ALL of those Lawlor tables

[Reagan Dow]

calm diwn fella, it was a joke about a movie with some timone and pumba thrown in

its all cool i regular sexber sex the biys they love it,

anyway moving on


remeber the python angelo

Python was a master of his craft! The world lost a heck of an artist/designer when he passed!!

So sad.

 

[IGoFirstIndy]

Ritchieand oursler have six each. Nordman has 5. Jpop has only made 5 tables, one of which can't be done so hi had three of his four included this far. Same with Brian eddy having only made 4 and three are in. Joe kaminkow also has 4 of his tables included.

Good info. And good perspective.

 

[Zaphod77]

Both can be challenging, however sometimes I lose the ball on a Lawlor table for something really cheap, like hitting a flat area in the middle of the play-field and ricocheting right down the middle of the drain.

It's called a sucker shot. standups are NOT your friend,and must be hit the right way or you WILL drain. Only really cheap drain in a lawlor table is bumpers to left outlane on twilight zone. and he admits that was NOT his best idea.

Oh, addam's family has some too. the train wreck shot is very dangerous. that's why it's called a train wreck. that train wreck extra ball is there to tempt you to hit it. and the standups can be nasty too. but you never actually need to shoot them.

 

[Kolchak357]

That Addams train wreck shot has suckered me in many times. You also have to be careful with that little upper left flipper. That has often lead to my demise.

 

[Reagan Dow]

That Addams train wreck shot has suckered me in many times. You also have to be careful with that little upper left flipper. That has often lead to my demise.

Very good advise sir!

 

[Fungi]

So, speaking of Lawlor, anybody have a theory as to why he likes using 3 in/out/launch-lanes on one side so often?

 

[Gus]

I never had much problems with the train wreck shot. On the tables I've played it usually bounced back into the swamp hole(?) where you get a kickout towards the right flipper. I think Addam's is one of the easier real tables. I played it a couple of months ago for the first time in many years and toured the mansion on 2nd try. Got to love the Power messing up the play though Kickout from the chair, and the Power can suck it straight to an outlane or DTM

 

[David T. Melnick]

Don't worry.
It was friendly.
I'm sure you're not the only one.
It can be understandable.
I love Lawlor AND Richie.

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Likewise...I love both Richies & Lawler tables. One just needs to look up what ones they did. Among the best. Let alone, Gomez.

 

[karl]

I like Steve SR more than PL, but I still enjoy most of the PL games very much. Earthshaker was a small disappointment to me, though. He did 4 games in a row that was pretty similar in layout, starting with Earthshaker and I find that to be the poorest of those 4. I would much, much, much rather have had Banzai Run. But there was a lot of requests for Earthshaker so I am happy for those who wanted it and it is far from bad.

You will not get any complaints from me if/when Banzai, Safecracker or/and Roadshow pops up in our virtual arcade but first things first, give us Flash, F-14 and Getaway, please.

Just for fun, this is how I rank the Williams/Bally games he did:

1. Twilight Zone
2. Addams Family
3. Whirlwind
4. Banzai Run
5. Funhouse
6. Roadshow
7. Earthshaker
8. Safecracker
9. No good Gofers

 

[David T. Melnick]

You know what? I'll take all of Lawlor's tables in TPA. Some people like his work,some don't as much. I happen to like most of his tables - which is no slight against any of the other "big" pinball designers - because I like their stuff too.

Well,realistically you are looking at two to possibly three more pins designed by him getting into TPA. So the rest of the pins will be by someone else.

Sometimes it just seems haters just want to hate. In the end - it's just pinball - and I'm thankful for what we have.

Why? Because I'm old enough to remember what we used to have,and what we no longer do.

Merry Christmas,everyone.

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Merry X-MAS to u 2, Nightwing.

 

[karl]

I never had much problems with the train wreck shot. On the tables I've played it usually bounced back into the swamp hole(?) where you get a kickout towards the right flipper. I think Addam's is one of the easier real tables. I played it a couple of months ago for the first time in many years and toured the mansion on 2nd try. Got to love the Power messing up the play though Kickout from the chair, and the Power can suck it straight to an outlane or DTM

Addams is strange that way. That game is very much a individual experience (like all games of course but I find it even more so on TAF) based on how the game is set up and how easy it is to hit the shots. I got to tour the mansion the first time I played it, when I was a novice, more than 20 years ago. Now I have played many more of them over the years and owned one for ca one week and the experience vary a lot from machine to machine. I am still not even close to the mansion extravaganza on my own game. (no scoops are easy on mine, the swamp is the worst)

 

[Dedpop]

So, speaking of Lawlor, anybody have a theory as to why he likes using 3 in/out/launch-lanes on one side so often?

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I like Steve SR more than PL, but I still enjoy most of the PL games very much. Earthshaker was a small disappointment to me, though. He did 4 games in a row that was pretty similar in layout, starting with Earthshaker and I find that to be the poorest of those 4. I would much, much, much rather have had Banzai Run. But there was a lot of requests for Earthshaker so I am happy for those who wanted it and it is far from bad.

