Data East SS Recreation BAM FP Jurassic Park (Data East, 1993) Rom and Slamt1lt Mods v1.4

NOTE: This table uses Dynamic Flippers, Lighting and Shadow Maps that require use of BAM v1.4-254 (or later) to be installed which was released on May 25, 2019. It is very easy to upgrade. You can download the most current version at the following link. This installation file installs Future Pinball and BAM at the same time. If you have either Future Pinball or BAM already installed, you can still run it and it will bring everything up to date.



https://www.ravarcade.pl/files/FP-BAM-setup.exe



=== Version 1.4 ===



Some of the guys have experienced problems when the ball in play becomes trapped when it goes through the two pegs that hold the captive ball on Version 1.3. That is all I actually planned to fix but then I got some feedback on some other suggested changes. Of course, the solution is to move the two pegs closer together which I did on Version 1.4. ...But I ended up doing quite a bit more:



Slamt1lt suggested I add a nanoflasher to the spotlight that shines on the T. Rex model. It tried it and decided I liked it. I set it up so it turns on when you hit the kicker in front of the T. Rex.



He also suggested improving the ball guides for the shot that you can make where the ball goes through the lane just below the T. Rex from the upper flipper and loops around back to the upper flipper. I implemented this change as well. I deleted a peg that was located just below the kicker for the T. Rex so the shot should be a little easier to hit. Still yet, the shot is not what I would call easy but the ball does go around the loop very smoothly when you hit it.



When I was working on the ball guides, I noticed the base plate for the entrance to the plastic ramp was actually a section of ramp that was angled upward. This made transition of the ball to the ramp quite rough and it would occasionally launch the ball into the air. I deleted the old base plate and replaced it with the model of a plate that is not collidable (which means that the ball can pass through it like it was not there). The transition from the playfield to the ramp was still not smooth enough to suit me so I added a short ramp back but I carefully positioned it and adjusted the height so it is just right. I set the ramp to be transparent. You probably won't notice much change in appearance from Version 1.3. When I set up the dynamic flippers on Version 1.3, I had to set the strength of the flippers higher than normal but I was unable to determine the cause at the time. With the ramp performing smoothly, I was able to reduce the strength of the flippers to values similar to other tables and still traverse the ramps. These changes make the ramp perform quite well and I am sure you will notice an improvement from Version 1.3. Reducing the strength of the flippers should also make it less likely for the ball in play to go through the two pegs holding the captive ball.



When making the changes for this version, I happened to notice that there was a subroutine in the script that had never run. The reason is the name of a trigger on the playfield did not match its name in the script. The trigger adds some points when the ball hits the helicopter pad. I corrected the name and tested it to be sure it did not produce any errors when it runs. The points awarded are not make or break although the trigger does add a million points when you hit it during the "System Failure" mode.



TerryRed suggested I add some lighting under the slingshots. I set the table up like this originally and preferred to add some of Francisco's invisible flashers in the center of the table. I went back and tried moving the flashers back under the slingshots but noticed there was no improvement in the lighting of the slings so I left the tables as is.



I noticed that when the ball drops down from the plastic ramp to the left inlane, it would occasionally jump to the outlane so that the ball would drain. I added an invisible wall between the inlane and outlane to prevent this.



A new feature was added to BAM that allows us to change the background color of DMDs. I decided to try it on this version. It makes it so I can increase the amount of contrast on the DMD and make it easier to read. It is something I have wished I could do for a long time. I provided some directions in the script on how you can change or disable the code so it reverts back to the default. Look for "DMD BACKGROUND COLOR" near the beginning of the script. It may take you a little while to get used to it. If you don't like it, you should try making some adjustments to the color before disabling the code. I am interested in getting some feedback on how you like this and the setting you used if you made changes.



I changed the sounds/music that plays during the attract sequence on the Combined version. I like Slamt1lt's dino sound but was missing the music I added to Rom's version. ...So I set it up to alternate between the two each time you play the table.



The final change I made is to touch up the texture for the plastics. The texture was created from photographs of plastics from a real table which must have had some defects on the slingshots. I corrected the defects and filled in openings in the plastics that were made for screws that appeared as white circles on the texture.



I have really been having a blast playing this table. When I need to test changes, it provides a good excuse to play it. I don't think I can make this table perform much better than this version. Maybe someone in the future can make it perform better, but for now I think it is one of my best table mods, plus I spent quite a bit of time getting the physics just right.



George



=== Version 1.3 ===



I hadn't planned on updating this table JurassicPark until Djlunchbox started asking questions about it on the GoPinball.com forum. The table developed a significant stuttering problem that started being reported in 2016. Some folks call it stuttering while others call it lag time. These are different names for low frame rate which pretty much made the table unplayable. The cause of the problem was that the script used some executable commands which are scanned by Windows Defender real time protection and require a massive amount of system resources. Windows Defender ships with Windows 10 which was released in July 2015. The scan uses enough resources that it causes the low frame rate even on a high end PC. You can fix the problem by turning off real time protection but that is not very desirable. With Francisco's assistance, I changed the code so it removes the execute commands but performs the exact same functions.



I added custom physics and dynamic flippers to the table. Occasionally, some of the guys tell me that my physics plays too slow. You can make it play faster if you increase the table slope. I tried a slope of 7.5 temporarily and it played well although it is too fast for me. I watched videos of the real table on YouTube and I believe the existing physics match the real table pretty well.



There are several versions of the table. At first, I decided I would mod Slamt1lt's version but then I found a version modified by Rom that was almost hidden in the version 1.2 download. I couldn't decide which version I liked better so I modified both. I basically used what I liked best from both the version 1.2 downloads and Slamt1lt's version. I used the models that Rom created in both versions.



The table has an earthquake effect that that darkens the playfield and moves it around. It also moves the ball around making it more difficult to hit. There is also a sound effect. The effect normally runs for less than 2 seconds although it runs for nearly 6 seconds during multiball. Everyone that has worked on this table has tweaked the earthquake effect. Francisco set it up so it produces a significant effect on the ball. Slamt1lt reduced the affect on the ball and made the playfield stay stationary. Rom disabled the part of the simulation that affects the ball. I enabled it but provided a guide on the "Info" tab of this posting on how to disable it. I provided an option where you can adjust how much effect is produced on the ball. Look for "Earthquake" near the beginning of the script and follow the directions in the comments. You can press "E" when playing the table to run the simulation so you can test the changes you make. I think it is a pretty neat effect that was built by Polygame (AKA Steve Paradis) and you can now adjust it to your liking. It might be unavoidable for the ball to drain when the effect runs during multiball but it is not a concern because a new ball will be released after the ball drains.



Although the table has a high resolution (2048x4096) texture for the playfield, I noticed that is had a significant red tint that didn't seem right. I searched the internet and found several photographs of the table and selected 3 that I thought were representative of the actual table. I managed to change the color of playfield texture to match these photos. There were parts of the texture that had too much red but others did not so it represented a significant challenge but I think I succeeded.



I decided to make use of a new feature in BAM that allows me to adjust the lighting in the script. BAM has several modes for lighting for Day, Night and Dark Night modes but they had always been set up so that they can only be adjusted by the end user. Now these functions can be controlled in the script. I set this table up so you can press the "Special 2" key to cycle between the three light modes. I adjusted what I call the Day mode so it is slightly darker that the BAM default setting. The Night mode is the same as the BAM default. The Dark Night mode uses Slamt1lt's preferred settings which are slightly lighter than the BAM default. The setting that you select using the "Special 2" key is saved when you close the table so the same selection is loaded the next time you play the table. You can make changes to the Day, Night and Dark Night modes but when you exit and reload, the my setting will be reloaded. That is why I added the option for "End User Settings". You can enter your own settings when the "End User Settings" option is displayed and your settings will be saved the next time you load the table. Unfortunately if you press the "Special 2" key again to display another setting, your settings will be gone. For this reason, it is best to add your settings to the script which only takes about 5 minutes and only involves a copy and paste. I provided directions on how to do this on the "Info" tab of this posting. The option for "End User Settings" is quite dark and only intended to be used for your own settings. In fact, I only added it for you tweakers out there. I think most folks will like at least one of the other 3 lighting modes. I had some difficulty when adding this option because the DMD would continue playing animations instead of displaying the lighting options I added. Gimli added two lines of code to fix it.



