Epic MegaGames unveils Epic Pinball

 

[[ Epic's Shareware Pinball table, Android, is available by anonymous FTP

   to ftp.ulowell.edu, directory /msdos/Games/Epic, file 0pinball.zip - be

   sure to set binary! ]]

From: sl859@cc.usu.edu

Subject: ANNOUNCE: EPIC PINBALL is HERE!

Date: 29 Oct 93 11:25:04 MDT

IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

Contact:    Epic MegaGames

Phone:      800-972-7434

Compuserve: 70451,633

Internet:   70451.633@compuserve.com

Epic MegaGames unveils Epic Pinball

===================================

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, October 28, 1993 -- Epic MegaGames has released

Epic Pinball,  a major new shareware game!  Epic brings the massively

popular game of Pinball to new heights in technology, artwork, sound,

and realism with this 256-color smooth-scrolling masterpiece.

The shareware version of Epic Pinball includes one excellent pinball

table, Android.  The shareware version is available freely from

bulletin boards,  online services, and in other shareware channels.

It is "try before you buy" software -- if you like the Android pinball

table, you can order more pinball tables directly from Epic. 

Your goal in the shareware version is to wake the Android.  You'll

need to work the complex sets of ramps, targets, and lights.  Epic

Pinball is complete with all the sights, sounds, and thrills of the

top modern pinball tables!

Epic Pinball consists of eight unique and amazing pinball tables,

divided into two packs:

Epic Pinball Pack 1:  Android, Pot of Gold, Excalibur, and Crash and Burn.

Epic Pinball Pack 2:  Magic, Deep Sea, Jungle Pinball, and Enigma.

Requirements:  IBM PC-compatible with at least 640K of main memory, 386 or

faster processor, VGA card.

Prices

======

   $29 for either Epic Pinball Pack 1 or Pinball Pack 2 (4 tables each).

   $45 for both Epic Pinball Packs (all 8 tables).

   All orders add $4 p&h.  MD residents add 5% tax.

To order,  contact:

   Epic MegaGames

   20 Courthouse Square, Suite 208

   Rockville, MD 20850 USA

To download the shareware version:

   Compuserve (GO GAMERS, $PIN.ZIP)

   Software Creations BBS - Boston, MA ($PINBALL.ZIP)

      2400 Baud: 508-365-2359

      14.4K Baud: 508-365-9668

   Epic's BBS - Rockville, MD ($PINBALL.ZIP)

      2400-14.4K Baud: 301-738-0232

   FTP: ftp.ulowell.edu (0PINBALL.ZIP, in the Epic directory)

Enjoy!

-Tim Sweeney, Epic MegaGames

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

I have uploaded the 0pinball.zip to a number of FTP sites.  (I don't know if 

they have started to show in the various directories)  I uploaded them into

the ftp uploads directories and am waiting for them to show...  

The following ftp sites have I uploaded the sw version.

grind.isca.uiowa.edu

  ftp.uwp.edu

ftp.ulowell.edu

nic.funet.fi (soon to be changed to ftp.funet.fi)

  archive.epas.utoronto.ca (this is usually for people with

the Gravis Ultrasound, but as will be noted happily by GUS users

        it Epic Pinball has AWESOME GUS sound! :)

         I will probably also post the binary to the apropriate

       Usenet groups since I have it uuencoded.  It is being busily uploaded

       by Tim Sweeney and your friends at Epic MegaGames as quickly as our 

       little modems will let the bits fly! :)  Feel free to distribute the 

       shareware copy to all your friends.

I will upload it to other ftp as I come to realize which ones are 

good to upload to...

Try out the game. But Beware, It is incredibly addicting! (and I 

        thought I hated Pinball! :)  

wReam...

P.S.  The program should be showing up on ftp soon.  There was a bit of 

red tape to cut through but I think I was able convince the ftp site handlers

that I am who I am... :)

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

Raymond Bingham ** Net.Rep for Epic MegaGames!  **   Amateur Pinball Wizard

(wReam...)      **********************************     SL859@cc.usu.edu 

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

From: "Adam K. Rixey" <ar2w+@andrew.cmu.edu>

Subject: Re: ANNOUNCE: EPIC PINBALL is HERE!

