Keefer's Guide to
No Good Gofers
Version 1.0 - 3-Jan-1998


This is a rulesheet for the Williams game No Good Gofers. A lot of stuff 
therefore is probably copyrighted by Williams. Game design by Pat Lawlor, 
software by Louis Koziarz, mechanix by Krutsch, artwork by John Youssi, 
music and sounds by Vince Pontarelli, dots by Adam Rhine.
This rulesheet is copyright 1998 by Keith P. Johnson. It may be freely 
distributed with or without changes as long as no profit is made. All 
acknowledgements must be given to me and anyone listed as having 
contributed. I retain any and all rights to this guide.

Comments, corrections, additions, flames, etc. may be sent to me.

Thanks
Some help from:

Louis Koziarz
John Zmaczynski
Playfield
There are many shots labelled "drive", which you need to shoot to advance to 
the Putting Green. They are:

Left orbit
Left ramp
Center ramp
Right ramp
Right orbit
Starting with the flippers and going approximately counter-clockwise:


Flippers
2 fairly normal Williams flippers.

Slingshots
2 fairly normal slingshots.

Left inlanes
There are 2 of them. The leftmost left inlane lights the right orbit for the 
next orbit award and is the return path for the left and center ramps. I'm 
not sure what the right left inlane does, if anything. Either will lower the 
driving range ramp if lit.

Left outlane
There's a kickback here! First Lawlor game with a kickback since his first, 
Banzai Run. Can be lit for extra ball.

Sand Trap kicker
A small saucer above the curve for the left outlane kickback. You can't 
really shoot this directly, most of the time balls will just bounce into it.

Sand Trap standup
Just to the right of the saucer, it's what lights the Sand Trap kicker.

Jet Bumpers
3 jet bumpers, not quite in a triangle, more above each other. Generally, 
you'll only get action between 2 bumpers at a time. The bumpers generally 
increase the Sand Trap value.

Advance Jet Bumpers standup
A little blue standup just to the left of the left orbit entrance. Each hit 
advances one Jet Bumper. See the bumpers section for more details.

Left orbit
Called the Cart Path by the game usually. Usually goes all the way around 
the back of the game to the upper right flipper. Weak shots may fall into 
the back of the Putting Green.

Left spinner
A fairly standard shiny spinner.

Captive ball
A dummy fixture in front guards a regular pinball with a short path with a 
switch in it (like the TOM setup, but a much shorter ball path). It lies 
just to the right of the left orbit entrance.

Driving Range ramp
A fairly wide ramp (about 2-3 pinball widths) that is usually UP. When 
activated (lowered), you can shoot the ramp to access targets above the 
normal ramps.

Skill Shot targets
Just above the playfield from the Driving Range ramp and just below the 
entrance to the left ramp.

Left ramp
Very much like TAF's left ramp. Scores Jackpots and pretty much always 
lights the left inlane for an immediate Driving Range shot. You can usually 
plunge the ball directly up the ramp instead of aiming for the Skill Shot 
targets. Feeds to the left left inlane.

Putting Green
A big hole in the back left of the playfield. You can shoot it from either 
of the right flippers. Also, there is a hole behind the putting green so 
that slow-rolling balls in the orbit can also score the Putting Green. Balls 
are usually kicked out into the Jet Bumpers, but it can also be kicked out 
high-speed to the right flipper. Extra ball can be lit here.

Driving Range
This is basically a clear sheet of plastic above the playfield. It is only 
accessible via the Driving Range ramp. The ball can hit the Cart, 
Hole-In-One, center ramp, or dribble off to the left into the left orbit or 
off the bottom of the range back onto the center of the playfield.

Golf Cart
Just a big plastic golf cart-looking thing with a couple of stand-up targets 
on it. You can hit it from either bottom flipper off the Driving Range ramp.