I use flashers for general illumination (GI) but they are unaffected by BAM's lighting modes. I determined I needed 5 flashers on this table. Since the brightness of flashers cannot be controlled in the script, I added 3 flashers to each location with different levels of brightness, one for each BAM light mode. So when you press the "Special 2" key, you not only change the Day, Night and Dark Night modes, you also turn the correct flashers on and off to match the light mode.



I set up the HUD Toggle key so it cycles between three Heads Up Displays (HUDs) and the forth option turns the HUD off. When you cycle through the three HUDs, the Dot Matrix Display (DMD) increases in size. The overlay art changes also. The HUD that you select using the "HUD Toggle" key is saved when you close the table so the same selection is loaded the next time you play the table. Slamt1lt created 2 of the overlays and I created one of them. The original table only had one DMD that required 900 lines of code. I added 3 more DMDs on this version. In the old days, the only way we knew to add DMD is to duplicate the code for the other DMDs. That is really time consuming so I used a method posted here.



Slamt1lt added a nice game room on his version that I kept. On Rom's version, I added a different one that I think matches the theme better.



I went a little overboard with the table loading textures. I added 5 landscape and 5 portrait shaped textures that you can switch on the "Table Info" screen.



When I was adding the lighting modes, I noticed the "Special 1" key was already being used so I had to use the "Special 2" key. The reason is the "Special 1" key activates a "Smart Missile" on Rom's version of the table. On Slamt1lt's version, "Smart Missile" is activated by holding both flippers for 2 seconds. I posted the rules for the table on the "Rules" tab of this posting that describe the options for the "Smart Missile". The rules are for the real world table. I haven't compared the rules to make sure they are an exact match to our table but they seem pretty close.



I managed to play the table once and got a score of 1.7 billion points which approaches the high score overflow point of 2 billion. Since it is possible to exceed 2 billion, I added a code to fix high score overflow. I had to make some minor changes to the script to make it work and I tested it to make sure it will handle a score of 900 trillion.



I had been experiencing balls getting stuck in a little alcove formed by two bumpers and a gate. I noticed there was an invisible wall placed in front of a short sling where I think others tried to fix it. I ended up deleting the invisible wall and reshaping the sling. I have tested this quite a bit and so far no balls have gotten stuck in there. The ball may occasionally bounce around in there a bit more than you want but so far it has always come out in my testing.



The captive ball was extremely difficult to hit so I made some changes on to make it a little easier. On one occasion, I managed to hit the ball in play through the opening for the captive ball and ended up with two captive balls. To fix this, I replaced two rubber pegs with metal ones and deleted an invisible wall in front of the captive ball. In Sigma's set of rules (posted here under "Rules"), it is stated the captive ball is not difficult to hit the target. It also says that you might hit the captive ball and end up with the ball in the kicker for the T-Rex. I found both statements are true so I believe this function is true to the original table.



I did a few other things too like reshaping the apron and its texture to make it fit better on both versions. I added some new instruction cards on the apron. I added a few shadow maps that didn't really cast any shadows but they add some lighting that I like. I moved the dinosaurs around a bit so you can see them better and changed the color on one of them that didn't seem right. Rom's version of the table had no music that played during the attract sequence, so I added the music that I heard playing on videos of the real table I have watched. Gimli didn't like it very well so I found an alternate version of the same music from the movie that I set up to play. The texture for the backglass has an area built for the DMD that has a border around it. The border was a bit too wide on Rom's version, so I changed it so it fits now.



When I started thinking about whether I like Slam's or Rom's version of the table, I concluded I liked the music on Slam's version better but I preferred the game play on Rom's version. ...So I ended up creating a combined version. I suppose it was inevitable. I made a few changes to Slam's sounds. I noticed that Slam used the original music for the "Super Egg" and "System Failure" modes. I replaced both with some music from the movies that I thought was fitting. I made a few other smaller changes like adding the sounds of dinosaurs to the greeting when you press the coin in key. Then there was the humming sound of flying mosquitoes that drove me crazy so I replaced it. I also found a different sound effect for an earthquake that I used also.



So there are 3 downloads. One has Slamt1t's modified version, one is Rom's modified version and a combined version. Rom's version has the original sounds from the Data East table. Slamt1t's version uses music from the movies and other sounds. The combined version uses Rom's version of the table but uses Slamt1t's music and sounds although I made some changes that I previously discussed.



I included the files for the "rotated display" in the download for the combined version but you can actually use the files with any of the 3 versions. There is a screen shot of my "rotated display" in the list of images.



I have to admit that I stopped playing this table several years ago. I don't remember why but it was probably due to the color of the playfield not being quite right. The playfield and lighting look beautiful now even if I say so myself. I really enjoy playing it now. I am glad Djlunchbox encouraged me to fix it up. Hopefully, you will like it also.



George





This table is a mod of :
Jurassic Park 1.2

Click to expand...

This is the short version of the set up instructions:



1) This table requires use of BAM v1.4-254 that was released on May 25, 2019 if you want all the features to work correctly.



2) Press the "Special 2" key and cycle between modes for "Day", "Night", "Dark Night" and "End User Settings".



3) Press the HUD toggle key to cycle between three Heads Up Displays (HUDs) and turn the HUD off.



4) You can change the balls per game by changing an option near the top of the script.



5) I provided an option where you can adjust how much earthquake effect is produced on the ball. Look for "Earthquake" near the beginning of the script and follow the directions in the comments. You can press "E" when playing the table to run the simulation so you can test the changes you make.



6) I provided some directions in the script on how you can change or disable the code that changes the color of the DMDs. Look for "DMD BACKGROUND COLOR" near the beginning of the script.



This Is the Guide on How to Disable the Part of the Simulated Earthquake that Affects the Ball:



Before following these instructions, you should try adjusting the "Earthquake" parameter by following the comments near the beginning of the script.



1) Open the editor for the table and turn off all layers in the left pane except for Layer 9. You will see a grid on top of the whole playfield.



2) Click on "Edit" and "Select All".



3) Right click somewhere on the grid and select "Lock" which will unlock the grid and turn it a blue color.



4) Left click somewhere on the grid and drag it so that no part of it is on the playfield then drop it. Don't delete the grid because there are links to it in the script. You will get an error message if you delete the grid.



5) Save the changes. The grid is invisible so you won't see it when you play the table.



These are the directions on how to add your light settings in the script for the option "End User Settings":



See more information about this on the "Description" tab.



1) Play the table and press the "Special 1" key repeatedly until the option "End User Settings" appears.



2) Open the BAM menu and open the menu option "Lights".



3) Make the changes you desire to the lighting.



4) While on the "Lights" menu, hold down the "Ctrl" key and type the letter "C". This will copy the settings to the clipboard.



5) Press the "Esc" key to end the game.



6) Open the script in the FP editor.



7) Using the "Edit" pull down menu and "Find", search the script for the text:



Your Settings



8) Place your cursor on the blank line below this text in the script:



' Enter Your Settings Here



9) Hold down the Ctrl key and type the letter "V". This will paste the settings into the script.



11) Delete the following line in the content that you pasted:



Sub SetLightsParamsInBAM()



12) Also delete the following line in the content that you pasted:



End Sub



13) Exit the script and save changes.



14) Now when you play the table and press the "Special 2" key to display the option, "End User Settings", the settings you saved to the script will be displayed.

Click to expand...

Sigma's Guide to Jurassic Park



Version as of 3/3/94



This rule compilation and tips sheet is, to the extent possible (in light of the subject matter being the property of Data East), freeware. It can be modified, updated, or revised, provided only that credit to the original author(s) remains intact. It can be published or otherwise distributed, provided only that such distribution is effectively free.



This sheet is written and maintained by Kevin Martin - if you have any questions or comments or additions or corrections, send 'em along to me.



This version of the Guide should be considered final.



"Jurassic Park" is surely a trademark of some sort for Universal and Amblin, and the game design itself is the property of Data East. The author(s) disclaim all interest in any trademarks or other intellectual property referenced herein.



I use the abbreviations "K" for a thousand points, "M" for a million points, and "B" for a billion points.



