I know that they instruction card tells you the basics, but why doesn't a NIB game come with a detailed rulesheet with the ins and outs of a games ruleset? Seems like a no brainer to me and very easy for a pinball company to do.
(Topic ID: 127362)
Vail, AZ
Would be nice, but since they don't tend to ship completed games, at what point do you write the rule set? When a new rev of code comes out, would they actually go in and edit the rule set to bring it up to the current standard?
Frankly, I find the rule cards pretty lacking too. "Shoot bicycle girl ramp when lit to score big points." Great, thanks...
For NIB tables, just write "To Be Determined" on a 3x5 card.
Why they don't release them once the rulesets are complete is another question.
Quoted from desertT1:Would be nice, but since they don't tend to ship completed games, at what point do you write the rule set? When a new rev of code comes out, would they actually go in and edit the rule set to bring it up to the current standard?
This is absolutely what they would do. Takes no time at all. I mean they have to notify you of what the code update has in it anyway. Just have someone edit the running rulesheet on their website or something with an "as of" date on it.
Or they could just have a link to the rulesheet, then within the rulsheet it would have different links for the code your game is running, and bring up the rulesheet for that code version. This would be helpful for location players too that cannot play on the most up to date code sometimes.
Quoted from Robotoes:I think part of it is personnel issues - who does this and keeps it up date?
The other part I think is the fun factor of discovering things for yourself. Player created rulesheets pop up, and I think that's more exciting.
I think the strategies that we come up with is the exciting part. I agree that I don't want any of the experience to be spoiled for me, but just want a detail of all the features of the game and where the features are located and what not. Also, these games are getting pretty complex so even after playing them a bunch sometimes it's not very clear to everyone what is going on with certainty. Plus it's just nice to have that info sitting around for anyone that plays your games to reference.
Quoted from chuckwurt:I think the strategies that we come up with is the exciting part. I agree that I don't want any of the experience to be spoiled for me, but just want a detail of all the features of the game and where the features are located and what not. Also, these games are getting pretty complex so even after playing them a bunch sometimes it's not very clear to everyone what is going on with certainty. Plus it's just nice to have that info sitting around for anyone that plays your games to reference.
Yaa...some I can pick up...(ST,IM,MET,WWE,TWD)...some I've been playing just as long as the others and still don't know what's going on (rule wise)(NASCAR,WOZ,TSPP,007)..........Joey
Quoted from PoMC:Sega and DE manuals do a pretty good job of explaining shots and modes.
Yep, it used to be the norm back in the day to have a decent rules write up and shot map in the manuals. Capcom, Alvin G, and Williams also did a pretty good job of this on most games.
For same reason we no longer get decent manuals with Stern's games: money. You've got to pay someone to write the rulesheet. I'm not stating that simply to bash on Stern. They've obviously rearranged their priorities.
Another reason I think they dropped it is because the Internet makes it much easier to share and find the info, so the manufacturer no longer has to put forth all the effort.
Quoted from stangbat:For same reason we no longer get decent manuals with Stern's games: money. You've got to pay someone to write the rulesheet. I'm not stating that simply to bash on Stern. They've obviously rearranged their priorities.
Another reason I think they dropped it is because the Internet makes it much easier to share and find the info, so the manufacturer no longer has to put forth all the effort.
I guess you're right. Well if that is why they stopped doing it, and why they currently do not do that, I wish they would start doing it. I would really love to see rule sheets authored by the person who wrote the code to see how they interpret or intended the game to be played. I think that would be really cool.
Quoted from AlbanyTim:Figuring out the rules is part of the fun for me.
But it wouldn't hurt to have rulesheet info included with the materials of a NIB for the people that find value in it.
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