Gottlieb's Devil's Dare Rulesheet
by Peter Hall
e-mail: storks_nest_pins@hotmail.com
This is a text version of this rulesheet. A HTML version plus
other goodies can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Jetty/8726/
Gottlieb released Devil's Dare in August 1982 as the first in their
System 80A Series, and introducing enhanced U2 and U3 ROM memory chips
offering improved bookkeeping and self-test capabilities, new 7-digit
displays, and more coin/credit combinations. The System 80A U2 and U3
ROMs were now socketed on the CPU board, making for easy exchanges.
Gottlieb however did nothing to rectify the inherent design faults of the
earlier System 80 power supply and driver boards for the System 80A
games.
Devil's Dare was designed by Tom Sczfransky (his only pinball according
to the IPD), and features the devilish artwork of Doug Watson (he of BK,
BK2K, T2, IJ, F-14 fame) and David Moore, in their only pin
collaboration. The playfield features 3 pop bumpers, 2 banks of 4 and 2
banks of 2 spot targets, 2 banks of 5 and 1 bank of 3 drop-targets, 2
spinning targets, 1 roll-under, 6 kicking rubbers, ball-saver in left
outlane, Captive "Pit" and "Cave", 3 flippers (third is at the top of the
playfield). The gameplay features 2 and 3 ball multi-ball, and
"Multi-mode" - an extra round of multi-ball awarded for scoring 50'000 or
70'000 points during 2 or 3-ball multi-ball.
Devil's Dare had the sound/speech board fitted, however it seems that
like Black Hole, many games (particularly exported games) had the sound
only board. The sound only version unfortunately makes cheesy and quite
annoying sounds like a "slot-machine", whilst the devilish commands given
by a talker are:
*BALL SAVE - when Ball Save is initiated.
*SHOOT SPOT TARGETS - at random after 3 targets of either bank have
been lit.
*YOU"RE CLOSE - at random after 40'000 or 60'000 points have been
scored on the multi-mode bonus display.
*MULTI-MODE ACHIEVED - after Multi-mode has been earned.
*SHOOT CAPTIVE CAVE - at random after its lamp is lip or after the
outside return has been activated.
*SHOOT CAPTIVE PIT - at random after its lamp is lit.
*FIRE - when a ball is released to the shooter.
Gottlieb produced 3'832 Devil's Dare pins but, due to the high percentage
that were exported, it is considered to be something of a rarity in the
USA.
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The Devil Rules!
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GAME OBJECTIVES: Ah yes, that's a good question and I haven't yet had
much chance to work out the answer yet! Anyway hitting the drop and spot
targets all over the playfield seems to be fairly crucial, followed by
loading balls into the "Captive Pit" and "Captive Cave" for multi-ball.
Naturally when you get round to it, keeping multi-ball going for as long
as possible and hitting spot and drop targets are a good idea!
Top Red Spot Targets (4)
Location: upper left of playfield, adjacent to "Captive Pit" exit gate
Scoring: 500 when unlit or flashing, 2000 when lit
Extra: completing the sequence twice light the red Special lamp in the
right outlane, and enables Ball Save
Red Drop Targets (3)
Location: upper right of playfield, in path of ball exiting shooter
lane ("skill-shot")
Scoring: 2000 when lit or 300 when unlit
Extra: completing the bank enables the Ball Save, and lights the inside
return lanes
Yellow Spot Targets (2)
Location: Top right corner of playfield above upper flipper
Scoring: info to follow
Extra: info to follow
Right Red Spot Targets (4)
Location: right centre of playfield
Scoring: 500 when unlit or flashing, 2000 when lit
Extra: completing the sequence once (3-ball) or twice (5-ball) enables
Ball Save
Central Drop Targets (5)
Location: centre of playfield facing flippers
Scoring: 2000 when lit or 300 when unlit
Extra: completing the bank enables the Ball Save, and enables "Capture
Cave"
Left Drop Targets (5)
Location: left centre of playfield
Scoring: 2000 when lit or 300 when unlit
Extra: completing the bank enables the Ball Save, and enables "Capture
Pit" after a ball has been captured in "Captive Cave"
Left Yellow Spot Targets (2)
Location: left of playfield above out and return lanes
Scoring: 2000
Extra: upper lights right return lanes and lower lights left return
lanes
Pop-bumpers (3)
Location: triangular setting in upper centre of playfield
Scoring: 300 when unlit and 3000 when lit (3-ball), or 100 when unlit
and 1000 when lit (5-ball)
Left Spinning Target
Location: at entrance to "Captive Pit", above left bank of drop targets
Scoring: 300 when unlit, 2000 when lit
Extra: adds bonus
Right Spinning Target
Location: right of playfield, below exit from plunger lane
Scoring: 300 when unlit, 2000 when lit
Extra: adds bonus
Captive Cave
Location: Left side of playfield, behind left drop target bank
Scoring: 5000
Extra: Capture enabled when lit
Captive Pit
Location: Left side of playfield, entrance via left spinning target
Scoring: 5000
Extra: Capture enabled when lit
Inside Return Lanes (2)
Location: left and right at bottom of playfield, leading to flippers
Scoring: 500 when unlit, 3000 when lit
Extra: when lit, right lane lights left spinner for one shot and left
lane lights right spinner for one shot
Outside Return Lanes (2)
Location: left and right at bottom of playfield, leading to flippers
Scoring: 500 when unlit, 3000 when lit
Extra: when lit, left lane lights rollunder for one shot and right lane
lights Capture Ball for one shot - the ball landing in "Capture Cave"
is captured for multi-ball play
Ten Point Switch
Location: island to right of lower right pop bumper
Scoring: 10 points per hit
Kicking Rubbers (4)
Location: right of playfield beneath bank of 4 red spot targets and
above right out and return lanes; slingshots left and right of bottom of
playfield above flippers; top left of playfield to left of left pop
bumper.
