HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: chupchup@ferkel.ucsb.edu (Robert Earl)
Subject: Re: High Speed II split personality
Organization: (EVIL!)
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 14:18:34 GMT

kahlerm@sumax.seattleu.edu (Michael Kahler) writes:


| The super charger is great, and the multiball release is set up perfect to
| take advantage of it.  When releasing the three balls into the right
| inlane at the start of a multi ball, my goal is always to hit each one
| into the SC and get all three racing around the track.  Getting all of
| them in is pretty easy as the balls are released with pauses inbetween
| them, allowing perfect shots on each one (not three balls on the flipper
| at once).

My goal, when multiball first starts, is to hit only -one- ball
(ideally, the first) into the Supercharger, and to use the other two
for useful shots while the one ball is bopping around and I'm waiting
for the jackpot to light.  There are lots of points to be gotten if
you manage to shoot a clockwise loop (remember, freeway is lit...).
Besides, with 10 loops to lite jackpot, you only need one ball in
there, and three balls in the Supercharger will come back out too
quickly, and they create an awful mess on the left flipper coming out
at the same time, putting three balls on the flipper at once, which is
something you managed to avoid in the first place.  :-)

| Hey, BTW has anyone noticed the distinctive ZZ-top theme music in the
| background on HSII?  I can't remember the title, but it's obvious when
| your'e playing it.  

Yep, it's "La Grange", and there's a plug for it in attract mode.

|        He got away......
|                         HE WHAT?!!!

Heh.  "He went in the tunnel... HEY! LOOKOOOOOUUUUUUUUU..."
	"Choppers, are you out there?"

-- 
robert earl          |
rearl@ucsd.edu       | "I got a bottle of tequila, baby, who needs friends?"
rearl@piggy.ucsb.edu |   --Johnette Napolitano, Concrete Blonde
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: phaedrus@halcyon.com (Mark Phaedrus)
Subject: Re: FAQ
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 03:26:32 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.111708.4048@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> u6066061@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au writes:
>i have heard repeated reference to a "dot" or a "full stop" next to the credit
>readout - what is this supposed to mean?

     If you walk up to a relatively modern pin (at least a Williams pin) and
the display reads "CREDITS 0", it means that as far as the game can tell it's
in good shape.  If the display reads "CREDITS 0." (with a period after the
number of credits), it means that the machine's diagnostics have detected a
problem.  This can be any of a number of things, but it usually means one of
three things: a ball is missing, a switch somewhere on the playfield is stuck
down, or a switch on the playfield hasn't been triggered in about 30 games
(which generally means that that switch is dead).  Unfortunately, as a player
you have no way of knowing which of these explanations is correct (the operator
can find out easily enough by pressing the Enter button inside to display the
test report, though).
-- 
\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
From: wesselak@sunb0.cs.uiuc.edu (Erik Wesselak)
Subject: FishTales Autocast
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: rec
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 03:51:35 GMT

On the local Fishtales, autocast is lit whenever a ball is initially lauched.
However, autocast is not lit after a ball lock and the succeeding ball is
launched into play.  Approximately 30% of all balls lauched drain immediately;
thus the player puts himself in the position of losing the ball whenever he
locks it.

The little rubber bumper at the front left of the left alley does a nice job of
randomly distributing the ball over the flipper area whenever a ball is
launched from that damn solenoid plunger; Williams must have known this.  So my
question is, can the autocast be set by the operator to light anytime the ball
is launched, or is Williams really that vicious?

I know the game is supposed to be difficult, but this is just unfair.

Erik
-- 
"'Yup' was a word that that skirted confusion and bared its      __| /  |__
friendly soul without the slightest hint of foul play.  'You     __|<  /|__
want another beer?' asked Krut.  'Yup,' Mojo replied without       | \/ |
hesitation."--Krut & Mojo the aliens, BSFUC.   Erik: wesselak@suna0.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: datepper@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (David Aaron Tepper)
Subject: apology
Originator: news@nimaster
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 14:30:14 GMT

	Just wanted to apologize publicly for the curt tone in my last
posting. (Heck, my junior paper was due--what the hell was I doing on
here anyway?) In any case, 40 lashes with a ummm... hmmmm... well, 40
lashes.

	Hey, Steve, I'm sorry, man. Peace.

