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Episode 461 - New game -- with flippers, 3D printed Bally clutch, 1969 Williams Seven Up

For Amusement Only EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·12m 6s·analyzed·Dec 12, 2019
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.019

TL;DR

EM podcast host announces Quest for Glory P3 game, covers Bally clutch reproduction progress and 1969 Williams 7-Up mechanics.

Summary

Nick Baldridge discusses his new P3 homebrew game project (Quest for Glory), updates on ongoing EM projects (RoboFrenzy, Coin-Off Carnival 2), news about 3D-printed Bally clutch reproductions, and a detailed playfield analysis of the 1969 Williams 7-Up, emphasizing its mechanical depth and clever design sequences.

Key Claims

  • Bally designed a motorized clutch-driven trip bank system in the 1970s for flipper and bingo games to save coils and wiring

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge, based on detailed technical explanation of Bally design

  • 3D-printed Bally clutches have been successfully created and are working, though they differ from original specifications

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge referencing a Pinside thread about successfully reproduced clutches

  • EMs have shifted from being extremely unpopular with new collectors to gaining broader acceptance over the past five years

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge's personal observation about changing sentiment in the community

  • 1969 Williams 7-Up features four flippers and two distinct mechanical sequences with backglass animation of a skier

    high confidence · Nick Baldridge's detailed technical review of the game

  • Someone is planning to start a new EM-focused podcast

    medium confidence · Nick Baldridge announcing news about a prospective new podcast, exact timing uncertain

Notable Quotes

  • “I wanted to do with this show was to spotlight some of the lesser-known and less popular games. At the time when I started it, EMs were extremely unpopular, especially with new collectors.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~5:30 — Reflects on the EM podcast's mission and how community sentiment has evolved over five years

  • “Bally was able to save on a couple of coils and a little bit of wiring by implementing this extremely complex plastic system. But the amazing thing about it is that it all interlocked.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~7:00 — Technical appreciation for Bally's innovative engineering trade-off in the clutch-driven trip bank design

  • “I've never played it before, but I certainly hope to one day. I think it's a neat-looking game, and I do love a game with backlass animation.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~26:00 — Personal enthusiasm for 1969 7-Up's design and mechanical innovation

  • “It can be easy to fling the retaining clips off into the ether, and then you're kind of stuck.”

    Nick Baldridge @ ~20:00 — Practical maintenance challenge with Williams-era rollover buttons

Entities

Nick BaldridgepersonJames WillingpersonFor Amusement OnlyorganizationQuest for GlorygameRoboFrenzygameCoin-Off Carnival Volume 2game1969 Williams 7-UpgameBallycompanyWilliamscompanySpooky Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_strategy: Nick Baldridge announces Quest for Glory P3 homebrew pinball game based on classic video game series, targeting modern flipper gameplay with sharpshooter mechanics

    high · Direct announcement: 'I have also announced my latest project, and that is a P3 game based on the video game Quest for Glory video game series...It's a modern flipper game. It's going to have all the modern trappings with various twists upon them.'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: 3D-printed reproduction of Bally clutch mechanism successfully created and tested, enabling restoration of affected machines

    high · Detailed discussion of Pinside thread showing successful 3D-printed clutches, though with design differences from originals

  • ?

    community_signal: New EM-focused podcast in planning stages, indicating growing community interest in electromechanical pinball content

    medium · Nick Baldridge announces: 'There is somebody who is thinking of starting a new EM podcast, and I certainly hope that they do so...I would welcome another EM podcast'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: EM market sentiment has shifted positively from extreme unpopularity with new collectors five years ago to broader acceptance

    medium · Nick Baldridge: 'At the time when I started it, EMs were extremely unpopular, especially with new collectors. I feel like a bit of that sentiment has changed over time.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Bally's 1970s motorized clutch-driven trip bank system represents innovative solution to reduce coils/wiring through complex plastic interlocking mechanism

