HSC Season 4 Week 64: Video Pinball

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

 

Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball

From Soho down to Brighton, I must have played them all

But I ain't seen nothing like him, In any amusement hall

That deaf, dumb and blind kid, Sure plays a mean Video Pinball!

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Video Pinball
  
• Released By: Atari, 1981
  
• Left Difficulty: A / Expert - Two extra drain holes are open
  
• Right Difficulty: N/A in 1-player
  
• Game Mode: Game 3 - Bumper values are reset each new ball
  
• Chosen By: LarcenTyler
  

Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Thursday, July 26th at 1:30 AM (CST).

 

If you want to suggest a game for future weeks, please send me a private message and let me know! I will add your game to the list. One one game per person will be kept on the list, so you will not be able to suggest a game until your first game is played! (Please note that due to time constraints, I very rarely reply to private messages... but I do read them all!)

 

Anyone can play! Just post a score and I'll add you to the list! Please read the Rules & Information if you haven't already done so!

 

Current High Scores

1. 999,999 (toymailman) [+11]
   999,999 (godzillajoe) [+11]
   999,999 (SpiceWare) [+11]
   
2. 992,473 (Deteacher) [+10]
   
3. 946,768 (RaRoss) [+9]
   
4. 817,327 (Rom Hunter) [+8]
   
5. 150,978 (Nognir) [+7]
   
6. 133,772 (Nathan Strum) [+6]
   
7. 111,280 (Impaler_26) [+5]
   
8. 37,733 (Recycled) [+4]
   
9. 24,328 (LarcenTyler) [+3]
   
10. 24,323 (Captain Beard) [+2]
    

Best Tips

• SpiceWare [+2]
  

Bounties and Challenges

• None yet posted
  

TwinGalaxies Top 3

(Game 1, Difficulty A)

• 17,521 (David B Yancey)
  

Current Standings

(Note: These scores reflect the standing as of the beginning of this week, and do not include points scored from this game.)

1. Rom Hunter [548]
2. Deteacher [440]
3. SpiceWare [423]
4. Nathan Strum [238]
5. LarcenTyler [220]
6. rheffera [198]
7. vdub_bobby [185]
8. keilbaca [175]
9. johnnywc [167]
10. Goochman [164]
11. scogey [122]
12. The MindMaster [115]
13. the 5th ghost [111]
14. Captain Beard [103]
15. Cybergoth [94]
16. shadow460 [92]
17. atari2600land [85]
18. JacobZu7zu7 [80]
19. toymailman [80]
20. BrianC [78]
21. Recycled [76]
22. shawnb [71]
23. Christophero Sly [70]
24. Malc74 [67]
25. Zoyx [66]
26. theKLT [59]
27. godzillajoe [38]
28. SeaGtGruff [36]
29. Crazy Climber [36]
30. 128bytes [34]
31. ewing92 [32]
32. Jred [26]
33. RJ [24]
34. doctorclu [22]
35. phaxda [21]
36. Lord Helmet [19]

• RaRoss [18]
• Thomas Jentzsch [17]
• Krytol [17]
• mojofltr [17]
• Mindcircus [16]
• Random Terrain [15]
• Lord Thag [15]
• LS_Dracon [13]
• rjchamp3 [11]
• ResOGlas [11]
• Nognir [11]
• Shannon [11]
• midnight magicman [11]
• accousticguitar [10]
• jonfin826 [10]
• Omegamatrix [9]
• MickG [9]
• Gabriel [8]
• keitaro [8]
• Impaler_26 [7]
• gospeedde [7]
• Hiryu [7]
• Zeptari1 [7]
• Shroo-man [6]
• JimboGames [5]
• supercat [5]
• GamerInThailand [5]
• codyr783 [5]
• fire!fire! [5]
• madbutscher [4]
• oldric [3]
• Biter [2]
• mightymage [2]
• aofl [2]
• D. Yancey [2]
• Dan Iacovelli [1]

Scoring Points in Video Pinball

• Spinner - 1 point
  
• Bumpers - 100 points X current value (current value increased by hitting drop targets)
  
• Drop targets - 100 points
  
• Atari Rollover - 100 points (after hitting the Atari Rollover four times, you receive an extra ball. Each time it rolls over, the bonus multiplier increases by one)
  
• Left Rollover - 100 points (Its value increases by one with each hit. When the ball drains, you receive 1000 points for each time it has rolled over (maximum of 4000 points))
  
• Special Lit Target - 1000 points
  
• See the manual for more detailed information.
  

