Ask Uncle Willy #1: June 23, 1995
Wow, Uncle Willy's mailbox has been filled with all sorts of questions!
He's glad to see so much interest in Williams/Bally pinballs.
Please keep in mind that some of the questions take a bit of research, so
that answers to some questions may not show up right away. Be assured that
your questions are being kept on file, and those that are answerable will
receive Uncle Willy's attention.
Send all questions and comments to:
uncle_willy@wms.com
Here are the questions for this week:
Question: Who was on the design team for Riverboat Gambler?
Answer: Riverboat Gambler was a Williams 1990 design. The design credits
are:
Design: Ward Pemberton
Software: Dwight Sullivan
Music/Sounds: Dan Forden, Paul Heitsch
Art: Pat McMahon
Mechanical: Greg Tastad
Note that if you find a game without the design credits listed
on the playfield, then it's a prototype.
Question: On Star Trek: the Next Generation, when does the Neutral Zone
"LOCK" light come on?
Answer: Warning, very dry, technical rules discussion ahead. Uncle Willy
says you may want to skip down to the next question.
The standup targets in the Neutral Zone either start one of the
Neutral Zone modes, or light "LOCK". Depending upon the current
percentage of multiballs on a particular ST:tNG, the "LOCK" is
lit on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Neutral Zone sequence. The
"LOCK" is then lit every 4th sequence after that.
Question: On Elvira, what are the rules for lighting the Skull "LOCK" light,
and what are the effects of changing the difficulty setting?
Answer: Warning, very dry, technical rules discussion ahead. Again, you
may want to skip ahead.
The basic rule for the Skull "LOCK" is:
- If "LOCK" is lit, lock a ball.
- 3rd ball in lock starts multiball.
- If "LOCK" is not lit, and multiball is not active, hit J-A-M
targets to light "LOCK".
The behavior of the "LOCK" light is affected by the "MULTIBALL"
adjustment. It has the settings "EX. EASY", "EASY", "MEDIUM",
"HARD", and "EX. HARD". There are 4 times during a game when
the decision is made to leave/turn the "LOCK" light on. They are:
- Start of game.
- After a lock, before the 1st multiball.
- After a lock, after the 1st multiball.
- After multiball ends.
Here's a grid to show the effect of the "MULTIBALL" setting on
the "LOCK" light:
Setting Game Start After Lock After Lock After MB
before 1st MB after 1st MB
Ex. Easy ON ON ON ON
Easy ON ON ON OFF
Medium ON ON OFF OFF
Hard ON OFF OFF OFF
Ex. Hard OFF OFF OFF OFF
The factory default is "MEDIUM".
Question: Is there a hidden video mode in Star Trek: the Next Generation?
If so, how is it accessed?
Answer: Uncle Willy is sorry, but he has no idea what this question is
talking about. Next question, please.
Question: My Twilight Zone playfield seems very prone to stripping out
the screw holes; what's the scoop?
Answer: Wood is a natural substance, and is subject to many variations.
Uncle Willy always carries wooden kitchen matches and wood glue
when visiting his games on location to fix the stripped screw
problem. Glob some glue in the hole, stick in the match, clip
it off, and then re-insert the screw.
Uncle Willy has also found that those bamboo hibachi skewers work
well in this regard also. They are a bit bigger in diameter, and
the wood is a bit tougher and stringier, so it holds the screw
better.
If you find a place in a playfield where there's a void inside
the playfield, or the screw hole is particularly badly stripped,
the solution is to drill out the hole to accommodate a short
section of wooden dowel. Again, make sure to use wood glue to
keep the plug in place.
Question: What's the story on "beta" versions of pinball games? I found a
game that looks different than most I've seen; is it a "beta"?
(It also had some different rules in it.)
Answer: In the developing a new pinball game, Williams/Bally will build
15-20 engineering prototype games. These get used for testing
of the pinball in various ways, and for programming the software.
After that, a sample run of games is produced and shipped to
distributors for display at their showrooms. Finally, full
production is started on a game.
Changes are made throughout the process for many reasons, such as
rules changes, fixing of ball hangups, improvements for
reliability and manufacturability. Of course, the game software
matures during the process, too. It is often hard to strictly
define what the rec.games.pinball crowd calls a "beta" game.
Question: Will Brian Eddy, the designer of The Shadow pinball, be doing more
pinball designs? If so, when can we expect his next game?
Answer: Rest assured that Mr. Eddy is busy working on his next pinball
design for Williams/Bally. Expect to see it when he's done.
(Sorry, but Uncle Willy can't be any more specific than that.)
Question: I have heard that John Popadiuk, designer of World Cup Soccer
and Theatre of Magic, worked for Bally years ago before recently
joining up to design those two games. Could you tell me what he
worked on previously?
Answer: Mr. Popadiuk started with Bally pinball in 1980 and worked there
on and off for several years. During that time he developed
several prototype ideas, but none of his games made it into
production, partially due to the Bally Amusement buyout in the
late '80s. (Some of games that he worked on were Destroyer - an
outer-space game, Jail Break - with cops and robbers, and Ice
Castles - a medieval snow fortress.)
Luckily for everyone, Mr. Popadiuk never lost his passion for
pinball. After rejoining the Williams/Bally team in 1993, he
went on to design those games for which he is now known. He is
presently busy designing his next pinball creation.
Question: Are current Williams/Bally pinball games really programmed in
6809 assembly language?
Answer: You betcha. And it's because of this that Uncle Willy gets night
sweats about doing a 'pshs b' and a corresponding 'puls d'.
(Uncle Willy apologizes for the the very poor attempt at computer
geek humor.)
All text and images © 1995 Williams Electronics Games, Inc.
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