HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: Stephen Jonke <jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: The tips list -- was Re: Fish Tales - bleah
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A72705CC06025C5D@joe.gsfc.nasa.gov>
X-Xxdate: Wed, 11 Nov 92 23:47:40 GMT
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 23:47:42 GMT

In article <LFS.92Nov10105106@arcadia.mitre.org> Lyman F. Sheats
Jr., lfs@mitre.org writes:
>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.

I have now played 3 different FT machines.  None of them come even
close to autocasting the ball down the center drain.  Not only that,
but on all the macines I've played, the auto cast actually remains
in effect for a bit longer then the light on the playfield flashes
(in spite of hearing it beign the other way around.)  The only
problem I've run into is that on the latest FT machine I've found,
the operators have screwed up the gate that allows the ball to pass
all the way around on a long cast (right loop) shot -- it never goes
through.  So much for the captive ball shot, quick casts and long
casts on that machine (I've let the operator know, but I get the
impression he doesn't care -- I'll take my business elsewhere!)

Fish Tales is quickly becoming a favorite game.  Steve Baumgarten is
absolutely right on with his F.T. playing stages.  I'm somewhere
between stages 3 and 4.

Steve
------------------------
jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov
------------------------
From: iav@po.CWRU.Edu (Ian A. Verschuren)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Help on lights, and opinion on Lethal weapon 3.
Date: 12 Nov 1992 13:37:05 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: iav@po.CWRU.Edu (Ian A. Verschuren)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


O.k. so here's the deal.. A friend of mine recently bought a spyhunter 
pinball machine. It's in decent condition and we got it pretty cheap.. So,
here is the problem, All the lights on the floor of the machine are out..
none of them work.  Also, all the game over, 3/ball, etc lights on the top of
the machine are out...*basically all lights controlled by the lamp driver are
out*. I've had the lamp driver checked, the main board, and the power board,
all of them checked out O.k. *unfortunately this info cost me $50* anyway,
still the lights do not work.. anyone have any idea what could cause this??
I would really like to get the lights fixed, for myself, and because there is
a great loss on profit because of the inop ligts...*heh heh we live in a 
fraternity house.. so far we have made back about 1/8 of what we paid. in 
a month or so...

Oh and opions...
Lethal weapon is one of the coolest pinball machines that i have seen... I saw
high speed two, but didn't think it was all that..  I love the multiple dif
video modes, I love the use of graphics on the score screen, and I really
enjoyed all the sounds built into the games.. I rank this game as the second
best i have played... *heh heh right after terminator, which i still think
is the coolest pinball machine ever*  third??? GIligans island..
laterz
thanks for any info!
please email reply, or post here.
-- 
************************************************************************
*(place your own favorite cute sig file here and pretend its mine)     *
*Ian.                                                                  *
************************************************************************   
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: David Brady <Brady_David@Tandem.Com>
Subject: Question on HS2
X-Xxdate: Wed, 11 Nov 92 19:21:37 GMT
Organization: Tandem, Inc.
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d11
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 19:21:13 GMT



Could someone send me the HS2 rule sheet - I can't access the pinball ftp site.

And a question...

I played it today and had a wonderful first ball - 232 million.  I started with
a 'burn rubber' bonus of multiball and kept it going for about 2 minutes.  It
felt like forever.  :-)

During multiball, everytime I drained a ball the machine would give it back to
me.  Fun (or course), but I'd like to know what I did to deserve such a
courtesy.  Evetually I lost two of the balls and it didn't give 'em back.  What
was the difference?

Thanks.
--
email: Brady_David@Tandem.Com
(Note: This message is from me, not my employer.  React accordingly.)

Always remember -  David Brady IS Lee Harvey!
From: sbb@panix.com (Steve Baumgarten)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Jordan Pinball
Date: 6 Nov 92 19:34:36 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix, NYC

In article <1992Nov5.164507.3922@exu.ericsson.se> exuhag@exu.ericsson.se (James Hague) writes:

   I agree.  Even misses like Bad Cats and Riverboat Gambler (which
   I still like) obviously had a _lot_ of work go into them.  