Important Things



This is a glossary of the shots and features that will be referred to during the discussion of the game.



Flippers

There are three of these - the usual two lower ones, and an upper right full-length flipper. The right flipper button can be used to control the right flippers independently, with the second stage of button action controlling the upper flipper. These are not the usual solid-state DE flippers; the new design is much less prone to getting loose and sloppy. However, it does appear to have difficulty with shots toward the tip of the flipper, or shots against very fast-moving balls.



Plunger

This is a gun handle, with a trigger for autolaunching balls into play, and a large thumb button for the Smart Missile. Balls are launched into the Turbo Bumpers through a small gate, if properly aligned.



Boat Dock

This is a saucer in the back right corner of the playfield, at the end of a half orbit that passes in front of the upper right flipper. Extra Ball and Two-Ball can be lit here.



Power Shed

This is a small rectangular sinkhole just above the upper right flipper. It returns balls to the Right Inlane. The Power Shed is also the S in CHAOS



Ramp

The entrance to this ramp is just to the left of the Power Shed. The ramp runs across the back of the playfield, peaks in the back left corner, and can return to either Inlane by means of a diverter. The right return is a habit rail; the left return is molded plastic. Two consecutive Ramp shots will hold your Bonus over to the next ball. The ramp is also the O in CHAOS. The Ramp can light Mr. DNA (and Extra Balls under extreme conditions), and increases the T-Rex Bounty value.



Raptor Pit

This is a narrow dead-end almost-vertical lane to the left of the Ramp. When a ball trips the rollover sensor in this lane, the ball is kicked towards the flippers at just under the speed of light. During normal single-ball play, a ball which drains immediately as a result of this will be given back. During Tri-Ball and Two-Ball, there is, quite reasonably, no such kindness. The Danger light on the Raptor Pit indicates that the ball saver is active (and also makes the Pit worth more).



Egg

This is a captive ball to the left of the Raptor Pit. When it is hit hard enough to reach the top of its lane (not very difficult), it registers a hit on the Egg.



T-Rex Paddock

This is a slightly lowered triangular area of the playfield to the left of the Egg and just above the Loop. It is sunk into the playfield no more than 1/4 inch. Balls which go in here and don't bounce out will land in the T-Rex Saucer.



T-Rex Saucer

When the ball lands here, T-Rex is fed. The first time this Saucer is hit, the plastic T-Rex above the Paddock will come down and actually eat the ball, returning it to the Right Inlane. Later hits will only spot a letter in T-REX. Completing T-REX awards the Bounty value and causes T-Rex to eat the ball. T-Rex will also eat the ball if Tri-Ball is lit or Feed T-Rex is running.



Helicopter Pad

This loop is shot by the upper right flipper. The ball travels around the back of the game and feeds again to the upper right flipper. Two consecutive Helipad shots hold the current Raptor Pit value over to the next ball.



Species Targets

These small plastic targets are scattered across the playfield, around the Turbo Bumpers Gate, below the Bunker Scoop, and above the Right Outlane. Completing them progresses towards lighting Tri-Ball. Note that the Spitter targets are in a bank directly beneath Hammond's Bunker - these targets are used specifically in a few sequences. The species targets are green for herbivores and red for carnivores. Cute eh?



Turbo Bumpers Gate

This is a one-way gate through which the ball enters the Turbo Bumpers when launched from the plunger. The upper right flipper can also direct the ball into the Turbo Bumpers through this gate.



Turbo Bumpers

There are three of these in a normal triangular arrangement at the left side of the playfield, slightly more than halfway up. The Turbo Bumpers increase the Park Revenue value and change the currently flashing Computer Screen, unless none remain or the Control Room is currently lit.



Control Room

This is a wide rectangular scoop just below the Turbo Bumpers, to the right of the Visitor's Center shot, directly above the left flipper. It awards Computer Screens, which are grid items. Any ball entering here is ejected from Hammond's Bunker. The Control Room is also the A in CHAOS.



Visitor's Center

This is the left orbit, a shot which goes through the Turbo Bumpers and around the back of the game to the upper right flipper. The Helipad and Visitor's Center shots share the same path along the back of the game. The Visitor's Center is also the Advance X shot. It is also the H in CHAOS. In many situations, credit is given for shooting the Visitor's Center just by getting the ball into the Jet Bumpers; examples include when Escape Isla Nublar is running and when CHAOS is being spelled. You must at least hit the first rollover switch on the orbit in order to receive credit for the Advance X shot, however.



Hammond's Bunker

This is a rectangular scoop just below the Turbo Bumpers, to the left of the Visitor's Center shot, directly above the top of the left slingshot. When flashing, it awards Park Revenue. When lit, it awards Mr. DNA. Otherwise, it awards practically nothing. Hammond's Bunker is also the C in CHAOS.



Inlanes

Either Inlane lights (flashing) the Control Room for about five seconds (note that during that time, the Turbo Bumpers may still change the currently flashing Computer Screen). If you have already had one System Failure, the Inlanes will no longer light the Control Room. Note that both Ramp returns feed above the Inlane sensors, although the right return may cause the ball to jump over the sensor or to miss the Inlane entirely.



Left Inlane

This lights the Boat Dock for several seconds, during which time hitting the Boat Dock will spot a Species Target, if any remain unlit.



Right Inlane

This lights Advance X on the Visitor's Center shot, which I have never purposely shot for. The Bonus Multiplier starts at 1X, and proceeds 3X, 6X, and 9X. It also lights Hammond's Bunker for the Park Revenue value.



Outlanes

There is no rubber on the lane dividers. However, the playfield is arranged to actually protect the ball from Outlane drains. With small nudges as the ball wanders towards the Outlanes, you should experience infrequent Outlane drains. If you still have the Smart Missile, Outlane drains (except during Tri-Ball, Two-Ball, or CHAOS) will disable it. A successful Death Save or Bang Back will then re-enable it. There are Special lights on the Outlanes; when Special is lit, both Outlanes will remain lit until collected (although repeated collections are possible due to a bug with Tri-Ball).



Left Outlane

There is no kickback. Yes! Yes! Yes!



Computer Screens

These are twelve lights in the area directly above the flippers. They represent Control Room awards, and indicate progress towards System Failure. Computer Screens are also referred to as CRTs.



Playfield Lights

The playfield is littered with Species Lights on the Island Map, representing your progress towards lighting Tri-Ball. You can safely ignore these lights. There are also several lights for each of the three places to visit: Visitor's Center, Helicopter Pad, and Boat Dock. There is also a light for the Mosquito, which is placed unusually far from the actual Mosquito-in-amber piece in the far back center of the playfield.



Slingshots

There are the usual two above the flippers. They are not incredibly sensitive, so even a weak kickout from Hammond's Bunker may graze the Left Slingshot, but should come to the left flipper nonetheless.



Balls

Six of 'em, a regular party.



Opening Animation



You can skip the lengthy opening animation by flipping the right flipper or pulling the trigger (be careful not to prematurely launch the first ball into play, however). You will probably find yourself doing this after the first couple of games.



Skill Shot



The Skill Shot is a Video Mode. A dinosaur is walking back and forth in your sights. Pull the trigger to shoot the dinosaur. The trick is that the dinosaur sometimes (on all balls except the first) stop to look at you just before it enters your sights. Don't lead the shot too much, and you'll be OK. Because the shot is registered as soon as you fire, rather than when the ball hits something, this works pretty well. There are also small indicators in the lower corners of the screen, which say "FIRE!" when the dinosaur is in your sights.



Hitting the dinosaur is worth 2M on Ball 1, 3M on Ball 2, and 4M on Ball 3. Missing the dinosaur is worth 1/10 as much.



A successful Skill Shot enables Super Pops and gives the quote "Thumper Ready!". Since the ball immediately goes into the Turbo Bumpers, this is worthwhile. Super Pops makes each Turbo Bumper worth 100K, and each completion of all three Turbo Bumpers worth 1M. After the Skill Shot, Super Pops only seems to last for a short while, but normal Super Pops only end when any switch outside the Turbo Bumpers is closed (except the first Visitor's Center rollover switch).



