HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jdh@math.psu.edu (Jeremy D Hall)
Subject: Re: New games
Organization: Penn State Department of Mathematics
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 23:56:47 GMT

In article <256@maxx.UUCP> tyager@maxx.UUCP (Tom Yager) writes:
>The game opens each ball with a feature that reminds me of a recent thread
>here on letting the player choose the rules set. You select one of seven
>Doctors Who with the flippers, and each gives some unique boost to a part
>of the playfield or rules set. You might get to extra ball faster, or score
>more on the bumpers, or whatever. You get several seconds to decide which
>nifty thing you want more of before you launch the ball.
>
If you select the Fourth Doctor, do jellybabies roll out of the coin return?
:^)

>I can tell the difference. The mini-playfield shakes and wobbles when the
>ball hits it, and the Daleks are painted on flaps. I hate to say it, but
>after Addams Family, this thing looks and feels really cheap.
>
Just like the TV show!!!  :^)

>The dot-matrix is good as far as representations of people are concerned. The
>rest is not so hot, particularly since the animation slows noticeably when
>scores and such are changing in the foreground. The animations played when
>you lock the balls make the people look like clowns (are there clowns in Dr.
>Who?). The Daleks, whose (which?) voices dominate multiball, screech and
>whine. I'm told by my Who-sian friend that this is the sound Daleks make.
>Whatever.
>
Well, there were clowns in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" (a Dr. Who 
episode).  And yes, any Whovian knows that Daleks sound like this.

>-- 
>Tom Yager, BYTE Multimedia Lab Director
>           Author, Addison-Wesley UNIX programming book (Summer, 1991)
>           Author, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich multimedia book (Fall, 1992)
>           decvax!maxx!tyager, maxx!tyager@bytepb.byte.com

Jeremy Hall
Penn State Univ. 
jdh@math.psu.edu
From: burnside_br@lrc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Stuck balls and tilting
Date: 3 Oct 92 05:35:20 GMT
Organization: Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, NC

In article <9227409.11333@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>, gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Red Mountain) writes:
> In <BvCG4I.6to@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson) writes:
> 
>>If you smash the plunger shot out of mega frustration, you can usually wedge
>>the ball under the bear kick ramp and the very top-most area just beyond the
>>main loop around theh back in TAF. 
> 


I stuck one today in the vault right around the ridge of the circle the bookcase
is on.  It ran all the bumpers and then finally kicked out two balls, then, 
after I lost one and locked the other in Thing, it wouldn't give me any more
balls, so I had to tilt to get it out..  Rip off...
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: hempling@quorum.com (David B. Hempling)
Subject: Fish Tales in the Bay Area?
Summary: Anyone seen one?
Originator: hempling@parker
Organization: Quorum Software Systems, Inc.
Distribution: ba
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 21:45:30 GMT

Has Fish Tales made it into the San Francisco Bay Area yet?

Thanks in advance,
dave
hempling@quorum.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: musjndx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu (Jonathan N. Deitch)
Subject: Re: What are Solid State Flippers
Organization: Georgia State University
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 15:43:53 GMT

mstephens.520@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov (mark stephens) writes:

>I can't stand it any more!  There's lots of msgs with hints on what solid
>state flippers are.  I understand the way the old ones work, with two
>solenoids (well, I mostly understand).  But how are SS ones different?

Well ... normal flippers have an actual switch that switch in a different
coil to increase the electrical load so as to not burn out the main coil.

Solid State flippers so something similar ... just instead of two coils 
and a switch, there is just one coil, the end-of-stroke switch and a solid
state circuit that automatically cuts the current down after the flipper
hits the eos switch.  I think.

- Jonathan

jdeitch@gisatl.fidonet.org
musjndx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu
From: mstephens.520@postman.gsfc.nasa.gov (mark stephens)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: What are Solid State Flippers
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:48:00 GMT
Organization: nasa/gsfc

I can't stand it any more!  There's lots of msgs with hints on what solid
state flippers are.  I understand the way the old ones work, with two
solenoids (well, I mostly understand).  But how are SS ones different?

       mark
From: hwtx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: HUGE Pinball
Date: 6 Oct 92 12:07:56 EDT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Cornell University

Hi.

If anyone else is looking to play Hercules, there was one at Hersheypark, 	
in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  (At least it was there in July.)

It was really odd to play a game with a pinball as big as a pool cue.

Later...
	
					Norm Schaeffer
					hwtx@cornella.cit.cornell.edu

Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: sigma@picasso.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin)
Subject: Re: The Getaway (Was: Re: What about Star Trek???)
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 18:48:25 GMT

drew@juliet.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt) writes:
>In article <h=gzsg=@rpi.edu> sigma@picasso.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) writes:
>>But the worst is the left drain.  Putting a kickback there is just a lame
>>excuse to have a gaping left scoop.  It really doesn't mean anything, since
>>the default setting (I believe) is to not relight the kickback every ball.
>>At least LW3 offers you that.
>This makes you play the six targets at the bottom of the playfield,
>and helps to keep the game challenging.  If you play these targets 
>like you should, not only will kickback stay lit, but you'll also 
>relight the super charger and keep it maxed out at 10M.

Except that most of the HSII's I've played don't increase the Super Charger
Bonus from the 1-2-3 targets.  And the 1-2-3 targets are very difficult to
play, and it resets them at odd times, like when you shoot the SC or when
you hit the Kickback.  And of course the local machine has lousy flipper
rubber - if you can hit anything... it's a miracle.

-- 
Kevin Martin
sigma@ipl.rpi.edu
"We're gonna need another Timmy!"
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: higgins@dorsai.com (higgins)
Subject: DRAIN CONSPIRACY
Organization: The Dorsai Embassy, New York's Computer Consulate. +1.718.729.5018
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 01:39:47 GMT

Is it just my imagination? A repaired TAF table I play regularly has
started draining lik a sonofabitch. I'm no wizard (top score a mere 
150mm, avg more like 50mm) but I rarely out-and-out drain on TAF.
So do they really widen the gap between the flippers? Is this possible? 
Frequent?
From: kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: The Getaway (Was: Re: What about Star Trek???)
Date: 29 Sep 92 03:20:54 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech Computer Science Dept, Blacksburg, VA

That's one thing I didn't understand about HSII myself...  The timed shots stop
for no man.  Nothing.  Except MAYBE the Getaway jackpot if you shoot the tunnel
and get an extra ball.  But the fact that the 1-2-3 targets, the Speed Millions
and the 2x RPMs and 2x Freeways don't wait (even to launch a ball) is pretty
lame.  Kinda like most (if not all) DE timed shots (off the top of my head, the
Delorean Millions and Millions Millions in Back to the Future and the Simpsons
come to mind).  Almost every other recent Wms/Bally game offers paused-timer
shots, why stop now?

keith
-- 
|kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu|  / Amiga! |"'Relax,' said the nightman,          |
|.....Keith P. Johnson.....|\/ Not bad!| 'We are programmed to receive.       |
|.1711 Whipple Dr. Apt. 11.|           | You can check out any time you like, |
|...Blacksburg, VA 24060...|Pinball KEF| But you can never leave.'"  - Eagles |
From: jrt@Eng.Sun.COM (Joel Tornatore)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: HUGE pinball
Date: 1 Oct 1992 16:49:23 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems
Distribution: world
Reply-To: jrt@Eng.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: gap.eng.sun.com


Sometime around 1980 I used to frequent an arcade in
Old Sacramento called Time Zone. At one point they had
a huge pinball machine. I believe it was made by Atari,
and I think it was called Superman.

It was big. The pinball was not metal, but was about the
size of a baseball. The machine was probably 12 feet long,
and the backglass maybe 4 or 5 feet tall, reaching at least
8 feet from the ground. The play was slow, and it was not
very exciting. Very simple rules. Digital scoreboard, however.

Well, I was about 14 years old and probably have an
exagerrated memory.

Does anyone remember this game? I seem to think they
made a different huge game, too. Where did they end up?
It's not the sort of thing that would fit well into a normal
house, nor would you want it for much beyond the novelty
of its size.

Just wondering.....

joel
From: ung@felix.filenet.com (Bill Ung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: TAF in "Pinball Missing" mode
Date: 1 Oct 92 19:45:47 GMT
Reply-To: ung@fritz.filenet.com (Bill Ung)
Organization: FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, CA

In article <1992Oct1.014248.3905@rtfm.mlb.fl.us> luckey@rtfm.mlb.fl.us (Jon Luckey) writes:
|Was play The Addams Family today, and when the machine was about
|to give me a ball to shoot, instead I heard a BLAM THUNK as if
|something dropped inside the machine.  No ball to play, and the machine
|went into hunt mode, looking for a lost ball.

More and more shortcomings.  Geez, if you're gonna have THING in the game,
then have THING IN THE GAME!  The ball obviously fell into the bottom
cabinet and it just isn't that far that THING can't reach down and get it.
He's just gotten sooo lazy since the fame of the movie.

:-) ... just in case ...

|Got someone to come over and look at it.  He turned it off.  The machine
|went thru its diagnostics, and came up "PINBALL MISSING", but still
|allowed a game to be started.
|
|One interesting thing was that inbetween each ball, the flippers went
|dead.  The game wasn't very good, but that may have been because
|I was flustered by the malfunctions of the machine.

Sounds like it was hoping to have knocked the missing ball loose and
it was gonna let that ball drain.  Kinda screwed, actually.  Did the
game hunt for the ball again?

|Why would the programmer allow the machine to play without one of
|its balls.

Well, you can conceivably play a pinball game with a single pinball.
Sure, multi-ball loses about 98% of it's allure, but at least the
operator is still making money.  Yep, profits, pure and simple.

|I wish it wouldn't, because not only would we not have
|multiball features, but if it wouldn't play, then maybe the owner
|would come and FIX THE SUCKER.

First off, most people won't know till they start the game that a
ball is missing.  Then it's too late, the game's already got your money.
On the other hand, you've always got a few pinball junkies who haven't
had the time to grab a game in a day or so, and are dying to play this
one!  So, if the game is missing a ball, you've still got two, (or even
one), and they'll pay the quarter (or 33 cents) to play, even IF all
the balls aren't around.  It can be quite frustrating if the game is
missing one ball and you don't mind playing with just two, yet the game
won't let you.  So you walk away, quarters-in-pocket, wondering how the
nearest video game will satisfy you.  ... Hey, I'm not a pinball junkie,
really I'm not.  Who's the dude in the white lab coat?  What's with the
strait-jacket?  NOOO, I don't want a hypo!!!

Bill Ung
  ung@filenet.com
From: kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Common software bug?
Date: 28 Sep 92 16:49:40 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech Computer Science Dept, Blacksburg, VA

I've never seen that happen on a Whirlwind, but I just played a Rollergames
yesterday when this happened.  Part of the problem was that the game didn't
seem to recognize that it actually had 3 balls in it (when 2 balls were locked
it would just wait, even though the ball was sitting on the ramp to launch it).
I guess the problem was the sensor in the first ball position was shot, but
eventually it popped the 2 locked balls out, and though this worked fine since
it KNEW there were 2 balls, eventually it popped 2 balls onto the plunger.
This is when the problems started happening, just like you mentioned.  What
does this mean?  Well, no jackpots basically, since you can never have a third
ball to lock.  >:(

keith
-- 
|kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu|\\\XXXXX///|"'Relax,' said the nightman,          |
|.....Keith P. Johnson.....| \XXXXXXX/ | 'We are programmed to receive.       |
|.1711 Whipple Dr. Apt. 11.| /XXXXXXX\ | You can check out any time you like, |
|...Blacksburg, VA 24060...|///XXXXX\\\| But you can never leave.'"  - Eagles |
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: jutta@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Jutta Degener)
Subject: Re: Layout/Pinball sexism?
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 20:11:59 GMT

drew@juliet.cs.colorado.edu (Drew Eckhardt) writes:
> In article <mumble> pcs$1610@altair.selu.edu writes:
>>>  Has any one else (besides me) noticed the inherent sexism in some
>>> of the pin designs? [..]
> Marketing will use advertisments targeted according to their demographics.
> [...] Sexism in pins will go away when there are more women playing pinball
> than men.

Yeah, guess when women will start playing pinball?

Anyway, I think there are a lot of excellent pins around with (to me)
surprisingly unsexist stories, although the details nearly always hint
at the presumed player's sex.  "Good man! Shoot again!"  Ouch.

The obvious fun idea would be to build a "real" sex pin -- although
it's probably too goofy for anybody to really pull it off. 

The nearest thing I know about is a machine that was designed for the
anniversary of a magazine.  I heard that there was trouble recording a
booming version of "COMe to my MANsion..." as spoken by the magazine's
owner; his voice was just too squeaky.

Jutta
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Red Mountain)
Subject: Re: Stuck balls and tilting
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 23:58:51 GMT

In <BvCG4I.6to@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson) writes:

>If you smash the plunger shot out of mega frustration, you can usually wedge
>the ball under the bear kick ramp and the very top-most area just beyond the
>main loop around theh back in TAF. 

And, boy is it difficult to get it out of there! Our local TAF had one
stuck there and my hand was too big to get throught the gap, so I had
to grab some innocent bystander kid to get it out...

Marty.
---------------------=============***O***=============-------------------------
Martin J. Gleeson  | Computer Science, Melbourne Uni, Oz |    ...  __o    Outta
gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.oz.au |     E Pluribus Unix         |  ...   -\<,       my
"We gladly feast on those who would subdue us." - Addams |  ....(_)/(_)..  way!
 "I can't give you brains, but I can give you a diploma." - The Wizard of Oz
---------------------=============***O***=============-------------------------
From: ben@monmouth.edu (Bennett Broder)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Solid State flippers - not that good!
Date: 6 Oct 92 20:19:45 GMT
Organization: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ  07764

In article <1992Oct6.181549.19457@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> S_TITZ@iravcl.ira.uka.de (Olaf Titz) writes:
>I have the impression that SS flippers have a major disadvantage
>compared to conventional ones, and that does derive directly from
>their construction: They are WEAK. Not that they did not push the ball
>hard enough, but when you want to trap a ball with the flipper up, you
>see the difference. I would prefer the usual 'hold' coil, which serve
>the intended purpose much better than just a reduced voltage (read:
>strength). 
>
>Any comments?

Lets break this down into DataEast and Williams.

DataEast:

The power stroke on DataEast flippers is anything but weak.  In fact,
the DataEast SS flippers (especially on older machines like the Simpsons)
are notorious for breaking playfield switches and targets with their
strength.  Lots of "glassies" too.  In my opinion, far too powerful;
although newer games like LW3 seem better.  The "hold" function does
seem weak, I have frequently seen raised flippers deflect when struck
by a ball.

Williams/Bally:

As I have mentioned in numerous other articles, WB flippers *do* have a
hold coil.  Although I did experience some flakyness with the SS flippers
on some early examples of the Addams family; those on newer TAF games, as
well as on the Black Rose and Fish Tales have been fine.  Flipper strength
seems about the same as on earlier games with a conventional flipper design.


-- 

Bennett Broder               Monmouth College
                             Computer Services
ben@monmouth.edu             W. Long Branch, NJ 07764
From: u2606@craysea.cray.com (Kurt Peterschmidt)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Request: A price for an old pin and a new one
Date: 2 Oct 92 17:30:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Cray Research, Inc. - Americas West

I have a couple of requests from the r.g.p group:

1.  Has anyone heard of the William's pin "Diner" (1990)?  I can't remember 
seeing  any posts and no mentions of it have been in any of the "pinball 
owner" lists posted here.  I've got a local guy here that has one for sale, 
it's in very nice condition - I'd say it's in A- to B+ condition, and it
appears to play solidly, with, I think, the exception of the large "mixing
bowl" in the top center (it looks like the sensor switch isn't registering
the pinball's "revolutions").  For those who've never seen it, it has a
large clock in the backglass (the hour hand denoting the amount of the
jackpot, I believe), with a picture of a train "diner" car with the cast
of characters riding (eating?) in it behind the glass.  It has quite a few
ramp shots, skill shot, multi-ball, stereo sound, etc., i.e. standard 
Williams fare.  Anyways, he's asking $1500 for it - this seems like a fair
price, given the newness of the machine.  Any comments?

2.  I currently own a 1950 Bally "Grandstand" pinball - this is the OLD
type of pin with no flippers, thumper-bumpers, etc., just about 31 holes
and a bunch of solid pins and "springy-pins" (the techno-term) to cause
the ball to bounce around.  Also, it's a gambling pin, although it has a
"cheater switch" installed on the side.  Accepts and pays out nickels.
The condition is excellent, with NO peeling on the backglass, no paint on
the playfield gone, and only minor ball marks in the plunger lane and the
top "crescent".  The only cosmetic flaws are on the cabinet, but they're
mostly just a few scratches and scuff marks.  Mechanically it seems to
work  fine, although I am at a loss to tell whether or not things are
working correctly since it doesn't have any operator's guide, other than
the schematics and the instruction card.  Does anyone have any idea  what 
the value of this beast is?

I'd appreciate any info on either of these to pins - responses can be sent
to kurt.peterschmidt@cray.com, or posted here.  Thanks.

Kurt Peterschmidt
From: ctribm2@caa.mrs.umn.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Trapped in hell
Date: 29 Sep 92 18:22:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: caa.ctribm2.3
Organization: University of Minnesota, Morris

I am attending the University of Minnesota, Morris, and I have become 
trapped in a freakish land with only ill-maintained, old pinball games.  For 
the last two weeks I have been Playing Jokerz wild, Cyclone, Elvira and Mont 
Carlo.  
     The only game I have any respect for is cyclone.  The ferris wheel, 
Boomerang, spook house and two rollercoaster shots make this a challenging 
game, while ensuring a long ball life.
     Monte Carlo should be called the free game machine.  Shooting the ball 
onto a ramp while it is flashing (It flashes are totally random, and dont 
depend upon the players ability) awards 10M.  The replays for the game are 
set at 3.5M and 4.5M, so every time I play the game I end up with two More 
games.  Fun for a while, but staring at the glittery, shmaltzy table for 
longer than twenty minutes can cause severe eyestrain.  
      I dont need ( or want ) to say anything about Elvira or Jokerz wild, 
because they suck.  Really bad.

      I never saw any new games where I came from either  ( Rapid city, 
SD ), whith the exception of HSII.  Therefore my favorites come from the 
oldies (?) with the number one of all time being PinBot.  That was a mean 
game.  Funhouse was a kickin' game, but we never got it in my area, and I 
could only play it while I was on vacation.  
      This weekend I am going to the Mall of america, and hope to find LW3 
in their arcade, based upon the judgement of this forum.  This is a cool 
Idea for all of the pinball freaks with a computer.  

                     Thanks for reading my mindless babble.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Natepalm^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Nathan R. Miller
University of Minnesota, Morris
From: burnside_br@lrc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: TAF Draining
Date: 6 Oct 92 00:08:31 EDT
Organization: Lenoir-Rhyne College, Hickory, NC

In article <1sZXRB2w165w@dorsai.com>, higgins@dorsai.com (higgins) writes:
> Is it just my imagination? A repaired TAF table I play regularly has
> started draining lik a sonofabitch. I'm no wizard (top score a mere 
> 150mm, avg more like 50mm) but I rarely out-and-out drain on TAF.
> So do they really widen the gap between the flippers? Is this possible? 
> Frequent?

When they "fixed" our machine, they raised the free game to 72mil from 64mil, 
made it 7 bear kicks for the extra ball, and now thing never flips into the 
swamp when he used to get it all the time.  It really doesn't seem to be 
draining, but they sure made it harder...


Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: trump@leland.Stanford.EDU (Michael Jason Lewis)
Subject: Re: Strange Pinball (was Re: HUGE pinball)
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 92 17:23:21 GMT

In article <1992Oct5.104712.761@altair.selu.edu> pcs$1610@altair.selu.edu writes:
>In article <qq34RB2w164w@jwt.UUCP>, bbs-garfield@jwt.UUCP (David Eison) writes:
>> pcs$1610@altair.selu.edu writes:
>> 
>> pinball game...)
>> And I thought The Power was annoying.. The WHOLE PLAYFIELD having 
>> magnets??? <G>
>
>Well, not as annoying as downright _strange_. Also, the playfield was
>curved, like ripples in the ocean, adding to the oddness (esp. since you 
>can't see the curves due to the playfield color :)
>
Are we talking about an old Stern Orbiter here?  The playfield was red and had
some really funky curves, but I don't think the whole playfield had magnets;
it did play like it, though.

I've only played a couple of times, so it's kind of buried in my subconscious.
I could be wrong.

(My friend many years back's father worked at Stern, and I got into the factory
with them once.  They also had a Berzerk in the basement.

- Mike
trump@leland.stanford.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball