These are PC remakes of historical pinball games those I have written or re-worked with the great freeware pinball construction kit program Visual Pinball. (Click on screenshots to see a bigger one. Unfortunately Visual Pinball games only run on Micro$oft Windoze (not WINE anymore) - I hope someone will create a Linux version. Don't pay bills for Gates!)

Seedware licence v1.22 for Visual Pinball games

B O O M E R A N G - a programming example pinball machine design ©1974 by Bally,  version for Visual Pinball copyleft 2001 by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler [download]

If you like PC pinball games and electro-mechanical pinball machines, then this is a must-to-see for you. Wellcome to play the possibly world first emulated EM pinball game!

You may ask what I mean with emulation, because there are no ROMs nor anything CPU-like in electro- mechanical pinball machines. But unlike ordinary simulations of pinball game rules, the entire behaviour of this program is based on a model of the inner working of the machine, though the game timing with scoring and all chimes and mechanical noises behave like a real Bally EM pinball mechanism. Also the reset sequence is there with full sound. This program is an absolute milestone in innovative Visual Pinball programming.

Main features:

• The playfield contains genuine 3 dimensional disc- shaped targets and visible transparent acryl parts.

• All playfield and backglass parts including counters have realistic illumination that can switch on and off.

• You can hear all ball rolling and hit noises, the purring of the score motor and the relay clicks. The flipper solenoids hum when held up and there is even the vigorous rattling of the resetting score counters exactly synchronized to what they do. (This is not just one static sound sample, but real emulation!)

• But most spectacular innovation in this game is the "reel-a-listic"(tm) ;-)score counter engine. You must see this - it's a simulated set of fully backlit score reel counters so faithfully reproduced that they not just click, rattle and visibly rotate, but even can get stuck and hum when a ball lies on a playfield switch. Also the credit counter reel employs this technology - you can see it spinning and hear its tinny hammering when it adds credits.

Note: The complex implementation of the spinning counter reels used in this game has nowadays become a bit obsolete since the new Visual Pinball itself supports such an effect with way less effort. Please regard this when you use my code, but the concept of the sticking and humming digits and their illumination is still quite unique and can likely also be ported to the new standard EM-reel implementation.  The game "Jimmy das Gummipferd" includes a newer and much more versatile version of the reel-a-listic score counter routine.

Jimmy das Gummipferd pinball machine design ©1954(???) by Mün-Ma,  version for Visual Pinball copyleft 2002 by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler [download]

This is likely one of the greatest 1950th multiball pinball machines made in Germany. It's a massive multiball game with up to 10 balls simultaneously those encircle the playfield in a race track of the name zirkulator, and those with some skill enter the playfield through the top gate. This ancient machine was far beyond its time and plays fantastic! You also must hear its mechanical sound effects - this thing has rhythm! It was a lot of work to re-create this unusual machine, but it was worth the effort, so urgently download it.

To programmers: this one is also emulated and employs the currently most actual version of the reel-a-listic score counter routine, which is much more versatile than the "Boomerang" one.

Embryon pinball machine design ©1981 by Bally  (production run 2250) much enhanced modification 4SloPC copyleft 2001 by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler, based on Visual Pinball release by Germax & Schindler (used with permission) [download]

"Embryon" is certainly one of those pinball machines with the most beautiful and unique backglass pictures - a modern genesis fantasy that can be regarded as the cyberage's equivalent to the classical painting "Birth of the Venus". It also reminds somewhat to a piece of latex trance art. (Don't fear - I don't intend to clone human beings; yet the mankind is neither clever nor wise enough to do such steps. More about the meaning of the Embryon backglass artwork and why it almost was censored in Germany can be read in this text; there is also a little prophecy about the mankind's genetic future in it. )

Since I saw the backglass in a pinball book (which didn't show the playfield), I wanted to see the game of it and know how it plays. Though when I discovered Visual Pinball, already before I made "Boomerang" I thought about programming a remake of this game. Fortunately Germax (Gerd Augustin) & Schindler did already most of the work, although minus the backglass and it refused to run on my AMD K6 300MHz PC. Though I made a very much improved version of "Embryon" based on that program.

Main improvements:

• "MolecularMotion" mechanism (table vibrator) added that reduces CPU load by magnitudes - this makes it playable even on slow PCs with all captive balls present. Optionally this mechanism, all captive balls and many other features can be disabled by a simple constant assignment in the "operator settings" section of the script. (I am not sure if its neccessarity has become obsolete with the most recent Visual Pinball versions - however, it can be disabled. )

• tilt pendulum simulation added (had been just a nudge counter) and some bugs in Germax's tilt logics fixed.

• the famous masterpiece of backglass artwork added - realize it now in its entire ethereal beauty (backlit version, scanned in hires from a pinball book).

• many mechanical sounds including ball rolling and hit noises added. (Ball roll noise can be disabled. )

• playfield completely reworked. New picture with much better contrast and colours added. Realistic rubber bands and spinner modelled and various misconceptions of the mechanical layout of Germax's playfield parts corrected. (E. g. the arrangement of the center captive ball mechanism looked completely wrong  to me. ) The spiky Gottlieb EM style flippers replaced with rounder Bally ones =>aiming is much easier now.

Middle Earth pinball machine design ©1978 by Atari Visual Pinball release by Ash, playfield improved by CYBERYOGI =CO=Windler [download]

Although this game has a bit brutalistic topic (dinosaur fighting theme, based on Jules Verne?) and might be not the world most exciting pinball machine, it  is something historic from Atari, though I felt right to re-work it a little.

I only removed the most blatant playfield flaws (the playfield was stretched way too long) and added some details, but did not remotely invest as much work as in my "Boomerang" EM emulator or my modification "Embryon" 4SloPC.  In spite of all this it now looks IMO quite acceptable.

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links

Pinball Nirvana
another important pinball simulation forum.

PinMAME (GitHub)
Here you find the latest version of the pinball hardware emulator Visual PinMAME (not necessary to play my emulated "Boomerang" EM pinball). This program emulates the computer electronics of solid state pinball machines to run the original computer software from their ROMs. You also need Visual Pinball to simulate the mechanical part of these machines.

Youtube:
pinball history [playlist]

technology of early pinball machines (much EM/mechanical) & some relations to videogames and electronic sound effects.
 

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