Answering your pinball questions - Williams Aztec Q&A

[@miradrgn]

there's something so delightful about the existence of a glitch leading to a softlock, in an entirely physical mechanical game

[@BrotherAlpha]

@ObsoleteVodkaYT My friends and I once soft locked a board game. Mad Magazine put out a board game and one of the squares you can land on says stay here until another player passes you. All three of us landed on that square. Since there were no other players, the game couldn't continue.

[@Blue-Maned_Hawk]

@@BrotherAlpha That's astounding. …also, the fact that it was made by Mad Magazine makes me think that a) they definitely had enough resources to come across that in playtesting and 2) deliberately chose not to.

[@RickWhitechest]

@@BrotherAlpha I would have interpreted it as "when another player lands here, the player that was originally in the spot can leave", as you're technically "passing" them.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

The funny thing though, these electromechanical things are basically primitive mechanical computers. The "CPU" is logic circuitry, the "memory" is physical switches. It can in a way be considered code.

[@Scum42]

and that power cycling it fixes it

[@doktortodes]

Two notes here, one, never apologize for any video content or the amount thereof. The beauty of your channel is the existence of the “mundane” content that’s actually fascinating. I’m an engineer by trade working on transmission voltage protection systems, yet I pass right on by knowing exactly how the stove regulates temp. I have a basic grasp, but the content is prime to actually know! Second, I love the lava lamp. It’s the ever present sentry to let we production inclined watchers know how many takes were made on a subject or time between based on the bubble patterns and location. The lava shall always tell the story.

[@CrispyGFX]

I never had much exposure to pinball machines, so I never really considered that there is a list of things that you are 'supposed to do'. Frankly, I had a hard enough time just keeping the ball in play.

[@KevinJDildonik]

Most casual players only care about table flow. If I put in a credit, does the ball remain in play for a fair time, and did it do some cool things before it ended. Only "pinball enthusiasts" even read the rules.

[@VikingTeddy]

You can pretty much search the most insignificant thing that hits your eye during the day, and you'll find a whole passionate community around it, with deep debates, and an insane depth of lore. So I'm not surprised there's so much to know about pinball.

[@christo930]

I was a relatively small kid in 1976, but before video games, this is one of the things young people did. While there were technically video games in 76, they were few and far between. There are a TON of electromechanical games going back to the 30s. You think a light gun was invented in 1983 with Nintendo? They go back to the 40s at least. There was a plane game which projected a plane flying across the projection screen that had a machine light gun in the early 40s. Even earlier games were played entirely with steel balls. There was a pretty famous baseball game from the 30s that used steel balls. But it goes back even further than the 30s. Coin operated device go back thousands of years. Ancient Greece had coin operated mechanisms, usually involved in worship.

[@VikingTeddy]

@@christo930 I remember playing one of those early light-gun games at a fairground as a kid in the 80s. It was already at least 30 years old then, and was there well in to the 90s. It was a rifle with a big ass cable attached, there was a big screen about 3-5 meters away that had a landscape over which "UFOs" (blips of light really) would fly. I think it was a real rifle that was just stripped of everything, and a sensor shoved in the barrell. The thing was needlessly heavy for a kid, just a hunk of steel and wood :)

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Pinball tables are really rare here in Sweden, because in the 1980s our government decided that they were gambling machines, and ruled that you needed to get a gambling license if you wanted to house one of them in your establishment. This was also applied to arcade machines, so you very rarely ever see these things. Insane to think that a Pac-Man cabinet has the same legal status here as a "One-Armed Bandit" (slot machine), but that's just how it is here.

[@user-neo71665]

I have responded to a fire caused by a pinball machine. The genius decided he wasn't gonna replace fuses anymore. Replaced all the fast blow fuses with slow blow automatic reset breakers. The slow blow allowed the noids to overheat and kept resetting allowing them to catch fire. Took out a really nice game room with a few video game cabinets, pool table, and a few pinball machines. He had modded them that morning and left for a 1 week vacation. We were paged out about 2 am to put his house out. The volunteer firefighter in me is gonna tell you if you have stuff like that turn it off before you leave. The full time electrician in me is gonna tell ya don't mod stuff you have no clue about.

[@gourmand_choux]

How did they catch fire if they weren't being played?

[@Titanic4]

@@gourmand_choux The coil might have locked on prior to the incident - The coil heats up quite rapidly and burns up, possibly affecting its part of circuit as well. The lockup may occur due to bad switch, which is stuck closed, or transistor, which is always conducting. The coil may also burn up if the resistance is small enough. Any major playfield coil shouldn't lock up like that. Shutting the game off quickly can reduce the damage caused by locked coil, should one lock on.

