HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: knudsen@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (michael.j.knudsen)
Subject: Re: licensed themes
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 23:07:55 GMT

In article <253@maxx.UUCP>, tyager@maxx.UUCP (Tom Yager) writes:

> A lot of what gets written off as "flash" is actually strategy. Back in the E-M
> days, when you had a lot of grease and gears determining game rules, there
> wasn't a lot of depth or strategy. What sets well-done modern games apart from
> their "non-thinking" predecessors is that you can no longer win just by keeping
> the ball in play. 

Hmmm, this isn't quite fair to E-M games.  Their rules certainly weren't as
deep or complex, but few if any of them would pay off much for just keeping
the ball moving.  THeir slingshot kickers and pop bumpers gave minimal
points per hit, and to get anything worhtwhile you had to make certain
shots, usually after lighting up their targets somehow.

Really old EMs (like before mid-50s) required you to visit just about
every target on the playfield to get a Special.

If you go WAY back to the '30s there were games with nothing but a playfield
full of bumpers, all worth the same, and yes all you had to do was keep the
ball on the field (without flippers yet).  But from '50s on, I don't know
of any EM pins that will reward you just for "time in grade."  There
may be some, but I've mercifully forgotten them :-)

> for keeping it. Williams' Pat Lawlor (late of Funhouse and The Addams Family)
> is my favorite designer for that reason--you can play one of his games ten
> times or more and still not have been through all the rules and feature
> modes.

I like Steve Ritchie games -- the really BIG payoff objective is clear,
but you can ignore it as long as you like and make good points by shooting
loops, ramps, etc.  (I don't consider that "just keeping it in play.")

> Call me a commie for not longing for the old "just keep the ball
> a-movin'" days, but I like the challenge of a game that takes a few plays
> to beat.

No argument here.  I play better when I know what to shoot at when and why.

> I will say, though, that I have no special affection for licensed themes. I,

If you go back to the '30s, you find games with NO theme at all -- just geometric
minimalist artwork and some rules.  Seems like it wasn't till late 70s that
game rules actually started to have much to do with the theme -- till then
the "theme" was just artwork.  Exceptions were pool and poker and baseball
themed games.

A good theme should help you get the rules straight and remember them.
FUNHOUSE and HIGH SPEED have terrific themes, better than most licensed ones.
-- 
	"I don't think so, Al"
  Programmers Do It on paper.  So do puppies.
	knudsen@iexist.att.com
From: ung@felix.filenet.com (Bill Ung)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Original High Speed sound problem?
Keywords: 3rd sound in self test distorted?
Date: 9 Sep 92 18:48:11 GMT
Reply-To: ung@fritz.filenet.com (Bill Ung)
Distribution: usa
Organization: FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, CA

In article <1992Sep8.125143.11995@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> rls@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (richard.l.schieve) writes:
|
|I just finished resurrecting my High Speed.

Congrats!

|While the playfield
|needed lots of work, this is the first machine I've worked on for
|quite some time that had no trouble with it's circuit boards
|except maybe the sound board...
|
|The third sound in the self test sounds distorted to me.  During
|game play it is the sound made when the game ejects the ball after
|a ramp shot or when the ball is ejected from the saucer.  I believe
|it is supposed to be an explosion.

Hmmm, it's really hard to seriously describe sounds ... at least for
me.  The saucer, at least on my game, makes the sound of spotting a
stoplight target, at least most of the time.  I assume you're talking
about times when a target isn't spotted and the ball is just ejected
(along with 1,000 bonus points).  Ya know, I never realized how similar
the sounds are, ejecting from the saucer (w/o target) and ejecting
from a hideout.  They ARE similar, but I don't know if they are the
same.  I don't know how loud an explosion you were seeking, however,
since on my game, and every other game I remember playing, it was
more or less, a medium-pitched low-volume rumble.  Not exactly a big
explosion or anything.

|For thoses familiar with the game, is this sound a clear noise or
|is the distorted crackle the normal sound?  If I have just one bad
|sound I think I may be looking for another sound ROM...

