Let's talk about WCS '94

Games
1

Hello everyone. I am prepping a little beginner’s level WCS tutorial I’ll be streaming tomorrow night (7p EST Boom Go Pinball )

I have an overall feeling for the game:

Left orbit, left ramp, right ramp, and striker scoop give you an attribute. 5 attributes gives you lock and/or multiball. Can you just shoot one of these and collect all 5 attributes? Seems like it, just checking. Locking a ball moves you up 4 jackpot levels (seeds) every two goals give you one JP level. Start MB by hitting final draw. You can start MB after you collect the 5 attributes but again your JPs will be bigger if you lock a ball first.

. Every goal also gives you an ultra mode. Ultra modes carry into MB but can not be started during MB. You light the goal by rolling over the 4 rollovers leading to the goal.

You can advance cities by hitting the left and right ramps (one of each?) then the left spinner. Or light city by hitting both top lanes then hit spinner. Get all cities to lite wizard mode.

Skill shot gives you 5M, 10M, and 30M plus a city if you hit an unlit light.

Light kickback by rolling through right inlane then hitting light KB target located above the left sling.

Best ultra mode to bring into MB is ramps or goalie. Is there a way to influence which ultra mode starts with a goal?

OPen to any other tips. My focus is to do a tutorial for the little guy. I’m no expert but I do have a knack for thinking through things so I want to do a tutorial for those who can’t always get the shot even after 10 tries and often drain.

As far as strategy I was thinking score at least 1 goal. Preferably 2 goals for a seed boost. Light MB, if the left ramp is do-able shoot it for lock and 4 seed boost. If not shoot the final draw scoop, start MB. Alternate goal shots with ramp relights.

IF the final draw scoop isn’t co-operative (which seems like always) focus on traveling to cities. Shoot left/right ramp then spinner or get the lanes lit. With the hope of getting to LA. Again, long shot but if that scoop keeps rejecting worth something to shoot at.

Open to suggestions and corrections.

2

The biggest thing is starting MB. Have to lock a ball to light final draw

3

@djriel in tournaments plays for Striker awards…Don’t ask me how he does it though :confused:

1 Like
4

Do you have to lock a ball? I thought you just had to collect Strength, Stamina, Skill, Speed and Spirit then you could shoot final draw OR lock a ball for a seed advance.

5

definitely need to lock a ball via either ramp to light final draw

6

Worth mentioning to new players that you can start multiball on ball 3 at the Striker hole if you haven’t hit it yet that game. It’s a good pity option to get something going during a bad game, and a much easier shot than Final Draw.

6 Likes
7

Collecting those lights lock. But then you have to lock a ball via the ramps.

8

Ok I must have miss read the rule sheet. It seemed like you didn’t need to lock a ball.

Your rank is determined as follows - Every two shots to a lit goal advances you 1 rank, and if you lock a ball before starting multiball you advance 4 ranks (since multiball is lit as soon as lock is lit.)

I figured if you lit the 5 qualities you could hit striker scoop and start at seed 15.

I DO like the idea of going for striker awards if you are failing at life. You just need to hit 7 of the targets to light the award which seems possible if you miss a lot of shots. ONE of the awards is to start MB. SO thats an option if your shooting is off.

1 Like
9

I’ve been meaning to go back and update that rule sheet, but you definitely need to lock a ball before multiball on default settings.

I personally think that getting good at the striker shot is one of the most important parts of playing WCS. Whether lit for an award or not, it will almost always advance you towards multiball, and its a good bailout spot. My multiball advance strategy tends to be Striker -> Bounce over -> Striker -> repeat.

5 Likes
10

If this is really aimed toward beginner players, you might be getting a little too detailed on some of the rules minutiae that don’t have a lot of impact on entry level gameplay (seeds, cities, etc.). Don’t overload a new player with too much detail before they have a working knowledge of some of the bigger picture items.

Also worth mentioning since they’re so game specific.

  • Magna-save. Where it’s located and when it’s best to use it.
  • Buy-in button. Use it once per game to light your next jackpot in lieu of a ramp shot.
3 Likes
11

Second go at multiball only has some of the builds lit I think so the striker might not be lit but this is a good strategy to get the final draw safely lit.

12

Yeah, I was going to cover the basics. Here is how to start MB, if that is failing you here is what you can do. Though I think I might just focus on starting MB via ramps if they work for you or striker if you can get that dialed in. The added bonus is if you have striker lit you get something else!

From there I would talk about seeds and cities if you want to get a little deeper. Thanks!!!

13

You only collect attributes when the shots are lit.

“Skill shot gives you 5M, 10M, and 30M plus a city if you hit an unlit light.”

Only when it is the third light → lighting the entire set.

“Best ultra mode” for me is spinner. You can knock it out with one shot. Pay attention to bonus, and unless you need a specific score know when you can try for a ball, and when you shouldn’t.

