T3's stock just spiked a couple points, and then down one...
Aron Boag
pretty empty (side note: Cactus Canyon is sold and gone), and therefore the
noise level was *much* lower. The game's still playing just fine, and so I
can still gather more correct info. On a "What's going on here?"-related
note, I received no fewer than 3 matches in four match chances. Weird. Add
to that the fact that I replayed two or three times and was awarded a
special by the mystery award once (nice T2 DMD throwback again, guys!), and
I was pretty pleased with the generosity.
Anyway, most of my former commentary is still pretty accurate. Multiball
still sucks. It's just no fun. Come on...couldn't we have A-B-C multiply
the value of the *current* volley of jackpots and the adjoining super
jackpot? It'd at least make things a bit more interesting. A little
risk/reward thing going on doesn't bother me one bit.
I did find that the music is better than I had originally believed. It's
pretty decent, and (dare I say it?) somewhat similar to the music in Dirty
Harry, which I like. Definitely a hard rock lick, and for a Steve Ritchie
game, that's just fine. Sound *quality* might not be the best, but again:
the place wasn't nearly quiet enough to completely determine that.
The *biggest* reason that the game jumped in opinion points, though, was
that I was smiling ear-to-ear after Final Battle, and that's saying
something significant. While playing the Final Battle, I was thinking, "Eh.
Average wizard mode. Makes ToM's Grand Finale look as pathetic as always,
but doesn't go off the charts." Finished up Final Battle (and was rather
*unamused* that the last shot was only a paltry 5 million), only to be
*greatly* amused by what followed.
In deference to those who've not seen this part of the game, much less to
those who haven't seen/played T3 *period*, I won't go on to describe what
happens next. Suffice it to say that I was laughing, smiling, flipping a
*lot*, and was saying loud things to an invisible Steve Ritchie like, "Oh,
STEVE! Glad to have you BACK!" Believe me, folks, this wizard mode is good
enough to spend the time reaching, even just for the intro. You'll like it.
Really.
Anyway, at this point, T3 was doing *much* better in my eyes. This software
was impressing me much more than it had before. More importantly, though, I
was having a GREAT deal of *fun*. I was shooting anywhere I could, trying
to take in all of the sensory data I could, not only to understand what was
going on and what I needed to do, but also just to *enjoy* that moment. The
frenetic pace, the humor, the lightshow...good (perhaps even "great") stuff,
Maynard.
Until the game rebooted.
Whoooooooooooooa, was I upset! I had done *absolutely nothing* to make that
game reset (i.e. I wasn't shaking, tilting, anything but flipping), and to
have it do that right during the "orgasm" of the game was just deflating.
So, there's definitely a big old bug in there somewhere that needs to be
addressed in a future ROM release. It was quite upsetting, *especially* in
light of the fact that I was kicking some serious tail and wasn't even close
to being done yet. When the game finally came back up, it showed that I'd
had achieved a score of 181 million and change up to that point, when it
royally screwed me. I was within a hair of breaking the 228 million GCHS on
the machine, and I still had a ball in reserve (I think...maybe not).
Notice that I used the word "upset" above, and not "pissed". Yeah, I was
*severely* disappointed that the game had screwed up, but I *still* left the
place with a big old smile on my face after having played that mode. It was
honestly enough fun to allow me to quickly get over that bug in the software
and still enjoy what I'd just experienced. For those who like a good
payoff, this'll fix you up pretty nicely.
Hopefully this bug will be addressed. Even so, that end game is *fun*
stuff, and I challenge *anyone* who's a Steve Ritchie fan to reach that area
and not have a decent time enjoying what he's got in store for you.
In four words: better than I thought.
In nine words: better than I thought, but standard multiball still sucks.
;)
Aron (who finished her, and ended up getting finished by the *machine*)
frenchy
guess we don't really know if this is a software bug or not...coulda
been a power spike, a hardware glitch with the power supply that just
happened to occur at that point, etc.
Pinlicious
>From: mf10...@aol.com (frenchy)
>Date: 7/17/03 3:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <49a3ceb0.03071...@posting.google.com>
i am by no means saying it was one thing or the other, but the electrical in
butterflys was done before i was born. With the thousands of games played by
everyone here on the group and by the people at stern, I highly doubt there is
anything there. the game MAY eventually reveal a bug or few, but i have not
located or heard of anything yet. dwight has had games with a bug or two,
that's common knowledge, but he isn't even close to the ant farms that some
programmers are famous for. i have played the wizard mode a couple dozen times
now and have found nothing to tarnish the integrity of the code work done on
this game. While I have my own opinions on some of the rules, the code to this
point is bug free. Remember everyone, this is the kings first game with stern
and it is a more than solid effort. Given the time to get back in the groove
and the benefits of the new OS, I don't doubt for one minute that "the KING"
will reclaim his thrown : )
WAR STERN
WAR STEVE RICHIE
I'M OUT! ; )
pinlicious ( ...there is no spoon.)
Ldnayman
mode with 110 million and an extra ball on deck and the game just died, with
the GI flashing on and off. It really sucked. I pointed this out and someone
else said it happened to them too. It sure tarnished the shit of the integrity
of the software of the game to me.
Pinlicious
>Date: 7/17/03 4:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <20030717164601...@mb-m20.aol.com>
>
>Yeah, well the game revealed a pretty friggin' bug to ME when I was in
>assualt
>mode with 110 million and an extra ball on deck and the game just died, with
>the GI flashing on and off. It really sucked. I pointed this out and someone
>else said it happened to them too. It sure tarnished the shit of the
>integrity
>of the software of the game to me.
first i have heard, i am sure you pointed it out to stern with an e-mail,
right? or were you just going to bitch to the group? thanks for the info : )
Ldnayman
here.
