Game information:
http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=4059
CIRQUS VOLTAIRE RULESHEET Version 1.42 8/10/98 (c) 1997-1998 Matt Magnasco matt@teriyaki.resnet.gatech.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shameless plugs for my web page: :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This rulesheet is available at: (Main Site) http://teriyaki.resnet.gatech.edu/matt/texts/pinball/cirqus.txt (Mirror Site) http://www.fiendation.com/things/cirqus.txt View my pinball page at: http://teriyaki.resnet.gatech.edu/matt/pinball.shtml View my home page at: http://teriyaki.resnet.gatech.edu/matt/nasco4.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0. INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0.0. This is my first rulesheet ever. If you notice anything omitted or incorrect, or are wondering what causes X to happen on the game, _please_ email me. I wrote most of the rulesheet and compiled all of it, but other credits also belong to: * Scott Piehler (rosco29@mindspring.com) * Dave Grossman (tfth@j51.com) * David Gersic (dgersic@niu.edu) * PMM (whoever he is), RWC, and the rest of the guys who play pinball at the Georgia Tech Student Center * Jef Lepine (jlepine@ops.tiac.net) * Bowen Kerins (bowenk@ix.netcom.com) * John Zmaczynski (jjz@tezcat.com) * Cameron Silver (cameron@theramp.net) * Chris Kelly (chris@fiendation.com) * Brian Dominy (pinball@mediaone.net) * Jonathan Deitch (litz@bellsouth.net) * Mark Phaedrus (phaedrus@mail1.halcyon.com) * Keefer Johnson (keefer@access.digex.net) * Mike :FX: Morrey (email?) * Louis Solomon (email?) * Haroldr2 (psu19257@odin.cc.pdx.edu) * Michael Dunn (mdunn@inreach.com) Each of these people has contributed some data toward the rulesheet; it's only fair that they get credit for their work. I originally wrote this rulesheet in November of 1997; I will continually add to and correct this rulesheet until I have covered every aspect of it there is. Okay, so, in this instance I'm being a perfectionist. Sue me. 0.1. CIRQUS VOLTAIRE is Bally/Williams' newest pinball game. It was designed by one of Williams' best designers (IMHO), John Popadiuk. John brought us such great games as World Cup Soccer, Theatre of Magic, and Tales of the Arabian Nights. This is his newest creation. BTW, his name, according to Scott Piehler, is pronounced /pop' a duke/, not /pop a die' uck/ 0.2. This game features *8*, yes, EIGHT, multiballs plus a multi-stage wizard mode with *its* own multiballs. At least three different multiballs may be stacked simultaneously, in which case the jackpots get *really* big. 0.3. I really like this game. From the obnoxious colors, to the full-sized backglass, to the unique inlane/outlane area, this game is unique. IMHO, I feel it is a fusion of AFM, Scared Stiff, and Theatre of Magic. See if you agree. 0.4. This game has an automanual plunger, so both physical and virtual locks are possible. This is a much-needed modernization to John's previous games. 0.5. Game Credits: * Game design: John Popadiuk * Software: Cameron Silver * Music: Dr. Dave Zabriskie * Animations: Adam Rhine and Brian Morris Copyright Midway Manufacturing Company, 1997. Email: voltaire@wms.com Web Page: www.pinball.com/games/cirqus 0.6. Changes from previous rulesheets * From 1.41 to 1.42 * Discovered a new MAJOR bug * Corrected "Hat Trick" * Corrected "Menagerie" * From 1.40 to 1.41 * Replaced "1.2 ROM's" with "1.3" * Added a bit of commentary about RM Battle and 1.3 ROM's * Corrected the number of balls listed for the wizard modes * Added section on entering initials * From 1.30 to 1.40 * 2 new bugs * Another multiball combination * Corrected stacking a multiball on top of Ringmaster Battle * Gave software bugs their own section * From 1.24 to 1.30 * Added the part about cannonball run cannon balls not counting in the total * Added what happens when you lose Ringmaster Battle * Corrected the stackability of multiballs with RM Battle * Cosmetic changes * Added that the tilt-during-RM-Battle bug has been fixed in v1.2 ROM's. * From 1.23 to 1.24 * Updated the address of the Williams web page * Added bit about ringmasters after Join the Cirqus * From 1.22 to 1.23: * Yet another cow * Added more commentary to many sections * From 1.21 to 1.22: * One quick addition to the Sideshow * One quick addition to Strike-an-Arc Multiball * Cosmetic changes * From 1.20 to 1.21: * Some minor stuff * From 1.15 to 1.20: * Added in everything from the CV web page * Finally found out how jackpots are increased in RM Special * From 1.14 to 1.15: * Mentioned the '3' bug in Roonie video mode * Explained the scoring in video mode * Explained Cannonball Run more * From 1.13 to 1.14 * Added the Ringmaster Battle timeout section * Added switch compensation for broken Menagerie * From 1.12 to 1.13 * Added yet another cow * Semi-hidden DMD secret * From 1.11 to 1.12 * Cosmetic changes * Minor clarifications * From 1.10 to 1.11 * Corrected the stacking of a multiball + RM Battle * A few cosmetic changes * From 1.00 to 1.10 * Added the "Strategy" section * Mentioned that Williams fixed the disappearing- players bug * Added comment about backhanding the Juggler * Added comment about extra balls * From 0.36 to 1.00 * Added stuff to the various Ringmaster sections * Added and corrected various stuff in wizard mode * Added the "spot sideshow" blurb in describing the Juggler lock * Corrected the stackability of lock toward Highwire Multiball * Added the 250k big points entry * Described how arcs are struck in Strike-an-Arc Multiball * Corrected the concurrency of multiballs (removed a fluke entry) * Added a bit more information about the disappearing- players bug I discovered * Added information about the scoring for Load Cannon * Corrected and clarified the bonus and bonus X * Cosmetic