Epic Pinball's Android Pinball FAQ

 

Archive-Name: games/android-faq

Version: Sun May 15 17:45:44 EDT 1994

Written-By: Norman G. Sippel

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                        Epic Pinball's Android Pinball

                          Frequently Asked Questions

                                  Written By

                               Norman G. Sippel

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                                 Version 1.12

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Introduction

------------

With the growth in popularity of the IBM PC pinball game, Android, and its 

many requests for cheat keys, I decided to put this Frequently Asked Questions 

document (FAQ) together.  Please e-mail ngsippel@miavx2.ham.muohio.edu with 

any comments, questions, or additions.

As of Friday April 15, 1994, the FAQ Server at news-answers-request@mit.edu 

will be posting this document in the middle of every month.

NOTE: Unless there is a major revision of Android (which is rumored) or a 

super secret is found, I will not be putting out anymore revisions after this 

one.  If there is a new edition or revision or someone wants me to add their 

trick, I will update this FAQ.

Trademark and Copyright Notices

-------------------------------

All Android trademarks and copyrights mentioned in this FAQ are property of 

Epic Megagames and James Schmalz.  This purpose of this FAQ is to inform 

people, and it is kept in my spare time for no profit.

Distribution and Site File Access

---------------------------------

This document, if kept on a file transfer protocol (FTP) site, must be kept in 

a public access section and be available for free; otherwise, the site may not 

carry this document.  If a site accepts these terms, it may freely distribute 

this document as long as it remains in tact with proper disclaimers and 

credits.

This document, or any derivative works thereof, may not be sold or 

redistributed for profit in any way without express written permission 

(through paper [snail] mail) of the editor, Norman G. Sippel.  This includes, 

but is not limited to, translations into foreign languages, mass archival as 

on a CD_ROM, inclusion in commercially published compilations (books), and 

uploading this document to non-USENET services.

This document represents the collective effort of many USENET pinball fans.  

We appreciate your honoring of this policy.

                             *******************

                            * Table Of Contents *

                             *******************

                       I. What is Android Pinball?

                      II. Where can I get a copy of Android?

                     III. What are Android's keyboard controls?

                      IV. What are its missions and goals?

                       V. How do I hit ... ? (Strategy Section)

                      VI. What are its secrets?

                     VII. Credits

                                  ** NOTE **

This edition, I am adding a strategy section.  Please send in, if you wish, 

your best strategies.  (They will be added along with your name next to it.)

The biggest FAQ is "how do I hit the physical systems consistently?"  I have 

yet to come up with a solid solution, so one would be very much appreciated by 

all!  (I tried in this edition!:)

I. What is Android Pinball?

"Android" is one of Epic Megagames' new pinball tables.  This FAQ covers the 

shareware version of Android which is available all over the Internet (and 

other networks).  Remember: Android is shareware; if you like it, please pay 

for it.  Thank you.

Epic Megagames' [Hyped-Up] Description (from vendor.doc):

   Epic Pinball brings true arcade-style Pinball to life on your PC!  The

   256-color scrolling VGA graphics, digital music and sound, and ultra-

   realistic style will take your breath away!  This true commercial-quality

   product was created by the authors of Silverball, the new record-setting

   retail pinball game.

  

   The shareware version of Epic Pinball showcases the ANDROID pinball table.

   True to the 1990's pinball style, you must make an increasingly-challenging

   series of shots to bring the Android to life!  The dazzling graphics, real

   pinball sounds, and authentic look and feel will keep you hooked on

   Epic Pinball - a great game for the whole family.

   EPIC PINBALL Features:

   * Ultra smooth-scrolling 256-color VGA graphics.  The animation runs

     at an astounding 60 frames per second!

   * A lavishly-illustrated, robust pinball table.

   * Realistic pinball action, sound, music, and thrills!

   * Features a special multiple-ball mode!  Play up to five balls

     on the table simultaneously.

   * Accurately reflects a 1990's-style Pinball table.

   * Real digital pinball sound effects.