I view the Earthshaker > Whirlwind > FunHouse > Addams Family sequence to be a series of refinements on the original theme. I don't think TAF would have been what it was without the first three tables to give Lawlor feedback on what worked, what didn't, and what was good in theory but bad in practice.

Once TAF is out on TPA, I look forward to playing these tables plus TZ in sequence (I've never been able to find all five machines in the same place at the same time) and experiencing the evolution of Lawlor's ideas.

 

[karl]

I view the Earthshaker > Whirlwind > FunHouse > Addams Family sequence to be a series of refinements on the original theme. I don't think TAF would have been what it was without the first three tables to give Lawlor feedback on what worked, what didn't, and what was good in theory but bad in practice.

Once TAF is out on TPA, I look forward to playing these tables plus TZ in sequence (I've never been able to find all five machines in the same place at the same time) and experiencing the evolution of Lawlor's ideas.

That's true and I agree. TAF would not have been what it is without Earthshaker. I guess I have just been to spoiled by playing the more perfected ones that came after to really appreciate it. It's still good.

 

[Bravewall]

It's called a sucker shot. standups are NOT your friend,and must be hit the right way or you WILL drain. Only really cheap drain in a lawlor table is bumpers to left outlane on twilight zone. and he admits that was NOT his best idea.

There is that sucker shot to the right of those bumpers. There is also the P in Funhouse. I haven't seen other examples of sucker shots in TPA, so this seems to be something fairly unique to Lawlor tables.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

There is that sucker shot to the right of those bumpers. There is also the P in Funhouse. I haven't seen other examples of sucker shots in TPA, so this seems to be something fairly unique to Lawlor tables.

Oh no. AC/DC has the three Thunderstruck targets next to the ramps, Scared Stiff has a similar arrangement of Leaper standups next to its ramps, Dracula and T2 have evil center banks, Lord of the Rings has the Palantir target, etc. Sucker shots are a near-universal feature of pinball design.

 

[Bowflex]

So, speaking of Lawlor, anybody have a theory as to why he likes using 3 in/out/launch-lanes on one side so often?

I don't have any true insight or personal experience with him but I would venture a guess that he may intentionally retain many design elements consistently to create a really identifiable pinball game as though it were a piece of art. You look at a painting by many of the masters and you can recognize the artist based purely on the tone or the brushstrokes. Same thing with music. Certain musicians just have a certain tone or songwriting style and you would recognize them instantly. Lawlor has the pop bumpers (Usually two sets or one set of three, upgradeable by achieving a task or more slowly by hitting a switch to upgrade one by one in two stages), orbits (generally a set of two inside of each other), side flipper aimed at the orbits with the positioning varying greatly, and cellars. They also tend to be lacking of inlanes or have the inlanes not be a major aspect of the table. Plus as mentioned the multiple inlanes and the ball launching through the middle of the side. These are all common aspects of his tables but instantly recognizable when more than a few appear together. If he doesn't design it and those are present, the table will be compared to his style.

Ritchie does have a few of his own staples, especially as technology has advanced. You will usually see a cannon and a flipper in the upper portion of the table aimed at a looping ramp (Star Treks, High Speeds) and his own voice being used in call outs. Also a big emphasis on dimension and multiple scoring modes. His brother Mark is pretty recognizable as well with criss-crossing ramps. You can definitely play any of these designers and have a solid guess of who designed it.

 

[Bravewall]

Oh no. AC/DC has the three Thunderstruck targets next to the ramps, Scared Stiff has a similar arrangement of Leaper standups next to its ramps, Dracula and T2 have evil center banks, Lord of the Rings has the Palantir target, etc. Sucker shots are a near-universal feature of pinball design.

True... the difference being though, Lawlor's sucker shots are closer. I can nudge to save myself on all those other sucker shots. Lawlor's are just looming right over the drain. Plus Lawlor's are typically wider, and more likely to sucker me.

 

[MontanaFrank]

I view the Earthshaker > Whirlwind > FunHouse > Addams Family sequence to be a series of refinements on the original theme. I don't think TAF would have been what it was without the first three tables to give Lawlor feedback on what worked, what didn't, and what was good in theory but bad in practice.

Once TAF is out on TPA, I look forward to playing these tables plus TZ in sequence (I've never been able to find all five machines in the same place at the same time) and experiencing the evolution of Lawlor's ideas.

I can see it now Mr. Sean a whole tournament based on Lawlor tables. Maybe even Steam will have the tournament ability at that time. (We can all have Christmas wishes,can't we).

 

[vikingerik]

So, speaking of Lawlor, anybody have a theory as to why he likes using 3 in/out/launch-lanes on one side so often?

Theory: to make the games symmetrical with the flippers centered within the cabinet. Putting an extra inlane or lock lane on the left side balances the geometry against the three lanes (in, out, plunger) on the right side. All four Pro Pinball games did this deliberately for this reason.

Counterpoint: Ripley's, where the extra lock lane is on the right side instead, doubly unbalancing the symmetry. It doesn't really matter in TPA since the camera view centers the flippers anyway, but a real Ripley's is seriously disorienting with the flippers so far off center.