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.036

0:00
What's that sound? It's For Amusement Only, the EM and Bingo Pinball Podcast. Welcome back to For Amusement Only. This is Nick Baldridge.
0:12
I've been taking it a bit easy the past couple weeks. I've been doing a lot of family-related stuff. It's that time of year where a lot of things are happening, and I am needed in other areas of my life. So, EMs have taken not a backseat necessarily, but a side seat, a necessary side seat. So, I have also announced my latest project, and that is a P3 game based on the video game Quest for Glory video game series. I am very excited about this. It's a modern flipper game. It's going to have all the modern trappings with various twists upon them. Uh, it's going to be a sharpshooters, you know, target style game. Very much looking forward to getting, uh, that programmed. I have got an attract mode. I've got some basic lead in stuff, but I haven't started writing the actual game code yet. That said, I did start a thread on Pinside. If you're curious, I'll put that in the show notes. Uh, that doesn't have anything to do with EMs whatsoever, but in EM related news, work is continuing on RoboFrenzy behind the scenes. I'm looking forward to revealing some more when there is some more to reveal, but enough said on that for now. And Coin-Off Carnival, number two, volume two, is well underway. Things are going great there, and I'm looking forward to helping to get that out in the world as well. So, a little bit of news. First of all, there is somebody who is thinking of starting a new EM podcast, and I certainly hope that they do so. I wish them all the best and hope that they are able to do that, because one of the things that I wanted to do with this show was to spotlight some of the lesser-known and less popular games. At the time when I started it, EMs were extremely unpopular, especially with new collectors. I feel like a bit of that sentiment has changed over time. And, you know, that's not anything that I've done. But it's interesting to see the change that has come about over the past almost five years of doing this show. So I am excited to hear a new voice, a new take. At the moment it's just myself and James Willing on the EM Dungeon on Spooky Pinball's podcast, and I would welcome another EM podcast So I look forward to hearing more and I certainly be talking more about that if that comes to fruition Another piece of news Bally Games from the 1970s specifically Flipper Games, have this interesting reset bank for the trip bank. And Bally used a similar design in the 1970s for the bingos, where there is a motorized clutch-driven affair, which will reset all or part of a trip bank using a single motor. So Bally was able to save on a couple of coils and a little bit of wiring by implementing this extremely complex plastic system. But the amazing thing about it is that it all interlocked. So instead of having these massive brackets for a huge trip bank, they were able to segment it in such a way that you could have an unlimited number of trip relays on a single bank. And I think that design was an interesting one. It was certainly unique, but it does have a flaw, and that's that the clutch itself has never been reproduced. And there's an interesting thread on Pinside where somebody was able to get new clutches 3D printed. And I was curious if the clutch matched the clutches that were used on the Ballybingos from the 70s. It turns out, no, they're actually quite different. but the fins, the actual driving segments that rotate and reset the trip relays are actually very similar. So that was the confusion there. But at any rate, congratulations to this person. It sounds like it works great. One of the other hard to find pieces is the spring that goes inside. This person was able to rewind some of the springs that they already had, but I'm imagining if you have a game where that piece is missing and it hasn't already been parted out, because that was a common fate for a lot of these if the clutches broke previously. So if it hasn't been parted out, then maybe you'll luck out and you'll have the spring somewhere in the bottom of the game. But if not, then you'll have to make your own, I suppose. That'll be quite tricky because the pressure has to be exact. Having worked on several different Bally mechanisms, I can tell you that some of them require the most exact spring pressure I think I've ever seen on anything. Bally was pretty interesting, the way they designed some of their mechanisms. Pretty cool. so good job there and there will be a link in the show notes to that part in case you need it or that thread on pin side rather and you can contact the person who had it made and see about having some made for yourself Well it starting to get chilly outside, and I thought I would go with a more wintry theme for today's featured game. It's 1969 7-Up by Williams. So 7-Up is a pretty interesting game. If you look at it, it looks very similar to a lot of other Kordak designs. There's a lot of space on the play field. There's not a lot of what looks like action going on. But if you look closer, there's a ton of mechanical interaction with the ball, which is something that I truly enjoy.
Pinside
organization

high · Technical explanation of Bally design: 'Bally was able to save on a couple of coils and a little bit of wiring by implementing this extremely complex plastic system...they could have an unlimited number of trip relays on a single bank'

  • ?