   * A unique digital musical score.

EPIC PINBALL Gadgets:

   Drop Targets              Ball-return gates        Spinners

   Multi-Level Playfields    Kickbacks                Tunnels

   Messenger Balls           Multiple-ball mode       Skill shots

   Jackpots                  Rollovers                Much, much more!

   Requirements:

   * A 386 or faster IBM-compatible computer with VGA graphics

   * A Hard Disk

   * 640K of memory

   Also supports:

   * Sound Blaster, SB Pro, Gravis Ultrasound, and compatible music cards.

II. Where can I get a copy of Android?

One can download it from any major FTP site.  Archie can find FTP sites with 

it using the filename search of "0pinball.zip."  Here are a few places to look 

(from a recent archie search):

Host athene.uni-paderborn.de

    Location: /pcsoft2/msdos2/games/Epic

           FILE -rw-r--r--     707185  Nov  1 14:49  0pinball.zip

Host gandalf.umcs.maine.edu

    Location: /pub/msdos/games

           FILE -rw-------     707185  Dec  8 04:34  0pinball.zip

III. What are Android's keyboard controls?

Key            Function

------------------------------------------------------------

Space Bar      Shoot the ball, Tilt the pinball machine up

Left Arrow     Flip up the left flipper

Left Shift     Flip up the left flipper

Right Arrow    Shoot the ball, Flip up right flipper

Right Shift    Flip up the right flipper

Up Arrow       Scroll pinball machine viewing area up

Down Arrow     Scroll pinball machine viewing area down

M              Turn music on/off

P              Pause

S              Turn sound on/off

T              Adjust tracking (smoothness) control

Z              Tilt the machine right

/              Tilt the machine left

ESCape         Quit (Y/N)?

See "What are its secrets?" for cheat keys! :)

IV. What are its missions and goals?

Here are the three goals of the game:

[1] Hit the physical systems hole once to start activating the systems.

    Every time you hit all three targets, aim for the hole again to

    activate an arm, a leg, or other body part.  Once you finish the torso,

    there are no more systems to activate.  Collect Tests every time you

    activate an android part.

Physical Stages: (Note: All "M"s after numbers stand for million)

  Hit all three targets (marked 1, 2, 3) and physical stage hole to activate

    Left Arm

    Right Arm (Multiball & Jackpot)

    Left Leg

    Right Leg (Multiball & Jackpot)

    Head

    Torso (Multiball with 3 balls and Double Jackpot; Testing max is 247M)

[2] Move the ball through the rightmost ramp to activate the computer link.

    Every time you complete the targets, hit through the regular left ramp

    to get memory (5M, 10M, 15M, etc).  Once you complete all 3 targets,

    you can get BOTH goals [1] and [2], and then it resets.

Memory Stages:

  Basic Input/Output (I/O)

    5M - Start computer link-up and aim for all ramps

  Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    10M - Aim for all ramps and targets

    15M (Virus) - Hit rightmost ramp

  Artificial Intelligence 2 (AI2)

    20M - Shoot all red triangle paths

  Database

    35M - Sink the pinball into all the sink-holes

    15M (Virus) - Hit rightmost ramp

  Activate

    Hit all three targets on the board (the 1, 2, and 3 switches)

[3] Collect points and jackpots.

Collecting Points:

There are many "points only" targets on the board such as the "Power Up" hole. 

Every time this hole is hit, one letter lights up at the bottom of the board 

(such as "P" or "W"); once all ten letters are lit, a jackpot of 10 million is 

awarded.  Another score-booster is aiming for the ramp that leads to the 

bumpers, and the red arrow for the middle lights begins glowing.  When this 

ramp is traveled, the ramp pot increases by thirty thousand and the current 

pot is awarded.  Another target is the IQ--IQ will never reach a maximum.  My 

personal high for IQ was 1100.

