Spinal Tap Pinball - Pinball Expo 2018 - Pinball News

Pinball News (Pinball Expo 2018)·video·10m 32s·analyzed·Oct 21, 2018

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Spinal Tap homebrew pinball machine showcased at Expo 2018 built on Flash Gordon using custom Mac-based control system.

Summary

A Spinal Tap homebrew pinball machine built on a heavily modified Flash Gordon base is presented at Pinball Expo 2018. The creator describes a three-year custom build using unconventional hardware (Macintosh, Live Code environment) and fully custom wiring, with extensive audio/video content, 11-themed rules mechanics, and continuous updates. The machine is playable in the creator's arcade and represents a passion project that prioritizes functionality over traditional pinball design approaches.

Key Claims

The Spinal Tap machine was built from a heavily damaged Flash Gordon base that could not be restored to working condition
high confidence · Speaker explicitly states the Flash Gordon 'was so beat up that it would work for our purposes, but it would never be able to be taken back to a working condition' and 'looked like it had been living in a field behind a farm.'
The build took approximately three years to complete the wiring and basic setup
high confidence · Direct statement: 'How long did we spend doing the wiring and the basic setup? Probably three years. Yeah, it was insane.'
Almost nothing remains from the original Flash Gordon except the wood and pop-up bumper covers
high confidence · 'There's basically nothing left on this machine from the original spinal tap with the exception of the covers for the pop-up bumpers and the wood... even the wiring harness we completely custom fabricated.'
The machine uses a Macintosh computer for core control and programming rather than standard pinball boards
high confidence · Multiple references: 'The system basically runs on a Macintosh when it's all said and done... I'm very familiar with that environment, and also it handles AV stuff really well.'
The machine features 11 as a recurring theme throughout with bonus levels, stages, and volume controls all going to 11
high confidence · 'There's actually a number of things that go to 11. The bonus levels can get as high as 11. There's actually 11 different levels in the machine. There's 11 different stages... All the volumes across the top go to 11.'
No official contact was made with Spinal Tap or the band members regarding the machine
high confidence · 'Never have had any contact with them... never had any back contact with him at all or anybody which is kind of disappointing.'
A video mode was added to the machine just the night before the Expo presentation after taking a week and a half of work
high confidence · 'Last night we put a video mode in it... I mean, that represents like the end result of a week and a half for the work.'

Notable Quotes

“I refused to break things to make new things. So we wanted to find something that its life was ended.”
Spinal Tap Machine Creator@ 1:35 — Explains the ethical philosophy behind choosing a severely damaged Flash Gordon base rather than modifying a restorable machine
“There's probably a long list of reasons why it would be better to have gone with a P-ROC or anybody else or any other solution, and I didn't do it that way because I knew I could make that work.”
Spinal Tap Machine Creator@ 3:22 — Reveals the decision-making process prioritizes proven functionality over industry-standard approaches
“Last night we put a video mode in it, because I really like video modes... that represents like the end result of a week and a half for the work.”
Spinal Tap Machine Creator@ 4:16 — Demonstrates the ongoing development and iterative approach to the machine's features
“Everything we could throw in there, we've thrown in it. Tons of inside jokes throughout the entire course of this machine.”
Spinal Tap Machine Creator@ 5:47 — Indicates comprehensive effort to include Spinal Tap references and humor throughout the game
“I graduated high school in 1984, which is when the movie came out... I probably for 20 years had threatened to make a Spinal Tap Pinball.”
Spinal Tap Machine Creator @ Background/motivation section — Provides personal context for the long-standing desire to create this machine and deep Spinal Tap fandom
“The nice thing about handling it in this way is if I want to change the rule set I just change the rule set. You know, it's entirely custom, so we can do anything we want to do with it.”