[@TheInfernoSquid]

Re: half-way flippers, games with an upper flipper (like The Shadow and Funhouse) allow you to hold the flipper button half way down and it only flips the lower flipper, sometimes called stage flipping. Advanced players can cradle a ball on the lower flipper while hitting an inner loop shot from the upper flipper with another ball. On Funhouse, this is achieved with a stack of leaf switches with a gap between them, so only one switch is closed when holding the button half way. Shadow uses Fliptronic flippers, which use opto beams instead of leaf switches at the buttons. They still have the half-way functionality, achieved through two beams on one button and a piece of plastic that's longer on one side than the other to block the beam when the button is pressed.

[@Pelnied]

When you only push the button part way and it activates the lower set of flippers, that is called Staging.

[@Titanic4]

Not every game allows you to do that. Black Knight 2000 is one of them. Fliptronic games can flip the flippers by themselves. The Addams Family can do that in 2 cases: When the Thing flips(look at baby flipper in left), or at end of a ball in play.

[@HunterJE]

I enjoyed the "I need to get around to making the tool" over footage that would imply that between the narration and the video you did indeed get around to it

[@stevethepocket]

Nothing to motivate getting around to doing something like having to admit to thousands of people that you haven't done it yet.

[@leonkernan]

69 thousand when I’m viewing

[@GeneCash]

@@leonkernan NICE

[@CryptoRoast_0]

Dude if you ever find yourself in Poland I implore you to visit the Krakow Pinball museum. Its phenominal.

[@TastySlowCooker]

Liking this comment just for the word implore. Great word

[@CrowArchLane]

Ah damn I was just recently in Krakow! Didn't know about the museum but its a lovely city and I throughly recommend it

[@Jack_Slate]

I was there last year! Great find and place to visit!

[@cheeseparis1]

Liking this comment just for the words "Krakow Pinball museum". OMG I need to fing a occasion to visit your town and get there! _browsing Krakow opera schedule_

[@christo930]

Is it loaded with Eastern Block games? I've seen a few youtube videos of arcade games from the CCCP. It's amazing how far behind they were from the West. I cannot find much in English about the various models of Spectrum computers from the post CCCP era, but from what little I have seen, they do not adhere to any real standard, let alone the original ZX Spectrum. But that these were a source of at home arcade fun in the 90s.

[@dhawthorne1634]

I just sat through an hour and ten minutes. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M TIRED OF PINBALL CONTENT?!?!? (Granted, I would like to see more frequent videos on various topics).

[@jakemcgregor8117]

Make that just shy of 3 hours if you watched all the other pinball videos in series.

[@davidmorton8170]

Yeah, I'm confused by that statement too. I'm just frustrated that I don't have a pinball machine myself now. :D

[@John_Locke_108]

Time for you to melt my brain again with these circuit board diagrams. This series has been so much fun.

[@Maco_im_Sacko]

I totally agree

[@JustanOlGuy]

Series? I feel a binge coming on.

[@ItsEverythingElse]

As a former PLC programmer, looking at the ladder logic diagrams was fun.

[@JusticeAlways]

Me too! Great "memories"....😅

[@colinwood9717]

16:24 it’s way more important to enable the coin lockout when the credit wheel is at max, because if the credit wheel goes too far past max, the post that opens the “max credit” switch can actually push that switch up into the “zero credit switch and cause a short, blowing up all your backbox lights. Ask me how I know 😬

[@mackpines]

An hour long Q&A from TC? Hell yeah!

[@cryxli]

Electro-mechanical devices are always fun to watch. Especially when explained so well.

[@TimothyKepley]

I can't wait for the Theater of Magic video. I think the updated machine will be an interesting comparison to this one.

[@LittleDancerByGrace]

'Tired of pinball content?' My dude, you literally make videos about dishwashers and we gladly watch them.

[@NeonNijahn]

😂

[@Melon_Gazpacho]

I really hope there’s someone out there looking to restore an Aztec pinball machine and they stumble on this series.

[@KevinJDildonik]

At least before the series launched. My wife likes pinball so I was looking at tables. Aztec was at a pretty good price and player rating, so it was a top pick for a value table. Warning: You need to be on first name basis with an electrician to own these machines long term. Be one, know one, or plan to buy a beer for one. I personally can solder, and at least run a multimeter, so I could keep a table operating decently between regular services.