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1993 01:08:46 -0400

Hmmm...here's some descriptions and pseudo-rules for the pinball boards

that I have so far. I've ordered more and will probably post more when

they arrive (and I can tear my roommates away from playing pinball).

Silverball

==========

FANTASY -  Your "standard" pinball game.  There's one ramp which

activates the Crystal Ball sinkhole and one small loop that awards

Dragon Coins and bonuses (and is also probably the hardest shot in the

game).  The Sword sinkhole awards 1 million points or the jackpot when

it is lit.  Crystal Ball sinkhole, when lit, will award either points,

lite kickers or extra ball or jackpot, or start up Warrior Millions mode

(1mil * time remaining each time you shoot the Dragon Coins).  Spellbook

sinkhole awards (with nice animation) either points or various modes

(all targets 100k, all sinkholes 2mil, etc.).  The bonepile hole is used

to award points.  The flipper inlanes light the kickers on the outlanes.

 Seven drop targets are used to increase the bonus multiplier, which

stays active the entire game.  There are three pop bumpers (as they call

them) in the top, they start at 7000 points and I don't _think_ that

value increases.

The art and music on this one are nice (two of my three roommates rate

this music highest :), and it has some of the coolest bumpers I've ever

seen - the two bumpers by the flippers flash large lightning over the

board, accompanied by loud thunderstrikes.  Listen to this one with good

speakers (and an Ultrasound, if possible).

BLOOD - This is both my favorite and most hated board...it's challenging

and makes you come back, but finally your frustration is too much and

you have to quit.  Almost everything takes place in the upper half of

the board, where there are:  four rollover lanes spelling E-Y-E-S (can

be rotated with flippers) that alternately light left and right advance

lanes that light ramps (whew!);  four pop bumpers just below the

rollover lanes and between the advance lanes.  Their value starts at

1,000 each and increases by 30,000 each time you shoot a non-lit spider

ramp; Ghost Lanes on the far left and right - shoot both of them and

light a G-H-O-S-T letter (spelling ghost awards 1mil + 1mil for each

previous spelling).  The right ghost lane also contains Coals (shoot for

Jackpot when lit), the left ghost lane contains a Coffin (add 10mil to

jackpot) and Slime (10mil bonus); the Axe ramp, when unlit, will award

an extra ball if you shoot it eight times.  It lights the Spider ramp

when Axe is lit; Poison ramp will award 750k if Poison is lit, 10mil if

Mist is lit, or light a Ghost for 10mil every 5 shots; Spider ramp

increases pop bumper value by 30k when not lit, or makes the next ramp

shot worth 10mil when it is lit.  About the only other things are

B-L-O-O-D targets which award points and bonus and the flipper inlanes,

which are used to light Axe and Slime (you must first shoot all three

ramps to do this).  There are no kickers on the outlanes.

The art on this board is rather appropriate; there's a large demonhead

in the lower center of the board, and pretty much everything else has a

picture of it's namesake (eyes, axes, ghosts, etc.).  The music on this

one is my favorite - nice and spooky.  However, I do have some SERIOUS

gripes about this board.  Two of the ramps you need to shoot multiple

times (Axe 8 times for Extra Ball, Poison 5 times for 10 million

points).  However, it only increments those values when the ramp is

UNlit.  If you light the ramp and shoot it it completely loses all

information and you have to start over from scratch.  This is

particularly nasty on the Axe ramp, which becomes lit by the process of

SHOOTING RAMPS.  In essence, it's nearly impossible to get an extra ball

unless you don't shoot anything else (I've gotten up to 6 only to

accidentally light the axe and lose all that effort - it's a tricky shot

because of the curve on the ramp).  The board also doesn't always detect

passing over the ghost lanes, so the shot that SHOULD have given you

10mil before aiming the ball right between the flippers gives you

nothing.  

I don't know how to light the jackpot on this one yet, it's not

mentioned in the manual.  As far as I can tell, there's no bonus

multiplier, either (not much gives you a bonus, though).

