Pinball Problem Statement

by Garth Zeglin
in class notes

So for our purposes, what's a pinball machine? Let's start by identifying some elements of a traditional game:

  1. one or more moving balls
  2. a physical cabinet: backboard, bumpers, rails, ramps, holes, pins, glass top
  3. ball sensors: microswitches, magnetic sensors
  4. actuators: kickers, flippers, magnets, etc.
  5. light: event indicators, game state indicators, scoreboard, ambient lighting
  6. sound effects: beeps, bells, music, noise, mechanical actuators, ball noise
  7. user input: spring launcher, flipper buttons, physical tilt
  8. randomizing elements: ball dynamics, spinning plates
  9. game theme: narrative, graphics, sometimes a licensed property
  10. game design: a staged sequence of response modes, achievements, and scoring rules
  11. game logic: a state machine which implements the game design
  12. coin acceptor
  13. in some cases: jackpot payout

All together, this constitutes a money-making entertainment device in which one person at a time tries to beat the machine using skill and chance. But deconstructed the elements can be combined for other results, e.g.:

  1. non-competitive amusement (e.g. a toy rather than a game)
  2. musical instrument (with or without human input)
  3. kinetic sculpture (e.g. no players)
  4. proxy arena for person-on-person competition
  5. gambling device
  6. time-keeping (e.g. marble clock)
  7. visual display of information

We don't have the resources to make a facsimile of a commercial games, but we can replicate many of the elements using what we have:

  1. real pinballs
  2. a physical cabinet: CNC-cut plywood backboard and curved rails, dowel pins, rubber bands
  3. sensors: microswitches, optical sensors
  4. actuators: solenoids, DC motors, stepper motors
  5. light: LEDs and LED modules, perhaps a LCD display
  6. sound effects: speaker beeps, physical noise
  7. user input: manual ball ramp, control buttons
  8. randomizing elements: ball dynamics, spinning parts
  9. game theme: narrative, printed graphics
  10. game design: a staged sequence of response modes, achievements, and scoring rules
  11. game logic: an Arduino program with software implements the game design

Problem Statement

What combination of physical and behavioral elements employing pinballs combine to produce an integral kinetic, acoustic, visual, and cultural experience for a human participant, player, or viewer?

Granted, this is wide-open: basically, what kind of fun thing can we make which uses pinballs using the resources at hand?