WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.520 How do you suppose up to four players can compete with  each other on this old pinball machine 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:08.993 filled with nothing but wires and relays? 00:00:08.993 --> 00:00:12.996 Well, with wacky contraptions like this one here. 00:00:12.996 --> 00:00:18.366 This is the player unit, and with the help of two other mechanisms inside this machine 00:00:18.366 --> 00:00:25.153 it will alter the machine’s programming to allow competing players take turns as the game progresses. 00:00:25.153 --> 00:00:30.193 Welcome to part three of a deep dive  into this electromechanical pinball machine. 00:00:30.193 --> 00:00:36.074 If you haven’t seen the earlier videos,  be warned parts of this might be hard to follow. 00:00:36.074 --> 00:00:43.852 Linky-dinks are available to find part one and two, but I’ll do my best here to lightly recap important concepts where necessary. 00:00:43.852 --> 00:00:46.940 First, though, let’s talk about something simple. 00:00:46.940 --> 00:00:47.975 That. 00:00:47.975 --> 00:00:52.189 This machine has several anti-cheating measures built into it. 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:57.944 They’re designed to detect a player moving the machine and penalize them if they do so. 00:00:57.944 --> 00:01:05.333 Skilled players are able to physically push the game cabinet around to keep the ball from draining, a technique called nudging. 00:01:05.333 --> 00:01:07.839 And for the record I suck at that! 00:01:07.839 --> 00:01:15.115 But if you’re good at it you can become much more likely to get a high score and win a replay. 00:01:15.115 --> 00:01:20.606 Operators don’t love those - they want your quarters, not your satisfaction! 00:01:20.606 --> 00:01:24.813 So if you get too rough, the machine will register a tilt. 00:01:24.813 --> 00:01:27.732 The tilt light comes on, the flippers shut off, 00:01:27.732 --> 00:01:29.920 and you’re forced to lose that ball. 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:35.279 Now, if tilt seems like a weird word to describe this penalty, 00:01:35.279 --> 00:01:42.163 tilting is a very old pinball term dating back to the flipperless ball-shooting machines of the 1930’s. 00:01:42.163 --> 00:01:47.468 As those became popular, before long they started becoming used as gambling devices. 00:01:47.468 --> 00:01:54.513 Initially this was just the players making bets on each other but later the manufacturers started leaning into it. 00:01:54.513 --> 00:02:00.720 The written rules of the games they sold would  soon award “credits” for certain high scores, 00:02:00.720 --> 00:02:07.400 and the proprietor of the establishment which  hosted the games would pay those credits out to winners. 00:02:07.400 --> 00:02:11.346 As this practice spread, cheating became a serious problem. 00:02:11.346 --> 00:02:19.780 Especially since these early games were small and light enough that you could easily pick them up and manipulate how the balls would roll around. 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:27.459 So they needed a way to warn the proprietor of the establishment that the game cabinet had been tilted during the game. 00:02:27.459 --> 00:02:33.216 In the early days there were many clever ways this was done which to save time I won’t get into 00:02:33.216 --> 00:02:40.216 but it usually involved a simple mechanism with a precariously perched object that reset with the coin slide. 00:02:40.713 --> 00:02:45.737 At the start of the game something like a ball would find itself on top of a stick, 00:02:45.737 --> 00:02:55.000 and if it fell off that perch, that meant the game was tilted during play and that would void the score and thus prevent any payouts. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:03.282 The early and problematic relationship between gambling and pinball led to it being outlawed in some locales for many years. 00:03:03.282 --> 00:03:05.713 And, uh, by the way - Williams? 00:03:05.713 --> 00:03:07.378 They still exist. 00:03:07.378 --> 00:03:08.924 They make slot machines. 00:03:08.924 --> 00:03:10.539 And Bally? 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:13.029 That name’s on some casinos, isn’t it? 00:03:13.029 --> 00:03:15.519 Though that lineage is much murkier. 00:03:15.519 --> 00:03:19.100 The Bally name and logo also ended up on fitness centers. 00:03:19.526 --> 00:03:20.987 And theme parks. 00:03:21.413 --> 00:03:23.171 And sports networks. 00:03:23.171 --> 00:03:29.282 Anyway, pinball machines with flippers were usually earnestly meant for amusement only. 00:03:29.282 --> 00:03:30.374 Like this one! 00:03:30.374 --> 00:03:33.934 You can tell because it says "for amusement only." 00:03:33.934 --> 00:03:37.017 But since you can score free games 00:03:37.017 --> 00:03:40.945 (usually - there’s a fun legal loophole I’ll cover later) 00:03:40.945 --> 00:03:47.191 and free games hurt the operator’s bottom line, anti-cheating measures are still in-place. 00:03:47.191 --> 00:03:50.581 And this machine has several anti-cheating devices! 00:03:50.581 --> 00:03:58.487 This one here is the most common - pretty much every pinball machine from the 1940’s through today has a mechanism just like this, 00:03:58.487 --> 00:04:00.325 called the tilt bob. 00:04:00.325 --> 00:04:04.909 You might also call it a plumb bob because that’s technically what it is. 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:08.648 A conical weight is suspended on a rod much like a pendulum, 00:04:08.648 --> 00:04:14.165 and the weight rests in the center of a ring  which surrounds it but doesn’t touch it. 00:04:14.165 --> 00:04:18.594 24 volts AC is applied across the weight and that ring, 00:04:18.594 --> 00:04:23.250 meaning together they are really just a strange pair of switch contacts. 00:04:23.250 --> 00:04:29.751 If someone were to start shaking the machine, the weight will start to swing and get close to the ring. 00:04:29.751 --> 00:04:32.550 Shake it too hard and they’ll touch. 00:04:32.550 --> 00:04:34.321 And guess what that does? 00:04:34.321 --> 00:04:37.776 It sends voltage to the tilt relay! 00:04:37.776 --> 00:04:41.027 If the tilt relay energizes, it locks on, 00:04:41.027 --> 00:04:42.948 illuminates the tilt indicator, 00:04:42.948 --> 00:04:44.924 and opens this switch. 00:04:44.924 --> 00:04:50.263 That disables practically everything in the game  so you will instantly stop scoring points, 00:04:50.263 --> 00:04:55.004 and most importantly the flippers are disabled  so you will lose the ball. 00:04:55.004 --> 00:05:02.140 The tilt penalty is only the ball-in-play so unless you tilted on your last ball the game isn’t over. 00:05:02.140 --> 00:05:06.730 But you also lose any bonus points you  might have accumulated during that ball 00:05:06.730 --> 00:05:10.057 and even an extra ball if you managed to score one. 00:05:10.057 --> 00:05:17.341 To pour salt in the wound, the machine still executes the bonus sequence  as normal once the ball lands in the outhole, 00:05:17.341 --> 00:05:20.560 but the tilt relay prevents it from awarding any points 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:27.050 so it becomes a sadistic countdown where you watch it deny every point you had previously built up. 00:05:27.050 --> 00:05:34.980 Once that’s complete, though, the outhole relay energizes as normal which un-trips the tilt relay and the game continues. 