Poll: Video links in wiki rulesheets

General
1

UPDATE: Here’s a poll, please choose which icon you would like to see in wiki rulesheets to indicate a link to an example video. For examples on how each of them would look like in an actual rulesheet, please see the posts below.

0 voters

[original post starts here]

I was wondering what you guys think about adding timestamped video links to wiki rulesheets? I was recently watching Karl play a perfect Ambush on Mando in his stream, and just yesterday I watched Rayday play a perfect Rescue the Princes on Star Wars in the NWPC finals, and I was thinking, this sort of thing should be part of a modern rulesheet.

It’s important this doesn’t introduce any clutter to the rulesheets, so the format I’m proposing is a single Unicode play icon (:arrow_forward:, U+25B6) at the end of a mode/feature description that’s linked to a timestamped video, which should be absolutely focussed on that mode/feature and not have a bunch of other stuff going on.

I’m not proposing we go back and add videos to every mode in every rulesheet, I just want to provide a standardized way to include video examples where it makes sense. Thoughts? Any reasons why this might be a bad idea? @CaptainBZarre?

EDIT: Turns out that once posted, the forum software replaces the unobtrusive Unicode character shown in the post preview with its own much larger and orange icon. Testing another character: ▸, okay this one is not getting replaced, but it’s a bit on othe small side. Thoughts?

Here are two examples of how this would look and work in an actual rulesheet:

Ambush

If no other modes are running and the U-Turn (Pro) / right scoop (Prem / LE) has been shot, all six major shots might light for about 5 seconds; two out of the six shots will start Ambush, while the others will escape and score a bonus of 2 million. On competition settings, the second shot will always start the mode. After the first Ambush has been played, the number of lit shots that might start the mode will decrease to 5.

This is a unique hurry-up mode that starts with the U-turn / reverse scoop lit red to stop the value counting down on the display, and all other shots lit in white to add a few seconds of time and increase the displayed value. Shooting the U-turn / reverse scoop locks in the value, and lights all shots blue (except for the U-turn and right ramp) to add to the value further and return to the white stage to potentially increase the ambush value further again. Shooting the right ramp when all shots are lit blue will end the mode and award the value, meaning the mode can go on for as long as you like if you continuously increase the value.

Bonus awards are given out if the player pushes their luck and continues the Ambush instead of ending it:

With all multipliers active, the max Ambush value is 720M! :arrow_forward:

Planet Modes:

Four shots on the playfield correspond to different planets; shoot any of the four shots three times each to qualify the modes for the shot’s corresponding planet. Each planet has up to three modes (which vary depending on the selected character), and completing all of them will qualify the planet’s final multiball mode. Each planet qualifying shot scores points that seem to be based on the number of modes available.

  • Death Star: Shoot the left mini-loop to light these modes.
    • I: Rescue the Princess - Complete 4 hurry-up shots at the left orbit, both sides of the mini-loop, and the right ramp. Base value of the first hurry-up is 2M and reach subsequent hurry-up is worth the (multiplied) value of the previous plus 2M. Caps at 25M. :arrow_forward:
    • II: Escape the Death Star - Shoot 3 mini-loops, then shoot an orbit before the timer runs out to escape. If the timer runs out on the orbit shot, you will have to shoot the three inner loops again.
      • II (as Han Solo) - Pilot the Millennium Falcon by shooting both mini-loops or both orbits once, then shoot the left ramp to escape.
3 Likes
2

and then with code updates do you remove older videos? have to post more then one to over older vs newer code?

3

That’s not an issue that’s specific to video examples. Rulesheets contain outdated information because of code updates all the time. If somebody updates the text of the rulesheet because a mode has changed, they are free to remove the video if it doesn’t make sense anymore.

2 Likes
4

Seems like a fine idea to me.

5

Sounds good to me!

6

Just testing how this would look with the smaller Unicode character, since I find that big orange play button a bit distracting …

EDIT: I think that’s better, I’d rather people don’t realize it’s there than people getting distracted from getting the info they want.

Ambush

If no other modes are running and the U-Turn (Pro) / right scoop (Prem / LE) has been shot, all six major shots might light for about 5 seconds; two out of the six shots will start Ambush, while the others will escape and score a bonus of 2 million. On competition settings, the second shot will always start the mode. After the first Ambush has been played, the number of lit shots that might start the mode will decrease to 5.

This is a unique hurry-up mode that starts with the U-turn / reverse scoop lit red to stop the value counting down on the display, and all other shots lit in white to add a few seconds of time and increase the displayed value. Shooting the U-turn / reverse scoop locks in the value, and lights all shots blue (except for the U-turn and right ramp) to add to the value further and return to the white stage to potentially increase the ambush value further again. Shooting the right ramp when all shots are lit blue will end the mode and award the value, meaning the mode can go on for as long as you like if you continuously increase the value.

