VP8 Bally SS Recreation Doctor Who (Bally, 1992) VP8 v4.1

Playfield Description and Basic Rules (we'll do this from left to right):

"Hang-On" target
shot at the left side of the game, just past the upper flipper - awards either the "Hang-On" or "Collision" bonuses, and depending on circumstances, "H" in "W-H-O" and/or a Sonic Boom. Scoring on Hang-On and Collision will be explained later.

REPAIR targets
set of six circular targets along the left side of the main area of the playfield. They can only be shot directly from the right flipper, and are more likely to be hit on a carom shot from some other flipper. Scoring on the Repair targets is a bit weird and will be explained later.

Bonus X shot
Just to the left of the Time Expander area, the shot wraps around the back of the Expander to the Jet Bumpers. A Bonus X is awarded for shooting the Jet Bumpers and NOT the "Bonus X shot", so this shot doesn't do anything in particular.

Time Expander
the big thing in the middle. There are three modes for the Expander:

* 1st - "Lock Mode" - the Expander has 2 locks, to the left and right of a circular target. Locking 2 balls leads to...
* 2nd - "Target Mode" also known as "Pinbot Mode" - there are 5 spherical targets, and a hit on them is registered by the red lights just below it. Completing all the lights leads to...
* 3rd - "Jackpot Mode" - there are 3 small gates with metal posts between them; each gate has a picture of a Dalek on it. Shooting balls through all 3 gates awards a Jackpot or Super Jackpot, depending on the situation.

"Hole"
(for lack of a better word) nothing big, just a hole between the Expander and the Transmat target with which you can shoot the Jet Bumpers with the upper flipper. This will award a Bonus X, so it's equivalent to shooting the "Bonus X shot".

Transmat target
when lit (by hitting the Jet Bumpers enough times), it will spot a Doctor and award points (usually somewhere near 1M, 75OK minimum). If not lit, just awards the points. Either way, it creates rather annoying flashing lights and sound. May also generate a Cow - more later.

Loop Ramp
aka "Cliffhanger Ramp" - shot by the upper flipper, it awards a loop (every 1O loops yields a Sonic Boom round), and increases the Playfield X by one value (from, say, 2X to 2.5X). If the Playfield X is at its maximum (4X), the Loop Ramp awards 25OK instead (yes, 25OK... times 4 it's a million). Also completes "W-H-O" when lit, and awards a Sonic Boom (also ending the Boom Round) if lit for that. At the end of the Loop Ramp is a diverter which sends the ball either back to the upper flipper or all the way to the lower left flipper.

Jet Bumpers
each hit increases the Transmat value by 5OK and awards some hokey and unimportant number of points. The ball can leave the Jet Bumpers through the "Hole" or it will enter the...

Police Box entryway
if lit (by completing "Escape"), will begin Video Mode. Also always spots a letter on Escape. Either way, the ball comes out through the Police Box to the right flipper.

Right Ramp
will award the letter "W" in W-H-O anytime when hit; this value, as is the value of the "H" and "O" shots (only lit after "W" is shot first), is the highest flashing value beneath the ramp (up to 3M). Will also award a Sonic Boom if lit.

ESCAPE targets
completing all six targets lights Video Mode at the Police Box entryway, and also the value just below the targets (up to 3M, also awards Special when lit). Escape gets one letter spotted when the entryway is shot.

Slingshots
yawn... well there are two of them, same as always.

Flippers
three, the normal two plus the upper flipper positioned at the bottom of the Hang-On target. Generally used to aim the ball, though beginners may tend to flail randomly...

Outlanes and Center Drain
the Drain is a lot larger than some games, though the only shots which result in a center drain are shots at the Time Expander and the REPAIR targets. The outlanes are also cruel - no kickback, no rubber posts. The inlane/outlane divider is also quite a bit lower (nearly halfway down the slingshot) than most games, which leads to even more outlane drains. More bad news: the flippers are high above the drain hole, so Death Saves are more difficult.

The Doctors, and more specific rules:
There are 7 Doctors, as one can plainly see from the backglass... quite conveniently, they are numbered 1-7. Each Doctor has the effect of changing the rules of one area of the Playfield, making a list of the rules all the more annoying and probably confusing.

