Saturday, May 3, 2014

An update that isn't really an update

So I've been slowly working on my layout.  I'm adding stuff, then realizing I still have dead space.  After being spoiled by Pat lawlor tables, I feel like mine needs to attempt to live up to that standard, so some things may need to be further tweaked.  I may have to add a 3rd flipper mid playfield, no wonder why Pat always did that (only so many angles you can shoot on a fan layout).
One thing almost for sure that will change is the 2nd floor playfield, I'm going to try to change this to clear (Polycarb) so I can have useable and viewable playfield space below it instead of just a bunch of blind tunnels.  Supposedly a design that Trudeau worked on was going to try this, and after seeing the "clear EM pinball" project on pinside I figure I can at least do that on a small portion.
I don't know if any of you have heard my latest skits on the pinball podcast, but I've been starting to do audio "theater of the mind".  My first one was the big lebowski, and the next episode I'll be attacking spaceballs since a pinside user is actually creating one.  The audio is done, it's just a matter of Don and Jeff editing the show together.  Not only is this fun to record, but I'm realizing this is a really great way to sort of storyboard a theme.  By listening to applicable soundbites over and over, your mind starts imagining how that could tie into something in the playfield.
Out of all the ideas on pinside, there are currently 3 that really excite me:
1. Beastie boys - this band did a LOT of sampling, and those short little soundbites would make for some really fun pinball.  Also because they're famous for record scratching (mixmaster mike), I thought it would be really cool if there was a dual turntable in the middle of the playfield (think whirlwind spinners), but they could rotate back and forth (like scratching) instead of just spinning in one direction.
2. Weird Al - I'm not sure how the theme would really work, he's parodied so many things over the years, from his songs to his UHF movie, but the artwork alone would be incredible (some of his early album covers were pretty colorful).  Al is a stickler for proper grammar, so there would have to be some grammar mistakes on the playfield with a sticky note from Al correcting it.
3. Van halen - This is the epitamy of music themes to me.  If any company decided to tackle this, I would sell whatever I had to in order to buy it.  Seriously, there are very few bands (pink floyd is another) where I can drag any song into a playlist and I'd probably be happy to listen to it.  I already have a few ideas of features (and toys) I'd end up incorporating into this theme.  There's 2-3 really great songs to use for attract mode.