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Homebrew panel at Pintastic 2023 features developers sharing pinball design process, tools, and community mentorship.
Lynn has three homebrew machines at the show (Frozen, Haunted Cruise, Magic Forest) and is established enough to warrant his own seminar next year.
high confidence · Panel host states Lynn has three games here and will receive dedicated seminar next year due to volume of work.
Warhammer 40K pinball (by Jon) was driven by belief that no commercial manufacturer would ever license the IP for pinball.
high confidence · Jon explicitly states: 'I know no one would ever get the license to do this. They'll make them for video games, but they'll probably never license it to a pinball machine. So I said, it's going to be me.'
Magic Forest took approximately two years total with seven man-months of compressed work to reach the show.
high confidence · Lynn states: 'it's about two years in there or similar interjection, maybe seven man-months total compressed for this thing so far.'
Lynn operates a 800 square-foot workshop (two 400 sq ft rooms) in the same building as EMP, dedicated to software/design and assembly.
high confidence · Lynn describes: 'There was a free space, and it's 800 square feet... Two 400-square-foot rooms. One is dedicated kind of for software and design. The other one is dedicated for assembly.'
Fast Pinball and Mission Pinball are the primary open-source hardware and software platforms used by current homebrew builders.
high confidence · Jon states: 'I am following the footsteps of Mark and Ryan. So they used Fast and Mission. I used Fast and Mission. It's really approachable. It keeps expanding. There's new versions. It's completely open source.'
Haunted Cruise was created circa 2008-2009 because there were no serious (non-comedic) haunted pinball machines aside from Haunted House.
high confidence · Lynn explains: 'At the time when I made Haunted Cruise, 2008, 2009... there weren't any haunted pinball machines other than Haunted House... I wanted a Spooky Pinball, haunty pinball machine, not a tongue-in cheek haunted pinball machine.'
Magic Forest's art was delayed—sent to a local print shop in early August, requiring rush assembly and programming in the final three weeks before the show.
“Rule zero is don't make me make any more damn rules, okay, because I'm going to name them after you.”
Panel host@ 1:41 — Sets community engagement rules; reflects prior year disruptions during homebrew panels.
“You can do things. You don't need permission. You can just go do stuff.”
Panel host@ 10:28 — Core philosophy of homebrew pinball movement—accessibility and self-determination.
“I wish you guys told me, would have told me that it was an enormous amount of work... I wish you guys had told me where you would say, Jon Hey, or like, just grab me and shake me. You're going to work on this for tens of hundreds of hours.”
Jon@ 7:12 — Honest reflection on underestimating the scale of homebrew machine building.
“pinball design, you just go steal things. Go steal things from people. It doesn't matter. No one cares.”
Jon@ 8:36 — Reflects collaborative, borrowing-and-improving culture within homebrew community.
“I went to Michael's. I saw this picture of an ent reading a book, and I bought it. And then I'm like, this would be cool with a bridge. Let's make a pinball out of it.”
Lynn@ 16:14 — Illustrates organic, inspiration-driven approach to game theming in homebrew design.
“It's a time suck, but it's a fun time suck. Because it doesn't suck.”
Jon@ 26:32 — Captures the paradoxical nature of homebrew machine development—exhausting but rewarding.
community_signal: Homebrew builders actively mentor each other through Fast Pinball Slack channel and in-person expo interactions. Early builders inspire newcomers to join the community without gatekeeping.
high · Jon describes learning from Fast Pinball Slack 'help fest' where experienced builders answer questions and new builders then help others. Panel host notes Mark/Ryan inspired Jon to start building immediately after attending expo.
design_philosophy: Homebrew developers embrace creative freedom and borrowing/stealing design elements from each other without restriction, contrasting with commercial licensing constraints.
high · Jon: 'pinball design, you just go steal things. Go steal things from people. It doesn't matter. No one cares.' Reflects core philosophy that homebrew iteration is collaborative rather than proprietary.
technology_signal: Fast Pinball and Mission Pinball are dominant open-source platforms enabling current wave of homebrew builders. Both actively maintained and expanding; fully open source to allow community contribution.
high · Jon, Mark, Ryan all use Fast Pinball + Mission Pinball. Jon notes: 'It's completely open source, so if you really feel like contributing to Fast Pinball or Mission Pinball, you can do so and make it better.'
design_innovation: Lynn's Magic Forest exemplifies integrated solo design where one person handles playfield, art, music, and code. Panel host identifies this as rare and special within homebrew space.
high · Panel host praises solo artists like Matt Scott Danesi and Lynn: 'all of the music and all of the play field and all of design is done by one human.' Magic Forest confirms this integration.
