HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sbb@panix.com (Steve Baumgarten)
Subject: PAPA 3 Friday Night Party Info
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 23:24:40 GMT

Here's some more information about the upcoming PAPA 3 tournament in
New York City.  This is about the Friday night party that's being held
to raise money for Special Olympics (and also so that everyone can
have a great time before the competition gets really intense over the
weekend). 

Enclosed below is the text of the official flyer.  I'll be posting
more about the tournament itself next week.


                    Think you're a Pinball Wizard?
                                   
                         Test your skills at
                                   
                    S P E C I A L  W H E N  L I T
                                   
                        A party hosted by the
          Professional & Amateur Pinball Association (PAPA)
                to benefit New York Special Olympics!
                                   
                      Friday, February 12, 1993
                  Park Central Hotel (56th/7th Ave.)
                            6:30 PM - ???

    Featuring:

    o Unlimited pinball on 50+ machines

    o Live music/entertainment

    o Expert Demonstrations/Clinics

    o Celebrity Challenges

    o Hors d'oeuvres

    o Cash bar

    o Auction including a collector's pinball machine, backglass art, a
      foosball table & more!

    Admission $35 in advance, $40 at the door.  Please RSVP by January
    25th for advance registration: (212) 661-3963.

    Special admission for PAPA 3 players: $25.

    (If you are interested in entering PAPA 3, the International Pinball
    Championship, please call Steve Epstein at (212) 247-3725.)

    Admission is not tax-deductible.  55% of proceeds will benefit New
    York Special Olympics.  An annual report of New York Special Olympics,
    Inc. has been filed with the NY Dept. of State.  You may obtain a copy
    of the report by contacting the Office of Charities, Albany, NY  12331
    or NYSO, Inc., Airport Park, 3 Cornell Road, Latham, NY  12110.


Should be a great time.  Sorry for the late notice, but I just got it
last Thursday night and was without an Internet connection for a day;
note, however, that if you're going to be in the tournament, the party
is only $25, which is $10 less than the advance registration price.

--
    Steve Baumgarten       |  "New York... when civilization falls apart,
    PANIX, New York, NY    |   remember, we were way ahead of you."
                           |  
    Email: sbb@panix.com   |                            - David Letterman

Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: sigma@degas.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin)
Subject: Re: Replays on fish tales
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 21:16:09 GMT

ben@monmouth.edu (Bennett Broder) writes:
>Most operators use the auto-percentaging system where they set a desired
>free play percentage and the game automatically adjusts the replay score
>every 50 games to try to achieve that percentage.

Dr. Who seems to do this "reflexing" after every couple of games.  Not only
does the replay temporarily increase by 50M whenever free games are being
played (cumulative), but the replay value when you're done with the series
seems to be rather high as well.

We've started with replay around 245M and ended with it at 455M, even
though there are no credits left.  It seems unfair to later players.

-- 
Kevin Martin
sigma@ipl.rpi.edu
"I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY didn't you BELIEVE me?!"
From: dianetti@acsu.buffalo.edu (Donald J. Dianetti)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Fish Tales: Visual clues?
Date: 27 Jan 93 23:14:59 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <C1JA5o.368@news.cso.uiuc.edu> blaira@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (andy       ) writes:
>dianetti@acsu.buffalo.edu (Donald J. Dianetti) writes:
>
>>The Fish Tales I've been playing has the volume turned very low, and
>>this (combined with the loud surroundings) makes it almost impossible
>>to get any audio clues from the game.  I have learned the game by
>>relying strictly on visual clues.  What I need to know is if there is
>>some visual signal to tell me when the Stretch the Truth time has
>>expired.  I know StT has begun when the fish that's flashing becomes
>>solidly lit, but I never know when StT time is up.  Sometimes I'll waste
>>a shot going for it not knowing that it is too late to collect it. 
>
>>So, what am I missing?  (Remember, I need some kind of visual clue).
>
>on the machine i play, the 5 (6?) stretch the truth lights (2x,3x,total lie,
>etc.) begin to flash slowly when a fish is caught.  they increase speed and
>eventually stop flashing.  when they stop, time's up.
>
>andy

Well, thanks for the information.  I think the machine I've been playing
must be malfunctioning because I'm sure I never saw those lights 
flashing.  That sign was the first place I looked for a clue.  And I'm
certain that I have collected StT awards while the lights were steady.

I'll inform the arcade staff and then hold my breath for them to fix it.

