Episode 11 - Life of a Former Pinball Programmer

Wedgehead Pinball Podcast

In this episode, Alan and Alex are joined by Greg Dunlap, a computer programmer that worked at both Bally/Williams doing slot machines and then later at Pat Lawlor Designs, working on programming lightshows and animations for Early Stern Pinball machine titles like Ripley's Believe It or Not, Monopoly, Nascar, and Roller Coaster Tycoon. Hear about how a lifelong pinball fan becomes a a part of the industry he loves, and about what it was actually like.
Greg is a great example of one of the hundreds of unknown people that work as a team to create a final pinball machine. We had a blast talking to him about shooting the Monster Bash whitewood with Lyman Sheets and going out gambling on a riverboat afterwards, working with Pat Lawlor at his house during the early Stern years (aka the dark ages), and discuss what it was actually like being a regular person working at a pinball company, including watching the conception of the infamous Pinball2000 attempt to save the pinball department at Williams, and his time running the Pinball Outreach Project (or POP) with his wife when he lived in Portland.
Greg no longer works in the pinball industry, which we think makes this a uniquely interesting interview. We found it super interesting to hear a bit about the day to day life of being a pinball grunt, and we hope you will as well.
Episode is made by adults, so...we may swear sometimes.