undefinedThe Stern Star Trek pinball machine rule sheet
(c)2018 Georg "hiho" Hinterhofer
startrek@hihosoft.at

Alright folks, seeing that its almost 5 years after it's release and we still do not have a comprehensive rule sheet for Stern's Star Trek, i guess its time to come up with one. With the release of the VE on the horizon, people will - again - be looking for one.

DISCLAIMER: This is my first attempt to write a rule sheet (don't be too hard on me), and aimed towards the novice and advanced players, not pros. It is also not aimed towards competitive play - tournament mode is not considered here.

Any additions are highly welcome - send them to startrek@hihosoft.at. Some of the facts presented here were already discussed on other platforms, and I've tried to give credit wherever applicable.

This is purely a labor of love. It is freely distributable, as long as all references as well as the authors name and contact details remain with the document.

MACHINE USED: This rule sheet was created using my HUO Star Trek Premium. Whilst the same layout as the LE, the PRO is missing some features like the left kickback, the laser star field and the tilting vengeance.

FIRMWARE: At the time of writing, the latest available software was 1.62, which was also used.

MANUAL: The current manual at the time of writing was http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/star-trek/le/1534/Star%20Trek%20LE%20Manual.pdf

SHOT MAP: At time of writing, the shot map was located here - http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/star-trek/pre/Star%20Trek%20Prem%20ShotMap50_121013.pdf

BALLS INSTALLED: 4

VERSIONING:

0.1 Initial writing

OBJECTIVES:

Inspired by the Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness films, the newest Stern machine puts players in Captain James Kirk’s chair of the U.S.S. Enterprise, embarking on a journey to protect and defend the planets of the Federation. [1]

To progress towards the wizard modes and finale, the player needs to battle out differently themed missions that are all placed around the first two Star Trek reboot films.

PLAYFIELD LAYOUT starting from the bottom left going clockwise -

Left Lower Flipper: Your standard, 3" white flipper bat.

Left Outlane: Light's "T" of TREK, either goes to the outhole or kicked back when the kickback is lit.

Left Inlane: Light's "R" of TREK, feeds to the left flipper and from the left ramp and left scoop.

2 SHIELD Targets: Relight kickback - see below for more information.

Left scoop: Starts missions and locks balls. On Premium/LE this feeds to the left flipper via an up-kicker to the left ramp, on PRO this simply kicks it out, trickling back to the player.

Leftmost Black-Hole/Red Matter Target: Award hits towards black hole award.

Left Orbit/Spinner: Feeds to the top rollovers and upper right flipper for the warp ramp shot.

Green Lock Targets (3x): Those targets lite locks (left scoop and center vengeance shot) for Klingon Multiball. See Klingon Multiball for detailed Info.

Warp Ramp: A diagonal ramp you can hit from the right upper flipper. Awards Warps for Extra Ball, Score Multiplier and Add-A-Ball. Feeds to the upper right flipper.

Warp diagonal Black-Hole/Red Matter Target: Award hits towards black hole award, can be hit from upper right flipper.

Left ramp: Feeds to left flipper via the left inlane, can easily be backhanded.

Center Black-Hole/Red Matter Target: Award hits towards black hole award, to the right of the left ramp.

Vengeance Target: The center shot of the game, can be hit from both sides. When hit it can jump right up again or stay down, revealing a magnet behind it. If it stays down, there's a kicker in the back that can fire back the ball brutally at you (like Yagov kickback in F14).

Black Hole Target: Awards random award, see Black Hole awards.

Pop Bumpers: Your standard 3-set of bumpers, in class left-right-bottom arrangement. Award bumper hits for super pops and regular pop bumper levels.

Top Rollover Lanes: Called BEAM ME UP-Lanes, they advance the bonus multiplier.

Right ramp: Feeds to the right lower flipper via the right inlane.

Right ramp Black-Hole/Red Matter Target (2x): Award hits towards black hole award, to the left and right of the right ramp.
Right Orbit: Feeds to the top rollovers or comes down the left orbit.

Upper Right Flipper Finger/Galactic Away Team: Allows a ball to get back to the shooter lane by raising the upper right flipper; otherwise, your standard, 3" white flipper bat.

Weapon Targets (3x): Loads up photon torpedoes to hit Vengeance by using button on lock down bar, see Photon Torpedos.

