Dr. Dude

[bounceback]

for those that are interested, here's my opinion on it (and there might be some safe strategies i don't know, so ask around.)

the two sets of shots that are worth any real boints are the reflex sequence (1-3 million i believe) and multiball. super dude is worth a shitload, so it's very important to advance the dude-o-meter. the game holds your dude level from game to game, player to player, until someone collects super dude, so it's possible to walk up to the game needing only one multiball for super dude, and get a much higher score than if you were starting from a lower level (having to get to multiball 5 times or so.)

on the game at slabtown there are a couple of differences from the other 2 dr. dudes i've played. biggest issue is the rubber on the post as you exit the left orbit (i.e. from the skill shot or balls that are fed here from the center.) there's a purple rubber sticking out to the orbit just enough to bump the ball away from your left flipper, where it's supposed to go, and SDTM instead. plan on always giving the game a slight nudge to get it to the right flipper instead. i noticed the same tendency coming out of magnetic personality, and i think there's a slight right lean on the game in general. use the same type of nudge as you leave magnetic personality-- just before the ball hits the curved lower edge of magnetic personality, nudge it off the wall and it will come down to your left flipper under control.

the flippers are strong enough that a lot of the time you can roll pass from the inlanes, which is somewhat inconsistent on my game. with the faster rebounds from the stronger flippers, you can also bouncepass/deadflip, something that's risky on my dude.

"safe" shots are the mixmaster and the excellent ray. the mixmaster is worth very little when not lit for multiball, but if you just need a few boints head to head you might be able to get them by looping the ramp (just a few thousand.) the excellent ray gives mystery awards which can add up. the game is consistently giving EBs as one of the first awards. you can also collect them by knocking down the right side drop targets a few times, and from a couple other things (can't remember, not part of my strategy.) i don't have this shot down, but one of the more lucrative shots in monoball would be to hit the right loop into the skill shot scoop repeatedly. top award is 100k, which can be timed, and i think the lowest award is 25k, which is more than most shots in the game. i.e. the 3 main personality shots (mag. pers., rock heart, and gift o gab) max at 50k i believe. so if you can lock down the right loop, you could grind your way to millions without major risk i guess. the gift of gab is another safe one, since it feeds to the right inlane, and is backhandable from the right flipper-- you could conceivably grind that 50k at a time backhand to glory.

the reflex sequence is lit by hitting ALL the reflex targets on the bank up the middle. seems dangerous but it's not that bad. pop bumpers can be lit for 10k per hit as a mystery award, so it's sometimes worth shooting up there. i usually go for this if i need specific boints. after a multiball, playfield can be lit for double scoring for the rest of the ball, so that's a good time to go for the reflex combo and get a couple million. when you're running 2X playfield, also consider shooting the right drop bank to light "molecular millions" on the mixmaster, since you'll get 2 mil instead of just one. those targets are drainy on some machines, but i had good luck with them at slabtown.

the 2 ball multiball is actually pretty tricky since there's no ball save and can be really disheartening-- there's no restart, and it's very easy to lose a ball before you even have a chance to collect a jackpot. jackpot take a number of switch hits in the mixmaster, so one shot up there can't guarantee you a jackpot, and with the weird bounces around the playfield, it's risky to take your eyes off the 2nd ball to focus on looping the center ramp. my strategy toward multiball is to focus on trapping a ball on my left flipper before anything else. sometimes if i get the ball coming down fast from the excellent ray and can roll pass it to the right before the 2nd ball comes down from the pop bumpers, i'll shoot the mix master, then control the 2nd ball. on a good multiball, i'll sometimes be able to get both balls going up the center ramp at the same time, and loop that shot for a while. money. but usually it's best to trap a ball on the left, then focus on controlling the other ball and starting to loop the mixmaster. if you end up with both balls on your left flipper i haven't figured out the best way to set up a pass for one ball to the right. i've tried flipping one ball backhand toward magnetic personality, then trying to post-pass to the right, cradle, and trap the other ball, but often on the slabtown game, balls from the mag. pers. end up bouncing to the right flipper. another way to go is to try to shoot the nearest ball for the gift of gab, hoping that the 2nd ball comes back to the left flipper instead of SDTM or out. if you lose a ball you have to work your way to the next dude level and start MB from scratch, but it happens often so you shouldn't feel bad losing a ball while trying to control it. frequently you'll do everything right and still not get many boints on the multiball. it's worth experimenting so that when you get to super dude you can maximize it.

as for my approach to advancing dudes-- focus on gift of gab and magnetic personality, since they're relatively safe. the dude at slabtown is spotting rock and roll heart when you shoot the mixmaster a few times if the other two are lit. i'm not sure if that's normal, but it works in your favor, so you don't have to shoot for rock heart. R&R heart is a drain shot. note that the mystery award is frequently spotting magnetic personality as an award, so it's totally possible to get two out of three traits spotted, and only need to hit the "safe" gift of gab to advance toward multiball.

that's basically where i'm at right now. hopefully someone will be able to make this work for them, and then i'll be able to come beat it... but we'll see.

[eric]

I've found that you can backhand the Gift of Gab on the Slabtown Dude pretty consistently. Trap the ball on the right flipper, let it roll just a little further than you would for a post pass and flip. It's fairly safe and repeatable.

Bounceback, how do you obtain the Gazillion? Is it automatically lit during the Super Dude multiball? What determines the Gazillion value?

[Ricochet]

Just wanted to let you guys know that Dr. Dude at Slabtown is an early prototype, so it might play or look a little different. For example it has a blue apron instead of the white one.

[DDT]

Re-read his post he told you. he just didnt use the word GAZILLION! Now be a super dude and let us play Cyclone.
Hi Ricochet ladies, we had a talk by the dude about pins being placed in bars I'm trying to get a hold of you or vice versa.

[bounceback]

sweet, i wondered about a few things on it and thought maybe those were just owner preferences. pretty cool, i have to say i like the stronger flippers, it makes the play a little faster and more fun. i like mine too, it's still a very challenging game, but i definitely appreciate the pace of the one at slabtown. i like the color choice on the flips as well.

glad to have you putting games around on site, and your contributions on the message board. did we meet in seattle possibly? or maybe i just heard tell of you from eric.

[ROM]