From: ch3l+@andrew.cmu.edu (Christopher Paul Henk)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Tristan players?
Date: 7 Jan 93 15:37:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.gfHBffO00VAyQ1WUUG
Organization: Junior, Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

>	I recieved a copy of Tristan for christamas (A 1990 game? somewhere 
>around there.) And Think It's ok, as far as pinball goes.  I think that in 
>the push for a true "simulation" they enhanced the difficulty of the table, 
>overstressing the players' flaws.  For example, When I play on a real pin, I 
>don't bat the ball down the drain with my flipper a tenth of the times that 
>I do on Tristan.  (I forgot the technical name that was in the documentation 
>for it.)

I give the game about the same ratings in tems of realism. The "nudge"
really gets my goat just for being so bloody useless. I've found two
times it's useful in the game, once by the right drain, and once up top
to pick up the extra ball. Really funny thing: a few times when the
balls about to drain, I find myself instinctively shoving the keyboard.
:) Anyway, I don't have a copy of the rules, so I have a few questions,
the first of which is, is there any way to nudge the machine in a
different direction besides forward?

>	I did however, enjoy the graphics, and the documentation. I do not 
>have a SVGA card, so I was not able to view the 256 color board, but I 
>thought the 16 color board was Fantastic!! 

The 256 color board is a sight.

>	I have noticed though, that 99.9% of my score always comes from one 
>ball.  I can extend the life of the ball by getting the extra balls, or 
>locking one ball in the top saucer, and then losing the free ball, etc. , 
>but I can never score consistently for all three balls. 

Yeah, the game isn't much for complex strategy. Just keep aiming for the
lock. Shoot the left side occasionally during big values, Million
especially.

>  For example, my 
>high score on one ball is 21,000,000 or so, while the total for the game was 
>only 23,000,000 or so.  (That is my High game, as well) What do other 
>players get on this?

This is a game where practice really makes perfect. I had this for a
high after about one week of play. After several months I pulled a 150
Million game. Basically, you keep one ball alive forever as you say,
then start shooting the collect bonus: it slowly but surely becomes the
biggest shot in the game.

Which leads me to a question: how do you get the bonus multiplier past
5? I've done it, but I don't know how. Whenever I get to 5x and I
complete the right side of drop targets, 
it simply gives me "Adv. Bonus", but I've gotten the bonus as high as 8x
before (resulting in a 10+ Million Bonus! I forget the exact amount
now). What about a limit to the bonus?

I really like the multiball set-up. For those who don't know, the
jackpot shot is a rollover target in a sideways alley in the middle of
the field, and there are no side flippers. Therefore, there is no way to
consistenetly score the jackpot (it's a repeatable shot). There is a
bumper slightly above it that you can try to ricochet off of, but this
is far from reliable, even with outstanding aim. I like this, because it
awards you for simply keeping the ball in play as long as possible. BTW,
does the jackpot have any limit? I've had 5Million+ jackpots.

> I can conceiveably understand 999,999,999 simply 
>because of the relative ease of extending the life of a ball. 

Are you sure that 9 digits is the max? I know it is for the high score
lists, but during a game you have room for quite a few more.

Oh, is there any way to play multi-player? Again, had I a rules sheet,
this would be a dumb question.

The game also has an indavertent sort of skill shot. If you launch with
just the right power (one notch below maximum strength), it knocks down
all 3 lite-extra ball targets, and lands in the lock. 

One last question: any ideas for ways to customize the game using Resedit?

Bye for now.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball