Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball

========
Newsgroups: rec.games.pinball
Subject: No Fear Rulesheet 2.0
From: [email protected] (Joseph W. DeVincentis)
Date: 25 Jan 1996 02:33:14 GMT

OK, this should pretty much be the finished version of the rule sheet.
There are still some areas that could use some more work (quotes,
tournament rules, etc.) but the basic rules as used in the typical
game on location are pretty much finished.

Rule sheet for No Fear (Wms, 1995) (version 2.0)
================================================

Introduction:

I think I have gotten most of the rules on here complete now, so I'm
going to call this version 2.0. Adrian Donati wrote version 1.0 of this
rule sheet, and in a few places the "me" in play experiences still refers
to him. Since then I have made a lot of additions with a lot of help from
various people.

Distribution and Copyright:

[This was from Adrian's version 1.0. I agree with Adrian that I'd like to
see this distributed freely, as long as it is not for profit.]

It has been suggested to me that I retain copyright on this sheet. However,
I do not know of the legal standpoint here of whether I could even do that.
Whatever the case, I am quite happy for this to be a freely distributable
sheet as long as:

1: It is not done for profit or financial gain.
2: It is distributed in its original form (specifically including any/all
acknowledgements).

It must also be remembered that the subject material of this document
(ie the 'No Fear' pinball game) is copyright to Williams Electronic
Games Inc.

Current Maintainer:
-------------------
Joseph DeVincentis (me) [email protected]

Original Author:
----------------
Adrian Donati [email protected] (address no longer active)

Other Contributors and Acknowledgements:
----------------------------------------
Cameron Silver [email protected]
Mark Divitini [email protected]
Bowen Kerins [email protected]
Philip Lindsay [email protected]
Brad Sagarin [email protected]
Mark Phaedrus [email protected]
Keith Johnson [email protected]
Matt Coriale [email protected]
Michael Burke [email protected]
Russel Willoughby [email protected]
Bryan Henson [email protected]
James Furdell [email protected]
Rob Chesnavich [email protected]
John Brothers [email protected]

All corrections/contributions/suggestions etc should be sent to me,
and I will add them as appropriate. However, please remember that
modern pinballs have settings which can be adjusted dynamically
by the control software so one persons local game may well play
a bit differently to another. Where possible, I will try to list the
range in which such settings can fall.

Abbreviations used here:
T2 Terminator 2
BK2K Black Knight 2000
Getaway High Speed 2: The Getaway
DM Demolition Man
MYM Meet Your Maker, the final 'wizard mode' in No Fear.
MK3 Mortal Kombat 3, a video game made by Williams.

Non-pinball related abbreviations:
BTW By the way

What's New in this Version:
- Rob Chesnavich did a lot of glass-off work to help in these areas:
track awards, summit awards, climber awards, challenges, extra
sounds in sound tests, 100B+ scores, limits on jumps etc.

- Added end-of-ball bonus.
- More complete description of the 3-D glasses thing, and the buyin
button bonus during air challenge.

- I still want quotes from water challenge ("insane", etc.) and for
drains (with and without autofire).

Overview
^^^^^^^^

The theme of the game, as suggested by the artwork, audio track,
modes etc., is dangerous sports (it also says it at the bottom
of the backglass which is the real pointer :) . My first impression
was that it had a lot in common with The Getaway but there are
similarities with T2, Demo-Man and others. Play is fairly fast with
a big emphasis on loops and ramps and not much else.

Playfield Layout
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As is the convention these days, I'll start at the left flipper and go
clockwise around playfield. This should be pretty simple since the centre
is one of the most open I've seen in a long time; reserved mainly for lights.

Flippers and slingshots retain a traditional configuration with the flippers
being of standard (ie not 'mutant pygmy' variety) length, and the slingshots
being the common triangular type. Plunger is the common large button
auto-plunger used on many games today.

Left Inlane
Fed from the left habitrail and can be lit for Hurry Up at the
right orbit.

Left Outlane
A popular place for balls to drain although there is a Kickback.
The In/Outlane arrangement is exactly like Getaway. It can be
lit for Jump This.