[@bob218]

I didn't have this machine, but Space Odyssey which is *essentially* the same game from a technical standpoint, just with 2 players instead of 4, and a different play field. However, I had JUST finished getting my machine back to near 100% when this series dropped. I was so bummed that I didn't have this sooner BUT it was the first time in watching TC that I actually knew about 90% of what he was talking about already. That was a treat in itself. Plus, figuring out everything without such a detailed overview was (while challenging) very rewarding. Now whenever the machine has an issue I generally know what needs to be fixed, or what to look for.

[@gopernoperstrains3160]

This series got me into pinball in the first place, after buying and restoring my machine I found an Aztec with severe water damage and finished restoring it over the summer. The series was helpful in gaining initial knowledge. These videos absolutely made me want an Aztec though

[@OmarSoubhieh]

I don't know what is more weird, having that many super long and detailed videos about pinball machines, or me watching them all the way even though I don't like playing the game!!!

[@HunterJE]

"The manufacturers don't want people playing pranks on each other and turning them off" that is unless you're willing to reach around your friend on the second ball or later (and give the operator another quarter) ;)

[@S.J.C._Entertainment]

Recently played an Aztec, easily one of my favorite EM machines. Likely wouldn’t have even played it if it weren’t for this particular video series, so thanks for that. Also I believe the whole flipper argument has to do with tap passes and how they’re much easier on older machines.

[@kevinpjohnston]

Yes, cannot tap pass on modern machines, just EMs with the old flipper design.

[@S.J.C._Entertainment]

@@kevinpjohnston You actually can but it’s FAR harder. Ems and early solid state is very easy.

[@Titanic4]

That is quite related to delay from the button to flipper assembly. EM and older solid state flipper design uses high voltage to trigger respective flipper. In EM's, both the tilt and game over relays are enabling them when needed. In early solid state games there is one relay, which enables flipper power. There is noticeable click when the relay changes state, the relay is located in the power supply unit, or on the MPU. Later games are purely software, Fliptronic games not only kept the delay, but they can also flip by themselves, without player's intervention. The Addams Family does flip the flippers in 2 cases: when Thing flips(look at baby flipper near the left side), or randomly, during end of ball bonus sequence, triggering callout at later date.

[@jasonandrewz2214]

20 plus years ago I worked for a amusement company. Pool tables dart boards, pinball machines, video games and jukebox records and cd's. These videos bring me joy

[@ericjackman1143]

I came here after Thanksgiving to see how you’ll talk about Christmas lights again. Can’t wait 😂

[@TomTWalker]

I used to play that exact machine back in 1978, and as a low paid paperboy, ashamedly, I used to smash pennies with a rock such that they were the size of a quarter, and they worked to add credits to the machine. I did that until the owner of arcade caught me and told me to never come back.

[@1000PaperCuts-f3j]

Back in the 90s, they called the internet the 'information superhighway '. You, sir, are the fulfillment of that grand promise. Because of your great efforts, I learned more about the technology around me than I could have received from a dozen schools. If we live in a golden age - and I believe we do - it is because of people like you. Thank you, thank you for the wonderful content you create.

[@DavidRabbit]

Regarding 'analog flippers', the difference is regarding the actuation time between button press and flipper bat actuation. On an EM machine or machine that does not have a control board/logic controlling the flipper, you are more easily able to perform a tap pass from one flipper to the other via a quick button tap. Papa pinball's channel has a great example of that technique.

[@davidmartin8068]

Theater of Magic is my all time favorite! So a series on that can't come soon enough please and thank you! 😄

[@jr42a1]

What a great channel. Thank you for the content !

[@The_Dan_Chiasson]

This dudes glow up over the years has kept me gripped. Looking fresh my man. Ive been watching since the CED days!

[@EricPetersen2922]

I’m so old I remember seeing an Aztec in the wild. It was at the greyhound bus terminal. It was old and tired when I used to play it. 1970-1982 is my favorite era of machines Great video! ❤

[@CannedFishFiles]

Keep making pinball videos. I'm an expert pinball player but I don't know anything about how they work. So it's nice to hear a favorite youtube voice explaining it all. They are a cornucopia of that 20th century tech you always cover.

[@publiusii4246]

21:40 makes a lot of sense the 5000 relay is engaging while the motor is spinning so it just counts from where the motor is rather than the start

[@mrpricklythecactus]

I have watched all of his other videos about this machine and now that this is uploaded I must follow through. I must do the right thing and learn! 😅❤

[@nec3f]

Regarding the flipper switches...I grew up with a Bally machine (Big Betty's Truck Stop), it has two flippers on each side. One at the bottom of the playing field and another about midway up. If you push the flipper button, both flippers on that side activate. However, if you push the button halfway, only the bottom flipper activates. It gives you the ability to catch the ball in the bottom flipper and then lob it straight up and catch it on the top flipper where it's much easier to hit the targets.

