Making Metallica Pinball from Stern Pinball

Stern Pinball·video·8m 25s·analyzed·Jul 10, 2013

Analysis

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TL;DR

Stern's Metallica pinball development overview with mechanical toys, music tracks, and design process.

Summary

Official Stern Pinball behind-the-scenes video showcasing the development of Metallica pinball with designer John Borg and team. Features detailed discussion of key playfield mechanics (electric chair, snake toy, hammer mechanism, cross), music selection (12 licensed Metallica songs), and Dirty Donnie's custom artwork. Team members include programmers Lyman Sheets and Mike Fette, mechanical engineers John Roel and Mike, and dot matrix animator Mark Alves.

Key Claims

12 Metallica songs will be on the game, including tracks from multiple albums and 'The End of the Line' from Death Magnetic for wizard mode
high confidence · Lyman Sheets and team explicitly state song count and specific titles during design walkthrough
Dirty Donnie created custom artwork specifically for Metallica pinball at the band's request
high confidence · John Borg states 'Metallica really likes Dirty Donnie and they wanted Dirty Donnie to do the artwork for the game'
The game will have three tiers (Pro, Premium, LE) with distinct visual differences in artwork and features
high confidence · Borg references 'whether you got your Pro, your Premium, or your LE' and discusses different backglass art packages
The hammer mechanism is the most complicated feature on the game, requiring careful spring and solenoid balancing
high confidence · John Borg explicitly states 'That is the most complicated mechanism on that game'
Evolution Studio's Dave Link sculpted toys based on Dirty Donnie's designs
high confidence · Borg mentions sending sketches to 'Dave Link at Evolution Studio and he sculpted it'

Notable Quotes

“Metallica is probably our number one, a group of our generation, such a great history of songs.”
Lyman Sheets (programmer) @ ~1:45 — Establishes team's connection to the band and motivation for creating quality game
“When you start fueling it, it's all going to light up like you got a full tank of gas. It's going to start working its way down and you got to make shots to keep it from dropping down to empty.”
John Borg (designer) @ ~4:30 — Describes fuel gauge mechanic, a core playfield feature
“The ball-eating snake and he goes, 'Ch-ch-ch.' I think that's going to be the coolest thing in the game.”
John Borg @ ~5:15 — Highlights snake toy as signature mechanic; shows Borg's creative confidence
“The biggest challenge for me is always to make the game fun for everybody, come up with something new and something fresh that will keep people coming back for weeks, for months, for hopefully years.”
John Borg @ ~9:30 — Design philosophy statement; emphasizes longevity and broad appeal
“I'm hoping it's going to be my crowning achievement.”
Lyman Sheets or team member @ ~9:50 — Demonstrates high stakes and personal investment in the game's success

Entities

John BorgpersonLyman SheetspersonMike FettepersonJohn RoelpersonMikeperson Mark Alvesperson Dirty DonniepersonDave LinkpersonMetallica

Signals

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design_philosophy: Programmer notes challenge translating complex visual art into limited 28x32 dot matrix display space
high · Mark Alves states: 'My biggest challenge would probably be translating all the cool songs into the tiny 28x32 dot matrix display'
?
design_philosophy: John Borg emphasizes creating fun, fresh gameplay that keeps players engaged for months/years; prioritizes broad appeal over niche mechanics
high · Quote: 'The biggest challenge for me is always to make the game fun for everybody, come up with something new and something fresh'
?
licensing_signal: Metallica band maintained active approval role in game development, including song selection and artist choice (Dirty Donnie)
high · Borg states 'Metallica really likes Dirty Donnie and they wanted Dirty Donnie to do the artwork' and 'They picked all the music'
?
product_strategy: Metallica confirmed in three tiers (Pro/Premium/LE) with distinct visual differences in artwork and features across each tier
high · Borg discusses different backglass art packages and states 'Each one's going to have its own distinct look, so you'll know right away whether you got your Pro, your Premium, or your LE'
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technology_signal: Game features significant mechanical complexity with motorized toys (erupting cross, electric chair, snake mechanism, hammer) integrated with modern lighting and magnet systems
high · Detailed descriptions of multiple motorized toys including actuators, LED integration, magnet systems, and coil mechanics

Topics

Playfield Mechanics & Toy DesignprimaryMusic Selection & LicensingprimaryArtwork & Visual DesignprimaryGame Development ProcessprimaryProduct Tiers (Pro/Premium/LE)secondaryRules Programming & Dot Matrix Animationsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.88)— Team expresses enthusiasm and confidence throughout. Multiple statements of pride in work, excitement about mechanics, and optimism about final product. No negative comments or concerns raised.

Transcript

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it's going to be awesome isn't that great you need his eyes to like pop out blood still like in my name is John Bor and I am the designer of a Metallica pinball he comes out with the layout he rules the game created all the toys everything that makes the game fun I've worked with John before we're just you know trying to have some fun and make something really great are you a Metallica fan oh huge I'm Lyman F. Sheats Jr. I'm a programmer my name is Mike fette and I'm a programmer I'm John roel mechanical engineering manager Mike mechanical engineer my name is Mark alz I am the doc Matrix animator a really good team working on it Metallica is probably our number one a group of Our Generation such a great history of songs they're a very well-known band been around over 20 years music games I enjoy working on you have a lot more freedom with what you do with the gamees you can have a lot more fun with it CH boxes you can play it's kind of cool you can play Pinball and you can listen to your favorite band at the same time if you've got the right music the right tracks on the game then it becomes Timeless personally when I play Pinball I like to hear good music music appeals to your emotion if you're listening to a song you really like and it get you pumped it's going to get you into whatever you're doing was BMX racing when I was a kid we used to take a you know a boom box and go to the trails and just do some crazy on our bikes while we were listening to Metallica Metallica pumps you up when all the people from Expo came put pictures people named James you know I've got got James Franco James Woods you drive away there's all these James the so this was the original premium backlash and I think we're going to use this one for the pro Metallica really likes Donnie and they wanted Donnie to do the artwork for the game Donnie does some stuff for them he's never done one of their album covers before but does a lot of artwork like their guar picks and stuff they' got their faces on it the cool thing about this game's art package is dirty Donnie's artwork it'll make the dot matrix a lot easier a lot of his art styles is cartoony and Fantastical and there's a lot of stuff to graas each one's going to be different each one's going to have its own distinct look so you'll know right away whether you got your pro your premium your Le this is just something Donnie doodled up for me I told him I wanted a cross that Dave Lincoln sculpt and I wanted it to look really weathered and cracked it's going to be the device like such actuated by a motor motor is in the back couple switches so you got a switch that trips right here 5 LED bulb that's inside so it's going to shine really hard when they actuate it's going to be sitting behind a set of drop Target you'll bash on the top of the Cross it'll come up out of the play field it's going to look awesome you know the toys there's not one toy that is really a lot stronger than the other one the electric chair is the biggest toy on the game but when this guy starts riding and the ball sitting on the magnet and he's you know and he's it's it's just it's a riot this is really really a fun toy and this is the drawing for the electric chair this is the first mockup of the foam the hands and the legs are incorporated into the mold for the chair but we're torso and the arm is loose we spring-loaded the head just to give it a little more of a shaking motion so when you pul this thing he's like going to do this Donnie made a real nice prototype sketch of it and we sent it over to Dave Link at Evolution studio and he sculpted it and it looks spoton to the drawing that Donnie created they picked all the music I wasn't worried about them picking it everything's good so what do you know they can't pick a bad song how many songs are there 12 you get master puppets master puppets it's the greatest hits Al pretty much you'll be able to pick a song that you'll start to play with but when you start working on a mechanism across erupt side of the Playfield it'll start Master a puppet shoot the snake it's going to play something from The Black Album I got a song from the new album Death Magnetic called end of the line and I'm going to use that for the wizard mode in the middle of the Playfield I've got a big curved shaped insert that is going to have a bunch of Lights in it when you start fuel it's all going to light up like you got a full tank of gas it's going to start working its way down and you got to make shots to keep it from from dropping down to empty isn't that awesome it's the ball eating snake and he goes ch ch I think that's going to be the coolest thing in the game it's going to be kind of a cross between these two it's going to have a real scaly body this is a sketch that Donnie made for it that's the top that's the front and this is a side view this shows you most of the detail in its normal position the mouth is closed the jaw drops open and the ball goes inside and then it opens up and fires that ball out snake is made up of two assemblies closed position is going to be like this there is a actuator assembly which is controlled by this coil right here Ball's going to shoot in the mouth into this guy right here the ball sits on top is rejected by the coil this is the original prototype that I made of the snake got a little kicker coil inside that fires the ball out of its mouth and then this coil activates its jaw and then this is my Play field the electric chair is back here in the middle of the play field the ball comes up here and it crosses an opto and then when the ball comes back out of here this magnet starts to pulse and it's going to zip the ball and wing it back in your face this is a partial play field so that I can check the unique Parts obviously it doesn't have everything a play field would have but it does have the ramps that I designed the wi form the snake mechanism the scoop that Mike designed of course the electric chair for rendition of it but for me it's good enough this is where the cross erupts out of the Playfield and that's going to come up about 4 and 1/2 5 in this magnet energizes it'll throw the ball back toward the flippers it's going to be in your face all day long I decided to take pieces from the albums you know we got Ride the Lightning we've got the snake we've got the crossr master puppets k m had a big hammer on the cover and there was also a hammer inside the cover of the Injustice for all album we decided to make the hammer from the Injustice for all album and we have the four faces sculpted into it right here on the Le there's a captive ball shot and there's a magnet sitting out in front of the captive ball the ball stops on the magnet up in the air is going to be this big hammer the ball's going to draw below the play field as the hammer comes down and then when the hammer comes back up the ball's gone and you're going to see it through the play field that is the most complicated mechanism on that game it's a high mass feature of the game balancing out these Springs with the solenoid and making sure it function this is the hammer mechanism the ball stops on this magnet out in front of it and then the magnet is drawn below the Playfield with a flipper coil has a core that is mounted on this movable action right here and as the ball comes on top it is sucked in by a magnet this is the under trough assembly the ball stack up behind this pin in the under trough the ball's going to disappear under the Playfield and be dumped inside this Tru this Rod here is going to stack the balls this is the casket insert right here see this is a big Clear Window and you'll see the ball stack up I've got a lot of speech from the band you know Hammer that ball and then after the hammer does its thing he's like where'd it go and then we got James going that was shocking yeah he's getting fried he's cooking up now that Wasing awesome the biggest challenge for me is always make the game fun for everybody come up with something new and something fresh that will keep people coming back for weeks for months for hopefully years my biggest challenge would probably be translating all the cool songs into the tiny 2832 just coming up with the rules and everything figuring out how everything's going to work where's going to go working with the new artist he has done a pinball machine before he's taken a Playfield and stripped it in air brushed it and did actually make a custom game or a few custom games but you know starting from scratch that was a pretty big challenge great Playfield and great mechanics great music it should be a a good game to put in production it's going to be awesome it's going to be fantastic I'm hoping it's going to be my crowning achievement jackpot favorite song probably wow that's a tough one I like the song uh sad but true I love sad but true I like Unforgiven I love end of the wine R death is pretty cool I like that song she can destroy from the first album it be I think maybe understand my carry here welcome home sanitary I have probably about 15 or 20 favorite Metallica s