Tube Saucer
A short, curved lane feeds to a saucer. As with most of the
shots, it has a variety of functions (see later) and it awards a
random award when nothing else is lit there. This is just like
the Database saucer in T2 - you are even told to "get out" when it
is not lit (which is mainly during certain challenges).

Screamer Orbit
Left orbit with a spinner just at the beginning of it which loops
around the back of the playfield and feeds to the right flipper
(just like Getaway). This can be lit for Raceway and Super Spin
and also collects a Hurry Up.

Jumps Ramp
Left ramp feeds up into the Jumps Loop. Can be lit for Hill Climb,
Win, Left Turn and Super Cross. Collect Super Jackpot here.

This ramp has a neat little feature too: When a shot makes it up
the ramp, it only need get about half way (ie just past the gate) and
then a magnet grabs it and slings it the rest. If you imagine the
Supercharger on Getaway you'd be pretty close. This means that
even a weak flipper should be able to make the Jumps Loop. Of
course, there is the possibility that the magnet fails, in which case
the ball rolls back and feeds via the left habitrail to the left
inlane.
Also, these magnets (there are actually 3 of them in a row) can
be used to stop the ball then feed it to the left inlane in
certain circustances.

Jumps Loop
As noted, this is a lot like the Supercharger on Getaway. It sits
over some of the regular playfield shots (but does not significantly
obscure anything) and is basically a circular ramp with a flipper
located on the right about halfway up the cabinet. When you finally
miss a loop the ball will either drop out of the loop near to
Skull, or feed to the right inlane.

Because of the way the flipper is located, and the way it's above
everything else, this loop also feels a bit like the loop on Black
Knight 2000. (But in No Fear it's the left orbit that lights
extra ball after repeated shots; the jumps maiinly just score
points.)

Skydive Drop Target
Simple drop target which blocks the entrance to the Skydive
lane. Shooting this target lights lock at Skydive and Skull
(see multiball section). The target drops automatically when
the ball is plunged as the plunger lane is aimed at Skydive,
and when you start Air Challenge. The "drop target in front of
a short lane" is reminiscent of T2's skull shot, but in No Fear
the Skull is over a different shot, and the lane is longer.

Skydive Lane
Short lane with a scoop at the end. One of the major shots used
by the challenges, and can also be lit for Jackpot and Lock.
When a ball is plunged, the skydive drop target drops temporarily
(if it was up) and the lock/jackpot is temporarily turned off (if
it was on) and the ball (usually) goes into the skydive scoop.
When the ball goes in here, it is returned at the right inlane.

Track Orbit (left)
Left side of Skull and orbits around the back of his head to exit
via the right Track orbit which is aimed at the left flipper. Apart
from the Track arrow light, there are three Steering Wheel lights
(1st, 2nd & 3rd) in front of this shot. The two sides of the track
orbit count as the same shot. The track orbit is somewhat like
the U-turn on BK2K, although it is in a different location -- both
are short, tight orbits.

Skull
The only real gimmick on this game, and even then it is only a
plastic skull with a hinged jaw which sits above a scoop and
talks to you. Other than the talking, the actual skull serves no
purpose so if it breaks, game play will not be affected.

Skull's jaw is one of the few things obscured (from the usual
player's position) by the jump ramp; some players might never
notice it moves unless they look for it, and reportedly it often
breaks, though I have yet to see a broken one.

Just below Skull's jawbone is a scoop which can be lit for Ball
Lock, Jackpot, Extra Ball and Start Challenge.

When the ball goes in here, it is returned at the right inlane.

Track Orbit (right)
The other side of Skull. A ball entering the orbit this side flies
around the back of Skull and exits on the left which is aimed at
the right flipper. The only light in front of this shot is a Track
arrow.

Hairpin Ramp
A shallow ramp to the right of the Track orbit which feeds to the
right inlane via a habitrail. Can be lit for Down Hill, Win, Right
Turn and Super Cross Start. This ramp and the jump ramp are
reminiscent of the 2 ramps in T2, and you can even start Payback
Time by repeated alternating shots on the two ramps.

