Do you only play after dark? I do. I can't remember a time that I turned on all the pins during daylight hours. I need atmosphere!* Nighttime is pin time for me. I just never feel the urge during the day, weekends included. Anyone else?
*One of my pin rooms is a 'dark room', but I still never have thoughts of playing during the day.
I have complete control over the lighting in the bar/gameroom. It could be high noon and with the room darkening curtains shut it's like midnight.
I prefer dark, but with the ceiling lights on and dimmed low. Some pins need a little light on the playfield.
*Squirrel is the go-to response when you have no idea what's going on. That's ok, I just need to burn 2 more hours at 'work', and I'm out of here too.
Quoted from PoMC:I prefer dark, but with the ceiling lights on and dimmed low. Some pins need a little light on the playfield.
I'll need to wander around and turn off pool table lights etc when no longer in use to help keep it dark. In my 'dark' room I walk around with a miner light on, using clamp lights for repairs. Just a dim black light overhead. Ya probably weird.
there is no natural light in my pinball room -- there are a couple windows, but i have shades that block 100% of the sunlight.*
I have modded the lighting in all of my games so that the GI lights up the entire playfield quite well, so playing in the dark is definitely the best experience. (it's not totally pitch black in there, though. there's some ambient light from adjacent rooms)
* UV radiation = death for paint and plastics, and sunlight happens to be heavily weighted towards the UV end of the spectrum, much moreso than incandescent light, which in turn has much more UV than LEDs.
wavelength-and-efficiency-of-daylight-vs-incandescent-vs-warm-white-led-vs-halogen-vs-cool-white-led-vs-warm-white-led_(resized)
the left side of each graph there, the bluish-purple area below 400nm, represents the ultraviolet radiation, which causes a chemical process in dyes, paints, and plastics to break down and lose their pigment. the color red is especially vulnerable.
Quoted from PoMC:I prefer dark, but with the ceiling lights on and dimmed low.
I second this method. The perfect combo
I pick Squirrel!!! Thats me in the Pic!
Seriously, it is this question I address in emails all day.....
I personally play with lights off, or dimmed light.
For those reading this, and doing LEDs, if you use 1 SMD 5050...what you find it most kits, youll need some extra lighting to play in the dark. From Pinball Bulbs, Mark and James have created and add extra strips and spots, for a brilliant all playfield lit game. Great Job!
Cointaker has brighter Bulbs available to add, as well as lighting strips to give you this look from the industry leaders, and we have both strips and brighter bulbs, to achieve as well.
Generally Twin 2835 are bright enough, I prefer frosted, to play in the dark, but Op-Max help tremendously.
We will have some new releases this year of product that will go one step further that work with our Matrix line, which covers this completely.
In all, cant go wrong with a game in the dark....love what it adds to the game play, and a dimmer switch for overhead room lighting is a great way to start!
Since we are getting technical here, your eyes need to be able to track the ball to play well. For your eyes to track well, you need a sufficient amount of light.
The questions are then:
Do you care about playing well or would you rather promote the darkness as a "party" or "ambiance" feature?
For some, it's all about scoring and the ability to play well, for others - it's about the social gathering (party), and for others it is kind of in between. Which you choose will have a bearing on the emphasis of the amount of additional light you will require.
For some folks, they can gain enough light to see well to play. This can vary some from player to player. It's all personal preference. I like it dark enough to accent the games, but enough ambient light for heated battles. Our games are in a basement which really is pretty dark in the daytime to begin with. I have incandescent bulb strings on a dimmer and peripheral objects such as LED signs and candles. For me, this sets up the party atmosphere, while giving enough light for some fairly serious battles. It may not be ideal for a tournament setting, but it is what we like for a home arcade.
Quoted from wayout440:Since we are getting technical here, your eyes need to be able to track the ball to play well. For your eyes to track well, you need a sufficient amount of light.
The questions are then:
Do you care about playing well or would you rather promote the darkness as a "party" or "ambiance" feature?
For some, it's all about scoring and the ability to play well, for others - it's about the social gathering (party), and for others it is kind of in between. Which you choose will have a bearing on the emphasis of the amount of additional light you will require.
For some folks, they can gain enough light to see well to play. This can vary some from player to player. It's all personal preference. I like it dark enough to accent the games, but enough ambient light for heated battles. Our games are in a basement which really is pretty dark in the daytime to begin with. I have incandescent bulb strings on a dimmer and peripheral objects such as LED signs and candles. For me, this sets up the party atmosphere, while giving enough light for some fairly serious battles. It may not be ideal for a tournament setting, but it is what we like for a home arcade.
If the playfield is well lit by the GI, ambient light is irrelevant to ball tracking. granted that likely requires modding most games that aren't a modern Stern. My WOZ and STTNG had dark areas before I spruced them up.
Quoted from pezpunk:If the playfield is well lit by the GI, ambient light is irrelevant to ball tracking. granted that likely requires modding most games that aren't a modern Stern. My WOZ and STTNG had dark areas before I spruced them up.
Agreed, I neglected to mention this varies from game to game. I don't need ambient light to play modern games that are well lit by spotlights, but older darker games or something like F-14 Tomcat with its bazillion flashers can be much more difficult to play without additional lighting. I've been thinking about adding some kind of lighting mods to my Pinbot, side by side with the other games is comparably dark.
Start with the lights on, then turn them off in about 1hr and turn up the music. Like playing a whole new machine.
Dark, with just one lamp on in the room for some ambient light. Preferably with a cold Shiner Bock beer in the PinGulp holder and some classic Rush or 80s music on the speakers...
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