# Deep Dive: Star Trek (2013) PREVIEW

**Source:** Pinball Party Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-05-23  
**Duration:** 5m 8s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://pinballparty.podbean.com/e/deep-dive-star-trek-2013-preview/

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## Analysis

A preview discussion of Stern Pinball's 2013 Star Trek machine, comparing Premium and Limited Edition variants. The hosts highlight the design team (Steve Ritchie, Lonnie D. Ropp, David Thiel), praise the original soundtrack, and detail mechanical/LED differences between editions, including the Vengeance ship, RGB lighting, warp ramp effects, and laser starfield projector.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Star Trek (2013) was designed by Steve Ritchie (game design/software), Lonnie D. Ropp (sound), and David Thiel (music) — _Host states directly during game credits discussion_
- [HIGH] David Thiel composed the original Star Trek pinball music note-for-note himself — _Host references direct interview with David Thiel; Thiel confirmed he made all the music_
- [HIGH] Many players replace the original Star Trek soundtrack with other music, which Thiel said 'guts' him emotionally — _Host recounts Thiel's direct response to the question about soundtrack replacement_
- [HIGH] The Premium Edition features more movement on the Vengeance ship, full RGB LED lighting, chase lights, and an animated laser starfield projector — _Host describes mechanical differences between Premium and LE editions_
- [HIGH] The ship featured on the Star Trek premium playfield is the Vengeance, not the Enterprise — _Host explicitly corrects common misconception about which ship is featured_

### Notable Quotes

> "Does the pinball machine hold up as good as the enterprise does?"
> — **Host**, Early in episode
> _Opening rhetorical hook comparing machine quality to Star Trek franchise quality_

> "the music is great. The music is so good on this game."
> — **Host**, During credits discussion
> _Establishes David Thiel's soundtrack as a standout feature of the machine_

> "oh yeah, it absolutely guts me with the solenoid, basically."
> — **David Thiel (quoted)**, Referenced from prior interview
> _Sound designer's emotional response to players replacing his original music_

> "he's the best in pinball for audio. I love his work so much."
> — **Host**, Closing David Thiel discussion
> _Strong endorsement of David Thiel's audio design capabilities in the pinball industry_

> "V U K vertical up kicker. It's just a mech that shoots the ball up. It's a ball ejector, right?"
> — **Host**, During mechanical features explanation
> _Educational clarification of pinball terminology (VUK) for new players_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer; credited as game design and software lead on Star Trek (2013) |
| David Thiel | person | Sound/music designer for Star Trek (2013); praised by host as best audio designer in pinball; reportedly upset when players replace his original soundtrack |
| Lonnie D. Ropp | person | Sound designer credited on Star Trek (2013) |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Star Trek (2013) machine; referred to as 'Sam Stern' in episode (transcription artifact) |
| Star Trek (2013) | game | Stern Pinball machine based on Star Trek franchise; features Premium and Limited Edition variants |
| Pinball Party Podcast | organization | Source podcast; hosts deep-dive discussions on pinball machines |
| American Pinball | company | Mentioned in title as producing Star Trek machine (though actual manufacturer is Stern; likely title error) |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Game Design & Credits, Audio Design & Soundtrack, Premium vs Limited Edition Variants, Mechanical Features & LED Effects
- **Secondary:** Pinball Terminology Education, Star Trek Franchise IP

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Hosts express genuine enthusiasm for the machine, David Thiel's work, and the Star Trek license. Tone is celebratory and informative. Minor note of sympathy/concern for Thiel's feelings about music replacement, but framed constructively.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** David Thiel's approach to Star Trek soundtrack composition and his emotional investment in original music being preserved (confidence: high) — Host references direct interview with Thiel confirming he composed all music note-for-note and expressed hurt when players replace it
- **[product_strategy]** Stern's tiering of Star Trek editions with distinct mechanical and lighting upgrades between Premium and Limited Edition (confidence: high) — Host details RGB LED, chase lights, warp ramp LED strip, laser starfield projector, and Vengeance ship movement as Premium Edition features
- **[content_signal]** David Thiel appeared on Pinball Party Podcast in a prior episode to discuss Star Trek (2013) in depth (confidence: high) — Host references prior interview with Thiel and directs listeners to listen to full conversation; also mentions providing soundtrack creation details
- **[community_signal]** Common practice among players to replace Star Trek's original David Thiel soundtrack with alternative music, creating tension between designer intent and player preference (confidence: high) — Host acknowledges 'lots of people, including myself' have replaced the music; Thiel confirmed this practice emotionally impacts him
- **[design_innovation]** Use of animated laser starfield projector as a distinctive mechanical/lighting feature in the lower apron during Klingon multiball (confidence: high) — Host describes 'animated laser starfield projector in the lower apron that kind of shoots light out in the Klingon multiball'