When you say "miss", do you mean commercially?  Or that the games just
weren't all that good?

I think each of the manufacturers has had its share of commercial
flops, but there haven't been all that many games that were just
downright awful to play.  A few come to mind, with BUGS BUNNY'S
BIRTHDAY BASH likely heading the list for Bally.  I could also have
lived quite well without LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION...   :-)

But I liked BAD CATS a lot, especially the great sound.  If you can
find one in good shape, it's really a fun, fast-playing game.  For
some reason FISH TALES reminds me a lot of BAD CATS, more for the
overal style of the game (theme, sounds, humor, etc.) than anything
else.  As far as game play and rules go, they're completely different.

--
    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: ronan@ug.cs.dal.ca (brian c ronan)
Subject: Match Noise???
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 23:44:26 GMT

Just a quick question....how come when you match it sounds
like some primordial beast is trying to break through the
play field to kill you.....must it make such a big noise???...
and exactly what is making the noise???(I'm new to pins so
please don't flame me that bad)

					Brian
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Red Mountain)
Subject: Re: High Speed II: Helicopter Bonus?
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 02:39:00 GMT

In <absurd-061192203408@seuss.apple.com> absurd@apple.apple.com (Tim Dierks, software saboteur) writes:
>I've got to know.... I can't take it anymore.  Every time I hit a
>pop bumper in The Getaway it "advances the helicopter bonus".  I
>don't have any idea how to collect this bonus.  Noone I know knows.
>There isn't a mention of the helicopter bonus anywhere on the rule
>card, the playfield, the plastics, the blackglass, or engraved onto
>the ball in little tiny letters.  Sure, sometimes you'll see
>helicopters on the display during multiball, and there's a couple
>of giant helicopters on the backglass, but I'm convinced the whole
>thing is a giant red herring to get me to play more often in the
>hopes of solving this mystery.  I've given up.  Maybe you can help.

The Helicopter Bonus is scores during Multi-ball by shooting into the tunnel
after you get the first jackpot. You can score it again after each subsequent
jackpot, and it does not go down. Incidentally, in a 2 or more player game,
all players contribute to the Helicopter bonus, and it holds over between
balls and players, which can get it ppretty high when 4 (fairly good) 
players are playing. I've scored quite a few 30mil+ Helicopter bonuses.

While we're talking about Getaway hidden features, people might be interested
to know another way of getting an extra ball. In the awards where the 9
traffic light targets are flashing (i.e. Supercharger, multiball (either
regular or Redline Mania), and Secret Mania), hitting all 9 targets lights
(or lites, if you like :-) the extra ball.

Marty.
---------------------=============***O***=============-------------------------
Martin J. Gleeson  | Computer Science, Melbourne Uni, Oz |    ...  __o    Outta
gleeson@mundil.cs.mu.oz.au |     E Pluribus Unix         |  ...   -\<,       my
"We gladly feast on those who would subdue us." - Addams |  ....(_)/(_)..  way!
 "I can't give you brains, but I can give you a diploma." - The Wizard of Oz
---------------------=============***O***=============-------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: bkush@us.oracle.com (Brian Kush)
Subject: Re: Help with Cyclone
Organization: Oracle Corporation, USA
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 18:56:20 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by an unauthenticated user
              at Oracle Corporation.  The opinions expressed are those
              of the user and not necessarily those of Oracle.

The best way to get a credit is to put the ball down the 2x 3x 4x 
multiplier on the left side.  It is not an easy shot from right
flipper, since you have to wait till it gets right to the end,
but if you get 4x (getting it in there three times) you get a 
special.  I would immagine that as more people do it the threshold
goes from 4x up to 5x and so on.  I usually do this on the first
couple of balls, 1. it gets you a credit in case you have a bad game,
and 2. if you get 4x on ball one, it carries over to balls 2-5.

