
STAR RACE
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Manufacturer: Gottlieb
Game Number: 657
Released: October 1980
Production run: 870
Hardware: System 80
Design: John Buras
Special Features: "Dimension 80" Wide Body, Vari Targets (x2)
Visual Pinball re-creation by John Shepherd

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QUICK START:
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Don't like reading big text files? This is what you need to know:

Technical:
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1. Make sure you have the "Williams pinball" font installed on your system. This isn't included in the archive, as most people involved with the Visual Pinball scene already have it. If you're a Vpin newbie, you should be able to find this font at the same place you got this table. Failing that, go and find a copy of Chris Leathley's *excellent* Black Knight 2000 table, 'cos that's where everybody else "borrowed" the font from ;) 
2. Recent versions of Norton Anti-Virus might bug you with warning messages when you play this game - that's just the high scores getting saved; lots of Visual Pinball tables cause this to happen - don't worry about it.
3. This is a BETA version. There might be a few bugs left. If you find one, then tell me about it.

Gameplay:
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"Star Race" is a good old-fashioned "bonus building" game. You'll figure most of it out within seconds, but here's the important stuff:

Bonus multipliers - the yellow and green lamps on the centre target bank are lit via various combinations of inlane + outlane pass-throughs. Once lit, hitting all targets will advance the corresponding multiplier bank.  

Vari Targets - The red and blue channels in the upper left/upper right hand quarters of the field are "Vari Targets". These targets light a different letter depending on how hard they are struck - fast balls light the top letter, slow balls light the bottom letter, so to light S-T-A-R (left target) or R-A-C-E (right target) you need to score 4 separate hits at different velocities. As a reward for achieving this near-impossible feat on either target, you'll get an extra ball.

A much easier way to get an extra ball is to complete the top left target bank when the orange lamp is blinking. You can activate this lamp in several ways: light all inlanes, hit all top targets twice, or complete two "Spaceloops".  What's a "Spaceloop"? ...you'll figure it out :-)

You can earn a maximum 1 extra ball per ball in play.


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The Boring Stuff:
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"Star Race" is my 2nd Visual Pinball table - my first table ("Dragon's Castle") was an original design, so this is my first attempt at modelling a "real-world" table. 


What's right (and what's not...)

I have to confess that it's at least 15 years since I saw one of these machines in the flesh (!). What you have here is a re-creation that's primarily based on manufacturer's schematics, fan photos, and whatever scraps of gottlieb memorabilia I could find on the net. As such, it's not going to be as perfect a simulation as some of the VP recreations out there... but I think it's a pretty neat game in it's own right :)

Accuracy: The playfield layout is blueprint-accurate, and rules have been implemented as per the operators manual for a 3 ball game. The sound effects, lightshows, and any game nuances under the control of the CPU have been completely improvised and aren't in the slightest way authentic (although I did attempt to make the machine sound as "early-80s" as I could!). No doubt in a few months time, when the VPinMAME crew get system80 ROMS running, we'll find out just how far off the track I was with everything <grin>

Graphics were restored from a number of fan-photos found around the net, with about 25% of the table being redrawn by hand - I think the finished work is pretty convincing :-)


Issues:

Scale - Getting the sizing right on this machine has been a real problem. This machine was one of the few "genuine" widebodies of the era, but the ball still seems awfully small to me. However, even at this table size I've had to shave a few pixels off some of the alleyways so that the ball get through, so I figure that I've either got hideously deformed source blueprints, or the current table size is just about right.

Vari Targets - As far as I know, this is the first VP table to be released with working vari-targets. During my testing of the table, I've *once* had a situation where the ball managed to pass straight through the target and get stuck... I think I've fixed this, but never managed to create the problem more than once, so if anybody else experiences this problem again I'd be keen to hear from you!

In-lane #3 - every shot through this inlane seems to automatically rebound into the kicker hole. While this doesn't have a particularly adverse effect on the gameplay, I'm sure the original table wouldn't have worked like this. However, short of wrecking the finely-balanced <grin> table mechanics in this part of the table, there's not a lot I can do about it, so I decided to just leave things "as is"

Bounceback - To maximise the visible playarea, I've shortened the apron a bit. This means that the instruction card is much smaller than in real life, and that the machine can be rather forgiving when it comes to bouncing back dead balls ;)



What's Next?:
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I'm probably going to take things a bit slower from now on, as visual pinball seems to have stolen the last couple of months of my life, but stuff planned for the next release includes:

Flashing plastics (I love em!)
Switchable 3-ball and 5-ball mode (the scoring rules are slightly different for 5 balls)
Better backglass (the current one is a bit of a "quicky")

Multi player? Maybe I'll just chicken out and wait for VpinMAME to catch up....


