Part 8: Bonus Update II: Let's Check Out Safe Cracker: The Pinball

Bonus Update II - Let's Check Out Safe Cracker: The Pinball



Safe Cracker (the space is important) is a pinball released by Williams/Midway/Bally in 1996, and it's quite an interesting one. It has not one, not two, not three, but four different big changes from the standard pinball of the time:

1) The machine is somewhat smaller compared to the standard size, allowing it to fit in more places.
2) The gameplay subverts the standard 3-ball rule and instead goes for extended single ball play. More on this later.
3) The main object of this game is the board game you can see on the backglass. More on this later as well.
4) You can win tokens in this game. The idea behind this was that operators could give prizes/drinks/whatnot in exchange for tokens, but the whole thing never really came to fruition, and the Token-Pin line was born and died with Safe Cracker.

It was a rather revolutionary concept for the time, but it didn't catch on - only small parts of the design would actually make their way into new tables by designer legend Pat Lawlor (the board game concept and some playfield objects would make a return in the Monopoly pinball machine), and a lot of things were never used again.

Now, before we take a look at the playfield layout, you should take a look at this pretty sweet promo video that gives you a good idea of what Williams/Midway/Bally were going for when they made this machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF72zHNhcfM

With that, let's take a look at what we'll be exploring today, thanks to Visual Pinball-vision:



There's a lot to take in, so let's go over this bit by bit:



A: A standard set of A-B-C rollover switches, with the standard ability to switch the lit ones around with the flippers. Light all three to add five minutes to the clock.
B: Two sets of three drop targets. Drop all three on either side to light another bank entrance.
C: A sinkhole. If the roof bank entrance is lit, this will bring you to the board game.
D: Three pop bumpers. These also add some time to the clock. Lit ones add more than unlit ones, and bumpers can be lit by completing drop target banks.



E: Another set of drop targets that light a bank entrance.
F: Two of the A-L-A-R-M targets. Light all five to disable a vault alarm (this will help in the board game).



G: The rulesheet I'm using for auxiliary research calls this the "Big-Kick". I wonder if that's trademarked. Anyway, a ball that lands in here scores a random Getaway value and is kicked back into play into the top rollovers.
H: Another set of drop targets. Same procedure applies here, although this set can also drop other targets.
I: This is simply known as the Wheel. Spinning it during regular gameplay adds time to the clock (more time is added when the wheel is lit) and changes the wheel award.
J: Two of the A-L-A-R-M targets. Refer to the above part.
K: The "sliding target". You have to hit this one with some decent force to get it all the way back and hit the hole behind it, which scores the Manhole Awards.



L: The ramp. This awards donuts during regular play, and this is also where balls are locked and jackpots are scored.
M: The main entrance scoop. This collects wheel awards and brings you to the board game, depending on what is lit.
N: The last A-L-A-R-M target. Third verse, same as the first.



Finally, we have the most important part of the pinball playfield - the clock. As long as this clock is still ticking, you can lose your ball and you'll get it back. Once that clock hits zero, though, you better watch out, because losing your ball will immediately end your game.



And then, of course, we have the most important part of the entire game - the board game field. You can see the three entrances around the outsides and the vault in the middle.

That's the basic setup for the table, but that's only the beginning. Next, the collection of awards we can get in this game:

Wheel Awards:

These can be scored from the main entrance. The possible awards are as follows:

Light Locks: Immediately lights the locks at the left ramp.
Disable Computer: Disables the CANDY 2000 security system for a short time, which means the clock is stopped. If the clock had previously hit zero, you'll still be safe for the duration of this time.
Deposit Window: A mystery award. Can give you free time or a token amongst other things.
Call Guard: This calls the guard on rounds, which means he either opens the door for you (free pass to the board game) or just scores points.