Summit Orbit
To the right of the Hairpin ramp, this is the other end of the
Screamer orbit. A ball entering here orbits around the back of the
playfield and exits at Screamer heading for the left flipper. Can be
lit for a Hurry Up. There are some awards that can be given for
hitting this loop, including super spinner and light video mode.

Cliff Standups
A couple of targets located just above the entrance gate from the
plunger lane. Shoot these to light the Kickback, and advance meters
towards "Jump This."

Right Inlane
Reverse version of the left inlane which can be lit to start Hurry
Up, and always lights the Raceway on the left orbit. Balls from
the skull and skydive shots are returned to play here, and a spare
ball is usually held here to help speed things up.

Right Outlane
Nothing particularly special about this one either except that the
post positioning could make it either quite nasty or quite nice
depending upon the setting. This can be lit for Jump This. As with
the left, there is no rubber at the top of the In/Outlane divider.

+---------------------------+
| Gameplay and Features |
+---------------------------+

Startup/Skill Shot
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

As is the norm these days, No Fear is a mode based game. These modes are
called Challenges (see later) and basically have some adrenalin-pumping
sport associated with them. As a general rule of thumb, shoot the flashing
arrow should be a fairly effective strategy, but I'll discuss strategies
later.

Starting a game is just like ST:TNG; one of five features will be started
when you fire the old silver sphere. These are:
Start Challenge
Super Cross Level
Advance Raceway
Ball Lock
Flipper Skill Shot
They automatically cycle but can be speeded up by the flippers. To
score the Skill Shot, you have to make the Jump Ramp for 50M.

There are a couple of things to note here: Firstly, when you have an EB
and the game is going through its 'Shoot Again' animation, it is still
cycling the plunger options so that if (like me) you watch the animation
then plunge, you are probably going to get Super Cross Level and not
Start Challenge which can be really annoying. According to Matt Coriale,
this is fixed in the latest ROMs.

Secondly, Start Challenge is not available if either Lock 3 is lit
(i.e. start Multiball) or if the next challenge is one of the last three.
Furthermore, Lock Ball is not lit if it would be the third ball locked.

In very early ROMs, the Skill Shot choices start with 'Start Challenge'
even if it is not supposed to be offered, but when it starts cycling
through the choices, it never returns to it. If you choose it when it
is not supposed to be lit, you may not get it, anyway.

Minor Challenges
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There are 8 challenges which I'll break down into 5 minor, 2 major and a
Final Challenge. The general principle behind each one is that it is a
timed mode in which you have to shoot the flashing arrows. Usually, one
of the shots has a special function. They can all be started via the
plunger Start Challenge option or by shooting the Skull scoop when lit.
Note that the scoop is always lit when you are not playing a Challenge,
unless the third lock is lit there instead (starting Multiball) or if
you need to spell "No Fear" to light it (see "Major Challenges").

The minor challenges are as follows:

Note that where you see C: & S: below, these are quotes from the
commentator and Skull (Bone Head).

Dirt Challenge
--------------

C: Welcome to off road racing.
Wha' d'you say BoneHead?
S: Shoot the ramps to score big.

This is a 30 sec mode during which you shoot the ramps for points.
Value starts at 5M per ramp and every shot (ramps, loops, etc.)
advances that by 5M to a max of 20M, although only the ramps award
the points.
There's a nice animation of a truck crashing through a gate when
you hit a ramp; the gate is labeled "Checkpoint XX" before the
truck hits it, where XX is the number of ramps hit in this mode
so far. The jump loop counts as a ramp in this mode, *and* also
gives the usual 5/10/15/20/25M scoring for jumps.
Rob Chesnavich pushed this mode past 100 checkpoints with the
glass off, and there seemed to be no limit.

Asphalt Challenge
-----------------

C: Welcome to Nascar Racing with Robbie Gordon.
Tell 'em how to do it BoneHead.
S: Shoot the track to win the race.

