From: sigma@sun.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin)
Subject: TAF - Thoughts, Tips, Tricks
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 17:50:59 GMT

Well, I finally broke the elusive Billion on TAF the other day.  In fact, I
broke TWO Billion (2,727 million).  The machine was set up rather kindly,
but I've since broken the Billion on a tougher machine.  I had four tours
and six Triple Jackpots.  The rest was 5X Graveyard, Million Plus, Super
Bear Bonus, and GRAVE (10 million).  And endurance.

Never found anything unusual, except that on my way to the fourth Tour the
game stopped playing the little introductory music and graphics whenever I
was awarded a room.  Rather odd.  Made play a little faster.

I play Chair -> Bear Kicks -> Chair just like everyone else has suggested,
but I usually try to complete things in the meantime.  If you rush straight
to the Attic you'll end up with as little as 140M and have nothing to do
until the next ball.  If you also concentrate on completing sequences and
other awards, you'll have about 400M after the first Tour, assuming you
don't screw up.  (Easier said than done ;)

I'm very fond of Bear Kicks.  If you're lucky, you can hit repeated Bear
Kicks from the right flipper - this is especially important for the first
two Extra Balls.  I use multiballs to get Bear Kicks also - it increases
the Jackpot value, helps you spot rooms later, and gets you closer to the
extremely pleasing Super Bear Bonus.

Trick - if you put two balls up the Bear Kicks ramp right next to each
other, the Bear Kicks sensor will only be tripped once, and the second ball
will hit the left ramp sensor, which can be a Super Jackpot.

Trick - on many machines you can hit the Vault from the upper right
flipper; this is a beautiful trick shot, extremely useful sometimes.  The
ball needs to be moving a little faster than just rolling down from the
eject hole on most machines. Aim for the top plastic Cousin It sensor; the
ball should come against the inside of the bookcase and roll up and drop
neatly into the vault.

Tip - some rooms are bad to get last before the Attic.  THING will be more
or less cancelled.  Mamushka will be replaced.  Raise The Dead is probably
the best, since it will continue to run during the frenzy modes (Cousin It
and Mamushka) and you can shoot the Graveyard.

On the machines I've played, there are inconsistencies in how quickly rooms
are spotted from Bear Kicks.  THING is spotted even before it's awarded on
screen, so you can shoot for the 15M Quick Multiball right away.  Extra
Ball, however, is not, and you'll find your ball kicked out of the eject
hole *even though* the Extra Ball light is on.

I've never played a machine where Million Plus was held over from ball to
ball, so I've never gotten it past nine.  I presume it stops at ten.
G-R-A-V-E stops at 10M.  The Graveyard maxes at 4M.  Train Wrecks never
seem to require more than six hits.  T-H-I-N-G maxes at 15M plus Stars.
The Triple Jackpot maxes at 75M (unfortunate!)

Some of my records:

114.1 million total bonus
53.9 million Cousin It (total of two Cousin It sequences due to Tour)
39 million Mamushka
26.1 million Raise The Dead
7 credits earned in a game - 4 Specials, Replay, 2 for Grand Champion

I guess I just wanted to brag and offer advice.  Well, there it is.

-- 
Kevin Martin
sigma@ipl.rpi.edu
"We're gonna need another Timmy!"