From: lfs@mitre.org (Lyman F. Sheats Jr.)
Subject: Re: Fish Tales - bleah
Organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA.
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 15:51:06 GMT

grover@vulcan1.edsg.hac.com (Dean Grover) writes:

>I guess I just made it to stage 3.

You have much more patience than I.

>I was nearly ready to give up on this one also, since the one in our arcade
>loves to cast the ball down the center drain a lot.  This is ok, for the
>first cast, but no good after a lock or a first quick drain.  It doesn't help
>that this game is set a little to sensitive in the TILT department.

I never made it past stage 1.  I can't tell you people how many times I've
wanted to kick this ball sucking PIG of a machine through the wall for auto-
casting my ball right down the center drain *every* single time.

And I REALLY don't want to hear it from all those people who say silly
things like: "Well, if the machine was set up properly, you wouldn't be
having this problem."  PLEASE.  Give me a break.  What percentage of all
operators set their games up properly?  I haven't been able to find ONE.
That's life in the real world.

This problem is so much like the Getaway auto-plunger speed loop problem
that it really makes me sick to think these people haven't learned a damn
thing.  I'm sure I don't need to explain the auto-plunger problem to the
majority of you, but I will anyway for the benefit of those rare few who
haven't experienced it.  It's a problem that occurs when the machine "isn't
set up properly."  The auto-plunger serves the ball half way up the speed
millions loop, and then the ball comes screaming back down toward the right
outlane.  If you're LUCKY enough to be saved by that pathetic thing called
the "Free Ride," you're basically in for more of what drained your ball in
the first place.  You get: "Don't Move," followed AGAIN by an auto-plunged
ball that only makes it half way up the damn speed millions loop, followed
AGAIN by the ball screaming right back down the right outlane.  The only
difference this time is that the "Free Ride" isn't lit, and you're toast.

Fish Tales suffers the same problem.  The auto-plunger launches the ball
right down the center, but the auto-cast is lit and you get another chance.
So what happens on the next attempt to get the ball into play?  Well, AGAIN
the auto-plunger launches the ball, and AGAIN the ball gets launched right
between the flippers.  Your mileage may vary.

I have a Getaway at home and I spend WAY too much time cleaning the area
around the speed millions loop to make sure the auto-plunger does its job
in getting the ball all the way around to the upper right flipper.  Then
it's UP TO ME whether my ball drains or not.

Unfortunately, machines in arcades get WAY more play than machines at home,
and since I average about 1 speed millions loop cleaning for every couple of
months (200-300 plays), operators are basically going to have to babysit the
machine if it's going to conform to the definition of being "set up properly."

The ball launch center drain problem was pretty much a turn-off to me when
I first started playing Fish Tales, and I can see how frustrating it would
be for novice players who don't move the machine around at all.  Fish Tales
is difficult enough with its short flippers; the auto-plunger just makes the
game more difficult -- in my opinion, unnecessarily more difficult, enough
so to make novice players not even attempt to make it past stage 1.

The simplest solution to the Fish Tales auto-plunger problem is to activate
a gate to stop the ball from coming down the left side and toward the center
drain when the auto-cast isn't lit.  The gate would stop the ball before it
even got the chance to head down the left side, forcing the ball down through
one of the three LIE lanes, thus keeping it AWAY from the left side and the
center drain.  If the ball gets cast right down the middle the first time,
chances are the ball is going to get cast right down the middle subsequent
times.  The gate would intervene and stop this rather unfortunate sequence
of events from happening OVER and OVER and OVER again.

>But I still managed to get to stage 2.  I thought I'd never break 200M,
>until I had a good multiball, and broke 800M.  The score didn't matter much
>(except for the 2 credits :-)), but it was my first really LONG game.

>I don't know how well FT is being received, but I'd guess that it will 
>be a big earner if it does, simply because it looks almost impossible to
>achieve a consistent high (above replay) score.

Funny you should mention this.  I played FT at the Billerica mall with a
friend one day at lunch and we weren't putting much money into the machine.
The replay started at 30M or so and the high scores were still all <= 300M.

>I still don't know if I will get a case of FISH TALES-itis, but I definitely
>enjoy the challenge of this game.

It is a challenging game, but until someone tells me of one that's "set up
properly," I'm pretty much going to avoid this game.  The auto-plunger is a
dumb design, and the people at Williams REALLY should have learned from their
previous mistake on The Getaway.  Guess not.  Well, humans are creatures of
habit, and I'm a pessimist, so I'm neither surprised nor disappointed.  Just
a little upset.

So I'm back, complaining.  Isn't life wonderful. :-)

--
Lyman F. Sheats Jr.
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Road, Bedford MA 01730
email: lfs@mitre.org