If you press the Smart Missile button for the Skill Shot, the ball is launched into play, but the Smart Missile is not used; the button simply acts as the trigger would. Also, normally, pressing the left flipper a certain number of times will launch the ball as if the trigger had been pulled.



The Data East rules say that you are shooting to "stun" the dinosaur, but it certainly looks like you hit him with a missile, and he kind of splats... (Apparently this is a scene from the book, as are a number of other animations which don't exactly correspond to the movie.)



Computer Screens



There are eleven Computer Screens, which are collected from the Control Room when it is lit or flashing. The Control Room is lit at the beginning of each ball. It is indefinitely relit by shooting the Power Shed. It is lit for approximately five seconds by either Inlane. After you have completed System Failure, the Inlanes will no longer light the Control Room, making it more difficult to get a second System Failure.



The Computer Screens are:



* Stampede

* Escape Isla Nubar

* Raptor Two-Ball

* Electric Fence

* Spitter Attack

* System Boot

* Raptors' Rampage

* Mosquito Millions

* Feed T-Rex

* Bone Busting

* Light Extra Ball

* (System Failure)



At the beginning of the game, Stampede is always the currently lit Computer Screen. The Turbo Bumpers rotate the currently flashing Computer Screen when the Control Room is not lit (or is only flashing because of an Inlane). When the Control Room is lit, however, the currently flashing Computer Screen is "locked in". Therefore, the first Computer Screen awarded is always Stampede.



You can have any number of Computer Screen awards running at one time; you can relight the Control Room and collect new awards concurrently with awards that are already running. The animation and sound associated with the most recently awarded Computer Screen will take precedence over the others.



The only Screen which is immediately obvious is Light Extra Ball. All other Screens have their own sections in the Rules. Note that at the end of any ball, the game may decide to change the current Computer Screen to Light Extra Ball, out of kindness (well, actually, it's a percentaging thing).



When all Screens have been collected, the Control Room and Power Shed are automatically flashing for System Failure.



Starting System Failure effectively aborts any Computer Screen rounds which were already running, except that you may still collect a lit Extra Ball. These rounds do not restart after System Failure ends, although Two-Ball will remain lit if it was lit and uncollected before.



Hitting the Smart Missile in single ball play, with no Tri-Ball or Two-Ball lit on the playfield, will award the next Computer Screen, even if the Control Room is not lit.



Hitting the unlit Control Room gives an annoying quote from Nedry: "You didn't say the magic word!"



If the Control Room sensor is malfunctioning (not an uncommon problem, and one that your operator absolutely must be convinced to fix by resoldering detached wires, resoldering or replacing the diode, or respacing the arm of the switch), shots to the Control Room will be registered as shots to Hammond's Bunker, you will not be able to collect Computer Screens except by Mr. DNA awards, and you will not be able to complete CHAOS except by using the Smart Missile.



Stampede



This Computer Screen starts an escalating Frenzy mode, which lasts for 20 seconds. Every switch scores 300K and increases that value by 10K. The points are awarded immediately. Also, all game features proceed as normal.



There is a 5M award for shooting T-Rex or Galimimus during this round. There is a particularly cool animation for hitting Galimimus.



Using the Smart Missile, on most ROMs at least, is a severe disappointment, awarding a Stampede total of roughly 10M and ending Stampede!



Escape Isla Nubar



This Computer Screen lights the Visitor's Center, the Helicopter Pad, and the Boat Dock for 21M, which counts down by millions. Hitting any of the three targets will award the current Escape value, add 10M to it, and start counting down again for the remaining targets. The round ends when a total of 10M has been counted down. (This is not very clearly described in the Data East rules, to say the least.) To further confuse the issue, their rules indicate that the maximum total points available in this round are 66M. I find it rather amusing that the value actually starts at 21M rather than the 20M indicated by the Data East rules, presumably so that the countdown timer can be started immediately.



The best non-Smart Missile strategy for this mode is to hit the ball up to the Boat Dock right away, then shoot for the Helicopter Pad with the upper right flipper, then shoot the ball into the Turbo Bumpers through the gate. This works well because credit is given for the Visitor's Center shot in this round for merely hitting the Turbo Bumpers.



Using the Smart Missile at the very beginning of this round will sometimes award the true maximum values of 21M, 31M, and then 41M, for a total of 93M. However, the total will sometimes be only 90M or 87M. Needless to say, if there is a problem with CHAOS on your machine, this round is the most valuable time to use the Smart Missile.



Note that on at least some ROMs, passing the Replay value by shooting Escape values will not award the Replay. However, the Smart Missile will never (in this case, at least) fail to award the Replay.



Raptor Two-Ball



This Computer Screen lights the Boat Dock for Two-Ball, which is Data East's equivalent of a Quick Multiball(TM). Two-Ball will remain lit until collected, across balls. When the Boat Dock is hit (and you are not already in Tri-Ball or CHAOS or Super Egg Mania), a second ball will be launched into play. Any ball which drains in roughly the first ten seconds of Two-Ball will be relaunched into play. (This allows for a few quick, safe Jackpots.)



During Raptor Two-Ball, the Raptor Pit is lit for the Raptor Jackpot. The Data East rules indicate that these start at 3M and increase by 1M each time one is collected, but this has apparently been changed. Raptor Jackpots start at a base of 7M and increase by 2M for each Jackpot collected, but the value is also increased in some other fashion, details unknown.



There is no Danger feature (ball saver) active during Raptor Two-Ball, so be careful. Two-Ball ends, of course, when one or both balls drain.



Starting Two-Ball unconditionally aborts many of the Computer Screen modes, which is a real disappointment. Also, you cannot start Tri-Ball while in Two-Ball.



Using the Smart Missile when Two-Ball is lit will start Two-Ball, unless Tri-Ball is also lit, in which case it takes precedence. Using the Smart Missile during Two-Ball will probably only collect a Raptor Jackpot, which is a genuine waste.



Check out the opening animation for Raptor Two-Ball.



Electric Fence



"Electric Fence Mode."



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which cute little Timmy is foolishly climbing around on an Electric Fence, which is slowly charging. The display shows Timmy climbing, the number of hits needed to save him (apparently we have to shake the little idiot off the fence or something like that), and the power meter of the Fence.



Get Timmy off the Fence by getting 15 hits in the Turbo Bumpers and/or the Slingshots. You have 20 seconds in which to do this. If you succeed, you are awarded 30M. If you fail, Timmy is electrocuted, and we actually get to watch, unlike Nell's death in Rocky & Bullwinkle. Yea!



Using the Smart Missile in this round will save Timmy and award the 30M.



Let him fry, I say. It's more fun than 30M. On the other hand, this round is easier in newer ROMs; older ROMs required more hits, I believe.



"We're going to need another Timmy!" (not a quote from the game)



Spitter Attack



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which the loathsome Nedry is being attacked by a Spitter dinosaur. The Spitter Targets are the vertical bank just below Hammond's Bunker, facing right. Hitting any of them counts as a "spit", and the Spitter will spit at Nedry. The first hit is 5M, the second 10M, and the third 15M, for a maximum total of 30M. The points are not displayed (awarded?) until the round ends or the ball drains.



Using the Smart Missile in this round awards 30M and ends the round.



As the attract mode instructions say, "Shoot giant saliva wads at Nedry..."



System Boot



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which the three scoops (Hammond's Bunker, Control Room, and Power Shed) are lit (green light). When a scoop is hit, it is no longer lit (for the purposes of this round). The first scoop is worth 5M, the second 10M, and the third 15M, for a maximum total of 30M.



Each scoop displays a fake computer bootstrap sequence, consisting of a DOS prompt and command:



C:\PARK> SYS. BOOT



Hitting the Power Shed to relight the Control Room normally gives a similar display.



Using the Smart Missile in this round awards each of the three scoops, for a total of 30M, ending the round.



Raptors' Rampage



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which the Raptor Pit is lit for a varying amount. The display shows a Raptor moving back and forth in the kitchen, with the current value of the Raptor Pit beneath. The values are 5M, 6M, 7M, 8M, 9M, 10M, 9M, 8M, 7M, 6M, 5M. Hitting the Raptor Pit adds a small amount of time to the timer, so that the Rampage could potentially never end. Watch closely; when you collect a Rampage value, the Raptor on screen pauses and reaches over and "grabs" a value.