Center ramp
Pretty much right in the middle of the playfield in the back. This (and the 
right ramp) can have 3 states: Down, so you can shoot the ramp; up, so you 
can shoot under the ramp; up with a gofer, so you can smack the gofer. Bud 
lives under the center ramp. The ramp itself is generally only makable from 
the left flipper, but Bud can be hit from all 3, and under the ramp from the 
bottom flippers (sometimes the top flipper with a little help). Feeds to the 
left left inlane. If you shoot under the ramp, it goes to the Putting Green 
and can be kicked out into the Jet Bumpers or the right flipper.

Hole-In-One
The hardest shot in the game (and not surprisingly, probably the most 
important). It is on the Driving Range, and basically drops down between the 
center and right ramps. There is a little mini-ramp on top of the driving 
range that blocks the shot a bit. It is still possible to shoot a ball onto 
the driving range and up the mini-ramp, but a lot of shots are just 
ricochets off of the Golf Cart.

Right ramp
Right next to the center ramp. Pretty much everything under the center ramp 
applies to the right ramp, except that Buzz lives under the right ramp. It 
feeds the right inlane. If you shoot under the ramp, it kicks out to the 
right orbit for a slow upper-right flipper feed.

Right orbit
Very similar to the left orbit, but it's on the right, see. It's "entrance" 
is quite a bit higher up on playfield (next to the right ramp).

Right spinner
Another spinner, exactly like the left spinner. Just a bit up from the orbit 
entrance.

Upper right flipper
Just a normal flipper, in about the same position as TAF's. You can shoot 
the left ramp, Putting Green, and the Gofers with it.

Plunger lane exit
Just under the upper right flipper. Slow plunger shots go into the skill 
shot standups, hard ones go up the left ramp.

Plunger
A combo plunger.

KICK standups
There are 5 standup targets, one for each letter of KICK which face the 
upper left of the playfield, and one that faces the left flipper.

Wheel
Just a bit to the right of the Driving Range ramp, it serves a couple 
purposes. First of all, it indicates what you'll get as a reward for 
finishing the current hole (pointed to by the yellow arrow at the bottom of 
the wheel). Secondly, it has a special "grabby" surface so it can interfere 
with the ball path when spinning (much like Whirlwind's spinners).

Right outlane
Can be lit for special.

Right inlane
Lights the left orbit.

Gameplay



Skill Shot


The Skill Shot is available to you at the start of each ball, extra ball, 
and after any lock that serves a ball to the plunger. You have a choice: You 
can pull the plunger hard, and the ball will go up the left ramp (and 
collect anything if it's lit on there) and to the left left inlane for a 
free Driving Range shot. Obviously you can potentially get a Hole-In-One. 
You can also plunge fairly lightly and aim for the Skill Shot targets. If 
you hit these, you get 750K+250K each one (don't know of a limit yet) as 
well as light the Putting Green for the current hole (if it isn't already).

There is a 5-second or so ballsaver at the start of each ball.

Cart Paths
Between the flippers are 6 lights, which indicate the next Cart Path award. 
Cart Path awards are given when you shoot an orbit after lighting it from 
the right inlane (for the left orbit) or the left left inlane (for the right 
orbit). The awards are:

Bonus 2x
Increase Cart Path
Bonus 3x
Increase Cart path
Bonus 4x
Bonus 5x + Light extra ball
The flashing award indicates what you'll get next. The awards reset at the 
start of every ball. It doesn't look like you get anything extra after you 
get 5x + light extra ball. You only get one Cart Path award per inlane 
trigger. You can only get the extra ball from Cart Paths once.

Orbits score 50K+50K for each consecutive shot. I believe getting "Increase 
Cart Path" bumps up the base value by 50K (i.e. 100K+50K/shot and 150K+50K/ 
shot). That resets each ball as well.

Each orbit has a big white circle light that flashes when it's lit for the 
next Cart Path award or for consecutive loop awards.

