Williams · 1993

Star Trek:
The Next Generation

Start all seven missions to reach Final Frontier. Finished missions and artifacts make that finale worth more.

The mission

Objective

Shoot the center Start Mission hole to begin a flashing mission. Starting all seven missions fills the Enterprise wheel. The next Start Mission shot begins Final Frontier.

Advance warpUse the left orbit spinner and left ramp. Warp awards arrive on the climb to nine.
Play missionsShoot Start Mission, then follow the flashing emblems.
Keep artifactsThey survive until Final Frontier and multiply its opening award and jackpots.

The bridge

Shots

Left orbit

The outer-left spinner shot. Light it from the right inlane, then send the ball through for warp progress.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Left orbit; the ball must pass the entrance switch and continue up the lane. If a weak shot rolls back down the same lane, let it return to a flipper before trying again.

Left ramp

The ramp beside the left cannon. A full trip advances warp and often completes the second half of the Picard Maneuver.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the two posts at the bottom of Left ramp and use a firm forehand so the ball climbs the ramp. If it starts up and rolls back, let it reach a flipper before shooting again.

Lock lane

The upper-left lock entrance. Light locks from launch awards or playfield progress, then send three balls here for Borg Multiball.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the right lower flipper. Aim through the open channel at the bottom of Lock lane; the ball must pass the entrance switch and continue up the lane. If a weak shot rolls back down the same lane, let it return to a flipper before trying again.

Installed Star Trek The Next Generation playfield viewed from the flippers — Your installed VPW 1.1 playfield. Tap to enlarge.

Start Mission

The center saucer marked Start Mission. Shoot it to begin the flashing mission or to earn the current Borg jackpot.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim at the dark opening of Start Mission, not at its rim or the nearby posts. After the ball settles in the hole, watch where the machine kicks it back and regain control.

Right ramp

The steep ramp beside the right cannon. Missions and probe awards frequently send you here.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim through the two posts at the bottom of Right ramp and use a firm forehand so the ball climbs the ramp. If it starts up and rolls back, let it reach a flipper before shooting again.

Command Decision

The center target below the mission wheel. When lit, it offers a choice of missions; use the flippers to select.

How to try it: Hold the ball still on the left lower flipper. Aim at the dark opening of Command Decision, not at its rim or the nearby posts. After the ball settles in the hole, watch where the machine kicks it back and regain control.

Choose before firing

Launch

The display cycles through launch awards. Use the flipper buttons to move faster, then launch when the wanted choice is lit. Start Mission is the clearest first-ball choice. Light Lock accelerates Borg Multiball. Launch Probe gives one flashing shot for an award. Flipper Skill Shot sends the ball to the left flipper and asks for the right ramp.

An alien science officer and pilot guide a chrome probe toward a space portal — **Warp first.**Spinner into left ramp advances useful awards and teaches the two shots that matter throughout the game.

A workable opening

First game

Start a missionChoose Start Mission at launch. Shoot the flashing emblems rather than guessing from memory.
Advance warpLight the spinner from the right inlane, shoot the left orbit, then shoot the left ramp when it returns.
Light two locksChoose Light Lock on later launches when offered. Finish the third lock on the playfield and start Borg Multiball.
Take artifactsSeveral missions award one after three successful shots. Do not trade a controlled ball for a desperate final shot.

Seven assignments

Missions

Time Rift

Hit the flashing shots before time collapses. Three successes earn an artifact; keep shooting for the larger completion.

Worm Hole

Follow the lit route through the quadrants. Reaching the Delta Quadrant earns the artifact.

Search the Galaxy

Shoot the indicated ramps. Three ramp completions earn the artifact.

Rescue

Hit flashing major shots to rescue crew. Reaching 25 people earns the artifact.

Asteroid Threat

Clear the flashing asteroid shots. Three hits secure an artifact; the full set completes the mission.

Battle Simulation

Advance through battle levels by making the requested shots. Level five awards the artifact.

Q’s Challenge

Every major shot scores. Repeating the left orbit and left ramp as a Picard Maneuver is especially valuable; five successful shots earn the artifact.

Watch the inserts. Mission arrows change with the current round. The flashing emblem on the playfield is more reliable than a memorized sequence.

An alien officer fires three chrome balls from twin cannons toward a cube vessel — **Lock three. Fire the cannon.**Start Mission awards the Borg jackpot; repeated awards raise it from single to double to triple.

The Borg

Multiball

Light locks: choose Light Lock at launch or earn it through normal play.
Lock three: shoot the flashing lock entrance. The third ball begins three-ball multiball.
Cannon opening: the loaded cannon aims across the field. Fire at Start Mission for the first jackpot; a miss sends play into normal multiball.
Jackpots: shoot Start Mission again for single, double, then triple jackpot. The jackpot grows during the game from bumper action.
End: the feature ends when one ball remains. There is no promise of a restart, so use the opening ball save to attack Start Mission.

Side progression

Warp

Every ball begins at warp one. The left orbit spinner advances warp when lit; the left ramp also advances it after a complete trip. The climb awards stronger bumpers, held bonus multipliers, hurry-ups and doubled spinner scoring. Warp nine starts a timed scoring round. Later trips to warp eight can award an artifact, depending on ROM revision and settings.

What continues during Borg

playing two features at the same time

Most missions pause when Borg Multiball starts and resume when one ball remains. Q’s Challenge is the exception: it continues, and its lit shots stop timing out during multiball.

Start Q’s ChallengeUse Start Mission or Command Decision when Q is available.
Finish the third lockStart Borg while the Q shots are still active.
Score shared shotsAttack Start Mission for Borg jackpots and take any Q arrows that overlap.

For other missions, choose the opposite order. Finish the urgent mission shots first or accept that its timer will pause, then use Borg for jackpots, bumpers, top lanes and kickback progress.

Light, then earn

Extra balls

Completing the three top lanes advances bonus through 2×, 4×, 8× and 10×; reaching 10× lights an extra ball. The right ramp also lights extra balls at shuttle-count milestones, normally every fifteen shuttles. Battle Simulation and launch awards can provide another route.

A lit extra ball is earned at Start Mission. If one is already lit, consider advancing the next right-ramp milestone before earning it; settings can change whether multiple awards remain available.

Expect fast returns

Stay alive

The Borg ship can fire a ball back toward the flippers, and the outlanes are severe. Keep the kickback lit from the right-side targets. After an orbit, watch the upper return path before choosing the next shot.

During multiball, do not stare at the cannon. Fire the opening shot, then locate every released ball. Broad ramps and the spinner help you regain control and lower the Borg shields; a desperate Start Mission shot is not valuable if it ends the multiball.

A mixed human and alien crew faces a radiant portal surrounded by seven mission beacons — **Artifacts are the payload.**Seven missions open the door. The artifacts decide what the trip is worth.

The finish

Final Frontier

Complete all seven missions, then shoot Start Mission. Six balls enter play and every major shot lights. On the installed-era rules, artifacts award a large opening bonus and set the shot value. More artifacts mean larger jackpots and billion-point set bonuses.

With no artifacts, the mode still scores, but far less. During the ball save, sweep broad orbit and ramp shots instead of trying to cradle immediately. Once the field thins, favor the shots you can repeat safely.

Priorities

Scoring

Advance warp safelyThe left orbit to left ramp sequence advances a permanent ball-by-ball resource and pays in several modes.
Take Borg jackpotsUse the cannon opening, then repeat Start Mission while multiple balls protect the miss.
Earn artifactsThree mission shots are often enough. An artifact matters more than stretching a weak mission to completion.
Reach Final FrontierComplete every mission once. Command Decision helps select an unfinished one when lit.

Installed edition

Your table

This guide follows Star Trek: The Next Generation, Williams 1993, installed as the VPW Mod v1.1 recreation. The original game’s rules vary materially by ROM revision and operator settings. The cabinet database does not record the active ROM, so revision-sensitive values are described without pretending they are fixed.

Rules checked against the Williams operations manual, the long-form Pinball Archive rulesheet, and the installed cabinet identity. The playfield image comes from the cabinet’s own PinUP recording.

Star Trek:The Next Generation