Scoring: 30 points per hit
BONUS
Regular bonus accumulated during play is shown on the bonus display. When
the ball drains, the player receives the bonus x multiplier.
SPECIAL
Completing the top 4 red spot targets twice lights the red Special lamp
in the right outlane.
EXTRA BALL
Completing the 4 red spot targets, right centre of the playfield, once
(3-ball play) or twice (5-ball play) lights the pink Extra Ball lamp in
the entrance to the central island, and making the rollunder gate at its
exit awards the Extra Ball
BALL SAVE
Ball Save is enabled by:
-completing the top spot target sequence twice
-completing any drop target bank
-completing the 4 red spot targets, right center of the playfield,
once (3-ball play) or twice (5-ball play)
MULTI-BALL
Completing the centre drop target bank lights the Captive Cave for
capture. Completing the left drop target bank lights the Captive Pit for
capture, after a ball has been captured in the Captive Cave. After a ball
has been captured in the Captive Pit, the third ball hitting any switch
releases the 2 captive balls for 3-ball multi-ball play.
After capturing a ball in the Captive Cave due to any one of the
multi-ball return lanes, hitting any switch releases the ball for 2-ball
multi-ball play.
During multi-ball play, the multi-mode bonus display starts to
accumulate points at the rate 1000x the number of balls in play whilst at
least 2 balls are in play on the drop targets and red spot targets (2000
if 2-ball and 3000 if 3-ball).
At the end of multi-ball play, the player receives the bonus x
multiplier and if the multi-mode level has not been reached the player
receives the 6th player score times 1x.
MULTI-MODE
If the multi-mode levels are reached (50'000 for 2-ball and 70'000 for
3-ball) then the player receives 2- or 3-ball multi-ball for a period of
time based on the 6th player display value.
During play in multi-mode, the 6th player display decrements at a
slower rate when more balls are in play. As balls are lost, the display
decrements faster. As the display decrements, the player receives these
decremental units as score.
When the multi-ball bonus reaches zero, the playfield goes dead and
waits for the balls to drain. At this time the ball is over and player
advances unless the player shooting had previously won an Extra Ball, in
which case he shoots again.
MULTIPLIERS
Completing the 3 drop target bank and either of the 5 drop target banks
awards the 2x multiplier.
Completing the 3 and both 5 drop target banks awards the 3x multiplier.
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In league with the Devil!
-------------------------
The Swiss Pinball Site (located at http://www.bigbox.ch/pinball) is
rarely updated, but it was here that I read in early April '99 of a
Devil's Dare for sale near to Basel. Appropriately enough, the guy
selling it has a nice family name that in English means Strangler".
Anyway, Thomas the Strangler turned out to be a very nice man who mixes
dance music and has 8'000 LPs and a very nicely equipped home studio.
The Devil's Dare he was selling was definitely not as sophisticated -
and it didn't sound anywhere near as good as his music - it hummed and
buzzed. Nothing electronic was burnt out or corroded though and, besides
a motley assortment of drop-targets, some wear above the return lanes
and some flaking cabinet paint, the pin was in excellent condition. I
wasn't however that captivated so I only offered 250 francs. He wanted
more and I went up to 300, my final offer and he accepted. So on the
snowy night of April 15 I came to be in league with the Devil.
I've cleaned the playfield topside, modified the old bad design PBDBs
(why were they these?") and cleaned the target mechs but nothing else.
Distracted by the imminent arrival of my baby daughter! Early plays did
not endear me to the game though, especially as the humming got worse and
it started to reset every 5 seconds...bahh! I also managed to break a
drop target with a shot to the central bank.........aha, that's why
there's an assortment of targets! The legs were set up so that the
playfield was as steep as the north-face of the Eiger but the central
targets still took a pasting from any direct shot - so I tried to avoid
that..........unfortunately it's a key part of the gameplay. Really
frustrating - the pin had got worse since I bought it.
Then June - the rain rained down like RAIN most days, Ruby arived and the
Devil in the cellar was ready to be beat. First I downgraded him from
A-20095 Super flipper coils to regular A-17875 coils. Now the playfield
has a more moderate slope, helping it to live for an age if not all
eternity, and I can play all shots without smashing targets and other
plastics to hell. Things are looking up!
The last trick was the sound and resetting. I checked the capacitor on
the bottom power board - it read 25V AC across the contacts, but the
bridge rectifer was fine. Dead capacitor! The 5V logic supply was not
stable. Once replaced the game was perfect! Oh joy! Simple fault to find
and fix in the end but major heartache getting there. Now I can finish
cleaning it up and try to work out how to play the thing!
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Devil's Dare was featured (together with the System 80 pin, James Bond
007) on a 1997 calendar entitled "Cats at Work" from the Abbeville
Publishing Group - The picture was on the cover and the month of June.
Thanks to Bruce Clark in North Wales, PA for the scan.
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Text © Peter Hall 1999.
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