History VideoGame / PinballConstructionSet

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually selling over 300,000 copies across the UsefulNotes/AppleII, UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers, UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, and UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer versions. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

''Pinball Construction Set'' was ported to the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis in 1993 with the title ''Virtual Pinball''.

The source code for the [[UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers Atari 800]] version of ''PCS'' is publicly available on [=GitHub=] [[https://github.com/billbudge/PCS_Atari800 here]].

* GameBreakingBug: The UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer version has a bug where adding too many parts prevented you from saving the game... or from removing parts so it ''can'' be saved.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinball_construction_set2_6958.jpg]]

''Computer Gaming World'' named ''PCS'' "Most Innovative Computer Game" in their 15th anniversary issue. In 2008, it was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for "User Generated Content/Game Modification", and was an inductee in [=GameSpy=]'s Hall of Fame.

%% * StockSoundEffects

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin

* GameMaker
* LevelEditor
* StockSoundEffects

* GameBreakingBug: The IBMPersonalComputer version has a bug where adding too many parts prevented you from saving the game... or from removing parts so it ''can'' be saved.

''Pinball Construction Set'' was ported to the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis in 1993 with the title "Virtual Pinball".

* EndlessGame

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually selling over 300,000 copies across the UsefulNotes/AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer versions. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

''Pinball Construction Set'' was ported to the SegaGenesis in 1993 with the title "Virtual Pinball".

The source code for the [[Atari8BitComputers Atari 800]] version of ''PCS'' is publicly available on [=GitHub=] [[https://github.com/billbudge/PCS_Atari800 here]].

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually selling over 300,000 copies across the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer versions. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

With the success of Budge's ''Raster Blaster'' pinball game, he decided to expand the tools he had created for that title and make a game about making games. After writing a mini-paint program, sound editor, a save/load system, and several other tools, he dubbed the title ''Pinball Construction Set'', then started [=BudgeCo=] with his sister and distributed it to software stores in plastic bags. But Budge soon became burdened by the marketing work needed by a software publisher, and he struck a deal with Trip Hawkins, who was looking for titles to fill Electronic Arts' launch roster.

''PCS'' came with five sample pinball tables; Budge claimed he made "Astro Blast" in a half-hour. The title's draw, however, were the construction tools, which were controlled with an icon-based drag-and-drop interface. As expected, players could adjust the board's boundaries, place components, wire items and establish scoring rules, paint the playfield and title, and even adjust the physics engine. Players could then save the game for later replay, either inside ''PCS'' or as stand-alone binaries to share with others.

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually selling over 300,000 copies across the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

''Pinball Construction Set'' is a 1983 VideoGame by Bill Budge for building DigitalPinballTables. It is best known for being the UrExample of the GameMaker genre, and was one of the launch titles for a company called Creator/ElectronicArts.

The source code for the [[Atari8BitComputers Atari 800]] version of ''PCS'' is publicly available on [=GitHub=] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GitHub here.]]

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually selling 300,000 copies on the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' became a blockbuster hit, eventually sold 300,000 copies on the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' premiere "rock star" developers, and was sent on junkets in computer game stores, shopping malls, and television shows. EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' eventually sold 300,000 copies on the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, {{Commodore 64}}, and IBMPersonalComputer. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' "rock star" developers; EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou

''PCS'' came with one sample pinball table, "Astro Blast", which Budge claimed he made in a half-hour. The title's draw, however, were the construction tools, which were controlled with an icon-based drag-and-drop interface. As expected, players could adjust the board's boundaries, place components, wire items and establish scoring rules, paint the playfield and title, and even adjust the physics engine. Players could then save the game for later replay, but there was no method to share tables with others.

After the success of Budge's ''Raster Blaster'', he decided to expand the tools he had created for that game and create a game about making games. After writing a mini-paint program, sound editor, a save/load system, and several other tools, he dubbed the title ''Pinball Construction Set'', then started [=BudgeCo=] with his sister and distributed it to software stores in plastic bags. But Budge soon became burdened by the marketing work needed by a software publisher, and he struck a deal with Trip Hawkins, who was looking for titles to fill Electronic Arts' launch roster.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pinball_construction_set_4126.jpg]]

''PCS'' came with one sample pinball table, "Astro Blast", which Budge claimed he made in a half-hour. The title's draw, however, were the construction tools, which were manipulated with an icon-based drag-and-drop interface. As expected, players could adjust the board's boundaries, place components, wire items and establish scoring rules, paint the playfield and title, and even adjust the physics engine. Players could then save the game for later replay, but there was no method to share tables with others.

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With EA's distribution, ''Pinball Construction Set'' eventually sold 300,000 copies on the AppleII, Atari8BitComputers, Commodore64, and IBMPersonalComputer. Budge became famous as one of Electronic Arts' "rock star" developers; EA followed ''PCS''[='=] success with similar {{Game Maker}}s like ''Music Construction Set'', ''Racing Destruction Set'', and ''Adventure Construction Set''.

[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

''Pinball Construction Set'' was ported to the SegaGenesis in 1993 with the title "Virtual Pinball". In 2008, it was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for "User Generated Content/Game Modification", and was an inductee in [=GameSpy=]'s Hall of Fame.

''PCS'' came with one sample pinball, "Astro Blast", which Budge claimed he made in a half-hour. The title's draw, however, were the construction tools, which were manipulated with an icon-based drag-and-drop interface. As expected, players could adjust the board's boundaries, place components, wire items and establish scoring rules, paint the playfield and title, and even adjust the physics engine. Players could then save the game for later replay, but there was no method to share tables with others.

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