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The Pinball Arcade / Farsight Studios
Please improve "Call Attendant" logic-- it ruins games (suggestion included)
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<blockquote data-quote="Sean DonCarlos" data-source="post: 52215" data-attributes="member: 152"><p>For the benefit of those who are new to this discussion and didn't participate in the first round of it a few months back, here's an example of how a ROM could get confused:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You play a new game of Cirqus Voltaire, fresh from the menu. You lock 2 balls on the Highwire ramp.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">In the course of playing the 3rd ball, a ball gets stuck somewhere, let's say the Juggler Lock.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You call the attendant, but the attendant says the ball is not stuck.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You use the new option to kill all balls and replace them in the trough and resume play. Note there are now 0 balls on the Highwire ramp.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You light the 3rd lock and shoot the Highwire ramp, starting Highwire Multiball. The ROM thinks there are 3 balls on the Highwire ramp, but there is really only 1.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">You play Highwire Multiball with a single ball, noticing that something is seriously amiss, then you drain. The table still believes there are 2 balls in play, so now you're stuck:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The table will not move on to the next ball on its own, because it thinks you have 2 balls left on the playfield.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You can call the attendant, but the balls are truly not stuck, because they're all in the trough.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If you use the nuclear option again, nothing changes, because all the balls are already in the trough.</li> </ul></li> </ol><p>That's why a fix for "ball stuck" issues is not as simple as it might first appear.</p><p></p><p>The reason why the game can recover easily when a ball goes flying off the table is that the ROM does not expect said ball to be anywhere in particular. A ROM on a physical table does not actually "know" where the balls are; it can only detect switch hits as a ball goes by. So when a ball is physically locked, all the ROM senses is the physical switch closure that corresponds to the lock shot being made. It trusts that the ball will remain in the lock until the ROM decides to release it. If this trust is violated, problems happen. But a ball that exits stage right is not expected to be anywhere in particular, so it is safe to return it to the plunger.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sean DonCarlos, post: 52215, member: 152"] For the benefit of those who are new to this discussion and didn't participate in the first round of it a few months back, here's an example of how a ROM could get confused: [LIST=1] [*]You play a new game of Cirqus Voltaire, fresh from the menu. You lock 2 balls on the Highwire ramp. [*]In the course of playing the 3rd ball, a ball gets stuck somewhere, let's say the Juggler Lock. [*]You call the attendant, but the attendant says the ball is not stuck. [*]You use the new option to kill all balls and replace them in the trough and resume play. Note there are now 0 balls on the Highwire ramp. [*]You light the 3rd lock and shoot the Highwire ramp, starting Highwire Multiball. The ROM thinks there are 3 balls on the Highwire ramp, but there is really only 1. [*]You play Highwire Multiball with a single ball, noticing that something is seriously amiss, then you drain. The table still believes there are 2 balls in play, so now you're stuck: [LIST] [*]The table will not move on to the next ball on its own, because it thinks you have 2 balls left on the playfield. [*]You can call the attendant, but the balls are truly not stuck, because they're all in the trough. [*]If you use the nuclear option again, nothing changes, because all the balls are already in the trough. [/LIST][/LIST] That's why a fix for "ball stuck" issues is not as simple as it might first appear. The reason why the game can recover easily when a ball goes flying off the table is that the ROM does not expect said ball to be anywhere in particular. A ROM on a physical table does not actually "know" where the balls are; it can only detect switch hits as a ball goes by. So when a ball is physically locked, all the ROM senses is the physical switch closure that corresponds to the lock shot being made. It trusts that the ball will remain in the lock until the ROM decides to release it. If this trust is violated, problems happen. But a ball that exits stage right is not expected to be anywhere in particular, so it is safe to return it to the plunger. [/QUOTE]
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The Pinball Arcade / Farsight Studios
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The Pinball Arcade / Farsight Studios
Please improve "Call Attendant" logic-- it ruins games (suggestion included)
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