Tep

-- 
I'm too sexy for meiosis.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: knudsen@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (michael.j.knudsen)
Subject: Re: New games
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 21:04:02 GMT
Summary: Why not at Expo?

Thanks to Don Coons for describing these new games.
And they're at my old favorite arcade 10 minutes away...

Now -- WHY WEREN'T THESE GAMES AT EXPO?
I went all four days, had a great time, learned a lot, met a lot
of very important and very nice people.  Including the Gottlieb
grandsons who told me about their forthcoming (!) WORLD TOUR.

I'm surprised that all 4 pinmakers have new games, but only Premier's
CUE BALL WIZARD was at Expo (it was all over the place, being the
tournament machine).  Used to be there was always at least one
not-yet-released game introduced at Expo.  CBW has been out for
a few weeks already.

Perhaps Gala North is being used as a Beta test site?  I always
wondered whether it would -- gotta get back there and check it out.

Nice to see the Blackwater 100 concepts being recycled.
-- 
	"I don't think so, Al"
  Programmers Do It on paper.  So do puppies.
	knudsen@iexist.att.com
From: cd866@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Marc Sira)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: High Speed II split personality
Date: 16 Nov 1992 06:29:15 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: cd866@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Marc Sira)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, kahlerm@sumax.seattleu.edu (Michael Kahler) says:

>In article <15956@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au> s924105@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU (Cameron Silver) writes:
>
>Hey, BTW has anyone noticed the distinctive ZZ-top theme music in the
>background on HSII?  I can't remember the title, but it's obvious when
>your'e playing it.  

'La Grange' from about 1973. "uh-Haw-haw-haw..."
I've wondered whether they bothered to license the song...I like it,
though, totally gets you into the game. HSII is one of the few newer
(post about 1989) games that I like. Speaking of which,
"Hey...he went into the tunnel."
"Look Ouuuuuuuuut!"
I managed to hit the helicopter bonus today (the score for which is a
bit anticlimactic, given that you have to score the 25M jackpot to be
able to make it).

>And another scoring question: During the 'supercharger ready' routine (4th
>gear, i think) what is the 'supercharger total' listed on the display?  Is
>this what you would score if you hit the SC before the end of the routine?
> The way I see it working is every lit shot you score (loop, tunnel, etc)
>adds to the SC total, then hitting the SC gives you that score?  I've had
>the SC total up around 100M, but my end of ball score is never near that
>amount (I assume bacause I never hit the SC?).

Hmm, I dunno about this part...do you mean the redline mania thingy
(which I've got to a grand total of once)? I think the growly voice
intoning "Supercharger ready..." is part of the multiball (10 loops to
light jackpot) sequence, but the every lit shot thing sounds a bit like
the redline bit.

Before I got that redline mania, I'd never really understood where those
500M high scores came from...


-- 
                                      30
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: wesselak@sunb0.cs.uiuc.edu (Erik Wesselak)
Subject: Re: The _Lost Art_ of Slap Saving... READ THIS NAV.
Keywords: BLK2000, T2, Fellas.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 00:37:29 GMT

hydroman@acca.nmsu.edu (Hydroman) writes:

>description on what a proper slap save is???
>(Cause I know this guy had VERY sore hands when he finished playing).

Since no one else grabbed this one, I'll give it a go:

Players have the opportunity to perform a slap save when the pinball is headed
towards the outhole via the space between the flippers.  The object of the slap
save is to brush the ball with one flipper just enough to knock it onto the
other fipper, from where it can be hit back into play, or knocked back onto the
first flipper.  This is accomplished by choosing the flipper that the ball will
come closer to, and, at the right moment, hitting the flipper button and the
side of the machine simultaneously, with enough force to nudge the table at the
same time the flipper engages.  This will essentially move the ball close
enough to the flipper to be hit by it.  Usually the ball gets hit just enough
to be reached by the opposite flipper.  If you get enough of it, you can hit
the ball back into play from there.  Otherwise, you will have to do a secondary
slap save to hit the ball back to the first flipper.  This, however, requires
that the first flipper be returned to the down position by this time, and, as
is the case with most machines I have played, the flippers take their sweet
time returning to the down position, making this move impossible.  However, if
you are lucky enough to be playing on a pin with quick flippers, you can then
perform this "three-point" slap save.

