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[lodger]

Hi all-

 

This is the second microtutorial on building original tables; I hope to have some graphics to help show how this process works, but please have a look at my other tutorial for examples.

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There is an expression that shares that "talent copies, genius steals". This statement is powerful because it challenges that innovation is not necessarily tied to creating new ideas but in using the right idea at the right time (regardless of where it comes from). While it is good to have ideas that are wholly your own, originality and creativity are almost always rooted on things that have come before (especially when it helps improve something that already exists).

 

Throughout history (and especially the history of pinball), innovations are all accomplished by building from what someone else created.  Those who have managed to have the biggest impact are those who have not tried to copy what other people are doing, but rather to understand why the others make the choices they make and apply these insights to new situations. Sometimes applying these ideas is much more obvious than others, but at its root, the basic idea is to take something that works in another context and put it somewhere new.

 

One of the tricks I've picked up lately in trying to improve my table designs has been using blueprints from other tables to help me figure out angles of my shots and best ways of laying things out. An example of this is my Berzerk table (see microtutorial 1)/vp10 testing thread. When putting this together, I wanted the table to play as a homage to a bunch of early solid state tables that I enjoyed. I started off by taking blueprints of early Solid State machines I exported from VP and loaded them into photoshop. Lining up the flippers, I asked myself what parts of these tables I liked/what worked well and Frankenstein'ed them together. This table threads ideas from Bally's Kiss, Gottleib Fast Draw, Gottleib Genie, Williams Firepower, and Bally 8 Ball deluxe as well as others. I changed the angles and rules around to make it my own, but this made sure that the shots would be true to the period and that I was building off of design strategies that I knew were effective, interesting, and would work. From there, I loaded up my compiled blueprint in vp and started to try to make all the parts fit together. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't... but it gave me ideas that I reorganized into a game that wasn't like those that inspired it, but captured their feel.

 

In conclusion, when making new tables, don't feel the pressure of trying to build something completely new when it may be appropriate to take someone else's idea and use that as a foundation. The skill of being able to recognize a good idea (in your own work or someone else's) is one that will help you stay refreshed, energized, and prepared when you are unsure how to move forward with a design. Try this technique/idea and let me know what you think!

 

-Lodger