Right lower flipper: Your standard, 3" white flipper bat.

MISSIONS:

Your main objective on Star Trek is to play through the various Missions available. Every mission is structured into 3 separate submissions, declared by roman numbers I,II and III, getting harder as you work through them. You have different ways to start a mission:

  • On ball start, you will be offered a choice of missions to start from, except when a vengeance mode is lit. Plunge the ball or hit the lockbar button to choose.
  • The scoop, when lit (blue arrow), will let you choose and start a mission. Hit the lockbar button to choose.
  • The galactic away team (blue arrow), will let you choose and start a mission. Hit the lockbar button to choose.

You cannot start multiple concurrent missions, eg no mission stacking. You can however stack a mission with multiballs. A popular strategy is to start a multiball shortly after you start a mode, therefore giving you a decent chance to finish off the mode while actually collecting Jackpots or other relevant shots.

The 6 Missions, and their associated colors, are (the big triangle in center of the playfield) -

  • Prime Directive - Dark Blue
  • Klingon Battle - Red
  • Destroy the Drill - Light Blue
  • Nero - Purple
  • Save the Enterprise - Green
  • Space Jump - Yellow

Those colors are also the colors that the Star Trek insignia will be lit to identify the shots to be made for mission advancement/completion. Finishing any three missions in a row will award The Captains Chair - see Captains Chair for more details. Finishing a mission 3 levels deep (three in a column) will lite a shot multiplier (2x) till the end of the game - see Three in a Column. Finishing a level of modes (eg part I of all modes) will lite a wizard mode - see wizard modes.

All Level 1 parts are timed, while level 2 and 3 parts are sometimes not. All Level 1 parts of the missions can be "altered" by shooting the Galactic Away Team Shot. There are usually less shots on the PF after you make GAT, but they score exponentially more. Details are given in the corresponding sections of each mission.

General scoring seems to be (except for GAT, which scores higher):

1st mission shot: 100.000 points
2nd mission shot: 145.000 points
3rd mission shot: 190.000 points
4th mission shot: 235.000 points
5th mission shot: 280.000 points
6th mission shot: 325.000 points

Final shot: Each mission (except Nero) seems to have a final shot, indicating by alternating lights. The final shot scores more than all other shots.

Time to look at the modes in detail... MISSION DETAILS:

Prime Directive - Blue Shots

Phase I: All shots are lit blue. Making a shot advances towards getting a medal.

Phase I GAT: Galactic Lanes - After hitting one blue shot, GAT is lit. Making GAT lites the top rollover lanes as well the the two orbits feeding them for big points as well as adding 20 seconds to your missions time.

Phase I last shot: The right ramp is lit for the final shot.

Phase II: A time AND shot based round. You got 30 seconds to clear all lit blue shots (all shots are lit). You will also see a yellow/blue blinking shot. This shot scores more (it seems double). Failing to clear all shots in 30 seconds ends Prime Directive II without awarding it. To complete it you need to restart it by running the mode again - the game will remember all the shots you already completed.

Phase III: TODO

Klingon Battle - Red Shots

Phase I: Left Orbit, Left Ramp, Warp Ramp, Right Orbit and Warp Ramp are lit. Making a shot advances towards getting a medal.  Once a shot is made it stays unlit for a specific duration or another relevant shot is made.

Phase I GAT: Galactic Ramps - After hitting one red shot, GAT is lit. Making GAT lights the left an right ramp alternately for huge points. 20 seconds are added to your time.

Phase I last shot: The left ramp is lit for the final shot.

Phase II:

Phase III:

Destroy the Drill - Light Blue Shots

Phase I: Left scoop, left orbit, left ramp and warp ramp are lit from the start. When making a shot, the shots retract to left by one shot, if you dont make shots, additional shots are lit to the right. The minimum amount of shots lit is Left Scoop and Left Orbit.

Phase I GAT: Galactic Spinner - After hitting one light blue shot, GAT is lit. Making GAT lights the left scoop and left orbit for huge points. Spins are worth 75k. 20 seconds are added.

Phase I last shot: The left scoop is lit for the final shot.

Phase II:

Phase III:

Nero - Purple Shots

Phase I: Left Orbit, Left Ramp, Warp Ramp, Right Ramp and Right Orbit are lit for Nero shots.