Shoot the Track arrows to orbit Skull, or shoot the Skull scoop
itself and score 50M, 75M and 100M. Mode ends after three orbits
have been made, or the timer runs out (30sec?). During this round,
the normal Steering Wheel awards are not advanced; the lights for
Steering Wheel are used to indicate how many shots you have made in
this mode. If you shoot the jump ramp in this mode, the magnets
divert the ball to the left flipper. If Skull isn't too busy saying
something else, he says "Second place is the first loser!" after
the second shot.

Water Challenge
---------------

C: Water Skiing with Sammy Duvall.
Skull?
S: Shoot the tube for more time and bigger points.

This is a lot like Time Rift from Star Trek TNG.
Timer starts at 30/25/20(?) secs and counts down. Shoot the flashing
arrows for points, and shoot the Tube saucer to increase the amount
of time left and the amount the lit shots are worth. Mode ends when
the timer runs out.

Initially, the shots are worth 10M with each shot to the Tube adding
5M to each shot and 10 seconds to the timer, but the timer will never
exceed 30 seconds, and once you have maxed out the shots at 30M, you
cannot add more time, either.

When the time is running out, the commentator yells at you to shoot
the tube.

There are some great quotes when you hit shots in this mode
(like "This guy's insane", "He's nuts", etc.) but I don't have
a list of them.

Snow Challenge
--------------

C: It's extreme skiing with Glenn Plake.
How about it BoneHead?
S: Shoot the Downhill to win.

A 30 sec timer starts and you have to shoot the Down Hill to end
the mode. During this mode, a shot to the Jumps Ramp will be
stopped by the magnets and fed to the left habitrail so you are
set up for the Hairpin Ramp. The Jump ramp and the Summit each
score 10M and add 10M to the value of the Hairpin ramp which is
initially 50M and maxes out at 100M.

Air Challenge
-------------

C: It's a beautiful day for skydiving.
Tell 'em how to do it BoneHead.
S: Shoot the Skydive
Diver: Wait a minute! I've never done this before! How do I do it?
Where's-the-rip-cord? I-wanna-go-back! [something else spoken
really fast]
S: Shut up and JUMP!

Drop target at the entrance to Skydive lock is lowered and a
countdown from 25M starts, it stops at 10M if you haven't hit
the skydive by that time. Shoot Skydive to freeze the countdown
after which the arrows are lit for that amount. You have 30 secs
in which to make all the shots and collect 75M for doing so.
The shots are: Tube, Left Orbit, Jump Ramp, Skydive, Track Orbit
(the two sides count as only one shot), Skull, Hairpin Ramp, and
Right Orbit.

This is just like Asteroid Threat on ST:TNG.

Also read the "Easter Eggs" section for info about this mode.

Note that these challenges can be played in any order. Whenever Start
Challenge is lit, the next one to be played is indicated by the lights in
the center of the playfield just above the flippers. The slingshots change
the lit mode. Another point to note is that the timers for the modes are
stopped if no switches are closed within a certain time which prevents you
from trapping a ball and letting the Challenge time out.

An interesting point about the quotes for the modes is that they are not
entirely fixed. The first line the commentator says is always the same,
as is the response from skull. However, the second line the commentator
says which asks Skull to tell you how to do it is a random selection
from a list. See the section on quotes for more info.

Major Challenges
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The major challenges follow a similar pattern, but you need to spell No Fear
before Start Challenge will light to start the second one. There are two of
them as follows:

No Limits
---------

S: No Limits. Everything is lit.
C: Add a million for every shot you make.

This is a 3 ball multiball with a 15 second ball saver.
All major shots are lit for 20M and each one collected adds 1M to
the amount they are worth. Unlike the name implies, the mode does
in fact max out, at 70M per shot. It ends when less than two balls
are in play.

Fear Fest
---------

S: Welcome to the Fear Fest.
C: Good Luck!
S: You don't need luck if you're good.

Another 3 ball multiball where the objective is to shoot Skull or
Skydive for the Fear Fest Jackpot. The value of this starts at 80M
and each major shot adds 20M to this value. Once it has been
collected, Jackpot resets to 20M and 4 major shots are needed
to relight it making the second jackpot start at 100M (20M plus
20M each for the 4 major shots). This one has a 25 second ball
saver. There's no apparent limit to the size of the jackpot.