changes * Minor tweaks here and there * From 0.35 to 0.36 * Added how jackpots are increased during Ringmaster Razz and Special * Corrected the amount of extra balls available * Clarified Level 3 (Meet the Cirqus) wizard mode * Added what happens after 20 hits during Neon MB * From 0.31 to 0.35 * 3 new cows! * Corrected the robot judge's (0110011) name. * Added another Sideshow award * Corrected the juggler/wizard mode question * Added description of a MAJOR bug in 1.0 ROMs. * From 0.30 to 0.31 * Added a diagram of the inlane/outlane area * Clarified Ringmaster Battle * Added another location of an extra ball * Added a comment on ball searches * Added to the Cannonball Champion description * Added more info about the skill shot * From 0.21 to 0.30 * Clarified Spot Marvel * Corrected Strike-an-Arc Multiball * Filled in the Judges & Fun With Bonus * Clarified the concurrent multiballs sections * Corrected various parts of wizard mode * Clarified the Menagerie marvel * From 0.20 to 0.21 * Filled in more of wizard mode * Listed the other things for which you can enter your initials * Minor cosmetic changes * Corrected a few minor things * From 0.04 to 0.20 * Filled in Juggler Multiball * Corrected Neon Multiball * Added software score limitations * Filled in the Menagerie marvel * Filled in some of the Fun With Bonus * Added the extra ball section * Fleshed out the wizard mode * From 0.03 to 0.04 * Fleshed out the multiballs section * Added new stuff to the playfield map * Added another cow sighting * Version 0.03: initial version =============================================================================== 1. PLAYFIELD LAYOUT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Going clockwise from the center drain: * Left flipper. Standard. * Left slingshot. Narrower than usual, to accommodate for the left "inlane". * Left "inlane". This is not your typical inlane. Instead of being clearly divided by a wireform, it is an area the size of an inlane and outlane com- bined. Where the wireform would normally curve to feed the flipper is a post. There are two other posts to set the size of the "outlane". All in all, there is a *lot* of rubber in this area; according to Scott Piehler, this game is ideal for learning how to nudge a pinball machine. Here's a picture, in all of its ASCII-art glory: ] ] 0. Wall ] |\ 1. Adjustable post to set the outlane width ] | \ 2. Permanent post 0 ]| | \ 3. Outlane ]| | \ 4. Inlane ]*1 | 5 \ 5. Slingshot ]| | \ ] *2 | \ ] | | \ \ \ \ \ \ 3 \ 4 \ \ \ \ \ Normally, there would be a wireform extending most of the way up from the #2 post to the top of the slingshot. Instead, this area is one big, open space. * Menagerie. In about the same spot as the MAR martian in AFM is a large cage with a racquetball ball trapped inside. It takes the term "captive ball" to a new dimension. Adjacent to the wall is a swtich which scores the menagerie. If this switch, which looks like a slingshot but isn't, is broken, the left inlane and outlane will compensate. Also used to increase the bonus X. * White standup. Used to award rings, counted toward the Bonus X, and award hits on the Menagerie. * Left loop. Feeds the juggler and side show. Awards the extra ball. One of the jackpots during Highwire Multiball. * Left ramp. Used for locking balls, starting Highwire multiball, spotting marvels, and starting Strike-an-arc multiball. * 2 standups on either side of the left ramp. LIGHT and LOCK respectively. Can you guess what they do? * Lock queue (Highwire). Parallels the left ramp. Where locked balls go. Wea k shots up the ramp and lucky flings of the Ringmaster magnet may send balls in here when the lock is not lit, and a "sneaky lock" (with a ball tiptoeing across the DMD) is then awarded. If the "sneaky lock" would be lock 3, Highwire multiball starts. Officially called the Highwire by Williams. * Juggler Drain #1. One of two drains from the juggler locks, drains second juggler ball. * Magnet. Ideally, it catches balls to lock them in the juggler for juggler MB or for awarding extra balls. * 2 saucers. Ball locks for juggler multiball. There is no "sneaky lock" analogue for the Juggler, however, shooting a "sneaky lock" into the Juggler will award the Sideshow (q.v.) if lit. * Secret Passage lane. Awards nothing; feeds the left Juggler lock. * Backward-facing-and-hidden scoop. Diverts balls to the side show. Used for starting the Sideshow and starting wizard mode. * Skill shot target. A sideways-facing target used for the skill shot. Worth 200k x # of successful skill shots (200k, 400k, 600k, etc.). The skill shot maxes at 1,000,000 points; each addition skill shot will award 1M plus the comment, "Show-off." * Juggler drain #2. Drain used for releasing juggler ball #1. * Ringmaster loop. It's the same loop that's on Theatre of Magic but only on the right side of the playfield. Used to light the spin marvel. One of the jackpots during Highwire Multiball. Weak counterclockwise shots may drain SDTM. * Hidden Ringmaster. The main toy of the game. Normally recessed beneath the playfield. The idea for the ringmaster, IMHO, was taken directly from AFM's saucers or MM's castles. Hit the ringmaster 6 times to allow you to blow him up. Any Ringmaster you defeat after the first one will start a 2-ball multiball. * 2 yellow "Ballyhoo" standups. Used to light the side show, and to award hits on the ringmaster when up. * WOW targets. Spell W-O-W to raise up a Ringmaster. Each target does not have to be hit individually (like WhoDunnit, unlike AFM). Also used in Neon Multiball. * Right ramp. Used to light the acrobat marvel. Strong shots feed the left flipper, weak shots dribble out in the 2nd juggler drain. One of the jackpots for Highwire Multiball. * Right loop. Feeds the right ramp * Suspended (elevated from playfield) magnet. Diverts balls to the lock queue. * Neon habitrail. Feeds the right flipper from non-ball-locking shots to the lock (left) ramp. Paralleling it is a neon tube. Pictures and flyers have shown this tube to glow a greenish-blue, but on the game I play, it's orange. According to Williams, the colors of the tube and the color of the Menagerie ball are random. * Hidden BOOM baloon. A recessed jet bumper that becomes activated during the Boom! marvel. Hit it enough times while it's up (~10 sec) for an extra ball. * 2 other jet bumpers. Between them and the boom bumper, they form the stan- dard triangle. Used for bumping up (no pun intended) the Boom! value; each hit raises the Boom! value by 5000 points. * Right inlane, slingshot, and flipper. Same as on the left. The right inlane *briefly* (2-3 sec) lights the left ramp for "spot marvel". Only one marvel may be spotted per ball. * Both outlanes. Always lit is the alternating "Load Cannon" light. Tripping its switch (lit cannon alternates each flipper hit) awards a random amount of points and 1 cannon ball. Points range from 1000 to 4M points. Load Cannon is not available during a multiball. Other stuff not on the playfield: * Dot Matrix. In the playfield area (protected by some thick plexiglass) as opposed to on the backglass. * Backglass. Full-sized, as there is no DMD. Following a recent mini-trend of interactive backboxes on Williams games (Scared Stiff, NBA Fastbreak, Safecracker), there is an orange cannonball in it. The cannon fires: * whenever you complete a marvel * during Cannonball Run * whenever the Boom! bumper is hit * When the Load Cannon switch is tripped * After getting a jackpot in any multiball ============================================================================ 2. OBJECTIVE ~~~~~~~~~ Your task is to complete all 9 marvels to join the Cirqus. Once you complete that, a multi-level wizard mode automatically begins. To join the cirqus, you have to get all of these marvels, in any order: 1. Juggler 2. Acrobats 3. Ringmaster Frenzie 4. Defeat all Ringmasters 5. Spin 6. Boom! 7. Menagerie 8. Highwire Multiball 9. Side Show 2.1. Juggler. Shoot the left loop 3 times to light the Juggler, and three more times to lock three balls and start juggler multiball. The jackpots are worth 500k. If you can shoot two balls into the juggler within about a 10-second period, you'll get a 1M double jackpot. If you can shoot a third ball in there within another 10 seconds, you'll get a 2M super jackpot. If you fail to get the double and/or super jackpot within the allotted time, all balls are ejected from the juggler locks and the jackpot value resets to 500k. Spotting this marvel does not start Juggler Multiball 2.2. Acrobats. Shoot the right ramp 4 times. Shots do *not* need to go around the full length of the ramp. As long as they make it up about the first four inches or so of the ramp, the switch will trip and score an acrobat. Completing the acrobats will light Super Spinner on both spinners, where each spin is worth 10k. The switch is mounted at the beginning of the ramp, flush with a wall, so, more often than not, you'll score acrobats with incomplete ramp shots. The switch will score from either direction. Spotting this marvel will light super spinner on both spinners as well. 2.3. Ringmaster Frenzie (RMF). Play the multiball associated with defeating Ringmaster #2. RMF is a 2-ball multiball and the ringmaster raises himsel f up a few inches to allow access to the hole. Each shot to the ringmaster during RMF awards 250,000 points. If you have can hit the ringmaster in QUICK succession, you will get a larger award: If you can get one in then another you get 250k + 500k. It seems if you have a 4 ball multiball, it's quite easy to get the 500k jackpot often, sometimes even 750k or 1M. "Quickly" is defined a s "while the jackpot animation is playing, and for an infinitesimal amount of time thereafter." 2.4. Defeat all ringmasters. Defeat 4 Ringmasters, playing Frenzie, Razz, and Special multiballs. Spell WOW to raise up each Ringmaster, and then hit each one five times to defeat each one. The two standups on either side of the Ringmaster will spot hits on him. To raise the first Ringmaster only requires one hit on any of the WOW targets; all other Ringmasters require 3 hits (any target is okay). Defeating the first Ringmaster awards 1M, the second awards 2M, the third awards 3M, etc. Once you have completed Ringmaster Battle (see section), you cannot defeat another Ringmaster until after you have played Join the Cirqus (the wizard mode; see section). Once you have played Join the Cirqus, the first ringmaster you defeat will start Ringmaster Frenzie. The next starts Razz, etc. After spelling WOW, a magnet built into the Ringmaster's head will catch the ball, hold it while the Ringmaster taunts you, and then randomly fling it around the playfield. There *is* a ballsaver after each fling, lest the Ringmaster fling the ball SDTM. If he flings it onto the lock queue, the game will award a "sneaky lock". Unfortunately, a more common occurence is that the Ringmaster will weakly fling the ball off, and it will end up sandwiched between the back of the Ringmaster and the WOW targets. This problem should resolve itself after one ball search. NOTE: A ball will frequently get trapped behind the left standup and next to the Ringmaster. Semi-vigorous shaking will free the trapped ball, as will waiting for the ball search *and* giving the game a gentle nudge for- ward. Method 2 has an advantage in that it will award a Ringmaster's Hide - out, worth 100k. There are two models of the Ringmaster: the thin one and the fat one. The thin one was Williams' original model; to solve the ball-trapping problem Williams made him fat. Balls will still get trapped with the fat Ringmaster, although supposedly less often than with the thin Ringmaster. Nevertheless, even with the fat Ringmaster balls get stuck there all the time. Williams has created a service pack which will resolve this problem, as well as two other locations where balls get trapped. See the Williams tech support page for more info. Actually, even *with* the service pack, some balls still get wedged in between the Ringmaster and the standup. 