One thing that many folks don't know (or remember) about "3D Pinball - Space Cadet" is that the version found bundled with Windows is a demo of sorts. The full version can be found on a piece of software called "Full Tilt! Pinball".
While the common idea of a demo is a trimmed-down version of a piece of software, with limited features, that's not how it ended up being with "Space Cadet". The main differences between the Windows and "Full Tilt!" versions are rooted in the rules. This is most apparent with the inclusion of a multiball mode tied to the Wormhole Scoops. This presents a problem, as which version of the rules "Mission: Space Cadet" uses needs to be determined. Before we make that decision, we need to look at how code/programming of a pinball machine has been implemented over the history of the game.
Back in the days before solid-state machines, there was little variation in the rules for a pinball machine. Things, such as the number of players, whether a game can award extra balls instead of replays (known as add-a-ball), were baked into a particular title. For example; to change a game from a 2-player to 4-player maximum, a new title would be built, incorporating the assemblies needed to handle the additional players. Other settings, such as the score(s) needed to get a replay (or extra ball), or coins per play, were handled by the operator moving the proper plug to a socket corresponding to the desired setting.
With the advent of solid-state circuitry (approx. 1980), some settings were stored in the system's RAM, but many settings remained under the purview of physical switches. A classic example would be with Bally's "-35" (commonly called 'Dash 35') platform. Looking at the settings for Bally's "Dolly Parton", we see that settings such as the game being Replay/Add-A-Ball and coins-per-play are still controlled by physical switches on the MPU, but the scores to achieve a Replay/Add-A-Ball, have been moved to being stored the game's RAM.
As solid-state technology improves, all settings move to being stored in a game's RAM. The popular "WPC" platform by Williams allows for all settings to be adjusted through various menus; with each category (Pricing, Rules, Game Features, etc.) being its own sub-menu, to make finding the setting you'd want to adjust easier.
Eventually, some games allowed for players to select how they would like to play the game, such as with Data East's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", allowing players to decide what music they would like to listen to over the course of the gameplay. Other games would also introduce an option for each player to decide the difficulty they would like to play at, this can be seen with SEGA's "Batman Forever" machine, where each player can choose between the standard ruleset, or an easier "novice" ruleset.
Considering all these various methods for handling different sets of rules for a pinball machine, the time has come to turn our focus once again to how changing the rules/code would be implemented in "Mission: Space Cadet"...
Originally, I only wanted to include the ruleset of the demo version of "Space Cadet", as that is the version most people would be familiar with. As I thought about it; not including the 'complete' version of the "Space Cadet" ruleset would be a slight to all the work that Maxis/Cinematronics did to bring this machine to life. Having a multiball mode also can make a pinball machine's playfield feel smaller, as the extra balls in play can interfere with the movements of the other pinballs.
At this time, the current plan is to allow each player to decide which set of rules they would like to use; "Demo" or "Complete", with the biggest difference being the inclusion of the Wormhole multiball. By handling the rules selection in this way, each player is allowed to have an experience as close to whichever version of "Space Cadet" they are most familiar with.
If you'd like to contribute to the "Mission: Space Cadet" project, and get your name in the credits, consider contributing to the project's Ko-Fi here; as well as consider sharing this blog with folks you know.
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