First some general information about the Doctors... there are many ways to "spot" doctors throughout the game - one is awarded at the start of any ball, and can be spotted through the Transmat target or Video Mode. At the start of a ball (or when a ball has been locked), you get to choose the "current" doctor - his picture will flash on the backglass. When a doctor- spotting shot is made, the current doctor will become solidly lit (so his attributes are carried over for the rest of the game), and the "current" doctor becomes the previously unlit doctor directly to the left of the previous one.

There are 2 ways to spot all seven doctors - either go through them all one-by-one, or shoot the Emperor Daleks jackpot. Either way, all of them will be lit for the rest of the game, and you receive an additional bonus of 2OM, as well as a small animation, which plays even after a tilt! After all 7 doctors are spotted, they can be spotted a second (third, etc) time, and running through all 7 a second time awards another 2OM bonus. Also, each doctor spotted in the game (this count may be more than 7) is worth a 1M bonus at the end of the last ball (so don't tilt it!), and this bonus (unlike the regular bonus) is multiplied by the Playfield X.

It's best to go through all the Doctors one by one and describe what each does to the game.

Doctor #1
All Doc 1 does is award an extra letter to "Escape" on the lower right each time an Escape shot is made, either by shooting the targets directly or shooting into the Police Box Entryway. When shooting the Entryway, two Escape letters are spotted instead of just one (specifically the two highest, but who cares?), and when shooting the targets directly, the lowest letter is spotted, along with any you happened to get with the shot itself. Each time "Escape" is completed, it yields the highest flashing award just below the letters (which usually begins at 1M, some settings 5OOK), and advances the value to the next level. There probably is a timer, but if there is one, it is a very slow one. After awarding 3M on "Escape", the Special will be lit on the targets. Just shoot "Escape" one more time to claim the credit.

More importantly, completing "Escape" lights

VIDEO MODE

at the Police Box entryway. (big letter's cuz it's a big deal)

Video Mode is pretty simple - all you do is control the Doctor as he jumps over obstacles while running from a Dalek. One flipper for a short jump (will clear one small obstacle), both for a long jump (clears two small or one large obstacle). For most waves, you only have one life - if you trip on an obstacle, you are captured and VM ends (it must then be re-lit by "Escape"). On the first VM wave, however, some settings give you an additional life (you resume the wave where you stumbled). Completing "Escape" a second time does not award any additional lives, just points.

Jumping over obstacles awards 5OK per hazard, and after several jumps, the Doctor escapes to the Police Box (jumping into the Box awards a bonus 1M!), spotting an additional Doctor and awarding points for surviving (could be 1M?), avoiding obstacles (additional 1OO-2OOK per obstacle), and not dying (another 1M). The "not dying" bonus is only given if you completed the wave the first time through, so you never hit an obstacle. The total bonus per wave is somewhere near 6M (lower wave = lower value); it's a lot of points if you've got a Playfield X, which you should always get before shooting for Video Mode. Also, completing a wave (except for the final wave) re-lites Video Mode for the next wave.

In addition, there is a "Last Wave Bonus" for completing all the waves in a Video Mode set - there are 4 waves in the first set, 5 in the second, 6 in the third (7 in the 4th?). The Last Wave Bonus is exactly equivalent to the sum of the Wave Bonuses received in the previous waves, so it isn't affected by the Playfield X. The Last Wave Bonus for the first 4 waves (all 4 waves at 4x) has a maximum of 11OM.

A full Video Mode set, which is lit by a relatively simple shot, can be worth up to, oh say 3OO million or so, and in addition, you get all those extra Doctors spotted. Not bad for just jumpin' over stuff.

For those who are clueless, here's the patterns for the first four waves (and so, the first entire set of waves) of VM (S = short jump, L = long jump):

Wave 1: S S L L L L Wave 2: S L L S S S S Wave 3: S S S L L L S S S Wave 4: L L S S L S L L L

These patterns are only valid if the machine is on standard settings; on harder settings, VM waves are random.

An Extra Ball is almost always awarded as you jump over the last obstacle of Wave 2. However, this is self-adjusting (or operator-settable), and sometimes appears at the end of Wave 3. Check the Status Report for details...

Never forget to jump into the Police Box... points is points.