2.5. Spin. Shoot the inner loop (the one surrounding the Ringmaster) four times to spell S-P-I-N. On prototype versions this marvel is called the Crank, and is awarded slightly differently. "Spin" requires four *consecutive* spins of the spinner. Once the ball has gone through the loop, you have about two seconds to send it through again to complete the remaining spin(s). The spinner itself does not award the spins; the two rollover switches in the loop do. Consequently, incomplete shots may award letters, much like how incomplete shots to the right ramp may award acrobats. 2.6. Boom!. Spell V-O-L-T by rolling over the red rollovers (a la WCS) to charge up the Boom! balloon. I believe that you either need to roll over each rollover once or roll over only the lit rollovers to spell V-O-L-T. The ballon/bumper is raised for about 10 seconds (the timer stops if the ball is temporarily out of play by being in the side show, on the Ring- master's magnet, etc.), and if you hit it enough times, you'll light an extra ball. The Boom! EB count is cumulative, per player, throughout the game (e.g., Boom! one yields 6 hits, and Boom! two yields 12 hits. You have 18 hits toward an EB). Each subsequent raising of the Boom! bumper requires spelling V-O-L-T multiple times. 2.7. Menagerie. To the left of the racquetball ball's cage is a pseudo-slingshot. Hit it enough times, or the white standup just above the cage, to spot hits toward the menagerie. It awards different things at different levels, and the idea was taken from Pat Lawlor. After shooting the requisite shots to award the Menagerie marvel, the next level is spot marvel, then light extra ball, etc. Think of what Bear Kicks, Robots, Blasts, etc., award from your favorite Pat Lawlor game and you get the idea of the Menagerie. Don't hold your breath trying to get the Menagerie extra ball. From what I have seen, the awards are: 1. Award Menagerie 2. Spot Marvel 3. Light EB 4. Spot Marvel 5. Spot Marvel 6. Big Points (see "Bugs") Regardless of what the next award should be, the first award after having completing wizard mode will ALWAYS be Award Menagerie. 2.8. Highwire Multiball. Lock three balls on the left ramp queue by hitting the LIGHT and LOCK standups. Once one lock has been lit, hitting the targets again will light another lock. IOW, lit locks may be stacked. However, only for the first multiball may locks be stacked. Multiballs two and higher require that each lock be lit individually, and the number of times you have to hit the LIGHT and LOCK standups increases as well. Jackpots are worth 1M and are the Juggler, Acrobats, and Ringmaster loop. The Ringmaster loop jackpot ONLY scores from the left entrance to the loop. After a few jackpots, however, the jackpots will start moving, so that you don't sit and exploit the Ringmaster loop. Spotting this marvel does not start Highwire Multiball. 2.9. Side show. After hitting the yellow Ringmaster standups enough times, the Side Show becomes lit just past the Juggler magnet. This is the equivalent of the Stroke of Luck in AFM, and it awards: * The Amazing Roonie (video mode) * Cannonball Run * Popcorn Mania * Neon Multiball * Big Points: 500k * Big Points: 250k * Go For the Hat Trick * Light Spot Marvel * Light Lock * Extra Ball The Sideshow is lit at the beginning of the game, and is re-lit after every 5-6 hits on the yellow BallyHoo targets on either side of the Ringmaster. 2.9a. Video Mode: Roonie is a kangaroo, and you need to jump over objects just like on Dr. Who. It is 20 seconds long, and you have to survive all 20 seconds of it. Unlike in Dr. Who, though, Roonie has only one size of jump (long), instead of Dr. Who's short and long. Completing video mode awards a total of 2.9M. Each jump is worth about 180k, and there is a 1M bonus for successfully completing it. If Roonie falls down, there is only a 100k bonus (in addition to all previous successful jumps, of course.) Video mode is extremely boring, and not worth much. There is no extra ball available. Also, there is a display bug where a '3' might be an object for Roonie to jump over. Like in AFM and ST:TNG, the '3' scores nothing and, for all intents and purposes, is invisible to the game. 2.9b. Cannonball Run: Fire the cannon in the backbox. You have 10 seconds to fire as many cannonballs as possible, and those which make it to the top "Cirqus Luck" switch are worth an additional per hit, so the first Cirqus Luck is 250k, the second is 500k, etc. I don't think that there is any skill involved in shooting the cannonball, so don't be disappointed if you don't get any Cirqus Luck. Expect to be able to fire a cannonball about once every 2-3 seconds. Cannonballs fired during this round do NOT count in the game total. This is not a bug, either (ask voltaire@wms.com why). 2.9c. Popcorn Mania: Each switch scores 30,000 points. After enough switch hits, the DMD will fill up with popcorn and then award a Popcorn Jackpot. Go for those spinners and jet bumpers! Popcorn jackpots start at 500k and increase by 100k each time. This mode, if started, is active during any multiball(s). There is a 20-second timer. 