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## Transcript

 Sup? Meth my guy, it's time to talk or boldly go where lots of first time pinball owners have gone before talking about one of the best franchises of all time and let's discuss How a top tier license does as a pinball machine. Does the pinball machine hold up as good as the enterprise does? Oh man, I don't know. Do I keep talking until the buildup hits in? It kicks so good. Let's talk about Gene Roddenberry's Stern Pinballs motherfucking Star Trek. Oh yeah. Everyone you just missed a bunch of nuance about the last podcast Hopefully don talking about like the fourth wall inside this media pinball stuff It is just dumb I want to talk about pinball with a friend instead So yeah Star Trek by Stern not the next generation although arguably the next generation probably has better callouts Not probably, it absolutely does. But we're talking about Stern Star Trek. Man, the callouts are good in that one. Oh, so good. And if you go on YouTube, we're talking about Stern Star Trek, but just Star Trek, it fits. Go on YouTube and Google, well, Google or go to YouTube Star Trek Next Generation Pinball Mrant Sinal 한국어 연습 Может 똑같게 뭐라고 하지 그 별도 보기대plane�hus ASRivi것 전반정� che 납� κά야지 자막에 아예 별거 없는 영어자�未 끝나고 Harold Thanks 여러분ushi We'll get to that, but I think this is one of those things where it did come together in some degree, not like Next Generation, but we'll get to that in a minute. Well, yeah, Stern Star Trek. Tell us about it. When did it come out? Who made it? Trims? Yeah this is a 2013 Stern Pinball It a SAM right So it a Steve Ritchie on game design software by Lonnie D. Ropp and sound by the ever fantastic David Thiel and the music is great The music is so good in this game Before you go forward, let me, David Thiel thing or Thiel, either way. I had him on episode Who Cares? Go Find It, Google Pinball Party David Thiel. I asked him specifically about this game of a lot of people, including myself, replaced I'm going to go ahead and start with the sound with more official soundtrack orchestral music in a couple spots. And I asked him, as the sound designer of this game, one, did you do the original, did you do the music in the game like note for note? He's like, yeah, I made all of it. I'm like, okay, follow-up question. Does it hurt your feelings in so many words when people replace the music? He said, oh yeah, it absolutely guts me to the soul, basically. I'm like, all right. So not that that should alter what you do with the game. I mean, you spend this money to do it, but yeah, go listen to David Thiel talk about this game in more in-depth audio. TLDR with David Thiel. In my opinion, and a lot of people's opinion, he's the best in pinball for audio. I love his work so much It made me think about what he said Like when talking to you about that I was like oh man his work is so good It just made me think oh I guess I should probably not do that anymore on Star Trek because I love his work so much So good But yeah the differences between the pro this is a pro premium and LE We get to the LE in a second But the premium you get more movement on the Vengeance the big ship in the back It's not the Enterprise. I think people think that sometimes. Yeah. But it's the Vengeance. It's full RGB LED on the premium. There's chase lights, a little LED strip that moves on the warp ramp. I think that there's animated laser starfield projector in the lower apron that kind of shootses light out in Klingon multiball. I think I know that's when it does it. Oh, the starfield laser. Yeah, the starfield laser. There's the Vuk eject out of the scoop on the left. For new people who hear that a lot in the beginning, I would hear Vuk and I'm like, are people making up words? V U K vertical up kicker. It's just a mech that shoots the ball up. It's a ball ejector, right? So just yeah, just kicks it up and on this game it kicks it up out of the scoop. To hear the rest of this episode and more deep dives, please join our Patreon at patreon.com slash pinball party. Thanks for listening.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 32e26f4a-2997-474e-8e96-09b14b7cf67e*