Stormlight Pinball Machine Brainstorming

[SteelBallPusher]

I'm currently in the process of designing and building a pinball machine and I've landed on the Stormlight Archive as a theme. I've been building and repairing arcade cabinets for years and have wanted to do a pinball project for quite some time. The idea for the Stormlight theme came from a dream I had while camping on a stormy night this summer (I'm not kidding.... maybe a visit from the Stormfather?). I'm wondering if anyone is interested in helping me brainstorm some ideas. In general, pinball machines typically have a all of the basic components like flippers, bumpers, ramps, elaborate mechanisms, etc. and thematic modes or goals that can be achieved. There are usually about 5-7 main modes (and other smaller modes and objectives) and you can think of them like levels in a video game. For example, there could be a target that you have to hit a certain number of times without draining that activates a relevant animation or action on the playfield and has some outcome that effects gameplay (lots of points, start multiball, allow access to some advanced mode, etc.). There is usually also one or more "wizard" mode that is activated by completing all of the other major goals. In my mind the more thematically unified the playfield, modes, and lights/animations/sounds are the better the overall experience. 

 

I've been going back and forth on two overarching approaches on this:

1) My original thought was to actually center the game around a discrete event in the books with lots of sub-goals that would make for fun modes. The context that jumped out to me most was the Battle of Thaylen Field as it seems like a perfect setting for a bunch of associated but discrete goals. For example, a mode involving ramp leading to a wire ball guide would be a good thematic fit for Lift and Szeth and going after the King's Drop. Kaladin vs unmade-ified Amaram could be a great and preferably very difficult mode to bash some 3d toy repeatedly perhaps while maintaining a "stormlight" meter over a certain level. Adolin and Renarin vs. the Thunderclasts with a big 3d movable mech. A Shallan multiball representing her army of lightweavings. A big Dalinar "you cannot have my pain" moment associated with some really difficult shot. It really does seem this would be a pretty good context. The advantages are I think it could be thematically unified well and it only relies on published materials through Oathbringer so I don't need to worry about Brandon Sanderson nullifying something I produce in book 5. The major disadvantages are that it only allows for a limited set of "set pieces" or moments from the books and there are soooooo many good ones I'd love to include.

2) My second idea is just covering lots of events from different books through RoW. There are again a ton of great moments that would make good modes. Adolin's duel with Kaladin's help (I can just hear the "Honor is dead but I'll see what I can do" callout). Fighting different kinds of fused. I have a vision of a magnetic Fourth Bridge carrying the ball from one location on the playfield to another. Modes for swearing ideals with increasing difficulty for each one. Highstorm and Everstorm multiball modes that various add or potentially take away points for certain outcomes. There is just so much it's hard to narrow it down. I'd love to hear other things people think could be cool.

 

Other general ideas:

I've been working on designing some of the specific mechanisms and, though I'm not tied to any of this yet, what I've got at least partially done so far is...

1) Urithiru playfield 3d model with a ball trough and a gate that has to be hit a certain number of times to open and then "defeat" the unmade at the pillar. For those familiar with pinball this is very much inspired by the Medieval Madness castle and works in the same basic way.

2) A small screen with a "Pepper's Ghost Illusion" display that allows me to show objects that will look like they are floating on the playfield (this is in the recent Stern Ghostbusters game and also the same basic effect used in Disney's Haunted Mansion for the ballroom). My idea is to have that be an animation of Syl reacting to different outcomes on the playfield. 

3) A magnet capture that takes the ball under the playfield and into a "Shadesmar" mode that would probably be a video mode on the backbox.

 

 

Anyway, I'd be super interested in hearing thoughts that anyone has about either of the overarching options above or other modes or mechanisms you think would be cool to include. If anyone has any experience in the pinball world I'd love to chat more and collaborate.

[Quantus]

FUN!   (No real pinball experience but I'm a mechanical/controls engineer, so it's tangentially my jam)

Random thoughts

• RGB LED's everywhere, with Color-coded play modes based on the radiant Orders (plus some baleful looking Void setting?).
• Gems with LEDs as the Stormlight meter.  Maybe you have to trigger a Highstorm and then hit certain targets to Infuse the gems?
• "Soulcasting" to temporarily replace the steel ball with a rubber one (is this even a thing in pinball?)
• Summon "Shardplate" to put a block in the trough temporarily, uses Stormlight
• Summon "Shardblade" to add an active bounce/kick to the surface of the main paddles (there's a term for this?), uses Stormlight
• [more to come after coffee]

 

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Quantus

[SteelBallPusher]

Thanks! This is great. I definitely will be using RGB LEDs and hope to have some great light shows. I've been playing the idea of a stormlight meter to powerup some bonus or something but having a goblet full to actually represent the infused gems is a great idea. That probably also wouldn't be too hard to do if it was mounted on the back of the playfield. I also love the idea of "shardplate" ball trough block too and that wouldn't be too hard to implement with existing mechanisms. As for the soulcasting idea, I don't know of any machines that use non-steel balls but perhaps I could use different color/powdercoating or something. Thanks for the input!

[Channelknight Fadran]

I don't know if this is statistically dead or not but if the pinball balls themselves aren't gem spheres or Shadesmar spheres at least then I'm going to be severely disappointed.