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available. Here are the tips it provides:

 

- TILT: Tilt is caused by nudging the ball too much. When a tilt occurs, the top portion of the television screen turns red, your flippers are frozen, you cannot score points, and eventually the ball is lost through a drain. If an extra ball was earned before a tilt, you lose it. You still retain the bonus earned from the left rollover.

 

- NUDGE: Nudging can be very helpful in preventing a lost ball. If the ball gets too close to a drain, you can use a nudge to move the ball and prevent it from dropping down the drain. Nudge the ball by holding the red controller button down whilst pushing the Joystick in the direction you want the ball to go. You can also use a nudge to help score points by nudging the ball towards a rollover or target.

 

- BANK SHOT: Use the flippers to maneuver the ball so that it rebounds off a playfield device (bumper, rollover etc.), and then moves toward a specific target.

 

- PLUNGER: Experiment with the plunger. Try pulling it halfway back, or all the way back, or anywhere in between. You might find you have better control over the ball with a particular plunger setting. Sometimes, a combination of plunger setting and nudging will help send the ball in the direction of the Atari rollover.

This isn't much of a tip...more of an FYI: If you have an extra ball in the bank, the bumpers don't reset. They only reset when you go on to your next numbered ball. Therefore, my tip is to go for the extra ball first, then head over to the left rollover.

Figured out that 2 quick taps back on the plunger sets the the ball to bounce thru the Atari Rollover by using nudge left to make the ball bounce off the top of the rightmost bumper, then nudge right to line up with the roll over.

Tips: Pulling the plunger about half way down will let you shoot the ball, with a bit of nudging, right into the Atari rollover to get that Extra Ball immediately. This will maintain your bumper multipliers too so it's worth getting it out of the way.

 

Then just park the ball in the left rollover for as long as you can and watch the points fly!

Here's a tip for the Atari rollover: If you can get the ball in the lower right corner of the screen (see circle, here), you can repeatedly nudge it up and left to bounce the ball high enough to clear the top of the rollover. It will drop in, almost straight down, allowing you to bounce it off the bumper and easily rack up a free ball.

 

--Zero

[Lauren Tyler]

24,328 for the first effort.

[godzillajoe]

Oh man, this is cruel, back when I was a kid I got 19,000,000 before I stopped out of boredom. I gotta resist the urge to waste hours.....

[RaRoss]

Whooo Hooo!!!! Finally a great game, and I own it!!!!! Whooo hoooooooo!!!!!!!!

[godzillajoe]

I'll raise the bar a bit with 287,243 as a first score

 

Tips: The 'nudge' feature is your friend. Learn to use it without tilting to max out the left muliplier. That's where most of your points come from.

[Deteacher]

951,582. I purposely stopped before the score rolled over on me.

 

I think I ended up using the nudge feature more often than the flippers.

 

This isn't much of a tip...more of an FYI: If you have an extra ball in the bank, the bumpers don't reset. They only reset when you go on to your next numbered ball. Therefore, my tip is to go for the extra ball first, then head over to the left rollover.

 

I have a question: For the purposes of scoring, are we only going to be scored on rolling over the score once, or are we supposed to keep track of the number of times we roll it?

[toymailman]

I have a question: For the purposes of scoring, are we only going to be scored on rolling over the score once, or are we supposed to keep track of the number of times we roll it?

 

Ha, I have the same question. I am sure many of us can roll this game several times. How is this handled in the HSC? Thank you.

[Deteacher]

992,473. I'm trying to get as close to 1M as possible without rolling it over.

[Impaler_26]

First Try - 55,643.

[godzillajoe]

Well it is the honor system as far as reporting scores goes so I would assume that means we can roll it even if the pic doesn't reflect that.

 

I mean seriously, is someone that pathetic that they're gonna LIE to win the HSC?

[Malc74]

I have a question: For the purposes of scoring, are we only going to be scored on rolling over the score once, or are we supposed to keep track of the number of times we roll it?