On a related note, I was quite surprised to think that this brand new
game would be designed without visual clues for _all_ features.  This 
makes me wonder if special attention is paid by designers to always
provide both an audio AND visual response for the features.  
I had never really thought about it before now.  I guess it does make
sense, though.  To allow for play in very loud surroundings.

Anyway, thanks again.


-- 
Don Dianetti  --  SUNY at Buffalo  --  dianetti@acsu.buffalo.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: alange@rahul.net (Andrew Lange)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Star Wars
Summary: The Death Star ate my game!
Date: 26 Jan 93 07:56:56 GMT
Organization: a2i network

Tonight I was playing the only pin in playable condition that I see with any
regularity, which is a (new) Star Wars.  I assume it is new because it is
playable, as opposed to the other pins this place has, which degrade to
almost completely dead within a month (no maintenance).  Anyways, I opened
the Death Star and got a ball in, but it got stuck just behind the door.
After a couple of rounds of trying all the solenoids, it decided that a 
pinball was missing, and launched another.  After hitting this one around
for a while, I opened the Death Star again, and the second ball got stuck
on top of the first.  My two remaining credits were completely useless, as
I could NOT shake the balls loose (even with a game tilt).  The operators
are not on site, and the local help could only say, "Sorry, no refunds."

Is the Death Star ball trap common, and is there a cure I could suggest to
the operators? Or will I have to go back to a horribly maintained Addams
Family to be able to play out my credits?

Andy

PS - Star Wars is by far the best Data East pin I have seen yet, but I still
like (working) TAF better.
-- 
Andrew Lange <alange@rahul.net>
From: kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keefer)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Wanted: The playing guide post
Date: 23 Jan 93 16:25:41 GMT
Organization: Virginia Polytechnic Bureaucracy, USA

Hmmm...  I think it was just posted again recently, so it shouldn't have
expired yet (I'm talking the last 48 hours).  Try looking back a few
articles, and you should find it.

keith
-- 
|//----------------------\\|  // Amiga!|"I heard it was exciting - just like  |
|/     Keith  Johnson     \|\X/  "It's |a spike in volleyball!"               |
|\CS Major--Pinball addict/|really not |                                      |
|\\----------------------//|that bad!" |      - Kelly on "Saved By the Bell"  |
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: kevin@modcomp.com (Kevin Smith)
Subject: Re: Keefer's Guide to Fish Tales!
Organization: MODCOMP, an AEG company
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 06:13:46 GMT


>>After getting all 3 jackpots in the tackle box, the fun really begins.  The
>>captive ball becomes lit for the Super Jackpot, and I DO mean Super!  Every
>>time you hit the captive ball, you get 100M points, until multiball ends.

On the machine I play you don't need all three jackpots to light Super
Jackpot.  You get the first jackpot and then while you still have at least
two balls in play you knock down the target, relock one ball and Super
Jackpot lights for a timed period.  


FEEL FRUSTRATED WITH FISH TALES?  I AM!! CAN YOU SAY WHHHHHIIIITTTETWAATTTTER!!!

--

Kevin Smith                O      |~|  T          uunet!modcomp!glsdev!kevin
MODCOMP, an AEG company   /\_     |_|  I          if (windspeed < 15)
1650 W McNab Road        /\ ;====== |  L              go_diving();
P.O. Box 6099           / / |~~~~~~~l  T          else
Fort Lauderdale,Florida 33340-6099                    go_windsurfing();
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: xor@clotho.acm.rpi.edu (Joe Schwartz)
Subject: Re: Keefer's Guide to Fish Tales!
Organization: MapInfo Corporation, Troy, NY
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 04:26:24 GMT

In article <C17509.4x2@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keefer) writes:
>The Stretch the Truth spinner shot usually shots all 5 lights lit, but
>sometimes some of the lower lights become unlit, leaving just the higher
>values.  A few times I've had ONLY the 5x lit.  I honestly have no idea what
>unlights the lower values, but it sure is nice.  If the lower 3 are off,
>then the spinner oscillates between 3x and 5x.  Anyone?

According to issue 18 of pinGame journal, each time you spell L-I-E it
unlights the lowest Stretch The Truth light.