Mark Phaedrus comments that this is similar to cryoprison multiball
in Demolition Man.

Note that Fear Fest is not immediately lit after No Limits
completes. Instead, you have to complete 'No Fear' by shooting
the various loops/ramps to light it and then shoot Skull to
start.

And of course, there is the Final Challenge:

Meet Your Maker
---------------

S: "It's time to Meet Your Maker! And I'm driving!"
C: "Thanks, skull-boy, I'm outta here!"

This is a four ball multiball in which all switches are worth
250k. 50M jackpot is lit at Skull, 200M jackpot is lit for Jump
Loops, EB is lit, Super Spinner is lit, Hurry up is lit, raceway
orbit is maxed out at 25M, 20 sec ball saver and so on.
Basically, everything is lit ...:)
Payback Time is not started, but the first two supercross levels
are completed, so you only need to shoot each ramp once to start it.

The 200M jackpot *stays* lit during MYM, so if you catch some balls
on the left flipper, and shoot jump loops with the right flippers
with one other ball, you can really rack up some points.

This mode ends when less than 2 balls are in play and (like Fear
Test) you need to spell 'No Fear' to light Start Challenge to get
into this mode.

The first time you hit the Skull or Skydive after this mode ends,
a new ball will be plunged, because the ball that is usually
stored in the feed to the right inlane is used as one of the
4 balls in this mode.

Other Game Features
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There are numerous other play features which are not specifically tied into
modes as such and these are listed below in no particular order:

Super Cross Ramps
Shoot alternate Jumps/Hairpin ramps to start Payback Time.
Shooting them as a combo (one right after the other) scores
15M, and if the combo is right ramp followed by jump ramp,
the magnets will grab the ball for you to keep going.
Lights on the playfield in front of each ramp mark your
progress; you need 3 shots on each ramp, alternating, to
start Payback Time.

Payback Time
All the major shots are lit for 25M for 25 seconds.

Tube Shot
Shoot the Tube saucer to collect a random award. These include:

Advance Raceway (just like a single shot of left orbit. If you
need more than one orbit, this just helps you get there)
Autofire (30 sec ball saver)
Extra Ball
Kickback Lit
Light Extra Ball
Light Return Lanes
Lock Awarded
Lock Lit
MK3 Hint (*)
Multiball
Over-The-Edge
Start Challenge (if you have it lit, even on the last 3 modes,
you can get Start Challenge)
Start Hurry Up
Summit Award
Supercross Level (like a l/r or r/l ramp shot)
Video Mode start
20 Million
200 Meters

(*) According to Matt Coriale, this *is* awarded, very rarely.
In some roms (the first ones to have the dice-rolling match
sequence) this was replaced with "All of the above" but it was
switched back due to it being too good when it was awarded, and
conflicts between some things starting at the same time. Some
people were doubting that it was ever awarded, because they
didn't know anybody who had ever seen it awarded.

Summit Loop
A build up counter which awards certain things at various points
(just like the left ramp on ST:TNG). Consecutive shots may be
required to get some of these, and these are only awarded while
you are not playing a challenge or multiball.
Awards: 5 Million
Light Video Mode
Super Spinner
10 Million
(10 Million for each shot thereafter)
This list is reset at the start of each ball.

Raceway
This is exactly like the Freeway on Getaway. Five consecutive
shots are worth 5M, 10M, 15M, 20M, and light Extra Ball at Skull.
After EB is lit, subsequent Raceways are worth 25M each.

You can only light one extra ball this way per ball.
Also, it requires more hits while lit to advance to the next
Raceway value each time you complete this by lighting the extra
ball; the 2nd extra ball requires 2 loops while lit to advance
each level, the 3rd requires 3 loops, etc. I haven't heard of
anybody getting more than 3 EB's in a game this way.

Raceway value starts at 10M, 15M or 20M on each ball (this is
reflexed to try to meet the extra ball percentage the game is
set for) until you get the first EB; afterward it always resets
at 5M between balls.

