Pinball Playfield Exercise 9/2/11

This exercise is to enable students to better understand the nature of gameplay as it applies to the game of pinball, using online pinball games as the basis for a playfield component mapping assignment.

In-class exercise - 45 minutes.

For this exercise, follow the below steps:


Step 1) Play at least three of the following online java pinball games and report your favorite to class afterwards.

http://www.onlinepinball.net/

http://internetgames.about.com/od/webgames/tp/freepinball.htm

http://www.thepinballzone.net/game.php?id=online_pinball

http://www.guzer.com/games/pepsi_pinball.php

Use any other pinball resources online in addition to the above if you wish.


Step 2) take a screen capture of the playfields of three (3) different online pinball games from the above sites

e.g:





















To make a screen capture like the one above on the mac, hold down 'command', 'shift' and the number '4' key at the same time. The arrow-shaped cursor will turn into a crosshair. Click and drag the crosshair across the area you wish to capture, release the mouse button when you have defined the area to be captured. This will place a 'screen capture' image file on the desktop of the computer and save this as a .png file.

Step 3) Open the screen capture image of the pinball playfield in Photoshop, then add a layer to the image. In this new layer use the paint tools to mark out the various components of the playfield like this (the names of all these components are listed in the wikipedia entry on the subject)

1) yellow - flippers
2) orange wire ramps
3) blue - magnetic holes
4) light blue - flippers
5) green - rollovers

Thus:

Step 4) When you have posted both images of the playfield, write a brief paragraph describing the nature of the gameplay of this pinball machine in terms of its a) speed b) dynamism c) challenges d) gameplay 'fun' level and e) any other details you feel are relevant.

Answer these questions:

i) What is "good gameplay" when it comes to pinball game design?

ii) How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?

Repeat above stages for two other online pinball games.