(Topic ID: 241548)

Why do all Sterns have three pop bumpers?

By Mizzou0103

4 years ago


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    There are 115 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 3.
    #101 4 years ago

    I like EMs and SS games where the pops are out in the wide open. They can be randomly punishing yet help you complete objectives. Think DOLLY targets on Dolly Parton, the drops on HOT TIP, etc. I also love a good center pop or an arrangement like Old Chicago.

    Most pops feel like a waste of space on the playfield. A few games require you to shoot through them, which I find to be a great use of them. Funhouse handled it really well because there are times you want to cleanly shoot through them and times you want the ball to bounce in the pops. Houdini has a lot of issues, but I like that there are different ways to shoot through the pops for different rewards.

    The pop on TNA is a thoughtful use. It's more interesting to shoot than a stand up and it's positioned in such a way that that it's not super punishing.

    #102 4 years ago
    Quoted from Shapeshifter:

    In the 50's Gottlieb used them intelligently - mostly as a separate scoring system. Scoring single points.

    I think that they kept using them well up until the early 70s. EMs used pops the best. Lots of games where the pops aren't lit and only worth 1 pt. Light them, and they are worth 10 pts apiece. Some modern games use them well too. Especially with frenzy or switch hit modes. But oftentimes they are an afterthought, still just placed into new games simply for the greenest of green novice players to feel like they are scoring something before they quickly drain their balls away. George Gomez said as much in the Tilt doc I believe.

    #103 4 years ago
    Quoted from kermit24:

    Some of the best shots in pinball are through the pops. Whirlwind, Iron Maiden, Addams Family.

    Don't forget probably the best one, CONGO! Volcano ramp rules!

    #104 4 years ago

    Some of the worst pop pens in all solid state history have come out very recently. The worst...

    In this thread, Pinsiders uncovered ALL of the objective factors that make pops fun or boring. I'll summarize there.

    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pops-what-do-they-add-to-a-game/page/2#post-5005544

    -mof

    #105 4 years ago

    Answer:
    Because pops have always been though of as a staple of pinball. And Stern figures it's a cheap and easy mech that takes up lots of playfield real estate. So it's just something to cut and paste easily into a design.
    Requires no thought it innovation. Keeping the profits up and BOM down.

    #106 4 years ago

    The lower pop - fully exposed and directly in the upper center of the playfield - on Eight Ball Deluxe has extracted more cussing from me than any other pop bumpers on any other game.

    I absolutely love it!!!

    #107 4 years ago

    Let's use this 6-point scale Pinsiders created in the other thread... and objectively evaluate, oh I don't know... BK3's pop pen.

    GOOD:
    1. Randomize movement (where did the ball go?) fail
    2. Drain the ball hard and fast (left, center or right) fail
    3. Help you score (rollovers, or targets) fail
    4. Modes (see frenzy mode in Funhouse) fail

    BAD:
    5. Add stop-n-go -- (some call this "giving you a breather", I disrespectfully decline that notion completely. I'm all about that action, boss!) fail
    6. Single-controlled-exit (dribble the ball out of their "pen" to an orbit that may not even effectively feed the flippers?, see BK3) fail

    I could be wrong on point 4, perhaps there's a frenzy mode in BK3 (I don't know the code), so I'll give 1 thing back that can be code-based, but I'm sorry, I don't ever want a pop-pen whose ONLY value to the pin is a frenzy mode, that's a huge waste of space when not in the mode.

    My friend and I played 12+ games (36+ balls) of BK3 and BKLE and never saw the pops score once, it was infuriatingly ineffective to watch.

    -mof

    #108 4 years ago
    Quoted from mof:

    My friend and I played 12+ games (36+ balls) of BK3 and BKLE and never saw the pops score once, it was infuriatingly ineffective to watch.

    Agreed, while I love BKSOR overall. The pops don't matter in any way currently.

    #109 4 years ago

    Pops nests are one of those Gary Rules that designers have to include, no matter what. When you force designers to do something, you might end up with uninspired implementations like BKSOR. It's a shame really.

    2 months later
    #110 4 years ago

    Because three is more then two and less then four, wich is too much!!!

    1 year later
    #111 2 years ago

    I love that the Shadow is so difficult because of its geometry, not randomization by pops.

    Ripley’s has six pops. The top three rarely feed the upper flipper and send the ball dribbling out and bouncing, but usually the bounces it takes are pretty forgiving. The bottom three usually safely feed the left flipper or throw it to the Idol, which is a magnet that can throw the ball any which way.

    I generally don’t think much about pops. I like that they can keep you on your toes, but often they’re in a faraway spot that gives you ample time to react.

    #112 2 years ago

    When I bought my first pin, I wanted one with three Pops, because... well it's just the way most pinball are and I would be missing something if it hasn't pops.
    Also if you're new into this, it is quite a spectacle when they rapidly fire, bouncing that heavy ball back an forth in milliseconds.

    Now I'm five years into the hoby, see that mostly all modern games have the pops tucked away where they serve no sense in any way and wonder in despair why they didn't use that "BOM" cost for anything more meaningful.

    That said I like how Houdini, Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park placed a shot right trough the pops and broke up the "same-old-same-old" formula.

    #113 2 years ago

    Like Whirlwind, Walking dead, Aerosmith. Spy Hunter has the best in the business, one pop, but it's a real feature of the game.

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    #114 2 years ago

    Don’t remember for sure but Spider-Man may not have pop bumpers.

    #115 2 years ago
    Quoted from shlt_thunder:

    Don’t remember for sure but Spider-Man may not have pop bumpers.

    Good thing for IDDB, as it shows it has 3 pops. https://www.ipdb.org/showpic.pl?id=5237&picno=34607

    There are 115 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 3.

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