SNOOKER CHAMP - This is an old-style pinball game, when scores were low

and everything was steel and wood.  There ain't much that gives you

points (in fact, the outlanes are the highest-valued things in the game

at the beginning), but things do get interesting anyway.  Knocking down

all of the P-O-O-L drop targets opens a gate on the right outlane that

leads the ball back to the plunger; it stays open until you lose the

ball some other way or get multiball.  A three-ball multiball (where

everything awards 1000 points) can be achieved by knocking down all of

the B-U-M-P-E-R-S drop targets.  There are two separate bonuses, the

end-of-ball bonus and the ball bonus, the latter of which can only be

collected by shooting the only sinkhole in the game.  Unfortunately, the

end-of-ball bonus multiplier (which lasts through the whole game)

doesn't seem to be working; even if it's x5, if I have 1000 that's all I

get.

The background art on this board is snooker related - poolballs,

cuesticks, chalk, and so on.  The sound effects seem a bit out of place

(submarine "ahwooga" for rollover lanes?!), but the music is nice and

relaxing compared to the other games - it's a piano tune like you'd

expect in an Old West saloon or something.  

ODYSSEY - This is by far the most goal-oriented board.  Almost

everything is based around the left ramp (which a third, smaller flipper

is best used to hit).  Hitting this ramp first builds your skyship, then

you take off, and then you go out and search for monsters (when other

stuff on the board is where you need to hit the ball) and finally awards

the jackpot.  There's a minotaur sinkhole that either awards 500k + 100k

per previous hit (that turn?), locks the ball, or confronts you with the

minotaur.  Next you meet the cyclops (two drop targets), and finally you

meet the furies (left bumper).  After meeting a monster, you have 20

seconds + (10 * number of hourglass hits) seconds to hit the sword hole

and slay the monster.  After killing all the monsters, the Jackpot is

lit.  When you're not attacking monsters, the sword hole awards a random

value - nothing, points, dual-ball, bonus advance, or even full jackpot

(I really dislike this - getting the jackpot first thing on first ball

by chance really hoses the table score, as has happened).  Towards the

right side, there's a pegasus ramp (1mil points or start multiball) and

a Symbol sinkhole (functions as Hourglass and Ball Lock 2 if shot from

the top or awards a god's symbol - such as thunderbolt or moon - if one

is lit).  The flipper lanes are kind of odd...there's no separation

between the flippers and the outlanes, but it's kind of like this big

loop.  There are kickers on the drainholes which can be re-lit by

getting the ball ALL the way to the end of the outlane (luckily, they

also relight with each new ball).  There are three drop targets around

the board that light ball locks.  The bonus multiplier is advanced by

shooting all of the ramps and sinkholes.

The graphics of this board are various things from Greek mythology that

are apparently floating in space (Atlas is in the center, holding a

giant pinball :), and the music is pretty nice, too - it's my second

favorite.  About my only complaints are that the random awards from the

sword hole are to mismatched (you could get 25k, your opponent could

easily get full bonus multiplier for the rest of the game or the

jackpot) and those blasted outlanes - even catching the ball on the

flipper is very risky since if rolls a bit too far back it could be

gone.  

ANDROID - I'm sleepy, and besides you can play it for free.  Anybody

know if anything neat happens when you completely activate the android? 

My best so far is about 190mil with two body parts activated and the

next one flashing, and everything up to but not including Database

installed.

Overall, I'd REALLY recommend the new pinball games from

Epic/Microleague.  I picked up Silverball for about $25 at a local

Babbage's, and you get one free board (Nova) when you send in your

registration card.  I've also ordered Volume 1 (different from the Epic

Collection 1) which contains Deep Sea, Jill of the Jungle, Android, and

Magic.  The graphics and gameplay are terrific, and hey - I'm spending

less at the arcade.  Now if only I could put a quarter slot on the

computer, I'd already be making a profit off my roommates.

Now for the gripes:  1) I hope there are more sounds in the newer

boards.  Android has a whole lot of sounds, but the games in Silverball

simply don't have a wide variety of sound effects.  It's often hard to

know when you get a bonus multiplier or extra ball if there's not even

an audible cue.  

2) The flippers don't move quite fast enough to backhand the ball.  At

least, in a week of playing I haven't done it or seen it done.

3) The graphics of the playing field don't extend down far enough to

even attempt a bang-back.  The ball is usually just gone before it even

gets to the flippers.

4) Some menu commands are kind of brain dead (why can't I change the

number of players while at the table, instead of going all the way back

to the table-selection screen and then the main screen and then

returning to the table-selection screen and the same table?)

5) When it goes back to the screen with the high scores, I'd also like

to see the scores of the game(s) just played for a bit of comparison. 

This is more useful in multi-player games, since one person can usually

remember their score.

6) A way to change the tilt mechanism...heck, we can change everything

else.  'sides, it seems to be different on different tables - I can

whack the heck out of Android, but about four hits over any length of

time can tilt Odyssey.

7) A construction set.  Well, I can always wish.

On the plus side, well, I am getting sleepy.  Directional nudging,

changing the board angle, a wide variety of games (want Really Big

Points[tm], play Fantasy; brutal challenges, play Blood; nostalgia, play

Snooker Champ; plot, play Odyssey), excellent graphics and stereo

sound/music, a good degree of difficulty (we've only legitamitely gotten

the Fantasy jackpot...I don't conisder Odyssey's random award to count)

and pretty much everything you'd expect from pinball in the arcade

except cigarette stains and obnoxious Street Fighter II crowds, although

both can easily be arranged at home.  Just don't slam tilt the monitor...

- AkR

- ar2w@andrew.cmu.edu

From: fwang@cs.sunysb.edu (.)

Subject: My opinions of Epic Pinball

Date: 30 Oct 1993 06:11:49 GMT

Hmm.  first of all, it is by far the best pinball I've ever played on a 

computer.  smooth scrolling.  interesting gameplay.  fairly good response

and etc.  Everything is porportioned correctly, unlike tristan, where the

ball was like twice the size of the flipper.  (that's an exaggeration).

(when I saw them for the first time, my eyes were twice the size of the

 flippers, though.  =)

Don't give up your regular pin, tho.

A)  Multi screen.  Hmm.  Well, you can't see where the heck your ball

is going to go, which kinda sucks.  however, everything is larger 

which should theoretically fix somethings.  The scrolling is smooth

tho so that's good.

I hate scrolling up to see where my skill shot is, and then scrolling

back down to shoot for -every- ball.  I now just shoot without worrying

about it.  (shoot -short-, of course).

B)  Sound is good.  If you're gonna make a computer pinball, might as well

put all sorts of funky sounds and graphics you can't in a regular pin,

right?

However, if you shoot the skill shot hard, it says, 'Damn!'.  and

what is worse, everytime you hit a pop bumber after that, it says,

'Damn!' in a low or high voice.  so, you get this awful barrage of

Damns.  Needless to say, it is pretty Damn annoying.  ;)  So shoot it

short for minimum annoyance.  (no replay anyway, so who cares?!?)

C)  Tilt?  er..... it's okay.  it does some good.  I never understood computer

tilt.  is 'right' tilt supposed to be equivalent to a right handed

slap, like a slap save?  or is it a slap save / nudge?  kind of a 

diagonal push?

When the ball drains, it falls down, and then as it heads to the center

it hits the flipper (it hangs a little low) and falls down.

D)  STDM complex.  It goes into the pop bumpers.  it goes through a little

tunnel.  And, if you're unlucky, it goes STDM, at varying speeds.

I can't figure out if there is a way to help the situation via tilt.

it doesn't look like it, since it doesn't touch a darn thing on the

way down.  This happened 4 balls in a row, so I thought I'd mention it.

E)  flippers work okay.  I could compare them to um... relatively weak flippers

with lousy rubber.  I.e. backhands are impossible.  (You can barely

make it up the middle ramp at best, so it's not even really a backhand)

Actually, I take part of that back.  Flippers are.... odd.