00:05:34.980 --> 00:05:42.653 As you may have guessed, the weight can be moved up and down on the rod to increase or decrease the sensitivity of the tilt switch. 00:05:42.653 --> 00:05:50.279 Stingy operators would move the weight very far up so the wider diameter of the cone almost entirely filled the ring. 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:57.631 But those with more forgiving temperaments might  lower it so more violent shaking is needed for the machine to register a tilt. 00:05:57.631 --> 00:06:02.236 And right above the tilt bob it is a second tilt switch in this machine. 00:06:02.236 --> 00:06:08.461 A ball is placed in this track which, like the tilt bob, is energized at 24V. 00:06:08.461 --> 00:06:17.623 The track is a little knackered as the original ball is missing and this second pinball is just a little too big - but it does work. 00:06:17.623 --> 00:06:21.321 If the ball rolls forward and touches this contact, 00:06:21.321 --> 00:06:25.907 since the ball is energized by the track, the tilt relay will trip. 00:06:25.907 --> 00:06:34.153 This is designed to detect that someone is lifting the front of the machine to make the playfield level and keep the ball from draining. 00:06:34.153 --> 00:06:37.962 These electromechanical games have fairly shallow playfields 00:06:37.962 --> 00:06:45.172 so the normal tilt switch wouldn’t necessarily swing enough to trip in that case, at least if set more liberally. 00:06:45.172 --> 00:06:52.293 Now these aren’t the only two kinds of tilt switches out there, in fact this machine has a third one hanging on the playfield. 00:06:52.293 --> 00:06:55.316 And there were other varieties in use throughout the years. 00:06:55.316 --> 00:07:01.436 But before I move on, if you spied the anti-cheat switch in the schematic earlier - 00:07:01.436 --> 00:07:05.665 that’s actually something else entirely unrelated to tilting. 00:07:05.665 --> 00:07:11.025 That switch is normally closed and in series with the coin switches. 00:07:11.025 --> 00:07:16.894 It lives on the coin door and you’ll notice that here it’s labeled "anti-slam switch." 00:07:16.894 --> 00:07:24.752 This switch is there because someone banging on the coin door could cause the leaf switches of the coin mechanisms to close 00:07:24.752 --> 00:07:28.906 and start the game without actually paying for a game. 00:07:28.906 --> 00:07:35.104 If they try that the anti-slam switch will open to prevent a false purchase. 00:07:35.104 --> 00:07:42.981 Later machines in the solid state era would use this switch  to trigger a slam tilt - which is a much more severe penalty. 00:07:42.981 --> 00:07:51.936 Slam tilts end the game entirely as a punishment for someone bashing on the coin door or perhaps violently kicking the machine. 00:07:51.936 --> 00:07:55.238 This game, though, has no ability to do that. 00:07:55.238 --> 00:08:00.645 With the cheating out of the way, let’s talk about how this machine handles multiplayer games. 00:08:00.645 --> 00:08:07.263 As a quick refresher, this is just a huge mess of wires we’re asking to do stuff for us. 00:08:07.263 --> 00:08:16.648 To perform specific tasks, the machine uses the score motor which is a contraption that rhythmically actuates a whole bunch of switches in stacks. 00:08:16.648 --> 00:08:22.849 When combined with the various relays throughout the machine  which connect those switches to other devices, 00:08:22.849 --> 00:08:25.858 the machine can execute automated sequences. 00:08:25.858 --> 00:08:32.181 It might perform some action multiple times, which is how targets like this award 5,000 points. 00:08:32.181 --> 00:08:37.872 Or the switches might activate several different mechanisms in a logical sequence. 00:08:37.872 --> 00:08:40.935 You might call that a program. 00:08:40.935 --> 00:08:46.903 Relays aren’t the only thing which determines  what all those switches in the score motor do, though. 00:08:46.903 --> 00:08:50.534 The game is also filled with several stepper units. 00:08:50.534 --> 00:08:58.619 These contraptions rewire the machine based on their physical position, which will change as other actions take place. 00:08:58.619 --> 00:09:03.995 These can be used as a simple kind of memory, such as in the ball count unit and the bonus unit, 00:09:03.995 --> 00:09:10.879 or they might alter specific steps in the machine’s program depending on their position. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:17.135 And this stepper, called the coin unit, is what determines how many players can play the game. 00:09:17.135 --> 00:09:19.100 How does it do that? 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:21.204 Well, when you deposit a quarter, 00:09:21.204 --> 00:09:23.927 the coin switches trip the coin relay 00:09:23.927 --> 00:09:28.381 which causes the machine to reset everything including the coin unit. 00:09:28.381 --> 00:09:34.407 Once reset, its main program loop begins and it serves the first ball to you. 00:09:34.407 --> 00:09:36.792 And now you have a choice. 00:09:36.792 --> 00:09:40.706 You can either plunge that ball and commit to a single player game, 00:09:40.706 --> 00:09:45.679 or you can give it another quarter to add a second player. 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:50.569 If you deposit another quarter, the machine doesn’t reset this time. 00:09:50.569 --> 00:09:58.709 Since the game was powered on by the first quarter, the now latched game over relay locks out the reset relay. 00:09:58.709 --> 00:10:06.717 That prevents the coin relay and the score motor from resetting the game a second time and instead causes it to do only one thing: 00:10:06.717 --> 00:10:09.611 step the coin unit up. 00:10:09.611 --> 00:10:16.189 With the coin unit now in its second position,  the backglass indicates that two can play. 00:10:16.189 --> 00:10:22.989 These lights are controlled with this wiper arm here, with each of those contacts wired to one of the four light sockets. 00:10:22.989 --> 00:10:27.300 But the other wipers in the coin unit are doing something more interesting. 00:10:27.300 --> 00:10:32.553 Through their new position, they have altered the end-of-ball sequence. 00:10:32.553 --> 00:10:38.673 That sequence occurs at the end of a ball via the outhole relay and it has four discrete steps: 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:45.331 First, the score motor will pulse the ball count unit step up coil to move the game from ball 1 to ball 2. 00:10:45.331 --> 00:10:51.535 Next it pulses the player unit reset coil which resets the player unit. 00:10:51.535 --> 00:10:58.095 Then the bonus unit step up coil gets a pulse to  put it back on 5,000 points for the next ball. 00:10:58.095 --> 00:11:02.301 And finally the ball release coil is pulsed  to return the ball to the shooter lane. 00:11:04.043 --> 00:11:10.038 [rapid mechanical sounds as the sequence occurs repeatedly] 00:11:15.048 --> 00:11:23.221 That sequence works fine for single-player games  but it doesn’t work for the two-player game we have just paid for. 00:11:23.221 --> 00:11:26.879 After the first player has played their first ball and lost it, 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:33.014 step one in that sequence - advancing the ball count unit - can’t happen. 00:11:33.014 --> 00:11:37.535 The game does need to return the ball so player two can play their turn, 00:11:37.535 --> 00:11:41.755 but the game should still be on ball one. 00:11:41.755 --> 00:11:45.722 To accomplish this, the coin unit serves as an interrupt. 