Please keep in mind that some of the questions take a bit of research, so that answers to some questions may not show up right away. Also, with all the questions in his mailbox, Uncle Willy gets a bit overwhelmed sometimes. He does his best to answer all questions of general interest to the group on rec.games.pinball.

Uncle Willy enjoys hearing from you!

Question:	I'm a big fan of Barry Oursler games.  What games did he
		do before Space Shuttle?

Answer:		Here's the list of Barry Oursler games, in order.  Uncle
		Willy decided to include the complete list to avoid the
		inevitable question about games AFTER Space Shuttle.

		Phoenix, Time Warp, Lazer Ball, Gorgar, Scorpion, Cosmic
		Gunfight, Jungle Lord, Solar Fire, Spellbinder (a followup
		to Hyperball that was never produced), Time Fantasy,
		Defender pinball, 4 in 1 (a countertop novelty that was
		not produced), Joust pinball, Rat Race (a tilting playfield
		novelty that was not produced), Starlight, Space Shuttle,
		Comet, Grand Lizard, Pinbot, Fire!, Space Station, Cyclone,
		Jokerz!, Bad Cats, Police Force (co-designed with Mark
		Ritchie), Harley Davidson, Hurricane, Dr. Who, Dracula,
		Popeye, Dirty Harry, Whodunnit?, Junkyard


Question:	I have heard about a "Champagne Edition" of the 1987
		game Fire!.  How did this differ from the original Fire!?

Answer:		The Champagne Edition of Fire! featured a hand-finished
		wood grain cabinet, brass finished trim, a fancy bell
		on top of the backbox, and flickering lamp effects behind
		the backglass.  (These were similar to the flickering lamp
		effect beneath the playfield.  They were removed from the
		original Fire! as a cost cutting measure.)  Only a few
		hundred Champagne Edition games were produced.


Question:	I have an early F-14 Tomcat pinball that has some wires
		taped off under the playfield.  What were those wires
		originally used for?

Answer:		Early in production, a problem surfaced that did not show
		up with the prototype F-14 Tomcats:  Some screws from the
		top of the playfield would touch some of those from the
		bottom, causing an electrical short associated with the
		flash lamps behind the TOM-CAT targets.

		The flash lamps were located very close to the targets, and
		the targets would eventually deform from being hit by the
		ball.  The circuit was then completed through the switch
		bracket and the two screws mentioned above.  The flash lamps
		were removed to prevent the problem.

		Uncle Willy does not recommend trying to reconnect the
		missing flash lamps on your game without using extreme care.
		You do not want to be blowing up some circuitry on your game.


Question:	Is there a possibility of putting some of that great music
		from your games available for purchase, such as on a CD?

Answer:		Uncle Willy thinks this is a great idea.  Now if he could
		just convince the appropriate people of the worthiness of
		the idea, maybe we could get somewhere.  (No, please do not
		fill Uncle Willy's mailbox showing your support of this.)

Question:	I have an old Williams pinball game and I am looking for
		parts and manuals for it.  Does Williams Electronics have
		these items for sale?  If not, does Uncle Willy know where
		to obtain these items?

Answer:		Uncle Willy sympathizes with your plight.  He has done a bit
		of older game restoration in his time.  Williams Electronics
		typically keeps parts around for 3-5 years after a game is
		produced.  These parts should be ordered through your local
		Williams/Bally distributor.  Distributors sometimes have
		parts in stock for older games, so it doesn't hurt to ask
		about those, too.

		While Uncle Willy cannot recommend any particular source,
		he suggests you look at the rec.games.pinball FAQ.  It has
		the names of vendors who cater to the collector market.
		These vendors are usually very helpful in tracking down old
		parts and documentation.


Question:	Does Williams Electronics plan to put a larger dot matrix
		display on its pinballs?

Answer:		Uncle Willy cannot comment on any future plans of this
		nature (might tip off the competition, you know).  Of course,
		Williams Electronics pinball division is always investigating
		new technologies, devices and improvements to use in its
		games.


Question:	How many pinball design teams does Williams Electronics have?
		How long does it take to produce a new pinball design?

Answer:		Williams Electronics employs eight pinball design teams.
		It typically takes from nine to twelve months to bring a new
		pinball design to production.


Question:	I have an older Williams Electronics pinball, and I have
		some great ideas on how to change the rules to really
		improve the game.  Any chance of a new ROM being released
		with these rules?

Answer:		The chance of this happening is very slight.  While Uncle
		Willy enjoys the thought of making an older game that much
		more fun, the resources for that activity are not available.

		As a side note, it is a policy of the Pinball Software
		Department NOT to significantly change rules for a game after
		version 1.0 has been released.  This is to avoid frustrating
		players by having a game play differently.  (It is
		frustrating enough to have to put up with varying levels of
		maintainence and setup.)


Question:	I have been enjoying the Jack*Bot pinball and I want to know
		if the "Bomb Diffusers" carry over from one Casino Run to
		the next.

Answer:		Simple answer here: no.  (Uncle Willy can't figure out why
		they should.  If you've got a diffuser, why not just use
		it?  Unless you're out of time, of course, but that's just
		the breaks.)


Question:	On the Jack*Bot I play, the ball tends not to go into the
		lockup holes under the visor with a fast shot of the ball.
		Is anything being done to keep the ball from bouncing out
		of the holes?

Answer:		This symptom was noticed after the sample run of Jack*Bot
		was started.  The lockup behavior was marginal on the
		original Pinbot game, and was exacerbated by the beefed-up
		flippers on Jack*Bot.  (While the stronger flippers make the
		ramp shot easier, the extra strength of the shots to the
		lockups causes some shots to bounce out.)

		The lockup holes have been redesigned and all production
		Jack*Bots will have the new holes.  The games on test in
		the Chicago area have already been updated with the new hole
		design.

		Uncle Willy agrees with your frustration with this behavior,
		and was himself one of the loudest protesters when games
		with this symptom started appearing.  If you gently mention
		this behavior to your Jack*Bot operator, he/she can improve
		the game by carefully adjusting the brackets that deflect the
		ball into the lockup holes.

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