CC new game rules

Followup on my previous post..

After some thinking and reviewing things I now really know what way to go and what to implement.

Months ago I had about half of the new rules in my head (most were very much based on current CC rules) and had implemented that part, and thought I would just continue to add things later. Some things didn't integrate well. Now I have made some changes and it all fits better. I'm happy with that. Less question marks, I have guidelines to follow.

Have about 80 percent now of how it'll play decided. Most of the existing code I can re-use, with some changes.
Some things are totally new. I'm not sure if I will be able to implement them well, write good code that runs fast enough, make good dmd graphics, .. so not sure if these ideas will be implemented or not. But I will try to as they bring additional depth and it would be cool to see my original ideas in reality.

About how different it'll be from the existing game rules: it will be similar and different enough at the same time.
Similar because from the beginning I stated I want to keep the same level of flow, difficulty, .. and I'm bound by playfield inserts and soundcalls. A gunfight is a gunfight. But what is implemented for a gunfight, and how it's started, has changed.

What I've done this week was work on a new skillshot. There's more skill involved than just plunging the pinball with the right force. Also made new dmd graphics for it. My first 'real' dmd graphics.
I've hand drawn them using Paint.Net. Wasn't too bad to work with - set to pixels, showing a pixel grid, leftclick is a black pixel, rightclick a white pixel..

Last week I had seen the Dutch Pinball Teams new Bride of Pinbot running P-Roc. Their dmd animations are amazing. Rendered in 3D Studio Max, they're very smooth and detailed. But a powerful pc has much more processing power than plain WPC hardware. Freewpc / default wpc hardware also has less colors (shades) to use than P-Roc.

I considered the option to also use 3D rendering.
But: I'm not a specialist in 3D rendering. I know some basics, played with it 20 years ago on Amiga computers. Last week I spent some time using free 3D programs like google sketchup and blender.
Learning these programs in detail, just to make some simple dmd animations would take too much time for me. And the wpc hardware has more limitations than P-Roc, so I wouldn't be sure the results would be useable enough.

So therefor I decided not to follow this path. For now I will just paint everything by hand. That's also a huge job, but I'll also learn more along the way, and can always upgrade and replace my early work when I make better dmd pictures later. I'm glad this also has been decided.

custom bingo machine

New article, at the rock around the jukebox show Henk de Jager presented his latest game, an electro-mechanical bingo machine !

new custom pinball machine for Metallica

Added Beatniks Koolsville to my list of custom pinball machines, it's a conversion of Elvira and the Party Monsters, commissioned by James Hetfield

more custom pinball machines

A week after the interview with Greg Freres, I have even more custom pinball machine news !

Dominique John has created Galactic Girl, a custom electro-mechanical pinball machine.

I have also added an overview of all custom pinball machine projects. Dozens of pinball collectors have created (or are still busy) making custom pinball machines.

Follow my site/blog, as within a few days I have a really very interesting article !
Don't want to post more yet (people who follow me in facebook will have read what it's about though), but it's really going to be a very interesting article about the history and development of a unique game..

Interview with Greg Freres online

Been a while since I posted here. But that's normal wit me - my pinball is a hobby with ups and downs, sometimes I'm very active and sometimes I don't do a lot for months..

I've put a new article online, an interview with Greg Freres about the Whizbang Pinball project he's working on together with pinball designer Dennis Nordman.

Dennis is one of my favorite designers (I really love Whitewater !! and many more of his games) so I really am very interested in their project and ideas.
Whoa Nellie Sweet Juicy Melons is the first game they are customising, it's an electro-mechanical game they provide with a totally new art package and layout.

More custom pinball machines

Interview online with Ben Heck of Benheck.com who's making a custom pinball machine.

Also interviewed Jeri Ellsworth about her custom pinball machine.

Can't wait to see the final results of both !

new articles

Posted a lot of new articles the past weeks.


How to fix a sag in a playfield. This was posted on rgp so I asked the person if I could write an article about it.. sometimes playfields are warped and it's really no fun playing a pinball game like this.. so you can make a whole fixture to make the wood flat again.


Dutch Pinball Open competition 2009. It's been a few years since we visited the competition (or another event organised by the dutch pinball organisation) but it was really nice seeing a lot of people again and meeting new people.



The yearly Rock around the Jukebox show in Rosmalen. Every year this show is held in Rosmalen, the Netherlands. It's their biggest jukebox show. A lot of pictures are online..



Merlins Magic: a custom, handmade pinball machine by Henk De Jager.
If you're interested in electro-mechanical pinball machines, in custom made pinball machines, game design, .. you really have to see this.
It's a unique game, with some special features, it was fun to play.