DIY Pinball
Somebody I know only as “farmboy” has, with the help of a host of others, created his own pinball machine: TweenPin. He has some very interesting photographs of the process available, as well as schematics and source code. (via rec.games.pinball)
When I was first getting into pinball, I was imagining that I could build a pinball machine from scratch rather than buying one. Then I read Pat Lawlor Design’s account of making Monopoly. That, combined with some other sources, proved to be a reality check. I knew I could figure out the software part, but even if I knew how to design the necessary circuits, I could end up creating a game that’s just not fun. The truth is that there’s a lot of experience and artistry that goes into designing the rules and playfield for a really good pinball machine. Rules can be changed. Playfields… not so much. Or not nearly as easily, anyway. (In reality I’d probably prototype it in Visual Pinball (PC-only, ugh) before even touching a piece of wood. )
Perhaps one day in the future I’ll undertake such a project. It would be very cool to design and offer a “Custom Pinball Developer Kit” that provides the necessary circuitry and a programming framework to enable others to design their own games.
October 4th, 2006 at 2:46 am
Forget virtual pinball, it’s a lot more fun to make a whitewood.