00:11:45.722 --> 00:11:54.747 Although the end-of-ball sequence does still occur, the coin unit will not allow the ball count unit to advance in step one. 00:11:54.747 --> 00:11:58.564 Remember this convoluted circuit path in the schematic? 00:11:58.564 --> 00:12:04.145 In order for the ball count unit to receive the pulse of power coming from the outhole relay, 00:12:04.145 --> 00:12:07.594 that pulse has to make it through the coin unit. 00:12:07.594 --> 00:12:11.788 And with the coin unit in the second position for a two-player game, 00:12:11.788 --> 00:12:15.336 this link is moved down from here to here, 00:12:15.336 --> 00:12:21.216 thus the original circuit path is broken and the ball count unit cannot advance. 00:12:21.216 --> 00:12:23.429 Great, that makes sense. 00:12:23.429 --> 00:12:28.863 But the machine also has to switch from player 1 to player 2. 00:12:28.863 --> 00:12:30.715 How’s that happen? 00:12:30.715 --> 00:12:36.396 Well, remember how the second step in the end-of-ball sequence was to reset the player unit? 00:12:36.396 --> 00:12:39.035 You might have wondered what that does. 00:12:39.035 --> 00:12:41.964 The player unit is what we looked at in the opening. 00:12:41.964 --> 00:12:47.700 It’s another stepper unit that lives in the backbox and it’s arguably the most complicated of them all. 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:52.707 It’s got a TON of wires attached to it, and rather than wiper arms 00:12:52.707 --> 00:13:01.868 it’s got a fiberglass disc with 24 spring-loaded contacts sliding over a sea of brass rivets almost like snowshoes. 00:13:01.868 --> 00:13:06.079 Those contacts on the moving disc are simply linked together in pairs 00:13:06.079 --> 00:13:13.749 so what they actually do is bridge together a different set of wires connected to the rivet board depending on the mechanism’s position. 00:13:13.749 --> 00:13:19.115 Despite its apparent complexity, the bulk of this unit’s job is actually pretty simple: 00:13:19.115 --> 00:13:22.066 there are four score displays in this machine, 00:13:22.066 --> 00:13:27.218 but only one of those displays should have points added to it as the ball hits targets. 00:13:27.218 --> 00:13:30.142 This device is what controls that: 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:36.840 the player unit connects the points relays in the  backbox to only one set of score reels at a time,   00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:44.382 and it illuminates the player-up light to show which set of score reels is active (and thus which player is up). 00:13:44.382 --> 00:13:48.893 Of course, then, it has four positions - one position for each player. 00:13:48.893 --> 00:13:56.214 Its reset position is for player one and it will  always return there when the reset coil is fired. 00:13:56.214 --> 00:14:01.364 That was step two in the end-of-ball sequence - reset the player unit. 00:14:01.364 --> 00:14:06.986 But at the end of the first player’s first ball, we need the opposite to occur! 00:14:06.986 --> 00:14:10.076 We need it to step up to player two. 00:14:10.076 --> 00:14:16.381 And sure enough, that’s what happens after the first ball is lost - with a nice and distinct clack. 00:14:16.892 --> 00:14:21.008 [bell ringing as points are added, then several distinct clacks] 00:14:21.576 --> 00:14:23.357 Why did that happen? 00:14:23.357 --> 00:14:30.348 If you guessed the coin unit had something to do with it, you’d be guessing correctly but only indirectly. 00:14:30.348 --> 00:14:34.418 Let’s find the player unit step up coil on the schematic. 00:14:34.418 --> 00:14:35.855 Here it is. 00:14:35.855 --> 00:14:41.878 Now, it gets its pulse from the outhole relay  and switch 2-B in the score motor but looky here, 00:14:41.878 --> 00:14:47.350 it’s gotta go through a make/break switch in the player reset relay. 00:14:48.132 --> 00:14:50.489 There’s always another relay. 00:14:50.489 --> 00:14:56.547 If that relay is energized, then the player unit will reset in the end-of-ball sequence. 00:14:56.547 --> 00:15:01.365 But if it's not energized, the player unit will step up. 00:15:01.365 --> 00:15:05.498 So it must not have been energized during the first end-of-ball sequence. 00:15:05.498 --> 00:15:11.361 Why not? Because the ball count unit didn’t step up. 00:15:11.361 --> 00:15:18.757 The coil for that player reset relay gets energized by an end-of-stroke switch in the ball-count unit. 00:15:18.757 --> 00:15:25.998 That means the ball count unit has to physically move in order for the player reset relay to energize 00:15:25.998 --> 00:15:29.163 and cause the player unit to reset. 00:15:29.163 --> 00:15:31.757 So do you see what just happened? 00:15:31.757 --> 00:15:40.458 Since the coin unit just prevented the ball count unit from stepping up to ball two, the ball count stayed on ball one. 00:15:40.458 --> 00:15:45.184 And because of that, the player reset relay could not energize 00:15:45.184 --> 00:15:54.295 and thus the next pulse coming from switch 2-B via the outhole relay stepped the player unit up instead of resetting it. 00:15:54.295 --> 00:15:57.909 And now that the player unit has moved to its second position? 00:15:57.909 --> 00:15:59.825 Player two is up. 00:15:59.825 --> 00:16:05.132 The next ball that’s played will add points  to the second player’s score reels. 00:16:05.132 --> 00:16:11.604 And that’s literally the only difference as far as how the  game operates when the ball is on the playfield. 00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:14.854 Once the second player’s first ball is lost, 00:16:14.854 --> 00:16:18.844 the machine will execute the end-of-ball sequence as it always does. 00:16:18.844 --> 00:16:25.718 But now we want the machine to advance to ball 2 and go back to player 1. 00:16:25.718 --> 00:16:27.840 How will that happen? 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.844 You might have spotted it already. 00:16:29.844 --> 00:16:38.400 Since the player unit moved to the player 2 position, the coin unit is no longer interrupting the ball count unit. 00:16:38.400 --> 00:16:41.350 That link which moved down from here to here? 00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:44.072 Well, take a look at the player unit right next to it. 00:16:44.072 --> 00:16:48.969 When player 1 was up its link was at the top so the circuit  was broken. 00:16:48.969 --> 00:16:53.612 But with player 2 up, the link is now in the second position. 00:16:53.612 --> 00:16:56.237 And that matches the coin unit. 00:16:56.237 --> 00:16:59.295 So when player 2 loses their ball, 00:16:59.295 --> 00:17:07.187 the pulse coming from the outhole relay and switch 1-C to advance the ball count unit will now make it through. 00:17:07.187 --> 00:17:10.752 And of course, once it does, the ball count unit will advance, 00:17:10.752 --> 00:17:19.814 so its end-of-stroke switch energizes the player reset relay, meaning the next pulse in the sequence which comes from switch 2-B 00:17:19.814 --> 00:17:24.281 will in fact reset the player unit back to player 1. 00:17:24.281 --> 00:17:28.306 And so, ball 2 - player 1. 00:17:28.306 --> 00:17:34.603 So what would happen if we gave the machine three quarters at the start for a three-player game? 00:17:34.603 --> 00:17:38.891 Well, that would step the coin unit into its third position. 00:17:38.891 --> 00:17:43.965 And its link as shown on the schematic moves down to here. 00:17:43.965 --> 00:17:52.399 That means the coin unit will interrupt the ball count unit until the player unit is on player 3. 