The game was designed by a sub-par designer, and wasn't even supposed to be a Dracula game in the first place...Those games that just stick a theme on a preexisting PF bug me!
What was it supposed to be .. is there a story behind the change ?
Centigrade 37 ... LOTR in da House ... a Barracora ....... Spidey ... RFM
That'll give you an idea I guess of some of my high scores I've never played competitively though or really played to get an ultimate high score. Just play for fun. If I lived closer to VAN I'd play in their tourneys for sure and probably get alot better playing with some better competition
=-= PINS: Swords of Fury, Fish Tales, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Skateball =-=
Credits: Phoenix, Time Warp, Gorgar, LAser Ball, Scorpion, Jungle Lord, Solar Fire, Barracora, Cosmic Gunfight, Defender, Rat Race, Time Fantasy, Joust, Star Light, Space Shuttle, Comet, Grand Lizard, PIN BOT, Fire!, Space Station, Cyclone, Jokerz!, Police Force, Bad Cats, Harle Davidson WMS, Hurricaine, Doctor WHo, Bdam STokers Dracula, Popeye, Dirty Harry, Who Dunnit, Jack BOT, Junk Yard.
He personally dislikes Popeye and Bad Cats.
Are you telling me he didnt design any good machines?
Are you on crack?
I was going to drop it as I really have nothing further to add than WCS is fun, BSD is ok. And wow! What incredible strategy in BSD. Do you start Bats/Rats on the first ball or not? Big deal. It's a shallow game. End of story.
What I want to comment on his Hippos comment on Ousler. He didn't say he didn't design any good machines. He said he was a sub-par designer and he is. Compared to Lawlor and Ritchie, he is at best inconsistent and at worst produces some absolute crap. Sure he designed a few decent games and some classics, but he has produced a ton of sub-par or crap machines.
Let's look at them individually:
Phoenix - crap. This game is so bad, you will have a tough time selling it. Time Warp - decent but not classic. The one at Allentown in great shape couldn't even sell for $350 Gorgar - fun game LAser Ball - crap Scorpion - crap Jungle Lord - junk. Widely accepted as the worst of the Williams multi level Solar Fire - classic. Widely regarded as the best of the Williams multi level Barracora - great game Cosmic Gunfight - never played, but low production which generally means it didn't test well. Defender - never played, but low production which generally means it didn't test well. Rat Race - not a pinball Time Fantasy - never played, but low production which generally means it didn't test well. Joust - neat concept. Not alot to it. Star Light - never played, but low production which generally means it didn't test well. Space Shuttle - classic Comet - ok in it's time period Grand Lizard - crap in my opinion. I know some love it on MACCA, but I think it's one of the worst Sys. 11s PIN BOT - great game Fire! - so-so Space Station -- great game Cyclone -- I like Cyclone. It's just fun. It's simple, though Jokerz! - fun Police Force - crap Bad Cats - crap Harle Davidson - never played WMS, Hurricaine - crap Doctor WHo - crap in my opinion Bdam STokers Dracula - decent Popeye - actually better than most give it credit. I'd call it sub-par to others produced in same period Dirty Harry -- haven't played enough Who Dunnit - crap Jack BOT -- I really like the game, but it certainly doesn't get alot of love Junk Yard - absolute crap.
And to make it crappy for the designer, in many cases he had no say on the theme, and possibly didn't even know what it would be. I think Oursler got hurt with a lot of second-rate themes that made players look away.
Not sure if that was true or not in the early days, but by Sys. 11, at Williams, the designer selected the theme and the team he wanted to work with -- depending on their availability.
Is it an atom? No, it's multiball! Complete MAACA-Wacko!
Posts
2,181
Gender
Male
Posts Per Day
4.03
Time Online
148 days 9 hours 30 minutes
Location
Thornhill, ON
Age
46
Things got switched on them based on corporate decisions.
Dracula and Popeye are examples. Also Barracora was originally going to be Las Vegas. Thats why there wasnt room on the drop targets for all the letters in the title and one target has 2 R's. I think Dracula was going to be Alien but I may be wrong.
Not sure if that was true or not in the early days, but by Sys. 11, at Williams, the designer selected the theme and the team he wanted to work with -- depending on their availability.
Duane
From all the topcast interviews I've listened to, this is the case. Everything "at Williams" was about integrating theme with the PF design. Some games suffered pre-fab PF's like BSD, SWep.1...but most were a total package project.
I also admit that WCS is a "great game" because is fits my style of play. And I'm not awesome at Pinball, but I certainly don't suck #3 in OPL
My style/routine of play is "Get home from work, grab a beer, and knock the ball around for 45min". I've had "Deep" games (i.e. TZ being the deepest)....but they just bore me. I'm similar in my video gaming: ...I like EA-NHL, FIFA, Street Fighter, Tetris type games...Sit down, push some buttons quickly, go do something else.
AND Mark Sprengler is the other "designer" of BSD....he's a freekin' artist, not a pinball designer
SquidVicious
Male
Logged
I'm a good player but not great. 
I've never played competitively though or really played to get an ultimate high score. Just play for fun. If I lived closer to VAN I'd play in their tourneys for sure and probably get alot better playing with some better competition 
MAACA ARCHIVES - JOIN THE NEW FORUM AT HTTP://WWW.MAACA.ORG › General Boards › MAACA Forum and Chat › Trade thoughts? Brams Drac for World Cup