2.9d. Neon Multiball: Taken verbatim from AFM's strobe multiball. The neon tube paralleling the right habitrail is the only thing lit, and you have a 3-ball multiball to hit the WOW targets (any one will do) 10 times to light an extra ball. There is an average-length ballsaver at the beginning (~6-7 sec), and a short ballsaver at the end -- taken directly from Strobe. The next award, at 20 hits, is a puny 1M. 2.9e. Big Points: Self-explanatory. Worth 500k or 250k. 2.9f. Hat Trick: The Ringmaster will raise up to his full height and your task is to shoot three balls into him within 20 seconds. Shots 1 and 2 are each worth 500k, and shot 3 (the Hat Trick) is worth 1M. During Hat Trick, you can not hit nor defeat the Ringmaster. This mode, if started, is active during any multiball(s). There is a 20-second timer. 2.9g. Light Spot Marvel: Lights Spot Marvel permanently on the lock ramp (lit until collected). 2.9h. Light Lock: Ooh, a toughie. 2.9i. Extra Ball: Another toughie. (Note: I have never seen this award; the Cirqus Voltaire web page claims it exists.) ============================================================================ 3. MULTIBALLS ~~~~~~~~~~ As I stated before, this game has eight multiballs, plus an additional four from wizard mode. The eight are: * Juggler * Highwire * RM Frenzie * RM Razz * RM Special * RM Battle * Neon * Strike-an-Arc. Up to three multiballs may occur concurrently. The flyer says that there are only six; Williams counts all four Ringmaster multiballs and all four wizard-mode multiballs collectively as two. 3.1: Ringmaster Razz and Ringmaster Special (RMR and RMS) RM Razz is like RM Frenzie, except that the jackpots are worth at least 250k and there is an extra ball lit. RM Special is, anticlimactically, nothing special. There is *no* special (unlike its name implies), and jackpots are worth at least 500k. The jackpots in RMR are a hurry-up. When you first start RMR, the Ringmaster is lit for a 500k hurry-up, which counts down to 250k relatively slowly. Whenever you stop the hurry-up (250k if it times out) is the jackpot value. Jackpots are increased in RMS by shooting the spinner; once the ball falls under the Ringmaster, however, the jackpot can not be increased further. During RMS, the Ringmaster will inch his way up; to get him to full height requires about four or five hits. Double, triple, and quadruple jackpots are also possible in both RMR and RMS as they were in RMF. 3.2. Ringmaster Battle (RMB) RM Battle occurs when you defeat the 5th ringmaster. First of all, it is not marked on the playfield, unlike Frenzie, Razz, and Special, so you have to know it exists. Once you defeat the 5th Ringmaster, another ball is kicked into play, and your task is to defeat the Ringmaster. I'm not sure, but I think this MB requires about 15 to 20 hits on the Ringmaster to ultimately defeat him (you don't need the final, under-the-playfield shot however). There is a short ballsaver. Once the ballsaver times out and a ball drains, however, RM Battle does *not* end. Instead, the ball is re-served into play, but as a penalty, the Ringmaster grows stronger, and you have re-weaken the Ringmaster. Upon defeating the Ringmaster, the DMD will go crazy (a la Scared Stiff), the game will award you 10M points, and light an extra ball. If/when you defeat the Ringmaster, the flippers will automatically go dead and both balls will drain. Having both balls in play -- i.e., not having one trapped in the Sideshow or behid the Ringmaster -- is essential to defeating the Ringmaster. After about 5 seconds of not hitting the Ringmaster, he will take away your most recent hit. After another 5 or so seconds, he'll take away another hit, etc. If he takes away enough points, you will lose. If and when you lose, you have to start all over again with Ringmaster Frenzie. If you win, you cannot defeat another Ringmaster until you have played Join the Cirqus; if you lose, you can keep defeating Ringmasters until you beat him. OTOH, if you want to rack up the score, parking a ball/getting a ball trapped is the way to go, and then just go against the Ringmaster one-on-one, and if he takes away hits, who cares? Just make sure that you hit the Ringmaster often enough to keep yourself from losing! Including the 10M completion bonus, I scored about 50-60M just on Ringmaster Battle by getting a ball trapped. Eventually, after about 15 or 20 minutes, the Ringmaster will give up and won't take away any more hits. At this point, you are guaranteed to defeat the Ringmaster. Completing RMB will award about 50M: * 5M for starting RMB * 10M for completing it * About (varies on your skill of battle) 35M in the actual battle. Hits on the Ringmaster during RMB score 1M each. An extra ball is available after *every* RMB victory. If you start another multiball prior to starting RMB multiball, the Ringmaster will recess back into his hole when he would normally raise himself up for the "blow-up" shot. Starting RMB is then delayed until after the present multiball(s) is(are) complete. In other words, the Ringmaster Battle multiball is not stackable. Ringmaster Battle takes precedence over everything else; nothing else occurs. In other words, once you start Ringmaster Battle, nothing else may start until you have defeated the Ringmaster. RMB may only be started if the "Defeat All Ringmasters" marvel is not the last one to be completed, because if it is, the game will automatically begin wizard mode without giving you a chance to pound away on the Ringmaster. If you are battling the Ringmaster and you spot the last remaining marvel (which would normally start wizard mode), wizard mode does not start until RMB is over. However, if you are still in the "hit the Ringmaster 5 times" stage -- i.e., you have _not_ started the Battle itself -- and you do spot the last remaining marvel, Join the Cirqus wizard mode automatically starts, the Ringmaster goes back into his hole, and you start over (provided you've completed wizard mode) at Ringmaster Frenzie. The logic for RMB has been rewritten in v1.3 ROM's. The Ringmaster is MUCH tougher to beat, and he takes away hits at Warp Factor 9. So if your game has 1.3 ROM's, expect _not_ to be able to defeat the Ringmaster in Ringmaster Battle. This accomplishes two things: one, it prevents you from just raping the Ringmaster for 1M/hit, and makes RMB more of a wizard mode than the wizard mode! 3.3. Strike-an-Arc Strike-an-Arc occurs after shooting the the left ramp enough times. It is a 2-ball frenzy; jackpots are awarded after enough switch hits. Each switch hit helps charge up an arc by a few percentage points, and at 100%, ZAP! Jackpot! Jackpots start at 500k and increase by 100k for each additional jackpot, like during No Limits on No Fear or Total Annihilation on AFM. Keefer says, "As far as I can tell, each switch adds 10% to the charge for the first jackpot, and this value decreases by 1% each jackpot down to as low as 4% (requiring 25 switches for a jackpot)." Since it will take more and more switch hits to strike the arc (get a jackpot), the way to exploit this round is to shoot for the spinners! Strike-an-Arc is available multiple times during the game if you keep looping the ramp. Balls which are locked toward Highwire Multiball count toward starting Strike-an-Arc. Each successive multiball requires 5 more ramp loops than the previous one (ie, S-a-A #1 requires 5, S-a-A #2 requires 10, etc.) The ramp count resets to 0 after starting every Strike-an-Arc. 3.4. Neon Neon MB is stackable with Juggler Multiball if and only if Juggler lock #3 is lit and the Sideshow awards Neon MB. Neon and a Ringmaster multiball, Highwire multiball, and/or Strike-an-Arc multball are mutually exclusive. 3.5. Concurrent Multiballs Juggler and Highwire MB are 3-ball mutlbialls, and the Ringmaster MB's are 2-ball. Strike-an-Arc is also a 2-ball. Stacking any of them yields a 4-ball multiball, with a fresh ballsaver. By all means, try to stack your multiballs! Getting twenty or even forty million just off stacked multiballs is not uncommon. Here are the combinations for stacking multiballs: (given in the order required to stack them) {disclaimer: these are what I've seen on my machine, so YMMV} * Juggler, Strike-an-Arc, Ringmaster * Highwire, Strike-an-Arc, Ringmaster * Juggler, Ringmaster * Highwire, Ringmaster * Strike-an-Arc, Ringmaster * Highwire, Strike-an-Arc * Neon, Juggler (rare but it happens) Only Ringmaster Frenzie, Razz, and Special may be stacked. Ringmaster Battle may not. Stacking Highwire and Strike-An-Arc can occur if and only if the act of locking ball three would normally start Strike-an-Arc as well. Again, if the Ringmaster multiball is Battle, it will be delayed until the current multiball(s) end. Upon starting Battle, the current multiball(s) will run concurrently with Battle, and there will be four balls in play. 3.6. Voltaire's Multiple Jackpots If you have concurrent multiballs, shooting the lock ramp will award "Voltaire's Multiple Jackpots", which will award 1 jackpot from *each* active multiball. This award is available only after the concurrent multiballs have ended, i.e., during the 3-4 second "grace period" immediately after multiball. =============================================================================== 4. WIZARD MODE: Join the Cirqus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Much like on John's previous game Tales of the Arabian Nights, Cirqus Voltaire also has a multi-leveled wizard mode. There are five levels of wizard mode, in contrast to TOTAN's two. After you complete each level, all balls drain or go out of play, the flippers go dead, etc., telling you that you have advanced to the next level and giving you a chance to watch the DMD's animations. Seeing what is on the DMD is very important here, and with it on the playfield, seeing what shots need to be shot (especially during the "Spell Cirqus" and "Meet the Cirqus" levels) is fairly easy. There is no "You Rule the Universe"-type animation after completing the last level. 4.1. Level 0: Start Wizard Mode Shoot either the left (Juggler) or right (Acrobat) loop. The diverter on the acrobat loop will open and feed the juggler. Starting Join the Cirqus requires a ball to be *physically* locked in the Sideshow, so if your game's Sideshow post is broken, you'll need to shake the machine in hopes of getting the ball to land in the Sideshow. 4.2. Level 1: Spell Cirqus 3-ball multiball with a 20-second ballsaver. Spell C-I-R-Q-U-S by shooting the Menagerie, the Juggler, the lock ramp, the Ringmaster loop, the WOW targets behind the Ringmaster, and the Acrobats, in any order. Successfully completing this level awards 10M points. 4.3. Level 2: Unmask Voltaire 3-ball multiball with a 20-second ballsaver. Shoot the Ringmaster and then shoot the lock ramp. Repeat three more times, and then shoot the Ringmaster one last time. In short, you have to shoot the Ringmaster five times and the lock ramp 4 times, alternating after each shot. Successfully completing this level awards another 10M points. 4.4. Level 3: Meet the Cirqus Initially 1 ball. Shoot jackpots to add more balls (up to 3). A short ballsaver is lit during the first few seconds of every plunge of a fresh ball. Make 6 jackpots. They are the same jackpots as in Highwire Multiball (Juggler, Acrobat, Ringmaster loop). Jackpots are random. Successfully completing this level awards yet another 10M points. 4.5. Level 4: Party Multiball A 4-ball multiball where both ramps, the Juggler, the Ringmaster, and the Ringmaster loop all score 1M jackpots. The 3 jet bumpers score the Boom! value. This mode is a lot like Monster Multiball on Scared Stiff. There is a short ballsaver in the beginning. This round continues as long as there are at least two balls in play. Warning! When ball three drains, *you are still playing the game*. It is not like on WCS or TOTAN where the flippers die if you lose; conversely, there is nothing to win, so, like I said, there is no "You Rule the Universe!"-esque lauding. The person whose Party Multiball score is the highest gets to enter their initials as the party champion. 4.6. Wizard-mode Multiballs don't end when the third ball drains! For at least Levels 1, 2, & 3, once three balls drain and the ballsaver has timed out does *not* end the wizard mode. It continues with only one ball. Especially for Level 2, I think playing with 1 ball instead of 4 is preferable. So if you see ball 3 draining, don't panic. You'll still continue the wizard mode with a monoball, ball 4. That is true only on production ROM's (v1.0 and higher). For beta ROM's, it's different: Mark Phaedrus says, "On the local machine [Seattle], it works like this: When you're down to one ball, a timer counts down from 10. (It stays at 0 for a few seconds when it gets there, and there's a grace period even after that, so the timer is actually at least 15 seconds.) The timer resets to 10 every time you do something that makes progress towards completing the level. (On Level 1, it resets whenever you shoot a new Cirqus shot; on Level 2, whenever you hit the lit Ringmaster or ramp; etc.)" {Ed. note: At which point, pretend you're playing Royal Madness on Medieval Madness} 4.7. Member of the Cirqus When the game ends, you get to enter your initials as having joined the cirqus if you made it to at least level 1 wizard mode. ============================================================================ 5. EXTRA BALLS ~~~~~~~~~~~ * Ringmaster Razz (once per game) [1] * After about 50 hits on the Menagerie (presumably once per game) * After 10 WOW hits in Neon Multiball (once per game) * After 15 hits on the Boom! jet bumper (once per game) * After defeating the Ringmaster in Ringmaster Battle (available after every defeat) * As an award from the Sideshow [1] If the machine is set to 5-ball play, the Ringmaster extra ball is lit during Ringmaster Special instead of Razz. ============================================================================ 6. FUN WITH BONUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bonus is the sum total of: * # of Perfect Scores (10-10-10 from the three judges), worth 500k each * # of cannonballs x 20k * 50k x the judges' average All times the bonus X. There are three judges' awards: for the Ringmaster, for Juggler Multiball, and for Highwire Multiball. The Ringmaster judges' award is usually given; The Highwire and Juggler judges are awarded only on the ball in which that (those) multiball(s) occurs. The perfect-10 bonus is only available on the ball in which the perfect 10's were awarded. The bonus X is increased by getting rings. Spell "RING" to increase the bonus X, up to 4X. "RING" is spelled by hitting the Menagerie twice (R and I) and the red standup just above the right slingshot (N and G). Once you spell RING, all ring lights unlight and you can begin the process anew. Even with the 4X max bonus X, I've seen boni over 10M before. Why can you only increase the bonus X three times? Because it's a three-ring cirqus! There are many judges, including all of the design team for Cirqus Voltaire ("John", "Cameron", "Adam", etc.). The design-team judges tend to be stingy with their scores, while the DOHO and Hefer judges tend to be very liberal. Other judges to look out for: 0110011 (or whatever the sequence is) Marvin (the AFM Martian, not the Warner Bros.) Tommy the Ticket Tommy the Pinball Wizard (wearing a mask and sunglasses) A duck (forget his name) Hefer (a cow...see below) Rincewind A cat (forget his name) Marvin is the stingiest judge around. I've had games where two judges have given me 9's and 10's, while Marvin has only awarded 6's. Getting Highwire multiball + another multiball and/or Juggler multiball + another multiball will almost guarantee perfect 10's from those judges. ============================================================================ 7. BUGS ~~~~ Note: this is not a complete listing of all the bugs. These are only the ones that I have seen. For a listing of what bugs the various ROM revisions have corrected, please go to Williams' tech support page at http://www.pinball.wms.com/tech/wpcroms.html -- MAJOR BUG: If you're playing a multiplayer game, your game may DISAPPEAR. If your score doesn't disappear altogether, it may reset to some amount much less than what you should normally have. Fixed in ROM v1.1. I was playing with Chris, Brian, and Jonathan, and I had scored several million on my first two balls. When I got up to play my ball 3, my score was 60,030. I shot the skill shot and it awarded 400k, so, at the very minimum, my score should have been 200k. Several games later, after Jonathan played his ball 3, Brian's and my scores *disappeared entirely*! The game had no record whatsoever that we had played. Jonathan's score, BTW, was also severely munged as well, as he finished the game with an alleged 5M, when it should have been about 20M. Jonathan had started Juggler Multiball, and, well after starting Juggler, he shot the lock ramp, and the game awarded him Highwire as well (lock 3 was lit prior to starting Juggler). Go figure. -- If you tilt during Ringmaster Battle, the game will infinitely autoplunge balls. Fixed in ROM v1.3. -- If you stack Neon and Juggler multiballs, you will not receive credit for completing the Juggler marvel. Fixed in ROM v1.3. -- If the Boom! balloon is active for the first time, and you spot your first marvel during the Boom! round, the marvel spotted will be Boom!. AFAICT, re-spotting Boom! only resets the Boom! timer to 10. Fixed in ROM v1.3. -- (NEW) MAJOR BUG: At 200 menagerie hits, the game power cycles instead of awarding Big Points. To be fixed in ROM v1.4. =========================================================================== 8. NOTES, COMMENTARY, AND OTHER STUFF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Q1: Why did I just shoot the loops to start wizard mode, but the game is still saying to shoot the loops? Q2: Juggler lock 3 is lit, and I shot the Juggler, but Juggler Multiball didn't start. Why? A: I emailed voltaire@wms.com those same questions, and here is Cameron Silver's (the software designer for CV) response, quoted with permission. "I think what your seeing is Juggler multiball ready at the same time as the Side Show is lit. The loop will not start juggler multiball until after the side-show, so it relies on the ball making it into the trough [the Sideshow/Ringmaster under-the-playfield trough, not the end-of-ball-storage trough], running the side-show, then starting the multiball. If the post doesn't divert the ball correctly, then the side-show never starts, and the multiball doesn't happen. "What I think might be happening in your case is that the POST is not working as well as it should be. When the final mode is ready, (and side-show, extra ball etc) the post pops up and diverts the ball behind the display. The shot is only considered 'made' when the ball is IN the trough, as all those shows require that the ball is held. I can't do them while the ball is in play, so I can't spot them if the post is not working.." In other words, the ball must be stopped, either in the Juggler or in the Sideshow for all of the animations to start. Strangely, if you backhand the Juggler, the ball will almost undoubtedly end up in the Sideshow. So if you're good at backhands.... * Cows: Oy! Are there plenty! * Roonie jumps over several in video mode * A judge in Fun With Bonus (Hefer) * Something the original performers in the REAL Cirqus Voltaire hurled (yeah...uh-huh...) [2] * Something in the ancient Roman circus which ate fire (yeah...uh-huh...) [2] * A moo occasionally can be heard whenever you hit the Ringmaster * Occasionally seen behind the 1's digit "0" as it turns around on the DMD * One of the animals printed on the backglass, just above the right acrobat (see below for more) [2] only visible in the attract mode spiel about the history of the circus. * There are two ways to display scores in this game. The first is the standard 9-digit format (e.g., 256,486,190). The second is to display 8 digits and use a series of bars to display the hundred millions' digit, as in: [100M] [100M] 56,486,190 * In addition to the standard high scores, you can enter your initials for: * Joining the Cirqus (starting level 1 wizard mode) * Being Party Champion * Being Cannonball Champion (like Martian Champ on AFM) Being Cannonball champ may or may not award a free credit (my CV, which I think is set to "easy", awards a credit; your mileage may vary). * If the game goes into ball-search mode, after about 4 or 5 unsuccessful searches it will eject a ball from the lock (either the Highwire lock or the Juggler lock; the game will warn where the ball is being kicked out from), if there is one in there. The idea is that by putting this ball into play, it will eventually collide with the stuck ball and unstick it. If this ball drains, and the ball is still not unstuck, the game will release another ball from the lock, if available. This is one place where Sega machines beat Williams machines hands-down: on a Sega machine, after 4-5 unsuccessful ball searches, it flags the ball as missing and serves a new one to the plunger, as opposed to Williams games which will usually ball-search for a l-o-n-g, l-o-n-g time. I have seen balls get stuck *everywhere* on this game. I've even had balls carom off posts *into* the Ringmaster/Sideshow kickout! * Semi-hidden DMD secret: occasionally the 1's digit will flip around revealing a skull or a cow. I think it just happens randomly. * If you get three of the marvel lights in a line, the game will light the corresponding Cirqus letter. Consequently, if and when you complete all the marvels, all six letters will be lit. * The acrobat on the backglass who looks like Fabio is John Popadiuk himself. * Williams has named the Ringmaster "Jack." There's something I must be missing, as I don't get the joke. A "Jack"-in-the-box, perhaps? * There is no physical replay knocker in this game. So free credits have a Sega-like electronic "toink!" instead of the classic "Thwack!" * If you match, the clown will give you a thumbs-up. * If you don't enter any initials for the high-score board or having joined the cirqus, the game will default to the initials of the game's programmer, Cameron J. Silver (CJS). ========================================================================= 9. STRATEGY * Go for Ringmaster Battle, and keep it going for a l-o-n-g time. * Get the Boom! value up high, especially if you're coming close to Party Multiball. In my 80M Party Multiball game, my jet bumpers scored 605k each -- almost as much as a Ringmaster or loop jackpot (1M). * Try to stack as many multiballs as possible. * Don't worry about boosting the bonus X; getting a multiball or two will do it naturally. * For some reason, I don't feel like extra balls are really that important to this game. Don't get me wrong; get as many EB's as you can, of course, but they're not necessary to making it to wizard mode. IMHO, this game has one of the most accessible and easy-to-get-to wizard modes around. I've made it to wizard mode before on ball 1! Games like Twilight Zone, AFM, and Medieval Madness make getting EB's vital; CV, for some reason, doesn't give me that same sense of urgency. Go figure. * Learn to backhand the juggler if/when your Sideshow diverter is broken.