Thanks for playing my table. Comments/suggestions? - john@shepnet.demon.co.uk


PLEASE DO NOT DISTRIBUTE MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THIS TABLE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION.


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Credits:
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Star Race, a Gottlieb pinball by John Buras
Visual Pinball Conversion by John Shepherd

Reference Material:
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ShivaSite : http://www.hippie.net/shivasite/ 
Jean Rene Carr & "RiffHard's Pinballs" : http://www.home.ch/~spaw1661/
Storks Nest: http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lounge/5692/
The Internet Pinball Database: http://www.lysator.liu.se/pinball/IPD/

Thanks + Bonus Balls to:
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Chris Leathley - Williams Pinball Font
Destruk - Circular Target Kudos
jjacob - Real-World vari-target technical info
PeBo - Inspiration

Special Thanks to:
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Randy Davis. Visual Pinball has ruined my life. But in a nice way.  


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Extract from Playmeter Magazine, November 15 1980
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"STAR RACE"

"The next wide body from Gottlieb offers a bit more crowded playfield design than some recent versions, and some of the company's staples such as vari-targets, which have become trademarks."

"PLAYFIELD: 4 lanes (1-2-3-4) begin the play at the top and lead down to 2 widely spaced thumper bumpers. There's a kick-out hole up to the right of this and a lane with 2 star rollovers further over to the right side. In between this is the first of 2 vari-targets which controls R-A-C-E depending upon the velocity of the ball hitting the target. There's an upper right flipper here, and over to the center of the field a bank of 4 yellow drop targets control the bonus multiplier when appropriate values are lit from 2x up to 5x. The left side has its own play with a top "space loop" and a fronting 3 drop target bank for extra point values and extra ball when lit. Down a bit is a left side alleyway and the second vari-target: this one controlling S-T-A-R. The bottom offers a left side kicking rubber and a 2 lane run-down to a separated set of double flippers, while the right side offers a fairly long roll down to the right lone flipper."

"ANALYSIS: There's almost something for everyone here on Star Race. The top lanes (1 and 4) light respective values for yellow or green in the top right kick-out hole and also activate the build-up for potential bonus multiplier values, from that center drop target bank. Otherwise most of the focus is tied into the vari-targets and in lighting the S-T-A-R or R-A-C-E for potential specials as well as building up out-hole bonus points."

"However, the nice touch on the game is the left side loop which can be made from the top right flipper or even better, from the lower right flipper up and around that short little alleyway and up and over the loop. It's a great shot to make and the fact that it increases the value of the drop targets just in front to a possible extra ball, means that it's not a wasted shot made only for the aesthetics. There are some good bouncing angles from the thumper bumpers and that entire top area for the rest of the board; although the primary thing most players will go for it that center bank of targets and not too much of anything else. But to explore the game and really get into it is a rewarding experience not found too often on recent Gottlieb games."

"GRAPHICS: For some reason the backglass motif reminds me of Jet Spin and Super Spin, although the colors are darker here. But it is basic Gottlieb artwork with a splattering of color to match on the playfield, and even the use of some flashing lights helps to enliven the game and its swirling space theme."

"PLAY: The scoring, with a countdown at 20,000 in that top right kick-out hole offers the possibility of big ball play, but for the most part, the points are an effort of building up values around the board. On 3-ball play for free play areas you should be able to get away with 350,000 points to start and followed by 600,000 and 850,000 points. On extra ball a decrease of about 100,000 to 150,000 points for each level should be sufficient."

"PROS & CONS: Star Race is one of the better games Gottlieb has done in recent times. There are a number of good shots to make, not too many dead spots or the intolerable drains and roll-downs from access points on the board, although these haven't been totally eliminated from the top loop down past the left thumper bumper and left vari-target. But for the most part, Star Race is a fair playing game. The problem once again, however, with the new games from this company and the wider and longer playfields is the power from the tips of the flippers and the ability for any kind of noticeable power on the limited reverses."

"The flippers were always the strong point on past Gottlieb games, especially for their accuracy, but this is no longer the case and hopefully it can be rectified in future efforts, since it is such an integral part of any pinball game. And, unfortunately, it does detract from the overall view and opinions on any game since one isn't able to "play" it the way one thinks one can. Frustrating may be the key word. However, this effort is a step in the right direction for the manufacturer and holds up even as a "squat" body."