A distorted crackle actually sounds about right.  I take it there
are no HIGH SPEED games in your area?  If you like, send me Email
and I'll make you an audio cassette of the sound test on my machine.

|				Rick Schieve
|				rls@ihlpb.att.com

Bill Ung
  ung@filenet.com
From: gleason@mwk.uucp
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: LW3 and Super Mario Brothers
Date: 4 Sep 92 13:35:00 CST
Organization: M. W. Kellogg, Houston TX

In article <s540oB1w164w@jwt.UUCP>, bbs-garfield@jwt.UUCP (David Eison) writes:

> (Tokens...), lousy games with the volume WAY too loud, and lots of broken 
> stuff...  It really scared me because I actaully LEFT CREDITS in the 
> machine and walked off, which I've NEVER done before...)
> 

  Ahh, this younger generation...back when I first started playing
pinball, I learend to always leave a credit on the machine when we were
done, in case a brother came along later and didn't have a quarter...

Lee K. Gleason
Control-G Consultants
gleason@mwk.uucp
From: dianetti@acsu.buffalo.edu (Donald J. Dianetti)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: TAF special
Date: 10 Sep 92 18:37:04 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <lav4toINN85t@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> jrt@gap.Eng.Sun.COM writes:
>
>How do you light the special???

Tour the mansion.


-- 
Don Dianetti  --  SUNY at Buffalo  --  dianetti@acsu.buffalo.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Spock, where the hell is that power you promised me?!"
"One damn minute, Admiral"
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Red Mountain)
Subject: Re: About that time (poll & ftp site)
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1992 00:32:21 GMT

In <1992Sep15.152401.6564@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> S_WIEZORKE@iravcl.ira.uka.de (Hans B. Wiezorke) writes:
>our nameserver once again screwed up... :-(
>can someone please tell me the ip number of that site?

Ok, for everyone's information:

ftp.ccs.northeastern.edu == 129.10.10.51  (tanelorn.ccs.northeastern.edu)

and all the pinball stuff is in  /pub/net-archives/pinball

Marty.
P.S. Yes, I tried it :-)
---------------------=============***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: Captain Fantastic: Classic or junk?
Date: 9 Sep 92 14:03:11 GMT
Organization: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ  07764

In article <Bu5FGq.5Bx@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson) writes:
>         AND, in HSII, one of the helicopters on the glass has a serial #
>on it beginning with XAQ.  I wouldn't think anything of it, except that XAQ
>is one of the more common sets of initials on Williams games' default high
>scores.  It's certainly one of the default initials on HSII, and I think it
>is the default champion score initials on T2.  Probably some others that I
>can't think of offhand.

The initials displayed on the default high scores are those of the game
designers.  For example, on TAF, your have MAB (Mike Boon) and PML (Pat
Lawlor).  Don't remember the others, but I remember matching up the
initials with the design credit on the bottom of the playfield.

-- 

Bennett Broder               Monmouth College
                             Computer Services
ben@monmouth.edu             W. Long Branch, NJ 07764
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: Steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft)
ReplyTo: Steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk
Subject: Re: Weak flipper cures?
Distribution: world
X-Mailer: cppnews $Revision: 1.15 $
Organization: home
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 12:29:44 +0000


In article <715662736snx@klaatu.demon.co.uk> Steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft) writes:

>Can anyone tell me what the cause, and the cure, is for a weak flipper?
>I've got a Zaccaria Aerobatics, an Italian-made mid 70's

Oh No! I can't believe I would be so stupid as to ask a question which
is answered in the FAQ list!  Anyway, I've cleaned my 'end-of-stroke'
contacts and all is well again.  Sorry.

I'd still be interested in hearing anything anyone has to say about
Zaccaria pintables, though!

Steve
|  Steve Loft                                  steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk   |
|  Doncaster,                                                             |
|  South Yorks.                                                           |
From: ec@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Edgar Circenis)
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 14:47:05 GMT
Subject: Re: Has anyone besides me seen this game?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball

In rec.games.pinball, schmata@camelot.bradley.edu (Peter Stein) writes:

> 
> I was wondering if anybody out there in r.g.p. might remember seeing a
> pinball game with an extremely bizarre playfield? Rather than a normal 
> playfield, it was made up entirely of craters that would send your balls
> off in crazy directions. I only saw it once, about 5 or 6 years ago at    
> one of the arcades at Coney Island in New York, and have not seen it since.
> Might someone out there have a clue as to what I'm talking about? If so,
> is there a chance that it might be floating around somewhere? Sorry, but I
> don't remember the manufacturer or even the title; however, it still stands 
> IMHO as the strangest, most radical concept for a pinball I've ever seen, and
> I would love the opportunity to own it. 