I am not sure what using the Smart Missile does in this round. It probably only awards the currently lit value, which is complicated by the fact that the Smart Missile does not immediately collect everything on the board. In any case, the Smart Missile does not end this round if used.



Mosquito Millions



"Mos-QUI-to!"



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which the Egg is worth 5M, with its value increasing by 1M each time it is hit (to no known limit as far as I have determined). This round lasts for 20 seconds.



As in many other modes, it appears that hits on the Egg in this mode do not count towards cracking Eggs in the usual fashion.



Using the Smart Missile in this round will only award one value from the Egg, without ending the round.



Feed T-Rex



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which T-Rex is waiting to be fed a live goat. The display shows T-Rex quietly waiting in front of the goat, as the ominous background music slowly increases in tempo. That music is a fantastic bass rumble. This round lasts for 30 seconds, and feeding T-Rex (yes, he actually eats on-screen) is worth 30M (the Data East rules say 25M, but this was apparently changed).



Using the Smart Missile in this round feeds T-Rex for 30M, ending the round. I sometimes prefer to just hold the ball and listen to the bass.



If the Graphic Realism option has been disabled by your operator, T-Rex will not actually eat the goat on the display. Bummer.



Bone Busting



This Computer Screen starts a timed round during which a raptor is trying to destroy a T-Rex skeleton. Three Ramp shots are needed to do this, which scores a disappointing 20M.



Using the Smart Missile in this round immediately destroys the skeleton for 20M, ending the round.



The Ramp is a difficult shot on most machines, particularly to loop; this round should almost certainly be worth at least 30M, or 10M per shot.



System Failure



When all Computer Screens have been collected, the Control Room and the Power Shed are immediately lit for System Failure.



System Failure is a Six-Ball mode which lasts for 45 seconds. Balls which drain are autolaunched back into play as soon as the mechanism can do so. During System Failure, all switches score 1M, and no other features are active (except that you can still collect a lit Extra Ball, and perhaps even lit Specials). The total points awarded are tracked on-screen. When System Failure ends, the flippers, Slingshots, and Turbo Bumpers shut off until all six balls have returned to the trough. After a very brief pause, a ball is autolaunched and play resumes normally, with all Computer Screens again available.



Using the Smart Missile during System Failure is worth exactly 50M. Starting System Failure using the Smart Missile will also credit this 50M to your System Failure total. The System Failure total is not credited to your score until System Failure ends and all balls have returned to the trough. Presumably, you can Tilt during System Failure, but there is no excuse for doing so.



After System Failure, the Inlanes will no longer light the Control Room for the next Computer Screen; only the Power Shed will do so. This makes it rather difficult to reach a second System Failure. However, immediately after System Failure, the Control Room is lit for Stampede.



System Failure was developed independently of the Lost In The Zone feature of Bally's Twilight Zone.



Victory Lap



As in many Data East games, Jurassic Park lights an additional feature whenever a replay value is reached. Unlike previous Data East releases, however, which typically lit a ramp or orbit for a single 25M award, there is more complexity to the Victory Lap in Jurassic Park.



When a replay is awarded, the ramp is lit for the Victory Lap for 30 seconds. The first five ramp shots are worth 5M, and the sixth is 25M. The maximum total that can be scored from the Victory Lap is 50M. This is made trickier by the fact that two consecutive ramp shots awards Bonus Held and returns the ball to the Right Inlane, interrupting the looping shot.



The Victory Lap is the only thing which seems to run to completion regardless of other rounds and modes. You can even have the Victory Lap running during System Failure.



You cannot use the Smart Missile to complete the entire Victory Lap for 50M; this has been verified.



Jurassic Park is the last Data East game to feature the Victory Lap, which has been present since Checkpoint.



Shoot Out



At various random intervals during the game while the ball is in play, a Video Mode will begin, during which a dinosaur walks across the screen, in front of a machine gun. Fire the gun rapidly (four or five shots will suffice) to "stun" the dinosaur for 3M. There is enough of a grace period on this feature that it should be almost impossible to miss. If the Video Mode display has already ended, you can still grab the trigger and fire, and the Video Mode will restart! You can recognize that the Video Mode is beginning by the distinctive and familiar sound from Lethal Weapon 3.



According to early Data East rules, completing this Video Mode also spots a Species Target. However, doing this now instead requires a lit Boat Dock shot. Completing this Video Mode instead enables Super Pops. Super Pops enabled in this fashion are very kind. When Turbo Bumpers are hit, they are worth 100K each, 1M for each set of three as for a successful Skill Shot, but this is not timed. Super Pops only ends when any switch other than the Turbo Bumpers or the first Visitor's Center rollover switch is tripped.



You cannot use the Smart Missile to complete this Video Mode, which is probably just as well.



Raptor Pit



Shooting the Raptor Pit at any time during the game will award the current Raptor value, which starts at 2M at the beginning of every ball (unless it is held by two consecutive Helicopter Pad shots), and increases in an unusual fashion. Hitting the Raptor Pit at any time increases the Raptor value by 350K and lights Danger briefly (which also represents the ball saver). If the Danger light is flashing, hitting the Raptor Pit awards twice the current Raptor value and increases it normally.



A random Mr. DNA award can also boost the Raptor Pit value by 5M.



On the machines I've played, the Raptor Pit starts at 2M, not 3M as indicated by the Data East rules, and the value boost is definitely 350K, not 250K.



T-Rex Bounty



There are four red lights above the rules card in the lower left corner of the machine, representing progress towards spelling T-REX. When T-REX is spelled (by repeatedly hitting T-Rex), the T-Rex Bounty, also known as the Paddock Jackpot, is awarded. The Data East rules indicate that the Bounty begins at 5M and increases by 100K for each ramp shot, but it appears to start at 8M and may be increased by other features as well.



Normally, the Bounty value is carried over between balls, players, and games. The value can go as high as 99.9M!



Captive Ball



In normal play, shooting the Captive Ball contributes to cracking open a dinosaur Egg and hatching a baby dinosaur. In older ROMs, the hits and awards are:



Egg #Hits Award

1 3 5M

2 4 10M or Extra Ball

3 5 15M

4 6 Extra Ball

5 6 20M

6 6 Mystery



The Mystery award can be a random point value, Extra Ball lit (at Boat Dock), or Special lit (at both Outlanes). Every cracked Egg after the sixth will score Super Egg Mania (also known as Power Egg Mania or just Super Egg).



Cracking an Egg is accompanied by a cute animation and a snippet of lullaby, which always cracked me up (pun intended).



You can also crack Eggs with a Mr. DNA award.



On newer ROMs, cracking the second Egg sometimes awards Extra Ball. This is determined entirely according to reflexive Extra Ball percentage done by the software. If too many Extra Balls are generally being collected, no Extra Ball will be offered from the Egg.



In newer ROMs, cracking the fourth and every subsequent Egg starts Super Egg Mania, which almost makes it a reasonable goal.



Super Egg Mania



The only reasonable way I've found to reach Super Egg Mania is to receive it as a random award from Mr. DNA. During Super Egg Mania, most game features are disabled, and you have 25 seconds to shoot the Egg for 5M. Hitting the Egg launches an additional ball into play while this timer is running. When the timer is complete, Super Egg Mania continues for as long as you have more than one ball in play (and almost every other game feature remains disabled). During the remainder of Super Egg Mania, all Egg hits are still only 5M, and no additional balls are launched into play.



The only real reason for starting Super Egg Mania is to hear the hilarious music and see the animation for hitting the Egg.



Note that, in older ROMs, reaching Super Egg Mania by hitting the Egg itself requires something like 36 hits!



Using the Smart Missile during Super Egg Mania will likely award 5M for an Egg hit, also launching a ball into play during the 25 second timer.



If you drain all of the balls in play before the 25 second timer expires, the timer will continue to run while there are no balls in play - there is, of course, nothing you can do at this point except perhaps hit the Smart Missile - when the timer expires, Bonus Countdown will proceed as normal.