Kickback
The default is for the kickback to be lit at the start of the game. You can 
light the kickback by completing the KICK lights or by a Wheel Award. You 
can even STACK kickbacks! Newer ROMs should tell you in the status report 
how many kickbacks you have lit.

The KICK targets are aligned like this:





   K\

  I /

C /

K /

/




Not at that extreme of an angle, but close. You can't hit the KICK standups 
directly from the left flipper, but there is a 5th that faces the flipper 
you can hit. To complete KICK, you need to hit each KICK standup twice. The 
first hit flashes the letter, the second hit turns it solid. Hitting the 
standup that faces the left flipper spots one hit on one target, so if you 
have only 1 flashing letter left and the ball on the left flipper, shoot the 
spot standup to finish KICK.

The default is to let only 1 kickback be "stacked" on an already-lit 
kickback.

Sand Trap
The Sand Trap value starts the game at around 100K. The Jet Bumpers add 
around 2.5K/hit to the value (maybe more if they're lit or flashing?), and 
the Skill Shot targets can add some too (I think). The Sand Trap starts the 
game lit. When the ball goes into the saucer, your Sand Trap value will 
start counting down like a hurry-up award. The letters in KICK will start to 
light up one-at-a-time, like the T2 skill shot or Judge Dredd Air Raid. Your 
goal is to hit the left flipper button so that the ball, when ejected from 
the saucer, will shoot across the playfield and hit the lit standup. If you 
hit the lit standup, you'll collect the remaining Sand Trap value. I think 
the value continues to go up from where you collected it. If you miss, you 
don't get the points, but you still continue building in up from the same 
point.

If the Sand Trap is unlit, hit the wide yellow standup to the right of the 
saucer to light it.

Jet Bumpers
The Jet Bumpers have 3 states: Off, lit, and flashing. Normally, each ball 
starts with the middle bumper lit. The Advance Jets standup increases one 
bumper's level. When all 3 bumpers are flashing, you have Super Jets for the 
rest of the ball (7.5K/hit I think). Hitting the Advance Jets standup when 
Super Jets are lit scores 50K. The Jets also add to the Sand Trap value.

You can get Super Jets as a Wheel Award, too.

Captive Ball
There are 5 lights on the captive ball:


Drive
Spots a drive for the current hole. If Putting Green is already lit, 
probably doesn't do much of anything.

Increase Bud Value
Adds 25K to Bud's award (for the rest of the game).

Increase Buzz Value
Adds 25K to Buzz's award (for the rest of the game)

Increase Cart Value
Adds 100K to the Cart's value (for the rest of the game)

Light Driving Range
Lights the left inlanes for some free shots at the driving range the first 
time. The 2nd time it awards Ripoff Multiball.
There's also "Collect Ripoff" lights on either side of the "Drive" light.

The game starts with Drive flashing, and every hit collects the current 
award and lights the next one. The captive ball does NOT reset at the start 
of each ball, it is held throughout the game.

Left ramp
Every shot to the left ramp adds 100K to the Hole-In-One value (which starts 
the game at 400K I think). Also, the inlane will lower the Driving Range 
ramp after each shot to the left ramp.

Driving Range
The Driving Range value starts at around 50K and is increased by 25K or so 
with each center and right ramp shot. If you shoot the Driving Range and 
make the center ramp instead of hitting the Cart or Hole-In-One (or missing 
entirely), you score the Driving Range value. Often times you'll see an 
animation of a squirrel getting hit by or swallowing a golf ball. (Buzz: 
"Hey! Don't hit my tree-dwelling cousin!") There's also a car's window that 
gets hit (complete with car alarm going off :) ) and probably a couple 
others.

Cart
The Cart can only be hit from the Driving Range ramp. It starts the game 
worth 100K and goes up 100K via the captive ball Increase Cart Value award. 
Various numbers of hits will start different modes (see their description 
under Wheel Awards).

3 hits - Cart Attack
8 hits - Pop-a-Gofer
13 hits - Speed Golf
If you hit the Cart to start Cart Attack and the ball then ricochets into 
Hole-In-One, DOUBLE Cart Attack starts instead (same thing, all values 
doubled). Current ROMs don't double anything else.

Hole-In-One
Any time you make Hole-In-One during normal play, you finish the current 
hole with one stroke and collect the Wheel Award. The points you get for a 
Hole- In-One start at 400K and go up 100K with each left ramp shot (no known 
limit). You also score the Super Jackpot and Special here (when lit).

Gofers
Your hosts, Bud and Buzz; they'll come up and taunt you throughout the game. 
When they do, feel free to give them a good whack! Each gofer hit scores 
100K (increased by captive ball awards). During normal play, you'll also 
reduce the current hole's score by 1 stroke (see Wheel Awards for more 
details on playing golf).

Bonus
Every hole you complete adds to your bonus based on how many strokes it took 
you. Each hole has a par value which you'll usually score, but other things 
can add and subtract strokes. Each Gofer hit subtracts one stroke, each 
sandtrap and outlane adds one stroke (not sure if a lit kickback adds a 
stroke or not). There are Wheel awards that can affect stroke counts as 
well. Obviously, if you get a Hole-In-One, you finish in 1 stroke. You can 
never finish with fewer than 2 strokes unless you get a Hole-In-One. You can 
also never finish with more than 7 strokes.

So, for each hole you finish, you'll get for bonus:

1 stroke - 250,000
2 strokes - 125,000
3 strokes - 100,000
4 strokes - 75,000
5 strokes - 50,000
6 strokes - 25,000
7 strokes - 10,000
If you haven't finished any holes yet ("This must be embarassing for you!"), 
you'll get 10,000. Your total is then multiplied by your bonus multiplier, 
amazingly enough (see Cart Paths).

Multiball
Multiball is a high-scoring affair in NGG (well, it can be anyway). To start 
multiball:

Shoot the center ramp to raise Bud.
Hit Bud. If you take too long, you must shoot the center ramp again.
Lock the ball under the center ramp.
Shoot the center ramp to raise Buzz.
Hit Buzz. You'll have to raise him again if you take too long.
Lock the ball under the right ramp.
Shoot the Putting Green or Hole-In-One to start Multiball.
Once Multiball starts (both: "Attaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!"), balls will be kicked 
out of the Putting Green, the bumpers, and the right orbit (if balls are 
actually locked in the last 2 spots, otherwise they're auto-plunged).

The left ramp scores the Jackpot, which is worth 3.5M+1M (held for the whole 
game). If you make it, then Hole-In-One lights for the Super Jackpot (and 
quite a fanfare) which is worth double the last-collected Jackpot.

After collecting the Jackpot, any left inlane will lower the Driving Range 
ramp for a shot at the Hole-In-One (Bud: "This is my favorite part!"). 
Making the Super Jackpot relights the Jackpot. You can also relight the 
Jackpot at any time by shooting the right ramp (so both the Jackpot and 
Super Jackpot can be lit at the same time). If the Jackpot is lit, the right 
ramp will be raised (though Buzz will block it every so often to harrass 
you) for an easier shot to the left ramp.

The third Super Jackpot you make (in the game, not just one multiball) will 
not earn a double jackpot, but rather the Jackpot value again and an extra 
ball!

After each Multiball, 2 additional ramp shots are required to raise a Gofer 
(the "Get TNT" light on the center ramp will be lit). If a Gofer raised to 
light a lock times out, you only need to make one shot to re-raise him, not 
all shots.

Playing Golf and The Wheel
The main object of the game is to complete golf holes. To do so, you must 
shoot drives until the Putting Green is lit. Shooting the Putting Green 
completes the hole and scores the current Wheel award.

