Addams Family isn't really that deep. It was revolutionary, but not the one that kickstarted deep code.

The answer is: Simpsons/Lord of the Rings. Keith. The beginning of really deep, layered code.

He also made World Poker Tour much deeper than it had any right to be.

I think the first turning point was after Black Knight when williams system 7 came into play. Code started getting way more complex and probably outpaced what players could handle at the time. Seems like they actually simplified a bit in the system 9-11 era. Then around TAF it increased again, then finally in the mid-late 200s

I feel like sttng is where coding got deep or layered.

TSPP for new gen

On the fence for prior... HS was layered in its day

1980 or 81

The concept of the Mode is what started the wave which eventually broke on the beach with Keefer's two pins.

What SS games were early and had modes to be qualified and started? I hesitate to include simple SS games that came out with a multiball. To me that's not the mode-progression to the inevitable wizard mode that I'm thinking about.

Seriously this! In my humble opinion since then JJP has taken the throne away from Stern and become the king of deep code (and yet they share the same throne of crappy clear coat) *snicker snicker*.

I'll agree with Zac here from the programmer end of things, Stern mpu200 and WMS system 7 is where the emphasis had shifted from "get the thing running" to "look at the cool stuff we can do here, easier". Which did translate to a layer of depth but some of which was lost on the player - most of the ease of coding involved background stuff like light shows which are hard to code correctly (thanks to most of these operating systems' multi-threading).

Player end depth I think it kept progressing through each era, culminating in Keith's Stern/JJP games. Ridiculous depth there.

What's actually REALLY hard to to have *accessible* layers of depth, where there's easy stuff for player to do if they're not into crazy depth, but also something there for advanced players to do as well. AFM would be the gold standard here, followed by most of Lyman's games. If you play skillfully, you can build up to something really special. (ac/dc comes to mind).

Yeah, I totally agree that the mode concept opened the door to much deeper and also branching code. Keith essentially took everything that came before and dropped a truly groundbreaking deep code one-two punch in a single amazing year. Then Gary screwed him over just a few years later. Keith's r.g.p rant about that is legend. Stern's loss is JJPs gain - he's their secret sauce.

Yeah, that's the layers bit. A "layer" or "strata" of the game for every skill level. When you bust out to the next one, it's surprising if you're a casual. It's like learning there's a while 'nother world you were unaware of. In that regard, I think Lyman is overall better, but Keith, while initially being all about depth, seems to be working more layers into his code for different skill levels. And Tanio is really doing some impressive work at Stern now, too. Great time to be a pinball player.

Jungle Lord has "double trouble" which can be started after completing enough drops. Also an earnable playfield multiplier not tied to multiball like other games of that Era.

I don't think there's really much else until lights camera action and whirlwind?

Funhouse you could stack Frenzy with MB. Later sega games seemed to be the first to do the "all multiball all day, stack as many as possible" approach, iirc?