Park Revenue



This is a small award in the tradition of Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars. It starts at exactly 500K at the beginning of each ball, and is increased 30K for every Turbo Bumper hit. There is apparently no way to hold this value over to the next ball. The Park Revenue value is awarded by hitting Hammond's Bunker when lit by the Right Inlane (flashing blue light). You can safely ignore this feature entirely, at least until you have completed one System Failure and need a shot from the Right Inlane feeds (although Advance X is, sad to say, often more lucrative).



Mr. DNA



Mr. DNA is lit at Hammond's Bunker by the appropriate number of Ramp shots. Data East rules indicate that the first three Mr. DNA's require seven Ramp shots, the next three require eight, and all subsequent require nine. On all machines I have played, however, far fewer Ramp shots have actually been required. It seemed that only three are required for the first Mr. DNA, five for the next, etc.



Two consecutive Ramp shots are actually worth three Ramp shots for the purpose of lighting Mr. DNA; the second shot counts twice (and returns the ball to the Right Inlane rather than the Left). Nice touch.



You can make progress towards lighting the next Mr. DNA while Mr. DNA is already lit (and ramp shots at any time appear to count), and you can indeed stack lit Mr. DNAs (that is, have Mr. DNA lit twice, so that it remains lit after collecting it once).



Collecting a certain large number of DNA Strands (lighting Mr. DNA ten times, perhaps?) lights an Extra Ball at the Boat Dock. This can be achieved repeatedly. Also, after you light Mr. DNA for the 99th time, the next is #0.



Mr. DNA offers you a choice between three selections, which are randomly selected from the following list:



* 5M, 10M, 15M, 20M

* Super Pops

* Million Pops (?)

* Complete Egg

* Light Special

* Runaway Extra Ball (at the Boat Dock)

* Runaway Score (Hurry Up, 20M down to 5M)

* Runaway Two-Ball (Hurry Up, 10M down to 5M)

* Light Tri-Ball

* Spitters Double Round (??)

* Advance Park Revenue 5M

* Advance Raptors 5M

* Raptor Pit Value Held

* Award Lit CRT

* Super Egg

* Bonus Held



As Mr. DNA points to each selection offered, flip or pull the trigger to select it. Doing this during the introductory animation may automatically award the first selection in the list. Be careful; the first selection is only focused briefly. It's best to wait until Mr. DNA makes a second pass through the list.



Runaway awards are lit at the Boat Dock for 20 seconds, counting down immediately. Runaway Two-Ball appears to include a score with it, but I have not seen it. I have also never seen Million Pops and I suspect that it has been removed from release ROMs.



I do not know what the Spitters Double Round is, but I hope and pray that it is not a Double Score mode. I also get the feeling that this award is no longer present in release ROMs.



In Tournament Mode, the same set of awards are always offered for the first Mr. DNA (5M, Complete Egg, Runaway Score), the second Mr. DNA, the third Mr. DNA, etc. That is to say, each subsequent Mr. DNA offers a different set, but for example, the second Mr. DNA always offers the same three items. I do know that the third Mr. DNA in Tournament Mode offers Light Special and Light Tri-Ball.



Check out the animations for Mr. DNA.



Boat Dock



During normal play, the Left Inlane briefly lights the Boat Dock. Hitting the lit Boat Dock will spot a species target to make progress towards lighting Tri-Ball. This spotting function was originally performed by the in-play Video Mode, but this has been changed.



Tri-Ball



Tri-Ball is a significant goal in Jurassic Park, and a significant source of points. Tri-Ball is normally lit by hitting all of the Species Targets on the playfield (these can also be spotted by the lit Boat Dock). It can also be lit by a Mr. DNA award, or by using the Smart Missile in normal play, which will effectively hit all of the Species Targets for you. If you have not lit or started Tri-Ball by the beginning of your third ball (disregarding Extra Balls), it will automatically be lit for you. For the first Tri-Ball, hitting any one of a set of species targets will spot that entire bank, most notable in the case of the Spitter targets (lower left corner).



When Tri-Ball is lit, start it by feeding T-Rex once or hitting the Raptor Pit several times (to "taunt" them). The first Tri-Ball will require 3 Raptor Pit shots to begin, the second will require 5, the third will require 7, and all subsequent Tri-Balls can only be started by feeding T-Rex (which is generally the easier option, anyhow). If Tri-Ball is lit because you are on your third ball and did not light or start Tri-Ball already, only one Raptor Pit shot will be required to start Tri-Ball. I have heard that Raptor Pit shots on the same ball you light Tri-Ball are credited towards the number of shots needed to actually start Tri-Ball, although at least one shot will always be required.



Whenever Tri-Ball is lit and normal play is underway, using the Smart Missile will start Tri-Ball.



Starting Tri-Ball prematurely ends almost any mode which is running, except the Victory Lap. You also cannot start Tri-Ball (or much of anything else) during Super Egg Mania or Two-Ball.



When Tri-Ball is started, a total of three balls will be put into play. For the first few seconds of Tri-Ball, draining one or two balls will cause one to be relaunched into play (draining all three never seems to give back more than two - not that I would ever do this . As soon as Tri-Ball is started, even while there is only one ball still in play, there are two Jackpots lit. The Ramp is lit for the regular Jackpot value, while the Helicopter Pad is lit for a Double Jackpot. The base Jackpot value is 15M, and during Tri- Ball, all switches add their score to both Jackpot values instead of to your score. This means that the Double Jackpot is not actually exactly twice the base Jackpot value.



Collecting either Jackpot immediately begins the first CHAOS mode. Contrary to the Data East rules, you do not have to collect both the regular and the Double Jackpot in order to enter CHAOS (the rules were likely changed in order to better accommodate switch failures and to improve game play).



Using the Smart Missile will collect only the Double Jackpot. What I wrote in previous versions of this Guide about collecting both Jackpots was extremely outdated information that I failed to correct for a long time.



If you drain all but one ball while the Jackpots are still lit, Tri-Ball Restart will be lit for 15 seconds, starting immediately. You can then restart Tri-Ball by hitting the Raptor Pit once or feeding T-Rex. It is possible that no Tri-Ball Restart is offered for later Tri-Balls; I am not entirely sure.



The Tri-Ball Restart only launches two balls into play (in fact, I believe it's called a Two-Ball Restart, but it has nothing to do with Raptor Two- Ball) and there is no ball saver or relaunch. In particular, hitting the Raptor Pit for this Restart and losing that ball will leave you with only one ball on the table, in normal play. Worse yet, if the machine fails to autolaunch the second ball onto the table, you will find yourself playing the Fun-With-Bonus(TM) round!



Using the Smart Missile while Tri-Ball Restart is lit will restart Tri-Ball, but it's better to try for the Restart manually, and if you miss, the Smart Missile can be used to relight Tri-Ball indefinitely.



CHAOS



In the first CHAOS mode, the five CHAOS letters are lit and may be collected immediately. Each CHAOS letter is worth 5M, and according to the Data East rules, completing CHAOS is worth an additional 10M. You must complete CHAOS while at least two balls are still in play (or at least not yet registered in the trough). Using the Smart Missile at this point will complete the first CHAOS for 25M (or 35M?), leading to Six-Ball play.



When CHAOS is completed, Six-Ball play begins. On older ROMs, while the six balls are being launched into play, CHAOS letters are not awarded. However, on newer ROMs, the second set of CHAOS letters can be awarded almost immediately, which makes it impossible to miss the H letter (it is credited for any Turbo Bumper hit). There is a relaunch period at the beginning of this mode, just as in the beginning of Tri-Ball. During Six-Ball play, you must spell CHAOS again, for 10M per letter, while keeping as many balls in play as possible (at least two, of course). Using the Smart Missile at this point will complete the second CHAOS for at least 50M, which lights the Feed T-Rex 50M.



When the second CHAOS is completed, you must Feed T-Rex, while keeping at least two balls in play. Feeding T-Rex at this point awards 50M, and lights both the Ramp and the Helicopter Pad for twin Super Jackpots. Using the Smart Missile at this point will Feed T-Rex for 50M.



The Super Jackpot base value is 600M minus 100M for each ball drained and not relaunched into play. The Ramp is worth this base Super Jackpot value, while the Helicopter Pad is worth an additional normal Jackpot value of 15M. These values both increase as in regular Tri-Ball (accumulating normal scoring switch values). The maximum value of the Super Jackpot is therefore 615M-plus-change for the Helicopter Pad. Collecting one Super Jackpot leaves the other lit. Using the Smart Missile at this point will collect both Super Jackpots.