[@MIKELiscrazy]

Definitely can't wait to see the newer Pinball Machine whenever you get around to it!

[@Not.the.toolman]

My dad bought a Gottlieb Bonanza machine in the late 70s so these videos have been a fantastic trip down memory lane. My friends and I would play it for hours. We'd change the free game score or take the glass out and "play" without the ball. In that early electronics era, it was still fascinating to watch the mechanisms in action through the coin door or with the play table raised. I've found this series informative and entertaining and they've got me thinking about getting one of my own.

[@shteebo]

The old mechanical games are so clever. I hadn't realized so many of the quirky traditional pinball rules were due to mechanical considerations, but of course, it makes perfect sense. Great content! Thanks for posting.

[@exotic-gem]

In French, the word « tilt » was introduced by pinball machines, so it is used to say some machine stopped working, or when fuses blow. It can also be used metaphorically to describe a sudden realization !

[@EricLondaits]

In Argentina, we use it for e.g., computers that lock up, or when someone zones out ("se tildó", "me tildé", etc.). It refers to the post-tilt state of a pinball, not the suddent tilt itself.

[@justincatterall9597]

I don't think there's another YT channel I subscribe to where I would choose to watch a video over an hour in length. No one else can hold my interest, thank you for making such interesting content.

[@HebaruSan]

As a casual rank amateur, the thing that soured me on pinball was the built-in unavoidable losses, when the ball goes through that side channel where I don't get an opportunity to even try to hit it with a flipper. Just boom, you lose. No thanks, I'll feed my quarters into _King of Dragons_ and _Police Trainer_ instead.

[@Kiaulen]

Same. It feels so bad that you essentially have three unavoidable losses built in. I get it, you don't want a really good player playing for an hour on a single quarter.

[@admalledd]

FWIW, the local place that had a few pinball machines had one or two that were "dumbed down" (and cheaper, with house-rules to let us kids play/have a chance on them) that locked out the gutters and some other things. Instead of costing multiple-quarters, they cost nickles/dimes.

[@daegan_ftw]

Technically all loses in pinball are avoidable however I do think designs without outlanes would be interesting.

[@cadebryan4088]

​@@daegan_ftw tell that to the Star wars at my local brewery. The number of times I've seen that machine drain immediately to the left outlane off plunge without a chance to hit the flippers is insane

[@cadebryan4088]

I've seen it happen 3 times in a row, off the ball save. Frustrating. Kinda funny, though. At least the ball save makes it so you aren't getting punished for it.

[@fuzzygenius]

As someone who has almost never played pinball, I'd love a vid on Theater of Magic! It's fascinating to learn about all this - different control logic, and just learning about a hobby I've never personally explored.

[@Dahkeus3]

I don’t really follow pinball stuff and my knowledge of electronics/mechanical stuff is generally poor, but I listened to this full video while doing stuff and just really enjoyed the full time. Thank you for your work in creating this video. It made me happy.

[@twothirdsanexplosive]

Recently visited Next Level Pinball in Hillsboro Oregon and it's well worth the visit. Phenomenal and large collection. Even when busy with some tournament play happening there's always plenty of machines available.

[@JonesNate]

29:17 -- It's less about power, and more about timing and quality. I've seen a few pinball machines where there was a delay between pressing the button and the flipper(s) actuating.

[@arxaaron]

Not sure the suggestion of a +100% markup based on the difference between the retail price and the parts manifest was very realistic. Having helped assemble the wire wrapped connections of a Steiner Parker synthesizer in high school and having soldered countless audio connections and crimped hundreds of BNC connectors over the years, I would guestimate that the total skilled labor for hand wiring one of these machines could easily exceed 100 hours.

[@TechnologyConnextras]

Y'know, for whatever reason the fact that labor costs aren't included in the BOM completely slipped my mind. However, a lot of the componentry for these machines (like arranging the wiring harnesses) was done with very specialized aids and templates. One example is the wiring harnesses: large boards with diagrams and pegs allowed workers to quickly route and bundle wires into the correct shape, and when cut to the right length they'd essentially bolt onto the playfield/mech board/backbox with all the wires exactly where the need to end up. The relays were also subdivided into "types" (not relevant to the maintenance of the machine, but you can spot the labeling on some of them) which made soldering them in the factory a pretty straightforward process. Just have to get the colors in the right order, and the different types worked sort of like a checksum to make errors self-present. I'm giving that context just because 100 hours per machine is probably on the high side once a proper production run was in full-force, though I can certainly believe sample games and prototypes took far longer to assemble!

