Encom Prototype

[rikitiki]

I recently had the oportunity to sit down and talk with former Encom employee and game designer Steve Smith.
Where we discussed Encoms first video game which ironicly was never released and now we know the real reasons why.

TOG: Theres been alot of rumors and debates over the years, so I have to ask what really was Encoms first video game?

SS: Yeah long before Space Paranoids and Matrix Blaster it was supose to be Video Pinball 2.0
which people will finally get to see and play for the first time in over 30 years at this years California Extreme.

TOG: So why was it never released?

SS: Ok, well set the way back machine for 1979.
I along with Kevin Flynn set out to design some video games for Encom. Problem was we loved video games and could play them better than anybody but knew very little about gaming programing so we decided to visit Ataris main frame and take a look around.

TOG: Wait a minite! are you saying you hacked into Atari!?

SS: Well thats one way to put it, yes. Once Encom had developed the MCP it was actually quite easy.
So we started poking around and found a program called Solar War which was going to be a follow up to Ataris Video Pinball but it was dropped and never released. So I thought we could take a look at that program change it around enough by rom hacking it alittle with some addtional graphics and sounds so we could call it our own and get Encoms foot in the door into the new growing gaming industry.



TOG: So what happen?

SS: Tron. We had the VP2.0 protoype completly built
and had been approved for production of 2,000 units
when it was uncovered by that damm Tron program!
Which had reported back to Atari a breach which
lead them back to us and Encom.
Atari threaten lawsuits and it was later settle out of court with the case dropped.
But VP2.0 along with all video game related projects were dropped and I was let go.

TOG: But Flynn was allowed to stay?

SS: Yeah, I took the fall and Flynn had continued to work on games on his own time.
Once he had those codes there was just no stopping him and the rest is gaming history.



A special thanks to Steve for a little insite on this project, and for letting me bring this out to CAX this year
Ive requested some pics of the cabinet building and art design which I will continue to post

[Pixelhugger]

Very clever project announcement. Looking forward to the update.

[rikitiki]

Though this project is bassically finished and complete Im not ready to let this cat out of the bag quite yet
it will be unvieled at CAX in just a few weeks
For those that know my mad skills this will not disapoint and for those that dont be warned...
this is a project like no other and has been in devolpment for the past 2 years.

Now Im no Bob Villia but for my latest and greatest project Im startin from scratch and cuttin it old skool
and I'll start with sharing some of the cabinet building highlights.
So for starters its a complete cabinet replica build, which I started with from a paper pencil trace of the orginal cabinets side.



Once I had one nice clean cut side, sanded edge straight and smooth then routed the other side with a flush trim bit for a perfect duplicate matching set

[Pinball Wizard]

After CAX you gotta show us the rest of the project since not all of us are going to CAX. I do love the project intro though, at first you had me going with the interview.

[rikitiki]

Ill continue to post ALL of the project from its beginnings just in smaller unrevealing portions Pre-CAX.
then Ill get fully into the graphic designs, the software mods, etc.

[rikitiki]

After Paint its vinyl time I wont get into all the details of my methods of maddness but you can catch my tutorials on vinyl applications on COSP
http://www.coinopspace.com/profiles/blogs/vinyling-a-cab-101part-1
http://www.coinopspace.com/profiles/blogs/vinyling-a-cab-101-part-2

but I will post some pic highlights and the only thing I did differently was use a ROLLER instead of a squeegee
LOVED IT 
Things to always have on hand


The vinyl is from Happ Black Pica slight textured very close match to Ataris Starship1 of the same period.





I perfer the roll and tuck method, the trick here is to heat and stretch the vinyl around the front edge
slowly the corners or sharp edges/curves will "bottlecap" as long as all the folds and crease lines are
below you tmold cut your good to go. razor blade down the Tmold slot and remove the excess insert tmolding

[Yvan256]

Quick note for those scratching their heads... The album on the left is the original soundtrack of the movie Tron (duh) and the one on the right is
Escape (Journey).

[rikitiki]

Well its official Ataris Video Pinball has now been TRON-itized by Encom.


Now for the real progress...

[rikitiki]

CAX was a blast and a pretty good first time out fro Video Pinball 2.0
a few technical issues to address but Ill continue to post the project build and updates along the way



So now that its been unvieled...Back to the build

A note on the interior:
the orginal is pretty plain jane

So the inside would need some attention and used the existing available Tron art repros from PhoenixArcade
for 2 reasons lack of time and it was a perfect fit and with it reflecting on the mirror
gives it a completly differnt look

the back will use the original Tron Shroud art also available from PhoenixArcade which will replace that star background.



Later I have plans to mount an LCD which will link and playback video connected to the game play.

[jasonbar]

I enjoyed playing this at CAX--thanks for bringing it!

-Jason

[rikitiki]

Now for the good stuff
For those not familar. The basic anatomy of the original Atari Video Pinball

[rikitiki]

THE CONTROL PANEL
The hardest thing I think for this cabinet and anyone consdiering a scratch build is the control panel.
For starters they're not that easy to come buy the shape is unquie and specffic for the wood cuts
and monunts since its spring loaded then theres plastic molded side pieces, the plunger and opti board.
I got lucky and won an ebay auction a while back that was for the complete cp
though the back needed some reworking, but most importantly it was complete
so alittle rewood working and it would be ready for install

[rikitiki]

It wouldnt be a "Tron-itized" cab if it didnt have some glowing blue button goodness
so I picked these little guys up from Nicemite.com to do the trick

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTERDARK



Im also condidering another mod for the plunger but need to verify it can be worked into the orginal assembly and optical board from Pinbits.com looks like it would be a neat add on

[rikitiki]

nothing to special here the orginal VP cp is screenprinted directly to the metals surface.
so with a little paint stripper, sanding, and priming the prep for a new cpo was minimal.





Disclaimer for the purists I currently have the orginal Atari films for both the control panel and the bezel
which I plan to screen/reproduce for those in need including myself.
As my next project is a full on restore of the orginal Video Pinball as well.

So with the cab and its parts completed the ART DESIGN and Prinitng is next on the list.

[rikitiki]

Early on I had set out to do a variation of the art from the orginal VP and DOT.
including the same color palletes of the 2.
my first piece and test print of the cpo



and the Bezel


but was convinced early on to take a different approach with the art and more speffic the color pallete.

and it seemed once I did that the changes and revisions that would follow not only made it more unique
But gave it, its own idenity something that could in fact stand up next to a Tron or DOT
Where Tron had Red, Blue, and Green for its primary pallete, and DOT had Blue, Purple and Pink

The Choice of Blue, Lt Blue, and Yellow which were very much Tron colors
seemed like a natural choice and it would be these light traces that would replace most of the border
work as seen on the original 78 VP art.

[rikitiki]

So when redesigning the cpo I used these elements along with inspiration from the game that Encom
had claimed to use Solar War, The Atari Protype followup

and the final design

it wouldnt be "Tron" without a flourescent blacklight inks on the cpo so this will have to be silkscreened

[rikitiki]

The CPo was the easiest install Ive had to do. No joystick or button holes to align just taped in place to "hinge"
the art and viola, peel and press.




on a side note I generally when redoing cpos like to use a white primer on the metal cps
when ever possible mainly due to the fact the most SCREENPRINTED cpos are somewhat transparent
and the white tends to keep them looking brighter than laying it down on say black.

The first art piece of the project complete

[emphatic]

That CPO is simply breathtaking! 

[Pinball Wizard]

On a not so related question what playfield is that sitting on? The artwork looks amazing, who printed it?

[rikitiki]

On a not so related question what playfield is that sitting on? The artwork looks amazing, who printed it?

The cpo application? Superman

I did all the printing myself of course
www.ThisOldGame.com

[rikitiki]

With revisions on the cpo complete it was time to refine the bezel.
I probably worked through over 20 variations of designs
orginally starting with something more like the original but ending up with something completly different
now that I had starting reworking that color palete and using yellow and blue "light traces " for borders
things really started to come together.
Heres a little WIP

[rikitiki]

WHAT THE FONT!?
But as it started to take shape there was something about the "TRON FONT" that just wasnt working right.
there were 2 reasons for this
Reason #1 I made the first letters V and P larger since there were no uppercases and had the lettering stacked as the orginal VP.
and once I started opening the can of worms for the problems of those font issues there was no turning back.
As reason #2 was the more significant problem the online free fan made "TRON FONT" was not very accurate
the letter thickness and center cutaways had alot to do with some of the problems
not to mention the font wasnt originally designed to spell VIDEO PINBALL
but that was all about to change 

I had a man on the inside with group 7 access who would confirm this lettering dilema with its orginal 1980
model sheet though I cant disclose all the details without putting lives at risk and being De-Rezzed.
I can say this was accidentally confirmed later when I was working on the vectoring for the DOT cpo
you can clearly see there are no solid shapes in the letters A-V and the cut for the E is completely different


Which then lead me to rework the entire "TRON FONT"

also noted were letters and numbers in alot of the background shots of the film which were also referenced
and worked in so the letters would be more consistent throughout.
Im still tweaking this a bit and will have this new font available to download soon.

Youll also see the differnce in how the #2 looks between the fonts
The final version ready for print

[rikitiki]

This was then SILKSCREENED on the reverse side of 1/4 tempured GLASS
A test print was done and fitted to make sure all was good to go






I also screened the MCP seperatly its the only section that had a different color
and there were 3 color setups to do in a 1" area!


The screen inks used to screen on glass are enamels and take a min of 24hours to dry bewtween each color.
so screening this one piece took almost 2 weeks but totally worth it

[taylormadelv]

Simply a work of ART!

[Bender]

That is just awesome!!!!!!

[shrunkenmaster]

Beautiful artwork, outstanding implementation 

[danny_galaga]

I actually have no idea what this is, but it looks awesome!

[ckong]

This really is awesome. Breaths professionalism all the way. 

[rikitiki]

I actually have no idea what this is, but it looks awesome!

This is a complete reworking and replica build based of the 1978 Atari Video Pinball
http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10313

One more art post and then onto the techincals
so if it still dosnt make sense it should soon.

[IG-88]

I actually have no idea what this is, but it looks awesome!

I don't know why, but that is hilarious! 

Looking good rikitiki 

[danny_galaga]

Well, you learn something new every day! I had no idea Atari did something like this. Until now, I only knew about that giant pinball table they did...

[opt2not]

I wanna see more. 

What happened next?

[shrunkenmaster]

Me too.

[KagatoAMV]

The art design really feels consistent with the other Tron video games, nicely done.

[EvilNuff]

I would really dig that new font available for dowload as mentioned...if at all possible.

[mgb]

This project is looking great.

[vintagegamer]

Well its official Ataris Video Pinball has now been TRON-itized by Encom.


Now for the real progress...

Prob not a big deal but 'exclusively' is spelled wrong on the flyer..

[Havok]

There rikitiki goes again with the the spelling errors...

[rikitiki]

LOL 
luckily that was caught and a few other revsions were made before going to print

I had some of the offset printed up on postcards to hand out at the show and they go along nicley with the other Encom viral marketing postcards.

[rikitiki]

Next up SIDE ART I went through alot of variations on the side art as well
mostly circuit lines/border designs to mimic the orginal VP

but in the end droped the lightcycle as the MCP became more of the focal point
for both the playfield and throghout the art.