It's called "Orbiter 1" and is a Stern game from 1981.  I own one.  The
playfield is a plexiglas bowl over a vacuum formed "lunar surface".

Instead of pop bumpers, the machine has two rubber spinning bumpers.  When
your ball hits one of these, it puts a spin on the ball and sends it off
in a random direction.

The game itself isn't all that interesting (beyond the novelty of it).  There
is a bank of seven drop targets at the rear of the machine which initiate
multiball play.  There are two other banks of three drop targets each which
increase bonus multiplier (hmm... 13 drop targets, record?).

Most experienced pinball players are clueless when they first play this
machine; it doesn't play like anything else out there.

As for owning one, I stumbled across mine by chance (I'm not selling :-).
A distributer I spoke to recently said that they are hard to find because
when arcades started dumping them, nobody wanted them.  My guess is that
many ended up in the dump.

This machine also wins the award for most dorky speech.  Example: "wow, wow,
wow, wow, you are a great player, you beat high score, wow, wow, wow, wow"

Edgar

Orbiter 1 (Stern 1981)
13 drop targets
1 captive hole
1 spinner
2 spinning bumpers
8 spot targets
2 ball multi-ball
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: yyz@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (donald.w.coons)
Subject: Re: Fish Tales
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 20:57:40 GMT

In article <1992Sep14.153635.13576@rtsg.mot.com> farris@rtsg.mot.com (Dan Farris) writes:
>In article <josh.716172034@mowgli> josh@cqs.washington.edu (Josh Hayes) writes:
>>
>out the best strategy yet, I posted a score of over 900M.  This easily
>topped the list of high scores.  Here's how it happened:
>
>I got a couple of jackpots during multi-ball and then I heard it holler
>"Super Jackpot".  I heard it again and realized that it was triggered by
>hitting the capture ball.  Quickly capitalizing on this opportunity, I
>must have gotten about a half a dozen super jackpots in quick fashion.
>I was too busy to look at the screen to see what kind of points I was
>getting, but when the second to last ball rebounded from the capture
>ball and went right down the middle, I looked up to see 200,000,000
>staring me in the face.
>
>I realize that this particular machine is probably a "beta", but do all
>of the games allow repeated super jackpots?  Especially on such an easy
>shot, right in the middle of the playfield?
>
>Overall, the game was fun, the shots were interesting, but the multiple
>super jackpots kind of takes the excitement out of getting a huge score.
>Sorry, I didn't get to check the ROM level.  Maybe Don knows; he pointed
>me to this place.  
>
>I also played Dr. Who.  Awful game.  Is this a beta?  If so, don't expect
>to see too many of these hitting the field.
>-- 
>Dan Farris                      Motorola, Inc.
>farris@rtsg.mot.com             Radio Telephone Systems Group
>+1-708-632-3103                 1501 W. Shure Drive
>                                Arlington Heights, IL  60004

Dan, I think this is a revision 1 ROM on Fish Tales, at least thats what I 
remember the last time I played it (about a month ago). Dr. Who disappointed
me also, did both flippers work when you played it? Did they still have
Star Wars there, it was a Data East Beta, very impressive graphics on the
dot matrix display.

Don Coons
dwc@wnb3b2.att.com
From: jjhoxsey@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Major Lee Obvious)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Secret Mania - What is IT (HSII - The GetAway)
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:38:50 GMT
Organization: ACME Acres Looniversity Public Relations.

In article <1992Sep15.134500.13672@njitgw.njit.edu>
cjm9321@hertz.njit.edu (The InfoMan) writes:
>
>	I hate giving away the secret but...
>

	Why would you hate that?

>	Just a side question...
>
>	What does the cop say the second time you get there?
>

	"This time I'm gonna nail that dirtbag!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Even I must take a break from | jjhoxsey@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Kuros)
 wackiness occasionally."      |
               Gogo Dodo       | The IRC Silly Knight (w/rubber chicken)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: David Brady <Brady_David@Tandem.Com>
Subject: Re: About that time
X-Xxdate: Tue, 15 Sep 92 21:20:24 GMT
Organization: Tandem, Inc.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d9
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 20:14:54 GMT

In article <1992Sep15.174550.8125@tandem.com> David Brady,
Brady_David@Tandem.Com writes:
>Just tried it and the sight wouldn't allow 'anonymous' access.

The real problem is that the site requires a name for my IP address - but
reports that as "User anonymous access denied."  I can't have a name for
my address since it gets assigned dynamically whenever I connect up. 
(The only other FTP site that I have this problem with is Apple's.)

SInce I can't get there, would someone post (or e-mail) the TAF rule
sheet.  We finally have one at the arcade near me and NEED to know more
about it!

Thanks.
-----------------------------------
email: Brady_David@Tandem.Com

Remember, David Brady IS Lee Harvey!
From: kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Pinball Volume...
Date: 6 Sep 92 09:07:24 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech Computer Science Dept, Blacksburg, VA

Personally, I've wondered if it was possible to get a "pinball game
soundtrack" or something of the sort.  Like you said, there are a lot of
cool-sounding games out there.  One of my favorite pieces is the music
from "Midnight in FunHouse" played when you've locked 2 balls and Rudy
falls asleep, and you have to shoot his mouth to start multiball.  There
is a lot of good music in Whirlwind too.  And even Dr. Dude.  (Anyone
else out there played that one, BTW?)

keith
-- 
|kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu|\\\XXXXX///|"The players tried to take the field, |
|.....Keith P. Johnson.....| \XXXXXXX/ | The marching band refused to yield.  |
|.1711 Whipple Dr. Apt. 11.| /XXXXXXX\ | Do you recall what was revealed      |
|...Blacksburg, VA 24060...|///XXXXX\\\| The day the music died?" -Don MacLean|
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Red Mountain)
Subject: Re: T2 weirdness
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 02:12:37 GMT

In <Bu12JC.I4M@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson) writes:

>I played T2 for the first time in a long time the other day..  When I
>was on my second multiball, I managed to lock one ball in the gun right
>away, then after about 30 seconds, locked a ball in the escape route
>lock (which happened to be on "multiball" at the time), then promptly
>lost the 3rd ball.  Then the game says "Shoot for 2x Jackpot - 20 mil."!
>Apparently, getting multiball DURING multiball lights 2 jackpots at once
>sorta.  Too bad 10 mil. seems to be the cap.  I almost would have
>rathered get the one jackpot then get multiball again because it was up
>to around 6.5 mil. before shooting up to 10 mil.  But I got the 20, then
>it shot out the 3rd ball for me again, so I had 3 balls again to try for
>the super jackpot.  Of course, I lost 2 balls right away (sucks that 
>auto-fire lasts only for the 1st multiball).  Has this happened to
>anyone else?  It took me a while to realize why all this happened, but
>now I think it's kinda neat.

Actually what happens is that your jackpot is multiplied by the number of
balls you have locked when you shoot for the jackpot. What happened to you
was that when you got the multiball from the escape route, the autofire
came on as it does at the start of each multiball, and that's why you got 
the third ball back. Also, the autofire will last for a decreasing amount of 
time for each successive multiball.I

Did that clear thing up any, or just muddy the waters?

Marty.
----------------------=============***O***=============-------------------------
Martin J. Gleeson   | Computer Science, Melbourne Uni, Oz |    ...  __o    Outta
gleeson@cs.mu.oz.au |  E Pluribus Unix  |  BIKE  IT   !!  |  ...   -\<,       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***=============-------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: jimd@m2xenix.psg.com (Jim Dorman)
Subject: Re: Pinball getting more difficult as you play
Organization: Pacific Systems Group, Portland Oregon US
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1992 07:46:21 GMT

Let us not forget machines that actually DO increase the difficulty level
as you play....

