13 replies to this topic

[tiltjlp]

WWII Propaganda Game Collection



Version: 1.0.0
Category: VP9 Bagatelle, Counter Top, and Trade Stimulator

Author(s): tiltjlp

Description:
My new WWII Propaganda Game Collection contains four trade stimulators and three bagatelle, six of which were used for propaganda purposes, to boost morale and gain support for each country’s war effort. They are an unknown part of pinball history.

Please read the Table Information for each game to learn about the games. I have provided what facts I know in a non-judgmental way. I abhor war, and feel that governments make enemies of common, honorable men, who become soldiers for personal reasons, or simply because their government demands they participate. Each country has a right to be proud of their heroes.

I have made these games as well as I could, because I feel this project was important. The 3 bagatelles use the same basic sounds, and same scoring. The 4 trade stimulators, by their nature, required some selected sounds tied to their themes, but still use similar features. The two Nazi games were distributed to children as boxed bagatelle. The one English bagatelle was either made shortly before or after WWII, but the Spitfire trade stimulator is from the WWII era.

The three US trade stimulators are quite inappropriate if viewed in today’s light, but were probably seen as wildly patriotic during the war. Since the governments involved are all on good terms currently, I felt the historic value outweighed the horrible messages the games evoked. I tried to find images of Japanese WWII games of this type, but I found none.

It’s my hope that each game will be played a few times for the experience, and then saved to your hard drive. I will have failed if any of these games, other than the neutral Sons Of The Air are seen to have real play value. This is my way of working for peace.

View File

Submitted by tiltjlp, on Jan 26 2011, 12:09 AM

Edited by tiltjlp, 26 January 2011 - 06:01 PM.

[rascal]

Nice collection John! You did an excellent job of presenting this package too. I played them all a few times this morning. It took me a little while to realize that I had to press the S key to start them. I kept hitting B for the bomb drop and would hear the sound but no ball. I finally looked into the script and found the S key code. I should have remembered the S key to start, but you might want to mention it or add it to your backdrop.

Also, on Nazi Bagatelle 1, I got an error on Line 185. The line reads Bal2check, and should be Ballcheck. Simple fix.

These are really interesting bits of history and I recommend everybody check them out.

It is really very sad how people around the world rally around war like as if it was a football game and we are rooting for our team. Poking fun at the enemy like opposing teams poke fun over a game. In the meantime, countries are being destroyed, civilian lives are being lost, and young soldiers are dying in the fields in the name of their country.

Peace to the world! We are all brothers and sisters in this small world and we are all really the same, so why do we kill each other?

The collection needs a final table John, one that is about Peace and Love, I think.

Edited by rascal, 26 January 2011 - 11:26 AM.

[faralos]

not wanting to get too political here but in my area most of the people (and I am NOT being racist just factual) are poorer black people who for whatever reason have left school. because they have no formal training at anything they join the military, knowing they can then get the schooling they need/want for free! Then of course they join the National Guard or the reserves thinking that THEY will never be sent overseas. Well, guess who the first wave was at Desert Storm? ALL the reserves went first! so it is a double-sided coin. stay out of the military and work crappy jobs the rest of your life, or join up and cross your fingers! I joined in '83 for a 2 year stint, just missing the first wave that went overseas (I WAS called in as a military advisor as a civilian but that is a whole other story!) yeah, scary thing I had top security clearance all because I had the highest marks on the entrance tests they had seen in over ten years (their quote not mine!) amazing what a little brain can be capable of, i am not nor was I ever a lawful abiding citizen in my teens, but all that was 'lost' when I joined up (I had a few um... marks on my record from juvenile pranks for which I got arrested for!) but it all vanished once I was sworn in, amazing thing our military! all those records are gone! But I hate wars and anything to do with them. I personally believe if the military was run by women we'd have a lot less warring going on. Well maybe just once a month but after that...
thanks for these pieces of history! I will be playing them all day today on and off, watching the blizzard building up outside (overnight we had 4 inches and it's still coming down hard!)

Edited by faralos, 26 January 2011 - 03:20 PM.

[Sabbat]

will download once the line's are fixed, thanks tiltjlp

[hgpinball]

Hi John,

thanks for the collection. The way you present it is appropriate for such a sensitive topic, and I can really recommend every member to at least take a look at the tables in their historical context and play them once in a while!

