OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS

ARTICLE 1: TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

Section 1. Tournament Definition

Pinburgh '98 is an official event of the Steel City Pinball Association,
and is subject to all normal rules and regulations as specified in the SCPA
Constitution.

The Event Coordinator for Pinburgh '98 is Robert Chesnavich. He is
responsible for all normal Event Coordinator duties as specified in
aforementioned Constitution. He may for the purposes of this tournament
designate other officers in charge of handling specific duties, but he will
still be ultimately responsible for all obligations, including any rulings
that need to be made throughout the course of the tournament. All decisions
of the Event Coordinator are final.

Section 2. Tournament Structure

There will be 5 divisions created for Pinburgh '98 as follows:

* A Division
* B Division
* C Division
* Women's Division
* Regional 3-person tag Division

Any player may enter the A division. However, once a player does enter in
the A division, that player may not enter the B or C divisions, and any
qualifying score previously acheived in either the B or C division will not
be counted for the remainder of the tournament.

Any player may enter the B division, except for those who have accomplished
one of the following:

* Player has won an individual award from the Steel City Pinball Assocation
in a league that was not specifically designated a B-player league. This
does not include any awards won for high score on a machine.

* Player has qualified in the A division of any PAPA World Championships.

A player who has entered in the B division may later choose to enter in the
A division, subject to all A division regulations.

The only players who may enter the C division are players who have never
played in a SCPA or PAPA-sanctioned event.

A player who has entered in the C divison may later choose to enter either
the B or A divisions, subject to that division's regulations.

Only women may enter the Women's Division, but a player who does enter the
Women's Division may also enter and attempt to qualify in any other
division without forfeiting her Women's Division qualifying entry.

Anyone may enter the Regional 3-player tag division. However, all three
players must currently reside in roughly the same geographic area. Any
ambiguities as to whether all three players reside in the same geographic
area are solely the decision of the Event Coordinator.

No player may be a part of two different 3-player teams.

Section 3 - Entry Fees

The entry fees for the divisions are as follows:

A Division - $10
B Division - $7
C Division - $5
Women's Division - $5
Regional 3-player tag - $15

These are not subject to change. A new entry fee must be paid for each
additional attempt to qualify in any division. There are no limits to how
many times a player may attempt to qualify in a division.

A player may not purchase an entry in a division if he already has another
entry pending or uncompleted in that same division. Any entries left
completely unplayed at the end of the tournament will be entitled to a
refund: partially incompleted entries will not be refunded.

Section 4 - Prizes

The Prizes for each division are as follows:

A DIVISION
First Place: $500
Second Place: $150
Third Place: $75
Fourth Place: $50

B DIVISION
First Place: $200
Second Place: $100
Third Place: $50
Fourth Place: $25

C DIVISION
First Place: $150
Second Place: $75
Third Place: $35
Fourth Place: $20

WOMEN'S DIVISION
First Place: $150
Second Place: $75
Third Place: $35
Fourth Place: $20

REGIONAL 3-PERSON TAG
First Place: $300
Second Place: $120

The above prizes are not subject to change. However, other prizes may be
given out for other awards or achievements, and are subject to change
without notice, and will be given out at the discretion of the Event
Coordinator. 

ARTICLE 2: GENERAL GAMEPLAY REGULATIONS

Section 1. Proper conduct

All players must be given sufficient room by other players and league
officials to play. Any interference with a players game, either intentional
or unintentional, will result in the option of replaying the current game,
at the choice of the player. Interference sufficient to invoke this rule
shall be defined on a per-case basis by the Event Coordinator.

All players must conduct themselves in a professional matter, including
refraining from the use of profanities, not abusing the machines, and not
attempt to subvert either any of the regulations contained herein or any
rulings made by the Event Coordinator. The Event Coordinator reserves the
right to void an entry or exclude a player from the event.

Section 2. Enterting a division

After purchasing an entry sheet, a player must present that entry sheet to
a scorekeeper for the division that player is entering before he/she is
allowed to play. The order of play will be determined on a
first-come-first-served basis, except as decided upon by the scorekeeper.

Each person in an entry must play his/her machines in the order prescribed
by the scorekeeper, and may not skip machines. At the end of each game, a
player's score must be recorded by the scorekeeper and signed by both the
scorekeeper and the player before that player may begin his/her next
machine or before another player may begin on that machine. Any completed
entry must have each score signed by both the player and the scorekeeper to
be considered official.

For the Regional 3-player division, each player in a division must take one
ball of that game. The order in which the 3 players take the balls of one
machine does not have to be the same as the order for another machine.

If a player has his score erased on a machine, then the player must play his
game over again if the scorekeeper cannot remember the score of that
machine to a margin of error of 100,000 adjusted points. If he/she can,
then the scorekeeper must awarded the highest possible score that is
consistent with what he/she remembers.

Assuming that the player who erased the score did so unintentionally, there
will be no penalty to that player. If it is deemed to have been done
intentionally, then it shall be considered interference and will be subject
to disciplinary action as defined in Section 2.1.

