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<\/a>The grand prize raffle machines for each day’s draw had arrived, along with the main Houdini prize for the draw on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n The show desk also displayed the many smaller raffle prizes as well as selling show souvenirs such as posters and shirts.<\/p>\n Next door, Next Level Pinball Shop had a nice line-up of machines for guests to play.<\/p>\n Around the corner was the Nitro Pinball stand where the latest titles could be played.<\/p>\n We had a sneak-peek inside Thunderbirds to see how it is put together.\u00a0 It’s worth noting that this is still only a prototype game so various elements may change before production.<\/p>\n Marco Specialties had an impressive collection of Stern Pinball’s latest titles, including nine Iron Maiden titles most of which were the Premium model.<\/p>\n Throughout the hall, games were being readied for the midday opening.\u00a0 The hall was packed full with hardly any space not being home to a machine of some description.<\/p>\n The show is not all pinball though, as there are dozens and dozens of video games from uprights to sit-downs to cocktails.<\/p>\n In the centre of the hall there’s a repair area where the pinball medics keep the games running.<\/p>\n With an eager crowd of competitive players outside waiting to start qualifying, the tournament machines were coming together.<\/p>\n Outside in the lobby, guests were queuing to collect their pre-purchased entries.<\/p>\n Then at midday the doors were opened and the first guests could enter the show hall.<\/p>\n Let’s now take a look at the vendor stands in and around the show hall.<\/p>\n Next to Comics4Kids was a noticeboard where visitors could post advertisements for pinball or arcade items they either wanted or had for sale.<\/p>\n Inside the hall, on the left was the stand for This Old Game<\/a> who print pinball and arcade game artwork onto various products and materials.<\/p>\n Pinball Bulbs have a stand at the show but were not bring any of their products until Saturday.<\/p>\n Back out in the lobby, the Kids Zone was being noisily enjoyed by the younger visitors and their parents.<\/p>\n Friday also saw the start of the show’s seminar schedule, beginning at 2pm.\u00a0 All the seminars were streamed live by GeekGamer.tv and can be viewed live by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The seminars are held in a dedicated area in the lobby, and the first speakers to take to the stage were David Thiel and Butch Peel who were talking about the making of the Jersey Jack Pinball game Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em>.<\/p>\n David is the freelance composer and sound designer for the game, and he began by explaining how he became involved in the Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em> project.\u00a0 He said he initially turned down the job, having created the music for the Stern Pirates<\/em> game and knowing how restrictive the licence would be in terms of the minimal assets available and the process of getting Disney to approve everything.<\/p>\n He introduced the team working on the main aspects of the game design before explaining the basic rules and how the multiple music tracks he composed fit with them.\u00a0 David then looked at one of his wizard mode tracks and broke it down instrument by instrument, showing what each added to the overall mix.<\/p>\n Butch Peel then took over to talk about the development of the Pirates game starting with the game designer’s initial layout.<\/p>\n He showed how the first playfield was drawn and cut, how the prototype ramps and wireforms are created, how the ball guides (or flatrails) help fine-tune the shots, and then showed all the sculptures used in the game.<\/p>\n Butch showed pictures of all the stages of playfield development, as more inserts and playfield mechanisms are added.<\/p>\n At 3:30pm David Shoemaker and Dave Okert held their seminar about using LEDs to replace incandescent lamps in games.<\/p>\n To illustrate the differences between LEDs and lamps, the brought along two Williams Slugfest<\/em> games.\u00a0 The one on the left used lamps and the one on the right LEDs.<\/p>\n The duo explained the benefits of using LEDs, such as longer life, lower power consumption, less heat generated and the more intense colours which can be produced.\u00a0 They showed examples of LED replacement devices for general illumination, for use in inserts, for use as flashers, and for use in start buttons and on the coin door.<\/p>\n They revealed which companies they prefer and those they dislike, and advised against the purchase of pre-made kits which are often one person’s preference for which colours should go where.\u00a0 They suggested always making your own kit instead.<\/p>\n At 5pm, Joe Balcer and Jim Thornton of American Pinball gave the audience their update on the magic of Houdini<\/em>.<\/p>\n Joe did most of the talking in this seminar and he began by talking about the changes and enhancements made to American Pinball’s Houdini game since it was first shown, including the artwork, lighting, sounds and ruleset.<\/p>\n He described how the rules work, how to complete the secret missions, how the movie modes work and the colour-coding used to identify the features available on the corresponding shots.<\/p>\n Joe then showed a video featuring pictures from the factory and the development of Houdini<\/em>.\u00a0 He said they are currently producing 35 games a week but are running out of room at the factory.\u00a0 To ease that log jam they have secured a new factory which is three times the size of the current one and plan to move into by the end of 2018 of not sooner.\u00a0 They need the additional capacity, Joe said, so that when they announce their second title – which they hope to reveal at Pinball Expo in Chicago this October – they will be able to start shipping it within a month or 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