Best

LOTR
TSPP
AC/DC

Worst
WOF
CC
TF

WOF does not belong on the worst list. It includes some incredible game design that integrates the theme perfectly. The lack of a wizard mode and the constant bitching of the incomplete code don't really render it bad.

Then again, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, however it's annoying that people write off the game so easily off a quick first impression and the popular opinion of the game.

Edit: My list...
Best
ACDC
WPT
BSD

Worst
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Super Mario Bros Mushroom World
South Park

I'm only listing the best because I haven't played the worst!

TWD
LOTR
AC/DC
WOZ
SM
WH20
RS
WPT

No mention of Street Fighter? Bleh.

AFM is the best.

NF has an incredible layout for the code it has. Not bad or incomplete code but imho the layout is there.

The random awards ruin the game, but if you set it to tournament mode it opens up a lot of strategy. If this were an ugly art competition it would be up there, but code? Nah, it is fine.

Best
LOTR
RBION
TSPP

Worst
CP
CC
NGG

You can probably guess my skill level is not on par with a lot of people here.

Best:
Metallica
Star Trek
POTC

Worst:
AC DC
BDK
24

3 Best
1. LOTR
2. TSPP
3. STTNG

3 Worst
1. Gilligan's Island
2. Hurricane
3. Super Mario Mushroom World
3.5 Dishonorable mention to RCT & IJ4

Best:

1. LOTR
2. TSPP
3. Spiderman

Honourable mentions: TZ, Tron and IM

Worst:

1. Monopoly. Great layout with interesting shots, but the code is so uninspired and dull
2. Gilligan's Island. Code forces you to play in a certain way and gets old really, really fast.
3. Judge Dredd. Maybe it's not fair to list it in the worst, but it is really basic. The excellent layout is really underutilized and that frustrates me everytime I play it. I've owned the game a few times. Always enjoy it and then get bored with it. I think the game could be awesome if the code was revisited.

I'm sure there are worst games out there, but the above list represents games that I think could be alot more if the code was better.

I think the best coded games are:

1) TWD / Metallica tie
3) Spider-Man
4) AC/DC

The above games are absolute code masterpieces.

Lord of the rings has great code but focuses more on depth than massive fun rewards.

Games that I saw listed as the worst confuse me. I thought the code in CP was great. It has some of the best call outs in pinball. It is really great strategy once you get to the cash fight rounds being able to bet your entire score away.

Some of the worst code are in sega games. These just implement the features and that's it. Great layouts like Independence Day and batman forever are lost to uninventive code.

Best:

1. RBION
2. Metallica
3. IJW

HM: Maverick, the most underrated DMD game. Ugly design, great code.

Worst:

1. FS
2. SP
3. Harley Davidson ( Stern )

HM: TOM, the most overrated DMD game. Could have been as great as many people think it is but the code doesn´t live up to the design.

I completely disagree on Batman Forver.

Can't believe TSPP and LOTR weren't in the first list (though I give the nod to TSPP on that though the overall implementation of theme on LOTR wins really). As for third - that's a tough call, Shadow would be up there.

Worst - I'll get back on that, that's tougher to judge than best for sure.

Worst: Junk Yard.

Multiball is one shot: Shoot center to start, for jackpot, and for super. You might just as well time out all of the modes to get to space. After you get to space you can time out all the modes all over again The best strategy in the game is video mode all day of all things

I don't like any code that incentivizes not playing pinball. JY is just the worst because it's not just timing out modes, it's video mode too. Gross.

I mentioned it in the TWD thread, but I feel that it now has the best code of any game ever made. Sort of like Mary Poppins, the TWD code is "practically perfect in every way"!

Best:
1. ACDC
2. FGY
3. LOTR

Worst:
1. WWE
Is there anything else, really?