Multiball Stages and Jackpots:

After completing the arms, multiball (with two pinballs) will appear.  Aim for 

the second left-most lane (not the test lane or the return-to-the-bottom ramp) 

which will give the jackpot plus highlight the middle ramp's bonus.  After 

completing the legs, a similar multiball will occur.  Once the torso is 

activated, the final multiball will drop its three pinballs in the middle of 

the board.  Aim for the test lane for double jackpot.

Other Notes of Interest:

A. The middle ramp's bonus value starts at 100,000 and increases every time by 

30,000 when the ramp is lit.  (See "How do I hit ... ?" section for more 

information on the middle ramp.)

B. Fast PCs have silver flippers, and slow PCs have yellow flippers.  This can 

be switched in the OPTIONS menu.

C. Angles make the ball lighter or heavier.  Low angles for lightweight 

pinballs or high angles for heavyweight pinballs.

From Mike Brandt (mobrandt@mailbox.syr.edu):

  Actually, the angle refers to the slope of the virtual pinball

  table relative to horizontal. The physics is different from that

  of lighter/heavier balls. For example, on a given slope, balls

  with different weights will accelerate at the same rate. But 

  changing the slope changes the acceleration.

V. How do I hit ... ? (Strategy Section)

    ... the Physical Systems Hole?

The best method I've found is to let the ball go through the left ramp and 

come down to the left flipper.  When it lands on the very edge of the 

flipper's tip, flip up, and it should go in about 50% of the time.

    ... the Power Hole?

Similar to the physical systems except that it should be in the middle of the 

left flipper.  After it leaves the hole, let it touch (for about a second) the 

flipper, and flip the ball up again.

    ... the Test Hole or Drop Targets?

Flip the pinball up through the middle ramp and let it land on your right 

flipper.  When it gets close to the tip, flip up, and it should head in the 

direction of the hole/targets.

    ... the Bumpers (more often after it is shot up)?

When the pinball is heading back down to the center of the board after 

bouncing around the bumpers, hit the Space Bar to shake the pinball machine.  

This will cause the ball to bounce around more and rack up IQ points.

    ... the Middle Ramp's light on?

Flip the pinball to the middle lane; this will activate the middle ramp's 

bonus.  After the initial 100 grand, the bonus increases by 30,000.

VI. What are its secrets?

To get an extra ball before playing, press F1 at the OPTIONS screen at the 

number of balls choice.  (See the extra pages in the help.)

These are not officially from Epic Megagames, but these debug codes in the 

shareware version will help you have some fun with the game.  All codes need 

to have escape (ESC) to be pressed first for the prompt; the responses to this 

prompt activates the cheats.  (The escape is included for quick reference.)

Codes      Purpose                                 Debug Purpose (theoretical)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         The best cheats of the game:

ESC-B-N    * An extra ball is dropped during play. Test multiball.

ESC-J      + Using the cursor keys, the ball is    Test whole game and goals.

           under player control.

                           Interesting debug codes:

ESC-F9     A border appears.                       ? ? ? ?

           (Does not work for all monitors.)

ESC-F10    A screen capture to file SCREEN.PCX.    Advertising Purposes

ESC-F1     A parameter request prompt.             ? ? ? ?

           (Unknown parameters)

Footnotes from Mike Brandt (mobrandt@mailbox.syr.edu):

  * This works on all tables in the registered version, except

    for Engima which crashes (albeit in a very colorful way)

  + This does not work on the registered version, including Android.

I have tested out all other keys, so there are no more ESC-(button) debug 

codes.  However, the ESC-F1 looks to be promising research material.

Other means of free balls:

DISCLAIMER: I do not recommend changing any of the files on pinball except 

when the Set-Up Program changes it.  Use at your own risk!!

From Steve Hastings (steveha@microsoft.com):

  A good cheat you didn't mention: make a backup copy of the options 

  file.  Then change the number of balls. Then run "comp" or some similar 

  utility on the backed-up options file versus the current options file; 

  you will get a message that one byte is different, and the offset of 

  the byte.  Now use Norton Utilities or any other binary editor to patch 

  that one byte to a value of zero.  Presto: an unlimited number of 

  balls.  The ball counter will max-out at 9 and stay there, and you can 

  play forever.  I think I had a 5-digit IQ once when I was trying to get 

  past "Torso" to the next level.  I'll be bummed if there isn't one.

