Tutorial Game Show Presenter

 

 Buzz-In Settings: Buzz-In Vs. Taking Turns

If you want players to compete on every question instead of taking turns, this is done with the BUZZ-IN SETTINGS feature under the PREFERENCES menu. It opens a control panel (Fig.1) that gives you a choice which mode of competition you want for your quiz. Players can take turns in rotation or compete for every question by seeing who hits a buzzer button first. This section describes how buzz-in works and how you may be able to use an external buzzer lockout system with Game Show Presenter.


Fig.1

If you choose Buzz-In First, then a buzzer key needs to be assigned for each player. There are 3 ways to assign these keys. Use the drop-down menu to select one of the following:

  • Use Function Keys for Buzz-In
  • Use Number Keys for Buzz-In
  • Use Other Keys for Buzz-In

If you select "Use Number Keys for Buzz-In" the software will set-up so Player 1 has the 1 key as a buzz-in key, Player 2 has the 2 key, etc. (If you have a tenth player, the zero key is used for 10.) Choose "Use Function Keys for Buzz-In" if you prefer to use the Function keys.

The third choice on the drop-down menu (Fig.2) lets you customize which keys are used for buzz-in by choosing Other Keys. Other keys can be any letter (except "r", "R", "w" or "W") or number key, but not punctuation or command keys. When you choose the "Other Keys" option and click DONE, a second screen will open where you can type in your choice of letter or number keys for each player. Important note: Remember that if you choose letters A, B, C or D, which are normally used to key in answers during a game, then those letters will not work during the show for keying in answers – you'll have to use the mouse to click the A, B, C or D button on screen. The R and W keys are offlimits because these are reserved for you to use with single-answer questions by typing R for right and W for wrong answers.


Fig.2

The buzz-in controls also give you the option to set a buzz-in delay period. Set the delay by adjusting the slider from 0 to 30 seconds. The reason for using a delay is to prevent players from buzzing in before they've even read the question. Some players adopt a buzz-first, read-later strategy, but the buzz-in delay will penalize that behavior. When the buzz-in delay is set greater than 0, two things happen. First, no buzz-in signal is recognized during the delay period. Second, there is a penalty of 2 extra seconds delay on any player who pushes a buzzer during the delay. This stops players from thinking they can hold down their button to be first when the delay ends. The penalty means their delay will be 2 seconds longer than the other players! Note this penalty feature only applies when you have a buzzer system that is directly connected to Game Show Presenter.

After a player buzzes in, the music stops and that player's name (as given under the Player Sign-In screen) appears on screen. A timer begins to countdown and the player must give an answer. (Note there is a slider in the Buzz-In settings where you can set how long the countdown timer will take.) You key in the answer for the player (A, B, C, D or, R for right or W for wrong.) The game show will then respond. If the player got it right, the score is adjust and the game show displays the correct answer. But if the player got it wrong, additional guesses are now possible.

More Than One Guess Per Question:

When a wrong answer is given during buzz-in, the program resets and is ready to accept additional buzz-ins for that question. In the buzz-in setup screen, you can set a checkbox that will reduce the points by half after every attempted answer. So if the question started out worth 500 points and the first guess was wrong, a correct answer will now earn 250 points on that question. If you do not check that box, the question would keep the original value for every guess.
IMPORTANT NOTE: When nobody buzzes in to answer, you can use the PASS command (hit ENTER key or use CONTROL plus SPACEBAR) to end that question and move on with the game.

Note that the countdown does not automatically count the player as giving a wrong answer if the counter hits 0. This "merciful timer" is designed to accommodate situations where the player has waited until the last second to say his or her answer. This allows you time after the countdown has ended to enter that answer with the mouse or keyboard. In other words, the countdown applies pressure to the player without also making you race to enter the answer given by that player.

For a simple game with players sharing the keyboard, everybody can hit their own buzzer key and enter their own answers by typing, A, B, C or D. But for larger groups or more "TV-like" productions, you may want to use a buzzer lockout system. See the note below for suggestions on that.

Buzzer Lockout Systems: Buzzer lockout systems are external systems (not part of Game Show Presenter and not necessarily even attached to your computer) that let your players press a buzzer button to compete. The system determines who hit a buzzer button first and locks out all attempts to buzz-in after the first one. Usually these systems include lights and sound effects to add to the game show atmosphere and make it clear who won the race to buzz-in with the correct answer. Such systems are available from many sources.