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How to make a paddle for an electromechanical breakout game?
Xiaou2:
Pongs physics were not really accurate. It never took into account things like the speed of your bat.. or pretty much anything of that nature.
If the ball hit the center, if would bounce the ball more vertically. If it hit the edge, it would bounce it more to the edge it hit, at a steeper angle.
I think it would be interesting to use a Pop bumper... but, I dont think pop bumpers are as powerful as the slingshot kickers... due to the mechanical way they are set up.
Even a kicker might not be enough. An actual flipper assembly is would you would probably need to get the raw power for this.
A williams flipper coil is dual stage. Its has a high voltage kick, and then at the top of its swing.. it triggers a switch, that drops the current to just the lower current, just enough to hold the bat up. Else, the high voltage left on.. would fry the coil.
Finally, this also depends on the slope of your game. I probably would advise against 100% pure vertical.. unless you are using a small and light ball, and a very tall playing field. Otherwise, and even then... gameplay will probably be too fast.
The smaller the ball, the faster it will move.. but sometimes this can be a bad thing. It can be too fast for good play. The extra mass of a real pinball adds a lot more of a vector & momentum challenge to things.. as well as ball-spin.
kiwasabi:
--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on August 04, 2014, 12:13:50 am ---Pongs physics were not really accurate. It never took into account things like the speed of your bat.. or pretty much anything of that nature.
If the ball hit the center, if would bounce the ball more vertically. If it hit the edge, it would bounce it more to the edge it hit, at a steeper angle.
I think it would be interesting to use a Pop bumper... but, I dont think pop bumpers are as powerful as the slingshot kickers... due to the mechanical way they are set up.
Even a kicker might not be enough. An actual flipper assembly is would you would probably need to get the raw power for this.
A williams flipper coil is dual stage. Its has a high voltage kick, and then at the top of its swing.. it triggers a switch, that drops the current to just the lower current, just enough to hold the bat up. Else, the high voltage left on.. would fry the coil.
Finally, this also depends on the slope of your game. I probably would advise against 100% pure vertical.. unless you are using a small and light ball, and a very tall playing field. Otherwise, and even then... gameplay will probably be too fast.
The smaller the ball, the faster it will move.. but sometimes this can be a bad thing. It can be too fast for good play. The extra mass of a real pinball adds a lot more of a vector & momentum challenge to things.. as well as ball-spin.
--- End quote ---
I think they were basically simulating a rounded paddle so you could aim it a bit. I think that is probably what I'll try first. If the paddle is flat and just hits it straight up no matter where the ball hits, that doesn't allow much control for aiming.
For the playfield I was thinking it would have a similar slant to pinball possibly. I was also thinking if I wanted to get really fancy the playfield could change angle on each level to add challenge to it. But mechanically that seems challenging.
I was figuring a standard pinball would be a good starting point for the ball size. Honestly I have no idea whether a pop bumper or slingshot kicker would be strong enough. If the playfield isn't too slanted and not too deep, then one of those solutions might work. It seems that repurposing a flipper coil for this purpose would be over my head compared to just throwing a pop bumper on a track.
kiwasabi:
After thinking about it some more I'm pretty sure drop targets won't suffice for this. Basically they're meant for being hit only from the front. I want to be able to hit the targets from the back too in case the ball bounces up above them. So it seems I'll need some solenoid driven targets that pop straight up and down. They'll start vertical then when hit will drop down, with the top totally flush with the playfield so the ball can roll over it smoothly. Anyone have any ideas of suggestions for this?
Xiaou2:
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.
pbj:
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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