If a game ends unfairly, such as due to a power failure, the player must
play his game again, unless the scorekeeper can remember to within 100,000
adjusted points the score of the game, in which case the player also has
the option of taking that score.

Section 2.3 - Voluntarily voiding entries

A player may, if he so chooses, take a zero for the remainder of the games
on his entry, purchase a new entry for that division, and proceed to
qualify again under normal criteria. The voided entry sheet must still be
signed by both the player and the scorekeeper.

Section 2.4 - Scoring rules

Each entry will consist of one game on each of the machines in that
qualfiying bank. The score the player achieves on the machine will be
subject to a normalizer which will create a final adjusted score for that
player on that machine. The normalizers shall be posted on each machine,
and are not subject to change once the tournament has begun.

All of the adjusted scores for each machine will be added together to come
up with a total adjusted score for that player.

Section 2.5 - Machine settings

Machines will be set to tournament mode if at all possible. If it is not
possible, the machines will be set as close to tournament mode as possible.
Once qualifying play in any division has begun, no changes will be made to
any machine settings.

If any extra balls are awarded by a machine, they are not to be played.
The player is instead to launch the awarded extra ball and not touch the
machine once the ball has been successfully launched until that ball is
over.

Section 2.6 - Illegal Moves

The techniques known as the "bang back" and "death save" are both illegal,
as are any other techniques used to bring the ball back into the field of
play once it has gone beneath the flippers. If a ball re-enters the field
of play without player assistance, play shall continue on that game without
penalty. It is the decision of the scorekeepers as to whether or not the
player used any illegal move to accomplish this.

A slam tilt will result in a zero for that game. Repeated slam tilts will be
considered machine abuse, subject to disciplinary action as specified in
Section 2.1.

Deliberately holding the plunger in to prevent balls from being
successfully launched is an illegal move.

Any illegal move will result in a zero for that game. Repeated use of
illegal moves will be considered machine abuse, subject to disciplinary
action as specified in Section 2.1.

Section 2.7 - Malfunctions
Section 2.7.1 - Stuck Balls

If a ball is stuck and a standard ball search won't find the ball, the
player should wait until a technician can remove the ball. The technician
is to put the ball back into the plunger lane and allow the player to get
into position before allowing the machine to continue play. If a player
tilts a machine trying to get a ball un-stuck, there will be no
compensation.

Section 2.7.2 - Fixable malfunctions

If a part breaks down on a machine, it is the responsibility of the
scorekeeper to determine whether or not the malfunction is significant
enough to warrant help from a technician. If it is, the player has the
option of replaying his game or taking the current score on that machine.

If the scorekeeper determines that a malfunction is not serious enough to
warrant a technician, the player must continue to play as normal.

Section 2.7.3 - Unfixable malfunctions

If machine breaks down to a point that it cannot be fixed and it is deemed
to be unplayable for tournament purposes, then that machine shall be
eliminated from the qualifying bank. All previous entries shall have the
scores from that machine eliminated and judged on the remaining machines
only.

Section 2.8 - Machine specific rules

If any of the machines in the tournament are machines listed in Section
2.8, then play on those machines is subject to the additional rule changes
as specified in this section.

Section 2.8.1 - Junkyard

If the machine servers two players to the plunger lane, both balls must be
plunged. Once the balls are out on the field of play, the first ball must
be drained, and the second ball played. The first violation of this rule
will simply result in a verbal warning, if the person refereeing the game
believes the violation to simply be an honest error. In other cases, the
player must then let the ball end. There will be no compensation in either
case for the increased difficulty in making the skill shot.

If the machine automatically launches the ball, there will be no
compensation. The player must continue to play the ball as normal.

Before Revision 1.2, Junkyard does not award the player the score it
dsiplays on-screen for the "Run From Spike" video mode. This score must be
added on by a player in the match in progress. Deliberately ignoring this
score will be considered interference: it is up to the Event Coordinator
to determine if this is the case.

Because of disproportionate scoring levels, a player may only play the mode
"Save The Girl" four times in a single game. If he starts the mode a 5th
time or higher in a single game, he must let the mode time out. If he
doesn't do so, his score will receive a penalty of 1,000,000 times the
level number that he is on. 

Section 2.8.2 - Cirqus Voltaire

Because of disproportionate scoring levels, the "Ringmaster Battle" mode is
modified so that once the player starts it, he must let the balls drain and
the mode end after hitting the Ringmaster once. There is no point
compensation for this.

Section 2.8.3 - Johnny Mnemonic

If the machine inadvertenly picks up to balls from the mutliball matrix
when it intended to pick up one, there is no compensation. The player must
continue to play as normal.

Section 2.8.4 - The Twilight Zone

At the end of a player's game in a multi-player game, the machine will
possibly prompt the player to buy in. While it does this, it might also
serve a ball to the plunger lane. Plunging this ball without hitting the
buy-in switch will cause the next player's ball to not only be started, but
to immediately be awarded a slot machine award. This move is illegal. If a
player does this, he will be penalized the amount of the mode that he
started, plus 10 million. It is the job of the Event Coordinator to
determine this amount, even if it requires estimation.

Section 2.8.5 - WHO dunnit

Because of a bug in the machine, it is possible for a player to get
multiple Super Skill Shots at the start of a ball by making the Super Skill
Shot and letting the ball drain, which the machine would then treat as
still being at the start of a ball. Because of this, a player is only
allowed one Super Skill Shot per ball. If he gets more than one, he must
let that ball drain.

Section 2.9 - Rule Sheets

Each scorekeeper for a division will have a copy of the full rule sheets
for all machines available for all players in that division. However, the
rules contained in those sheets are considered to be solely guide, and not
definitive. Any discrepency between the rules of a machine and the actual
gameplay, or any lack of knowledge of the exact rules of a machine are not
grounds for any type of protest.

ARTICLE 3: PLAYOFFS

Section 3.1 - Qualification Round Rankings

Players in the qualifying round of each division shall be ranked according
their total adjusted score. If any two or more players are tied, the
players shall be ranked in the order that they achieved the score, with the
person who achieved the score first recieving the highest ranking, and so
on.

Only a player's highest total adjusted score for that division will be
considered when determining qualification rankings for each division.

Section 3.2 - Number of qualifying players for each division

The number of qualifiers for the first round of playoffs for each division
are as follows:

QUARTERFINALS

A Division - 13
B Division - 13
C Division - 13
Regional 3-player Division - 7

SEMIFINALS

A Division - 9
B Division - 9
C Division - 9
Women's Division - 9
Regional 3-player Division - 4

FINALS

A Division - 4
B Division - 4
C Division - 4
Women's Division - 4
Regional 3-player Division - 2

If at the start of any playoff round any qualified entrants are not present
to begin play, the next higher person in the qualifying list will take
their place, and all qualifying places will shift upwards to accomodate.
The only exception to this is the 3-player division, in which play may
begin without one or two of the players. In this case, the ball for the
absent player must simply be launched by one of the present player, and
neither present player is allowed to play the ball on behalf of the absent
player.

If a playoff round has already begun, and a player is not present for this
game or for his ball, the appropriate number of players will start the game
regardless, and the scorekeeper will launch the ball for the absent player.
No other player is allowed to play the ball for the absent player. If there
is an award upon ball launch that is dependent on plunger strength, the
scorekeeper must launch the ball at full strength. If it is dependent on
timing, the scorekeeper must close his/her eyes when launching.

If because of players not showing up there are not enough players to fill
the playoff brackets for that division the Event Coordinator will construct
a new set of playoff brackets.

Section 3.4 - Playoff Round Scoring

In all playoff rounds players will be ranked based upon the number of
playoff points that they received in that round. The number of points
players receive in playoff rounds will be determined by the number of
players on their game. In four player games, points will be distributed on
a 10-5-1-0 basis, in three player games on a 10-5-1 basis and in two player
games on a 10-5 basis.

If two or more players tie on any machine in a playoff round, they must play a
one-ball playoff on that machine. If that fails to resolve the tie, they
must begin over and play a one-ball playoff again, and so on until the tie
is resolved. Their original score on that machine will not change based on
the score of the tie-breaker ball.

If two or more teams are tied at the end of any playoff round their ranking
will be determined by the total adjusted score of their games in that
playoff round only. If they are still tied, they will play a one game
playoff on the first machine they played in that round. If they tie in that
they will continue to play additional games on that machine until the tie
is broken.

Section 3.5 - Playoff Round Seedings

After players from a previous round are ranked, they are to play against
each other in the next round in the following groups:

A,B Division Quarterfinals

2,15,16,17
3,12,13,14
4,9,10,11
5,6,7,8

C, Women's Division Quarterfinals

2,12,13
3,10,11
4,8,9
5,6,7

Regional 3-player Division Quarterfinals

2,7
3,6
4,5

In all divisions, the top entrant from the qualifying round will be awarded
the #1 seed for the Semi-Final Round.

A, B, C, Women's Division Semifinals

1,8,9
2,6,7
3,4,5

Regional 3-player Division Semifinals

1,4
2,3

A, B, C, Women's Division Finals

1,2,3,4

Regional 3-player Division Finals

1,2

Section 3.6 - Playoff Round Gameplay

All rules in Section 2 regarding gameplay apply to machines in the playoff
round, unless otherwise specified in Section 3.

In multi-player games, the highest seeded player in that round gets first
choice of position in each game, the next highest player gets second
choice, and so on.

Section 3.7 - Playoff Round Malfunctions

If a machine in the playoff round malfunctions to the point of not being
playable or replaceable, then that machine shall be removed from that
playoff round and all subsequent playoff rounds. Any results acheived on
that machine for that playoff round will not be counted towards the
seedings for the next round, or final playoff standings.

If a malfunction on a machine in a playoff round results in giving player
the option to replay his game, he must make the decision of whether or not
to replay his game or not at the time of the malfunction. If the player
chooses to simply continue his/her game, that decision cannot later be
changed.

This page last updated June 23, 1998