Maintainer: Rich Derr <rhd@mcs.net>
He welcomes any additions, corrections, or comments on this rulesheet.
Johnny Mnemonic (JM) is a 4-ball, narrow body game from Williams.
Everything described in this and associated documents is probably (c) 1995 Williams, or possibly someone else. Any rules which I have made up and are not actually part of the game are (c) 1995 Rich Derr.
I have no idea exactly what versions of the game software were used to write this rulesheet, although I can distinguish between three versions, at least.
You may also be interested in reading the rule card on the game, or in finding out who created Johnny Mnemonic. You are probably not interested in the author of this rulesheet.
Thank-yous
Playfield
As always, we start from the drain and go clockwise.
There is a sinkhole in the diverter assembly which kicks the ball straight up to the glove. The glove holds on to the ball, moves, and drops it. When modes are being started, or when a ball reaches the sinkhole when it shouldn't, the glove moves slightly forward and drops it above the rollovers. The primary purpose, however, is locking balls, which is done on the ...
The matrix is in the upper (in both senses) right of the playfield. After taking the high road following the left ramp, we now take the low.
This can be lit by an orange arrow and a white triangle ('Download'). The sign above it can also light up -- not with a coloured bulb as in TAF and TZ, but with a white lamp. It's plenty visible, and fits the theme, I guess. Of course, it's also easy for the operator to not realize it's a lamp instead of G.I.
The center lane leads directly to the VUK in the diverter, but is protected by a large drop target-like thing. I say drop target-like because it is controlled completely through software -- you don't hit it to make it drop. The target lowers when the lane is lit.
This can be lit by an orange arrow and by a white triangle ('Power Down'). It can be lit be a green arrow (Cyberlock). It can be lit for Spinner Millions.
This has three red triangle lights for Yakuza Strike, and can be lit by a white triangle ('N.A.S. Riot').
Miscellaneous Features
Skill Shot
There is a skill shot at the start of each numbered ball and earned extra balls. There is no skill shot following ball savers or locks.
Hit the launch button to plunge the ball. It will be diverted to the
rollovers. The middle lane will be flashing; the flippers move the
flashing light left and right. If the ball goes through the correct
lane, you score 25M x (number of skill shots made),
plus 5 gigabytes.
Plunging the ball scores 123,570 points. I thought you'd
like to know.
Bonus X
Light all three lanes to advance the bonus multiplier. If a skill
shot is made, the lane is not spotted. Move the lights left and right
with the flippers.
The bonus multiplier can also be increased from a matrix award.
If the bonus multiplier was already at 5x,
50M is awarded instead.
In early software versions, there was a potentially
undesired behaviour regarding
the bonus multiplier and hold bonus.
Bumpers
The bumpers score 1,000,000 each in normal play.
The triangle is
such that balls dropping through the middle lane often don't hit any
bumpers.
Loops
The left loop spots letters in Johnny,
and the right loop spots letters in Mnemonic.
Completing Johnny Mnemonic starts
a frenzy: every switch is worth 15,000,000
for 20 seconds.
One of the matrix awards is Super Loops, which makes loops worth
25,000,000 the first time awarded,
50,000,000 the second time, etc.
(I think for the rest of the ball; I saw no timer.)
I infer that the normal value is quite a bit less.
Ramps
Each ramp shot scores 15,000,000.
If a red triangle remains unlit
on the ramp that was shot, one is lit. When all six red lamps -- three
at each ramp -- are lit, Yakuza Strike begins.
Shooting a ramp when a video frame is on the display collects one frame. These are worth points in the bonus count, and at some reflexing number (I've seen seven and eight) an extra ball is lit. It appears that frames are on the display whenever nothing else is -- when no modes or other at all special things (Yakuza Strike, Throwing Spears, Hit Me, Combos, etc.) are happening.
Combos
I'm not sure exactly what makes a combo, but it's probably repeatedly
making shots to the same side of the field, such as right loop -> right
loop -> spinner -> right ramp. (I think that would be three combos.)
Of course, when you're doing this you have no time to look at the
display, so I have no idea how much these are worth or when they are
scored. I have gotten the impression that they are worth a few million
points and a couple gigabytes. I could be confusing that with the
award for hitting the loops themselves, of course. Combos are worth
points in bonus.
Mnemonic Recovery
If this light is flashing when a ball drains down the left side,
another ball is plunged. The plunged ball is not diverted, so it will
come out the left loop fast. Don't watch the display; it's showing
abstract art while your second chance is draining.
This starts the game lit, and once used, is relit by hitting the right standup twice.
Mnemonic Recovery cannot be relit during Yakuza Strike.
Non-exclusive Scoring Modes
After each ramp has been hit three times, Yakuza Strike begins.
During this round all the orange arrow shots plus both ramps are lit.
A timer starts at 60,000,000 and counts down at about
1,000,000/second.
Hit a shot to score the value remaining on the timer. The mode stops
at 25,000,000.
This mode can continue during, and I do believe start during, multiball. If you can hit the sixth ramp and immediately lock the third ball, a billion from Yakuza Strike is not out of the question.
During Yakuza Strike, Bob's Bunker does not give out hints -- it scores the timer and immediately spits out the ball. It does, however, give out the power item award if lit.
Throwing Spears
During most of the game, the left inlane will light Throwing Spears.
To collect the award, shoot either the right ramp or right loop. This
is a timed shot, and there is time to try again if you miss the first
time, but not that much extra. After making the shot or having time
run out, the left inlane relights.
The following are awarded in order every time, and reset upon every drain.
The display doesn't say how many, though.
Again, I don't know how many. I doubt it's 'big'.
When lit, the spinner is worth 1,000,000/spin, instead of
100,000/spin.
A second ball is plunged. The ramps award jackpots of
50,000,000
each, as many times as you can hit them. This continues until you drain
one or both balls.
Now go for those bumper lanes!
I think this actually awards the extra ball, and doesn't just light it. It's one or the other. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a limit on how often you can collect this. (It's no more than once per ball. There may be no other limit other than the overall total extra balls/game adjustment.)
Hit Me
During most of the game, the right inlane lights Hit Me. You have a
short time -- essentially one shot -- to hit the left loop. This is
worth 25,000,000 the first time and 45,000,000
the second time .... I don't know if the value resets
to 25,000,000 every ball or not.
I usually would have rather hit the
left ramp to set up a Throwing Spear shot.
Modes
The center lane starts the game lit for Start Mode. Shooting the ball up that lane will send it to the VUK. The ball is kicked to the glove, which moves forward and drops it above the bumper lanes to start the mode.
Start Mode is re-lit after locking a ball for multiball. If the number of Start Mode shots made is less than the number of locks made in the game, Start Mode is re-lit by shooting Bob's Bunker.
The lit mode moves every couple seconds while Start Mode is lit. This is quite a change from earlier versions, which required that the modes be completed in sequence. All five 'normal' modes must be played before Power Down is lit. After Power Down all modes become unlit, even if the playfield lamps don't immediately reflect this. These modes exclude Start Mode. They do not exclude Yakuza Strike, Throwing Spears, and Hit Me. In early versions they excluded multiball locks, but in the most recent version locks can be lit unless the shot is used by the particular mode. If multiball is started during a mode, the mode may end (if little time remained) or pause and continue as it was when single-ball play resumes.
Scoring and Timing
All modes start with a base score of 30,000,000
and 6 GB.
Score by making shots indicated by lit white triangles.
Except for Upload, modes start with 25 seconds on the timer.
However, after every shot is made the timer resets to
15 seconds
if it had counted down below that. (This makes it very easy to
complete the modes, which is valuable. This latter behaviour
was not present in earlier versions.)
Upload
The left loop, left ramp, right ramp, and right loop are lit.
Shoot them in any order.
The first shot is worth 50,000,000,
the second 70,000,000, the third 90,000,000, and
the fourth 110,000,000. All shots are also worth
6 GB.
The timer for this mode starts at about
306 and counts down at about 15/second.
Every other mode has a
25 second timer, so I'd bet this one does too, even though
you can't read it.
Cartoon Hero
The left ramp is lit. After that shot is made, the right loop is
lit. The right ramp and left loop follow.
The first shot is worth 50,000,000,
the second 70,000,000, the third 90,000,000, and
the fourth 110,000,000. All shots are also worth
6 GB.
If you don't like seeing violence in pinball, don't watch the display after shooting the right ramp! (Right loop in early versions.)
Riot
This is a bumper mode, unlike the others. Bumpers score
8,000,000 per hit. The spinner lane and right loop are lit
and diverted to the lanes.
When the lanes are completed during Riot, not only is the
Bonus Multiplier increased, but the bumper scores are multiplied
as well.
I assume some gigabytes are also awarded in this mode, but I
don't really know how. I also don't know what constitutes
finishing this mode -- I've had 82 hits and not lit
Crazy Bob's.
Download
Hit the left loop three times for 60,000,000,
90,000,000, and 120,000,000, plus
6 GB per shot.
N.A.S. Cure
Hit the center lane four times for 60,000,000,
90,000,000, 120,000,000,
and 150,000,000, plus 6 GB per shot.
Power Items
Upon completing any of the five modes, Crazy Bob's is lit (the
sign above the hole, that is). Shoot Crazy Bob's for a power
item and 200,000,000.
(Early versions: 100,000,000.)
Power items are one of the things that
flashes by on the normal score display (along with current ball,
credits, gigabytes, and video frames). Thus, I assume they are
important. They seem to effect how Power Down plays.
Power Down
All white triangle shots are lit, and all four balls are put on
the field. Each white triangle shot scores 400,000,000.
Well, enjoy, because those shots start going away. Every few seconds
the game announces that a section is being powered down, and those
shots become unlit. More than that, that whole portion of the
field goes dark, G.I. and all!
If you start Power Down with no power items, the shots start going away after just a few seconds, and the whole mode lasts maybe 30 seconds. If you collect some power items, it seems (I don't get this far often enough to be sure) you get more time. Or maybe the shots are worth more, if they felt like borrowing a good idea from ST:TNG.
Drained balls are replunged after a five-second delay. When the time runs out, there's nothing left to do, so stop flipping. (Earlier versions killed the flippers. I don't know why that changed.) The total for the round is displayed, the lights come up, and a ball is plunged.
(In early versions this mode was totally unbalancing. The
powering down part hadn't been implemented, so all the shots were
lit all the time. The timer behaved as if a whole bunch of power
items had been collected, and the mode lasted at least sixty
seconds, if not ninety. Not knowing what I was doing, as the
display didn't provide even the information that the white triangle
shots scored at the time, I got 10,500,000,000 from
this mode.
Knowing what I'm doing I haven't gotten half that since the rules
changed.)
Multiball
Bob's Bunker
During normal play, shooting Bob's Bunker will give you information about one of the matrix awards. This lights the first lock.
Locks
Locks are lit at the center lane, spinner lane, and right loop.
(Start Mode takes priority over Cyberlock at the center lane.)
Shooting one of these sends the ball to the VUK, where it is kicked
to the glove. The glove is under the player's control, and you
have seven seconds to drop the ball where you wish.
Dropping the ball on a lock gives you an award. These awards are shuffled after every multiball and every game, but information is available from Bob's Bunker.
After shooting the first lock, the display flips through six or seven of the possible awards. At the same time, the lights on the physical matrix itself flash. Yes, the game is showing you what's available at most of the locks! Easy extra ball here. (This is NOT duplicated on the display, as the physical lamps usually are. You have to keep both the DMD and matrix in your vision, or quickly shift downward and to the right when you see 'Light Extra Ball' on the display. Never to my knowledge has the maintenance of lamps been so important to gameplay!) (Also, in early versions what was on the display did not have anything to do with the lamps being lit.) If you drop the ball somewhere other than the matrix, the locks will be re-lit.
Start a mode to light the second and third locks.
200,000,000.
25,000,000 for the rest
of the ball. 50,000,000 if collected again in the game,
and probably more if collected even more often.
15,000,000/catch after the first.
I've never completed Wave 1, so there may be completion bonuses
or additional points on subsequent waves that I don't know about.
Touch-Tone Multiball
Two balls are launched. The goal is to hit Crazy Bob's as often
as possible while keeping both balls in play.
On the display, the digits 1-9
randomly flash on the telephone.
The first hit to Crazy Bob's sets whatever digit is lit as the
10,000,000 digit of the jackpot.
The second hit sets the 1,000,000
digit of the jackpot. The third hit awards the jackpot. Repeat as
often as possible while keeping one ball in play.
This mode precludes normal modes and further locks while running.
(This is very infrequently awarded in recent versions.
Considering the difficulty of hitting Crazy Bob's three times,
the fact that even 99,000,000 is not much reward, and
the possibility of draining both balls, I'm not sorry to see
it go.)
Multiball
After three locks, the balls are released. Balls locked in
the left column go to the bumpers. Balls locked in the middle
column go to the left flipper. Balls locked in the right column
go to the right flipper. There is a ball saver at the start of
multiball which is longer than the usual (insignificant)
start-of-ball saver.
The shots lit for jackpots vary. At first, three shots are lit. After the first three jackpots have been collected, the jackpot rotates between the three. Which three shots they are go according to where the balls were locked:
Right Jet Lane Right Loop Crazy Bob's Middle Jet Lane Right Ramp Left Ramp Left Jet Lane Spinner Loop Left LoopMy best guess at the value of jackpots is:
30,000,000
for the first three, 40,000,000 for the fourth,
50,000,000 for the fifth,
and so on.
If the three balls were locked in a row, jackpots are
tripled.Between getting good matrix awards, getting shots you can make easily lit for jackpots, and getting all three balls in a row, locking balls in JM is not trivial.