From Mike Brandt (mobrandt@mailbox.syr.edu):

  Here is a QBASIC program which accomplishes the "edit the options

  file" cheat. Just run QBASIC (which comes with DOS versions 5 and

  up), type in the following program, and choose RUN from the menu.

   OPEN "C:\PINBALL\CONFIG.PIN" FOR BINARY AS #1

   A$ = CHR$(0)

   PUT #1, 12, A$

   CLOSE #1

  Substitute the path that you have Epic Pinball in, if it isn't

  C:\PINBALL, in the first line. You can also change the zero in

  the second line to a number from 1 to 9 to set the number of 

  balls per game (the Zero makes it infinite.)

Balls Executable Program:

There is a program out on the ftp sites called "balls.c" and/or "balls.exe".  

It will give you unlimited balls, and it is rumored to be written by Epic 

Megagames.  The first two methods are dangerous because I'm not sure if they 

are copyright violations.  I would like to include the balls.exe file in 

uuencoded format, but I would like to find out from the powers that be.  Who's 

right about changing the files?  Who's wrong?  I am waiting for Epic 

Megagames' response to my e-mails.  My friend Darren has some comments on it:

From Darren 'The Hammer' Carlson (carlson@calvin.assiniboinec.mb.ca): 

  I think the FAQ is quite good. I wasn't aware of the debug codes that were

  available in the game.

  I can't see why you wouldn't be able to distribute the compiled code for 

  Balls.exe with the FAQ. Epic has the file in its Hints & Cheats Library on

  Compuserve in their Forum. I don't remember there being a note about not

  being able to distribute it but I may be wrong. I'll post a message in the

  Forum and see what the powers that be say about it.

Here is yet another viewpoint about the file changing:

From Mike Brandt (mobrandt@mailbox.syr.edu):

  I noticed that you mentioned this in your FAQ; I find it quite

  surprising. After all, I bought the program from Epic, and I

  feel that I have the right to modify any of its files if I so

  desire; I have no intention of giving any of the files (modified

  or not) to anybody else. I will check Epic's licensing agreement.

  I do believe that you're not allowed to modify the shareware

  version *and then pass it on*, but modifying for your own use?

  Anyway, even if it is a copyright violation to modify the file,

  it should be ok to describe how it's done. (For example, growing

  pot is illegal, but I've seen _The Marijuana Grower's Guide_ in

  bookstores!) Just add a disclaimer. (I did add a disclaimer -- Ed.)

VII. Credits

These people (whether they know it or not) have given information for this 

FAQ.  Their work is most appreciated.  (If you don't like the name given for 

your entry, e-mail me the name you would like to use.)

Mike Brandt..........................................mobrandt@mailbox.syr.edu

Darren 'The Hammer' Carlson.................carlson@calvin.assiniboinec.mb.ca

Chris Guilmartin.........................................chrisg@world.std.com

Steve Hastings..........................................steveha@microsoft.com

Ming-Jer Lee...........................................saint@mail.ncku.edu.tw

Tony Nugent............................................T.Nugent@sct.gu.edu.au

White Flame.............................................holz4061@nova.gmi.edu

Zargon....................................................yu8954@nova.gmi.edu

Subject: Android FAQ Policy Change !!

From: ngsippel@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu

Date: 29 May 94 02:22:17 -0500

Android FAQ Policy Change:

All material written is my property.  I will use it as I see

fit; if you have added comments and don't agree with this

policy, I will gladly take your section out of the FAQ.

Any material that I have taken out and used shall be credited

to the owner, but I will own it.

Please keep reading and sending in comments.  I appreciate

the help!

Thank you.

P.S. I have good reasons for this policy change, which I am

not at liberty to discuss at this time.