CastleStorm

> "For the kingdom!"
>
> - Sir Gareth

***CastleStorm*** is a pinball table that was originally released in the *Iron and Steel* pack in 2015. This pinball adaptation of Zen Studios' 2013 real-time strategy game *CastleStorm* follows the efforts of heroic knight Sir Gareth to defend his medieval kingdom from an onslaught of Vikings, all while winning the heart of their princess.

## Objectives

Four inserts are seen above the flippers, corresponding to six different objectives that must be completed - including four main missions. To start a mission, the player must qualify the mission sinkhole through various methods described in each mission's section, then shoot it. (*If more than one mission is lit at once, the player will be able to start any of the lit missions and can make their choice using the flipper buttons and launch button.*)

**Viking Princess**, while required to access **Meet the Chief**, can be qualified and collected at any time during normal play. Progress towards Viking Princess is retained between balls. Missions can be repeated by completing their qualifying process again, and successfully winning a mission lights **Triumph** at the mission sinkhole for 15 seconds. Each successfully lit insert will light up a portion of the phrase THE CONQUEROR on the right apron, so collecting all four will unlock the wizard mode.

Missions are listed from top to bottom, left to right.

* **Sky Falls**: Shoot the left ramp nine times, with the first eight shots adding letters to SKY FALLS, to qualify this untimed mission at the mission sinkhole. To defeat the dragon at Sky Falls, the player must make six flashing shots once each while avoiding the flames that spawn in front of two random shots, every 20 seconds; if they burn 6 balls, or drain during the mission, it will end in failure. Each lit shot during the mission scores 1 million + 100,000 each time the mission has been won, with a 5 million bonus for winning the mission.
	+ If **Viking Princess** is collected during this mission, Dragon Princess will be awarded for 4x the value.
* **Domination**: Light the locks for Domination by shooting the standup target to the left of the center ramp three times at any time during play, then lock a ball by shooting under the center ramp. After 3 balls have been locked this way, the next mission sinkhole start will start Domination. The player must shoot the center ramp within 20 seconds, and hit the castle wall 9 times (12 if the mission has already been won in a game); to assist in this process, rolling over the arrow rollover will add a locked ball into play, and up to 2 balls can be active at once. If the player fails to make the required castle wall shots before all four balls drain, the player will have to re-lock all three balls to qualify the mission again. Making the required castle wall shots will score 5 million, complete the mission, and start a **jackpot rampage** if 2 balls are still in play; completing each wave of the rampage will score 5,500,000 + 500,000 per wave, and activate the ball saver for a short time.
* **Triumph**: Once any mission or side mode has been successfully completed, the mission sinkhole will light to start Triumph for 15 seconds; this opportunity disappears if another mode is started while Triumph is lit, or if the player drains while Triumph is lit. During Triumph, 2-ball multiball will be active, and the player must shoot all shots excluding the right orbit to score points starting at 100,000 + 50,000 per shot; each time the mission has been won, the base value will increase by 50,000. Once all six shots have been made, a **jackpot rampage** will start for the remainder of the multiball and the mission will be completed.
* **Meet the Chief**: Two missions and one objective must be completed to qualify Meet the Chief at the mission sinkhole:
	+ *MEET* - **Clear the Way**: Shoot the crossramp five times to spell CLEAR and begin a fight against the Vikings' troll. Within 30 seconds, the player must complete all four drop targets, then shoot the sinkhole behind them 3 times - for 375,000, 700,000, and 1,200,000 points each. Each time the mission is won, these values increase by 125,000 points. The timer for the mission can be extended by 4 seconds by shooting the drop targets, or if they aren't active, shooting the right ramp or right orbit; and every time the player shoots the sinkhole behind the drop targets, if the timer is below 12 seconds, it will reset to that amount.
	+ *THE* - **Viking Princess**: A shot to each of the target posts around the table, followed by a shot to the target under the crossramp to raise the drop targets, will light the sinkhole behind the drop targets to collect Viking Princess and solidly light the *THE* insert. The drop targets must be completed to access the sinkhole. Viking Princess scores 500,000 points + 100,000 per collection, though this can be multiplied by 2x if the princess is saved during **Storm Hurry-Up**, and multiplied by 4x if the princess is saved during **Sky Falls** or **Shades Multiball**.
	+ *CHIEF* - **Domination**: Once the Domination insert described above has been solidly lit by completing that mission, the *CHIEF* insert will also light.
* Once all three inserts are lit, the next shot to the mission sinkhole will start Meet the Chief. This mini-wizard mode is played in three phases, and ends in failure if the Vikings reach the flippers before the player kills them, or if the ball drains; though it will still be qualified at the mission scoop. During the first phase, the player must defeat six Vikings scattered around the playfield for 100,000 + (1,000 x number of Vikings defeated). After defeating them, the center ramp and the sinkhole behind the drop targets will light to send the ball to the mini-playfield, where the player must hit the castle wall once to score 2.5 million + 1.5 million per mission completion. This phase then repeats twice, with the castle shot during the second phase scoring 5 million, and the final shot during the third phase scoring 10 million and winning the mission.