Pinlicious
>From: ldna...@aol.comnospam (Ldnayman)
>Message-id: <20030717170541...@mb-m20.aol.com>
>
>I was just going to bitch the group actually. There are plenty of Stern
>people
>here.
thanks, give the whole story so it can be looked into and taken care of, if a
bug.
thanks.
Bob G.
then -bam- checksum/rom vsn/reboot screen!
Bob
"frenchy" <mf10...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:49a3ceb0.03071...@posting.google.com...
Bob G.
had on mine (the other is the previously mentioned reboot during multiball).
Bob
"Ldnayman" <ldna...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20030717164601...@mb-m20.aol.com...
Aron Boag
49a3ceb0.03071...@posting.google.com, "frenchy"
<mf10...@aol.com> wrote:
> Till this happens to somebody else at the same point in the game I
> guess we don't really know if this is a software bug or not...coulda
> been a power spike,
But if this was the case, the other pins that were being played at that same
time would have had the same reaction. Not so? That wasn't the case.
> a hardware glitch with the power supply that just
> happened to occur at that point,
Mmmmmmmm, maybe. I'm still thinking software bug just because it
*immediately* rebooted. You could be right, but I'd put even money on a
software bug.
> etc.
True, there are other explanations. However, being that that particular
point in the game is the most frenetic, with the most going on at one time,
I'm thinking the software just had a hole for one moment there, and didn't
know how to handle it. It's *not* a big deal, really, unless the problem
persists. I'm just trying to give a head's up to the team, in the same way
I tried to let them know about the continuous problems with feature lights
on several recent Sterns.
Aron
mark french
>From: Aron Boag
>But if this was the case, the other pins that were being played at that same
>time would have had the same reaction. Not so? That wasn't the case.>>
Note I said spike, not a power failure that you would have noticed like the
lights flickering, just a brief spike could do different things to two separate
machines plugged into same line, or is spike is just on borderline of causing a
problem or not.
>Mmmmmmmm, maybe. I'm still thinking software bug just because t>*immediately*
rebooted.>>
You mean it was instant compared to the normal sequence when you power off/on a
game? I don't know how fast the power-up boot takes.
Ldnayman
a
bug.
thanks. >>
That's the whole story.
Or is it?
It was a nice summer day.
Or was it?
Well, I think it was sort of cloudy. But the city streets were abuzz with the
excitement that comes when the cold goes away. All around me, years were
melting away from faces. Clothes were melting away from once weighty wardrobes.
I was stumbling around in the east village after an all-you-can-drink mamosa
brunch date. The date had gone well, I thought . We had some laughs. We even
ended up at a sex shop that has a robustly feminiest point of view, where she
purchased some sort of starter set for a friend. Really, she's no beginner, so
it wasn't for her.
But that was all behind me, and ahead of me was the excitement of knowing I was
about to play this new pinball game. I had convinced myself that this would be
a different experience. And everyone loves a comeback, and it's a real comeback
for the Terminator as well as Steve Ritchie. Just as Arnold tied his own
dramatic claim to relevance by willing his trademark role back into existence,
SRS had pinned his own hopes on the Terminator franchise that had served him so
well.
So I arrived at 7B and ordered a drink. You are always expected to drink, even
if you just go there to play. Some wag was finishing up (what I later realized
was) a strong match. He finished with 88 million and it was all mine.
Well, this story isn't really about the game, and greater minds than mine have
already committed their deepest thoughts on the subject to virtual ink. I will
say that I liked it enough to keep putting $1 a time it for 5 balls, and that I
was enjoying the game and the progress I was making.
After about $6 or so, I was having a really nice round. And I notice something.
It is that sort of weight you feel at your back when you realize you are being
watched.
And I'm happy as a clam because I like it when people watch. Except for when
the start singing "Pinball Wizard," always being one irritating lyric off from
he published version.
I do what I always tell myself not to, and allow the onlookers to distract me.
I glance over...why, isn't that world-famous Sean "The Storm" Grant? He's a big
dude, that's for sure, looks Irish. And he's explaining the game to the comely
young lass he is with.
"See, he just picked up a weapon," punctuated with very good arnold
sing-alongs: "Shoot here, and here," "Don doo dat," "Play RPG."
Anyhow, I am in assualt (I just know I was IN it, I really don't know the
signifigance of it, kind of a mini-wizard mode). My score is over 110 million
and I have an extra ball on deck. I'm feeling really good about it, and you
know sometimes its just that one ball you get going. And this game is set
tough, like they always are in this bar. The operator must be some kind of
sadist, because he apparantly has a jones for steeeeep slopes, tight-ass tilts,
and wide lanes. HIs games smack you around, and then refuse to offer you a
match or a replay.
I'm just starting to think about how well it's going, and the flippers go dead.
I thought to myself, this must be that thing in all Stern games where the
flippers die and my big mode thing ends. I hate that.
But no, it's much worse. The game is blinking. Something on the DMD. The eyes
in Arnolds head. Some playfield lamps I think. Just blinking. Sadly, vacantly,
like a T-800 with it's CPU chip removed.
"The Storm" offers some consolation. "Hmm, must be a bug," says the storm.
"Well, you still have an extra ball."
Except, there would be no extra ball that day. After a few minutes of blinking,
I faced the music. I reached under that spot where I knew the button had to be.
I turned the game off and on. Upon the game's reset, there was a number
blinking. 118 million something, and that's as far as I got. The machine was
nice enough to remember the exact point when it had screwed me.
That's my story. If any Stern representatives are here, please paypal $1 into
my account, and $7 for emotional distress. I'll be willing to sign any kind of
waiver at that time.