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Gottlieb: Bronco by David Gersic <dgersic @ niu.edu> Version 1.0 May 1999 Notes and Disclaimers This rule compilation and tips sheet is, to the extent possible (in light of the subject matter being the property of D. Gottlieb and Co. and/or Mondial Distributing) freeware. It can be modified, updated, or revised, provided only that credit to the original author(s) remains intact. It can be published or otherwise distributed, provided only that such distribution is effectively free. Bronco the pinball machine is the property of D. Gottlieb and Co., and a trademark of the licensor. The author disclaims all interest in any trademarks or other intellectual property referenced herein. Playfield Layout Described from the flippers, and going around the playfield more or less clockwise.
Rules There are only a two main goals, completing the A, B, and C rollovers and completing the three drop targets. There are three secondary goals, collecting the Extra Ball, maximizing the Bonus count, and collecting the Special. A-B-C Rollovers Roll the ball over the rollover switches marked with "A", "B", and "C" lamps. Lit letters have not been collected yet. When complete, the end of ball Bonus is doubled (2X for most balls, but 4X for the last ball). Completing the A-B-C Rollovers is one of two requirements for lighting Special on the A Rollover lane. Knocking down all three drop targets lights the Extra Ball feature, but only "sometimes". There are two Extra Ball lights on the playfield, at the Left Ball Kickout Rollover, and one at the Right Ball Kickout Rollover. Only one can be lit at a time, and the Alternating Relay is used to toggle between them. An additional wrinkle is imposed though, the Extra Ball is only lit for certain Bonus Lights. As the bonus advances, if the three drop targets are all down, the Extra Ball light will come on and go off, and will cycle from side to side, so the game instruction card describes it as being lit "occasionally". In addition to this, collecting the lit Extra Ball from the side rollovers is not an easy shot. This limits the number of Extra Balls collected by players. Dropping all three drop targets is the second requirement for lighting the Special. Extra Ball vs. Bonus
Once all three drop targets are down, and the A-B-C Rollovers are complete, Special lights at the A Rollover. It remains lit, and can be collected multiple times, until the end of the current ball in play. There are no direct shots at the rollover lane, though, so it is hard to collect and rare to collect more than once. Assuming that the player does not Tilt the game, when the ball drains, the current Bonus amount shown by the playfield Bonus Lights will be added to the current player's score. If the A-B-C Rollover sequence has been completed, the Bonus will be multiplied by 2. If the game is on the last ball (ball 3 or 5, depending on Operator setting), the Bonus will be multiplied by 2. The maximum Bonus is 15,000 (10,000 and 5,000 lights lit), and the maximum multiplier is 4X (2X for being on last ball, 2X for completing A-B-C), for a grand total of 60,000 points. On a game that rolls over at 100,000, a 60,000 point bonus is obviously significant. The Middle Pop Bumper is used to fire the Alternating Relay. Depending on Operator settings the game can use this to make things slightly harder on the player. The Alternating Relay moves the Extra Ball, when lit, from side to side, and moves the lit Spots from Left to Right. Strategy Get the Drop Targets to light the Extra Ball. Get the Extra Ball. Then get the bonus multiplier via the A-B-C Rollovers. Then hit the Left and Right saucers (whichever one has the Spots currently lit) to run the Bonus up. Note that the Extra Ball is NOT lit when the Bonus is up to 15,000, so you must collect the Extra Ball before maximizing the Bonus. Try to get the playfield Special if possible, but since there is no way to shoot for it directly, ignore it. Being an electromechanical game, Bronco has several adjustment plugs that the operator can use to tune the game play to the location. The options are: Gameplay 3 balls per game or 5 balls per game. When set for 3 balls per game, the Spot lights are lit on both sides simultaneously and do not alternate, and there are more chances to light Extra Ball. Extra Ball : Conservative or Liberal. When set for Liberal, the Extra Ball lights are both lit simultaneously and do not alternate from side to side. Special options are Replay or Extra Ball. Earnings There is a small stepper unit that counts down from 90 to 00, stepping one time each time the Middle Pop Bumper is hit. This is used to compare against the last two digits of the players' scores at the end of the game. End of game Match can be enabled or disabled. Match awards "Special". It is possible to set the game for Match and Special = Extra Ball, but in this case the game awards nothing if the player matches. Tilt Penalty = Ball in Play. Pricing - how many coins and how many credits per coin(s). Settings Here are the settings I use on mine: I also set the game up for optional free play by adding an SPST switch to the Credit Unit to jumper the switch that lets the game know that there are credits on the game to be permanently closed. By flipping the switch, the game reverts to normal use of the Credit Unit. |
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