00:17:52.399 --> 00:17:59.510 So the first player loses their ball, and in the end-of-ball sequence the player unit steps up to player 2. 00:17:59.510 --> 00:18:06.633 Then the second player loses their ball, and the same exact thing happens: the player unit steps up to player 3. 00:18:06.633 --> 00:18:10.410 But, with the player unit in the player 3 position, 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:15.867 the next time a ball is lost, the coin unit’s interrupt is bypassed. 00:18:15.867 --> 00:18:19.459 So the ball count unit can advance as normal 00:18:19.459 --> 00:18:25.763 which then allows the player reset relay to reset the player unit back to player 1. 00:18:25.763 --> 00:18:33.769 Put simply, the coin unit is saying “you must not advance the ball count until the player unit has reached player three.” 00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:40.935 And once that condition is met, the ball count unit can advance which of course moves the game along but also, 00:18:40.935 --> 00:18:46.049 through the player reset relay, puts player one back up to bat. 00:18:46.049 --> 00:18:51.595 Now the last thing to address here is how extra balls work in multiplayer games. 00:18:51.595 --> 00:18:55.177 If you score one, the extra ball relay locks on. 00:18:55.177 --> 00:19:02.972 And you may recall from the previous videos that this prevents the ball count unit from advancing so you get a free ball. 00:19:02.972 --> 00:19:05.464 But if we look at the schematic again, 00:19:05.464 --> 00:19:13.333 you’ll see that in fact the first and second step in the end-of-ball sequence are interrupted by the extra ball relay. 00:19:13.333 --> 00:19:19.998 The ball count pulse and the player unit pulse both go through this normally-closed switch. 00:19:19.998 --> 00:19:25.233 So, if it’s open thanks to you scoring an extra ball, neither will happen. 00:19:25.233 --> 00:19:31.111 So at the end of your ball the game awards the bonus points and then simply returns the ball, 00:19:31.111 --> 00:19:36.000 and that’s why the light on the backglass says “same player shoots again.” 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:38.567 In a single player game it’s just a free ball, 00:19:38.567 --> 00:19:44.397 but in a multiplayer game it interrupts the game’s progression from one player to the next. 00:19:44.397 --> 00:19:48.728 So, if you’ve got your head around all that, I have great news: 00:19:48.728 --> 00:19:52.121 that’s the most complex thing in this video. 00:19:52.121 --> 00:19:54.980 From here on out, things get easier. 00:19:54.980 --> 00:20:00.271 And now’s a good time to explain something about pinball machines from this time period. 00:20:00.271 --> 00:20:06.604 If you haven’t noticed it before, the playfield completely resets after the ball is lost. 00:20:06.604 --> 00:20:12.334 Every ball begins with no letters lit and the bonus at 5,000 points. 00:20:12.334 --> 00:20:17.518 This was a compromise which made multiplayer games possible. 00:20:17.518 --> 00:20:25.437 Single-player games of this time period often had fairly deep and complex rulesets that unfolded over the game. 00:20:25.437 --> 00:20:28.891 But multiplayer games couldn’t do that. 00:20:28.891 --> 00:20:36.750 Relay logic is what powers these things, and there isn’t a practical way to save the state of each player’s progress. 00:20:36.750 --> 00:20:45.729 Some games might enable different features depending on the ball in play: Gottlieb, for instance, was very fond of doubling the bonus on the last ball. 00:20:45.729 --> 00:20:50.786 But multiplayer capability required a fairly simple ruleset, 00:20:50.786 --> 00:20:57.945 and in most cases these multiplayer games are better understood as one-ball games which are merely repeated a few times 00:20:57.945 --> 00:21:00.853 in the hopes of getting a very high score. 00:21:00.853 --> 00:21:06.807 And you might want to get a very high score in the hopes of winning a free game. 00:21:06.807 --> 00:21:09.597 Which brings us to the credit unit. 00:21:09.597 --> 00:21:12.785 This is another stepper unit which lives in the backbox. 00:21:12.785 --> 00:21:16.320 It’s a step up / step down stepper like the bonus unit - 00:21:16.320 --> 00:21:23.077 one coil moves it up by one position, and the other moves it back down by only one position. 00:21:23.077 --> 00:21:33.069 This little window in the backglass graphics reveals what position the stepper is in and thus whether there are any credits on the machine (and how many). 00:21:33.069 --> 00:21:35.926 If there are none, this is blank. 00:21:35.926 --> 00:21:41.558 But you might have earned yourself a replay by getting a high score or perhaps a special. 00:21:41.558 --> 00:21:47.630 In that case, the credit unit step up coil is fired and the window will show a 1. 00:21:47.630 --> 00:21:52.943 And now, the game can be started again using the start button on the front. 00:21:52.943 --> 00:22:01.114 With a credit on the machine, the start button will energize the coin relay just as if you had inserted a coin and so the game will start. 00:22:01.114 --> 00:22:05.674 It also steps the credit unit down to remove one credit. 00:22:05.674 --> 00:22:07.467 Now, much like the bonus unit, 00:22:07.467 --> 00:22:11.659 to the game logic, the credit unit can only be in one of two states: 00:22:11.659 --> 00:22:15.180 no credits, or yes credits. 00:22:15.180 --> 00:22:22.478 The number of credits shown simply indicates how many steps away from the zero position the mechanism happens to be, 00:22:22.478 --> 00:22:30.245 and thus how many times a credit can be removed (and a game started or a player added) before it’s back to zero. 00:22:30.245 --> 00:22:35.379 All this thing is doing is pressing on this switch stack with this peg. 00:22:35.379 --> 00:22:40.882 If it’s got a credit, the peg has moved away from the stack and this switch is closed. 00:22:40.882 --> 00:22:43.617 That connects the start button to the coin relay. 00:22:43.617 --> 00:22:45.382 And if it doesn’t have a credit, 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:51.294 the peg presses on the stack and this switch is open which disables the start button. 00:22:51.294 --> 00:22:57.158 There's another peg on the same wheel which will press  the switch stack from the other direction once it hits it - 00:22:57.158 --> 00:23:01.864 and this defines the maximum number of credits the machine will store. 00:23:01.864 --> 00:23:08.673 Once this switch is open, the credit unit step up  coil is disconnected and it can’t add any more. 00:23:08.673 --> 00:23:14.401 You can move that peg to a few different positions which alter that maximum number of credits the machine will allow. 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:24.429 Incidentally, the mere presence of this thing is what kept pinball illegal in some jurisdictions even after flipper games became common. 00:23:24.429 --> 00:23:31.215 Some lawmakers apparently believed that if you could win a free game, you could then… 00:23:31.215 --> 00:23:38.565 sell it? I guess? to another player and then somehow that made this a gambling machine. 00:23:38.565 --> 00:23:47.235 Now, this sounds absurd at first but it’s a little understandable when you know that the same companies that made these pinball machines 00:23:47.235 --> 00:23:50.353 also made bingo machines. 00:23:50.353 --> 00:24:01.720 Those looked an awful lot like pinball machines (built into identical cabinets) but they didn’t have flippers and they were explicitly gambling machines. 