 

Ha, I have the same question. I am sure many of us can roll this game several times. How is this handled in the HSC? Thank you.

 

I don't know if anything has been changed recently, but back when I was a regular in the HSC the rule was that you rolled it once and that was it. Your score was then credited as the highest score you could get before the rollover (so in VP's case I'd imagine it would be 999,999).

[Gregory DG]

I remember rolling it at least once, possibly twice back in the day. I could play that game for hours just hitting that rollover again and again.

 

I won't be replicating it now however.

[Deteacher]

I remember rolling it at least once, possibly twice back in the day. I could play that game for hours just hitting that rollover again and again.

 

I won't be replicating it now however.

 

Trust me, once you get the hang of keeping the ball in the left rollover, you can roll the score in 10-15 minutes of playing. It's not too difficult.

[+SpiceWare]

82,261

[toymailman]

Okay, just finished a marathon session. Played until all intrest was lost and hand was tired .

 

This is a really fun game; for a while.

 

Final score: 7,997,104

 

My tip: Go for the Atari rollovers out of the gate and get the free ball first. Then head over to the left side for some left-rollover action. I found that if you pull the shooter about half-way back then this will have a good chance of going right inside the Atari area (nudge if needed). After a few nudges and bounces then you've got a free ball. With this you can play a LONG time and continue to build on the bumper number.

 

Pictoral chronology is below...

989,317 still on the first ball and bumpers up to 4.

2,086,871 ball #2 and bumpers back up to 6

2,904,486 still ball #2 bumpers up to 8

3,944,387 still ball #2 bumpers maxed at 9

4,446,012 still ball #2 bumpers at 9

5,955,719 ball #3 now and bumpers back to 2

6,271,749 ball #3 bumpers up to 6

6,926,064 ball #3 bumpers maxed at 9

7,514,687 ball #3 bumpers at 9

7,997,104 final score

[Recycled]

37,733

[RaRoss]

Played it on my actual 2600 and got 946,768!!!!

[+SpiceWare]

183,810

 

getting better, got the multipliers up to 5! Still haven't gotten the knack for the Atari Rollover for the free ball.

 

Edit: Oops- I see I forgot to hit UPLOAD on these newfangled forums

Edited July 22, 2007 by SpiceWare

[Ze_ro]

I have a question: For the purposes of scoring, are we only going to be scored on rolling over the score once, or are we supposed to keep track of the number of times we roll it?

Ha, I have the same question. I am sure many of us can roll this game several times. How is this handled in the HSC? Thank you.

I don't know if anything has been changed recently, but back when I was a regular in the HSC the rule was that you rolled it once and that was it. Your score was then credited as the highest score you could get before the rollover (so in VP's case I'd imagine it would be 999,999).

Correct. There's no point in keeping track of scores past the roll-over point... the only difference between a score of 1,000,000 and 10,000,000 is the time it took to get it. There's no extra skill involved past a certain point. In fact, it could be argued that for many games, you pass this point long before the score rolls over, but the rollover point provides a convenient landmark.

 

So basically, if you can roll the score, you guarantee yourself a cool 11 points.

 

--Zero

[Impaler_26]

Oh boy, i ain't no pinball wizard! I still can't get used to the nudge feature. Only slightly better so far...

 

60,432

[+SpiceWare]

433,812

 

Got the multiplier up to 9 once Almost, but not quite, have the Atari Rollover figured out.

Edited July 22, 2007 by SpiceWare

[+Nathan Strum]

Never played this much before. I like Midnight Magic better, but the nudge feature on this one is nice. Seems there's room for a really good homebrew pinball game.

 

44,425

[Impaler_26]

111,280

[+SpiceWare]

524,705 535,920 637,155

 

Figured out that 2 quick taps back on the plunger sets the the ball to bounce thru the Atari Rollover by using nudge left to make the ball bounce off the top of the rightmost bumper, then nudge right to line up with the roll over. Got over 500K with the first ball, then screwed up on the last couple. Getting too late for tonight, so off to bed.

Edited July 25, 2007 by SpiceWare

[+Nathan Strum]

Gettin' better.

 

Not using the flippers helps. It's pretty much all about nudging.

 

95,850