Manhole Awards:

These are scored from the sliding target. Possible awards are as follows:

ATM Card: Raises the cash awards given from the "$" fields on the board game.
Note To Teller: Bypasses the teller trap on the board game.
Explosives: Starts a frenzy scoring mode where the drop targets score big points.
Safe Number: Lights a letter in V-A-U-L-T. Completing V-A-U-L-T makes the next successful break-in to the vault award Token Multiball instead of Vault Multiball. The letters carry over from game to game.
Lite Outlanes: This lights the outlanes. Hitting a lit one will give you extra time, so it basically acts as a death save if the clock's already on zero.

And now, the main event:

The Board Game:

Getting in and the basics: There are three different entrances to the bank, which all have to be lit separately. There's the roof (reached by the sinkhole by the bumpers), the main entrance (reached by the main entrance scoop) and the cellar entrance (reached by the hole behind the sliding target). Regardless of which entrance you take, you start the board game by getting a spinning dial presented to you on the display. You can barely make out which number it is, and you're given the option to stop it quickly or slowly, but getting the timing right takes some practice, and every once in a while the game just seems to fuck you over regardless. Anyway, after your first spin, the guard is alerted to your presence. After your second spin and every other one after that, the guard will roll a die and chase after you. If he catches up to you, you're thrown out of the board game.

Note: For an added "fuck you", there's a setting in the ROM that makes the player's roll completely random.

Now, the board game has a bunch of different fields, and all of them do something different, so let's clear that up a bit:

Dollar sign: Adds money to the player's stash. This value is raised by the number of ATM cards you collected.
Question mark: Gives you five different items, and you select one with a randomly moving box. Awards - amongst others - are stash money, dog biscuits, donuts, a key to unlock a gate, a free token, moving the player forwards or a cop backwards, and a keg of TNT that starts TNT Multiball (more on that later).
Bribe spot: Here a guard asks you for about half your money. You can either accept or try to haggle him down. If you try to haggle down too much, he just arrests you and that throws you out of the board game.
Candy 2000: Here randomized letter combinations appear on the screen. Picking certain ones gives you awards like keys and dog biscuits.
CyberDog: On this field, the ball is kicked out and you have fifteen seconds to get it back into any entrance. Succeed, and the board game continues. Fail, and the board game is over. If you have a dog biscuit, this is skipped.
Alarm: Here, the ball is kicked out and you have to get it into the cellar entrance behind the sliding target to continue playing - however, you will start from the cellar entrance, not where you left off. If you disabled the alarm on the pinball field, then this is skipped.
Gate: These fields are lit if the gate is locked. Unlocking these gates during the pinball game is important to making it into the vault quickly, and the open gates will determine the path your player will take. If you land on the space, you play a game on the display where you pick a door - if it's closed, you get thrown out, if it's open, the board game continues.
Teller: This gives you either an award or a bomb that ends the board game. The note from the manhole awards ensures an award.
Double arrow: Starts "Run N' Hide", where the player's light bounces around on the board. Stop the light with the flippers, then get the event for the field you landed on.
Number sign: Gives you 100K for your stash.
Exclamation point: Ends the board game.
The Vault: Once you hit the vault, you get one token and get to play a multiball. If V-A-U-L-T is spelled, you play Token Multiball, otherwise, you play Vault Multiball. And speaking of those...

Multiball Modes:

There are four multiballs in this game, although one of them is a bit special.

TNT Multiball: This is a frenzy akin to the manhole award, except completing drop banks gives you time, even if the clock hit zero, and it's a multiball.
Vault Multiball: This multiball's jackpot is set to the stash you accumulated during the board game, is scored by hitting the ramp, and is relit by hitting the wheel.
Token Multiball: This works similar to Vault Multiball, except it's not points you get for jackpots, but tokens - unless the tokens allocated for the jackpots run out, then you get points.

And then there's the special last multiball - Assault on the Vault. This is actually a special mode you get by putting one of the tokens you earned back into the machine and then starting a game.

Assault on the Vault is a timed multiball mode where the different drop target banks advance the paths towards the vault on the board game. You can also score regular jackpots like in Vault Multiball, and everything scored counts towards the end of game bonus that gets added to your score.

And that's a basic rundown for how to play Safe Cracker! If you can find one, give it a shot - it's a really interesting game, although it can be quite the quarter-muncher.