Climber Award
By hitting the cliff standups, you can be awarded 100 meters towards
a climber award for each two hits. You can hit the same target twice
or hit each target once to get the 100 meters. Some other things may
also award meters -- one of the Tube awards is 200 meters. You need
400 meters to climb the first mountain. Climbing a mountain is worth
30M points and lights Jump This in an outlane, and you start over
at the bottom of the next mountain, which is 500 meters higher (so
the second is 900 meters, the third 1400, increasing until the 9th
mountain; it and all subsequent mountains are 4000 meters). Note
that the "meters" used in calculating the end-of-ball bonus is a
cumulative total of all your meters over the game, not just where
you are on the current mountain. Jump This doesn't stack; if it's
already lit when you complete a mountain, you just get 30M.

Jump This
A feature that is lit at the outlanes via the Climber Award.
When collected, a new ball is launched, and the left ramp
and Jump loops are lit for 30M each during a 30 sec timer.
Note that this is effectively a ballsaver for any outlane
drains; if the ball is saved anyway (as with the kickback)
then this is a 2-ball multiball.

Note also, that nothing else in the game runs during JUMP THIS!

Over The Edge
Two ball Multiball in which Jump Ramp and Hairpin are worth
a base 25M with an additional 10M for each ramp made, but maxes
out at 75M per shot. This can be worth a huge number of points
and is started by making 1st place for the third time (see below),
or from a random Tube award. This seems to be awarded fairly
often from the Tube. The magnets divert Jump Ramp shots to the
flipper, so you can't shoot jump loops to really rack up the score.

1st, 2nd, 3rd Place
As noted in the playfield description, there are three steering
wheel lights below the left Track Orbit - these denote your
place in the race (what race I don't know).

Initially, none are lit. Shooting the Track Orbit will advance
your placing and award the following:

3rd Place 15M
2nd Place 25M
1st Place: different awards each time:
1: Light Return Lanes for Hurry Up
2: Light Extra Ball
3: Over The Edge
4: 30 Million Points
5: Light Return Lanes
6,7,8: 40 Million
9: Light Return Lanes
10,11,12: 50 Million
13: Light Return Lanes
14,15,16: 60 Million
17: Light Return Lanes
18,19: 70 Million
20: 100 Million

Rob Chesnavich did some work with the glass off to come up with
this list. This mostly agrees with everything I have heard except
that some people say it keeps giving 30M. This may be a harder
setting. BTW, after the 20th first-place award, the track orbit
shuts down, and stays at 3rd place for the rest of the game.

Video Mode
I'm not a big fan of video modes on pinballs, and this one has
done nothing to improve that feeling. It is a pretty lame one
which has a motorcyclist travelling along a track and steered
via the flippers. Along the track are various jumps with a point
value above them; use the jumps to steer the motorbike through
the points to collect them (they change shade/colour if you have
hit them). There is a 25M bonus for completing the course.

When you start video mode, you are told which track you are
on including: Daytona, Anaheim & Silverstone. the reason for the
different tracks is to make it harder to learn the patterns for
the VM.

End of Ball Bonus
At the end of each ball, you get a bonus that depends on features
completed throughout the game, as in BK2K. The bonus is:
5M for each jump loop (max 200)
10M for each challenge started (no limit?)
1M for each 100 meters climbed (no limit?)

Multiball
^^^^^^^^^

Possibly one of the better scoring possibilities in this game is the
regular Multiball. This is a three ball job which starts as soon as
the third ball lock shot is made.

To light lock, you have to shoot the Skydive drop target once, and
then shoot either Skydive, or Skull to lock the ball. Ball Lock is also
an option when you start a new ball at the plunger - this automatically
lowers the drop target and fires the ball into Skydive.

Upon locking the third ball, the display shows an animation of a number
of motorcycles taking off from the starting grid in a race and then
three balls are pumped into play. The objective is to score jackpots
which are lit and collected in the following order:

Skull scoop: 50M
Skydive scoop: 100M
Jump Loop: 200M

Repeat until less than 2 balls are in play. You may be able to get credit
for the Jump Loop by sending 2 balls up the jump ramp in quick succession.
On some machines this may even be possible outside of multiball.