Collecting both Super Jackpots returns to the second CHAOS mode, without launching any new balls into play. As long as at least two balls remain in play, the sequence of second CHAOS, Feed T-Rex for 50M, and twin Super Jackpots will repeat indefinitely. This does not mean, however, that this is likely to happen.



If there are balls missing in the machine, this is not counted against the Super Jackpot value. If there are only three balls in the machine, for example, the Super Jackpot will still start at 600M, decrease to 500M for one drain, and then end for the next drain. Therefore, the base Super Jackpot value is not, strictly speaking, 100M for each ball in play.



Combo Shots



There are at least two Combo Shots in Jurassic Park. I believe that these Combo Shots are only available during normal play (not Tri-Ball, etc). The Combo of Ramp to Boat Dock to Helicopter Pad is worth 5M. Following this up by a shot to T-Rex is an additional 10M. These are not particularly significant and quite rare, besides.



Smart Missile



The Smart Missile is a fantastic idea, and the rules of Jurassic Park are really designed with the Smart Missile in mind. You are allowed one, only one, not zero, not two, Smart Missile per game. There is absolutely no way to get another Smart Missile in the course of a game. Use it wisely.



The Smart Missile collects everything that is lit on the playfield when it is used. This ranges from the very simple (Species Targets, Computer Screens) to the respectable (Jackpots, Feed T-Rex, Escape Isla Nubar) to the truly awe-inspiring (twin Super Jackpots, minimum award 445M, maximum 1245M-plus-change). At the very least, the Smart Missile should guarantee that you get to play Tri-Ball (Tri-Ball will be lit at the beginning of the third ball if you have not yet started it, and the Smart Missile can be used to start it).



Using the Smart Missile will collect any lit Extra Balls. If Tri-Ball is not lit, the next Computer Screen will be collected, even if the Control Room is unlit.



There are a few things which the Smart Missile will not collect. Among these are Runaway awards (lit by Mr. DNA), any Mr. DNA awards (even if you are at the Mr. DNA menu when you press Smart Missile), Park Revenue (even if lit by the Right Inlane), T-Rex Bounty or T-REX letters, any of the Hold awards (double shot on Helipad or double shot on Ramp), Advance X (even if lit), Combo Shots (obviously), and the lit (by Left Inlane) Boat Dock (no big loss, since the Smart Missile will instead hit all species targets for you).



Outlane drains deactivate the Smart Missile, but a center drain isn't registered until the ball lands in the trough. A successful Death Save or Bang Back will re-enable the Smart Missile as soon as the game notices (assuming you still had the Smart Missile).



Death Saves and Bang Backs



A successful Death Save or Bang Back, which is defined by Jurassic Park as any time in single ball play when an Outlane sensor is tripped, followed by some other sensor before the ball lands in the trough, shows a picture of T-Rex and awards 3M (originally 5M, but lowered). This is actually a very cool animation which you have to watch closely to see - a T-Rex skeleton morphs into a living T-Rex



I believe that Slingshot sensors may be excluded from defining Death Saves, as these sensors are most likely to become flaky.



You cannot, of course, use the Smart Missile to receive credit for a Death Save. The Outlane sensors disable the Smart Missile.



End-Of-Ball Bonus



The End-Of-Ball Bonus is gradually increased by most targets during play. I believe it starts at a base of 100K. It is subject to the Bonus Multiplier, which progresses 1X, 3X, 6X, 9X. The Advance X shot is the Visitor's Center, when temporarily lit by the Right Inlane.



The End-Of-Ball Bonus, and likely the Bonus Multiplier as well, is held over between balls by two consecutive Ramp shots.



Unfortunately, there is a cap on the End-Of-Ball Bonus base value at 2M, for a maximum possible of 18M. This makes the Advance X shot less than tempting, especially since it is very difficult.



You can flip to accelerate the End-Of-Ball Bonus countdown, but it's blissfully short already.



During the End-Of-Ball Bonus countdown, the Tilt sensor is deactivated. This is a great time to slide the machine back into position, or whatever.



Miscellaneous Scoring



A few thousand here, a few thousand there. Pretty soon it doesn't add up to real points. So don't worry about it.



Cows



No, but there's a goat in Feed T-Rex, and plenty of dinosaurs, which are awfully cool, regardless.



Tips, Tricks, Strategies



There are two major goals in Jurassic Park, and it's quite reasonable to attempt both in any one game. One major goal is System Failure, and the other is the entire Tri-Ball and CHAOS sequence.



If you are concentrating on System Failure, there are a few Computer Screens which are probably best ignored. Among these are Bone Busting (the Ramp is not really as easy a shot as the game seems to think), Electric Fence (especially on older ROMs), and definitely Mosquito Millions. Payoffs from the other Screens are generally easier or more worthwhile.



For the first System Failure, it is easier to relight the Control Room with the Inlanes than by shooting for the Power Shed (it's a fairly tricky shot). The Ramp will always return to an Inlane - normally to the left, but two consecutive shots will return the second to the right, unless you are in Bone Busting mode - and the Control Room can be shot on the move from either flipper. The shot from the right flipper is straight and simple. The shot from the left flipper is very early - it is essential to master this shot! In fact, the earlier the better, as long as you aren't hitting the left Slingshot frame. A shot which grazes the left side of the Control Room scoop is very likely to fall in, while a shot to the right side will hit the Triceratops target and head directly for the center drain.



During System Failure, it's to your advantage to keep as many balls actively in play (not trapped) as possible, because of the delay in relaunching them. The Turbo Bumpers are obviously the best place for the balls to be during System Failure, but the Species Targets and Slingshots are also significant. I suspect that half of a typical System Failure score comes from the Turbo Bumpers, and most of the rest from Species and Slingshots.



I recommend saving the Smart Missile for use with the Tri-Ball and CHAOS sequences, unless you start several lucrative modes such as Escape Isla Nublar (93M) or Electric Fence (30M), for which the Smart Missile would be worth enough to reach a replay, and for which you aren't likely to finish the mode otherwise.



I prefer to start Tri-Ball by taunting the Raptors, as this leaves a ball in play, with which I have a chance to immediately shoot a Jackpot before other balls get in the way. In Tri-Ball and the ensuing sequences, be very careful when deciding whether or not to use the Smart Missile. The best times are when the first CHAOS is unfinished and too many balls are draining, or when the second CHAOS has started and letters are being awarded, or when the Super Jackpots are lit. There are certainly bad times to use the Smart Missile, however. If you have not yet collected a Jackpot when all but one ball drain, it is wiser to save the Smart Missile and shoot for the Tri-Ball Restart instead. If the Tri-Ball Restart is about to time out, don't waste the Smart Missile on it; using the Smart Missile immediately afterwards will relight a "real" Tri-Ball (with three balls) in the usual fashion, as well as collecting another Computer Screen.



You can begin spelling the first CHAOS immediately; you should definitely not burn the Smart Missile on this until you see at least one of the last two balls in play headed for the drain.



There is no point in working on spelling the second CHAOS until you see that CHAOS letters are being awarded (typically, this is obvious when balls that have been launched into the Turbo Bumpers are still bouncing around, and suddenly the H letter is awarded); concentrate instead on trapping balls. Balls which drain at the beginning of this mode are usually relaunched (this may be more true on older ROMs), so don't waste too much effort on making saves, and definitely don't Tilt.



In the second CHAOS, the hardest letter by far is the O on the Ramp. This is true because there are so many balls in play, making it very difficult to get a clean shot at the Ramp. Also, if you are trapping balls, it's very hard to shoot the Ramp with more than one ball on the lower left flipper at the time. Because of this and the fact that the subsequent Super Jackpot value is based entirely on the number of balls remaining in play, it is not a bad idea at all to use the Smart Missile to complete the second CHAOS, so that you can proceed immediately to Feed T-Rex and Super Jackpots of a much higher value.



During CHAOS, you can briefly get rid of balls moving down the Right Inlane by shooting either the Control Room (letter A) or Hammond's Bunker (letter C). The Turbo Bumpers are a less pleasant alternative; the ball will come out unpredictably.