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high confidence · Lynn: 'I didn't get it out to the printer until the first week of August, so it took a couple weeks to get back. So I had about two weeks to get the whole thing assembled and about three days to program it.'
Frozen and Haunted Cruise have been on location at EMP 24/7 since April 2022 (20+ months of continuous operation).
high confidence · Panel host notes: 'Frozen have been on location at EMP, like 24-7 since one month before at fantastic twenty twenty two so April-ish of 2022.'
Fast Pinball's Slack channel is an active community where builders help each other with questions and troubleshooting.
high confidence · Jon: 'Where I've asked the most questions is probably the Fast Pinball Slack channel. There's a whole lot of other builders out there who are willing to help you get started.'
One builder is planning a future game with eight or nine ramps that couldn't be completed in time for this year's show.
medium confidence · Lynn: 'I worked on a different game that I was hoping to have here this year. It has like eight or nine ramps. It'll be here next year. There are a couple things that are a little wonky with it.'
“There's something special about a Matt Scott Danesi, right? Where all of the music and all of the play field and all of design is done Barnyard one human.”
Panel host@ 21:26 — Acknowledges solo artists who handle all aspects (design, art, music, code) vs. collaborative teams.
“You'll never feel like this is done. I'm like three months into my build, and I barely have any code.”
Jon@ 26:09 — Reflects perpetual incompleteness of homebrew projects and scope creep during development.
product_strategy: Jon chose Warhammer 40K specifically because he believes no commercial manufacturer would license it for pinball, making homebrew the only viable path to realize the game.
high · Jon: 'I know no one would ever get the license to do this. They'll make them for video games, but they'll probably never license it to a pinball machine. So I said, it's going to be me.'
content_signal: Pintastic New England homebrew panel is structured format for developers to share design processes, lessons learned, and inspire community participation. Panel host notes this may be last year hosting due to production burden.
high · Panel opening: purpose is to 'allow the developers that brought the games to this show to come up here and talk about the build that they did, why they did it.' Host: 'It's hard to produce a show and sit here at the same time... This might be the last year I do this.'
business_signal: Lynn's 800 sq ft workshop in same building as EMP venue indicates professionalization and infrastructure investment in homebrew operations. Suggests scaling beyond garage hobbyist model.
high · Lynn moved from garage/house clutter to dedicated 800 sq ft space with two 400 sq ft rooms (software/design and assembly). EMP provides 24/7 location for machine testing.
operational_signal: Lynn's Magic Forest underwent time-critical assembly and programming in final weeks before show due to art printing delays. Stayed 'up late and sleepless nights' to add final code.
high · Lynn: 'I didn't get it out to the printer until the first week of August... So I had about two weeks to get the whole thing assembled and about three days to program it. And then I stayed up late and sleepless nights.'
gameplay_signal: Lynn documented multiple design iterations (pencil sketches, CAD adjustments, playfield geometry changes) showing continuous refinement of Magic Forest over two-year development cycle.
high · Lynn shows first pencil-sketch design on plywood, documents target adjustments, bridge revisions, and contour changes. Started Fall/Winter 2021, sat for 1.5 years, then revisited with new creative direction.
technology_signal: Homebrew developers experimenting with AI tools (ChatGPT) for art generation and potentially code writing, though effectiveness of code generation noted as uncertain.
medium · Panel discussion: one developer used ChatGPT to generate backglass/cabinet art. Another joked about using open-source AI to design entire pinball machine rule set 'it's batshit insane.' Treats as emerging experimental tool.
venue_signal: Lynn's machines (Frozen, Haunted Cruise) have been running 24/7 at EMP location since April 2022 (20+ months), providing extended real-world testing and Scorbit integration opportunities.
high · Panel host: 'Frozen have been on location at EMP, like 24-7 since one month before at fantastic twenty twenty two so April-ish of 2022.' They run well despite wear; Scorbit integration planned.
product_concern: Multiple speakers emphasize hidden cost of homebrew machine development: requires 'tens of hundreds of hours,' perfectionism causes scope creep, projects feel 'never done,' and work extends into nights/sleepless periods.
high · Jon: 'I wish you guys had told me... You're going to work on this for tens of hundreds of hours.' Another builder: 'It just eats up your free time... It's never done.' Lynn: sleepless nights adding code before show.