“IF the final draw scoop isn’t co-operative (which seems like always) focus on traveling to cities. Shoot left/right ramp then spinner or get the lanes lit. With the hope of getting to LA. Again, long shot but if that scoop keeps rejecting worth something to shoot at.”

2 things - 1st - final draw scoop is required shot in the city line as well; 2nd - don’t go cities unless the feed around the loop is friendly. Sometimes it just comes screaming around the top and draining is imminent.

I would focus on teaching how to get to multiball. If you’re on a nice playing WCS, you can teach things like bounce over/post pass. For a beginner getting multiball is hard and they will often go many games without achieving this, so getting there is an accomplishment. Plus, you start MB with a shot at a jackpot, which is always fun as well. Nuances like goals for jackpot levels can be confusing (I didn’t even realize this for years.

Keep up the good work teaching people strategic pinball, it is rewarding and great for our sport!

4 Likes
14

The second go definitely has striker lit throughout, the ramps alternate. For third I think that Striker is still always available, and its not until fourth that things get way harder. This was one of those things I always meant to go back and figure out for the purposes of the rule sheet since I have one now.

Hey can we also talk about how this is one of the greatest pinballs of its era? I adore this game so much.

3 Likes
15

I often throw a lot of info out there and then reel back for the simple strategy. I like swimming through the info and then finding what makes sense to me. But I agree throwing ALL that out there can be confusing to people. Focus on starting MB and getting jackpots. Then maybe I’ll talk about some of the other stuff for the next level.

More than anything this is a concentrated effort to make ME a better player, hahaha.

16

AGREED!!!

17

So I simplified my format. Again I normally like to go over the whole PF but this one I simplified. Again this is my road map for the tutorial so sometimes I don’t spell things out since I am going to be showing them and pointing to things.

Basic strategy. Left loop, Left ramp, striker, and right ramp if lit with ‘build will give you an attribute. All 5 attributes collected give you lock. Find a shot that feels good for you. Some shoot for ramp, some shoot for striker scoop (to the right of the goal near pops). Lock on either ramp. Next task is to hit final draw. If you are having trouble aim for the striker scoop, you’ll get an award or maybe overshoot and get it into final draw.

Once MB starts shoot the goal for JP and relight on ramps.

You can start multiball on ball 3 at the Striker hole if you haven’t hit it yet that game. Much easier shot than Final Draw if you are having a bad game. This shot is a decent bail out point if you need something to shoot towards on a flail

Discuss:

  • Magna-save.
  • Buy-in button. Use it once per game to light your next jackpot in lieu of a ramp shot.

Light kickback by rolling through right inlane then hitting light KB target located above the left sling.

Once you feel comfortable with that you can make goals and start ultra modes. Going for an missing goals can lead to SDTM drains so be careful. Goals are lit via the roll overs leading up to the goal. Once all 4 are lit the goal is lit. Hitting a goal starts an ultra mode (spinner, ramps, goalie, or jets). For not just getting it is good and then starting MB with it. If you can get 2 goals before starting MB your JP will be bigger.

Next work on skill shot: Skill shot gives you 5M for hitting your 1st blinking, 10M for 2nd blinking, and 30M plus a city for 3rd blinking. Try to go for far blinking (hard) or near (soft) light on plunge.

The striker scoop starts lit.If lit shoot it for an award (Extra Ball, Multiball - Starts multiball at lowest JP value, 20 million, Super Free Kick - Makes the free kick target worth 10M + 5M per consecutive hit for a certain amount of time. Penalty Kick - Gives you a shot at the goal with the goalie not moving and leaning out of the way. hit the goal for 30M. Three Cities - Gives you your next three cities (see below.) Unlimited Kickback - Kickback lit for the rest of the ball! Three Goals - Adds three goals to your total, complete with three Ultra rounds too.
Once shot the first time and award collected around the PF are stiker targets (One on each side of the left ramp, and one in front of the jet bumpers at the upper right.) for every 7 hits to these targets (if you brick the left ramp a lot you may find you have lots of striker hits) you lite the striker scoop for an award.

18

Here’s a tip.

When the Special lights up, your Victory laps has started. This is a way of recognising this, without having to pay attention to the upper part of the playfield, the screen or the sound (game might be inaudiable). When it lights. Time to spray.

Great game!

3 Likes
19

That presupposes we can get to victory laps…

1 Like
20

I think the confusion here is that you can start Final Draw MB without a ball physically locked. Say, if you locked a ball and didn’t start FDMB, your opponent locked a ball and did start FDMB, your physically locked ball is gone but the game remembers your progress and you can hit the scoop without relocking for a 2-ball multiball. You should absolutely try to relock your ball before starting FDMB, but you don’t have to.

4 Likes