Each hole has a pre-determined par value. I'm fairly sure that this value 
minus 1 corresponds to the number of drives that you need to make before 
putting out. If you don't do anything special, making all drives and then 
shooting the Putting Green will finish the hole with the par value. Any 
Gofer hit during normal play subtracts one stroke from par. Any outlane or 
the Sand Trap will add one stroke. See the Bonus section for details on how 
this affects your bonus score.

The Putting Green, when unlit, scores a Water Hazard (but this doesn't 
affect your golf score). The Water Hazard is worth from 10-99,990 (it 
probably works like TZ's Odd Change, i.e. random number of digits, then 
randomize each digit except the ones).

Making Hole-In-One any time during normal play finishes the current hole 
with one stroke. On normal settings, completing the 4th hole will give you 
both the Wheel Award and light the extra ball.

The currently-selected Wheel award can be changed by the Jet Bumpers, the 
spinners (both incrementally), and the captive ball (spins and stops 
randomly).

Here is a list of Wheel Awards starting with Hole-In-One and going clockwise 
around the Wheel:

Hole In One
Finishes the current hole as a Hole-In-One (including the points) instead of 
how many strokes it would've been.

Bad Shot
If you get this "award" from as a result of shooting the Putting Green, then 
you finish the hole with 1 more stroke than you had. If you get it as a 
result of getting a Hole-In-One or picking it from Player's Choice, then it 
doesn't affect the current hole, but rather starts the next hole already at 
7 strokes.

Ripoff
The ball is kicked out to the right flipper from the Putting Green. You have 
20 seconds or so to hit the captive ball to start Ripoff Multiball. Ripoff 
Multiball starts off as a 2-ball multiball. Complete the captive ball lights 
(5 hits) to add another ball into play (up to 5). There is a ballsaver at 
the start of multiball and briefly after completing the captive ball.

During Ripoff, each ramp scores 100K+25K/captive ball hit. If you make all 3 
ramps, then the ripoff value is doubled.

Speed Golf
This is a 3-ball multiball, with a brief ballsaver at the beginning. Every 
inlane triggers the Driving Range ramp for a shot at the Driving Range. Its 
value starts at 250K or so and every switch adds about 1K to the value. The 
value doesn't go down when collected, just keeps getting bigger.

Free Lock
Spots one lock towards the next multiball.

Player's Choice
The Wheel starts spinning (way too fast for you to stop it where you want), 
and you push both flippers to stop it and get your reward. Yes, it's 
possible to get Player's Choice again. :)

Outlanes
The outlanes are lit (Buzz: "You drain, you gain."), the left for extra 
ball, the right for special. Only one is lit at a time, alternated by the 
slingshots. Since you have a kickback now, it's possible to get the extra 
ball and not lose your current ball in play.

Pop-a-Gofer
A 20-second timed mode. Each Gofer hit is worth 1M. Bud and Buzz will 
usually alternate being up, taunting you the entire time of course.

Warp
Advance a random number (1-3) of holes, but not past hole 9. You CAN warp to 
hole 9, though, and immediately get Hole-In-One Challenge. Passing 4 will 
light the extra ball still, and passing 7 will still play Short Circuit.

Q Jackpot
The left ramp is lit for a jackpot until you collect it or the ball ends. 
It's worth 1M/hole completed. An easy way to collect it is to lock a ball 
then plunge the new ball up the ramp.

Gofer Attack
The captive ball is lit for a hurry-up. It starts at 1M and counts down (not 
sure how far). Hit the captive ball to collect the points. The ball is 
kicked out from the Putting Green to the right flipper.

Cart Attack
Each drive scores 250K+100K (that's all 5 drive arrow shots and the Driving 
Range center ramp shot). You get a great animation of a Gofer being chased 
by a MX Missile. (If you look at the Cart plastic, you'll see some missile 
launching equipment on it.) If you hit the Cart (Buzz: "You hit your own 
cart!" then either "Do it again!" or "You're dumber than Bud!"), you'll 
collect the total of all shots you've made since the start of Cart Attack or 
the last Cart Jackpot.