Nice rule sheet, Keefer.  Now all I need to do is find a Fish Tales
around here...
-- 
Joe Schwartz       E-mail: xor@acm.rpi.edu
MapInfo Corp.
200 Broadway       These are my own opinions.  Any resemblance to the
Troy, NY 12180     opinions of MapInfo Corporation is purely coincidental.
From: ghowell@acs.bu.edu (Geoffrey Howell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Fish Tales: Visual clues?
Summary: Novel, or perhaps tried-and-failed, idea.
Keywords: loud bars
Date: 28 Jan 93 14:52:26 GMT
Expires: 7 Feb 93 05:00:00 GMT
Organization: Boston University, Boston, MA, USA


Since a good majority of pinball machines are located in loud locations such
as bars and arcades, it seems to me that it would be a good idea for pinball
manufacturers to install an earphone jack with a volume control on the 
coinbox.  It's obvious to all that the main volume control must be locked up
inside the machine so that you don't have players constantly upping the volume
on THEIR machine so that it drowns out the sounds of the machine next to it--
but why not a volume control for an earphone jack?  A die-hard player could
bring his own Walkman headphones with him and not miss any of the dialogue and
audial cues.

The sounds are typically the funniest aspect of a new machine and it can
be a real let-down if you can't hear them, or have to lean over the machine
to get close to the speakers to hear them.

Of course, you run the risk of looking like an idiot listening to headphones
while playing a pinball machine, but it's a small price to pay.


-Geoff

===========================================================================
-- 
-Geoff Howell
From: cjm9321@hertz.njit.edu (The InfoMan)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Star Wars
Date: 27 Jan 93 23:23:43 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.

In article <C1GBEw.4It@rahul.net> alange@rahul.net (Andrew Lange) writes:
>Tonight I was playing the only pin in playable condition that I see with any
>regularity, which is a (new) Star Wars.  I assume it is new because it is

[stuff deleted]

>the Death Star and got a ball in, but it got stuck just behind the door.
>After a couple of rounds of trying all the solenoids, it decided that a 
>pinball was missing, and launched another.  After hitting this one around
>for a while, I opened the Death Star again, and the second ball got stuck
>
>Andy
>
>PS - Star Wars is by far the best Data East pin I have seen yet, but I still
>like (working) TAF better.
>-- 
>Andrew Lange <alange@rahul.net>


	Our Game Room brought back Star Wars in FULL working condition.
Well, except the Force light burnt out.

	As far as your problem is, it never happened on the ones I
played. The death star is probably missing a plastic piece or something.

	As far as credits go, I believe you get 3 credits for Jedi
Master and 1 credit for Jedi knight. (I'm both)

	
	Also, how do you get the kickback relight? I know you shot it
around the left loop when it is lighted but how do you get it to light?

	And, how does the Storm trooper shout out occur? I mean does it
occur when you do a certain sequence or is it completely random?



P.S. When I play SW I usually end up playing it for over an hour on my
original 3 credits. I mostly have to leave the game with credits in it
because either I have class or I just get bored with it.

-- 
M A D E   .   . .---. .---.    \  Buy U.S.A. products,  /    xxxxx ==========
  I N     |   |  \    |___|    <     It's YOUR job.     >    xxxxx ========== 
 T H E    |   |    \  |   |    <  Christopher J. Massa  >    ================
-------   `---' `---' '   `    / cjm9321@hertz.njit.edu \    ================
From: gt6139a@prism.gatech.EDU (Brian Dominy)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Street Fighter II at a glance
Date: 28 Jan 93 20:26:43 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

Someone recently made a few comments about the new Street Fighter II
that arrived at Georgia Tech.  Now my $.02 worth ...

In general, the playfield is very slick, and erratic ball movement is
to be expected, but the machine can usually be nudged to keep any
ball away from the outlanes.  The inlanes are VERY narrow and should
not be trusted.  You'll notice the Gottlieb look to the game with its
three kickout holes, sort of like those in Super Mario Bros.  But this
one does have an actual plunger (yeah!)

There really isn't a skill shot, but if you launch at just the right
time (as indicated by the video display), you will set the "bullseye"
at a higher value (20M at max).

If you really take pinball seriously, you will be insulted at this
point because the game will say, "Use the flipper."  This is not
really necessary, is it?  Come on, guys, no one has to tell me that!

The basic objective of the game is to knockout 12 opponents, each located
as a kickout or a ramp somewhere on the playfield.  Everytime you do that,
you get to select one of two bonuses.  The ones I have seen so far are
5M, 10M, Car Crunch (where you slam a car target between the playfield
ala Bugs Bunny), Roaming Ninjas (aim for multiple targets), Extra Ball
lit, 1-2 round (which lets you light the extra ball), Double Round
(hit four targets to double your entire score), and Multiball.

Multiball seems to always come up, and it's pretty stupid.  Basically
you aim for any flashing red target to collect a jackpot that gets
higher and higher in value.  However, I have yet to see these jackpots
affect my score significantly.

While I have only played it a couple of times, I have seen the following
other things done:  spell GUILE to light extra ball, hit one of two
targets seven times to light SPECIAL.  And get all 12 opponents and...

A few closing remarks.  The replay is currently 105M, but this is a
cinch to get.  Also, there is NO BONUS award; as soon as you drain, you
launch.  Not a bad idea, since there aren't any bonus-type scoring
activities anyway.  And the sound is, well, somewhat annoying.  You get
about a 5-second interlude everytime you knockout an opponent -- the
same one each time.  Here the volume is set pretty loud, so unfortunately
I can barely hear any of my TAF jackpots.  All in all, it's a decent
game, not unlike Operation Thunder, that has attracted (at Georgia Tech
at least) a new crowd to the pinball machines.

Remember, "use the flipper".

BCD
-- 
Brian Dominy	"No whammies, no whammies, stop!"
Admirer of Pinball, Programming, and, uh, anything that starts with P.
if ((!sigexist(&post))||(sizeof(post.sig)>=enough)) flame(author(&post));
	"I'd like to teach the world to C in perfect .H armony!"
From: nrp@csug3.cs.reading.ac.uk ("Independent direction socks" Neilski)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Pinball Archive Announcement
Date: 22 Jan 93 22:23:37 GMT
Reply-To: nrp@csug.cs.reading.ac.uk
Organization: University of Reading

sigma@degas.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) writes:

>I will be maintaining a small archive of pinball-related text files in an
>anonymous FTP directory:

>ftp.ipl.rpi.edu:/sigma/pinball

Can whoever maintains the FAQ add this to the list?

-- neilski
excellent idea

-- 
 As for Paul, he married  |  _ __        _          | I'm the kind of guy who  
  someone else's fiancee  | ' )  )      //     /    |  likes to have his own   
     and quickly lost     |  /  / _  o // _   /_  o | special odour. So I wear 
        his hair.         | /  (_</_<_</_/_)_/ <_<_ |   TUNA FISH SANDWICH!    
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: kcantrel@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ken Cantrell)
Subject: Re: Cue Ball Wizard Rule Sheet
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 93 05:29:23 GMT

In article <C1FuHD.5on@ms.uky.edu> jduffy@ms.uky.edu (Jerry Duffy) writes:
>This is a rule sheet I wrote for CBW.. Any corrections, extra tips, or
>flames go to jduffy@ms.uky.edu.. Go easy on me.. This is my first
>attempt at writing a Rules sheet..Plus.. Im not sure how the tabs
>are going to look... :-)>
>Rules Sheet to follow....>
>		          ===========================
>			  Cue Ball Wizard Rules Sheet
>			  ===========================
[  stuff deleted ]
>
>HORSESHOE
>EXTRA BALL - After this round starts, hit the ball in either side of the
>             horseshoe to get an extra ball.

Just one thing to add to the rule sheet, and that concerns the above. 
I've found out that if you shoot VERY quickly, you can get two extra balls
by following your first shot by a FAST second.

Might just be me, but I've done it many times.


--
####################
Ken Cantrel **  kec158s@vma.smsu.edu  **  kcantrel@nyx.cs.du.edu
Better Known As 'Marius' to the Net.         **Don't Forget To Smile
#################### 		               That's why God gave us Fangs.**
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: sigma@degas.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin)
Subject: Re: Questions on Creature from the Black Lagoon
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 16:27:52 GMT

musjndx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu (Jonathan N. Deitch) writes:
>dstewart+@cs.cmu.edu (David B Stewart) writes:
>>1) Is there a common abbreviation for that pin (e.g. TAF, FT, ...)?
>>    if not, may I suggest CBL!  It gets too long to type the whole thing!
>I think net consensus has settled on CFTBL.

I've always said Creature, but hey, whatever.

>>2) During Multiball, when you make it up that huge left ramp, and it
>>    comes back down to spell CREATURE, it says "everything 2x".  

Well, the ramp always dropped the ball on the middle of the playfield on
our machine - not enough oomph after that tight turn in the upper left.