Wrapping Up
Bonus
After each ball, you are awarded 4,000,000 for each
video frame and 100,000 for each gigabyte you have
collected up to that point
in the game. You also get 5,000,000 for each combo made
in that ball.
Hold Bonus
Hold Bonus now works like every other Hold Bonus in pinball.
The value after multiplier is remembered, and added in after the
multiplier has taken effect in the next ball. Hold Bonus also
holds the Bonus Multiplier for the next ball.
In early versions it was added in before
the multiplier on the next ball. However, it did not hold the
multiplier between balls.
Hold Bonus has no effect if collected on the last ball.
Buy-ins
You can buy-in once. Nothing special happens except for a
reasonable ball-save.
High Scores
There is a Grand Champion, and High Scores 1-4 are kept. There
is no separate table for bought-in games.
The most recent person to collect 320 GB is stored as the Cyberpunk.
10,000,000,000
The display has no trouble showing these somewhat high scores at
any time. Anyone gotten it up to 100,000,000,000 yet?
Match
Just the basic animation first seen in ST:TNG. So?
Broken Dataglove Compensation
It seems like the big toy is always breaking. Obviously, this
affects gameplay. Here's how.
Locks are virtual; balls will be autoplunged when multiball starts. When Crazy Bob's would have just shown the location of an award, it now gives that award immediately. The player gets no choice. I don't know what the jackpot shots are or whether they are tripled in this compensation mode.
The game tries to keep balls away from the VUK. The drop target registers as a center lane shot. (Warning: these tend to drop SDTM. There ought to be a ball saver.) Spinner lane and right loop shots that would have been eligible for locking go out around the left orbit, scoring the virtual lock as they go. When a ball does get to the VUK, and it will, the game repeatedly and quickly fires the kicker, so that the ball will eventually accumulate enough spin to bounce off the dataglove sideways and not return to the VUK. This typically requires five to ten kicks, and does work.
This is not a compensation that gives you an advantage (like a bad trunk in ToM or mini-playfield stuck up in Dr. Who). By taking away the best opportunity for a break, it really makes the game much harder. Don't feel bad about not playing a broken JM.
This is a direct copy of the rule card in JM, and is reproduced for completeness. The rulesheet could probably stand on its own, without this, but I may as well include the bits of the official rules that we know.
ALWAYS SHOOT FOR THE FLASHING LIGHTS.
SHOOT "CRAZY BOB'S" TO LIGHT LOCKS AND LEARN ABOUT MATRIX AWARDS.
MULTIBALL: SHOOT CYBERLOCKS WHEN LIT AND PLACE BALLS IN MATRIX TO COLLECT AWARDS AND LOCK BALL.
LOCK THREE BALLS IN MATRIX TO START MULTIBALL.
PLACE THREE BALLS IN A LINE TO COLLECT TRIPLE JACKPOT VALUES.
YAKUZA STRIKE: START BY COMPLETING RED TRIANGLES ON BOTH RAMPS.
MODE PLAY: DURING MODES SHOOT FLASHING WHITE TRIANGLES.
COLLECT VIDEO FRAMES BY SHOOTING RAMPS WHEN FRAMES ARE DISPLAYED.
COLLECT GIGABYTES TO BECOME THE CYBERPUNK. GB'S ARE AWARDED THROUGHOUT THE GAME.
THROWING SPIKE AWARDS: LEFT FLIPPER LANE LIGHTS SPIKES. TO COLLECT NEXT SPIKE, SHOOT RIGHT RAMP OR RIGHT LOOP.
LEFT LOOP SPELLS "JOHNNY" AND RIGHT LOOP SPELLS "MNEMONIC".
As long as I'm copying things straight off the game, you ought to give credit to all the people who helped make JM.
Credits
Let's thank these folks for bringing us another great pinball game!
From the right outlane:
CYBERNETIC DESIGNERS DESIGN MANIAC:.............GEORGE GOMEZ SOFTWARE GURU:.............TOM UBAC MECHANICAL WIZARD:.........TOM KOPERA COMBAT ARTIST:.............JOHN YOUSSI MUSIC MAGICIAN:............DR. DAVE ZABRISKIE DOT MATRIX COWBOYS:........ADAM AHINE/BRIAN MORRIS 3-DIMENSIONAL PUNK:........DAVE LINKFrom the left outlane:
CYBERNETIC SUPPORT:.....P. BARKER, K. O'CONNOR, M. HUDSON, R. SHARPE, B. ORTEGA, B. THOMPSON, K. PEMBERTON, J. LOVEDAY, J. SHIRD, G. FRERES, G. MARCONI, W. ROEDER, R. PANKATASHAN, J. PARRISHWith these names in mind, perhaps you'd like to jump up to the brief rules card they put on the game itself, or the rulesheet I'm working on.