Phase I GAT: Galactic Targets - After hitting one purple shot, GAT is lit. Making GAT lights all black hole targets on the playfield for big points. 20 seconds are added.

Phase I last shot: There seems to be no final shot, all shots are equally lit.

Phase II:

Phase III:

Save the Enterprise - Green Shots

Phase I: Left Orbit, Left Ramp and Warp Ramp are lit for shots.

Phase I GAT: Galactic Warp Ramp - After hitting one green, GAT is lit. Making GAT leaves the left orbit and warp ramp lit for big points.

Phase I last shot:

Phase II:

Phase III:

Space Jump - Yellow Shots

Phase I: Left Orbit, Left Ramp, Right Ramp, Right Orbit are lit as shots

Phase I GAT: Galactic Vengeance - After hitting one yellow shot, GAT is lit. Making GAT for Space Jump is different, as it effectively disables all shots except the center shot for one final shot. Making on shot to vengeance immediately quits Space Jump. Not sure if this is a bug or not. 20 seconds are added.

Phase I last shot: The center shot is lit as a final shot.

Phase II:

Phase III:

THREE IN A ROW - CAPTAINS CHAIR:

Finishing 3 missions in a row awards The Captains Chair. Possible Captains Chair Awards are

Super Pops (left three missions) - Score 100 pop bumper hits to defeat Khan on the shuttle, each hit awards 90.000 points.

Super Spinner (bottom three missions) - Score 100 spins, each spin scores 75k.

Super Ramps (right three missions) - Score 9 ramp shots (left, right and warp are eligible), each ramp scores 700.000 points

Captains Chair awards don't have any time limit, they carry over from ball to ball, and are an easy source for points. Captains Chair modes end when you collected all necessary targets (spins, bumper hits or ramp shots, depending on the mode). You can have more than one Captains Chair mode running at any given time.

THREE IN A COLUMN:

Finishing any mission three levels deep (eg its I,II and III part) will award a 2x multiplier on a specific shot for the rest of the game.

All Prime Directive modes: 2x Saucer
All Klingon Battle modes: 2x Left Ramp
All Space Jump modes: 2x Right orbit
All Destroy the Drill modes: 2x Warp Ramp
All Nero modes: 2x Left Orbit
All Save the Enterprise modes: 2x Right ramp

TREK ROLLOVERS:

The TREK rollovers increase Spinner value by 10.000 points. The spinner value starts with 2.000 points on Ball 1, 4.000 points on Ball 2 and 6.000 points on Ball 3.

Increased spinner values do not carry over from ball to ball.

KLINGON MULTIBALL:

This multiball is a 3-ball multiball that can be turned into a 4-ball multiball by hitting the Black Hole target when lit. All shots are lit (in red) for Klingon Jackpots.

Jackpots are scoring starting from 200.000, and increase to 375.000, 750.000 and so on.

Super Jackpot - After making 6 jackpots, a super jackpot can be scored which is worth 6.25 million

Double super jackpot - scoring 6 more jackpots, a double super jackpot will be lit. The shot will travel around the playfield in a quick fashion. If you manage to hit the traveling shot, you will earn 20 million points plus a single gold medal.

Klingon Multiball ends when only one ball is left in play.

VENGEANCE MODES:

Vengeance Modes can be starting by hitting the center vengeance center target 5 times. Afterwards, the target stays down for a direct shot at the the vengeance.

There are 3 vengeance modes to be taken care of

  • Vengeance Multiball

    Shooting the vengeance holds the ball on the magnet. You get a second ball served - now a 15 second timer starts to hit the "captivated" ball and free it. Doing so will lead to a 3 ball multiball. If you dont free the ball in 15 seconds, the ball is released and you get a 2 ball multiball. You can get a 4th/3rd ball respectively by hitting the black hole target.

    Whether or not you manage to free the ball, you now get the chance to destroy the vengeance. Left Ramp, Right ramp and the vengeance shots are lit to fire photons at the vengeance. You can also use collected photon torpedos by hitting the lockbar button (see photon torpedos).

    Hitting the vengeance often enough will destroy the vengeance (on Premium and LE you will get a cool vengeance tilting effect), will award 5 million points (or 10 million while played as a combo).