[@usingthecharlim]

​@@TechnologyConnextrasalso, you mean >100% markup. Margin is 1 - cost/revenue. Its 100% if your cost is zero. To get over 100% margin, inputs need to have negative value, like using waste materials people pay you to take.

[@gali01992]

I used a huuuuge magnet on a pinball game once back in 1980. The ball came up to the magnet so fast, it broke the glass. On newer machines with the higher glass, that magnet could easily pick up the ball. The magnet came from a decommissioned Nike radar system, and weighed about 20 pounds. I couldn't keep it in my house because it would affect my TV's picture from any room (rather small house).

[@kelzling]

As a software engineer I absolutely love seeing the predecessor to some of the principles I work with today - Modularising components, so you can reuse common things between systems and only work on the custom bits when possible :D

[@fattomandeibu]

I don't even have much real interest in pinball, but this in-depth "how it works" stuff is pretty much what I live for. If there's more to say, then that's awesome.

[@JustanOlGuy]

I played them my entire 61years and never knew most of this!

[@harvey66616]

Some notes: -- On the question of partial flipper button presses, some games (like Williams Twilight Zone) detect two positions for the flipper button, because the button controls two different flippers. Press the button halfway, and only one of the flippers is activated. Press all the way, both are. -- On the topic of profit margin, while the bill of materials might only be half the retail price of the machine, I doubt that takes into account labor. And indeed, labor costs are one of the reasons pinball went away for a little while, and is a big reason why the new machines cost so much more in inflation adjusted dollars than they used to (there's also the effect of new collectors getting into the business especially during the pandemic...but that's more about there being a market to support the higher cost of production now). It's unlikely Williams or anyone was making over 100% profit on these machines.

[@tfrowlett8752]

I have a friend who services these machines, he even has an AC/DC machine signed by Angus Young. My favourite vintage machine has to be Jacks Open, it was also in the FNAF movie next to the stage in the middle of the three machines

[@platinaatje6134]

For EM (and vintage solid state) Pinball repair and explanation content: Joe's Classic Video Games YT channel is a must. He covered the Aztec pinball machine about 9 months ago.

[@samariamccord4302]

Why would anyone ever get tired of pinball content? Particularly antique pinball content? Ill never understand.

[@JusticeAlways]

Machine repair....😄

[@MartinIbert]

Not tired of pinball content. At all. I find it utterly satisfying. As I find all your nerdy content. (I hope you do not mind me calling your content nerdy.)

[@RyanWilliamsArt]

As a homebrew pinball maker, I love the pinball content. I can't wait to see Theatre of Magic come out. Thanks for taking the time to explain your machines.

[@FathomtheOcean]

I really enjoy your videos, it would be absolutely amazing if there was a playlist of your entire channel. I like watching the videos throughout the day when I can then put them on a playlist when I sleep.

[@stevenpurtee5062]

I can't believe I've now sat through 4 videos about this machine. Every time it's like "Oh, I'll watch a couple of minutes.", and then I end up watching the whole thing.

[@rzepek2pl]

This is the only pinball video of yours I finally understand in its entirety, on a machine I'll most likely never even play 😂

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

18:35 this whole section just shows how incredible he is at explaining a concept!

[@JoeLion55]

Ok, me not realizing that people were reading instructions and playing pinball strategically, and not just hitting the flippers to keep the ball alive

[@marcobucci]

This was great - thanks for making the effort to dive into the questions!

[@L3gion314]

13:36 I think one reason they might have the game reset is in the case of abandoned games. If someone left a game mid-play and someone new comes along with a quarter they would want to reset everything so they can start fresh

[@YaBoiKoshah]

I think that analog issue people may be talking about (28 mins) is input lag between the button pressing and a signal sent vs analog is triggered as soon as the electrical contact is made.

[@ScaryMeadow]

I have ZERO interest in pinball machines and I know very little about electronics in general, but the simplicity and ingenuity of electromechanical stuff is fascinating and I always enjoy your content and I very much look forward to more pinball vids in the future.

[@kevinpjohnston]

In regards to nudging, I've found the key is to learn with your body instead of your brain. Set your tilt bob very lenient, and just nudge nudge nudge, as much as you can. You will mostly accomplish nothing, and often make things worse. But when your body randomly manages a successful nudge, your brain will reward it with dopamine. Repeat this 1000x and you will be nudging like a pro!