    restoration_signal: Springs for Bally clutch mechanisms are difficult to find and require precise pressure specifications for successful reproduction

    high · Nick Baldridge: 'One of the other hard to find pieces is the spring that goes inside...Some of them require the most exact spring pressure I think I've ever seen on anything.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: 1969 Williams 7-Up features sophisticated dual-sequence design with cascading mechanical interactions and narrow side-drain posts allowing continued risk

    high · Detailed playfield analysis showing two sequences (numbers 1-6 with drop target, and letters A-E advancing backglass skier), multiple mechanical interactions, and innovative post design

  • ?

    content_signal: For Amusement Only podcast focused on spotlighting lesser-known and unpopular EM games, with mission to broaden EM audience beyond collectors

    high · Nick Baldridge explains podcast mission: 'I wanted to do with this show was to spotlight some of the lesser-known and less popular games'

    • 6:43
    There are multiple sequences, and these sequences have impact both in the amount of replays that you can earn and also in further mechanical interaction with the ball, which I just think is really clever. Down in the lower, say half to a third of the playfield, there are rollover buttons, and these rollover buttons are of this particular era of Williams, not one of my favorites to work on. It can be easy to fling the retaining clips off into the ether, and then you're kind of stuck. You can substitute one of the circular clips with an E-clip, but it's not the same and it's not going to last forever that way. Those circular clips do a good job at retaining the button shaft as it should be.
    7:36
    So there are four flippers on 7-Up and the game itself, as I mentioned, has two different sequences. Up near the top there are numbers 1 through 6 which are arrayed in a semi-circle. I like that pattern for stand-ups. I feel like it is one of the best arrangements for target shooting, and you can get some good action off of pop bumpers up there in most games. However, in 7-Up, there are four pop bumpers, and they're located smack dab in the middle of the playfield, so it's unlikely that you're going to get a big bounce from one of the upper pops into one of that sequence, 1 through 6. It can happen, but it's less likely. What's more likely is that you'll get a bounce over to the flippers, which are mounted mid-playfield, and from there you can thwack away at 1-3 or 4-6.
    8:32
    Beside the lower pop bumpers are two rollover lanes, each of which score 100 points. When you complete the numbers 1-6, a drop target appears behind the rubber at the top center of the machine. You also get 300 points. When you hit that drop target, you get 500 points, and the sequence resets. When it resets it will advance the advance unit one step and with default settings if it advances three times the next time that drop target pops up and you hit it you get a special The next sequence I think is the more interesting of the two actually While I like the layout of this sequence, this second sequence has a more interesting flow, and that is there is only one switch which will move the sequence forward at a time, and it's the letters A through E, and you have to hit them in order, so A, B, C, D, E, When you hit E, it will advance a skier on the back glass one position down the hill. When the skier makes it all the way down, then the rollover lights for special.
    9:39
    Pretty cool. Earlier I mentioned those rollover buttons on the center of the playfield down near the bottom.
    9:47
    Those buttons will handle various up posts. There's actually three in the game. There are two small or skinny posts which are located on the out lanes. and they don't completely block the outlane. So I find this extremely interesting from a play perspective. One of the things that I don't like particularly in games are play more posts or things of that nature that completely close off the drain.
    10:16
    Zipper flippers are a little different in that you can still, if you try real hard, lose the ball down the center even while you're zipped together. but the play more posts or whatever Williams called their up post it's not my favorite kind of ball save mechanism there's no danger you can just leave the ball sitting there forever if you want to but these side drain posts being narrow the ball can squeeze by above or below so if you get some good sling action going on it can still rocket into the out lane and there's nothing you can about it. Pretty cool. I really like this design, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. I've never played it before, but I certainly hope to one day. I think it's a neat-looking game, and I do love a game with backlass animation. Now, one thing I don't know, without digging into the schematics, which I haven't done yet, is if that skier on the backlass is a carryover feature. It looks like there's about seven or eight different positions, and completing A through E in a single playthrough would be difficult enough, much less doing it seven or eight different times in one game. I suppose it's possible, but it looks like it would be very challenging to do. So if anyone has played this game and happens to know, I would love to hear from you, or if you'd like to get in touch for any other reason, go ahead and contact me at foramusementonlypodcast at gmail.com. You can listen to me on iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Cast, via RSS, on Facebook, on Twitter, at Bingo Podcast. You can follow me on Instagram, also at Bingo Podcast. Or you can listen to me on my website, which is foramusementonly.libsyn.com. Thank you very much for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.