When you reach the Feed T-Rex stage of Six-Ball play, you have a difficult decision to make if you still have the Smart Missile. T-Rex is a very tricky shot to reach without losing trapped balls (each ball lost will significantly lower the Super Jackpot value), and you may prefer to use the Smart Missile to collect it, so that you can shoot for larger Super Jackpots than if you had drained a few balls while shooting for T-Rex. On the other hand, the Smart Missile can be used immediately after Feed T-Rex for an enormous payoff.



I have never shot to purposely light Tri-Ball, although it's a fairly reasonable idea. You should be able to collect a Jackpot in every Tri-Ball (particularly with the Tri-Ball Restart feature), and usually make good progress on the first CHAOS (at 10M per letter), even without the Smart Missile. And on newer ROMs, subsequent Tri-Balls will have the CHAOS letters in whatever state they were when the last CHAOS mode ended. The down side is that if a CHAOS letter sensor is malfunctioning, you won't be able to collect any CHAOS letters (at 10M each) more than once in an entire game, even in subsequent Tri-Balls.



The problem with purposely attempting to light Tri-Ball is that not only do some Species Targets not register, there are a few next to the Turbo Bumpers gate that cannot reasonably be hit from any flipper hard enough to make them register. Luckily, the lit Boat Dock will spot Species Targets.



Any ball which is shot to the Boat Dock is fed to the upper right flipper. Unless the Helicopter Pad is lit for something useful (only Escape Isla Nubar and Double Jackpot come to mind), I recommend shooting for T-Rex. This is always worth something, and when T-Rex actually eats the ball, it is fed to the Right Inlane for an easy shot at the Control Room or Hammond's Bunker.



On some machines, after a Helicopter Pad or Visitor's Center shot, you can simply hold up the upper right flipper and the ball will bounce neatly into the T-Rex Paddock. This depends on the table lean and speed.



A ball which is ejected from the T-Rex Paddock will typically hit either post at the end of the plunger lane, and drop towards the left flipper. This may be different on your machine, so get used to how it behaves. If it is hitting this post, a small nudge can safely put the ball on either flipper, whichever you prefer. The worst possibility is that the ball will bounce into the Left Outlane.



I have only shot purposely for Hammond's Bunker when Mr. DNA is lit, or for the C letter in CHAOS. Park Revenue just never interested me. If you have the ball on the lower right flipper and neither scoop is lit, I recommend a simple flipper pass off the inside corner of the right Slingshot. From the left flipper, you can shoot the Raptor Pit (easier from a trapped ball), the Ramp, the Power Shed, or the Boat Dock. Note that you can also usually shoot the Raptor Pit from the right flipper (or bounce from the Egg into the T-Rex Paddock).



I have rarely purposely shot for the Raptor Pit, except when it will start Tri-Ball. Even with the Danger ball saver, it's possible for a ball to drain and roll up the side of the machine such that by the time it reaches the trough, the ball saver is no longer active. Also, the Raptor Pit is extremely dangerous during Tri-Ball play. On the other hand, it's the only useful target during Raptor Two-Ball. In any case, it is worth learning how to make shots at this target from either flipper. Also, on Hard settings, the Danger ball saver seems to be much briefer, although I am not certain of this.



There are a variety of trick shots at the T-Rex Paddock from the lower playfield. Try aiming for the posts dividing all of the features which face the lower flippers, particularly the left post of the Raptor Pit. If you have time, however, it is better to pass the ball to the lower left flipper (if it is not already there), shoot the Boat Dock, and line up an easy shot at T-Rex after the eject. If you flip too early at the T-Rex Paddock from the upper right flipper, you will sometimes graze the Captive Ball and land in the Paddock anyhow, scoring one Egg hit in the process.



I've found that Electric Fence mode really isn't worth the trouble, on older ROMs at least. The Turbo Bumpers are not generally powerful enough to generate 20 hits just for getting the ball in their area, so there's a lot of work and risk in shooting to get the 30M in this mode. The best strategy for getting safely into the Turbo Bumpers may be to shoot the Raptor Pit and intentionally drain, letting the Danger ball saver fire the ball into the Turbo Bumpers for you.



The Spitter Attack mode is really the easiest 30M in the game, because the targets are easy to hit from the lower right flipper. However, the ball will ricochet towards the Right Outlane, which may make you nervous



I have always ignored Mosquito Millions and Bone Busting, and usually done nothing with Raptors' Rampage (love that opening animation, though).



System Boot is a useful Computer Screen, because collecting points from it can be done while lighting and collecting the next Computer Screen.



Learn how the Hammond's Bunker kickout works on your machine. It is designed to be slow and easy; it may graze the left Slingshot, but it should not hit it hard enough to activate it. Try holding up the lower left flipper for a simple catch. I found that this would work about half the time, with the ball bouncing over to the right flipper the rest of the time. Because of the slow speed of the kickout, I would not recommend trying to let it bounce over to the lower right flipper. Depending on the condition of the flipper rubbers, you may be able to use a dead catch (drop as the ball hits the flipper).



Mr. DNA will be lit at least once in the course of a typical game, and he's quite worth shooting for on a machine that is not in Tournament Mode, as some of the awards are quite lucrative.



I have never lit or collected an Extra Ball from the Ramp.



I wasn't shooting for the Captive Ball in tournament play, but I was usually choosing the Complete Egg award from Mr. DNA, in order to advance the Egg's value, if nothing else. Super Egg Mania is interesting but seems to usually not be worth the trouble.



Actually going all the way through the Visitor's Center left orbit is extremely difficult, for some reason. Luckily, completing the orbit is only necessary for the Advance X shot. For this reason, along with the generally low End-Of-Ball Bonus, I cannot recommend ever shooting for Advance X. At the very least, Hammond's Bunker will be lit at the same time for the Park Revenue value.



Death Saves are extremely easy on Jurassic Park, and should generate no more than one warning (sometimes none, if you're very gentle or your name is Dallas) on factory settings. This is one of the best machines on which to learn how to make Death Saves.



Note that the Outlanes on Jurassic Park are protected by posts above the entire Inlane/Outlane area. Use small nudges and slaps as the ball hits these posts to control it, directing it down towards your flippers instead of towards the Slingshots or the opposite Outlane. Jurassic Park is generally very tolerant of small nudges and slaps; these almost never add up to enough motion to register Tilt warnings (unlike many Williams/Bally games, which seem to build up momentum in the pendulum swing). On the other hand, the default settings for Jurassic Park include only one Tilt warning, which I think is very unfair for such a (usually) sensitive machine.



Jurassic Park machines sometimes randomly Slam Tilt. I can't adequately explain this. There are also problems with the T-Rex motors (which can be helped by newer ROMs), the Control Room sensor (bad diode?), and balls getting stuck in the under-playfield ramp that feeds balls to the Super VUK that feeds to the Right Inlane. The solution to this under-playfield problem is to somehow tie the ramp to the underside of the playfield so that it no longer sags and provides a hiding place for balls. The solution to other problems typically involve bending something or soldering something.



Also, beware of the several seconds after Game Over when the machine goes dead (this appears to happen only if there are no Credits remaining). During this time, the CPU is waiting for the display system to reset, and you will not receive proper credit for coins inserted (at most, only one coin will be registered).



The Movie



I've seen it. Liked it a lot. The machine follows the movie very closely.



The Book



Michael Crichton's book started the entire Jurassic Park affair, of course. I've read parts of it. It's pretty good.



Bragging



I have had countless System Failures (I try to have one every game, preferably on ball one :), and lit and collected 400M+ Super Jackpots. My scores on Jurassic Park at the AMOA/IFPA tournament were generally in the 200-300M range consistently, which was usually enough to win on that machine.



My local high score is roughly 1300M. When the Power Shed sensor was faulty, my high score was 674M (work those modes for as much as possible).



Masaya Horiguchi of Data East Japan has completed the CHAOS sequences and collected both 600M+ Super Jackpots *without* using the Smart Missile!



These rules were copied from the following web address and it contains a complete copy of Data East's published rules. There is not enough space to post them here.

Pinball Archive Rule Sheet: Jurassic Park

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Pinball Archive Rule Sheet: Jurassic Park

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