From: phaedrus@milton.u.washington.edu (Phaedrus)
Subject: Re: Questions
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 02:56:44 GMT

In article <1992Oct4.122910.25546@schbbs.mot.com> TXK025@maccvm.corp.mot.com (Eddie Chandler) writes:
>Hi there!
>After reading through your group for the last week or so,
>and picking up some interesting info., I went out yesterday
>to our local pubs & arcade which have : -
>Batman, LW3, TAF, Hook, HSII & T2
>
>Unfortunately, these are ALL in various states of disrepair!....
>but I didn't notice a 'Credits 0.' message on the display.
>Is this particular to one manufacturer e.g. Williams

      Bally/Williams uses the "CREDITS 0." flag.  Data East machines don't;
they typically use small lights mounted on the lower left front of the cabinet.
The advantage of this (for the operator, and marginally for the player) is that
you can always see whether or not the diagnostic flag is on (whether or not the
credits display is visible); the disadvantage (for the player) is that the
operator can easily disable the light, and it's practically never replaced when
it burns out.

>So, my questions are : -
>1) Can a dodgy pinball machine be spotted JUST by looking?

     Usually not.  If something is dangling loose on the playfield or a ball
is stuck in an obvious place, or if the diagnostic flag is lit, you should be
able to see that; but there are many malfunctions that aren't visible this way.

>2) Should a 'manic' bumper be recognised during the self-test
>   and registered?
>   (By 'manic' I mean that the bumper keeps on clicking away,
>    and increasing the score - which is a pain if, as on LW3,
>    you lose the ball quickly & it gives you a 'second chance')

     I'm sure this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I don't
believe that most self-test routines would catch this.  Here are the basic
categories of malfunctions that a Bally/Williams machine will catch and flag:
     A switch that is stuck on (that is always registering contact, whether or
not a ball is there).  (Note that most "manic" bumpers don't fall under this,
since they're not registering contact _all_ the time, only most of the time.)
     A switch that is stuck off (that is never registering contact, whether or
not a ball is there).  This won't be caught immediately (since the game has
no immediate way of telling a dead switch from a switch that just doesn't
happen to be turned on at the moment); the switch has to go for at least 90
balls without registering contact before the software will flag it as bad.
     A switch that is shorted to ground.
     A missing ball.  (Contrary to popular belief, most pinball machines will
start even if there's a stuck ball; they may display some "PINBALL MISSING"
warnings, but if you're persistent and keep hitting the start button, after
about 20 or 30 seconds they'll start anyway.  

>3) How can you check to see if the machine is at a reasonable
>   angle/is level, and what is the CORRECT angle?

     Do what I do; bring a little carpenter's level to the arcade. 
Side-to-side levelness is easy to check this way.  The "correct" angle varies
from machine to machine and from manufacturer to manufacturer.  On TAF and some
other recent Bally/Williams machines, there's a level somewhere near the 
plunger that lets you check the playfield angle; on TAF, at least, the machine
is at the recommended level if the top edge of the bubble in the level is
between the first and second line up from the bottom of the level.  Recent Data
East machines have levels to check with the top-to-bottom and side-to-side
angle of the machine; unfortunately, they position those levels _under the
instruction card_, so (you guessed it) the operator gets all the information
and the players are out of luck.

>AND ALSO, they set the game up as only having THREE balls
>- what a swizz!!!

     This is nonstandard in your area?  Count your blessings; it's been years
since I've come across a machine that wasn't set for 3 balls per play.
-- 
Internet: phaedrus@u.washington.edu        (University of Washington, Seattle)
 "If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs,
    consider an exciting career as a guillotine operator!"