WHIRLWIND Rulesheet
       by Jim Hoxsey ([email protected]).

Special thanks to Mark Phaedrus ([email protected]).

"Whirlwind", "Multiball" and "Million Plus" are registered trademarks
of Williams Electronic Games, Inc. (C) 1990 Chicago, IL.

NOTE: These rules are compiled from hours on end of continuous play of
"Whirlwind" and are as accurate as possible to the author's best
knowledge.  If there are any discrepancies, please notify the author.

OBJECT OF THE GAME
    To move the storm to your area by hitting various direction
targets.  Lock two balls, and start Multiball by locking a third
and/or hitting the 3-toll ramp.

STARTING THE GAME
    One to four players can play.  New players can enter the game
by inserting coins and pressing START until the end of the first
ball.  After that, pressing START aborts the current game for all
players and begins a new one.

PLUNGER SKILL SHOT
    Shoot the ball from the plunger to hit one or more of the
"FEEL THE POWER" drop targets.  100K for "POWER", 200K for "THE"
and 300K for "FEEL".  Hitting more than one target will add their
values together.

SO YOU MESSED UP...
    A launched ball that scores no points before draining will be
re-served.  This does not apply after locking a ball or if the ball
bounces into the plunger lane.

MOVING THE STORM
    Scattered about the playfield are eight targets.  Two of each: NE
(Northeast), NW (Northwest), SE (Southeast), and SW (Southwest).
These are easily noted by either the letters on them or color: NE/Red,
NW/Yellow, SE/Orange, and SW/Green.  Depending on the difficulty
setting, a target is spotted for the player when he launches his
'first' ball of each ball.  The targets the player must hit are lit on
the compass at the center of the playfield.  Once all these targets
are hit, lock will lite.
    After locking ball 1, the player must hit different targets to
lite lock 2.  After locking ball 2, Multiball will lite.
    The set of targets for the first Multiball can be hit in any
order.  From the second time on, only one direction can be hit at a
time.  Once an orientation has been completed, another will lite.

SKYWAY TOLLS
    Skyway Tolls are cumulative throughout the game.  The number
collected and how are:

    Skyway Ramp -- 1 or 2, depending on status of the "2 Tolls"
lite.

    Cup -- 1.

    3-Toll Ramp -- Of course, 3.

    At the end of a ball, the player will recieve 2K for each
Skyway Toll collected.  No more than 99 Skyway Tolls can be
collected.  If 99 Skyway Tolls are collected, then the player has
their "SKYWAY PAID FOR" and receive 200K (Plus a neat little tune)
each time a ramp is hit.

SKYWAY RAMP(Right)
    This ramp is used to advance Skyway Tolls and lock balls.  Its
entrance can be either open(down) or closed(up).
    When open, the ball will be returned to the left inlane, and
either one or two Skyway Tolls will be collected.  Going through
the left inlane or going up the ramp will briefly lite 2 tolls.
The TORNADO DROP TARGET's value will also increase briefly.  The
point value of this ramp also increases with each successful run.
It starts at 50K and increases by 10K each time up to a maximum of
100K.
    When closed, the ball will land in a cup, 1 Skyway Toll will be
awarded, and the ball will be ejected toward the upper right flipper.
    The ramp's current status depends on a number of things.
Entering the Super Cellar Door (either lit or not lit) will toggle its
status, unless Multiball of either flavor is lit or in progress - in
which case it will remain closed - or if LOCK is lit.
    The ramp will remain open if LOCK is lit in a 1 player game.  In
a 2, 3, or 4 player game, things get a little more complex.  If a
player lites LOCK and the ball she is attempting to lock is less
than or equal to the number of physically locked balls, the ramp will
remain closed.  In this instance, the cup under the ramp acts as the
LOCK.  If the ball she is attempting to lock is greater than the
number of physically locked balls, the ramp will remain open.  This
will physically lock another ball.
    The ramp will be open at the beginning of a player's turn,
unless one of the above rules applies to keep it closed.

3-TOLL RAMP(Left)
    This ramp awards 3 Skyway Tolls, spots a target (if LOCK isn't
lit or Multiball isn't in progress), lites the Super Cellar Door,
awards Million and/or Million Plus, and starts Multiball.  Its value
starts at 50K and increases by 10K each time up to a maximum of 100K.
This ramp returns the ball to a point somewhere near the lower SE
target, usually on the right spinning disk.

SUPER CELLAR DOOR(Yellow light)
    To lite the door temporarily, the ball must traverse the right
inlane.  To lite it permanently (until awarded), the 3-Toll Ramp must
be hit.
    Depending on the difficulty level of your machine, this may or
may not be lit at the beginning of a ball.
    The possible awards are labelled on the backbox just below the
score display.  The value can be changed using the SPINNER located to
the right of the Skyway Ramp.
    Hitting this target will toggle the status of the Skyway Ramp
(see SKYWAY RAMP).  Also, one Cellar Visit will be awarded.
    The seven awards are:

    "LO PRESSURE JETS ALL AT MAXIMUM" -- Will increase the point
value of the Lo Pressure Jets to 5K (flashing).

