Icey

I was thinking today about a design for a new fruit machine, something that's different, even interesting and where a £5 game is as fun as a £25 repeater...

So imagine this fruit machine, I've named it "Pipe Dream", the top board is composed of interconnecting pipes, at each junction there is a valve symbol. You enter the feature with one "pipe run" activated, that is one pipe run is lit up and forms a sort of lapper board where you can pick up the lower value prizes and features to start.

As you run around the board, if you land on one of the valves, the "pipe run" connected to that valve activates and your lapper board is extended in length, obviously this particular pipe run would have better prizes.

So to make things more interesting, there is also a 'pressure gauge' for each of the pipe runs which increases by an amount, every spin, each spin you get the opportunity to vent a particular pipe run and thus decrease the pressure... If the pressure reaches max the pipe bursts and goes out, bad news if you happen to be on that pipe as you're killed off, otherwise letting the pipes with the lesser prizes die out refines your 'lapper board' so you're almost guaranteed a better prize.

The tactics and skill element comes in here as you have to effectively build and maintain your feature board and take a calculated risk as to which prizes you want to keep in play at any given point.

Anyways sorry I've babbled on too much here but I'm visiting a friend in a few days who's good with graphics, perhaps I'll get them to knock up some nice graphics and set to work making this idea into an actual game...

Maybe it's just a pipe dream?   I'll probably go to sleep, wake up and realise this is a terrible idea, so just going to apologise in advance for that...

Anybody else just sit around thinking up crazy ideas for machine designs? My notebook is full of this stuff and I'm starting to think I'm just a weirdo 

^...So the clever arseholes at Bell Fruit Games chant as they come up with yet another DOND formula... Mind the innuendo.. 

I've spent the day devising the ultimate DOND killer, a machine that is sure to rival edmands himself any day, at any site... It's a fruit machine based on 'Strictly Come Dancing', another popular show with an irritating host that old women swoon over...

Basically if you spin three 'Bruceys' you enter the super feature and you get to listen to Bruce himself droning on about something that was pretty funny back in the day (ahh the 60s), don't forget to press start when he gets to the punchline otherwise you'll lose the will to live...

Any three numbers in view enters 'Good Game, Good Game' - dance the night (and your savings) away around the top board, collecting cash prizes (get up to seven shots at £3!) and of course loads of features to choose from (stuff the bankers bonus, we've got brucey's bonus!).. You'd better not get two left feet, otherwise you'll be dancing for survival...

Think we're onto a winner here guys, unlimited number of clones (Strictly Come Dancing, Strictly Come Dancing - The Final, Strictly Come Paycheck, Strictly Come Mansion (the £500 jackpot version)...

Bell Fruit are quaking in their diamond encrusted boots... And now if you'll excuse me, I have to crawl under a rock and die. .

Hi guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster here, so the story goes. Anyway I figured it was about time I joined up and jumped into a few discussions... This might have been discussed before, so apologies in advance if I'm dragging up old news... Anyway I was thinking today about the sometimes strange habits people have when they go to arcades...

As a kid I used to be obsessed with finding out the manufacturers of machines, I had to either write them down or memorise them until I could list them... Guess I kind of collected em, every machines maker had to be catalogued in my mind, even the kiddie rides and candy cranes lol (I was a strange kid I know). Still it's what eventually got me into fme (though I've been in and out of the scene over the years, I was never much more than an onlooker sad to say :/)

Now days I rarely get a chance to frequent the machines (thank goodness for fme) so I don't really have any habits to share, that is apart from guiding my mother around and steering her 'untrained' eyes away from the impending doom of noel edmonds face... I'm sorry if I openly call the machine you're playing, a pile of sh*t but wouldn't you be bitter if every machine you play drops just after you switch to another? . . .

I'll be honest and say I have an ulterior motive for asking this (a little off topic here)... I'm working on a computer game called 'Arcade Manager', the idea of which is to build your own arcade up and manage it, tycoon style (who could have guessed?)...

It's very early stages at the moment and until I can learn how to draw it doesn't even have any graphics (unless you count text graphics)... It does however let you drop in a few party games machines and watch your popularity with the 'old granny' player category shoot through the roof (mind the frequent stuck button alarms though)... It's mostly a personal project but on the rare off chance anybody is interested it's all going to be a free open project (well hey ho, I don't know how to program an emulator but I can make a bunch of old grannies bash up a virtual party games)... On that note I'll shut up now and save you all from utter despair!

Matt / [ Icey ]