The Future of FP...

[Rawd]

Some more pinball Drama... (the brick fell out) :)

This is it guys. Make backups of your FP stuff, unplug your ethernet cards, and set the time and date back on your pc in your cabs.

I have shown great support to FP for almost a year now. I have donated money, and ridiculous amounts of time helping others in the cabinet section of the forum. I printed a large FP logo on my cab, I setup You-tube videos, and tried to promote the FP name as much as possible.

From what I have heard, FP will only be available through the purchase of a commercial Multi-pin system, or through Steam (4:3 view only with minimal tables offered). I have heard that our version may expire in 4 months with no update available.

(AGAIN, IF ALL OF THIS IS JUST RUMOUR, IT IS DUE TO LACK OF COMMUNICATION)


Chris, If you read this forum.. I would have happilly paid alot of money for a cabinet version. But from what I hear, that won't be offered.


FP is Chris' program to do whatever he likes with it. If he wants to make some money from his great program, then all the power to him. He deserves it. I would back him up 100% on that.

My anger stems from his lack of communication with his supporters. Alot of us donated money to the development of FP, and to the costs of building our cabs. It would have been nice for him to let us know, or even offer us a paid version for home cabinet use (he may have his hands tied there legally). I am also upset that all of my posts regarding cabinet building are gone from his forum. It's his forum, he can do what he wants. But it upsets me.

Anyways, none of my emails or questions that I ever sent to him were answered anyways, and he does things too covertly for my liking.

In all honesty, thanks to Chris, and the FP community for what you have given to me. I only post this as a word of warning to all of the cabinet builders who do not want to lose their investment.

Table makers interested in creating tables for FP in the future should also consider locking in the latest version of FP, and setting their pc clocks back.

[polygame]

I sadly would have to agree with some of the things you are saying Rawd.
(..Might be banish on the FP forum for that comment, but there is always a home for people with a hobby somewhere.)

IMHO, Chris you know how much I have FP in the highest respect possible. I've invest personnaly A LOT of time to build a crowd of followers, and can really say this time you were really quick at jumping the gun. That thing you said about removing Arcade Render, It 's kinda like if Bill Gates told everyone that Microsoft would reverse back to the features of windows 3.1 because somebody hacked in windows XP. When there is problem you are supposed to improve, not go back.

you know how much most of us would have been glad to pay for an editor version that have the Arcade render features plus a way to lock tables so people can play them but not edit them (Like Slamt1ilt for instance). Now that you see the logo "OFF" I just sincerely hope you can better understand the concern.

Steve

[studmuff]

Steve I hope you post this at FP or PM Chris. This is really a 'dark' day for FP.

[Rawd]

This is really what bothers me the most...

"Sorry to all the cabinet builders but if you are not going to show any respect for me.. I'm not going to bother with you."


Many of us showed our respect over and over and over again. I think that this was just a good excuse for him to remove the cabinet forum and arcade render, due to commercial business reasons.

[BUZZ]

Time I said a few words here.

I have been a strong follower of FP for a couple of years, plus some ,on top of that, I have always respected peoples views and opinions, and most people seem to get on just fine with me - this will continue I am sure, but more likely in this forum and the VP forum.
As Rawd pointed out, the quote from Chris shows how things are changing in FP land, and I think unless we get some reassurance somewhere then FP, as far as the dual screen / cab set up will be dead and buried.
I don`t want this to happen as many,many, people out there will agree, and hopefully this will be sorted out BUT it all comes down to Chris, and how he wants things to go in the future.
If it means paying for a license to run FP, thats fine - my paypal will be sent tomorrow, BUT i am beginning to think that commercial spin offs, deals, are close to the horizon, which will exclude the diy crowd.

The regular crowd at FP will simply relocate here - Rawd is here more than me now, and thats just one buddy !

Just my 2 cents.
Buzz

[Wahreez]

Post removed, perhaps only temporarily.