### The Conqueror

As soon as all four inserts have been lit, the next shot to the mission sinkhole will start **The Conqueror**, taking priority over any missions that might be lit otherwise. The Conqueror is simply a more lucrative **jackpot rampage** with 4 balls in play instead of 2, and the jackpot shots remain lit for the entirety of the multiball instead of needing to be completed in waves. Once The Conqueror ends, the player must light all four inserts again to light the wizard mode.

## Side modes

All side modes in *CastleStorm* can be properly won, and winning them will light **Triumph** at the left sinkhole.

* **Castle Siege**: Shoot the center ramp during normal play, then shoot the drop targets and castle wall to score 250,000 points while preventing the ball from draining. Winning the side mode scores 500,000 points + 250,000 per completion.
* **Storm Hurry-Up**: Complete STORM at the return lanes by cycling the word's inserts using the flippers to start a hurry-up mode. As the table lighting darkens, the player must make four shots - one to the ramp and orbit on both sides of the playfield - within 20 seconds to score 100,000 + 12,000 per shot; the second shot scores 2x this value, the third 4x, and the fourth 16x. Make all four shots to win the side mode.
	+ If the player shoots the center ramp during this side mode, **Castle Siege** will activate, but one shot to the castle wall will instantly end the mode and score a CastleStorm bonus worth the current completion value of that mode. This will also freeze the timer until the ball returns to play.
	+ If **Viking Princess** is collected during this mode, Storm Princess will be awarded for 2x the value.
* **Impair the Enemy**: Make a shot to the right mini-orbit, lit at the start of the game by default, and Vikings will appear on the playfield. The player must hit 20 of them with the ball, each scoring 100,000 points + (1,000 x number of Vikings defeated) to drive back the invasion before one of them gets too close to the flippers.
	+ After the first attempt at the mode, further activations of this mode during a game alternate with **Shades Multiball** and require six shots to start - each one adding a letter to IMPAIR.
* **Prospering**: Shooting the right orbit causes its insert to flash for 10 seconds. If the player shoots the right orbit three times in a row, each shot within 10 seconds of the last, a 40-second timed hurry-up mode will begin where the player must align the inserts of 2 lit lanes by shooting them - shooting the lane on the left moves its insert one shot to the right, and vice versa, moving towards the center of the table with each correct shot. Once both inserts have been aligned, the final shot can be made, scoring 2x the current **jackpot** value and ending the mode in success.
* **BRUTUS / TAP KEG**: Completing BRUTUS or TAP KEG by cycling the flippers at the bumper rollovers lowers the apex at the entrance of the left orbit to reveal a hidden sinkhole. After shooting the ball into the sinkhole, press any button to score a random value. Values above 500,000 points light **Triumph** at the mission sinkhole.
	+ The currently active word can be switched by hitting a rollover with both of its letters lit. BRUTUS is active at the start of the game.
* **Sheep Them All**: 100 left slingshot hits qualifies the hole under the center ramp for a video mode, where the player gets to use an *actual* slingshot to sling sheep at incoming Vikings. The player can aim the slingshot with the flippers and fire sheep with the launch button, and must defeat 12 Vikings before they reach the flippers to win the mode for 2 million points.

### Multiball modes

* **Shades Multiball**: After **Impair the Enemy** has been activated, the next shot to the right mini-orbit will activate a 2-ball multiball. Defeat 12 Shades, each shot scoring 125,000 + 75,000, to win the multiball and start a **jackpot rampage** where three random shots at a time are lit for jackpots. Defeating all 12 Shades also lights the mission sinkhole for **Triumph** once multiball ends.
	+ If **Viking Princess** is collected during this mode, Shadow Princess will be awarded for 4x the value.
	+ After the first attempt at the mode, further activations of this mode during a game alternate with **Impair the Enemy** and require six shots to start - each one adding a letter to SHADES.
* **Arms Drill**: Make nine shots to the right ramp to add letters to ARMS DRILL, then shoot it again for a 30 second timed 2-ball multiball. Each lane shot adds points to the total seen on the display; shooting the castle wall will add the **jackpot** value to this total, and each spinner spin will add a .1x multiplier to the total. Once time runs out, the balls will drain, the total points will be scored, and a new ball will be auto-plunged into play.