    Furthermore, you get to play Victory laps. All shots are lit for points, finishing a round of shots scores big points (first round scores 1 million points, second 2 million,...) and relites all the shots.

    Vengeance Multiball ends when only one ball is left in play.

  • Vengeance Scoring

    A timed hurry up single ball mode. You need to score 5 shots at the vengeance while points are counting down. Making a shot resets points + 100k. Not making a shot till the points have reduced to 500.000 ends Vengeance scoring immediately.

    The sequence is:

    First Shot: Counts down from 1.000.000 to 500.000
    Second Shot: Counts down from 1.100.000 to 500.000
    Third Shot: Counts down from 1.200.000 to 500.000
    Fourth Shot: Counts down from 1.300.000 to 500.000
    Fifth Shot: Counts down from 1.400.000 to 500.000

    Making the fifth and final shot ends vengeance and immediately awards an Extra Ball. There is no extra score for finishing vengeance scoring.

  • Vengeance Battle

    5 hits to the vengeance target starts a "sudden death" mode. Hitting the target one more time leaves the target down for a few seconds. If you manage to get the ball back to the vengeance in those few seconds, you get 10% of your score as an award. The beauty of it - this shot can be doubled, or even quadrupled by combos and the the warp ramp playfield multiplier for a staggering 40% of your current score on top.

    Vengeance Battle ends when you make the shot or drain the ball. There doesnt seem to be a timer.

PHOTON TORPEDOS:

Photon Torpedos can be obtained by completing the 3 target weapon bank on the right (see playfield layout). Completing the 3 target bank award 3 photon torpedos up to a maximum of 8 torpedos, indicated by the yellow triangles in the middle. Torpedos are activated by pressing the lockbar button.

Torpedos can be used to:

  • Knock down the vengeance targets towards the start of a vengeance mode.
  • Score hits at the vengeance during the first vengeance mode.

Torpedos can NOT be used to:

  • Score the last hit of the first vengeance mode.
  • Can not be used to progress in 2nd/3rd vengeance modes.

KICKBACK:

On factory settings, the kickback is lit at the start of a ball, and can be re-lit by hitting the two shield targets multiple times. "Making" the kickback the first time scores 250.000 points

EXTRA BALLS:

There seem to be two extra balls throughout the game. Extra balls, when lit, are collectible at the center vengeance shot.

Warp Ramp (see warp ramp) - A certain number of shots to the warp ramp light an extra ball. Factory settings make this is a self adjustable number, however, operators can set a fixed value as well. Mine adjusted to a value of 6, while starting as low as 3 or 4.

Finishing the second vengeance mode (see vengeance modes) - Finishing vengeance battle lites an extra ball, which you score instantaneously by hitting the center vengeance shot (eg last shot to finish vengeance battle also collects the EB).

WARP LEVELS:

Shooting the warp ramp repeatedly increases your warp level. You start out with Warp 1, and end at Warp 9.9. Shooting the warp ramp scores 250.000 (multiplied by 2x every time you hit the ramp in succession) points, and award multiple things:

  • At a dynamically adjusting (usually 6-7) or fixed warp level: Lite Extra Ball
  • At 9.1: Double Scoring for 60 seconds or ball drain, whatever happens first
  • At 9.9: Double Scoring + add-a-ball. Double scoring ends either after 60 seconds or when both balls are lost.

After reaching 9.9, you restart at Warp level 1. Reaching the Extra Ball level again won't award another EB on factory settings. For big points, try saving the 9.1 and 9.9 levels for big scoring modes, such as Kobayashi Maru, Enterprise Amok, 5 Year Mission, Klingon MB or any of the vengeance modes. This can make your scores skyrocket.

COMBOS:

Throughout the game you can score other various combo shots for scores and some cool game quotes -

Kirk: Left Loop, Warp Ramp ("USS Enterprise, Captain James T Kirk commanding")
Bones: Left Loop, Left Ramp ("Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a pinball wizard")
Sulu: Right Loop, Right Ramp
Uhura: Right Ramp, Left Ramp, Right Orbit
Spock: Left Ramp, Right Ramp, Left Loop, Warp Ramp

Info on combos taken partly from [2], TODO values and multiplier shots

BLACK HOLE AWARDS:

The Black Hole target is lit by hitting the Black Hole/Red Matter targets multiple times. The awards from the black hole can be one the following:

  • Add more time
  • Add-a-Ball
  • Pop Bumpers score 200k (per hit - insane)
  • Score 200k
  • Increase Bonus Multiplier (?)

