
                         Rules for TAXI
                         --------------

TAXI is copyright Williams 1988. This rulesheet is released to
the public domain by Mark Valentine (markv@cix.compulink.co.uk).

It's my first shot at a rulesheet, so picking a simple game
seemed like a good idea...

The rules specified here assume 'medium' difficulty settings
(the default).

Playfield Description
---------------------

TAXI comes in a standard-sized cabinet painted New York taxi
yellow. As with just about every table, the art is great if you
actually take the time to inspect it in detail.

Plunger: A manual plunger feeds the ball into the SPINOUT
saucer. The strength of the plunge will affect how many times
the ball spins around. Point awards, based on the number of
revolutions are: 1k, 5k, 10k, 25k + pickup passenger, 50k, 75k,
100k. Beyond that it wraps around and starts at 1k again. This
value is multiplied by the number of the ball in play (not on
hard settings [or on my machine]). I find this an unbalancing
feature, particularly on 5-ball play where it's possible to
score most of a replay just on this skill shot.

Rollovers: There are 3 rollover lanes at the top centre,
labelled C A B. Lighting all 3 letters advances bonus multiplier
(up to max. 5x, after which C A B awards 50k 'CAB Bonus') and
also lights 'Raise Jackpot' for 10 seconds.

JOYRIDE eject hole: To the left of the rollover lanes is the
JOYRIDE hole. It is accessible from both above and below. Above
by a right 'semi-orbit' shot, below directly from the flippers.
>From above it counts as GORBY pickup and 'collect jackpot'; from
below it's SANTA pickup and collects JOYRIDE when lit (by right
inlane). Finally it collects the AIRPORT MILLION when lit.

Carry Passengers target: Immediately to the right of the JOYRIDE
hole. Lit for about 10 seconds by making all three LOLA or the
PINBOT drop banks (whether lit or not). Available from both
flippers, but much easier from a left backhand.

Left Ramp: The entrance is halfway down the playfield. If lit
(done by right inlane), scores current AIRPORT value and
advances it. Also starts multiball if a ball is locked. A weak
shot may roll back and drain.

Right Ramp: The entrance is halfway down the playfield. If lit
(done by left inlane), scores current AIRPORT value and advances
it.

LOLA drop targets: Bank of three located centre of the
playfield. All three have to be hit within 10 seconds or they
reset. Pickup LOLA when lit. Lights 'Carry Passengers'.

PINBOT drop targets: Bank of three located centre right. All
three have to be hit within 15 seconds or they reset. Pickup
PINBOT when lit. Lights 'Carry Passengers'.

DRAC hole: Located centre left at the end of a U-loop. Pickup
DRAC when lit. Collect extra ball when lit (by 3 x C A B).
Catapult shoots the ball to the right ramp> This will score the
AIRPORT value if lit, but if DRAC is lit (and collected) the
AIRPORT award will time out before the eject.

Lock hole: Centre right, above the PINBOT bank. A simple shot to
lock a ball. After the first multiball, any passenger must be
collected to relight it for lock.

OBJECTIVE
---------
Pickup all 5 passengers to light JACKPOT. Collect JACKPOT. Drop
off all 5 passengers to light outlanes for SPECIAL.

At the start of the game PINBOT and GORBY are lit for pickup.
When a passenger is picked up, the next one lights. The order is
GORBY, PINBOT, DRAC, LOLA, SANTA. Each pickup awards a tip of
20k and also gives an end of ball bonus of 20k.

JACKPOT starts at 500k. Each time C A B is scored, 'Raise
Jackpot' lights for 10 seconds, during which time every switch
adds 2k to the jackpot value. The jackpot value is held over
from player to player, ball to ball and game to game until
collected. Maximum value is 4M. The jackpot must be collected
within 15 seconds or LOLA get out and has to be picked up again
to relight the jackpot.

Once the jackpot is collected, drop off passengers in the order
SANTA, PINBOT, DRAC, LOLA, GORBY. This will relight the jackpot
(although it probably won't have been raised much over 600k) and
one (alternating) outlane for SPECIAL.

After collecting the drop-off jackpot, it starts over with GORBY
(only one passenger lit at once for second and subsequent
times). A second complete pickup/drop off sequence does *not*
light the second outlane for special.

AIRPORT
-------
Left inlane lights right ramp, right inlane lights left ramp for
AIRPORT. Shooting a lit ramp awards the current airport value
and advances it. Values are 20k, 40k, 60k, 80k and finally 100k
+ light airport million (collected at JOYRIDE hole). No time
limit to collect the million (20 seconds on 'hard', 15 seconds
on 'extra hard').

JOYRIDE
-------
Right inlane lights the JOYRIDE hole for about 10 seconds.
Shooting it awards one of the awards shown on the backglass: 10k
(bleah!); Spot Passenger; Mystery (points between 60k and 290k);
Extra Ball (awarded immediately); Special.

Multiball
---------
Achieved by locking one ball in the right lock hole and shooting
the left ramp with a subsequent ball. This carries over from
player to player, so it is possible to steal someone else's
locked ball! When multiball starts, the objective is to relock
both balls in the 'Express' lanes. First lock must be back into
the right lock hole (Express lane 1). Second ball must be shot
into DRAC (Express lane 2). Locking the second ball scores 300k.
Both balls are then ejected and both ramps are lit for 100k
'Airport Ride'.

Extra Ball
----------
2 possibilities; JOYRIDE extra ball or C A B extra ball. C A B
extra ball requires 3 C A B's during the same ball (2 on 'extra
easy, 6 on 'hard', 7 on 'extra hard'). Collected at DRAC. If the
ball is lost before collecting it, tough!

CARRY PASSANGERS
----------------
Hitting this small target (lit by LOLA or PINBOT banks) holds
any passengers for the next ball. Subsequent 'carry passenger'
shots on the same ball award 20k, 30k, 50k (max.) 'Carry Bonus'.
If you 'carry passengers' on the final ball, you get a extra end
of ball bonus ('Passenger Payoff') of 20k per passenger.

End of Ball Bonus
-----------------
The ball bonus is displayed on the backglass. Most shots (ramps,
holes, inlanes) add a few k to the bonus. Maximum is 99k. E-O-B
bonus is calculated as bonus * bonus multiplier + 20k per
passenger. Therefore the maximum possible bonus is 99k * 5 + 20k
* 5 = 595k. Note that if you are not credited for passengers
picked up in a previous sequence; if you pickup all 5, collect
the jackpot, drop off Santa and drain you are credited with one
passenger (SANTA), not 6 passengers. This seems a bit mean,
considering the passenger bonus isn't huge anyway.

TACTICS
-------
Get the jackpot. Nothing else scores anything like as many
points. Always aim for Carry Passengers to make life easier.
Multiball is easy to get, but difficult to milk for many points
as the ramps are quite difficult; anything less than a perfect
shot will roll back down dangerously. Multiball is a good time
to pickup PINBOT (and LOLA) with two balls flying around.
If you can master the ramps, the airport million is well worth
going for. If the left ramp is difficult, shoot DRAC instead as
that awards a left ramp airport advance.

Bragging
--------
This section seems obligatory in rulesheets, although I don't
have much to brag about. I have covered the high score board on
my, hem, local Taxi, #1 being a scrappy 6.6M. I suppose I should
admit that the main reason for this is because the machine is in
my living room ;-) Well, I don't play it that much. I decided to
do this sheet mainly because someone asked for one and also
because I will be bidding it a fond farewell soon. The proceeds
will *just* cover the sales tax on the TAF and TZ I have on
order...