[@aaronwadzinski5761]

I've just recently got a Duotron machine, that I am working through, and getting working now... Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@leecasey3022]

I never thought I'd enjoy watching someone talk about pinball for an hour rather than playing pinball. There's a good reason I never thought that.

[@Tossphate]

You're the best thing about KZbin, and for that you deserve the Theatre of Magic. I won't allow myself to be jealous.

[@christophertstone]

If anybody is "done" on pinball content, they didn't belong in the first place

[@NeonNijahn]

🎉🎉🎉

[@georgeof78]

I love pinball machines. Especially the complicated ones. I remember going to a bar and grill with my mom on St. Patrick's day. They had a pinball machine nobody was playing. I started playing it and of course i spent all my money in a few minutes. A guy came over and showed me the machine was actually broken. He showed me how to open the coin box and keep playing. I played that machine so hard and learned the tricks of pinball and got really good at it and became hooked on pinball machines. On a side note, there was a lot of people who who set down their pitcher of green beer on the table and I'd help myself to a sip of that delicious green beer when they weren't looking. Lol!

[@kenfenske5002]

Your videos are always so informative and diving deep. I got an old EM machine at an antique store for $200 because it didn't work. Put a fuse in it and it works pretty good now.

[@squidcaps4308]

I know how to train nudging: do it all the time, keep the machine "floating", so that you move the table constantly just a tiny bit. It is like opposite of how people play, you keep it steady only when it needs to be steady and keep the table alive, moving. "One with the table you must become" would be the Yodaist view of things..

[@cadbane80]

I love all of the pinball content. always been a fan of them and I love how much life the older games have. its a game with a wonderful work of mechanical art attached to it

[@dustycircuit8758]

The whole series about the pinball machine and the series about the jukebox just really satisfied the nerd in me. I've built a few electronics projects including a 12 hour digital clock w seconds display and alarm function, and I've built many redstone circuits in the game Minecraft. A lot of the terminology and concepts talked about in these videos also apply to digital electronics and to Minecraft redstone. I've built basically every type of digital electronic circuit in Minecraft except for a computer, but I plan on doing that that someday. Keep making these kinds of videos, they just awesome.

[@christo930]

I was a kid in 1976. Let me assure you, at least by 1978, people were putting quarters in machines when other people were playing them. You have no idea how popular these games were, especially video games. It wasn't uncommon for me to walk into the deli near my house that had pinball machines and arcade machines to see the credit on 9 and quarters lined up across the machine. 1/2 the fun of these games was watching others play while you waited your turn. Of course, at least one kid would always be the announcer making color commentary. Meanwhile, you knew your place in line and you would either watch the credits or the quarters lined up on the machine. As someone born in maybe the late 80s, you would have never seen this fad (Facebook existed while you were in high school). While arcades and pinball was still around, by the late 80s, they were just no longer the attractions they once were and this was true in the 90s as well. Most of the arcades were closed by the very early 90s. In the early 80s on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, there could be 100 plus kids and young adults in the arcade. These machines were EVERYWHERE. Restaurants, corner delis, supermarkets, the DMV. About the only regular public place I've never seen a pinball or arcade machine was in school.

[@renakunisaki]

This madlad found a game crash bug in an electromechanical game.

[@SkillTimO]

As a geek of sorts, I appreciate your passion for this project that takes you back to your teens.

[@isaacplaysbass8568]

Loving the Pinball series, fab Q&A, it's utterly fascinating! I'm look forward to the next one.

[@johnrehwinkel7241]

Never tired of pinball! I have a couple of machines myself (Xenon and Raven). I was invited to someone's secret basement arcade once, all the machines were off. I suspect it was a basic "are you a real pinball fan" test, but I knew where the power switch was so I guess I passed that one.