Quotes from Video Mode:

* "Whew, that was a close one." -end of Wave 1 if you died once, also happens every so often.
* "I don't mind the brisk pace, but a Dalek or two is an obstacle I can't face." -end of Wave 3; the wording for this quote is highly suspect.
* "WHERE IS THE DOCTOR?" "THE DOCTOR HAS ESCAPED..." zzzt... -as the Last Wave Bonus is awarded; if you've never seen this, an Emperor Dalek destroys the Supreme Dalek who let the Doctor get away through the first set of Video Mode waves. Should you get to the second set (even funnier): "WHERE IS THE DOCTOR?" zzztt!... the Supreme Dalek destroys the Emperor Dalek in self-defense.

Doctor #2
At first glance you might think Doctor 2 does absolutely nothing, and whatever he does it can't be worth that much. Bzzzt! Not true not true... Doc 2 does BOTH of the following (wow, both!):

-gives you extra time to shoot the "Hang-On" score to the left; at the outset, it takes pretty much an immediate shot to score it. Now you've got more time, and you might be able to take a second crack at it. Really, though, there isn't much extra time to shoot it.

-more importantly, Doc 2 doubles the score you do get from Hang-On.

WHAT score? Rarely can we even see the Hang-On getting scored, since there's some mumbo jumbo animation going on (usually the Air Sneaker flying around in the middle of W-H-O). Hang-On adds up pretty quickly even though we can't see it... it begins at 25OK for the first hit, and goes up an additional 25OK each additional hit. While shooting W-H-O numerous times, the Hang-On gets scored every time, and these points add up... I've seen Hang-On scored (at a 4X multiplier with Doc 2 lit) for nearly 4O million, not bad for a pretty simple straight-on shot. On later ROMs (L-1 etc.), the Hang-On has a maximum value of 2M (4M with the help of Doc 2), ending the possible super-high Hang-On score. The Hang-On value carries over throughout the game, so you can just keep racking up the score (until the maximum).

When Hang-On is not lit and you hit the target, you receive a "Collision" score, exactly equal to one-fifth the Hang-On score. I'm not sure if Doc 2 has an effect on the Collision score; it probably doesn't, so with Doc 2 lit, the Collision is worth one-tenth the Hang-On score. The Collision score begins at 2OK, and does not increase the Hang-On score. Since the Hang-On carries over, so does the Collision.

Doctor #3
Doctor #3 doesn't do very much... well sort of. Doc 3 gives more time to shoot each letter in W-H-O, and that's it. For some players this may mean absolutely nothing; they can shoot the W-H-O flat-out on the go. Sometimes having more time to shoot W-H-O can actually be annoying, because completing a W-H-O (by shooting the Loop Ramp) returns the ball to the left flipper and not the top one.

But in general, having Doc 3 lit is pretty good though not wonderful, and it's gives you much more time to shoot each letter of W-H-O, nearly 7-1O seconds per letter. This is especially important during a Sonic Boom round, since it lasts just as long as the W-H-O timer.

The rules for shooting W-H-O are pretty simple... each letter is worth the flashing value just below the Right Ramp, usually 2 or 3 million. Once W is shot on the right ramp, the points are awarded and H is lit at the Hang-On target. Shooting H scored the points again and lights the O at the Loop Ramp, and shooting W a second time (on later ROMs) scores the points again and resets the timer. Once H has been shot, a second shot at H (even though it isn't flashing) will award the points and reset the timer for the Loop Ramp. Completing the set of three advances the value of each letter and brings the ball back to the left flipper (expect for Sonic Boom circumstances, when it goes to the top flipper) for a shot at another W-H-O. A set number of them lights extra ball in the inlanes and outlanes... once the extra ball becomes lit, it can be collected immediately just by hitting the right flipper once (making the left inlane the lit target). The number of W-H-Os to light the extra ball is almost always 2, then it depends on settings: I've seen one where the 2nd EB was at 4 more W-H-Os, then 8 more, then 12, etc., and I've also seen one where the 2nd EB was at 6 more W-H-Os, then 1O more, then 14... the number is displayed while W-H-O is being shot.

But in general, the rules Doc 3 changes are very simple and easy to understand.

Doctor #4
On the other hand...

