From: phaedrus@halcyon.com (Mark Phaedrus)
Subject: Re: Keefer's Guide to Fish Tales!
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 07:27:45 GMT

Great rule guide.  Here's some additions to it, if the power here in Seattle
will kindly refrain from going out while I'm trying to post... :)


In article <C17509.4x2@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> kjohnson@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Keefer) writes:
>Rod - This is the auto-plunging device on Fish Tales.  It's a little fishing
>      rod handle with a button on the top of it.  Hit the button to launch
>      the ball.  You also use the button during video mode to launch
>      torpedos.  Really.
     On more recent machines, the rod has a small red round button that can
cause acute pain if you try to use it repeatedly (for example, in Video Mode).
You may want to train yourself to use the flipper buttons instead; you can use
either flipper button in place of the rod's button to launch torps during
Video Mode (though you still have to use the rod's button to actually launch
balls).

>Autocast - This is a timed device designed to protect you from instant
>           drains.  While it is flashing, you will get any ball back that
>           you lose, instantly.  If the game sees it hit an outlane
>           microswitch, you'll get the next one before it even finishes
>           draining!  If you can death-save the ball you lost, you can have
>           a mini-multiball.
     One very important thing to know; Autocast is still in effect for about
two seconds after the Autocast light goes out.  If you're playing a multi-
player game, and other players have already locked two balls in the reel, and
you lock a ball yourself, the game will shout "Here it comes!" and spit a ball
out of the reel at you.  The Autocast light does not turn on; nevertheless, 
Autocast is in effect for about two seconds.  So if the ball looks to be headed
down the middle, the best thing you can do may be to just let it go; the last
thing you want to do is graze the ball with a flipper and make it rattle around
in the outlane area for a seconds instead of just draining straight down (since
you won't get Autocast if the ball doesn't settle in the drain quickly).

>LIE lanes - Spell LIE to increase your bonus multiplier up to 7x.  After
>            7x, each LIE made will be worth 5M, 10M, 15M, then 20M for then
>            on (until you lose the ball (unless you had bonus held)).  Don't
>            forget you can change which lanes are lit with either flipper
>            button, so you should never repeat a letter.

     Also, learn which lanes get hit most often.  On the local machine, if the
ball bounces out of the pop bumpers and up into the lanes, it usually goes up
the I lane, with the E lane a close second and the L lane a distant third.  So
if your machine behaves the same way, and if the ball is bouncing around the
bumpers and only one lane is unlit, make that unlit lane the I lane, so that 
the ball is less likely to take you by surprise and sneak up a lit lane.

>Eject hole - This shot is equivalent to the Escape Route shot on T2.  You
>             usually get it by shooting up the left side, through the
>             spinner, and into the hole.  However, whatever it is lit for,
>             you can still get it if it just happens to plop in there (if
>             it's bouncing around the LIE lanes, for example).  This is
>             where you collect the regular Jackpot, the Fish Finder, and
>             Video Mode.

     If your machine has a good strong gate to the left of the LIE lanes, 
another reasonably reliable way of hitting the eject hole is to shoot the ball
hard up the right hand side with Long Cast unlit.  It's worth a try during
Multiball if you have a ball on the left flipper.

>Stretch the Truth - When lit, scores 1 tale (for end-of-ball bonus, and
>                    the current set of 4 is displayed under the stingers).
>                    The value of your fish ranges from 0-5M per fish.  4
>                    tales starts a 30 second Rock the Boat.

     Another important note, which I don't see mentioned anywhere: Stretch the
Truth shots can be stacked.  In other words, if you collect one Stinger (clear
a set of fish targets) to start Stretch the Truth flashing, then collect 
another Stinger before Stretch the Truth times out, the Stretch the Truth timer
will reset; hitting Stretch the Truth now gives you twice the normal award and
credits you with two Tales.  Collecting three Stingers and hitting Stretch the
Truth gives you a triple award and three Tales, and so on.  This is my favorite
tactic for raw chaos:  just start whamming away at the fish targets.  If you
can collect four Stingers (starting a Feeding Frenzy) without letting Stretch
the Truth time out, then hit Stretch the Truth, you get a quadruple award and
Rock the Boat starts.  Trying to deal with Feeding Frenzy and Rock the Boat at
the same time is intense.  Start Multiball now for added fun. :)
     Also, a more mundane note on the Stretch the Truth award: the machine
doesn't give you credit for hitting the spinner if you shoot the ball _up_
through it.  Hitting it on the way down from a Long Cast loop shot doesn't
count.  This goes for any other awards you collect from the spinner (Feeding
Frenzy and Monster Fish).

>Reel - Nothing really important, except this is where balls are stored.  It
>       can spin to accept new balls, or to let a ball out to have it kicked
>       back into play.  Balls kicked out go around the top of the machine
>       and out a habitrail aimed for your left flipper.

>You can light the extra ball 1 of 2 ways:  Hitting the Fish Finder, or as
>the 4th award on the captive ball.  The extra ball is just to the left of
>the Caster's Club, and is probably the hardest extra ball target to hit
>yet.  You may THINK you have a shot at it from the left flipper, but the
>bottom right of the Boat is in the way.  The only way to aim for it is to
>backhand it from the right flipper, and even then it's not terribly easy.
>Depends on your machine.  The one I played on the most you had to make an
>absolutely direct hit on it because I think it may have been a little
>flaky, but I also have played on one where it wasn't too bad.