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:06.254 Bingo machines were terribly addictive and insidious devices. 00:24:06.254 --> 00:24:16.254 They tended to make your odds of winning slightly better by quasi-randomly enabling more features and thus making a win slightly more likely 00:24:16.254 --> 00:24:23.635 if you gave them more money before the clock on the timed game (did I mention it's a timed game?) ran out. 00:24:23.635 --> 00:24:28.360 I’ve linked to a very good explanation from a collector  if you’d like to learn more about them. 00:24:29.120 --> 00:24:32.535 Those machines also awarded credits if you won 00:24:32.535 --> 00:24:36.005 which were technically just free games. 00:24:36.005 --> 00:24:39.208 But you might win hundreds at a time. 00:24:39.208 --> 00:24:46.295 And the proprietor could knock them off the machine with a hidden button and pay you out their cash value. 00:24:46.295 --> 00:24:52.542 The distinction between pinball machines and bingo machines might seem obvious enough in hindsight, 00:24:52.542 --> 00:25:01.077 but anyone who knows how poorly Congress seems to understand the internet should be able to piece together why this confusion occurred. 00:25:01.077 --> 00:25:04.198 The pinball manufacturers were crafty, though. 00:25:04.198 --> 00:25:07.765 They just wanted to sell these machines to operators. 00:25:07.765 --> 00:25:12.219 Vertical integration and strict profit-sharing agreements weren't trendy yet, 00:25:12.219 --> 00:25:15.614 so they only made their profit when they sold the machines. 00:25:15.614 --> 00:25:17.697 They didn't care how they got used. 00:25:17.697 --> 00:25:21.872 So, to get around some of the stricter anti-pinball laws 00:25:21.872 --> 00:25:28.316 they began producing altered versions of their flipper games known as add-a-ball machines. 00:25:28.316 --> 00:25:31.269 In these games, there was no credit unit. 00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:33.370 You couldn’t win a free game. 00:25:33.370 --> 00:25:35.285 Law satisfied! 00:25:35.285 --> 00:25:38.424 But you could win more balls. 00:25:38.424 --> 00:25:44.835 These machines, rather than displaying the ball-in-play, showed balls-to-play. 00:25:44.835 --> 00:25:48.449 The ball count unit became a step up/step down stepper, 00:25:48.449 --> 00:25:53.448 and the game was configured to begin with a certain number of balls, lets say 5. 00:25:53.448 --> 00:25:57.929 Then, when you lost that ball, it would step down to 4 remaining. 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:02.296 The game would end when you reached zero balls remaining of course 00:26:02.296 --> 00:26:08.852 but you could fairly easily add a ball through scoring enough points or hitting a certain target sequence. 00:26:08.852 --> 00:26:13.223 And you could often end up with more balls to play than you started with! 00:26:13.223 --> 00:26:15.173 Ah, loopholes. 00:26:15.173 --> 00:26:23.716 Oh, that’s also partly why the outlanes on this machine say “special” when lit, rather than “replay” when lit. 00:26:23.716 --> 00:26:28.543 The operator could configure this  to award an extra ball rather than a credit, 00:26:28.543 --> 00:26:33.863 which would be enough to satisfy at least some of the weird legal prudes out there. 00:26:33.863 --> 00:26:38.787 I think that also might be why the credit unit doesn’t show a zero: 00:26:38.787 --> 00:26:48.619 disable replays and make the special an extra ball and then there’s plausible deniability that this machine can even store credits. 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:52.097 Then again, it was also just an option given to operators 00:26:52.097 --> 00:26:57.574 and would enable the same playfield design to be used in both add-a-ball and replay machines 00:26:57.574 --> 00:27:08.108 so I’m not sure how much the legal issue influenced the term “special” but the use of it to imply “replay” was nearly universal 00:27:08.108 --> 00:27:10.458 unless you lived where it was illegal. 00:27:10.458 --> 00:27:16.680 But of course I’ve skipped the most important thing - what adds credits in the first place? 00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:20.808 Well, first of course there’s the outlanes when lit for a special. 00:27:20.808 --> 00:27:25.086 When it’s lit and the ball hits the switch, the credit unit steps up. 00:27:25.086 --> 00:27:35.768 The lane is only lit if the bonus unit is at the maximum position AND you’ve lit every letter in AZTEC so it’s pretty hard to score a special. 00:27:35.768 --> 00:27:40.853 Plus which outlane is lit flips back and forth as you hit 10 point targets 00:27:40.853 --> 00:27:44.524 so it’s pretty rare to earn one this way. 00:27:44.524 --> 00:27:48.949 But you can also win replays by getting a high enough score. 00:27:48.949 --> 00:27:50.627 How’s that work? 00:27:50.627 --> 00:27:58.123 Well, until now I’ve been deliberately ignoring  all these wires going to some of the score reels. 00:27:58.123 --> 00:28:03.789 Three of the five reels in every player position  have a circuit board attached to it. 00:28:03.789 --> 00:28:11.323 That board has 11 wires coming from it: a common connection and 10 wires for each of the 10 digits on that reel. 00:28:11.323 --> 00:28:17.307 A wiper on that circuit board connects  the common connection to one of the 10 wires. 00:28:17.307 --> 00:28:24.079 That wiper is attached to the drum, so as it rotates, the single wire connected to the common wire changes 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:29.098 with the specific wire connected corresponding to the number shown on the drum. 00:28:29.098 --> 00:28:31.469 How does that give you free games? 00:28:31.469 --> 00:28:36.364 Well, here in the backbox you’ll find a rather strange adjustment jack. 00:28:36.364 --> 00:28:43.963 This connector has 10 positions, and next to it are 9 differently-colored wires with their own plugs. 00:28:43.963 --> 00:28:48.664 Those loose wires are connected to the drums at the 100,000 position. 00:28:48.664 --> 00:28:55.362 And the connector you plug them into has each hole wired to the drums of the 10,000 position. 00:28:55.362 --> 00:29:02.082 This guide here shows how to use them -  if you want to award a replay at 350,000 points, 00:29:02.082 --> 00:29:07.650 then you need to plug the yellow wire, for scores between 310,000 and 400,000, 00:29:07.650 --> 00:29:12.688 into the bottom-left hole of the connector, the 50,000 position. 00:29:12.688 --> 00:29:22.334 Now, what that actually did was link the 3 in the 100,000s score reel to the 4 in the 10,000s score reel. 00:29:22.334 --> 00:29:24.646 Betcha thought I was gonna say five. 00:29:24.646 --> 00:29:32.705 But see, the machine has to add that credit at the moment the display first reads 3, 5, something something something points. 00:29:32.705 --> 00:29:40.306 And the action which takes place before that happens is the rolling of this digit from 4 to 5. 00:29:40.306 --> 00:29:45.950 What actually moves that score reel forward in the game is the 10,000 point relay. 00:29:45.950 --> 00:29:54.004 So what these plugs do is connect this switch in the 10,000 point relay to the credit unit step up coil, 00:29:54.004 --> 00:29:58.040 but that connection goes through the first two score reels. 00:29:58.560 --> 00:30:03.615 If and when they are in the correct position, in this case 3 and 4, 00:30:03.615 --> 00:30:12.720 then the next pulse of the 10,000 point relay will of course roll the 4 up to a 5 but it will also award a credit. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:16.458 And here’s that mess of wiring drawn in the schematic. 00:30:16.458 --> 00:30:22.467 On the left are the 10,000 point score reels and on the right are the 100,000 point reels. 00:30:22.467 --> 00:30:24.906 The adjustment jack is in the middle. 00:30:24.906 --> 00:30:31.357 Like the player unit, these arrows represent the link the score reels are making based on their position, 00:30:31.357 --> 00:30:38.716 and since the schematic is drawn with the game reset, the top position is zero, then 1 through 9 follow. 00:30:38.716 --> 00:30:47.390 The yellow wire is connected to the 3 in the 100,000 point score reels and when it’s plugged into this position on the adjustment jack, 00:30:47.390 --> 00:30:52.044 then when the displays reads 3,4 something something points, 00:30:52.044 --> 00:30:57.026 there’s a link through all this mess and up to this switch here. 00:30:57.026 --> 00:31:03.412 The next time the 10,000 point relay energizes, as it will when rolling the 4 to a 5, 00:31:03.412 --> 00:31:10.147 it sends a pulse through the credit or extra ball adjustment and finally through to the credit unit step up coil. 00:31:10.147 --> 00:31:12.079 And so you won a replay! 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:13.233 [knock] 00:31:13.233 --> 00:31:15.881 Which brings us to knockers. 00:31:15.881 --> 00:31:20.550 When this machine awards credits, it also energizes the knocker. 00:31:20.550 --> 00:31:26.847 This is a solenoid attached to the cabinet which simply whacks its bracket to make a knocking sound. 00:31:26.847 --> 00:31:27.952 [knock] 00:31:27.952 --> 00:31:29.605 Why? 00:31:29.605 --> 00:31:32.400 The exact reason is likely lost to history, 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:39.311 but the sound is unique and lets both players  and operators know that a free game was won. 00:31:39.311 --> 00:31:42.900 On these electromechanical games the knocker is fairly subtle, 00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:49.686 but into the solid state era, the manufacturers started having fun making them startlingly loud. 00:31:49.686 --> 00:31:55.410 In machines from the early '90s, the sound level is similar to a balloon popping in your face. 00:31:57.045 --> 00:31:58.267 ♫ fanfare ♫ 00:31:58.267 --> 00:31:59.078 [KNOCK] 00:32:01.601 --> 00:32:08.869 That is until they got too cheap to put in an actual knocker coil and started playing a sound effect through the loudspeakers. 00:32:08.869 --> 00:32:14.457 Williams started it but they at least tried to emulate the old sound with their games. 00:32:14.457 --> 00:32:17.163 Meanwhile, over at Stern? 00:32:17.163 --> 00:32:19.464 Well, if you know you know. 00:32:19.464 --> 00:32:22.208 Put it back, guys. That noise is hideous. 00:32:22.208 --> 00:32:23.073 Also, 00:32:23.160 --> 00:32:24.671 fun knocker fact, 00:32:24.671 --> 00:32:28.337 while video games really did a number on the pinball manufacturers, 00:32:28.600 --> 00:32:34.560 some notable early arcade games were made by the likes of Bally, Williams, and Gottlieb. 00:32:34.560 --> 00:32:36.592 Gottlieb produced Q*Bert, 00:32:36.592 --> 00:32:40.918 and for fun they installed one of their knocker coils into the game cabinet 00:32:40.918 --> 00:32:45.692 so it made an actual thud shortly after Q*Bert fell off the board. 00:32:45.692 --> 00:32:48.214 Also, Haunted Mansion fans? 00:32:48.214 --> 00:32:54.380 That wrap on a table is probably coming from a pinball knocker, or at least something quite similar. 00:32:54.380 --> 00:32:57.484 Now did you notice something when we were looking at this mess? 00:32:57.484 --> 00:33:00.412 The player unit was also involved. 00:33:00.412 --> 00:33:04.271 If you’re wondering why, well what would happen if, say, 00:33:04.271 --> 00:33:13.576 player 2 lost their ball and then, once they were awarded their bonus points, they ended up with 345,720 points? 00:33:13.576 --> 00:33:22.357 Player 2’s score reels would then display 3 and 4, so the 10,000 point relay would be set up to award a replay. 00:33:22.357 --> 00:33:27.108 But when any other player is up, that connection must be broken. 00:33:27.108 --> 00:33:35.831 Otherwise the next player to score enough points to bump their 10,000 point relay will win Player 2's replay undeservedly. 00:33:35.831 --> 00:33:42.253 So the player unit only connects the score reels of the player that’s currently up to the credit unit. 00:33:42.253 --> 00:33:48.944 But there’s one more way you might score a replay, and that’s with the number match feature. 00:33:48.944 --> 00:33:54.506 At the end of the game (if that feature is enabled), a number appears on the backglass. 00:33:54.506 --> 00:33:56.872 That number will either be double-zeros, 00:33:56.872 --> 00:33:57.543 10, 00:33:57.543 --> 00:33:58.237 20, 00:33:58.237 --> 00:33:58.758 30, 00:33:58.758 --> 00:33:59.507 40, 00:33:59.507 --> 00:34:00.159 50, 00:34:00.159 --> 00:34:00.659 60, 00:34:00.659 --> 00:34:01.471 70, 00:34:01.471 --> 00:34:02.755 80, or - 00:34:02.755 --> 00:34:04.618 and this might shock you 00:34:04.618 --> 00:34:06.453 - 90. 00:34:06.453 --> 00:34:11.879 If that number matches the last two digits in your score, you win a replay. 00:34:11.879 --> 00:34:12.781 [knock] 00:34:12.781 --> 00:34:16.585 Now you probably already have a good sense of how that might work. 00:34:16.585 --> 00:34:24.522 The 10s score reels also have the circuit board attached to them, so their position is “known” to the game. 00:34:24.522 --> 00:34:30.279 It would seem that the number that appears  on the backglass must be determined by some other mechanism, 00:34:30.279 --> 00:34:35.582 and if it and the last digit in your score match, then you win a replay. 00:34:35.582 --> 00:34:37.578 This is that mechanism. 00:34:37.578 --> 00:34:41.346 It’s called the number match unit and it’s a very simple device. 00:34:41.346 --> 00:34:46.664 This is just another stepper unit and like the score reels it merely spins in circles. 00:34:46.664 --> 00:34:56.635 The match unit receives a pulse to advance with the 10 point relay, so every time a 10-point target is hit, this moves to its next position. 00:34:56.635 --> 00:34:59.955 The match feature is only one part of its job, though - 00:34:59.955 --> 00:35:06.584 this little switch is what’s been causing some of the targets  to change as the ball moves around. 00:35:06.584 --> 00:35:15.666 A cam in the center of the match unit alternately opens then  closes this switch which energizes a relay called the change relay. 00:35:15.666 --> 00:35:19.968 That relay is what’s flipping which of the bumpers are lit for 1,000 points, 00:35:19.968 --> 00:35:22.962 which of these two targets will award bonus points when hit, 00:35:22.962 --> 00:35:26.822 and it also flips the lane that's lit for special. 00:35:26.822 --> 00:35:31.243 I’d go over how it does that but the answer, as I’m sure you know by now, 00:35:31.243 --> 00:35:32.944 is wires. 00:35:32.944 --> 00:35:37.746 The number match feature is done by the circuit boards on either side of the match unit, 00:35:37.746 --> 00:35:43.885 and both of them have a pair of wipers bridging a common wire with 10 other wires, just like the score reels. 00:35:43.885 --> 00:35:51.458 One circuit board illuminates the lights on the backglass which indicate the number this is on (though that’s hidden until the end of the game), 00:35:51.458 --> 00:35:55.654 and the other board links to the 10s score reels of every player. 