The closer you are to the end of the flipper, the more sensitive the

flipper is.

i.e.

            shot 1        shot 2

shot 3

           

               o

flipper: \

    \

assume we're looking at the left flipper.  any shot 1 is impossible.

no backhand.  any shot 2 is pretty easy, because there is a large

section of flipper that shoots to the same spot.  (like that middle

saucer).  Shot 3's are -very- hard.  

on the android board, there is a left ramp.  no problem.  there are

left drop targets.  no problem.  There is another tunnel and ramp

between the left ramp and the left drop targets.

these shots are almost impossible!!!!  either I hit the left ramp,

or the drop targets.  almost -no- inbetween area.  ow.  the few

times i've hit that left-middle ramp were pure accident.

This really sucks.  As a result, I can't get past the 2nd id, since

you are required to hit that left tunnel.  :(

Overall, it's good, though.  definitely worth a look.  Actually, I'll run it 

on 'low' board tilt, and see if it's easier to hit.

- Frank Wang

  fwang@sbcs.sunysb.edu

From: "Adam K. Rixey" <ar2w+@andrew.cmu.edu>

Subject: Re: My opinions of Epic Pinball

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1993 11:29:15 -0400

Excerpts from netnews.rec.games.pinball: 30-Oct-93 My opinions of Epic

Pinball by .@cs.sunysb.edu 

>         assume we're looking at the left flipper.  any shot 1 is impossible.

>         no backhand.  any shot 2 is pretty easy, because there is a large

>         section of flipper that shoots to the same spot.  (like that middle

>         saucer).  Shot 3's are -very- hard.  

   Actually, Android is the only table I _have_ been able to backhand

on.  From the left flipper, I can easily shoot the left ramp whether the

ball is coming down the inlane or just towards the flipper.  I can't

backhand yet on any of the Silverball boards, though.

From: mpg@engr.latech.edu (Michael P. Gaudet)

Subject: Re: My opinions of Epic Pinball

Date: 30 Oct 1993 21:18:21 GMT

. (fwang@cs.sunysb.edu) wrote:

: Hmm.  first of all, it is by far the best pinball I've ever played on a 

: computer.  smooth scrolling.  interesting gameplay.  fairly good response

: and etc.  

: Don't give up your regular pin, tho.

  This is a very accurate assessment of Epic Pinball!  I am still addicted

to it, but various things annoy me infinity minus zero, no limit...

: on the android board, there is a left ramp.  no problem.  there are

: left drop targets.  no problem.  There is another tunnel and ramp

: between the left ramp and the left drop targets.

: these shots are almost impossible!!!!  either I hit the left ramp,

: or the drop targets.  almost -no- inbetween area.  ow.  the few

: times i've hit that left-middle ramp were pure accident.

  ...such as that problem.  This table completely ignores the intermediate

feature theorem of pinball.  If you can hit a feature on the left side of

something, and a feature on the right side of something, you ought to be

able to hit the feature in the middle if it's not obstructed!  Sometimes

it seems as if the left ramp is a vaccuum that sucks any shots from the

right flipper up it...

: Overall, it's good, though.  definitely worth a look.  Actually, I'll run it 

: on 'low' board tilt, and see if it's easier to hit.

  I find most of the targets easier to hit on 'high' board tilt, but I'm

running on a 486, so even without Turbo on, most balls drain within 20

seconds in that mode :(  Try hitting the nudge buttons just as you hit

the ball, or shoot them right after a saucer kickout.

     

From: sigma@rahul.net (Kevin Martin)

Subject: Epic Pinball Review (and a cheat!)

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1993 07:30:56 GMT

Well, I just rolled over the new Epic Pinball shareware release - the

Android table - and I thought I'd post a review (I used a cheat to help me

out; I'll detail how to do that at the end of this article).

The flipper and ball action feels mostly like earlier software from the

same team (Silverball?), but it's somewhat better.  The ball is a

reasonably proportioned size and it usually bounces more naturally than

I've seen in previous games, so that's good.  The flippers aren't too bad,

but they definitely aren't perfect.  And as other people have already

mentioned, their accuracy/sensitivity varies wildly according to where the

ball is on the flipper.  It can be quite frustrating.

In particular, the left lane and the far left ramp (the Testing hole) are

almost impossible, or so it seems at first.  The middle ramp can usually

only be hit with a slow-moving ball, but any ramp except the far left one

can be completed by a wandering ball, it seems.  The software is rather

forgiving of balls that in real life would probably rattle back and forth

at the entrance rather than lining themselves up with the curvature of the

ramp :)

Anyway, the big design flaws, IMHO:

 - ball is fed from the bumpers towards the center drain.  This seems to be

   about 1-in-3 unavoidable insta-drain.  As we've seen in plenty of real

   pinball machines, this is a Bad Thing.

 - easy shots are too easy, hard shots are too hard.  In this respect, it

   reminds me a lot of Mystery Castle :)

 - a ball that bounces from the tip of one flipper can actually pass right

   through the tip of the other (sideways) as it drains.

 - rollover lanes can only be steered leftwards by either flipper

 - flipper passes off of the inside corner of the near slingshot simply

   aren't possible

 - the center drain is much much more lethal than the outlanes.  This

   seems to be a common problem of pinball simulations.

 - the kickouts are _too_ realistic.  Specifically, a ball kicked out from

   the lower right saucer has about a 1-in-5 chance of grazing the top of

   the right slingshot and center draining with no chance of a save!

I like the theme, I guess.  It reminds me more of Gottlieb's Genesis than

anything else, although the first obvious analogy would be Bride of Pinbot.

The important features of the game are arranged linearly with the goal

being a Super Jackpot - this is exactly like the Sierra/Dynamix Pinball for

Windows (Take a Break!) games, which I think is a bad thing.  The

"multiple-ball" or "dual-ball" (they never call it Multiball ;) modes

happen without warning and only at two or three points during that linear

progression, and there's not much else to work on.  You can increase the IQ

value of your android almost constantly (I was up to 1600 IQ, I think) but

it never seems to serve any purpose at all, not even for bonus.  You can

increase the bumper value (I was up to 460K or something like that) but

it's still peanuts points, relatively.

When you eventually get to the Super Jackpot round, there are still many

more things to be done before you actually get the big value, or so it

seemed to me.  But eventually the Level 5 Torso Test is lit, and it stays

lit (at the extreme left ramp) permanently.  It's worth 249,770,000, give

or take a few thousand.  And it's the only thing left to shoot for.

Boring, kind of...

Anyway, I think it's an interesting table.  I'm considering purchasing the

other tables, but I'm concerned that they will all have this

linear-towards-Super-Jackpot design with nothing else interesting to do in

them.  This gets boring pretty quickly, even if you never actually get to

finish the sequence.  It's especially frustrating when you suddenly get a

few balls insta-drained through no fault of your own, erasing all of your

progress...

Oh, and I'd say that overall the pinball action is pretty good.  Sounds are

good, graphics are good, not much to complain about :)

So that's a positive review.

Spoilers on my cheat are in the file "Misc/epic.spoilers" in the Archive.

From: sigma@rahul.net (Kevin Martin)

Subject: Re: My opinions of Epic Pinball

Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1993 22:08:26 GMT

mpg@engr.latech.edu (Michael P. Gaudet) writes:

>  I find most of the targets easier to hit on 'high' board tilt, but I'm

>running on a 486, so even without Turbo on, most balls drain within 20

>seconds in that mode :(  Try hitting the nudge buttons just as you hit

>the ball, or shoot them right after a saucer kickout.

Oh, I completely forgot to mention the worst thing I discovered about this

game, which is exactly what you just described.  I eventually realized that

my best chance of completing any shot other than the easy ones (ie, left

lane and far left ramp and lower right saucer are the hard ones) was to hit

three keys simultaneously any time the ball came near the flipper.  Left

flipper, right flipper, and space bar for forward nudge.  And that's sort

of the best strategy in the game, especially since outlane drains seem to

be so rare (and you can use the other nudges for those).