Light Extra
Ball, that is. This MUST be collected before you drain (on default 
settings).

Gofer's Choice
A Gofer (Bud most of the time I think) will pick an award for you, out of:

Super Jets
Big Points (1M)
Dance Party
Some others...
Dance Party is simply a frenzy. Don't remember the scoring exactly at the 
moment...

Big Spinners
Both spinners are lit for 7,500/spin for the rest of the ball.

Kickback
Adds one kickback light.

Short Circuit (non-Wheel)
After the 7th hole, instead of a normal Wheel award, you get Short Circuit. 
A value starts at 2M and starts counting up (presumably the award is 
disqualified at some point, but I haven't let it go yet). First you hit a 
KICK target (any of the 5) to stop the value, then hit Buzz to collect it.

Hole-In-One Challenge (Wizard Award)
After the 9th hole, you start the Hole-In-One Challenge. You get:

Instantly awarded 1M/Hole-In-One you've made to this point
Super Jets
Big Spinners
Ripoff Multiball
Million Plus (1M+1M) on the left ramp (don't know of a limit)
Hole-In-One lit for Special
Hole-In-One Challenge starts out as a 4-ball multiball (and a brief 
ballsaver). Since Ripoff is running, it is possible to extend Hole-In-One 
Challenge by completing the captive ball repeatedly (same 5-ball limit as 
Ripoff itself). The left inlanes will lower the Driving Range ramp until you 
make a Hole-In-One. After that, I presume only the left ramp will lower the 
Driving Range ramp.

Strategies
I won't give you too much yet, since I'm still learning the game myself. 
Getting Multiball at least once or twice is important, because it can be 
worth so much. It will be difficult getting it much more than that because 
of all the center ramps you'll need to hit.

Play the modes. Some modes (like Cart Attack) hold their value throughout 
the game, and can be worth major points later on. Don't forget about 
shooting for the Cart Paths for bonus multipliers later in the game since 
your bonus will just keep getting bigger and bigger. Definitely try to get 
the extra ball from the Cart Paths as well.

During Ripoff Multiball and Hole-In-One Challenge, definitely wail on the 
captive ball. 5 hits may seem like a lot, but it's pretty easy to do. I 
typically like to ensure I always have 3 balls on the playfield. One thing 
to do is when you have 3 balls, hit the captive ball 4 times, waiting until 
you drain one before finishing it. This will actually give you 2 balls 
because of the ballsaver. -- Keith P. Johnson, keeper of rec.games.pinball 
DynaFAQ Play pinball - it's better on your eyes than video games. :) "Beware 
what you wish for when you choose immortality... For it is a decision that 
you will have to live with for a long time." - from The Outer Limits

NGG Easter Eggs!

"Easter eggs" are hidden features or modes in the game's programming that 
are only accessible if you know the "secret code" to trigger them.  NGG has 
a couple of easter eggs.  While the game is in attract mode, press the 
following sequence of flipper buttons to start a great light, sound and 
video show highlighting the game's design team.

"B" = Press both buttons simultaneously

"nR" = Press right flipper button "n" times

"nL" = Press left flipper button "n" times.


B - 16R - 1L - 13R - 1L - 12R - 1L

Once the show begins, there's about a 5-minute timeout before it can be 
repeated.

Another one: If the game is set on Free Play, you can begin a game on the 
9th hole.  The game MUST BE IN FREE PLAY pricing mode to do this.  It was a 
precaution to make sure people couldn't rip off a game on location for a 
load of free games.


B - 3R - 1L - 8R - 1L - 1R - 1L, then hold in the left flipper and press 
Start

Pat Lawlor Design is located at 24308 Tomlin Road, Marengo, IL 60152;
>(815)943-7075; e-mail plawlor@patlawlordesign.com
