Star Trek: The Next Generation is a widebody pinball game, designed by Steve Ritchie and released in November 1993 by Williams Electronics. It was part of WMS' SuperPin series (see also The Twilight Zone and Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure), and was based on the TV series.
It is the only pinball machine that features three separate highscore-lists. Apart from the regular highscore-list and the buy-in-list (used when the player purchases an extra ball with an additional credit), it also features a reminiscence to The Machine: Bride of Pin*Bot billionaires club.
It is the third pinball game overall based on the Star Trek franchise, following the 1979 pinball game by Bally, and the 1991 game by Data East (both based on the original series); and preceding the 2013 pinball game by Stern (based on the 2009 and 2013 J. J. Abrams films) also designed by Steve Ritchie.
Design
According to an interview, Steve Ritchie, a longtime Star Trek fan, stated that getting the license was a challenge, due to Paramount insisting that they don't want to put any violence in the game; however, he told them that he would never violate the Prime Directive."Getting the rights to do 'Star Trek: Next Generation' was also a challenge. Because they didn't want us to use any guns in the game. I said 'Hey, wait a minute, when the Enterprise is provoked, they use photon torpedoes.' I didn't set out to make them space pirates from hell, I just wanted to represent the show accurately in my game. I told them that I had been a fan of the series all my life, and I would never violate the Prime Directive ... and they came around." -- Steve Ritchie. HollisterFreelance.com | The original Pinball wizard Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
Originally, the game was going to be based on the 1992 film, Under Siege, but changed to Star Trek: The Next Generation when the opportunity came up."For a while the game we were doing after “The Getaway” was going to be Under Siege based on the upcoming movie. Steve had ideas of putting two cannons on the right side of the playfield and dress that side up to look like half of a ship. The two cannons would look like cannons of the destroyer, the ship that is used as the setting of the movie... Then the opportunity came to do Star Trek: The Next Generation. Steve and I were both huge fans of the show. We switched tracks from Under Siege fast." -- Dwight Sullivan, My Pinball Blog: T2, Getaway, and Star Trek: TNG. Retrieved on 7 October 2008. Steve Ritchie and some of the design team visited the sets of the Enterprise, and met with Michael Westmore, Michael Okuda, Rick Sternbach, Dan Curry, and others to hear suggestions for what to include in the game.
When Williams went after the license they believed the sixth season would be its last, and there was great interest amongst distributors for a game based on the series.
The game had a longer than typical development time, taking 14 months to complete. In addition to creating the artwork for the machine, Greg Freres designed the sculpted models, which were made by Jerry Pinster. The code for the game written by Dwight Sullivan and Matt Coriale was the largest in any pinball machine up to that point.
The mechanical engineer for this game, Carl Biagi, created several mechanisms including the distinctive cannons, which are protected by the same patent first used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The game uses a patented subway system where a ball goes under the playfield and either the same or a different ball appears elsewhere, but to the player it always appears to be the same ball. This is integrated into the theme because Star Trek includes transporters.
The Borg ship was originally intended to be a Borg cube, but during the development of this table Paramount decided to redesign the ship, and Michael Okuda sent Williams sketches and photos of the new design.
In the design stages a video mode similar to Tempest or Gyruss was considered but never completed.
Audio The game uses the DCS Sound System and includes voice clips recorded by the cast of the television series, with: Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge Majel Barrett as the computer voice John de Lancie as Q. These clips were recorded after ADR sessions. Patrick Stewart corrected some of the speech, and suggested additional ideas. Due to Jonathan Frakes "fooling around" in his recording session only a little was used from him.
The designer of the game, Steve Ritchie, recorded the voice for Admiral Biagi (named after the mechanical engineer for the game).
In total there is three times more speech than in any pinball game prior to 1993, with twelve pages of single spoken lines, and thirteen original tunes in addition to the theme tune.
Display The dot matrix display (DMD) shows animations as the game is played, in some modes this is based on the LCARS system.
Layout The game uses a plunger button on a phaser to launch the ball. The plunger lane leads round a helical wireform to reach the three upper rollovers located above three pop bumpers. The game has seven emblem shots which are indicated by Starfleet insignia inserts. These are the three ramps - Alpha quadrant (right ramp), Beta quadrant (center ramp), and Delta quadrant (upper left ramp). The other four are the left and right orbits, mission start sinkhole located in the center of the machine just to the right of the center ramp, and a second sinkhole is located between the neutral zone and the Delta quadrant ramp. There is a spinner located in the left orbit. The right orbit doesn't continue around the machine, but uses a mechanism to lock the ball or direct it into the bumpers. The game has a cannon on each slingshot; the ball can reach these through the subway, and they fire the ball using a catapult when the player presses the trigger. There are a series of stand-up/spot targets around the playfield, a group of three above and to the side of each slingshot, one either side of the entrance to the right ramp, two to the right of the entrance of the left orbit, and one called the "Q" target to the right of the mission start hole. The neutral zone towards the back of the machine consists of two more targets on either side of another sinkhole. The left outlane contains a kickback mechanism. Above the playfield are located models of a Klingon bird of prey, a Romulan warbird, the Einstein shuttlecraft, and a Borg ship.
