day to give people more time to become familiar with the rules.  This is all speculation at this point until we can work out the logistics but that's the hope.
Quote from Ghoul02:
I can vouch that LOTR is both a fun and slightly easier game, which is a bonus. One of my favorite machines, the others being Medieval Madness (which is expensive and rare) and the new X-Men Pro model, with Twilight Zone very close behind.

I can't coMMit to the latter pin (man, I just can't help but drop hints Smiley but I worked out a way to temporarily swap my AfM for an MM and I had it set up at work for a while.  It is a ton of fun to play and I'd love to have it in the rotation.  Thanks for your thoughts!
Really looking forward to this.  Love playing pinball machines whenever I get the chance, and with the money collected from them going to charity, it makes them worth playing even more.  Cheesy
Thinker & Dreamer
Medieval Madness is by far my favorite pin and I would love you forever if you bought it, but I fully understand if you don't wanna bring a $10,000+ table to AGDQ.

LotR and Attack from Mars are both pretty good and basic. Wizard of Oz is a very interesting table , if only because it's not Stern/Williams.
Elvira. Get it in.
Elvira and the Party Monsters
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=782

or Scared Stiff?
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=3915
Thinker & Dreamer
Scared Stiff looks more entertaining, honestly.
Quote from pinballjoe:


Either one would make my pants happy.
We're aiming to please, but maybe not to that extent.
Edit history:
ButtersBB: 2014-12-19 07:56:04 pm
Quote from pinballjoe:
We're aiming to please, but maybe not to that extent.


Why must you discriminate against my pants?

At any rate, I'm guessing that Scared Stiff is more likely to have a wizard mode, so I suppose that would be more in line with the goal.
its one of the best.
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from pinballjoe:
its one of the best.

With *that* game, I think you left out the letter "r" in that last word. Smiley  (Needless to say, it's not my theme as it's a bit too racy for me, but I have no opposition to it being there.)
Joke made by Mrs. Cab earlier that leads to a potentially stupid but otherwise reasonable question: Will whoever has the record on each machine when the Super Metroid run begins get to donate the quarters to either save or kill the animals? 

More generally, would whoever has the record on each machine when it's potentially rotated out get to put the quarters in the machine on a donation incentive?
Edit history:
dwangoAC: 2014-12-20 11:25:29 pm
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from mrcab:
Joke made by Mrs. Cab earlier that leads to a potentially stupid but otherwise reasonable question: Will whoever has the record on each machine when the Super Metroid run begins get to donate the quarters to either save or kill the animals? 

More generally, would whoever has the record on each machine when it's potentially rotated out get to put the quarters in the machine on a donation incentive?


That's an absolutely fantastic idea!  I'll work it out with CoolMatty.  Thanks for the suggestion.
Crawlathon WR, get down on my level.
Yeah I'm down with that. You'll need to put a registration sheet up for it. If you get a record, sign your name and the initials you used, so we can determine who you are.
Edit history:
dwangoAC: 2014-12-21 11:04:06 am
dwangoAC: 2014-12-21 11:02:03 am
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from Cool Matty:
Yeah I'm down with that. You'll need to put a registration sheet up for it. If you get a record, sign your name and the initials you used, so we can determine who you are.


I believe pinballjoe (and his other volunteers from DMV Pinball running the stream) are also planning on having some kind of official method for recording scores, so perhaps we can dovetail with what they are doing already.  Take note that since the goal is to complete the wizard mode as fast as possible (i.e. a speedrun with no concern for number of points), it is very possible that the winner will not be on the high score list on the pin, so we shouldn't count on being able to see their initials.  We can use the built-in auditing features of the pinball machines to determine how much money each pin has collected so that part is easy.

The only tricky bit is trying to figure out how to allow those funds to be allocated to donation incentives earlier than the last day.  We'll work that out one way or another, probably by placing a cutoff time for records on each pin so people know how much longer a given pin will be on rotation and the time that records will no longer be accepted / the point at which the player with the fastest time completing wizard mode will be allowed to allocate the funds collected to a donation incentive of their choice.

Thoughts?
Haters gonna hate
I love the idea of this.  I'm a dirty casual when it comes to pinball, but I do enjoy it immensely.  Glad to see this implemented and hope it's a success. 

And if you're taking table requests, not sure how well either of these line up with what you're trying to do, but The Addams Family and Whitewater are two favorites of mine (there are few things more satisfying than digitized Raul Julia screaming Double Jackpot!! and Whitewater has some of the best table flow I've ever seen).  The aforementioned Attack From Mars is a good one too, my local arcade got one in recently and I've been playing it some, definitely fun.

And personally, I'd like to downvote Wizard of Oz.  It's a really cool looking machine, and definitely something different, but with what experience I've had with it, it doesn't play particularly well.  Just my opinion.
Keeper of TASBot
Quote from Breakdown:
And if you're taking table requests, not sure how well either of these line up with what you're trying to do, but The Addams Family and Whitewater are two favorites of mine.

TaF is likely, Whitewater less so but not impossible.  I'll let pinballjoe chime in, though.
Quote from Breakdown:
And personally, I'd like to downvote Wizard of Oz.  It's a really cool looking machine, and definitely something different, but with what experience I've had with it, it doesn't play particularly well.  Just my opinion.

Ah, I have a question - how long ago did you play it and do you happen to know what software version it was on at the time?  I had a similar experience to you - I liked that WoZ was different but I didn't feel like it played very well the first time I played it.  Then I got a chance to play a different WoZ on newer software a few months later and my opinion has changed substantially.  Also, we'd like to represent Jersey Jack Pinball if possible, as The Hobbit pin starts shipping early next year and it's looking to be an even better use of the platform.  Thanks for your honest feedback, though!
Haters gonna hate
It was some time back, so probably the initial release.  I did hear something about a patch for it since I played it, so if the upgrade makes a significant difference, then I guess withdraw my downvote.  And regardless, you guys are the experts and it's your show, by all means, bring what you think is best.
Addams is 100% .. whitewater is a great game and is on the list. We're doing one game from each of the existing manufacturers .. WOZ's wizard mode is a little tough to achieve .. but I want to make sure JJP is part of the event.