00:35:55.654 --> 00:36:02.332 If the score reel’s position matches this mechanism's position at the end of the game, the machine awards a replay. 00:36:02.332 --> 00:36:04.850 In fact, one for every player that matches. 00:36:04.850 --> 00:36:05.921 [knock knock] 00:36:06.883 --> 00:36:14.942 This works more or less identically to how the high score credit award worked, at least as far as the linking between the score reels and the match unit, 00:36:14.942 --> 00:36:19.698 but it’s the game over relay which actually awards those credits. 00:36:19.698 --> 00:36:21.453 Look here on the schematic. 00:36:21.453 --> 00:36:33.982 Switches 2-C, 3-C, 4-C, and 5-B are always sending pulses through the 10s score reels, then through the number match unit, and to the credit unit throughout the game. 00:36:33.982 --> 00:36:41.859 But this switch in the game over relay prevents those pulses from going anywhere when the game is switched on. 00:36:41.859 --> 00:36:49.658 When the game switches off, which happens when switch 1-B advances the ball count unit and trips the game over relay, 00:36:49.658 --> 00:36:52.268 those pulses can make it through. 00:36:52.268 --> 00:37:01.135 So if the score reel’s position matches the match unit’s position, a pulse will make its way to the credit unit step up coil and you win a game. 00:37:01.135 --> 00:37:06.250 The number match is the very last thing the  machine does before it shuts off. 00:37:06.250 --> 00:37:13.747 Since the score motor was pushed out of its home position by the outhole relay, even though the game over relay is about to trip 00:37:13.747 --> 00:37:16.132 it will still complete the cycle. 00:37:16.132 --> 00:37:22.871 And actually, take a look - if I move the last digit of player 1 to match the number that's lit, 00:37:22.871 --> 00:37:28.342 then every time I push the score motor forward, it awards a replay. 00:37:28.342 --> 00:37:30.772 Wait, why didn’t that work? 00:37:30.772 --> 00:37:34.116 Oh, the player reset relay also has to be pulled in. 00:37:34.116 --> 00:37:39.234 So if I hold it in and then turn the score motor - there we have it. 00:37:39.234 --> 00:37:42.133 The knock tells me it added a credit. 00:37:42.133 --> 00:37:43.905 [kachunkaKNOCKkachunkahunkaclack] 00:37:43.905 --> 00:37:48.867 Now, you might wonder - if it’s the 10 point relay which moves the match unit, 00:37:48.867 --> 00:37:54.820 that means the match unit and the 10 reel are always moving at the same time. 00:37:54.820 --> 00:38:00.339 Wouldn’t that mean the machine could get stuck in a loop  where it’s always awarding a match? 00:38:00.339 --> 00:38:02.166 Well, not really. 00:38:02.166 --> 00:38:09.928 Remember that the scores are reset to zero between games, and the number match unit doesn’t move during that process. 00:38:09.928 --> 00:38:15.942 So it will desynchronize unless the game ends with the score reel on zero. 00:38:15.942 --> 00:38:21.492 And to fix that potential issue, the numbers the match unit picks aren’t in order. 00:38:21.492 --> 00:38:26.883 You’ll notice that as I advance it manually,  the numbers move around quite frantically. 00:38:26.883 --> 00:38:29.926 Actually - probability people. 00:38:29.926 --> 00:38:31.646 I have a question about this. 00:38:31.646 --> 00:38:37.054 Intuitively, since the match unit has 10 positions and the score reels have 10 positions 00:38:37.054 --> 00:38:41.088 then it should award a replay 10% of the time. 00:38:41.088 --> 00:38:46.403 But, and I’ll admit I haven’t kept track over hundreds of games to confirm this, 00:38:46.403 --> 00:38:51.572 it sure feels as though it happens much less frequently. 00:38:51.572 --> 00:38:53.557 Is that possible? 00:38:53.557 --> 00:39:00.355 It feels like it shouldn’t be, but since the two mechanisms are running in different sequences, 00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:06.148 there are scenarios where it’s not possible  to get a match if they stay synchronized. 00:39:06.148 --> 00:39:11.969 Say the match unit starts on 6 and the game starts with the score reel on zero. 00:39:11.969 --> 00:39:18.881 If the two mechanisms always move together then it’s  impossible during that game to win a replay. 00:39:18.881 --> 00:39:23.291 It will just be repeating these 10 pairs, none of which match. 00:39:23.291 --> 00:39:31.150 So unless the mechanism is faulty, the only possible way for a match to occur if the match unit starts on 60 00:39:31.150 --> 00:39:38.485 is if a second player is added so their ten-point scoring desynchronizes the match unit and player 1. 00:39:38.560 --> 00:39:44.835 Now, there’s a confounding issue, here, which is  that the match unit in this game isn’t working quite right - 00:39:44.835 --> 00:39:48.256 many times the mechanism doesn’t advance when it should. 00:39:48.256 --> 00:39:49.949 It’s kind of sticky. 00:39:49.949 --> 00:39:57.356 But even if it were working perfectly, I suspect given how the game works and the sloppiness of the real world 00:39:57.356 --> 00:40:03.983 there will be occasions where the 10 point score reel moves but the match unit doesn’t, or vice versa. 00:40:03.983 --> 00:40:08.872 But I am really curious to the probabilities here if it were working perfectly. 00:40:09.689 --> 00:40:12.440 Wait a minute, I can just do a matrix can’t I? 00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:20.185 OK, of the 100 possible ending combinations assuming the two mechanisms stay synchronized throughout a single-player game, 00:40:20.185 --> 00:40:22.421 10 result in a match. 00:40:22.421 --> 00:40:26.871 So it does seem as though the likelihood is 1 in 10 overall, 00:40:26.871 --> 00:40:36.264 but the odds of getting a match in the next game are heavily influenced by where the match unit ends in the previous game. 00:40:36.264 --> 00:40:45.642 If it ends on 60, 40, 30, or 20, then you cannot win a match in the next game  (assuming, again, the mechanisms stay synced). 00:40:45.642 --> 00:40:53.551 But your odds of getting a match are great  if the previous game ended with the match unit on 70 or 50. 00:40:53.551 --> 00:40:58.926 But how multiplayer games mess with this, where each player up jumbles the sequencing up, 00:40:58.926 --> 00:41:00.359 is well over my head. 00:41:00.359 --> 00:41:05.442 I have tried to give it some thought but it hurts too much so I’m throwing it out to you! 00:41:05.442 --> 00:41:18.182 I fully expect it to still be 1 in 10 overall but this bunching of possibilities combined with how the sequences might synchronize then desynchronize feels fishy. 00:41:18.182 --> 00:41:24.700 Now if you didn’t spot it before, the coin unit makes itself known one more time at the end of the game. 00:41:24.700 --> 00:41:28.249 Remember, it determines how many players can play. 00:41:28.249 --> 00:41:33.636 And what if the number match unit landed on zero in a single-player game? 00:41:33.636 --> 00:41:40.189 Three score displays would match because they’re all zeroes, but you only paid for one game. 00:41:40.189 --> 00:41:48.102 Since it’s in the reset position, the coin unit prevents the number match feature from working on players 2 through 4. 00:41:48.102 --> 00:41:52.630 But, in a two player game, these three arrows all move down 00:41:52.630 --> 00:41:59.671 so now switch 3-C will pulse the 2nd player player and award a replay if it matches. 00:41:59.671 --> 00:42:03.209 Three players? Then 4-C gets hooked up, too. 00:42:03.209 --> 00:42:12.121 And in a four player game, every score display gets checked against the match unit,  and any time one of them matches, you score a replay. 