>>3) You can get one extra ball by lighting K-I-S-S twice, then shooting
>>    the center.  I also noticed that one of the snackbar awards is an EB.
>>    How else can you get an EB?  I noticed the left ramp has an Xball light, 
>>    but I've never seen it lit.
>The left ramp awards the extra ball as one of the playground awards (second
>time you hit the slide).

On the machine I played, you could also light more Extra Balls by getting
more K-I-S-S sequences, ala W-H-O in Dr. Who.

>>6) It seems to me that the only way to score really big on this machine
>>    is through Multiball.  Is that true, or are there other big-point
>>    items that can be obtained (e.g. tour mansion on TAF is not a multiball
>>    jackpot)?

Well, there's everything Jonathan mentioned, plus a Big Millions mode where
the lower ramp is 5 Million per shot, and the Everything mode at 12 ramp
shots where all of the modes are own for a little while.  Super Jackpot
value is twice the regular Jackpot value, a hefty 253.8M when we played
last.  You can get the bonus multiplier up to 10X, but nothing much happens
after that.  Move Your Car, if completed, is almost 80M, and you can do it
quite a few times.  If you don't finish the sequences, it takes fewer shots
to restart the sequence.  Nice feature.

>Anyone want to write up a rules sheet for this game ?

Oh, wouldn't I love to.  But I've only played 3 or 4 hours on a machine
which is currently 450 miles away.  Anyone know of one near southern
Virginia?  Yeah, right.

-- 
Kevin Martin
sigma@ipl.rpi.edu
"I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY didn't you BELIEVE me?!"
From: nrp@csug3.cs.reading.ac.uk ("Independent direction socks" Neilski)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Digitized TAF Pinball Sounds on WU ARCHIVE
Date: 25 Jan 93 14:21:20 GMT
Reply-To: nrp@csug.cs.reading.ac.uk
Organization: University of Reading

What?  No "Tripppple Jackpot"?

-- neilski
sarcastic

-- 
 Marmite is Sex on Toast! |  _ __        _          |  "Hmmm.  Lime custard,"  
--------------------------| ' )  )      //     /    |   said Nijel.  "Do you   
  Is it a small plastic   |  /  / _  o // _   /_  o |   think we could have    
 orange from Basingstoke? | /  (_</_<_</_/_)_/ <_<_ |      some stairs?"
From: combee@prism.gatech.EDU (Ben Combee)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Street Fighter 2 pinball at Ga Tech
Date: 24 Jan 93 02:24:09 GMT
Organization: Department of Entropy

In the last week, a Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition pinball has
shown up in the Georgia Tech student center game room.  I've not seen
any posts about this machine, so I wonder if anyone else has it.  The
play seems fine, although a bit contrived.  Your goal is to defeat all
12 fighters by hitting lit drop holes.  There is no definite order to
defeating them.  Each time one goes down, you can pick from two different
awards on the LED screen.  There is a two and three ball multiball, lots
of habitrails, a corkscrew that doesn't always drop the ball right, and
a car crushing round that, while very easy, reminds me unfavorably of the
mini-playfield on Bugs Bunny.  Gottlieb makes this machine, but it seems
rather deviod of sampled sounds other that the annoying kick/punch/yells
of SF2.

So, what does anyone else know about this?
-- 
Benjamin L. Combee (just Ben for the typed-out)        | INSERT $.25
Internet: combee@prism.gatech.edu                      | FOR EACH
1993 Junior, Georgia Tech ACM Secretary                | ADDITIONAL
C, Modula-2, C++, Icon, Basia, MST3K resource          | MINUTE OF FUN.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: phaedrus@halcyon.com (Mark Phaedrus)
Subject: Re: Star Wars skill shot (was Re: Insta-Drain(TM))
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 05:21:16 GMT

In article <1jv2loINNnn5@matt.ksu.ksu.edu> holland@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Rich Holland) writes:
>In speeder mode, just start firing.  After a couple scenes, you automatically
>hit the storm trooper on the speeder bike and get 10 million points...

     In speeder mode, just clean your fingernails, or read the paper, or watch
the person playing Fish Tales next to you.  After a couple scenes, you 
automatically hit the storm trooper on the speeder bike and get 10 million
points. :)
-- 
\o\ Internet: phaedrus@halcyon.com  (Seattle, WA Public Access Unix)     \o\
 \o\ "How'd you like to move a few steps down the food chain, pal?"       \o\
  \o\ If you enjoy fantasy/SF stories with transformation themes, email me \o\
   \o\ for a copy of the Transformation Stories List.                       \o\
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball