(Topic ID: 103935)

The Stern finesse - and suggested improvements

By soren

9 years ago



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  • 6 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by RazerX
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

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#1 9 years ago

Looking at the photos of The Walking Dead I was initially very impressed. I like that Stern continue to make playfields that is mechanically more exiting that what they did some years ago. And I especially appreciate that the graphics work and print quality has improved greatly. Both for playfield and plastics.

However, The Walking Dead still features some Stern trademarks that I believe have room for improvement. I will address them as lack of artistic finesse for the "lack" of a better term.

1. The slingshot plastics on Stern games are too small. Too much of the rubber ring is visually exposed and the protection washer too. This has bugged me for years. If this design was originally done this way to prevent the plastic of getting cracks I wonder if there are better ways to prevent this. There must be.

1a. Same goes for pop bumper caps. Just too small. The tiny cylindical light is a bit too shallow too and tend to misalign. Although I must say that the double shoot through arrangement on TWD as well as the integration with the surrounding plastics for the lower one is brilliant.

2. What is the artistic reasoning behind having the rollover switches marked up this massively on the playfield graphics? And partially as bare wood? It must be possible to do better. I understand that switch location knowledge and switch hits feedback is important. And I understand that alinement of the grind work and the paint work is tricky. But still - look at the one in the top lane there. And how it sits with the ball guide. Gomez, please.

3. The roll under gate switches typically used as ramp enter are mounted on one side only. Screwed directly onto the plastic edge of the ramp. It does not look very nice and they misalign over time making it even worse. I guess they are developed to be cost effectivly and easy to mount. But then why not have them attach, or sit, somehow on the other side too. Without screws. By this, they at least will maintain alignment.

4. The fall through hole on plastic ramp returns are often seen as a pretty crude job. With rough uneven edges. I also remember a Mustang cup I notised that made me shake my head in complete disbelief.

These are some observations of mine that I hope Stern will improve on now that game design (both mechanical and software) keeps improving.

To me, Stern is taking a lot of unfair beating regarding the constant comparison with the Williams games of the 90's. And this post is actually inspired by some statements that was put forward in one of the latest PAPA shows that I disagreed upon to say the least.

I do find Stern innovative. And I believe they have good ball interactive toys within the limits of current times game budgets as well as great ball flow. Great games.

Just polish the chrome, please.

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#2 9 years ago
Quoted from soren:

1. The slingshot plastics on Stern games are too small. Too much of the rubber ring is visually exposed and the protection washer too. This has bugged me for years. If this design was originally done this way to prevent the plastic of getting cracks I wonder if there are better ways to prevent this. There must be.

If the protection washers don't stick out, they serve no purpose. They are meant to prevent the corners of the plastics from being hit by airballs. If you go buy a plastic protector set and install it, you'll find the protector plastic sticks out everywhere.

2. What is the artistic reasoning behind having the rollover switches marked up this massively on the playfield graphics? And partially as bare wood? It must be possible to do better. I understand that switch location knowledge and switch hits feedback is important. And I understand that alinement of the grind work and the paint work is tricky. But still - look at the one in the top lane there. And how it sits with the ball guide. Gomez, please.

It could be as simple as the printing process doesn't like being near switches slots (or bulb holes - theres no artwork near most of those either) and with the tolerancing of both the artwork placement and slot location, they like to give some margin to prevent an issue.

3. The roll under gate switches typically used as ramp enter are mounted on one side only. Screwed directly onto the plastic edge of the ramp. It does not look very nice and they misalign over time making it even worse. I guess they are developed to be cost effectivly and easy to mount. But then why not have them attach, or sit, somehow on the other side too. Without screws. By this, they at least will maintain alignment.

Non issue imo. I don't want more screws, and I don't want some hokey pokey clip fit or something. Many ramp switches are not mounted on ramps that are the exact same width or curvature, so by mounting on one side only, that issue is mitigated.

These are some observations of mine that I hope Stern will improve on now that game design (both mechanical and software) keeps improving.
To me, Stern is taking a lot of unfair beating regarding the constant comparison with the Williams games of the 90's. And this post is actually inspired by some statements that was put forward in one of the latest PAPA shows that I disagreed upon to say the least.

The #1 complaint I have against Stern builds, and you haven't mentioned them here, is the damn light sockets. The 555 playfield sockets that cut in and out, and let loose bulbs out on the playfield are totally annoying. anything on the top of the playfield should be bayonet 47 sockets, or high quality 555's for anything that must be that style (spotlights)

#3 9 years ago

no doubt on the 555 GI playfield sockets. that is annoying, and a stupid design

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#4 9 years ago
Quoted from Purpledrilmonkey:

The #1 complaint I have against Stern builds, and you haven't mentioned them here, is the damn light sockets. The 555 playfield sockets that cut in and out, and let loose bulbs out on the playfield are totally annoying. anything on the top of the playfield should be bayonet 47 sockets, or high quality 555's for anything that must be that style (spotlights)

^ This! +1.

#5 9 years ago

I like the games themselves. Not very original, or new toys. But just fun lay outs. Only department which is way under par is their code.

The machines are well built generally, look good, fun playfields, but the code..... Unbelievable bad.

Only pins last decade which has great code are ac dc and tron. And even those are not completely finished and bugfree. Acdc, one of the best selling pins they have ever build, wont not get every thing they planned for.

Cant believe this company still sells pre orders.

#6 9 years ago
Quoted from Purpledrilmonkey:

The #1 complaint I have against Stern builds, and you haven't mentioned them here, is the damn light sockets. The 555 playfield sockets that cut in and out, and let loose bulbs out on the playfield are totally annoying. anything on the top of the playfield should be bayonet 47 sockets, or high quality 555's for anything that must be that style (spotlights)

This +10000!!! This accounts for soooo many unnecessary service calls if stern would just use bayonet sockets. It's especially bad for any spot lights. They pop out and then jam up the trough. I understand that wedge sockets are probably cheaper but I have really grown to hate them

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