00:42:12.121 --> 00:42:16.113 And with that - we’ve reached the end. 00:42:16.113 --> 00:42:20.593 As in, I think I’ve gone over pretty much everything this game does. 00:42:20.593 --> 00:42:27.685 But this won’t be the last video - at least two more videos on Aztec will be put out on Connextras. 00:42:27.685 --> 00:42:35.768 The first will be an unscripted one where I go over some frequently asked questions - so, uh, ask your questions in the comments below! 00:42:35.768 --> 00:42:42.393 And the second will be a sights-and-sounds video where I  make audio recordings of it going through its various sequences 00:42:42.393 --> 00:42:45.880 and explain what’s on the screen for those who can’t see it. 00:42:45.880 --> 00:42:49.576 Oh, but I will address one thing which kept coming up: 00:42:49.576 --> 00:42:57.120 many of you have presumed that these electromechanical games must be horribly unreliable and a pain to take care of. 00:42:58.360 --> 00:43:02.949 Well, as someone who has had this machine for over 10 years and even - 00:43:02.949 --> 00:43:04.704 and here comes a surprise - 00:43:04.704 --> 00:43:10.000 had it on location in revenue service at a restaurant for a couple of years... 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:11.244 I'm that weird. 00:43:11.670 --> 00:43:15.912 I can tell you from first-hand experience this isn’t the case! 00:43:15.912 --> 00:43:21.408 This machine has only had one thing break in all this time - and that was a flipper. 00:43:21.408 --> 00:43:24.435 One of them just broke on the shaft. 00:43:24.435 --> 00:43:31.213 The only other issue I had to take care of over several thousand games was the slingshots - 00:43:31.213 --> 00:43:35.081 on occasion the kicker would slip out from behind the rubber ring 00:43:35.081 --> 00:43:37.549 and then this would happen. [rapid, painful chattering] 00:43:37.549 --> 00:43:42.529 Luckily my friends who ran the restaurant would shut it off right away and put it out of order, 00:43:42.529 --> 00:43:46.383 and all I needed was to slide out the glass and put the kicker back. 00:43:46.383 --> 00:43:50.727 In contrast, this Theatre of Magic machine from 1995, 00:43:50.727 --> 00:43:55.387 which lives in my home and doesn’t have the general public giving it quarters and beating it up, 00:43:55.387 --> 00:43:59.811 oh and also is run by a computer rather than all this crap, 00:43:59.811 --> 00:44:06.963 has had at least a dozen things go wrong with it which required repair in the last couple of years. 00:44:06.963 --> 00:44:09.037 I’m talking potentiometer adjustments, 00:44:09.037 --> 00:44:10.542 mechanical realignments, 00:44:10.542 --> 00:44:12.578 wire-reattachment and repair, 00:44:12.578 --> 00:44:14.439 parts replacements, switch adjustments, 00:44:14.439 --> 00:44:17.212 and even driver board repair. 00:44:17.212 --> 00:44:22.728 And still! It has a problem with the trunk motor where it  sometimes gets stuck for no apparent reason, 00:44:22.728 --> 00:44:24.916 there’s a light socket I need to repair, 00:44:24.916 --> 00:44:29.534 and now the right flipper is sticking in the up position. 00:44:29.534 --> 00:44:37.281 Pinball machines from the '80s and '90s are an endless battle of weird little issues (especially as capacitors decay) 00:44:37.281 --> 00:44:41.482 but these electromechanical games are shockingly resilient! 00:44:41.482 --> 00:44:45.950 Aside from catastrophic mechanical failures like a flipper breaking off, 00:44:45.950 --> 00:44:51.535 the only truly troublesome thing in these electromechanical games are the stepper units. 00:44:51.535 --> 00:44:57.120 They are rather delicate devices and their proper operation relies on smooth movement, 00:44:57.120 --> 00:45:00.885 properly-tensioned springs, and clean contacts. 00:45:00.885 --> 00:45:03.936 If they get gummed up or the springs start to fail, 00:45:03.936 --> 00:45:08.244 the game logic breaks down or sometimes it just doesn’t do what it should - 00:45:08.244 --> 00:45:16.736 for instance I did have to reimburse my friends at the restaurant for several games when the coin unit didn’t step up properly for a second player. 00:45:18.067 --> 00:45:25.016 Other than that, though, these machines usually just require cleaning dirty switches and adjusting them if need be. 00:45:25.016 --> 00:45:29.642 And, if they’re adjusted properly, they should mostly clean themselves. 00:45:29.642 --> 00:45:37.480 Their rounded shape and over-extension as they’re actuated produces a rubbing action which grinds off any deposits. 00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:42.702 What is truly difficult with these old games is troubleshooting problems. 00:45:42.702 --> 00:45:48.329 If a single switch is out of adjustment, it can wreck a whole lotta stuff. 00:45:48.329 --> 00:45:54.503 And since all these switches look the same, with some normally open yet others normally closed, 00:45:54.503 --> 00:45:58.519 finding the problem switch can be a nightmare. 00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:04.632 But if you can learn to read their schematics and you understand what the game should do when, 00:46:04.632 --> 00:46:07.696 you’ll usually be able to find it pretty quickly. 00:46:07.696 --> 00:46:12.670 And I hope through these videos that you’ll have some idea of how to do that for yourself. 00:46:12.670 --> 00:46:14.487 But I must warn you: 00:46:14.487 --> 00:46:17.089 if you decide to get a pinball machine of your own, 00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:23.699 before long you’re going to discover why they put a power outlet inside the cabinet. 00:46:23.699 --> 00:46:25.941 That’s for your soldering iron. 00:46:25.941 --> 00:46:28.215 And you will need it. 00:46:28.215 --> 00:46:30.691 Sometimes annoyingly frequently. 00:46:31.650 --> 00:46:33.860 Sure is worth it, though. 00:46:34.748 --> 00:46:37.373 ♫ salaciously smooth jazz ♫ 00:46:38.634 --> 00:46:43.168 ...between gambling and pinball led to it being outlawed in some locales - 00:46:43.168 --> 00:46:43.869 locales. 00:46:43.869 --> 00:46:45.155 In some locales. 00:46:45.546 --> 00:46:46.629 In some locales. 00:46:46.949 --> 00:46:47.662 In some locales. 00:46:47.662 --> 00:46:50.025 I am really struggling with saying those words! 00:46:50.025 --> 00:46:53.364 With the coin unit now in its second position - ah! 00:46:53.364 --> 00:46:54.943 I should start it, huh? 00:46:54.943 --> 00:46:58.340 [ka-chunk and all the lovely noises] 00:47:02.142 --> 00:47:04.489 [another ka-chunk as he finally remembers to add a second player] 00:47:04.489 --> 00:47:06.164 I think I said relay funny. 00:47:06.164 --> 00:47:12.297 The pulse coming from the outhole relay and switch 1-C to advaooohhh [tiny burp] god that line is too long! 00:47:12.297 --> 00:47:16.614 Meaning the next pulse in the sequench whits comes from swi - ah crap. 00:47:16.614 --> 00:47:19.899 ...until the player unit is on player 3. 00:47:20.823 --> 00:47:22.801 And I lost my place. 00:47:24.867 --> 00:47:28.535 So, ya think a video on Theatre of Magic and what these games started to look like in the solid state era might be worth it? 00:47:28.535 --> 00:47:32.182 There is some cool stuff in there: clever sensors, magnets, matrixed lamps and switches. 00:47:32.182 --> 00:47:35.703 Plus it's kind enough to keep track of things and tell you when there are problems! 00:47:35.703 --> 00:47:37.452 Well, usually. 00:47:37.452 --> 00:47:39.857 Self-diagnostics only go so far...