Entities

Spinal Tap PinballgameFlash Gordongame Archergame Attack from MarsgamePinball Expo 2018eventMacintoshproductLive CodeproductP-ROC boardproductIPACproduct

Signals

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community_signal: Machine actively played in creator's arcade with continuous community feedback loops informing rule changes and gameplay additions
high · 'We've been to Texas several times and we've got feedback from a lot of people there that were playing it. And some of the stuff we got from them is in it now... there some rules changes and stuff suggested by people.'
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design_philosophy: Creator intentionally preserved non-functional Flash Gordon elements (serial numbers, one logo) within heavily modified machine as respect to original machine's history despite complete functional rebuild
high · 'I intentionally left a couple pieces of Flash Gordon in it because it spent 35 years of its life as a Flash Gordon... if you look closely at the table in the upper left corner there's a Flash Gordon logo... the original handwritten serial numbers and stuff are still on the table... just because they didn't feel like breaking things like that'
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product_strategy: Continuous development cycle with features added as recently as the night before Expo presentation, including video mode addition following week-plus of work
high · 'We added a ton of stuff over this last week. A whole lot of it we actually put in last night... Last night we added a video mode in it... that represents like the end result of a week and a half for the work.'
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technology_signal: Use of Macintosh computer and Live Code environment instead of industry-standard P-ROC or pinball-specific control boards represents unconventional technical approach to homebrew machine
high · Creator explicitly chose Mac and Live Code due to familiarity rather than industry standards, acknowledges 'probably a long list of reasons why it would be better' to use standard solutions but chose proven functionality over convention

Topics

Homebrew pinball design and constructionprimaryCustom control systems and non-standard hardware choicesprimarySpinal Tap licensing and IP usageprimaryContinuous game updates and iterative developmentsecondaryAudio and video integration in pinball machinessecondaryEthical restoration practices and machine preservationsecondaryCommunity feedback and playtesting integrationmentioned

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Creator expresses enthusiasm and pride in the project, celebrates its playability and community reception, and shows passion for continuous improvement. Some mild frustration about lack of official IP contact, but overall tone is celebratory and energetic about the machine's success.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.032

I can talk down there. Yes. Or I can just shout. It doesn't matter to me. Okay. Yeah, that's all right. Stuff will show up up here. Okay, so, Spinal Tap. Got any questions? Just a super quick kind of background, because I know everyone asked. It was built off of Flash Gordon. We found a machine that was so beat up that it was – it would work for our purposes, but it would never be able to be taken back to a working condition. I mean, this thing looked like it had been living in a field behind a farm or something. It was really, really, really beat up. We have pictures of all that, too. We can show it here in a little bit. I was specifically looking for a machine that was not something that could be taken back to original status because I refused to break things to make new things. So we wanted to find something that its life was ended. We had to completely break the machine apart. There's basically nothing left on this machine from the original spinal tap with the exception of the covers for the pop-up bumpers and the wood. there's nothing left and by nothing I mean even the wiring harness we completely custom fabricated our own wiring harness for it all the components are new, there's obviously none of the original motherboards or anything like that it's been completely redone I intentionally left a couple pieces of Flash Gordon in it because it spent 35 years of its life as a Flash Gordon if you look closely at the table in the upper left corner there's a Flash Gordon logo and then if you actually were to take the whole thing apart, the original handwritten serial numbers and stuff are still on the table where they were originally at before just because they didn feel like breaking things like that So we spent how long did we spend doing the wiring and the basic setup Probably three years. Yeah, it was insane. For those of you that are familiar with how pinballs works, this one no longer has a switch matrix in it. This is wired a little bit more like an electromechanical in the sense that everything is grounded and then there's one kind of hot wire that sort of goes to everything and then I've got basically direct leads to every single switch. The reason we did it that way is because of the way that we, that I wanted to do the programming on it, which is very non-standard. But I knew that I could make that work. And pretty much, incidentally, if you guys are asking questions about anything at all, like why it has a Macintosh sitting in there, why I used a development environment called Live Code, why we did a bunch of the stuff we did, it's because I knew it would work. There's probably a long list of reasons why it would be better to to have gone with a Penrock or anybody else or any other solution, and I didn't do it that way because I knew I could make that work. So there's disadvantages probably to the way that we did it, but there's several, several advantages, and most of it is that I have a functioning machine that actually works. It lives in our arcade machine, our arcade, and people play it all the time. And it is constantly under a state of revision and addition. we added a ton of stuff over this last week. A whole lot of it we actually put in last night as it was stored in the room back there. So some of the code may still be a little bit iffy, but we added a bunch of stuff to it, which we do all the time. Because if one of us gets an idea about, well, for example, last night we put a video mode in it, because I really like video modes, and you're playing like Attack from Mars and stuff, and it goes to video mode. It's like, man, I want that. So last night we added a video mode to it, which sounds trivial, like I just plugged it in. I mean, that represents like the end result of a week and a half for the work. But anyway, so there it stands right now. So, I mean, seriously, we don't really have much of a presentation. I can actually show you several pictures of the progression of the thing, what the machine looked like before we started working with it. We can pop the thing open so you can look inside it and stuff like that. I don't mind if you guys want to come on up here. You know, I mean, this is going to be fairly interactive. But if you guys have questions or anything, I mean, we're pretty much just open. Yes. I've actually seen him in concert, which not too many people can claim. I graduated high school in 1984, which is when the movie came out. A lot of my friends are very musically inclined and they kind of said you got to see this film And so we went for a long long time just kind of doing that and then I probably for 20 years had threatened to make a Spinal Tap Pinball I said someday I going to make a Spinal Tap Pinball And then so we started kind of really heavily getting into the whole pinball thing, and I'm like, dude, it's just time to do it. Yes, there's actually a number of things that go to 11. The bonus levels can get as high as 11. There's actually 11 different levels in the machine. There's 11 different stages that you can go through. All the volumes across the top go to 11. Yeah, there's a lot of 11 on it. And tons of inside jokes throughout the entire course of this machine. Everything we could throw in there, we've thrown in it. Never have had any contact with them. it's kind of odd because one of the people that we know oh it's running one of the video modes or the track modes one of the people that we know apparently knows Harry Shearer and have never had any back contact with him at all or anybody which is kind of disappointing it's kind of funny because when people come into the arcade they either breeze past it, don't even pay attention to it at all or just like oh my god what am I looking at that's like 1% of the people you know like what am I seeing here and then And the funny ones to me are the ones that are kind of the casual, like, oh, yeah, it's a Spinal Tap machine. I know about that one. And they're like, no, you don't. You've never seen one before. Yes. Yeah, there's a backup a little bit. The system basically runs on a Macintosh when it's all said and done. The reason I chose that is because I'm very familiar with that environment, and also it handles AV stuff really well. So we've got tons of both audio and video samples that play throughout the course of the game. And we've got stuff on there that's pulled off of YouTube that no one's ever seen before and crazy old ads like this that play, and it's full of stuff. The call-outs are as much as we can stuff in it, we continue to stuff in it. And when I find new stuff, we just stick it in there. So the answer is yes. We've got feedback from, we've been to Texas several times and we've got feedback from a lot of people there that were playing it. And some of the stuff we got from them is in it now. Yeah so there some rules changes and stuff suggested by people that have played it like in the different pinball things and stuff It again the nice thing about handling it in this way is if I want to change the rule set I just change the rule set You know, it's entirely custom, so we can do anything we want to do with it. And I guess I'm trying to think of anything else I can say off the top of my head. It's going to do it again. Yeah, we just added this last night, and so I put it on a randomizer, and it's probably a little too frequent, so that might keep showing up. I'm not really sure. I didn't let it sit long enough to see how often it was going to show. But anyway, so any other questions? I mean, if you guys want to come up here and just start looking at it, you can move me to my guest. Yes, once we're done with this, it's going to go into the, I guess there's a homebrew area. It'll go over there. I think we've got the distinction of being set next to the Archer machine. which is another cool machine that I like quite a bit. Of course, they did better work than we did because he actually designed it, whiteboarded it up, right? I mean, this is a machine that was already something else, so we didn't have to design the angles or the shots or anything, which, by the way, if I would have played much Flash Gordon before I did this, I wouldn't have built it on a Flash Gordon. It is a tough machine. Oh, he's going to pop it open here. Guys, I would just come on up here and have a look at it straight on if you want to. I mean, it's pretty cool. Well, there's actually, there's a Macintosh that's running, there's an input board that pulls all the switches down. It basically converts that to keyboard presses, and then that goes to the Mac, and it goes back out to a set of relay boards that we've got in there that actually activate the lights, the solenoids, et cetera, like that. Correct. Correct. They're converted to keyboard presses. Let's put it that way. There's a lot of guys that do the arcade, like main machines, that don't understand what an IPAC is. It goes to an IPAC, and it goes in from there. I'm just going to... We've got some great ideas for some other stuff. I want to do a Tesla machine, but this continues just to... Tesla the man. Yeah. We'll get to that eventually, but right now we just keep putting energy into this thing. I'm just going to hang this thing up. If you guys want to do stuff, just come on up here and let's look at it up close, all right?