Regulation Bowling Alley

[DaltonSpence]

I'm not a bowler (or into any sports for that matter), but even I could tell there was something wrong with the Bowling Alley map on page 11 of the d20 Modern: Critical Locations supplement. For one thing, there was no "pit area" behind each "pin deck" to catch the pins and balls. Also, the lanes (even including the "gutters") seemed much wider than I remember from televised bowling tournaments and my brief interest in the game over two decades ago. After checking out the equipment specifications page on the USBC (United States Bowling Congress) website, I decided to create a floorplan for a regulation twelve lane bowling alley using data from the USBC Equipment Specifications Manual. If anyone is interested in using this in their own floorplans, let me know and I'll upload a zip with the map file here. (FWIW, when I Googled "bowling alley" blueprints, I came up with numerous references the original starship Enterprise deckplans by Franz Joseph Designs, which had a bowling alley underneath the shuttle bay. )

EDIT 1: Added some CC3 sheet effects ("bevels" to walls and gutters).
EDIT 2: Pulled back a bit to show the access corridor behind the alley and the sidewalk outside. Added drop shadows to the ball return and seats, and railings behind them.

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Dalton "who wonders how a 23rd century automatic pinsetter works" Spence

[Uthoroc]

Looks very good, Dalton! Now I just need to find a way to use a Bowling alley in my games...

Actually I would rather need a German "Kegelbahn" for my upcoming Cthulhu game. "Kegeln" is the predecessor of bowling and more popular here.

[DaltonSpence]

That shouldn't be too hard. Is there an official website with Kegeln rules and Kegelbahn technical specifications? (In English if possible; I could Babelfish it, but it would inevitably lose something in translation.) I wouldn't mind making up CC3 floorplans for other regulation playing areas, if someone could point me to the official websites of the governing authorities for those sports and games. Any interest there?

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Dalton "who thinks this project could be right up my alley " Spence

[RPMiller]

The pic isn't showing up like before in Firefox. I looked using IE and it shows up fine. Even stranger FF was just updated. I wonder if this is why it no longer works again.

[Uthoroc]

That shouldn't be too hard. Is there an official website with Kegeln rules and Kegelbahn technical specifications? (In English if possible; I could Babelfish it, but it would inevitably lose something in translation.) I wouldn't mind making up CC3 floorplans for other regulation playing areas, if someone could point me to the official websites of the governing authorities for those sports and games. Any interest there?

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Dalton "who thinks this project could be right up my alley " Spence

Lol... I don't really expect to use a Kegelbahn in my game - just joking - , but perhaps I might now.

Here's some data and images for officical rules/regulations:
http://www.wnba-fiq.de/classic.htm
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegeln

[DaltonSpence]

That shouldn't be too hard. Is there an official website with Kegeln rules and Kegelbahn technical specifications? (In English if possible; I could Babelfish it, but it would inevitably lose something in translation.)

Lol... I don't really expect to use a Kegelbahn in my game - just joking - , but perhaps I might now.

Well, according to the WNBA (World Ninepin Bowling Association) website (thank you, Babelfish), there are three types of Bahnarten (courses).

1. Classic, which has two types of courses (with or without "false throw " gutters),
2. Bohle (Plank), where a 23.5m x 35 cm course separates the foul line and the pin deck and
3. Schere (Shear), where the course widens from 35 cm to 1.25 m over the last 8.5 m of the 18 m long lane.

Which do you prefer?

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Dalton "who really wishes the site had an English version" Spence

[Uthoroc]

From my own Kegeln experience, I'm used to the Scherebahn, so let's just pick that one.

Just a note: Usually (and especially in the 1930's era I would need the map for), Kegelbahnen are not built in such large arrangements as in bowling centers. Typically a pub will have one or two courses in the cellar or a low-ceiling annex. Like on this page: http://www.restroches.ch/index1-restaurant.html

[DaltonSpence]

Perfect, that is exactly the sort of information I need. So, would you like the map in metric scale with a 1.5 m grid? I'm thinking a 30 m x 4.5 m room would fit the bill, leaving 3 m behind the essay plank for player seating, a 30 cm space between the bahns and two 40 cm wide ball returns along the walls. Although the automatic pinsetter was invented in the garage of Gottfried Schmidt in 1936, it wasn't commercially available from AMF until 1952, so a 1930s era kegelbahn probably wouldn't use one (unlike the "Rock-of-Moron" restaurant you provided a link to). Wouldn't a manual pinspotter make a great NPC?

EDIT 1: Added some sheet effects to the scherebahn sketch.
EDIT 2: Moved scherebahn 1 m west t put an access space behind the pit area. Added a classicbahn layer (scherebahn entities have their own layer now) with and without gutters.

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Dalton "what an interesting name for a restaurant with a bowling alley :wink:" Spence

[MonsterTV]

This might be a newbie question, but I can't actually seem to find any bowling alley map attachments in this thread. Am I missing something?

[Redrobes]

Well, give it three more days and this thread will be three years old. The internet moves a bit faster than that. If I were looking for 10 pin bowling maps then Id prob start with the official rule book layout and work off of that. Its not my specialty but I am sure a wikipedia search or similar will get one. For baseball we have a map in the finished maps section - it was right at the bottom of the thumbs page in the Z's...