Homebrew Showcase: The Invaders Pinball by Tadeg Normand

TL;DR

Tadeg Normand's 5-year Invaders homebrew pinball game debuts at Expo 2025 with custom toys and 60 TV clips.

Summary

Key Claims

• The Invaders project took 5 years total, with 2 years of initial development/learning and 3 years refining the current version

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand in interview; stated 'My rule is a five years story' and 'three three years after 3 years after I'm here'

• The game features 12 missions, initially planned for 6 but expanded to double due to inspiration from other games

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand explained rule design choice: 'I said if it's six, I do 12. That's it'

• 60 video clips from The Invaders TV show are integrated into the game, edited to 2-3 second lengths

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand stated 'I got like 60' clips and 'I have to be short. Yeah. Like two three seconds'

• The original TV show had 43 episodes across 2 years (likely referring to total production run)

  medium confidence · Tadeg Normand: 'It's 67 all TV American TV show and there is for two years 43 episode'

• The game runs on Cobra Pin platform with MPF (Mission Pinball Framework)

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand when asked about system: 'This is running a custom uh cobra pin? Cobra pin cobra pin cobra pin with MPF'

• Tadeg Normand has a background working with machines, plastic, and surfboard manufacturing before pinball

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand: 'I work in the selling selling on the sea but with machine with with tube plastic... And uh I'm a shepherd. I work for to make surf surfboard'

• Nicolola Pensma, a French pinball friend/collaborator from Brittany, handled all code development for the project

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand: 'I find a a a friend a friend in the pinball machine, pinball world in Britany... his name is Nicolola Pensma'

• Tadeg Normand created the artwork and graphics primarily using Photoshop and Illustrator, having prior experience as a graphic designer in Brittany

  high confidence · Tadeg Normand: 'I was used to work with Photoshop. Yeah. Illustrator. Yeah. Like a graphic designer in Britain'

Notable Quotes

• “My rule is a five years story and um we begin like a lot of people in France or maybe in the world with the co.”

  Tadeg Normand@ 0:32 — Establishes the 5-year development timeline and references the common homebrew origin story of starting with COTE or similar platforms

• “he say hey dad you can do a pinball machine with with this. That's it. And I say okay let's try”

  Tadeg Normand@ 3:19 — Reveals the origin story: his son Christian suggested the project, demonstrating how personal inspiration drives homebrew creation

• “I can do artwork u metal piece everything but not the code okay the code”

  Tadeg Normand@ 3:41 — Identifies the key limitation that forced collaboration with a code programmer, a common pattern in homebrew projects

• “This really feels like a an Attack from Mars version two like a like an upgrade.”

  Marco Pinball host@ 6:08 — Compares the game's design and accessibility to Attack from Mars, a landmark Williams title, suggesting strong rule design influence

• “I said if it's six, I do 12. That's it. Okay. So, I said if it's six, I do 12.”

  Tadeg Normand@ 6:24 — Demonstrates the creative decision-making process for expanding mission scope, reflecting the learning curve of homebrew design

• “This is absolutely beautiful. Um so it was a five-year process.”

  Marco Pinball host@ 10:31 — Host acknowledges the finished quality and effort investment, contrasting this homebrew with typically less-polished projects

Entities

Signals

• ?

  design_innovation: The Invaders features three major custom toys (ray gun, moving alien figure, lifting topper) that activate during missions, demonstrating sophisticated mechanical engineering in a homebrew context

  high · Tadeg Normand describes ray gun shooting mechanic, alien hand emerging from playfield, moving alien left/right, and topper that lifts during missions with ball capture/release

• ?

  design_philosophy: Designer deliberately doubled mission count from 6 to 12 during development, inspired by playing other games (Medieval Madness, etc.), demonstrating iterative rule depth expansion

  high · Tadeg: 'I said if it's six, I do 12. That's it... It was a lot of work now to say that for for my friend in France, Nicola, because six is easier than 12'

• ?

  content_signal: The Invaders incorporates 60 edited video clips from the original 1960s TV show, processed to 2-3 second lengths for in-game playback

  high · Tadeg Normand states '60' clips extracted and edited: 'at the beginning was like too long... So I have to be short. Yeah. Like two three seconds'

• ?

  restoration_signal: Developer experimented with multiple playfield construction methods (printed wood, resin) before settling on final version; earlier prototypes were abandoned as unsuccessful

  high · Tadeg: 'I try with two two playfield... I I did a playfield wood printed very high quality... I try with professional. I try with myself with resin. Awful. Awful. Awful'

• ?

  technology_signal: The Invaders uses Cobra Pin hardware platform with MPF (Mission Pinball Framework), representing open-source/indie pinball technology stack choice

Topics

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— Host and guest exchange enthusiastic praise for the machine's quality, design, and finish. Tadeg Normand speaks proudly of the collaborative process and challenges overcome. The tone is celebratory and supportive of the homebrew effort. No negative sentiment detected, though some self-deprecating humor about the learning curve and failed earlier prototypes.