As for TWD: honestly, it's still in the honeymoon phase for a lot of people. while I honestly believe it's one of Lyman's best work, I also fear that it may be another of Lyman's work horse coded games. And what I mean is I have games on it where I feel like I'm putting in a lot of effort (too much?) to get the game firing on all cylinders. Then, I have a game that I did nothing but have fun and opened a whole avenue of features. Perhaps that's the genious to TWD code? so for me, Judgement still pending for better or for worse (but probably better). Time will tell if it'll surpass lotr on my list. Having owned LOTR for a second time just recently, I've noticed its code flaws that really brought the fun level down - still in my top 3, but I think new blood is almost ready to take it down

Best:
1.MM - for me the most complete game in all areas on the market including code.
2.WH20 - The vacation planner, 5x the fun, Multiball start set up
3.BSD - Code really makes this game amazing. Without the multi-multiball feature the game would be average at best.
Honorable mention - Shadow - Saucer 2X & 3X for multiball is genius

Worst:
CC - incomplete game and it shows
DE Batman - This MB is fun, anything else to do...nope.
Avatar - Look, I have to do everything on one ball or I start over...lame.

When talking about code, that includes dots, call outs, rules and sound effects/music.

have yet to play TWD, can't speak for most games so I'm just going by the games I've owned or own.

Best:

TSPP -best all around
TRON -short on rules but very clever and fits together nicely
AcDc -deep and complex. Maybe if I understood the rules entirely I'd put this higher, needs more rules for lower PF.
ST
PotC

Could use some polish or additional riles.
IM
XMLE
STLE

Worst, I don't know but I'm always good with putting South Park in the bad category.

Negative, it's Lyman's best work and Ac/dc isn't even close.

If somebody wants to come pick up my Ac/dc premium for a great price, come get it.

It's not Lyman's fault, even though Metallica is better, a music pin just can't compete with overall greatness elsewhere. Why? It's just a music pin, and I substitute out several songs from Ac/dc via pinballl browser, thankfully, to make it much more enjoyable.

From an entertaining, play it over and over again, totally immersive home run, Ac/dc is WAY WAY behind TWD and it is what it is, not Lyman's fault.

Lyman did make Ac/dc great despite its limitations with the same old Ritchie layout features, but it ain't even close to the magic Borg and Lyman put together with TWD.

Absolutely incorrect. You can start each mode on one ball (collect). But each mode completed results in the insert flashing and ball draining does not reset this. Avatar software is actually quite good.

I made the mistake of trading my rbion for this. Beautiful art, awesome playfield design, and shallow/boring code. I've saw everything in the game within an hour. I need to shop it out and then will trade it for something else.

Surprised to see such love for POTC. Do not have much time on it so curious.

Don't blame the code for your dislike of the music. I am not a fan of acdc one bit, and I was a huge Metallica fan growing up; even my hs junker car was graffiti'd to holy hell with Metallica. But acdc's music is the best for playing a music based pin. No other bands in pinball come close. And a lot has to do with the theme integration of its music as well as the music itself. Truth!

Metallica was not Lyman's best work of code. A lot of good efforts and it is good, but something just seemed a little off - it took so long to revisit the initial release, it's like he was rushed or limited to get something out.

Now TWD is great, I didn't say it wasn't. It's like Lyman took everything great that he learned from acdc and Metallica and made a little walking dead baby. But I still have games on it that feel like work, but this is apparent with most Lyman's games including acdc and Metallica. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, It's a double edged sword; one side is a fun exhilarating ultimate pinball experience, the other is a stressful & intense on the edge of your seat experience. Like I said, not a bad thing but if I'm not in the mood for a stressful game of pinball then TWD (or any Lyman games for that matter) are probably not a good idea to play as those 'feel like work' negative games can Be amplified 10-fold. The love/hate relationship that makes Lyman one of the best ever in the industry.

PoTC code shines on multiball stacking and scoring strategies. Really really fun stuff. It suffers from the poor compass insert awards. Most the awards are completed with no thought which isn't bad, but the main N, W, S, E awards weren't very well thought out. Collect 100 crew members was a great start and if the other three arrow awards were bonus modes like the north collect the crew members, then the game would have that missing dimension it lacks. Other than that, the code is great and like I said, multiballs, stacking, and scoring is top notch fun.

TWD is great cause of Lymans code. Not cause of Borg's clunky design.

Good thread!

BEST Walking dead, lord of the rings, and iron man, also monster bash

WORST ac dc, south park, star wars trilogy

I completely disagree on PoTC. Nordman came up with a great playfield and one of the best toys in all of pinball. It is all wasted by horrible code imo. The scoring imbalance of max jackpots (S arrow) make big scoring happen on one ball only per game. Everything else is chopping wood. Shoot the trunk 3 times to light key, 5 more times to spell heart, again to light heart multiball, again to start heart multiball, then shoot it several times more for a super jackpot (and hold the ball every frickin' time for an animation). If you happen to end multiball without colleting the super, start the whole process over again. Shoot the ship a bunch of times to destroy the sails, shoot it again a bunch of times to sink it, shoot the same shot several times then to destroy the kracken. Now repeat 4 times (with many more shots needed each wave) to battle Davy Jones at which time you....hit the ship a bunch more. If you end multiball without defeating Davy, yeah start bashing the ship many more times to try again (at which time you need to bash the ship many more times). At least the up-post can be disabled on the ship shot unlike on the chest.

Anyway, my response to the OP:
Best DMD coded games: Twilight Zone, LoTR, and Metallica
Worst: Stern IJ, PoTC, Gilligan's Island

haven't played enough of the modern Sterns to really critique their code, unfortunately, so can't comment on many of them. my lists are in no particular order:

Best:
WOZ - i may never see all the modes this thing offers. personally i love the progression maps on the LCD screen that show all the branches of tasks necessary to reach the various modes.

LOTR - deep, long, story-based progression. great for home use and people with a lot of spare time.

STTNG - Fantastic theme integration. Deep. Your performance on each mode dictates how high scoring is in wizard mode. Tons to do. There are at least 3 totally independent viable strategies for high scoring: 1) build the super spinner and spam that, 2) focus on borg multiball progressive jackpots, which have effectively no ceiling or 3) collect sets of artifacts to make the Final Frontier insanely lucrative.

BSD - great strategy to the multiball scoring. stands out from others of its era for this reason.

MM / AFM - really kind ended up of epitomizing good ruleset tendencies. complete different levels to build toward a final "boss" type confrontation, while simultaneously working towards several side goals at the same time, which can all potentially culminate in a high-scoring wizard mode.

Worst:

TOM - the main modes aren't worth it. you're better off timing them out and just trying to build the bonus. Wizard mode (grand finale) is a wet fart. Feels phoned in codewise, which is unfortunate because the game has decent flow and a neat toy.

Harley Davidson 3rd Edition - everything about this game is pretty lame, but the coding in particular seems pretty bare bones. just not a lot going on. what is up with having a scoop on the playfield that simply awards a random number of "mystery rider" points 100% of the time? also seems to go to that awful video mode constantly. reaching different cities doesn't start a mode or anything. just gives you more points, and the same chance to earn a patch each time. repetitive and shallow.

i feel like BOP needs to be mentioned, even though it's not technically a DMD game, it is WPC. Probably the worst modern code of any game, sadly, because it is a cool layout with a cool toy and cool art and cool sound ... just a completely ridiculously broken ruleset that not only is absurdly unbalanced, but also focuses on the shuttle ramp wayyyyy too much. probably the #1 good game hampered by a poor ruleset.

It would be hard to top TSPP. That game is a masterpiece in sound, rules and dots.

Also, not a DMD. I agree that the code is great, though.

Can't argue with you about the rules, but I find the sound to be incredibly annoying on TSPP, particularly the hurry-up music.

haha, oops!

Agree. POTC could have been a masterpiece had Keith Johnson done the code with one of his story based rulesets.

Best
Tz
Rbion
Tfle
Worst
Street fighter
Avengers

Jeez.

Wouldn't it great if people could re-code and share or sell, even if Stern sold new code.

The expensive part is the heavy wood box and circuits and flappy bits, if you could put a thumb drive and have a new game experience that'd be worth a lot.