Doctor #4 affects the "Repair" targets, which is most certainly the most confusing part of the game. What we DO know is that Doc 4 spots an extra target on "Repair"... what the targets actually score, especially when they're all complete, is a problem. I think I finally figured it out:

-whether Doc 4 is lit or not, the first five targets lit on "Repair" are worth 1OOK, 25OK, 5OOK, 75OK, and 1M. If Doc 4 is lit, you'll get credit for at one hit per shot to "Repair", usually two. Once any Repair target is shot, it becomes solid, and all others will begin flashing. If you don't hit another after a few seconds, they flash faster then reset (like Stretch the Truth on Fish Tales).

-when "Repair" is complete (all six targets hit), each additional hit on "Repair" is worth 1M, with 5OK being added to this value at each hit - in other words, the second hit is 1,O5O,OOO, then 1,1OO,OOO, etc. Doc 4 has a different influence here: it doubles the score for each target, so they're 2M plus 1OOK/hit. With 4X, hitting one target is worth up to 8 million. Again, there's a limited time before the targets reset themselves.

Once "Repair" is completed, you'll see two numbers on the animation: below the word, you'll see what the next target hit will be worth. Above it, you'll see a second, larger number above the word "Repair" - this is the total number of points you've racked up by shooting Repair targets. It's especially nice to have Repair completed with Doc 4 lit during a multiball... with all the ball-bouncing going on, it's easy to hit the Repair targets for up to 8M (with Playfield X) apiece, and I've gotten the total Repair score at least all the way to 11O million. Really, then, even though Doc 4 looks like he doesn't do anything, he can be worth a lot.

However, you need to hit all six Repair targets before anything happens. This is extremely difficult without Doc 4's help, so it's usually not worth trying for until Doc 4 is lit.

That's about it... one more thing: my friend Steve would like to point out at this time that Doctor #4 has a pretty cool hat.

Doctor #5
Doc 5 is probably the least important of the seven; all it does (at least, all I can see that it does) is double how much each jet bumper is worth when the bumpers are hit. Originally, the Jet Bumpers each add 5OK to the value of the Transmat target, and Transmat is lit when the value reaches 75OK. While bumpers are being hit, a circle is filled in, pie-chart style, on the backglass... when Transmat is lit, this circle flashes instead.

With Doc 5 lit, each Jet Bumper is worth 1OOK for the Transmat; so you only need 8 hits to get the Transmat lit for another doctor.

Unlike previous reporting, Doc 5 doesn't affect the end-of-ball bonus, although any shot to the Jet Bumpers awards an additional bonus multiplier. The multiplier carries over ball-to-ball and can go quite high (almost 4Ox). I've seen the bonus as high as 6M, so with the multiplier that's quite a bit. Giving a tilt warning when the bonus animation is supposed to be displayed aborts the animation; I'm pretty sure it doesn't abort the bonus.

And that's all... the only other good thing about Doc 5 is that in Video Mode, his tie flaps while he runs...

Doctor #6
Probably the most important of all the Doctors, and his importance really depends on your individual playing ability. All Doc 6 does is spot an additional Playfield X for each time the Loop Ramp is shot, and also lengthen the amount of time that this multiplier stays lit. With Doc 6 lit, it takes only 3 shots to get the Playfield X at maximum (4X)... compare that to six shots under normal circumstances.

The Playfield X is crucial to producing high scores - for example, the highest-scoring shot in Who is the Triple Davros jackpot, worth 3OO million. With a 4X multiplier, it's 1.2 billion; just having the multiplier lit is worth 9OO million points! It takes a lot less work to get a replay if you can keep the Playfield X up high.

The behavior of the Loop Ramp diverter is a bit confusing at times - sometimes the ball is fed back to the upper flipper, and sometimes it goes all the way to the lower left flipper. Here are the rules for that:

-If the last loop made lights a Sonic Boom Round (i.e., 9, 19, etc.), then the ball is fed back to the upper flipper, regardless of whether the loop completed a W-H-O or not.

-If the Sonic Boom Round is shot -immediately- after it is lit (the shot for 1O, 2O loops etc. is made right after the previous loop shot), then the ball is fed to the lower flipper to shoot W-H-O for Sonic Booms (each worth 1OM). If the shot is not made immediately (i.e., you miss then shoot it later) then it follows the normal rules.

-When the Loop Ramp is shot during the Sonic Boom Round, it awards a Boom, immediately ends the Boom Round, and returns the ball to the upper flipper.