Jump loops also score 25M (instead of the usual 5/10/15...) when not
giving the super jackpot 200M.

If you manage to get down to 1 ball without even hitting the Skull for
the first jackpot, there's a 'Last Chance' -- all jackpots are lit
for 10 to 20 seconds (varies between different machines). In my
experience, each one stays lit until the timer runs out or until you hit
it once. Other people have reported having all the jackpots go out when
you hit one (so the obvious strategy is to shoot the jump for the super
jackpot).

Subsequent multiballs perform the same way, but are somewhat harder to
start. The second time around, you have to hit the drop target to light
lock for each ball, and third time the same applies but now you can
only lock in the Skydive hole.

When the third lock is lit, you cannot start Challenges (the skull starts
Multiball instead). If you start Multiball during a Challenge, the
Challenge and its timer stops, and continues when Multiball is over.

Playing Strategies
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I'm open to suggestions here. I find the best bet is to Start Challenge
with each ball, and make a special effort to rape the Raceway for EB's.
Doing this, multiball seems to just happen naturally and I can (rarely)
get a decent score. The major challenges are worth a lot of points.

An alternative is to always choose supercross level, so you are guaranteed
to get payback time, but I find payback time easy enough to get anyway.

If in doubt, the old favourite 'Shoot the flashing arrow' should work
pretty well, and there is probably something to be said for the Flipper
Skill Shot if you know you can hit that ramp.

Another effective strategy during multiball(s) is to trap a ball on the
left flipper, and rape the left ramp/Jump This loop. The Jump loop
may be good in general, since each jump adds 5M to your bonus for every
ball for the rest of the game. Outside of multiball, each jump scores
at least 5M, with 5/10/15/20/25M for consecutive jumps (max of 25M).
During multiball, jumps are always worth 25M.

There's also the Payback Time during Multiball strategy, as with T2.
Matt Coriale suggests trying to get Payback Time and Over The Edge
running together.

Quotes
^^^^^^

No Fear is a very talkative game. In most cases the quotes are easy
to understand and very useful.

The dialogue is basically done as a commentary between two observers of
various sports; Skull (or BoneHead) and another commentator, and blends
in with the game extremely well. Congrats to the programming team on a
job extremely well done (IMHO at least :) The voice for the skull is
apparently done by Steve Ritchie himself.

At the start of a ball:
Skull: Prepare for the ride of your life.
Player [n] step up.

During Snow Challenge:
Skull: Shoot the Downhill

[This is pretty incessant - bit like 'Shoot the Transporter'!]

After shooting jumps and/or outer loops:
Skull: Amazing!
/Commentator: Righteous!
Outstanding!
Faster!
Smokin'!
Do it again!

[Skull has an annoying tendency to say "Do it again!" after you've just
made the last outer loop needed to light extra ball, before he gets
around to telling you the extra ball is lit.]

After shooting roughly 6 or more consecutive jumps:
Skull: Aaaaaagggghhhhhhhh!!!!
Obviously, you have _No_ _Fear_.
[The scream also is used at the start of Meet Your Maker.]
[Thanks to Russel Willoughby for this spelling of the scream. :-) ]

As appropriate:
S/C: Jackpot!
Skull: Extra Ball is lit.
Skull: Extra Ballllllll!

After lighting 2nd place on the steering wheel award, or after hitting
the second shot in Asphalt mode:
Skull: Second Place is the First Loser!
Skull: Go for the Win!
I've also heard this during asphalt mode:
Commentator: He's going for a new world record!

During the buy-in timer, if your score is second place on a high score list
Skull: Second Place is the First Loser!

During Jump This:
Crowd: Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! ...

After tilting:
Skull: It's only pinball!
Skull: No way! (in BK2K voice, Steve Ritchie either way :-)
Skull: Get a spine!

