Star Wars (Gottlieb 1978)

Star Wars (Gottlieb 1978)

This is a recreation of Gottlieb’s 1978 Star Wars Wedgehead. See below the instructions for the story behind this machine.

Big thanks to hauntfreaks and sliderpoint for graphics, primitives, testing and gameplay ideas.  Graphics for the table predominately come from the 1977 Marvel comic series rendition of the Star Wars movie.  As usual several options are available through the options menu (hold left flipper before starting game).  A few more options are available in the script near the top.

directb2s included in download

FS settings for my cab which has playfield in portrait orientation, you may need to adjust.

Instructions:

Complete three missions to activate the tractor beam.

1. Advance Lukes Jedi training by hitting the labeled targets.

2. Retrieve the Death Star plans by clearing the top rollovers.

3. Rescue the princess by blasting down the drop targets.

Once the tractor beam is active complete a trench run to lock a ball in the Death Star.

Release the tractor beam by hitting the labeled hole in R2-D2, starting Death Star multi-ball, opening the portal access, and resetting the missions.

Hit the portal within the multiballs lives to earn extra ball, or the portal closes again.

The Story of Gottlieb’s 1978 STAR WARS

What was that?  You haven’t heard of one of Gottlieb’s last wedgehead pinball machines called Star Wars?  Well, not many have.  Let me take you back to a more innocent time and tell you all about it.

It was the spring of 1977, a teenage DorgBog, mild mannered alter ego to the more famous and notorious BorgDog, had just gotten home from his favorite comic store.  In his hands was Marvel’s newest release ahead of the much anticipated motion picture Star Wars.  This was the first of what was to be a 6 issue comic rendition of the movie.  DorgBog was very enthralled by this comic, and the following month by the epic space fantasy movie of the same name.  Luke, Han, R2-D2 and the rest occupied every waking moment of the young man’s mind.   This was of course before he discovered girls were more than annoyances, but I digress.

DorgBog, unknown to all but his closest confidants, was also a pinball junkie.  His meager allowance and pay from his paper route invariably wound up feeding the silver balled gods and goddesses of his favorite Gottliebs. And in young DorgBog’s mind was churning the maelstrom of a the most awesome collaboration of epic forces to ever grace the pinball world!  DorgBog was on a mission to combine the might of Marvel’s comics, Gottlieb’s pinball prowess, and Lucas’ Star Wars empire (pun intended ;) into the greatest wedgehead known to man!

DorgBog was consumed by this idea.  Spending countless hours writing letters, on paper no less this was after all before the age of the internet and email, and begging stamps from his parents, entreating the 3 parties to consider his idea.  Young DorgBog began including sketches of his ideas for the machine including things such as a giant Death Star complete with trench run, and multiple balls in play at the same time; unheard of in Gottlieb’s vast arsenal of pinball wizardry!

Finally when DorgBog had almost given up hope after weeks and weeks of writing (that’s a long time in a young boys life). DorgBog received an envelope marked with a return address of the D. Gottlieb & Company in Northlake, Illinois.  DorgBog raced with his treasure to his tiny closet of a room, and into the closest of the tiny closet of a room, this was after all top-secret type stuff.  Upon opening the envelope young DorgBog’s heart fell, his dreams crushed with a cease and desist letter telling him to stop harassing the company, that there was no way a license deal could be arranged, and no way the pinball machine would be built.  Multiball?! Scandalous!

A few weeks later, when DorgBog was finally coming to grips with his lost dream, another letter arrived in the mail.  This one in a plain envelope and with no return address.  What he found inside rekindled his faith in humanity and restored joy to the young man.  An engineer at Gottlieb had found the discards of Dorgbog’s plans and thought them a grand idea.  So without knowledge of his supervisors this young, and also Star Wars crazed engineer, begin building a prototype table to present to his bosses and convince them it was the best idea ever!  Buying numerous copies of the comics and cutting out panels to adorn his secret project, the Star Wars wedgehead was born!

Well one was birthed, a prototype, that never did see production as Gottlieb had changed directions and was on its way to the future with computer chips and processing units, and all those other fancy terms and the single player wedgehead was to be no more.  Eventually when the young disgruntled engineer abandoned Gottlieb, he took his prototype with him, smuggled out piece by piece as there were trademark and copy write issues you know.  Feeling bad for having raised the hopes of a young pinhead, he drove through the dark and gloomy night to the home of young DorgBog and bestowed upon him the gift of the Star Wars wedgehead prototype, with the strict admonishment that it never, EVER, be seen by the general public.

DorgBog kept his promise to that engineer and kept Star Wars carefully hidden from all eyes.  Unfortunately for the mild mannered DorgBog, he was taken over by the nefarious BorgDog alter ego, who subsequently proceeded to rampage the countryside, oh and turned to the dark side of video games because by then, Asteroids, Defender, Pac Man and too many glorious glowing gems of greatness had burst upon the scene and pinball began a long decline.  DorgBog’s beloved Star Wars was lost to the annals of time, until recently when a fine aged BorgDog finally discovered the silver balled gods for himself and recalled that now decrepit machine languishing in storage.

So here, finally, after many long lost years is the long lost prototype edition of Gottlieb’s 1978 Star Wars wedgehead.  Just don’t tell Marvel or Lucas (Disney, whatever) as I’m sure they’d want in on the action.

This is a work of fiction, any resemblance to real or imagined characters is entirely coincidental.

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