Editing Pinball (section)

== Features ==

Pinball games have become increasingly complex.  Multiple play modes, multi-level playfields, and even progression through a rudimentary "plot" have become common features in recent games. Pinball scoring objectives often require a series of targets to be hit in a particular order. Recent pinball games are distinguished by their requiring strategy and planning for maximum scoring. Players seeking the highest scores are advised to study a game's placard (usually found in the lower-left corner of the playfield) to learn the specific patterns required for advanced features and scoring.

Common features in modern pinball games include the following:

* ''Ball lock'': Each time a ball goes into a specific hole or target, it is locked, and a new ball appears at the plunger. The multiball feature starts when the player has locked the required number of balls (often three). On some games, the balls are physically locked in place by solenoid-actuated gates, but many newer machines use virtual ball locks instead, in which the game merely keeps count of the number of locked balls and then auto-launches them from the main ball trough when it is time for them to be released.
* ''Multiball'': This occurs when there is more than one ball in play at a time and usually includes some kind of jackpot scoring. Multiball ends when all but one ball is lost down the bottom of the playfield, and then regular play resumes.
* ''Jackpot'': Some targets on the playfield increase the scoring value of something else, which could be as simple as hitting a ramp, or a complicated sequence of targets. Upon their inception, the jackpot was the main goal of most pinball machines in the 1980s. Jackpots often ranged from one to four million (back when this was a significant addition to the score), and their value would accrue between games until it was scored. Scoring it was usually a complicated task. Modern games often dilute the meaning of "jackpot". Modern games give off several jackpots in each multiball mode, which is usually quite easy to attain, and the value of today's jackpots is far less significant. Many jackpots awarded during special modes often do not increase at all, but are instead simply fixed-value bonuses.
* ''End-of-ball bonus'': After each ball is played, the player scores bonus points depending on how many times certain features have been activated or the numbers of items that the player may obtain. Some games award a seemingly arbitrary number of points that depend on the number of times ''any'' switch has been hit. Virtually all games have the ability to assign a multiplier to the bonus. Most games cap the bonus multiplier at 5x or 10x, although more modern games apparently have no limit.
* ''Extra ball'': If a player has earned this, when they lose a ball they get another one to play immediately afterward and the machine does not count the lost ball towards the limit of balls for that game. For example, if the player were on ball two and they earn an extra ball, the next ball will still be counted as ball two instead of the third ball. When a machine says "SHOOT AGAIN" on the scoreboard, it signifies that an extra ball will shoot. In a multiplayer game, the player who just lost the ball is the same one to shoot again.
* ''Kickback'': When a ball goes into one of the outlane instead of draining goes into a kicker that will launch the ball back into play. Their use is limited and has to be earned to be used.
* Various timed rounds (''modes''): For example, if the player hit a specific target three times within the next 20 seconds, they might score several tens of millions of points for it. There are many and various time-related features in pinball. Progression through each mode is frequently accompanied by [[Dot-matrix display|DMD]] animations and sound.
*''Stackability'': To ''stack'' means that the player can run one play mode while another mode is in progress. This strategy usually yields higher scores. A noted example of this is Williams'  ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'', with its Multi-Multiball feature.
* ''Wizard Mode'': This is a special scoring mode, which is reached after meeting certain prerequisites to access this mode (e.g., finishing all modes). This is the pinball equivalent of the final [[boss (video gaming)|boss fight]] in video games. Classic examples of this include Williams' ''[[Black Knight 2000]]'' (The King's Ransom) and Midway's [[Twilight Zone (pinball)|''Twilight Zone'']] (Lost in the Zone). Named after The Who's song "[[Pinball Wizard]]". Wizard modes come in two varieties: goal-oriented types where the player receives a huge number of points after completing a specific task, or multiball modes with 4–6 balls in play, and virtually every feature active. Some games offer both and award the latter as a condition for completing the former.
* ''Ball Saver'': Many modern games include a feature that prevents a player from being disappointed if a ball sent into play quickly drains before substantial points have been added. This player will immediately be given another (free) ball to compensate. Electromechanical games made during the 1970s had a similar Ball Index switch system that returned a drained ball if no points were made.
* ''Slam Tilt'': There are special tilt switches placed on the underside of the playfield, on the coin door, and (on electromechanical games) in the lower cabinet and upper cabinet, designed to prevent cheating. If a player lifts and drops, pounds, or kicks the machine and activates any slam tilt, the entire game ends immediately for all players and may go into a reset/reboot mode. These are also used on video and [[Medal game#Pusher game type|coin pusher]] games. A similar Incline Tilt prevents a player from lifting the front of the cabinet to tip the ball back up the playfield by ending his turn.

In the 1990s, game designers often put hidden, recurring images or references in their games, which became known as [[Easter egg (media)|easter eggs]].<ref>{{cite web |date=October 25, 1999 |title=Pinball Cows and Easter Eggs page |url=http://hem.bredband.net/b257182/Cows&Easter.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124152409/http://hem.bredband.net/b257182/Cows&Easter.htm |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |access-date=October 27, 2012 |publisher=Hem.bredband.net}}</ref> For example, Williams' designers hid cows in the video displays of the games, and [[Pat Lawlor]] placed a red button in the artwork of games he developed. The methods used to find the hidden items usually involved pressing the flipper buttons in a certain order or during specific events. Designers also included hidden messages or in-jokes; one example of this is the phrase "DOHO" sometimes seen quickly displayed on the dot matrix displays, a reference to ''Do''ris ''Ho'', the wife of then-Williams display artist Scott "Matrix" Slomiany. DOHO was popularly thought to be an acronym for ''D''ocumented ''O''ccurrence of a ''H''idden ''O''bject until its true meaning was revealed in a ''[[PinGame Journal]]'' article on the subject.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bucher|first=Matthias|title=DOHO: Solving A Pinball Mystery|journal=PinGame Journal|date=March 2004|issue=103|pages=6–7}}</ref> The game ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation (pinball)|Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' went so far as to embed a hidden ''[[Breakout (video game)|Breakout]]''-like game, available only after a complex sequence of events had been accomplished during the game.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sullivan|first=Dwight|title=Hidden Brick Game in ST:TNG|journal=PinGame Journal|date=March 2004|issue=103|pages=8–10}}</ref>