    "SUPER DOOR SCORE 500,000" -- Increases the player's score by
500K.

    "EXTRA BALL IS LIT" -- Lites the extra ball target.  Only lit
until collected or ball is lost.

    "DROP TARGET AT MAXIMUM" -- Sets the value of the "FEEL THE
POWER" drop targets to 100K.

    "QUICK MULTIBALL IS LIT" -- Lites Quick Multiball.

    "MILLION IS LIT" -- Lites the Million shot.

    "HI PRESSURE JETS ALL AT MAXIMUM" -- Will increase the point
value of the Hi Pressure Jets to 5K (flashing).

    The Super Cellar Door is disabled during Quick Multiball or
Multiball.
    When all seven values have been awarded, all values will flash,
and the Super Cellar Door will lite.  Entering the Super Cellar Door
at this point awards the MEGA DOOR BONUS.  MEGA DOOR BONUS awards all
seven values again as well as 2,000,000 points and lites ONE Special.
    Once the MEGA DOOR BONUS is collected, the Super Cellar Door
will only award Cellar Visits until the current ball ends.

THE CELLAR DOOR(Red light)
    This target is similar to the SUPER CELLAR DOOR, but will not
award anything except a Cellar Visit.  Cellar Visits are worth 5K
each and are cumulative through the entire game.  The point value
is awarded at the end of each ball.  This is where the ball will
come out if the ball enters the CELLAR DOOR or the SUPER CELLAR DOOR.
    It is also used to start Cellar Multiball.  Cellar Multiball is
only possible if Multiball was started, and no Million Plus was
awarded.  Cellar Multiball is basically Multiball with only two balls.
If the CELLAR DOOR or SUPER CELLAR DOOR is hit when the red light is
flashing, Cellar Multiball will begin.

"FEEL THE POWER" DROP TARGET
    These three drop targets are also used for the SKILL SHOT.
Dropping all three of these targets awards the drop value.  It starts
at 50K and increases to 100K in increments of 10K.  Sweeping (hitting
all three in succession) awards 100K + current drop value.  The drop
value can be set to 100K immediately by using the SUPER CELLAR DOOR.

TORNADO DROP TARGET
    This drop target's value varies, depending on trips up the
SKYWAY RAMP and the time between them.  The initial value of this
target varies depending on the difficulty setting.  The values are
50K, 75K, 100K, 150K, LITE QUICK MULTIBALL, and EXTRA BALL.  Each
trip up the Skyway Ramp lites the next highest value all the way to
LITE QUICK MULTIBALL.  Point values can be collected more than
once, but Quick Multiball can only be collected once each time it
is lit.  See EXTRA BALLS to see how to lite the EXTRA BALL target.
    After a certain point, LITE QUICK MULTIBALL can no longer be
lit.
    If no score is lit, the target scores zilch.
    When hit, a tone sounds to give you an idea of the current value.
The higher the tone, the higher the value.

SPINNER
    This is located to the right of the Skyway Ramp.  It changes the
current value of the SUPER CELLAR DOOR.  Each rotation moves the value
1 "box" to the left or right.  Values that have already been awarded
will be skipped.
    The value of the SPINNER is briefly increased after the left
inlane is traversed.

LO/HI PRESSURE JETS
    These bumpers are like any other jet bumpers on most Williams
games.  Their point value is advanced by the platter in front of
the center HI PRESSURE JET.  Hitting this target will advance one
jet bumper.  The values are:

    Unlit -- 1,000
    Lit -- 3,000
    Flashing -- 5,000

    When all bumpers are flashing, the platter is worth 100K.  The
bumpers can also be maxed out with the SUPER CELLAR DOOR.

THE FAN and SPINNING DISKS
    What makes Whirlwind what it is.  They usually are operational at
the same times.  When LOCK of any flavor is lit, or when Multiball of
either kind is in progress.  The fan does nothing to game play, but
the disks will wreak havoc with the ball(s) in play.

QUICK MULTIBALL
    Quick Multiball can be lit from either the TORNADO DROP TARGET or
the SUPER CELLAR DOOR.  It is started by locking a ball in the cup
under the Skyway Ramp when Quick Multiball is lit.  If none or one
ball is physically locked, then a normal Quick Multiball is started:
    During Quick Multiball Unlimited Million is lit.  This continues
until one ball is lost.  Direction targets can still be hit during
Quick Multiball.  The 3-Toll Ramp will award 1,000,000 points, 3
Skyway Tolls, and spot a direction target (if any need be spotted).
    If two balls are physically locked, then normal Multiball will be
started, except 1,000,000 points will be awarded in addition to each
Million Plus.
    After a certain point, Quick Multiball can no longer be lit from
the TORNADO DROP TARGET.

