Star Tech Journal

April 198B.(5)
Willi.anB S'IS-J:Dt 11 Features
By Fritz Runyon
Williams Electronics
Chicago, IL
A Reminder:
You CAN prevent breakage of plastic
playfield parts, particularly on the upper
end (SPACE SHUTI'LE, aJ.1m', etc. ) by
pulling the playfield toward the operator
slightly, while lifting the playfield t-o
work on the underside. A little precaution
like this can save the attractiveness of
your game and keep its earnings high.
Make certairi that the playfield is resting
securely on the support bar, before
totally releasing your hold on it, if you
have it up for switch cleaning, contact
adjustment, etc.
Spend a little time to clean up the game,
especially the playfield glass, when you
are making your collections. It's a sure
way to help your game earn a bit nore - no
one likes to play a game with a dirty
glass (even though they may have been the
offender).
SYSTEM 11 & some of Its Major Features:
Williams Electronics Games really has been
listening to you operators out there,
although for a long while it may have
seemed that we weren't hearing you. Well,
System 11, the brains of HIGH SPEED, gives
you many of the things you've mentioned.
For exanple ...
Automatic Replay Percentaging (Adjustment
AD 01) is a game program feature that
automatically adjusts the 'Replay Level'
score setting. This adjustment enables the
game to provide the percentage of Replay
awards selected by the operator. The
program thereby increases (or decreases)
the 'Replay Level' score setting to
conpensate for players' skills and the
variables of game operation.
In conjunction with this new automatic
feature, the operator nust realize that
the selected values for Match, Specials,
HSTD (High Score to Date), etc., also
contribute (approximately 10 to 15%!) to
the Total Free Game percentage, which can
be observed in Audit item 07, now. The
operator can choose to let the game do the
adjustment, automatically ... or,
STAR*TECH Journal
The operator can select Fixed Replay
Percentage. To utilize this feature to its
best advantage, the operator should
nonitor Audit item AU 09 (Percent Replay)
to find its contribution to the Total Free
Game percentage (recalling that this total
includes those of Match, Specials, HSTD,
etc.).
Alphanumeric Display:
The alphanumeric display provides English
(or German) information about the game to
the player and operator. The player may
observe a custom message of as many as
three lines of 14 characters each,
provided by the operator using Adjustment
item 49. The player can press a flipper
button during game play to check the
status of various game features, such as
Hideout Jackpot and Ranp Value. (Values of
game features are also displayed during
game play, whenever the features are
achieved or collected.)
At the end of the game, a player can enter
a 3-character name or set of initials, if
the player's score is one of the top four
scores. For the game operator, the
Alphanumeric Display describes game
identification, audit, and adjustment
information. This decreases the need to
refer to the instruction manual, and
allows easier use of the game's excellent
bookkeeping and diagnostic capabilities.
At game tum-on, the operator can also
receive a switch problem message, if there
is a switch that is inoperative.
Auto-switch testing is a game program
feature that checks for regular activation
of switches during game play. If, after 60
balls (20 games), a switch has not been
actuated (either always open or always
closed) , the program displays a message at
game tum-on. This message is acconpanied
by a knocker sound (which may be disabled
using AD 50) and an electronic sound to
call attention to the problem. This
display can include as many as three
switches.
Game Difficulty Adjustments:
An'Dng the game adjustments, AD 59 through
AD 66 affect nore than one game feature.
Any of these adjustments enable the
operator to preset a nunber of game
features at one time, thereby making the