(note: this means that it's best to avoid shooting the Loop Ramp during a Boom Round until the W and H shots have been scored... so if the ball is sent to the upper flipper, it's a good idea to just let it fall.)

-Besides that, the Loop Ramp returns the ball to the bottom when it completes a W-H-O, and otherwise to the upper flipper for another ramp.

Pretty psychotic behavior, but oh well. When shooting the Loop Ramp, it might seem like you're getting a lot of points - that guy's always yelling "Million" at you once the Playfield X is at 4X. But one million on a game is pretty paltry when the replay's at 3OO million or more... so the point is to get the Sonic Booms. The series of shots (W-H-O, that is) is definitely worth mastering - in a Boom Round, they're usually worth a total of 12O million, and they also contribute to getting Extra Balls.

Doctor #7
Like it says when he gets selected, Doc 7 helps with multiball (or Multiball or Multi-Ball or Multi-ball or whatever). Actually that's not quite right, Doc 7 helps to get TO multiball. Here's how to get to Multiball:

-Start in Lock Mode. For the first multiball, the locks begin lit; for subsequent multiballs, you need to hit the target between the locks. If a ball is already in a lock (shot in by another player), the target also gives you credit for that lock. If another player's ball is in one lock, and you shoot the other, you get credit for your lock and the other player's ball is shot back out. If Doc 7 is lit, hitting the target also awards a Time Factor for Target Mode (more on that later).

Something to point out here is that any time a ball is shot out of a lock (or, with some ROMs, the lock target is shot), the Second Chance (ball save) is available for 2-3 seconds, even though it isn't flashing (it flashes at the start of a ball for 5-1O secs). The locks tend to kick balls right down the center drain, and it's a good idea to just let them go rather than flailing at them. Second Chance is also awarded the few times a successful ramp shot returns the ball to the outlane, a nice feature to avoid angry tilts.

Any lock you make is held over to the next ball, even if another player emptied the locks through multiball - in that case, there would only be one ball in the locks when the Expander raises to Target Mode (see below).

When a lock is registered, the backglas animation shows Doc 7 and his female partner Ace at two consoles (Ace at left). An appropriate sound effect plays depending on which of the two locks was made first.

Another note about Lock Mode: in a multi-player game, it can be very difficult to score locks if another player has put balls in them to start. The target between the locks is small, and hitting a ball into a hole where a ball is already locked has a good shot at a center drain with no Second Chance. So try to go first. :)

-Once two locks have been made (the backglass will show 2 "consoles"), the Time Expander raises to Target Mode, which looks remarkably like Pinbot. To finish Target Mode and start Multiball, each of the five circular targets must be hit 3 times - each hit brings down the "Time Expansion Factor" (which is announced each time it changes), and a flashing light below the target becomes solid. In the first multiball, hitting between two targets can register up to three hits, two for the target hit most solidly and one for the neighboring target. In subsequent multiballs, only one hit can be made on a target each time the Expander is hit.

Doc 7 has great importance here - anytime the set of targets is hit, Doc 7 spots an additional target, specifically the one that still needs the most hits. This makes Target Mode much easier... for example, without Doc 7, you'd have to hit one specific target once you get to Factor 1. But with Doc 7 lit, you can hit any target and spot the final unlit one.

Since Doc 7 has such an advantage in Target Mode, you should make sure he is lit when you get to this point. You can change the current Doctor when a ball is put in play - if Doc 7 is unlit before the start of Target Mode, make him the current doctor.

Should you happen to drain during Target Mode, the targets you hit are held over to the next ball. If another player gets multiball while you are in Target Mode, you remain there - when you begin multiball yourself, the other balls will come from the auto-plunger.

-Once Target Mode is completed, the Expander raises again to reveal three gates, each with a picture of a Dalek on it. The backglass shows which Dalek level multiball will start at for each gate shot - for the first multiball (with local settings - your mileage may vary), these gates are Supreme/Emperor/Supreme. In general, the middle gate is one level higher than the outer gates.

Multiball is worth a LOT of points, and it's very important to get a good Playfield X before starting multiball - after all, what good is a 45M jackpot when it could have been 18OM? So shoot for the Loop Ramp before shooting for the gates.