Bonus awards are given out if the player pushes their luck and continues the Ambush instead of ending it:

With all multipliers active, the max Ambush value is 720M! ▸

Planet Modes:

Four shots on the playfield correspond to different planets; shoot any of the four shots three times each to qualify the modes for the shot’s corresponding planet. Each planet has up to three modes (which vary depending on the selected character), and completing all of them will qualify the planet’s final multiball mode. Each planet qualifying shot scores points that seem to be based on the number of modes available.

  • Death Star: Shoot the left mini-loop to light these modes.
    • I: Rescue the Princess - Complete 4 hurry-up shots at the left orbit, both sides of the mini-loop, and the right ramp. Base value of the first hurry-up is 2M and reach subsequent hurry-up is worth the (multiplied) value of the previous plus 2M. Caps at 25M. ▸
    • II: Escape the Death Star - Shoot 3 mini-loops, then shoot an orbit before the timer runs out to escape. If the timer runs out on the orbit shot, you will have to shoot the three inner loops again.
      • II (as Han Solo) - Pilot the Millennium Falcon by shooting both mini-loops or both orbits once, then shoot the left ramp to escape.
7

I like this idea overall, but that small arrow is going to be easy to not notice. Here are a few other options:

  • Video camera :video_camera:
  • Film frames :film_strip:
  • Movie camera :movie_camera:
  • Clapper board :clapper:
  • VHS :vhs:

I think the movie camera looks the best, but I also like the big arrow :arrow_forward:.

1 Like
8

I’ll add a poll to the original post and leave it open for some time to see what people think. To me, the smaller and the less distracting, the better, but maybe I’m in the minority here, let’s figure this out in the poll. Whatever the outcome, the most important thing is probably that this is done consistently across rulesheets.

Here’s the example again, this time with the movie camera icon:

Ambush

If no other modes are running and the U-Turn (Pro) / right scoop (Prem / LE) has been shot, all six major shots might light for about 5 seconds; two out of the six shots will start Ambush, while the others will escape and score a bonus of 2 million. On competition settings, the second shot will always start the mode. After the first Ambush has been played, the number of lit shots that might start the mode will decrease to 5.

This is a unique hurry-up mode that starts with the U-turn / reverse scoop lit red to stop the value counting down on the display, and all other shots lit in white to add a few seconds of time and increase the displayed value. Shooting the U-turn / reverse scoop locks in the value, and lights all shots blue (except for the U-turn and right ramp) to add to the value further and return to the white stage to potentially increase the ambush value further again. Shooting the right ramp when all shots are lit blue will end the mode and award the value, meaning the mode can go on for as long as you like if you continuously increase the value.

Bonus awards are given out if the player pushes their luck and continues the Ambush instead of ending it:

With all multipliers active, the max Ambush value is 720M! :movie_camera:

Planet Modes:

Four shots on the playfield correspond to different planets; shoot any of the four shots three times each to qualify the modes for the shot’s corresponding planet. Each planet has up to three modes (which vary depending on the selected character), and completing all of them will qualify the planet’s final multiball mode. Each planet qualifying shot scores points that seem to be based on the number of modes available.

  • Death Star: Shoot the left mini-loop to light these modes.
    • I: Rescue the Princess - Complete 4 hurry-up shots at the left orbit, both sides of the mini-loop, and the right ramp. Base value of the first hurry-up is 2M and reach subsequent hurry-up is worth the (multiplied) value of the previous plus 2M. Caps at 25M. :movie_camera:
    • II: Escape the Death Star - Shoot 3 mini-loops, then shoot an orbit before the timer runs out to escape. If the timer runs out on the orbit shot, you will have to shoot the three inner loops again.
      • II (as Han Solo) - Pilot the Millennium Falcon by shooting both mini-loops or both orbits once, then shoot the left ramp to escape.
9

I think the trend is pretty clear, and there probably isn’t going to be enough future interest in this thread to change the outcome, so :arrow_forward: it is. I’m going to edit the two examples I’ve been using here into the actual rulesheets and hope I’m not going to be the only one who’s ever going to add video examples to rulesheets.

One more thing I forgot to mention, I’ve been contemplating whether to use pinballvideos links or YouTube links for this. Both can be timestamped, and pinballvideos is probably the better entry point to start exploring more about the game in question. Nevertheless, I think YouTube links are the better choice, because then devices other than computers are able to use their own native apps.

2 Likes