-- 
Brian Kush  --  Oracle Corporation  --  bkush@us.oracle.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: dstewart+@cs.cmu.edu (David B Stewart)
Subject: Re: taf in toronto
Organization: The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Distribution: rec
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 20:40:41 GMT

In article <8009@transfer.stratus.com> overturf@bigbootay.sw.stratus.com (Dallas Overturf) writes:
>In article <19926.4950.7088@dosgate> "luc theriault" <luc.theriault@canrem.com> writes:
>>Hello
>>
>>into the vault and just sits there). Yet, tonight, the clerk at the
>>desk, came up to me and gave me dollar and told me that they did not
>>want to see me there anymore!
>>
>If they have a regular crowd that likes to play (or maybe the employees
>even??) they may have found it too hard to beat when you were done with
>it.  

I think the clerk used to always have the high score on the machine, and used
that to show off to his/her friends.  But now that you got the high score, the
clerk felt defeated, and as a power trip "I'll still get the last laugh, you
can't play anymore", asked you to stop playing.  :-)

~dave

Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft)
ReplyTo: steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk
Subject: Light bulb identification
Distribution: world
X-Mailer: cppnews $Revision: 1.19 $
Organization: home
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 11:31:16 +0000

[Apologies if I've posted this twice - there seems to be some sort of
problem with the news machine here]

I'd like to identify the type of bulbs used in my newly acquired
Williams Blackout.  (Yes, I bought it.  Many thanks to those who replied
to my request for opinions on this machine;  I am very pleased with it
so far).  Most of the bulbs just have '44' on them, with no clue as
to their voltage or current rating.  The bulbs in my EM Zaccaria say
'6.3v 0.32A'.  Are they the same thing, perhaps?  The other bulbs in my
Blackout are flashers; they have '455' on them.  Could someone tell me
the rating of these bulbs also?

Steve
|  Steve Loft                                  steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk   |
|  Doncaster,                                                             |
|  South Yorks.                                                           |
From: ben@monmouth.edu (Bennett Broder)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Light bulb identification
Date: 11 Nov 92 13:46:06 GMT
Organization: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ  07764

In article <721506676snx@klaatu.demon.co.uk> steve@klaatu.demon.co.uk (Steve Loft) writes:
%[Apologies if I've posted this twice - there seems to be some sort of
%problem with the news machine here]
%
%I'd like to identify the type of bulbs used in my newly acquired
%Williams Blackout.  (Yes, I bought it.  Many thanks to those who replied
%to my request for opinions on this machine;  I am very pleased with it
%so far).  Most of the bulbs just have '44' on them, with no clue as
%to their voltage or current rating.  The bulbs in my EM Zaccaria say
%'6.3v 0.32A'.  Are they the same thing, perhaps?

The #44 are 6.3 volt bulbs.  They are readily available at almost any
electronic supply store here in the U.S.  (Radio Shack, etc) as well
at pinball/arcade video game distributors.

%  The other bulbs in my
%Blackout are flashers; they have '455' on them.  Could someone tell me
%the rating of these bulbs also?

Like the #44s, these are also 6.3 volt bayonet mount bulbs.

I don't know about the current rating on either of these bulbs, but if
I were you I would try to obtain the correct replacements.  If you replace
the bulb with one that runs hotter than the original you could damage your
game.  Both of these bulbs are used in current Williams games, so I'd be
very suprised if your local Williams distributor doesn't have them in stock.

-- 

Bennett Broder               Monmouth College
                             Computer Services
ben@monmouth.edu             W. Long Branch, NJ 07764
From: ben@monmouth.edu (Bennett Broder)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Loud pinball games...
Date: 5 Nov 92 20:27:50 GMT
Organization: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ  07764

In article <1992Nov5.151553.29300@exu.ericsson.se> exuhag@exu.ericsson.se writes:
>Steve Baumgarten writes:
>>One problem that's relatively new, I think: games these days tend to
>>make all sorts of noise when they're in "attract" mode. 

Talk to the operator.  On most games, the attract mode sound and music
can be disabled by the operator.  Convincing them to turn it off may
take quite a bit of persuation though...

>I won't even go into video games...well, maybe.  The most annoying
>attract mode has got to belong to The Simpsons ("WAAAAHHHH! WAAAHHHHHH! 
>WAAAAAHHHH!  WAAAHHHHH!").  I've heard it in malls when walking
>in the general vicinity of an arcade.