-Wahreez

[BUZZ]

Did you read my mind Wahreez ???
I just posted something along the same lines regarding the commercial side of things.
Think you are right.
Buzz

[studmuff]

Seriously, who is going to by a Multipin? They are priced at $6,000. You buy a new stern for less. You can buy 2 really nice pins for that. The Multipin doesn't even come close to the Ultrapin as far commerical games. I really don't think the Multipin will sell like hotcakes.
I don't even know if I would buy a FP license. It would depend on how much it was priced. EVeryone complains about the physics in FP. I would say I play 90% VP on my cab and 10% FP. I like FP but not enough to pay a lot for it.

[BUZZ]

Tom,
My cab cost around $2000 and has 230 tables on it.
Hows that compare with Nanotech ?????????
Value for money or what !
Buzz

[studmuff]

I hear you Buzz. Yeah what is 230 divided by $2000 compared to 15 divided by $6000?
I'm just saying I prefer VP to FP. Please don't take it personal. I have a lot of money invested in my cab too. What if nanotech starts paying all authors to do tables? I'm not going to spend $500 to play 3 tables nor will anyone else. Seems like this might be the direction things might take.
I personally prefer more actual real tables then orginals. I do like dead hunters, 3 angels, dark quest, etc but I like playing Funhouse, Taxi, Shadow, etc a lot more.
If I was to purchase FP they would really need rom support, dmd support, better physics, better tables.
I really don't know if I would purchase a VP license.
I would think if either FP or VP were licensed software it would need to license games but I guess I would have to ask a lawyer that question.

[Rawd]

I think the idea is to sell them commercially to pubs and arcades. A Golden Tee Golf 2010 update with 5 new courses costs around $1000.00. I think this is the idea.

[studmuff]

Yeah but $6000 vs $1000. You can buy 6 golden tees and have less lines by them :).

[Rawd]

Yeah but $6000 vs $1000. You can buy 6 golden tees and have less lines by them :).

I wish..

Golden Tee Golf 2009 (20 courses) = $5000
2010 upgrade (5 new courses) = $1000

or.. Golden Tee 2010 complete = $5500

Plus.. A share of tournament profits goes to Incredible Technologies.

Canadian dollars.

Golden Tee (IT) has also been in business for Decades, they have a HUGE following.. Worldwide tournaments etc... So, tough to compare. But I think this is what they have in mind.

[studmuff]

I wish..

Golden Tee Golf 2009 (20 courses) = $5000
2010 upgrade (5 new courses) = $1000

or.. Golden Tee 2010 complete = $5500

Plus.. A share of profits goes to Incredible Technologies.

Canadian dollars.

Golden Tee (IT) has also been in business for Decades, they have a HUGE following.. Worldwide tournaments etc... So, tough to compare. But I think this is what they have in mind.

That's what happens when your watching football, your wife's trying to talk to you, and your trying to think. :burnout:
Your right.

[Wahreez]

Hopefully you are right Loafer. I began to think that i don't want things getting worse.

[The Loafer]

I think you guys need to settle down with the conspiracy theories. Sure, there might be ulterior motives, you never know, but the fact nanotech have recently released parts that help develop DIY kind of makes it weird that they’d secretly are pushing for this to happen… at least not the way this is evolving.

Chris has a history of being quick on the draw and this situation kind of reminds me a bit of when he ended his involvement with VP. The thing is, passion is a two way street, you like someone because of their passion and commitment towards a product, well sometimes that passion comes at a cost, such as pride, protection of your “baby”, etc. I’m not saying its right, it’s just the way it is but am saying be patient, don’t make things worse, let a few people in the middle of this get their minds sorted out on this. If things get worse, that’s when it can become a “no turning back” scenario.

Chris is a good guy, I’ve not read up on everything but the bit I did, I ask for you to not be so quick to judge everything off of a couple of days of drama. Let the dust settle a bit before your words tend to be misrepresented and end up being fuel to the fire.