## Perks

* **Skill Shot**: The skill shot is a three-shot sequence, with each shot timed for 8 seconds: right ramp for 500,000 - left ramp for 1 million - right orbit for 2 million and lights **Triumph**. The base skill shot value increases by 250,000 with each successful skill shot.
* '*Ball Saver**: At the start of each ball and multiball mode, a brief ball saver will activate. While the ball saver cannot be reactivated normally, a glitch in*** **Pinball FX3**s version of the table allows for the ball saver to be reactivated by completing **jackpot rampage** waves during the multiball after winning **Domination**.
* **Kickbacks**: Every 10 bumper hits lights a kickback - first the left, then the right. If both kickbacks are lit, every 10 bumper hits will score a knight bonus starting at 500,000 points + 100,000 per collection, to a max of 5 million points.
* **Bonus Multiplier**: Collect 25 spinner spins to increase the bonus multiplier by +3x, maxing out at 15x. 25 spinner hits while the bonus multiplier is maxed lights an **extra ball**; if this has been collected, 25 spinner hits then awards an incremental sheep bonus starting at 1 million + 500,000 per collection, to a max of 5 million points.
* **Combos**: After making a major shot, three random shots light for 10 seconds to advance the combo sequence; shooting an unlit shot resets the sequence. Combos score 10,000 points, which exponentially increase with each shot in the combo to a maximum of 500,000. Making a 10-way combo lights the **extra ball**.
* **Jackpot Rules**: There are several rules to keep in mind in regard to the jackpot value in *CastleStorm*.
	+ The jackpot value starts at 750,000, increases by 25,000 points with each jackpot collected, maxes out at 3 million points, and does not reset between balls.
	+ After completing the required tasks in any multiball mode (**Domination**, **Triumph**, **Shades Multiball**, or for the entirety of **The Conqueror**), a **jackpot rampage** will activate where jackpots can be collected at six major shots; making all the lit shots relights the jackpots. Exceptions to this rule come during Shades Multiball, where jackpots are lit at three major shots at a time; and during The Conqueror, where jackpots can be collected at all shots an unlimited amount of times.
	+ If the required tasks during a multiball mode are still active (possible during **Triumph** and **Shades Multiball**), shooting the castle wall scores a jackpot. If a **jackpot rampage** is active, the castle wall will score a super jackpot worth 3x the jackpot value instead.
* **Extra Balls**: Light extra balls at the mission sinkhole by lighting **The Conqueror** by completing all four objectives, defeating 50 Vikings, winning all of the **side modes**, collecting 25 spinner spins after maxing out the **bonus multiplier**, or scoring a 10-way **combo**. Each method can only be used once per game.

## Tips

* The wizard mode has the highest scoring potential of any mode in the game, but only if you can continuously increase the jackpot value before starting it. Start Triumph whenever it's available to you to try and max the jackpot out.
* Impair the Enemy is not a very worthwhile mode outside of contributing 20 Vikings towards a possible extra ball, and the other exit of the right mini-orbit is far more practical as it can send balls into the bumpers and light the kickbacks. Time out the mode if you have already collected 50 Vikings, and try to put off starting Shades Multiball until later so you have a reliable way to light the kickbacks.
* Get used to the shot geometry on this game and where balls feed the flippers. Weak shots to the left ramp can reliably be saved by holding up solely the left flipper, without holding the right flipper. Shots to the left orbit send the ball flying around to the left flipper, and you can use this feed to either catch the ball or let the ball bounce over to the right flipper.

## Glitches

* Glitches have been detected with the game not resetting the **jackpot rampage** state properly in the table's *Pinball FX3* port:
	+ If the mission sinkhole jackpot was the last one collected in a wave, the jackpot is scored twice and the mission sinkhole jackpot cannot be collected again for the remainder of the multiball - making further jackpot waves impossible.
	+ During the jackpot rampage after a successful **Domination**, each wave completed resets the ball saver and collects / increments the value for winning Domination.

## External links

* Official table trailer (0:48 - 1:18)
* Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin