ronnie@mit-eddie.UUCP (Ronnie Schnell) (08/09/83)
I know that a common misconception about Tempest (at least it is one that I had at the beginning) is that once the flippers (the (usually) red things that flip along the edge) have reached the end, they are indestructable except for by the "SUPERZAP". This is not true and if I had read the instructions on the machine I would have realized this. Flippers can be destroyed if you hit the fire button when they are in the lane right next to you. I know some people who can get over 300,000 just by sitting in one place and pressing the fire button repeatedly. This is not something I would recommend because once you get to a high enough level the "Fuseballs" and "Pulsars" will defeat this strategie. On the non- circular boards you should stay near one of the ends of the board, pretty much hanging out there waiting for flippers to come by. This doesn't mean you shouldn't move, just don't spin the knob wildly all over the place. The bug is fixed in most machines. If one of them doesn't work, none of them will. Good Luck, Ron (..decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!ronnie)