Add more time will usually be presented to you when you are running a mode, Add-a-Ball when you are playing a multiball.

MEDALS:

For every mission you play, you can be awarded bronze, silver or gold medals. You earn medals by shooting for mission objectives. Medals score immediate points, BUT they score even bigger when you start one of the wizard modes. Making a gold medal immediately quits the mode by setting the remaining mode time to 0 seconds for a "Final shot". The final shot is usually worth more points if you hit the correct one (insignia alternating in two colors), except for Nero, which doesn't seem to have a final shot.

A single gold medal can also be scored by obtaining a double super jackpot from Klingon Multiball - see Klingpn Multiball for more details.

Making 3 shots awards a bronze medal, three more a silver medal and 5 more a gold medal. When playing a mission via GAT, different (mode specific, see Missions) rules apply.

Starting Kobayashi Maru awards medals as follows:

Set of 6 Bronze medals when starting Kobayashi Maru = 10M. Otherwise, each bronze is worth 1M up to a set.
Set of 6 Silver medals when starting Kobayashi Maru = 20M. Otherwise, each silver is 2M up to a set.
Set of 6 Gold medals when starting Kobayashi Maru = 35M. Otherwise, each gold is 3.5M up to a set.

Starting Enterprise Amok awards medals as follows:

Set of 6 Bronze medals when starting Enterprise Amok = 15M. Otherwise, each bronze is worth 1.5M up to a set.
Set of 6 Silver medals when starting Enterprise Amok = 30M. Otherwise, each silver is 3M up to a set.
Set of 6 Gold medals when starting Enterprise Amok = 50M. Otherwise, each gold is 5M up to a set.

TODO 5 yrs mission

Some info for medals and their values taken from [4].

SKILL SHOT:

There are at least 3 different skill shots in Star Trek -

  • Plunge the ball short so it doesn't hit the top rollover/bumper are, but instead trickles down to the upper right flipper finger. From there, shoot a warp ramp for "Warp Ramp Skillshot"
  • Hold the left flipper while either pushing the lockbar button or plunging the ball all the way so it hits the lower left flipper. This while lite a super skill shot at either the center vengeance target or the right ramp. The first super skill shot awards 1mil, consequent shots increase the super skillshot by 250k (?)
  • Hold the right flipper, full plunge - ball needs to hit the upper gate with enough force to reject it back out of the rollovers into right orbit, shoot warp ramp for a super skill shot worth 1.5 mil [3]

WIZARD MODES:

There a three wizard modes throughout the game - Kobayashi Maru, Enterprise Amok and Five Year Mission as the final mode. You qualify for a wizard mode by finishing a full level of missions (6 pieces, eg all level one missions, all level 2 missions...). This will lite the center vengeance shot to start your wizard mode. Before the wizard mode actually starts, you get awarded a big score for the medals you were awarded whilst battling out the missions.

Kobayashi Maru

After finishing the first level of all missions, the center shot will be lit for KM multiball. This is a two ball-multiball (can be made 3-ball by black hole award) has the following shots lit with their corresponding colors.

  • Left Saucer
  • Left Orbit
  • Left Ramp
  • Center vengeance
  • Right Ramp
  • Right Orbit

Notice that there are 6 shots lit? Thats right, thats as much as there are missions. Shooting the first shot of any lit shot awards XX, the second shot award the the amount of points you got from playing the corresponding mode up to a limit of 7 million points.

The mode ends when you are down to one ball or you managed to collect all awards (12 shots in total).

Enterprise Amok

After finishing the first level of all missions, the center vengeance shot is lit for Enterprise Amok. Enterprise Amok, again, starts out as a two ball multiball but can go up to four balls. It seems to be a switch based multiball, eg any switch counts towards your score and progression.

Five Year Mission

TODO

 

REFERENCES:

[1] http://www.sternpinball.com/games/star-trek-vault-edition/premium

[2] http://tiltforums.com/t/star-trek-wiki/456/35

[3] https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/star-trek-where-is-the-skill-shot#post-1324514

[4] http://tiltforums.com/t/star-trek-wiki/456/10