From: phaedrus@milton.u.washington.edu (Phaedrus)
Subject: Re: Fish Tales
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 01:50:21 GMT

In article <josh.716172034@mowgli> josh@cqs.washington.edu (Josh Hayes) writes:
>{previous poster asks for rule sheet}
>
>Agreed! One of these showed up in our arcade - Phaedrus must be
>out of town, as I managed to squeak onto the high score list, but
>it seems like it would be ridiculously easy with a little practice
>to get scores well over 500M.

     Actually, I graduated (which means that this account will be going away
soon--waah!  No more rec.games.pinball for me!) and I'm down in the Vancouver,
WA area right now, living with my parents to cut down on expenses while I look
for work.  Of course, I'm hoping to land a job back in Seattle, in which case
I'll be back to make your life a living hell again. :)
     I don't have time for a rule sheet right now, but a few notes on features
that might be confusing to some:
     Plunger skill shot:  If you can get the ball to the lock within a few 
seconds of the ball launch, you'll get a "Fast Cast" bonus of 2M or so.  
(Actually, this isn't unique to the plunger shot; you can do it off of any
Long Cast.)
     The two crossing center ramps:  Each time you hit a lit ramp, one of the
little fish is spotted; spot all six to light the spinner for a "Monster Fish"
hurry-up bonus of 20M (counting down to 5M if you don't hurry).  You only get
credit if you hit the spinner "forwards" (it doesn't count if you hit it
"backwards" from a Long Cast), so try to make your sixth ramp shot on the
left ramp, so the ball will be returned to the right flipper for a quick shot
at the 20M.  A ball going up one ramp's entry and down the other is a "U-Turn"
worth 1M; this doesn't count as a successful ramp shot, though.
     Captive ball:  The Long Cast loop (around the right side of the machine)
is what lights up more bonuses from the captive ball.  If you collect all the
bonuses, then the "Grab yer Gear" bonuses of 1M-5M you've been getting for
hitting the captive ball change to "Sell yer Gear" bonuses of 5.5M, 6M, 6.5M,
and so on for the rest of the ball; hitting the captive ball enough times
during this time is what lights the Special.
     Feeding Frenzy:  Collected by lighting four big fish (from the touch 
targets on the left and right sides of the machine).  The Spinner, Long Cast
loop, and both ramps are lit with purple fish; hitting each one is 5M.  (You
can only hit each one once.)  If you manage to hit all four purple fish before
time runs out, the last fish is worth 20M.
     Rock the Boat:  Collected from the captive ball, or by telling 4 tales
(you tell a tale by lighting a big fish, then hitting the spinner in the
forewards direction before its lights stop flashing).  Both center ramps, as
well as the captive ball, are worth 10M each for 20 seconds; unlike Feeding
Frenzy, you can hit each one as many times as you want (so, like Payback Time
on T2, the best strategy is just to loop the two ramps as often as possible).
     Video Mode:  Just press the Cast button to launch torpedoes at the boats
and waterskiers.  (Don't try to aim for the waterskiers in the second and third
rows; aim for the boats towing them instead, which are much larger targets and
score just as many points).  Try not to run out of torpedoes too soon; if
you're lucky and/or hit enough back-row boats (I'm not quite sure what the
trigger is yet), an "EB" target will come up in the back row during the last
five seconds of Video Mode--hitting it awards an extra ball.  You get a million
points per boat or waterskier hit, plus a 10M bonus for getting at least (I
think) 15, or a 20M bonus for hitting 20 (a perfect score, since you have only
20 torpedoes).
-- 
Internet: phaedrus@u.washington.edu        (University of Washington, Seattle)
 "If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs,
    consider an exciting career as a guillotine operator!"