Attempting this move, of course, is dependant on the sensitivity of the tilt
mechanism.  It is more effective if you can spot a ball heading for the outhole
early, and immediately begin leaning the machine in one direction to change the
trajectory of the ball.  This is less of a shock to the machine and is less
likely to tilt it.  It does, of course, require more time which you often don't
have.

Happy ball-saving.

Erik
-- 
"'Yup' was a word that that skirted confusion and bared its      __| /  |__
friendly soul without the slightest hint of foul play.  'You     __|<  /|__
want another beer?' asked Krut.  'Yup,' Mojo replied without       | \/ |
hesitation."--Krut & Mojo the aliens, BSFUC.   Erik: wesselak@suna0.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: blowfish@carina.unm.edu (rON.)
Subject: Re: Australian Pinball Championships (long)
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 07:10:47 GMT
Organization: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque


Yep, seems like a silly way of running things.
The problems:
1) Far to easy to qualify. 5 million on TAF? or was that supposed to be 50?
2) Greedy chain-arcade operators wanting only to get as many people in as
possible to their arcades so things like maintainence, leveling, fair-play,
etc goes right out the window.
3) Crappy machines with scores that don't correlate. :) (crappy in terms of
maintinence and stuff, see #2).

But then, how else do you run a nation-wide 'championship'?
r.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Subject: Re: Article: The Best Pinball Player... <LONG>
Reply-To: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 20:31:32 GMT

In article <BxvLr6.HIB@news.udel.edu> jeremym@ravel.udel.edu (Jeremy A  
Moskowitz) writes:

> SPORTS ILLUSTRATED November 16, 1992
> Printed Without Permission
> ....
> Lyman Sheats, 26, a software developer from Wayland, Mass., stands
> with one foot atop the other, hunched awkwardly over the machine....

Faces in the Crowd, indeed.  Congrats on the SI clip!

--
************* "How about a little fire, Scarecrow?" **************
Orin Day, Code 664.1                    oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov
Hughes STX/NASA       GSFC Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics
*******"Think that this is NASA's opinion?   NO, NO, NO!!!" ******
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: gloomboy@netcom.com (Chris Yaryan)
Subject: Bad Cat - Good Buy?
Followup-To: None 
Summary: Bad Cat - Good Buy? 
Keywords: Bad Cat 
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 00:18:38 GMT

Ignore earlier postings...

OK, so I've got $1500 - $2000 to spend on a pinball
machine and I'm considering Bad Cat because of it's playability
and because there's a supercollector with a shop here in Sunnyvale
who has one for just that amount... any suggestions?
Sure, I'd like a Fish Tales, but those cost $3095 new :-(...
This guy also had fixed versions of Earthshaker, Whirlwind, and
others, but Bad Cat seemed the most playable over the long term.
From: bradam@twobits.Eng.Sun.COM (Brad Martinson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: New games
Date: 18 Nov 1992 17:41:44 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: twobits

In article <1ec6s1INNt43@transfer.stratus.com>, overturf@bigbootay.sw.stratus.com (Dallas Overturf) writes:
|> World Tour was supposed to be at expo but did not arrive.
|> I heard it was sold.  A. Gottlieb being small may have needed
|> the sale more than having the game at expo at this point.
|> 

The rumor I heard was that World Tour wasn't quite stable enough for Alvin
& Co. to risk embarassment, so they left us wondering instead.  

Has anyone seen a A.G. Soccer Ball or USA Football on location?   Expo was 
the first time I'd seen them, even though they've been out for months now.

-- 
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 | Brad Martinson, XWindows janitor   SunSoft,Inc   brad.martinson@sun.com |
 |    Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc   #include <std/disclaimers.h>  |
 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
From: s924105@yallara.cs.rmit.OZ.AU (Cameron Silver)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Drop Targets (Was re: Cue Ball Wizard Rules sheet request)
Date: 23 Nov 92 06:09:52 GMT

jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke) writes:

>In article <josh.721952316@mowgli> Josh Hayes, josh@cqs.washington.edu writes:

>1) Ball bounces off differently dependent on whether or not target is up or
>down (hit target or rubber band behind it.)

I agree totally ... havent seen drop targets for a looong time. The targets on
FT (that let you catch a fish) should be drop targets IMHO!

>2) Drop targets can block your way into things (ala T2's skull -- though I
>hate the fact that T2's drop target is hard to see) or even be back to back
>(though I haven't seen that in a long time, unfortunately.)

Also there is a drop target at the enterance to the caster's club on FT. It is
always down except when one ball is shot into the casters club during multball,
the target comes up when the ball is shot to where the balls go when they are
locked. (DId that make sence?)

>3) It is possible to hit multiple drop targets with a shot at an angle (or if
>the ball rolls across them.)

>4) They make a "ker-chunk" sound when going up or down.

I agree again! .. Ker-Chunks are what make a pinball machine. Locking balls on
TAF causes a few ker-chunk-like sounds. Also StarTreck had drop targets that 
reset after each ball ... nice feel when 6 (or possibly 9) drop targets pop
up!!

>5) They are mechanical (one of the things I like about pinball machines is
>that they are mechanical -- seeing things physically move is fun.  Maybe I'm
>wierd, though.)

I agree .. when I was younger I used to spen heaps of time watching the washing
machine! .. I also used to have a ball clock (a clock that uses balls, tracks
etc to tell the time) ... Machanical is definatly better!!

>So, no, those damnable round targets won't suffice!

I agree (again)

Cameron Silver!
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: knudsen@cbnewsd.cb.att.com (michael.j.knudsen)
Subject: Re: Light bulb identification
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 22:48:06 GMT

Actually, #44 bulbs are hard to find, but #47 are easy.
Fortunately, 47s are lower wattage and so run cooler,
so no problem of damage from heat if you replace 44 with a 47.

455 flasher has no other replacement.  Beware of 55 bulb that looks
like a 455 but doesn't flash -- it really cooks.  Literally.

Anybody know of a super-bright replacement for 44/47?  I'd like
to put them under the blue playfield inserts in my PHAROAH so
I can see them -- those deep blue inserts are pretty but don't let
much lite thru.
-- 
	"I don't think so, Al"
  Programmers Do It on paper.  So do puppies.
	knudsen@iexist.att.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: earl@rtsg.mot.com (Brent R. Earl)
Subject: Re: Light bulb identification
Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Group
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 03:54:21 GMT

About the 44 and 47 bulbs, the 44 being the hotter of the two.  I was told that
the reverse is true.  Use a 47 for a brighter game, and a 44 for a longer lasting,
less damage bulb.  Which is true?  I was about to run out and buy a hundred lot to
replace burnouts in my Gottlieb "Arena" (1987, just bought it at chicago pinball expo '92).

Anyone else own one of these machines and want to trade tips?
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: u9039899@cs.uow.edu.au (Darrin Jon Smart)
Subject: Re: Gottleib machines now in Australia
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 06:38:22 GMT

dstewart+@cs.cmu.edu (David B Stewart) writes:

>>They had about 5 pinball machines, and right in the middle is a Gottleib
>>"Cue Ball Wizard".

>Is that a machine that is assembled in Chicago?  Or does Premier have other
>assembly plants in the world?

I'd say it is imported in an assembled form. I don't think there are any
assembly-lines in Australia. Do any of the pinball companies have more than
one factory?

>I am just thinking of how amazing it is that Australia already has Cue Ball
>Wizard, but it has yet to show up in Pittsburgh, just an 8 hour drive from
>Chicago.  I know that in this age of telecommunications half-way across the
>world is as close to next door; but I didn't think that applied to pinball
>machines too!

The place I was at (Gorge St. Sydney) is probably the first place in the
country to get new machines. At home it takes quite a while longer. TAF has
been here (Wollongong, NSW) for only a couple of months.

The CBW machine is a bit of an oddity here too; Gottleib machines are very
rare.