Gameplay
Launch options Whenever a ball is served to the plunger, the player may choose one of five awards and collect it by launching the ball. Unless otherwise noted, the ball is launched through the spiral ramp and into the lock hole (above the pop bumpers). Another ball is popped from the left scoop and onto the left inlane. Start Mission: Starts flashing mission. May be used to start the Final Frontier wizard mode (see below). Flipper Skill Shot: The player has to shoot the ball up the right ramp (the Beta Quadrant) for a random award. Launch Probe: The ball will be loaded into one of the two cannons, located on top of the slings. Shoot the lit target for a random award. Light Lock / Light Holodeck: The ball is immediately locked for multiball, and another one is served to the left inlane. Once two balls are locked, this option changes to "Light Holodeck" until multiball has been played. Warp Factor 4: Starts the ball at Warp Factor 4. During Factor 9 mode (depending on the ROM version; see below), this award will advance the warp factor by 0.1 to a maximum of 9.9. Once the mode ends, the award changes to "Warp Factor 2" for the remainder of the game.
Scoring and Game Modes There are several ways to score points outside of the missions as well as unlocking certain game modes. The following modes are available: Explosive Millions - Shooting the Alpha Quadrant or Beta Quadrant ramps starts a 10-second timer. A shot to either ramp resets the timer and awards points (5 million for the first shot, 10 million for the second, then increasing by 10 million for each subsequent shot). Bonus Multipliers - Hitting all three rollover lanes above the bumpers will increase the bonus multiplier for that ball. The first completion raises it to 2X, and subsequent steps raise it 2X at a time to a maximum of 10X. When the 8X is achieved, the Extra Ball light is lit in the "Start Mission" pocket. When the multiplier is maxed, completing the rollovers again awards 10 million, with the value increasing by 10 million every time afterward. Holodeck - The player may either receive 25 million points or play a "Shuttle Simulation" video mode, using the flipper buttons to choose. The latter choice requires the player to pilot a shuttle through a network of caverns, pressing the flipper buttons to steer left and right and avoid mines. Awards can be picked up along the way, consisting of points, an extra ball, and/or an artifact; however, once an extra ball is earned during this mode, it is removed for any subsequent playings. The mode ends once the player hits a mine/wall or collects the artifact. Pulling the launch trigger while pressing the button for the Shuttle Simulation starts a secret video mode, "Riker's Poker Night," in which the player can score points for completing different poker hands. If a specific flipper combination is entered before launching the first ball, a monochrome version of Breakout is played on the DMD instead. Kickback - Shooting the three left yellow targets lights Kickback, which saves the ball from draining from the left outlane. Under normal difficulty settings, the Kickback is lit at the start of the game, while in tournament mode it must first be enabled from the targets. Shuttles - Each shot to the Beta Quadrant ramp launches one shuttle. Awards such as Light Holodeck, Command Decision, and Light Extra Ball are given for reaching set numbers of shuttles. The ramp entrance is flanked by a pair of stand-up targets, either of which enables the ramp to award two shuttles for a few seconds when hit. If the player hits both targets and then shoots the ramp, four shuttles are awarded.
Missions The game features seven "missions" (modes), all of which must be played in order to enable the "Final Frontier" wizard mode. Time Rift Worm Hole Search The Galaxy Battle Simulation Q's Challenge Rescue Asteroid Threat
There are various marked targets around the playfield with the Star Trek insignia. Different combinations of these are lit for different modes, indicating which shots the player needs to make. These modes are not stackable, meaning the player must complete one mission before starting another. There is a hole in the center at the top of the playfield labelled "Start Mission" which will start a mission at any time if the player makes the shot. In addition, hitting the lit "Command Decision" Target allows the player to select which mission to attempt, including already attempted missions (marked as "rerun" missions; varies from no allowable "reruns" to unlimited "reruns", depending on the machine's settings).
In all missions except Q's challenge, if the player fails to complete certain objectives by losing the ball to the drain, Data will say, "Had you projected the ball along the proper trajectory, you would have been rewarded." Pressing both flippers during this line activates an Easter egg, in which Picard will interrupt Data and say, "Thank you, Mr. Data." The Easter egg also adds 10 million points to the score.
Artifacts