After losing the ball (mainly on outlane drains, when there is more time):
Skull: Crash and burn.
[others]

After losing the ball when autofire gives it back:
Skull: Play better!
[others]

When pressing flipper buttons in attract mode:
Skull: Hey bucko!
Skull: Hey!
Skull: Don't be a spectator!

In multiplayer games, when one player's score passes another (if it's not
too busy saying other stuff):
Commentator: There's a new leader, and it's player two!
Commentator: Player three has moved into second place.

In the sound test, but not apparent in the game:
"I thought we were pals."
(I'd imagine this has something to do with shooting the
skull, as this is what Rudy says in Funhouse sometimes when
the ball hits him in the jaw.)
"Water!"
"Air!"
"Snow!"
These are spoken very loudly, with an echo. Weird.

Technical Notes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hardware:

The cabinet for No Fear is of standard width with nothing out of the
ordinary attached. There is a regular flipper button on either side,
the Start and EB buyin buttons at the front on the left, and the
plunger button at the front on the right. Power switch (for those who
really care) is located in the usual spot under the cabinet on the right.
Four balls are installed.

The hardware is really pretty basic; a few habitrails, ramps, lanes and
a distinct lack of flash gadgets which might cause potential problems and
I noticed that the inlanes were back to good old rollovers as
opposed to proximity switches. Also worth noting is that the Tube saucer
is very solid and invariably retains balls that land in it (unlike
Start Mode on Indy!)

Of interest, if little value, is that the Cliff Standups are apparently
mounted upside down. Also, there are no pop bumpers!

It seems No Fear keeps track of 100B+ scores, but does not display the
hundred-billions. Rob Chesnavich says after reaching 100B, the score
display showed leading zeroes (i.e., 00,123,456,780)

There is only one item whose failure might affect the game, and that is
the trio of magnets incorporated into the Jumps Loop. They are used
to help the ball up the ramp, or stop it as appropriate, and to keep it
going around the Jumps Loop. If they die, a major feature will be lost
although I doubt that it would be disasterous to play. See below in
"Magnet Problems".

Magnet problems:

Some people have reported that on early No Fears the magnets were too
strong, heat from the coils would eventually melt the plastic of the
ramp above it. Later roms fixed this.

A problem with the magnets has developed on some No Fear machines commonly
referred to as the Infinite Loop bug. When the magnets are trying to pull
the ball up the ramp, it is possible for the ball to not make it through
the gate. When this happens, when the ball trips the opto again on the way
down, the magnets pull it back up, but again it fails to get through the
gate. This continues, essentially forever.

There is supposed to be a fix for this in newer roms.

Easter Eggs and other Nice Stuff
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The biggest surprise I had when I first encountered this game came
from the attract mode which displays:

Email suggestions/comments to [email protected]

This is legit although you only get an automated reply thanking you
for your interest. I assume that these messages are read and that
anything of true value to the design team is acknowledged.

Cameron Silver discovered this button code:
BLLLLLLLLRLLLLLRLLLLLRLLLLLLRR (the same code as STTNG's game logos)
which shows on the display:
Put your 3D glasses on now.
If you use this during a game, then some of the stuff on the DMD will
"flitter" (or something) for that game, but it seems nobody really knows
what to make out of this. I tried playing a game, hitting the code at
the beginning, and wearing 3-D glasses for the whole game, but except
for the red/orange lights vs. blue areas of the playfield, I didn't see
any 3-D effect. It looked kinda cool, but the flickering DMD didn't
do much for it.

If you hold down the extra ball button at the beginning of Air challenge,
and hit the skydive while holding it down and while it's still at 25M,
you get 50M instead, and an MK3 hint. Skull says "Congratulations."
I am told that in MK3, there is a secret "move" which doesn't do anything,
but displays the message "NO FEAR - EB BUTTON, SKYDIVE, MAX COUNTDOWN."
The MK3 Hint screen had "MK3 Hint" in big letters with 6 boxes below it,
and there was a picture (a face?) in the 3rd box.

Cows
^^^^

Like most Williams games, there's a cow in No Fear. If you get a high
score and enter the initials MOO, Skull will say "Moooo!" after you get
the credit(s) from the high score.