Whatever happens, Chris, like Randy before him, has brought me lots of fun, and I don’t think anything will change that.

[studmuff]

I think you guys need to settle down with the conspiracy theories. Sure, there might be ulterior motives, you never know, but the fact nanotech have recently released parts that help develop DIY kind of makes it weird that they’d secretly are pushing for this to happen… at least not the way this is evolving.

Chris has a history of being quick on the draw and this situation kind of reminds me a bit of when he ended his involvement with VP. The thing is, passion is a two way street, you like someone because of their passion and commitment towards a product, well sometimes that passion comes at a cost, such as pride, protection of your “baby”, etc. I’m not saying its right, it’s just the way it is but am saying be patient, don’t make things worse, let a few people in the middle of this get their minds sorted out on this. If things get worse, that’s when it can become a “no turning back” scenario.

Chris is a good guy, I’ve not read up on everything but the bit I did, I ask for you to not be so quick to judge everything off of a couple of days of drama. Let the dust settle a bit before your words tend to be misrepresented and end up being fuel to the fire.

Whatever happens, Chris, like Randy before him, has brought me lots of fun, and I don’t think anything will change that.

True. We really need to see what happens. I hope Chris will put the cabinet forum posts back up though.

[Rawd]

Conspiracy theory or not. I don't like the way that we (cab builders) were treated today at FP forums. I really can't imagine Chris being that offended by the missing logo. Threaten arcade render and remove 1000's of hours of conversation in the cabinet forum? Then walk away? Imagine if BBB did that because someone hacked the HP logo.

Like I said earlier, he is free to do whatever the heck he wants with his program and forum. But I am free to vent about it.

[The Loafer]

Rawd: yes, you are free to do so and you are right to feel frustrated. But what I am also saying is from my experience with VP/FP politics, that's not the best course of action to follow if you are hoping to get back to the status quo. You are free to do as you wish.

Politics sucks, so do ego's. This hobby has plenty of both :). I don't think for a second Black thinks ill of cabinet owners; if he did, he'd never have created the arcade render mode.

[Rawd]

Rawd: yes, you are free to do so and you are right to feel frustrated. But what I am also saying is from my experience with VP/FP politics, that's not the best course of action to follow if you are hoping to get back to the status quo. You are free to do as you wish.

Politics sucks, so do ego's. This hobby has plenty of both :). I don't think for a second Black thinks ill of cabinet owners; if he did, he'd never have created the arcade render mode.

Appreciated.

I am not going to play politics, and I am finished over at the FP forum (all of my posts were in the cabinet forum anyways). And I felt like I got kicked in the nuts.

Was just a warning to other cab builders that FP may stop functioning in the near future. Based on things I have heard, rumour, speculation, unanswered emails, table designers jumping ship, cabinet forums deleted etc...

Sorry if I offended anyone with my rants today. I am done with this. Time to play some pinball.

[bossgp]

yes not much I can add or say about this topic but from a personal view I don't play FP these days anyway, VP is so much better with the tables,oh well let's just move on and let it be.

[newguru]

Hi everybody.

It's my first post here. I to am a fan of the silver ball and amazed at the quality of the cabs that some have built..

As soon as I have time ($$$) i'll have to take on such an endeavour..

Regardind the present situation, it appears it was just a gross misunderstanding, acording to the latest post by Black (who's going through a hard moment in his life right now)..

http://futurepinball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4574

Cheers

[Rawd]

Thanks NewGuru. Welcome.

I posted a reply there.

[studmuff]

Great news

[BUZZ]

Sorry to hear Chris`s bad news, and I take back some of my words which were harsh in the circumstances.
Agree with what loafer says, and lets get back to the silver ball, and see what news we get, when we get it.
Buzz

[bossgp]

hope everything goes ok for him,glad things can be back to almost normal now

[Flying Dutchman]

Sorry to hear about Black's personal situation right now. Gladd it all worked out for FP in the end ..

Cheers,
FD.