     Is it just me, or is the difficulty of the Extra Ball shot overrated?
At least on the machine I play, you can indeed hit the target directly from
the left flipper; you can't hit the middle of the target from that angle, but
you can hit the right edge of it hard enough to score the extra ball (and, as
an added bonus, the ball proceeds to lock itself as well).  From the left
flipper, you can also hit the target with a bank shot (there's a single bank
shot that bounces off the right side of the playfield above the fish targets,
and a double bank off the right side of the playfield and off the right side
of the boat; I've seen people make both of these shots reliably, though I 
usually go for the straight shot).

>To light the special, you have to complete the captive ball awards (get
>instant multiball), then hit the captive ball a certain number of times
>after that.  Usually (and probably is the default) 4 more hits.  The special
>is collected on the outlanes, is always lit on both of them, and stays lit
>the entire game.

     Clarification:  once you start instant multiball, you have to hit the
captive ball four (or whatever) more times _during the same ball_.  At the
start of the next ball, whether the special was lit or not, the captive ball
resets to "no awards lit or collected", and you start over.

>The Stretch the Truth spinner shot usually shots all 5 lights lit, but
>sometimes some of the lower lights become unlit, leaving just the higher
>values.  A few times I've had ONLY the 5x lit.  I honestly have no idea what
>unlights the lower values, but it sure is nice.  If the lower 3 are off,
>then the spinner oscillates between 3x and 5x.  Anyone?

     Completing the L-I-E lanes deactivates the lowest remaining light on the
Stretch the Truth sign.  Hitting the L-I-E lanes four times gives you a 
guaranteed 5x.  This only applies to the next time you hit Stretch the Truth;
after that the sign resets to all five lights active.

>The first Monster Fish you get will start at 20M and work its way down by
>100K each 1/10th of a second, stopping at 5M.  At 5M, you have 5 more
>seconds to try to get it.  If you don't get it, it stays at its current
>value the next time 'round.  If you DO get it (no matter when or for how
>much), the next time it'll be worth 10M more, up to a maximum of 50M.  The
>amount per 1/10th second the score decreases goes up too, by 50K.

     It's worth mentioning that there's about a five-second delay time before
the Monster Fish value starts counting down.  If you light Monster Fish by
hitting the right ramp (thus returning the ball to the right flipper), there's
plenty of time to hit the spinner while the Monster Fish value is still at
20M, 30M, or whatever.

>The main goal in multiball is to get jackpots!  Nothing else really matters.

     Well, geez, I guess I'll throw back the 320M in Rock the Boat/Doublecross
points I got during one multiball then. :)

>I've heard that you can lock a 3rd ball in here and get a triple jackpot,
>but I have yet to try it.  Can anyone confirm or deny this?  Does that mean
>that if you have only 2 balls out, you can still double the jackpot?  I just
>never bothered to try it out.  I thought about it, though.  %)

     I don't see how this would work.  After you've locked a second ball to
set up Double Jackpot, the drop target that blocks the entrance to the lock
pops up, and pops back up immediately if you knock it down; thus there's no
way to lock a third ball.  If there's only two balls in play, Double Jackpot
never lights, and the drop target blocks the lock as soon as you lock a ball
to light Jackpot.

>After getting all 3 jackpots in the tackle box, the fun really begins.  The
>captive ball becomes lit for the Super Jackpot, and I DO mean Super!  Every
>time you hit the captive ball, you get 100M points, until multiball ends.

     I've also seen the Super Jackpot worth 150M and 200M the first time
around.  I've always been too busy to see what's causing this, but I _think_
that hitting the fish targets, which ordinarily adds an unexciting 1M to the
jackpot, adds an exciting 50M to the Super Jackpot.  I'll try to check this
out.

>Don't worry; you needn't get all jackpots in 1 multiball in order to get to
>the super jackpot.  Whichever jackpot you are on is remember through the
>whole game.  If you lit the super jackpot, but never hit the captive ball,
>then the next multiball the captive ball will still be lit for 100M until
>you've hit it at least once during multiball.

     Except that, if you collect the super jackpot, the jackpot sequence
starts over (at doubled point values) for the start of the next multiball, as
you describe below.

[about the Caster's Club drop target:]
>       THE ONLY TIME IT SHOULD COME UP is when you have
>gotten a jackpot during the last multiball (and maybe during multiball if
>you only have 2 balls so that you can't double it, but I'm not sure).
     Yes and yes, and also after you've successfully doubled the jackpot during
a 3-ball multiball.

>In Rock the Boat, go for the ramps and not the captive ball.  They're both
>much easier and much safer to shoot for, though obviously not as fast.

     Also, you may find it easier to get into a groove if you repeat the same
ramp shot over and over, instead of crisscrossing as you normally would; for
example, shoot from the right flipper to the right ramp.  This is particularly
true during Multiball, since you can get one ball going right-flipper-to-right-
ramp and one going left-flipper-to-left-ramp for massive Rock the Boat and
Doublecross points, without as many worries about collisions.

>Don't aim for the Stingers.  Just let the ball hit them as it pleases.
>If you have nothing better to do, or are really close to Feeding Frenzy or
>Rock the Boat, then go ahead and try for them.

     Really?  I shoot at the Stingers all the time; those bonus points for
fish and Tales can really add up over a long game, not to mention those nice
Rock the Boat points.
-- 
\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