After having play tested my Hotline Miami machine, it was very apparent what the strengths and weaknesses were of the machine. The strengths were the visual appeal. I got a lot of compliments on the looks of the machine and was very happy with how it turned out. The EL wire went a long way in giving the machine a unique look and helped capture the 80’s neon aesthetic of the game Hotline Miami. The third flipper was very well received also. People seemed to think it felt very good, which I was happy to hear. I spent a lot of time working on the feel of that flipper until it was just right. The only downside I had with this flipper was that my implementation required that the extra flipper be directly above the left flipper to function properly. This meant I had to sacrifice a lot of playfield space to get this flipper working.
Most of the criticism I got on this machine was with the implementation of certain things. The ball had a tendency to get stuck on the EL wire that lined through the ball return. The ball also could get caught on one masks (the one below the third flipper.) I think I would have redesigned the playfield to more accommodate this space if I could redo the project. It was also much more difficult to get the mask on the top left than I had originally intended. Also the EL wire looks much better in dim or dark lighting than in a well lit room.
Assets for the machine from
Playfield Art from Hotline Miami fan-art by Anu Patten (https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zAQPqZ)
Masks art taken from Hotline Miami game (specifically this rip of the games assets: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zAQPqZ )
Beard character Art taken from Hotline Miami (specifically, the rip of his asset available on the Hotline Miami Wiki: https://hotlinemiami.fandom.com/wiki/Beard)