I picked up most of my Super Jackpots with this approach, rather than

trying to actually shoot the impossible ramp.  I did find that the best

chance of shooting this ramp legitimately was to hit the center ramp.  The

kickout from the lower right saucer has about a 1-in-4 chance of coming to

the right flipper such that you can neatly flip it up that far left ramp.

From: fwang@cs.sunysb.edu (.)

Subject: Re: Epic Pinball Review (and a cheat!)

Date: 30 Oct 1993 12:14:36 GMT

Kevin Martin (sigma@rahul.net) wrote:

: In particular, the left lane and the far left ramp (the Testing hole) are

: almost impossible, or so it seems at first.  The middle ramp can usually

: only be hit with a slow-moving ball, but any ramp except the far left one

Okay, I found out some intereseting things about this game.

(1)  You can backhand only if the ball is moving at the time.  I actually

     was able to backhand the ball from the left flipper up the left 

'activate' ramp, and I could have sworn that was impossible.  I

can't quite recall how it was done, but I do know that I hit up

the left ramp (the one that feeds the left flipper) from the left

  flipper by trappint it, and then hitting it -very- lightly (easy if

you hit at the top of the flipper), and then hitting it again before

it landed on the flipper.  it's kinda wierd.

(2)  The two 'impossible' shots (the tunnel and the ramp left of it) are much

much easier if you set the table to 'high' tilt.

However, each level of tilt has their own instodrains.

Normal - from pop bumpers straight down.  Actually, I think if you 

tilt well before it falls you have a hope of saving it. 

Sometimes.

High tilt - That very common shot - the center drophole has a pretty

good chance of dumping it straight down the middle with pretty

much no chance of getting it.  Since this is such a common 

shot (I swear, 1/3 of the left flipper will shoot it here)

it's pretty dangerous stuff.

Low tilt - I had problems with it bouncing off the left side or

something and then draining.  I can't recall off hand

exactly what it was.

It still ranks 7.6 on the 10 point spiffy scale.  Be nice if i could

shoot that tunnel, tho.  Maybe I'll try it on infinite ball

mode.  (or 255 I think that post said?)

From: fwang@cs.sunysb.edu (.)

Subject: Pinball dreams opinions.

Date: 9 Nov 1993 20:57:42 GMT

The pinball dreams is on 

wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/msdos_uploads/game_demos.

It's okay, I guess.  The graphics aren't as nice as Epic's, nor is the

music (though the Roland music played through my Gravis Ultrasound isn't

bad at all).  I couldn't get any sfx through my Soundblaster pro even when

I just played in SB mode.   Strange.

How is the game itself?  it's okay.  It's easier to say what Epic did right

than to say what PD did wrong.

Epic handled balls rolling off the end of the flippers better.  Hitting the

ball when it rolled off led to some strange results, usually a -very- weak

hit.

Epic's board had more variety.  Much more interesting to play.

Epic's pinball ball felt like a small metal ball.  Pinball Dream's pinball

felt like a ping-pong ball.

Um, can't compare the sound effects, since I couldn't get them.  I think I

liked the angle of the pinball dreams flippers better, but since the ball was

so darned wacky that it didn't matter much.

There's not much to shoot for - center targets like the DMC back to the

future targets (which break in about 2 seconds in RL), two outlanes.  1 ramp,

to a small saucer.

What was good about it?

No STDM effect.  At least, I never found myself saying "Oh no... I hope the

machine doesn't decide to kill me right now" which happened fairly often in

Epic.

Backhands seemed to be um... strong.  Dunno about accurate.  seemed pretty 

off angle to me, but that's just me, maybe.

the bonus lights went the correct way when you use the appropriate flipper

unlink epic's that went to the left.

Hrm.  did I leave anything else?

Anyway, I was really excited about getting this demo cuz I coulda sworn I

heard  a number of good comments about it, but in general, I found it

extremely boring.  Having to wait almost a full minute between games didn't

help.  (nor having just 3 balls a game).

How's 8 ball deluxe?  It's another multi screener, right?  I wish these 

games would let you examine the top of the pinball field -while- you are

holding a ball in the upraised flipper.