The Simpsons video game definitely has the option to turn off attract
mode sound.  I once came across a Simpsons video game that the technician
had accidently left in setup mode.  I made sure to take advantage of this
by turning off attract mode sound.

-- 

Bennett Broder               Monmouth College
                             Computer Services
ben@monmouth.edu             W. Long Branch, NJ 07764
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: u2606@craysea.cray.com (Kurt Peterschmidt)
Subject: Re: gambling (was:Re: Funhouse glitch)
Organization: Cray Research, Inc. - Americas West
Date: 6 Nov 92 16:28:46 CST

In article <1992Nov6.191610.18418@CSD-NewsHost.Stanford.EDU> bhayes@Xenon.Stanford.EDU (Barry Hayes) writes:
>I've never seen a pin that does anything but take money for games, but
>I haven't seen all pins.

Actually, not true - there were a few machines made in the 1930's-50's
that paid money.  I happen to own one, a Bally Grandstand, in fact.
However, these were the kinds of pins that gave the Pinball industry a
"sleazy" connotation, since everyone knows that any machine that pays out
money must be controlled by the mob...  

The association between pinball machines and organized crime almost wiped 
out the pinball industry by the local legislators' attempt to eliminate 
unlawful gambling despite the manufacturers cleaning up their act by not 
producing any more gambling pins.  Fortunately for us the prejudice has
all but disappeared, but there are some old-timers that still believe 
pins are only a horizontal slot machine.

--------
OK, I don't have a .sig file - what am I, some kind of cretin?!?
--------
From: pazar@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Steve Pazar)
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 03:07:54 GMT
Subject: Re: 1962 Gottleib Slick Chick
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball

Rick,
  SLICK CHICK is a classic, and very desireable pin to own. I'd LOVE to
  have one myself...BUT... this one sounds like it is overpriced (IMO).
  The dented front door seems to be a trademark of pins of this era, and
  are difficult to find in good shape. I'm looking for a coin door for
  one myself with little luck. I've found that an easy way to locate
  pins is to place an ad in the local rag. I ended up with several pins
  (most needing some work) for $200 or less each. Good luck!

***************************************************************************
*  STEVE PAZAR           DoD #702           Kawasaki KZ440A
*  E-mail:   pazar@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com
*  Ether:    WA4DUT/6
*  " Imagination is more important than knowledge "
***************************************************************************
From: kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keefer)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Re: Assorted stuff
Date: 11 Nov 92 00:19:02 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech Computer Science Dept, Blacksburg, VA

Radical is an OK game, but not great...  It is also fairly old.  (At least 1989
or earlier I believe.)  My biggest gripe with it is that when you get multiball
you are supposed to shoot for mega-millions which is a (seemingly) totally
random number between 3-10 million.  Random jackpots are just stupid.

keith
-- 
|kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu|"And the piano sounds like a carnival             | 
|.....Keith P. Johnson.....| And the microphone smells like a beer            |
|.1711 Whipple Dr. Apt. 11.| And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar  |
|...Blacksburg, VA 24060...| And say "Man, what are you doing here?" -B. Joel |
From: sbm@cs.adelaide.edu.au (John!)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Replay magazine... (again)
Date: 8 Nov 1992 11:12:33 GMT
Organization: Guest Account - Dept of Comp Sci, Uni of Adelaide
Distribution: world
Reply-To: sbm@cs.adelaide.edu.au (John!)
NNTP-Posting-Host: edam.sun-shop.adelaide.edu.au

Howdy guys.. I have now got the information for subscribing
to replay mag and was just wondering if someone out there 
can tell me whether the "All other foreign countries $200
per year" refers to US$200.. I am assuming that this is the
case but would like confirmation before sending my money.
 
Thanx..
 

John!		Internet:  sbm@cs.adelaide.edu.au
-------------------------------------------------
LOST: 1 signature, if found, please return to the
      above Internet address. REWARD.
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: iott@rtsg.mot.com (Joel K. Iott)
Subject: Stereo (Was: Re: Fish Flappage)
Organization: Motorola Inc.
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 16:09:47 GMT

Another post mentioned that the two speakers on new Williams/Bally games are
actually tweeter/midrange, and not stereo.  Also I believe W/B have a bass
speaker in the bottom of the cabinet. (e.g. for rumbling during TAF multiball
entry). 