[@emmaeilefsen7214]

Hey there! Just a tip from someone who recently learned how to nudge a pin: It really helps to just do nudges all the time when playing, even if you dont have to. for example on pop bumpers and slingshots, it is often beneficial (or neutral) to nudge up. Get in the habit of that just to get used to the timing and movement of a physical nudge, then you can start trying to apply it on the outlanes (im still not good at it, but i often make an attempt out of sheer habit)

[@Chris-xk3bp]

Thanks for another very interesting video. All the pinball content on your channel has been brilliant and I’d love to see a detailed video on Theater Of Magic! As someone interested in audio (who also really enjoys pinball) one of the things I find interesting about Williams machines from the 90’s is their use of the DCS (Digital Compression System) sound boards. These were one of the first arcade sound boards capable of playing full soundtracks of 16-bit digital audio, using a proprietary lossy audio format that was created in-house by Williams/Midway and was only ever used in these games. When it was launched in 1993, pretty much all other arcade/pinball games relied on FM Synthesis for their music, so to have proper recorded music in (relatively) high quality was a pretty big breakthrough at the time. The board would receive commands on what to play (as well as information about volume, looping etc.) from the main CPU board and could play up to 4 channels at a time. However, due to the limited storage space available on the rom chips, the audio engineers at Williams often had to lower the sample rate of some audio files (usually the speech callouts or sound effects) and cut certain parts of the music up into repeatable “chunks” to make the soundtrack seem longer than it actually is (I believe the DCS board could only hold around 10 mins of audio at 32khz, the highest sample rate the format could support). Still, despite the lower quality files having some noticeable compression artifacts (though they probably wouldn’t be too obvious in a busy arcade), DSC still sounds pretty good even today and it’s quite impressive what they were able to accomplish given the hardware limitations of the time.

[@codahighland]

I imagine the perceived benefit of the direct electrical connection in the flipper buttons isn't that you have more control over the flipper motion, but that it reduces the latency in the button: That "half-connected" state still triggers the solenoid, as you pointed out, which means it instantly starts moving even before the button finishes depressing. This is in contrast to the theoretical issue with a software-controlled flipper where it won't move until the processor gets around to handling the button press. I call this "theoretical" because a properly functioning machine is unlikely to have the software get stuck for more than one's ability to perceive the latency. Also, no. Not tired of pinball content at all! It's actually quite inspiring.

[@andrewhopper3481]

Been loving all the pinball content! I'm a bit of a pinhead and have some additional info folks might find interesting. If I'm incorrect someone else please correct me! T2 is the first game with a coded "ball save" but lots of earlier games have a pseudo ball save for "playfield validation". Basically unless you hit a minimum amount of switches after plunging your ball and drain, you will get your ball back. I don't know how early this shows up, and a lot of games of this area sidesteps this by plunging the ball in a way that requires switch hits anyway (such as the rollovers here on Aztec). I'm not sure when this first started being implemented, but I've always assumed it was a holdover from the EM days. Score Rollovers - As a workaround for rolling over digits reel, some games have other elements on the backglass art that only light up when the rollover occurs. Sometimes this expected several times over (lighting up something like 1,000,000, then 2,000,000, etc.) Sometimes it's simply just a single extra 1 digit or even just a light. There sort of are half-way flippers in ways... sort of. Games with more than 2 flippers let you control flippers on the same side separately by using a two-stage contact switch in the button, so "half press" that only activates the first switch will engage the lower flippers without the upper ones. I believe this buttons even of this era work the same, with the two stages Differences in "catchability" is usually less due to flipper power strength and more about the type and condition of the rubbers around the flippers. Generally newer rubbers are more bouncy and older ones more grippy. It's not just the friction of the surface but also the changes in how the flipper rubber warps and flops when shot. If you're in the Chicago area, the Pinball Expo is having their 40th show next month in Schaumberg. There will be a ton of games new and old on freeplay and lots of industry presence. Because almost all manufacturing is still done in the Chicago area, GCG, Stern, JJP, and American are all are offering factory tours. It's really cool to see the people and the machines that make the machines.

[@KeithJewell]

Some early Gottlieb EM machines would give you the ball back if no points were scored, and there were machines where that was very possible.

[@shivorath]

A note on learning to nudge a machine (since TC mentioned struggling with that): Every time the ball drains. EVERY TIME. Nudge as soon as you can think to do so. Even if the ball has already drained… nudge. It will help train your brain, and eventually you’ll start nudging sooner and more consistently. The ball should never drain without you making some attempt to save it. (The exception being if you have a large bonus and don’t wish to risk a tilt and losing that bonus, but that’s a strategic decision to maximize points… if all you care about is keeping the ball alive then you should always attempt to save a draining ball)

[@wobblysauce]

Only ever had contact with digital Pinball machines this has been a good series.

[@LovelyRuthie]

I got a recommendation from someone really sweet I just connected with - I absolutely love pinball & he's already subscribed to you. Now I am too. Really enjoyed the level of detail & found the video both fascinating & like a calming wave of special interest for my neurodivergent brain - thank you!

[@Darkassassin09]

1:01:35 The bigger reason seprate switches are used is then you don't need diodes. If you link two seprate functions to the same switch those two functions will always trigger together as they are now connected in parallel via the switch contact. If either function is triggered via any other source; they both trigger.

[@PeterBellefleur]

Ive found the sunlight leds from comet pinball are really really good at reproducing the incandescent look, the reduced heat and stress on the already battered and abused plastics and backglass paint is worth upsetting the purists, especially if its on location and on all day.

[@flatfingertuning727]

A few points: 1. Some early Data East games didn't use an end-of-stroke switch, but would instead reduce flipper current after a certain amount of time. Because the reduced current was insufficient to draw the filipper unless it was fully up, a ball which hit a raised flipper with significant speed could push it down. On flippers with an end-of-stroke switch, by contrast, a ball that hit the flipper hard enough to push it off the end of stroke switch would cause the full-strength coil to re-energize, preventing the flipper from descending any further. 2. Some reel-based machines had a latching per-player light to indicate score roll-over, or an "Over the top" light and buzzer which would sound momentarily. Interestingly, the latter machines required that the light be a flasher bulb, and passed relay hold current through it. When the bulb flashed off, the latching relay would drop. I suspect that this may have been included not just to let players know that they rolled over the score, but also to allow operators to limit the number of replays. It would be fairly simple to put a normally-closed contact on the "100,000+" relay in series with the contacts used for dispensing replays at specified score thresholds, though I'm not sure whether machines did this. 3. Many machines will lock out any other scoring when processing a 5000 or 500 point shot. Otherwise, if a player had a score of e.g. 7,900 points and a player hit a 500-point shot while a 5,000-point shot was being processed, the player may end up with a score in the range 12,000 to 12,400, which would be lower than the 12,900 the player would have from the 5000-point shot alone, since the thousands digit would only advance once when it received pulses simultaneously from the 5000-point relay and the hundreds-digit carry. Some machines will use two relays for some events, one of which indicates that a machine is currently processing an event, while the other would indicate that it has occurred and processing is not complete; the former relay can only become latched on when the scoring motor is idle and only held when no higher-priority event is held, and the latter relay can only be cleared in the middle of a cycle where the former is latched.

[@JasonT-xp3kh]

What an awesome machine. I always loved the artwork on this one. These old machines are still super fun to play, especially if you can loosen up the tilt bob and get some real action out of it. 👍

[@azertycraftgaming]

Yes I would love to see a deep dive into another machine. Thank you for this fascinating series

[@allenmanning1987]

I'm not tired of the Pinball content, I love these videos!

[@arcadeuk]

27:40 Yes actually. So with the introduction of electronically controlled flippers, when you press the flipper button, the high power coil is fired for pre-set amount of time (which on some games can be adjusted in the game settings to vary the flip strength) With older games, an experienced player can tap the flipper button for only a couple of milliseconds to do things such as a weak pass from one flipper to the other, where it will look like the flipper barely moved

[@odesseus]

Thanks! I loved it!

[@timekeeper-fr]

YES! Please! Theatre of Magic is my favorite pinball of all times. The one who changed my life as a teenager. The first I loved so MUCH. The magic trunk whas unvelievable!!! The One I would like to buy if I have more space. So, yes, please, I would be absolutely happy to watch a complete tour of this pinball on this channel

[@arxaaron]

When you do the sound recordings, I hope you'll consider releasing them as a sample set for us weird synth music geeks. 😁

[@Johnnycyan]

hmm yeah that would be interesting

[@cheeseparis1]

My memories about coining up while playing and other stuff - adding a coin adds a credit but doesn't start anything - if you press start : one player - pressing start before points are scored : adds players - pressing start after player 1 scores points : don't remember - playing a ball and no points scored : the ball gets kicked back and can be played again

[@JouMxyzptlk]

All the questions I've never dreamed of were answered! And don't worry about "too much pinball", as long as you don't hit the South Park "too much tegridy" level...

[@Colaholiker]

If there is a chance to make more pinball content, there is a need for more pinball content! 😍

[@KaitouKaiju]

29:18 It's that the digital flippers have more latency between the button press and the flipper energizing

[@byersbw]

This, EXACTLY! There are MANY newer games that I’ve played that there’s at least a 1/2 a second sometimes between me hitting the flipper button, and the flipper actually flipping. It’s SO Annoying!!!

[@WorldCupReportBB]

Never get tired of pinball content

[@ARPLATINUM]

I grew up with Aladdin's Castle. Got great at catching and holding the ball with the flippers and putting it where I wanted it to go. What happens when you're grounded all summer in the 90s lol