[tiltjlp]

Thanks everyone for your supportive comments. I'll fix the error in the one table, and really like your idea of a Peace themed table, which I'll try ro start on soon. Faralos, your comments point out the injustice and unfair nature of service to your country in time of war.

I thought long and hard about if I should make this collection at all, and the deciding factor was my maternal grandfather. He came to the US from Germany shortly after Adolph Hitler came to power. He told me how great Germany had been, and expressed sorrow over what had happened. He was still in contact with relatives still in Germany when I was a teen, and was glad to hear how they had rebuilt their lives. He was proud of his heritage, as am I, and I belive he would have urged me to make these tables.

[tiltjlp]

The typo found by Rascal in one of the 7 tables has been corrected and the corrected file has been uploaded. The Peace Bagatelle Rascal suggested is ready to be made, and will be offered as a separate download once it has been finished.

Edited by tiltjlp, 26 January 2011 - 06:07 PM.

[Sabbat]

thanks for the update john

[faralos]

I also lost a great aunt at Dachau so these have special meaning for me that way also...can't wait for the peace one! we need some of that around the word right about now

[druadic]

I urge all folks to give these a try. It's amazing from the doom and gloom of the past that something so beautiful and artistic can come from these old machines. Thank you John for "a flower out of the dark" so to speak. Great work!

d

[tiltjlp]

I urge all folks to give these a try. It's amazing from the doom and gloom of the past that something so beautiful and artistic can come from these old machines. Thank you John for "a flower out of the dark" so to speak. Great work!

d

Thanks Will. The best part of all this was researching a bit more about the games of that era. There were a lot of war-related bagatelle made at the time, but I wanted to present a balanced picture. It also reminded me of all the songs that came from that time. I'm just glad that all the countries get along now, for the most part.

[templarjh]

I'd seen a few American propaganda bagatelles, but never any from the other side. I really like the art on Bomber uber England (it was Nazi Bagatelle 2, I think).
Propaganda is a fascinating topic. "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee.

Obviously I'd never expected to have any sort of way of playing any of these tables, so thanks tilijp

Sorry for the nitpicking :/ each table has "expected end of statement" errors, easily fixed, but "Poison the Rats" has an error I don't know how to fix. Getting a pill in Hitler's mouth gives an error and the table crashes. "Line 65: Object doesn't support this property or method. T1.destroyball."

These tables are now a permanent part of this hard drive They're an excellent and fun historical reference, and also a troubling study.

[tiltjlp]

I'd seen a few American propaganda bagatelles, but never any from the other side. I really like the art on Bomber uber England (it was Nazi Bagatelle 2, I think).
Propaganda is a fascinating topic. "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee.

Obviously I'd never expected to have any sort of way of playing any of these tables, so thanks tilijp

Sorry for the nitpicking :/ each table has "expected end of statement" errors, easily fixed, but "Poison the Rats" has an error I don't know how to fix. Getting a pill in Hitler's mouth gives an error and the table crashes. "Line 65: Object doesn't support this property or method. T1.destroyball."

These tables are now a permanent part of this hard drive They're an excellent and fun historical reference, and also a troubling study.

Bug reports are appreciated, and I don't see them as nitpicking. Obviously I haven't encountered any of the errors you mentioned, or I would have corrected them before releasing them, and I tested each table at least 50 times. I'll take a look at Poisio0n the Rat and see what the problem is there. So I might be releasing another update. Your overall opinion of the themes is the same as mine, and hopefully serves as a reminder of darker times.

[tiltjlp]

I'd seen a few American propaganda bagatelles, but never any from the other side. I really like the art on Bomber uber England (it was Nazi Bagatelle 2, I think).
Propaganda is a fascinating topic. "It is good that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it." - Robert E. Lee.

Obviously I'd never expected to have any sort of way of playing any of these tables, so thanks tilijp

Sorry for the nitpicking :/ each table has "expected end of statement" errors, easily fixed, but "Poison the Rats" has an error I don't know how to fix. Getting a pill in Hitler's mouth gives an error and the table crashes. "Line 65: Object doesn't support this property or method. T1.destroyball."

These tables are now a permanent part of this hard drive They're an excellent and fun historical reference, and also a troubling study.

I looked at the trigger, T1, on Poison The Rat, and didn't see a problem. I wonder it possibly your Enabled box somehow got unchecked in the editor. I have heard of authors having problems with custom triggers, but it worked for me, so I would think it would work for everyone. Hope you can work the problem out.

Edited by tiltjlp, 29 January 2011 - 07:28 PM.