@pezpunk: There is much to agree with on this well considered list. It doesn't mean everyone has to like everything on the "good" list (I don't personally enjoy STTNG) or that you're a bad person for enjoying anything on the "bad" list (BOP is my guilty pleasure).

It's worth noting that Keith Johnson manages to show up quite a bit on this thread and any thread about good code: Simpsons Pinball Party, Lord of the Rings, and Wizard of Oz. It's also a given that Lyman Sheets would be mentioned a few times for good code.

Dude, that'd be awesome!

So many people would try and tackle cool projects, until they realize the work and labor involved. And just like JPOP, Skit-B, and all those other guys trying to manufacture a real pinball machine, they'd see how much work is actually involved and abandon it. But hey, here's my $10k preorder...someone go reprogram a pin for me and i'll hope it gets finished

I'm a programmer, and I'll have to nitpick here...

You guys are mostly commenting on the rules of the games, more than the code itself:
-Lots to do, lots to shoot for, interesting progression in challenges, balanced scoring, etc: good ruleset
-No bugs, no glitches, no unnecessary waiting around for the ball to be found, no incomplete features, good dots, etc.: good code

I'll show myself out now.

Bravo!

lot of people think flow has to do with layout; Code has a lot to do with it as well as you stated above; no glitches, uneccessary waiting for the ball, etc... The best code is the kind that compliments a design; lighting, insert matrix, sounds, dmd, etc... Which is why i still stick to my #1 best coded game: ACDC. There's no sticky transitions from song to song like metallica, the super skill shot puts the action right at your flipper from the start, the lighting compliments the music and sound effects, the lighting and sounds are completely in sync with cannon shots and scores. Shaker motor is subtle yet effective at the precise moments. I can go on but you get the jist. ACDC for president

image.png

Yes, I'd agree that stuff qualifies as good code.
Now, obviously you'd have to look at the code itself to truly certify it's well designed and cleanly coded, but all these elements would certainly indicate that we're dealing with good code.

And, in the context of pinball companies, the guy writing the code is probably the guy who came up with the rules and who implements them, so... you know... nitpicking.

I'm trying to be objective here and list by best and worst in terms of complete or incomplete code. In fact, I like TOM a lot, but the code seems very incomplete to me.

Best:
LOTR
TSPP

Worst:
XM
TOM

Sure, but I doubt the intentions of the OP was to find out which games had the best comments or stuck to the coding convention. Code is simply an overloaded term here.

As end users, our concern isn't if the code is well designed and cleanly coded. We only care about the end result. Poorly designed code will present itself in future maintenance problems and there doesn't seem to be any more maintenance on finished games years later. So I think this discussion is centered around what the code does. Not how it is implemented to do those things.

well, ok, but if we want to really get nit picky, without the ability to review the actual source code ourselves, we really can't make any judgment at all about it. there's no other way to know whether code is any good, or if it deserves to be on the front page of thedailywtf. maybe Lyman uses deprecated features galore and makes every numeric variable a float or whatever, and puts all the logic in a single PinballTest1.cs (or .java or whatever) spaghetti code object.

(edit: dang i respond too slowly)

more to your point, though, it's my impression that the dudes who write the code have a huge impact on how the rules get implemented. although i admit this is an interesting question -- how much of a ruleset is the coder's doing, and how much is the designer? i imagine there's got to be a lot of collaboration and back and forth there.

My main complaint with modern pinball code is code that is not interesting. What sounds more interesting, hitting a ramp 10x to get a bunch of points or multiple flashing shots on a playfield that unlocks a requirement for a wizard model? I'll go with the second option any day over the first. All games are going to have a few hit "x" 10x to complete or start a mode but in my opinion a modern pinball machine needs shot progression based modes as well to keep lasting interest.

How about starting a mode that is a bit difficult to start. Then the ramp shot is worth 100 times your normal score while you hit it with opportunities to stack it in with other things and the act of doing that moves you closer to that wizard mode?

I've just described TWD.