 - Darrin
From: 00tdspence@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Auto-plungers
Date: 23 Nov 92 02:16:34 GMT
Organization: Ball State University, Muncie, In - Univ. Computing Svc's




In article <kf3euMm00VouFYG1cv@andrew.cmu.edu>, ps2i+@andrew.cmu.edu 
(Paul Leonard Sonier) writes:
> So howzabout some sort of
> innovation here that keeps the normal (hand-operated) plunger, but also
> allows for auto ball launch?
> 

Data East's CHECKPOINT has such a plunger.  In normal play, you pull the
plunger to shoot the ball, but once multiball starts, the other
are shot out by the machine automatically.

travis
00tdspence@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: buzz@apple.com. (Steve Bollinger)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Auto-plungers
Date: 23 Nov 92 17:30:15 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
X-Xxdate: Mon, 23 Nov 92 17:31:03 GMT
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A73655578D013847@pyd.apple.com>

In article <1992Nov22.211635.12230@bsu-ucs> ,
00tdspence@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
>In article <kf3euMm00VouFYG1cv@andrew.cmu.edu>, ps2i+@andrew.cmu.edu 
>(Paul Leonard Sonier) writes:
>> So howzabout some sort of
>> innovation here that keeps the normal (hand-operated) plunger, but also
>> allows for auto ball launch?
>> 
>
>Data East's CHECKPOINT has such a plunger.  In normal play, you pull the
>plunger to shoot the ball, but once multiball starts, the other
>are shot out by the machine automatically.
>
>travis
>00tdspence@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu

A truly awesome idea, I think. It is my all-time favorite ball-entry
mech. Why hasn't it been used again, or stolen by Williams?
Maybe it had reliability problems? It didn't seem to on any machine
I played, though.

Way back when, Centaur had a separate kicker below the plunger lane
and a way of getting the balls out of the trough. You never locked
balls, just hit some targets to gain balls (orbs) and when you hit
the release, four balls shot out from under a flap in the plunger
lane. It did have a problem where often the kicker would get just
weak enough that a ball didn't come out and didn't fall back to
get kicked again and would stick under the flap. Took a lot of
shaking to get it back down.

-Steve
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: Steve Bollinger <buzz@apple.com.>
Subject: Re: Too-high high score
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 23:45:53 GMT
X-Xxdate: Sun, 15 Nov 92 23:47:04 GMT
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A72C217803013847@pyd.apple.com>
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.

In article <721841491snx@klaatu.demon.co.uk> Steve Loft,
steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk writes:
>Having had my 'Blackout' for a short while, I have only one complaint
>about it:  This morning I increased my high score from 824,000 to
>1,100,000.  Surprise, surprise, it didn't register.  I realise that the
>display is only six digits, but I would have expected it to have
>realised that the score had wrapped around.  Is this a common fault with
>machines of that era?  It seems to have been ridiculously easy to hit
>this problem;  I don't consider myself a pinball wizard, and I have the
>machine set up with the factory defaults.  Why didn't they give it a
>seven digit display - it really needs one.

Rolling over the machine was a part of the game for certain period of
time. If you roll over a really early machine it will just forget
you ever had a high score. Eventually, the makers (my experience is
mostly Bally around that time) figured out you were getting ripped a
credit (no high score) and gave you a credit as the machine rolled
over. And often you would get a credit as you passed by the original
replay score (or two or three) again. So the machines were changed to
remember you rolled over and not award credits the second time around.
The best thing to do on machines of this age is to lose the ball when
you have enough bonus to roll the machine over. Then, as the bonus
counts up (it takes a while), tilt the machine at as close to
999,990 as you dare.

-Steve Bollinger
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: u9039899@cs.uow.edu.au (Darrin Jon Smart)
Subject: Gottleib machines now in Australia
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Wollongong University, Australia
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 23:30:06 GMT

I was in Sydney yesterday so I decided to visit the George St. arcades. They
seemed to be filming the Championships over at TimeZone, and Orbit had DE
machines, so I figured I'd go and have a look at the new 'Galaxy World'
arcade across the street.

They had about 5 pinball machines, and right in the middle is a Gottleib
"Cue Ball Wizard".

I put in $2 and had a couple of games. I was in a rush so didn't take time
to learn the rules but it seems to be an exceptionally easy game to play. By
my third game I was reaching the replay score. The white ball in the middle
is a cute gimmick.

The machine had a good, solid feel to it. It's got the bounciest outlane
posts I've ever seen on a pinball machine. Once the ball gets in there,
don't even bother trying to bump it out. They were quite fair though. The
machine doesn't really have any shots that encourage quick drains.

So if anyone wants to play it go to Galaxy World, George St. City. It's near
the cinemas there. I don't know if Galaxy World is a chain or not.

 - Darrin
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball