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How to make a paddle for an electromechanical breakout game?

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RandyT:


I don't believe a mechanical version of Breakout is possible, or at least not practical.  The bricks, when hit from behind, exhibit similar behavior to that of the paddle, so getting the paddle right is a small part of what would need to be done.

kiwasabi:


--- Quote from: RandyT on August 04, 2014, 02:25:02 pm ---
I don't believe a mechanical version of Breakout is possible, or at least not practical.  The bricks, when hit from behind, exhibit similar behavior to that of the paddle, so getting the paddle right is a small part of what would need to be done.

--- End quote ---

I realized this today. Also, the ball actually BOUNCES off the bricks in Breakout regardless of hitting them from top or bottom. So what I'm thinking is the "bricks" actually need to be miniature pop bumpers that bounce the ball away from them. The tricky part about this is getting them to become flush with the playfield when they retract. I'm thinking they may need a plate on top of them so that it can fill the hole completely.

kiwasabi:


--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on August 04, 2014, 12:43:21 pm ---
 You could probably modify a drop target, but Id have to look.   Many drop targets will drop down flush with the field for rolling over.

 As for the play slope..  if its too shallow..  the ball will be very floaty... and stay up in the air for some time.  This allows you go bump the game to alter the trajectory much more so than if it were a faster slope.  The downside is that it can make the game a bit slower.

 Now that I think about it..  you may be better off with Cylindrical posts that drop down instead.  Reason:  Hitting a squared edge, will eventually blunt and break it... as well as mar up the ball.   The post should probably also have a rubber on them as well... unless they are very strong, and allow the posts to sway when hit (rubber centering shock-absorbing grommet underneath)  , to help absorb impact.

 Pinballs can be brutal on impact.

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Yeah drop targets won't work since they can't be triggered from the back. Also, they don't bounce the ball like the bricks do in Breakout. So I think some sort of miniature pop bumper would work, which also fits in with what you're saying about cylindrical targets.

What kind of slant would be ideal do you think? I think it would be really awesome to have a playfield that changes angles each level, but of course mechanically that would be very difficult.

kiwasabi:


--- Quote from: pbj on August 04, 2014, 12:53:37 pm ---Take a look at how they did it on The Shadow.  Been awhile since I've owned one, but it was basically a paddle with a switch on it.  When the ball hit the paddle hard enough to activate the switch, the paddle kicked the ball.  Worked pretty well, but you'll never get anything 100%.

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Very cool, thanks for sharing! I didn't even know that existed. Evidently that paddle was done with a kicker that's triggered by a sensor on the sides which when passed with the ball in front of the paddle causes the kicker to do its thing. I'm thinking that it would be best to just have the paddle on a track with a drive rod that the player physically moves. That would simplify things and have one less mechanism that could go bad.

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