If this is true, why does W/B do this?  Why don't W/B machines have real stereo
sound? 

After listening to Data East music, I think that must be in stereo.

Is Premier/Gottlieb real stereo?

--
Joel Iott
From: mahalkdp@cnsvax.uwec.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: Batman cool trick
Date: 10 Nov 92 22:28:16 -0600
Organization: University of Wisconsin Eau Claire

Hey, wanna have some weird fun with a pinball game? This probably belongs in
alt.hacking, but I thought some of you here would enjoy trying this out.
I have only been able to try this on "Batman" by Data East...

What you do is when you get your first ball, shake the machine until it tilts.
Then just LEAVE IT ALONE for a little while. It will start popping the
solenoids to free up any jammed balls, and after a short time will pop
ANOTHER ball into play. So now you've got two balls in the firing lane.
Now wait again for the machine to start popping the solenoids again, and
each time it does this just fire the two balls up about six inches. What
will eventually happen is a THIRD ball will pop out. If you just leave the
two balls at the bottom by the plunger, they will block the ball from
getting into the slot. Once all three are out in the slot, the machine
will give up on the Tilt and begin play for ball 2. Now because you have
three balls in the slot, you can't just pull back on the plunger, because
the spring isn't strong enough to fire three at once. So just slam the
plunger in with the palm of your hand To put them all into play.

Now the funny part about this is, the game assumes that there's only one
ball currently in play, and so will become very confused when things happen
more than once. For example, shooting into the joker's eyes or mouth and
shooting another into the Bat TV (just below and to the left) will cause
the machine to forget that there are balls down in that slot. So it will
not do anything until it does that solenoid check again and will fire out
both balls ... sometimes along with a previously unseen third ball!
  Plus having one ball drain will put it into the bonus sequence, but when
the other balls hit targets and bumpers, they interrupt the sequence and
goof up the game timing. Sometimes when one ball is lost, another will
immediately be popped into the firing chamber to replace it at no cost to
you; at other times, it registers your next ball. If all the balls in
play manage to drain at once, the game puts TWO balls into the firing
chamber for your next ball. I managed to get about 9-12 balls played on
a normal 5-ball game this way. 
  It's fun to try, and when you're done, just flip it off and then back
on, and the problem will clear itself. I see no reason for Data East to
bother writing up new ROMs to fix this, as it is a VERY rare and unlikely
thing to happen. How often do people Tilt a game BEFORE they fire the
ball??? :)   (I was bored and was just goofing around)

Try it and have fun!
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
From: chupchup@ferkel.ucsb.edu (Robert Earl)
Subject: Re: High Speed II: Helicopter Bonus?
Organization: (EVIL!)
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 07:34:26 GMT

absurd@apple.apple.com (Tim Dierks, software saboteur) writes:

| I've got to know.... I can't take it anymore.  Every time I hit a
| pop bumper in The Getaway it "advances the helicopter bonus".  I
| don't have any idea how to collect this bonus.  Noone I know knows.
| There isn't a mention of the helicopter bonus anywhere on the rule
| card, the playfield, the plastics, the blackglass, or engraved onto
| the ball in little tiny letters.  Sure, sometimes you'll see
| helicopters on the display during multiball,

There's hint #1 for you.  Hint #2 is that the "Burn Rubber" shot
towards the upper right of the playfield is also called the "tunnel".

-- 
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: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Subject: Re: High Speed Attract mode (was Re: Loud pinball games...)
Reply-To: oday@lobster.gsfc.nasa.gov  (Orin Day)
Organization: Goddard Space Flight Center
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 06:00:38 GMT

In article <8lq1d7g@rpi.edu> sigma@picasso.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) writes:
> Has anyone noticed that TAF flashes the coin door slots during the start of
> Multiball?  And a few other times, I believe.

Yes, I noticed this feature.  It also occurs on Williams new games,
and, strangely enough, on Haunted House as part of it's visual 
attract mode.  About all that works on my table, in fact ;(


--
************* "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