Take Funhouse.  The longer you play it, the more the machine self-adjusts
how balls are kicked out, for example.  The machine literally changes the
way the ball moves (plus changing the shots required, like Whirlwind).

As far as I know (and I'm no expert), Williams has not continued that partic-
ular feature in any games since FH, but I couldn't swear to it.
From: bdm@druwa.ATT.COM (Brian Millham)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Eldorado Products
Date: 9 Sep 92 15:25:03 GMT

in article <1992Sep8.191708.10718@cabezon.uucp>, joee@cabezon.uucp (Joe Eckardt) says:

> Wouldn't help you.  They don't accept charge cards and won't mail
> COD.  They want a check up front.  And plan on waiting 6 to 12 weeks
> for the manual to arrive.  

They don't accept credit cards, but they do ship COD.  As for waiting,
I ordered a CPU board for my Dragon's Lair (sorry for mentioning video
here) and waited about 2 months.  Then I started calling them weekly, and
the answer was always "It will ship next week."  After another 2 months
of this, I got tired of waiting, canceled my order, and called C&P.
They shipped the next day. (A non-working board, but that's another
story...)  I now have another order in with Eldorado for an annunciator
board for my Space Ace.  They are sending it COD, and it should get here
today or tomorrow.  We'll see.
--
Brian Millham     |Kitty      |Fletch |Dragon's Lair |Kick Man |New World
AT&T Bell Labs    |Ferrah     |Buddy  |Space Ace     |Sinistar |High Speed
Denver, Co.       |Dr. Pepper |       |              |         |
bdm@druwa.att.com |(ferrets)  |(cats) |(laser disc)  |(video)  |(pinball)
From: bbs-garfield@jwt.UUCP (David Eison)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Leaving credits (was Re: LW3 and Super Mario Brothers)
Date: 6 Sep 92 20:33:45 GMT
Reply-To: bbs-garfield@jwt.UUCP
Organization: The Matrix

kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keith Johnson) writes:

> Actually, sometimes I try to sell games at incredible prices.  Esp. on
> Hurricane, the winner of "Easiest game to win credits on award" by me at any
> rate...  (Also, Hurricane seems to have a 10-credit cap, BTW.)  Often I can
> sell 6 credits for a buck.  (Makes up for initial investment on my part, and
> gives a great break for the next guy.)

Cool.  I guess my problem is I'm not good enough (yet) to win millions of 
free credits.. <G>  BTW: I have barely played Hurricane, but I believe 
that the easiest machine to win Credits on it "Fire!".  We're talking 
about SIMPLE... You make 5 ramp shots and then hit an outlane, free 
credit.  Nice, easy going match.  The one I play has a LOW high score and 
replay value, (around 1 mil replay, 3 high score) and awards replays on 
the top 2 or 3 scores, so I can play it forever...

---
David Eison - Garfield           bbs-garfield@jwt.uucp
I'm not writing a message.  These words are just here to take up space.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: knudsen@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (michael.j.knudsen)
Subject: Re: monthly rec.games.pinball FAQ, two of two
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 22:07:42 GMT

In article <faq_upkeep_715356605@athena.mit.edu>, sao@athena.mit.edu (Andy Oakland) writes:

> =======================     Drop Targets        =========================

Please add: When replacing the glue-on stickers on modern targets,
use rubber cement or some other kind of glue that will let you peel of
the sticker intact in case the plastic target breaks and must be replaced.
Replacement target bodies are easy to get, but the stickers are not!

> Intermittently flickering bulbs may be helped by bending the socket
> slightly out of round with needlenose pliers (with the bulb out!) to make
> the grounded shell fit tighter.  Use TV tuner cleaner to slip the bulbs
> in and out easier.

Another fix: Bulbs often flicker because the ground lug no longer makes
good contact with the socket barrel.  Put a small patch of solder
between the lug and barrel end where they join.  You may need to file
or scrape the spot you solder to, and use at least a 40-watt iron.

Hope these comments are worth adding to the FAQ.
-- 
	"I don't think so, Al"
  Programmers Do It on paper.  So do puppies.
	knudsen@iexist.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball