Dirty Pool Podcast - Ep31 - Raymond Davidson - Player to Programmer

Raymond Davidson on competitive play, code design philosophy, and balancing accessibility with depth.

Synopsis

Raymond Davidson, a competitive pinball player turned programmer at Stern, discusses his journey from the Seattle pinball scene to working on major titles including Metallica, Rush, and Fall of the Empire. He shares insights on balancing game difficulty between casual and competitive play, designing rules that leverage playfield features, and iterating code based on community feedback and stream observation.

Highlights

• Raymond was hired at Stern in 2020 and moved from Seattle to Chicago
• The Seattle pinball scene was in a 'dark age' around 2011-2012 before the renaissance started
• Raymond won second place at Northwest Pinball Championships with a $2,500 payout in cash, including a brick of $2 bills
• Raymond worked on Elwin's game (likely Infinity Quest) upon joining Stern in 2020
• Raymond worked closely with John Borg on Rush after an initial awkward first meeting in the Stern lab
• Tim Sexton lowered the number of record shots needed to light time machine in Rush from two to one for accessibility
• Stern received push back on Star Wars code where hitting the Hoth lock shot lit all three locks, which Raymond initially defended
• Raymond found a bug in Metallica's Blackened mode where draining and hitting an unlit add-a-ball button would secretly grant an add ball
• Raymond considers Foo Fighters his favorite final code and Rush his second favorite, though Rush feels overwhelming in retrospect
• Raymond regrets not making multiball objectives matter more in Led Zeppelin, as players skip them while pursuing wizard mode

Entities

• Stern Pinball· company
• Northwest Pinball Championships· event
• Papa (Professional and Amateur Pinball Association)· event
• Avengers· game
• Fall of the Empire· game
• Foo Fighters· game
• Infinity Quest· game
• Iron Maiden· game
• Jurassic Park· game
• Led Zeppelin· game
• Lord of the Rings· game
• Metallica· game
• Rush· game
• Simpsons Pinball Party· game
• Star Wars· game
• Chicago· organization
• Dirtypool Pinball· organization
• IFPA· organization
• Seattle· organization
• John Borg· person
• Keith (last name not provided)· person
• Raymond Davidson· person
• Tim Sexton· person