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.
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:
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
Original Author
Other Contributors and Acknowledgements
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:
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.
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 circumstances.
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 mainly just score points.)
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.
Gameplay and Features
Startup/Skill ShotAs 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:
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:
(*) 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.
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.
Note also, that nothing else in the game runs during JUMP THIS!
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:
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.
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.
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 exploit 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 exploit 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 disastrous 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 nofear@wms.com
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.
Editor's Notes