Star Tech Journal

Issue: 1996-May - Vol 18 Issue 3

STAR*TEcH
Journal
May 1996
CD
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SEGA Cur THE CHEESE
How To ADJUST YOUR T1cK£T PAYOUT PERCENTAGE
Team Sega
Joe Blackwell, Eric Winston, Ted Kilpin,Jay Alfer
Sega Pinball, Melrose Park, Illinois
This is the first game in our
SEGA FAMILY FUN Series and
the response to it has been over-
whelming from both operators
and players alike.
NOTE
Software version 7.00 and higher
utilizes an Adjustable Ticket/
Point System ( 1 point = 1 ticket,
2 points= 1 ticket, etc.). Software
versions prior to this used strictly
a straight ticket value system.
Research gathered from our test
locations has shown that it is
fairly easy to achieve a
high degree of
player appeal
while maximiz-
ing the return on
your investment.
We would like to
briefly share the
most successful
methods
we
have found to ac-
complish this
goal.
CONTROL PAYOUTS FROMJ-A-C-
K-P-O-T TOILET SHOTS
By far, the biggest factor which
keeps players coming back for
more is the challenge of spelling
J-A-C-K-P-O-T through consecu-
tive shots into the toilet.
We have found that players pre-
fer that an increasing =#= of tickets
be awarded for each successive
J-A-C-K-P-O -T Letter. Our best
results have been obtained with
the following settings:
other hole besides a toilet shot
will always take away the most
recently lit letter inJ-A-C-K-P-O-
T) (Ref. Adj. 2, Jackpot Letter
Backup Limit). Using these set-
tings, the operator will be target-
ing an overall payout of 36%.
CONTROL
WITH
PAYOUTS
MR.
E.
;;R~::!~i~TIC -
Since the Mr. E.
Cheese holes are
the most frequent
playfield
holes
scored by the play-
ers, Mr. E. Cheese
should be set to an
automatic
percentaged payout.
r
J pays 5 points
A pays 10 points
C pays 15 points
K pays 20 points
P pays 25 points
0 pays 30 points
T pays 100 points (Initial Jackpot)
(Ref. Adjustments 9-14, =#= of
Points for "X")
Jackpot Letter backup limit set to
BACKUP ALL THE WAY (so
that winning points from any
Fixed payouts can be set for 1 to
10 points (Ref. Adj. 16, Ticket
Point Value), while automatic
percentaging can be set from
20% to 50%.
To continue to target an overall
payout of 36%, Mr. E. Cheese
should also be set to 3 6% (Ref.
Adj. 6, Target Point Payout Per-
centage, Default= 35%).
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May 1996
CD
STAR*TEcH
Journal
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challenging game while provid-
ing an optimal return.
CONTROL PAYOUTS FROM ALL
PLAYFIELD HOLES WITH COIN
STOPS
We also recommend that
you monitor the game
closely following any change
of settings.
Finally, you can control the
payouts from any playfield hole
by adding, removing, or rotating
the position of the Coin Stops.
We have had the best results us-
ing the Coin Stops on the follow-
ing holes:
r
~
SEEMINGLY MINOR CHANGE
COULD AFFECT THE PAYOUT OR
~
Left and Right 2
Left and Right 3
Left and Right 4
Left and Right 10
Left and Right 30
LeftandRight50 (angled AWAY
from the toilet)
Left and Right Mr. E. Cheese
-
A
PLAY APPEAL OF THE GAME, RE-
SULTING IN ERRATIC EARNINGS.
~
For example: setting allJ-A-C-K-
P-O-T letters to pay a flat 15
points at one of our test locations
(still approximately 36%) caused
play appeal (and earnings) to
DROP over 300/o from its previ-
ous level!
Note: The Coin Stops are shipped
pre-installed in this configuration
from the factory (Reference Sec-
tion 3, Chapter 1, Playfield - Gen-
eral Parts, Butyrate & Decals, for
locations).
This is precisely why we recom-
mend that you monitor each of
your Cut the Cheese games very
closely, so that you can tune the
game to the needs of each loca-
tion.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
YOU MAY WISH TO EXPERIMENT
For the first two weeks that your
Cut the Cheese is on location, we
highly recommend that you
check the audits often to assess
the overall skill level of your play-
ers (See Section 3, Chapter 3, Go
To Audits Menu).
DAILY MONITORING, ESPECIALLY
WITH THE
Corn
STOPS TO suIT
The faster you can obtain an ac-
curate assessment of your play-
4trs' skills, the faster you will be
able to determine the best con-
figuration for your Cut the Cheese
that gives your players a fun yet
You should review your payouts
for allJ-A-C-K-P-O-T letters once
you decide to protect a letter in
the sequence to ensure that the
overall payout percentage is not
significantly higher than your tar-
get. For example, by merely pro-
tecting the letter "C" using the
payouts suggested above for a
360/o target, you are likely to in-
crease the overall payout per-
centage upwards of 500/o!
THE SK.ILL OF YOUR PLAYERS.
However, we strongly encourage
you to ALWAYS use stops on the
left and right Mr. E. Cheese holes
to collect as many coins as pos-
sible from missed ramp shots,
allowing the auto-percentaging to
work in your favor.
DURING PEAK PERIODS OF PLAY,
IS ENCOURAGED.
letter limit Adjustment 2. When
necessary, we found that protect-
ing the letter "C" was quite ef-
fective ( once the players light the
"C", this letter can never be taken
away due to missed shots).
Should you elect to do this, note
that your audits will now reflect
a much more frequent set of
payouts for the letters "K" and
"P" since they are the next un-
protected letters. Your jackpot
frequency will also increase, since
fewer shots will be required to hit
a jackpot once the protected let-
ter is reached.
SHOULD YOU FIND THAT YOU NEED
TO INCREASE THE PAYOUT PER-
CENTAGE IN RESPONSE TO THE
CONSIDER INCREASING THE
PAYOUT FOR EACH LETTER IN j-A-
C-K.-P-O-T. If you retained all of
the above settings for a 360/o
payout and merely added 5
points to the payout for each let-
ter (so that 'T' now pays 10
points, ".N' now pays 15 points,
etc.), you could expect to see
your overall payout percentage
increase to approximately 42%.
SK.ILL LEVEL OF YOUR PLAYERS, WE
RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING
Consider protecting a letter in J-
A-C-K-P-O-T using the backup
We hope that you find these sug-
gestions helpful in operating your
Cut the Cheese!

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