LOCKING A BALL
    This will vary between one and two player games.  In general, a
player must 'lock' two balls before he can start Multiball.  In a two
or more player game, if a player does lock two balls, then fails to
start Multiball, another player may 'steal' those balls with a Quick
Multiball.  Basically, before a player can play Multiball, there must
be two balls physically locked.  Physically locked balls are those
that are sitting in the lock lane on the left hand side of the
machine.
    Locking a ball will advance the Bonus Multiplier.  The Bonus
Multiplier will multiply the Skyway Tolls value at the end of a ball.
The values are 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X+Lite Extra Ball, and 6X+Lite
Special.  The bonus multiplier will not exceed 6X.  A player's
multiplier will never decrease.

"FEEL THE POWER" MULTIBALL
    Multiball is started by locking two balls and then releasing them
with a third.  They can be released two ways, by hitting the 3-Toll
Ramp (which will award 1,000,000 points and three Skyway Tolls), or
locking a ball in the cup.  The latter will only work up to a point,
then Multiball must be started by hitting the 3-Toll Ramp.
    During Multiball Million Plus will be lit.  Hitting the 3-Toll
Ramp will score 2,000,000 points.  This will increase by 1,000,000
points each time to a maximum of 10,000,000 points.  If at least one
Million Plus is collected before loosing two balls, normal play will
resume.  Otherwise, Cellar Multiball will lite.  See CELLAR DOOR(Red
light) for details.

3-WAY COMBO
    Going between the Lo Pressure Jets to the upper right flipper,
around the Hi Pressure Jets and back to the upper right flipper again
and finally up the 3-Toll Ramp scores a 3-Way Combo (plus an awesome
siren).  The 3-Way Combo will score only 250K, as well as the current
value of the 3-Toll Ramp.  All these targets must be hit in order,
with no other targets in between (except the neccessary direction
targets and the spinner).

EXTRA BALLS
    Extra Balls will be awarded by hitting the TORNADO DROP
TARGET when Extra Ball is lit.  There are three ways to lite Extra
Ball:
    Skyway Tolls -- Depending on the setting of your machine, this
can be from 5 Skyway Tolls to 50.  Also, the number of 'stops' that
will lite it can vary.  For instance these can be 8, 35, 50, and 75.
Or 35 and 50.  Use the Instant Info feature to find out how many are
needed.  A tone will sound to let you know that Extra Ball is lit.
It will remain lit until awarded.
    Super Cellar Door -- If the current award is "LITE EXTRA BALL"
then it'll do that.  It will remain lit until awarded or end of
current ball.
    Locking the 5th ball -- Once and only once.  Will remain lit
until awarded.

SPECIALS
    Specials can be collected only from the outlanes.  There are only
two ways to lite Special:
    Mega Door Bonus -- Will only remain lit until awarded or current
ball is lost.
    Locking the 6th ball -- Once and only once.  A tone will let you
know it is lit.  Will remain lit until awarded.
    If only one Special lite is lit, the lit lane will toggle between
left and right outlanes each time a slingshot it hit.

DIFFICULTY SETTINGS
    Look at the TORNADO DROP TARGET's initial value.  The lower it
is, the more difficult the settings are.
    The initial values of the Skyway Ramp and 3-Toll Ramp may vary.

5-BALL MACHINES
    I have no idea what options are changed if set for five balls.
Possibilities are lower bonus values for Skyway Tolls and Cellar
Visits, and more Skyway Tolls required to lite Extra Ball.

MECHANICAL FAILURES
    Skyway Ramp.  It it is left open (down) and will not rise,
Multiball and Quick-Multiball can still be started.  If the CPU sees
three balls in the lock lane, it will start Multiball.  The Skyway
Ramp will only award one Skyway Toll during Multiball of either type,
or when the ramp should be closed during regular play.  You will
notice sometimes that the 2 Toll lamp will not lite when the ball
enters the left inlane.  This means that the ramp should be closed
(raised).  If it is left up and will not lower, don't play.
    TORNADO DROP TARGET.  If Extra Ball is lit, and the TORNADO DROP
TARGET isn't working, the machine will award the EXTRA BALL if there
is a lot of HI PRESSURE JET activity.  The CPU assumes you may have
hit the target during that time.  It may do the same for lite Quick
Multiball.
    Ramp diverter.  If the diverter fails to lock a ball, LOCK will
remain lit.  Repeated attempts may get the diverter to work.  If it
doesn't, I have no idea what happens.
    I've seen some games suddenly launch locked balls during normal
play.  If this happens, LOCK will lite so that you have a chance to
get them back in there.

    Jim Hoxsey ([email protected])
    2nd edition; January 6, 1995

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