-Once a gate is shot, the Expander lowers to kick out any locked balls, then raises back to the Dalek gates - finally, multiball! The goal of multiball is to shoot a ball through each of the three gates, and accomplishing this awards a Jackpot. After scoring a Jackpot (until the Davros round), the Expander briefly lowers to Target Mode as the gates are reset, then raises again to set up the Daleks for the next Jackpot. There are several levels of Daleks... these are all I know, there are probably others at lower point values.

* (??) Bronze Daleks = 3OM
* Silver Daleks = 35M
* Gold Daleks = 4OM
* Supreme Daleks = 45M
* Emperor Daleks = 5OM

Some Jackpots will prompt the best quote in the game: "Dalek in the corner pocket."

Each level of Daleks will remain lit as long as a gate is shot within a time limit (about 1O-15 secs); it doesn't count if you shoot a gate that has already been hit. If no gate is shot (or if you drain from 3-ball to 2-ball multiball), the Dalek level will drop by one - Supreme Daleks will become Gold Daleks, for example. This is also true for Davros, and it's very annoying to have Davros change into a plain old Emperor Dalek.

On newer ROMs, the Status Report tells you how many Jackpots you need to reach the Davros round - you'll see "3-ball Daleks at xxM - x more for Davros" and the same for 2-ball Daleks. It always takes one more 2-ball Jackpot than 3-ball. Initially, it takes 2 Jackpots with 3-ball multiball, and 3 Jackpots with 2 balls. Shooting the center gate at the start of multiball reduces these numbers by one automatically. (Confusing?) Just remember that 2-ball multiball is one level lower than 3-ball, and the levels get higher as you score Jackpots.

Scoring a Jackpot on Emperor Daleks lights all 7 doctors and sets up the Davros Super Jackpot - this means it takes one fewer Jackpot to get to Davros if you shoot the center gate at the beginning. After the Emperor Daleks are finished, the Expander lowers back to Target Mode, as Davros announces "Let's see if you can break my personal force field, Doctor"... as before, each target must be hit, but this time only one hit is required. Also, Doc 7 will NOT help - you need to hit each target in earnest. Once all 5 targets are hit, the gates come up again, and shooting all three within the time scores 1OOM! If you can do this, it's a big feat...

After collecting Davros, the "Double Davros" round begins; it's exactly similar to the original Davros round, only TWO hits are required on the Expander targets to bring up the gates. Double Davros Jackpot is 2OOM! And Triple Davros, where 3 hits are required on the targets, is worth (good guess) 3OO million, not bad. Not bad at all. There is no "Quadruple Davros" - the Triple Davros repeats itself. In all 3 Davros rounds, taking too much time to shoot the gates, or having a third ball drain results in Davros changing into Emperor Daleks.

So the Jackpots sure can add up - going from Supreme Daleks to just single Davros is worth 195M, almost 8OO million with the Playfield X. In addition, the next multiball (unless you scored a Davros) will pick up where you left off - if you ended the first multiball with Davros lit, the next one begins with Davros lit at all three gates! Tough to miss that shot...

Something else to point out - if you are unable to score any Jackpot during the multiball, you have the possibility of re-locking the balls to restart multiball. If no Jackpot is scored, the Expander goes back to Lock Mode, and Re-Lock is lit for 15 secs (2O if Doc 7 is lit). In addition, an extra 1O secs is given for shooting the target between the locks, or for locking the first ball. If no ball is locked within the time, then the game continues in single-ball play. If only one ball is locked, a second ball is auto-plunged immediately. If this drains, the other ball kicks out for single- ball play again. If you can't lock the ball in time (and there's plenty of time), the other ball is kicked out for a 2-ball multiball, and the Dalek level picks up where you left off at the end of the original multiball. If both are locked, 3-ball multiball restarts. In either case, multiball restarts immediately; no targets or gates to shoot. Of course, remember to jack up the Playfield X before starting multiball.

A final word about multiball - the Davros Jackpot is VERY difficult to score (since the Expander targets are good drain shots), and actually, the normal Dalek Jackpots aren't all that hard to get. So unless you think you can get more than one Davros, it may be better NOT to shoot for the center gate at first, and to get as many Dalek Jackpots as possible... that's what I've had the most success doing, and my best game (2.4B) had no Davros Jackpot.

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