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LoserKid Pinball Podcast
LoserKid Pinball Podcast
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Ep 49: AIQ with Keith Elwin

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 11 min listen
From the creator

The GOAT has returned! Alot of talk about Avengers but we also discuss things like: Papa, Upper flippers, and Gorillaz. Enjoy

Listen on LoserKid Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • Iron Maiden will receive a major code update in 2020 that will likely be its final update, ending its active development lifecycle after approximately 2.5 years
  • The Captain Marvel ramp on Avengers Premium/LE is significantly more expensive to manufacture than alternatives, making it unfeasible for the Pro model
  • The Gamma Ray shot sound effect in Avengers was originally created for Jurassic Park but went unused because it was 15 seconds long
  • Stern's code quality has significantly improved; games now ship at 0.91-0.92 versions instead of historically around 0.41
  • Keith Elwin is designing games at approximately one per year, with multiple titles in the pipeline (joking reference to 'Laundry Day' as game #6)
  • The Soul Gem flipper-count mode in Avengers was inspired by an experimental mechanic first tested in Jurassic Park's topper mode
  • Ray Tanzer was hired at Stern and was given Iron Maiden work to learn the company's coding system and processes
  • The Reality Gem mode is the easiest mode in Avengers; the Time Gem is the hardest and offers risk-reward strategy implications

Notable quotes

“The game's coming to the end of its life cycle, so that doesn't make too much sense. But we do have a pretty big update, which will definitely be out in 2020.”
Keith Elwin
“It's tough being one of the go-to designers, right? I mean, I love being busy. I love working. So I'm not complaining.”
Keith Elwin
“Wow, this is super boring. So I went back to the drawing board and I was looking through you know what assets we had for Dr. Banner which were basically his eyes.”
Keith Elwin
“As long as they're metal, they'll work fine. And so, you know, we put those in there. We shot them. Oh, yeah, they work fine.”
Keith Elwin (quoting Ray Tanzer)
“So I know there are two different types of pinball players. Those who play for score and those who play for story.”
Keith Elwin
“Yeah, I think Rick's a great programmer. He's very fast. And the fact that I'm doing all the rules and scoring changes, I do know that in my head, Rick just has to go in, figure out how to implement it and do that rather than getting bogged down on rules himself.”
Keith Elwin
“It's a cardiac stress test. I mean, it's just if you ever wonder if you are having a heart attack, just go ahead and play that and try to trap up and shoot that shot.”
Host (about Gamma Ray shot)
“And then you watch Keith on stream on the first day they're streaming it, and you hit it like three times in a row. That's the last time I've done that, too.”
Keith Elwin

Entities

  • Flippin' Out Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • The Pinball Loft· content
  • This Week in Pinball· content
  • Avengers· game
  • Congo· game
  • Iron Maiden· game
  • Jurassic Park· game
  • Lord of the Rings· game
  • Monster Bash· game
  • Stargate· game
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles· game
  • Carl Vandal· person
  • Dwight· person
  • Jerry Thompson· person
  • Keith Elwin· person
  • Ray Day Pinball· person
  • Ray Tanzer· person
  • Raymond Tanzer· person
  • Rick Nagel· person
  • Scott Larson· person
  • Tim Lee· person
  • Zombie Yeti· person
  • Pinshades· product

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