Pinball strategies

3D Pinball Space Cadet - Experiences and Strategies

1. How to start:
When starting a new ball (including extra balls), of course, always go for a skill shot. When having a replay, it is mostly recommended to make a full shot (if a mission requires you to do so, if you want to take a chance at the red wormhole or filling the hazard banks). If you have went low on fuel, don't make a full shot, hope to quickly reach the fuel chute or start ramp.

2. Get experience on nudging
Left and right nudging should be enough to do the job, upper nudging seems barely needed. Assign two keys that are close to your respective left and right flipper key. My current controls are:
	- Left nudge: Y
	- Left flipper: C
	- Right flipper: N
	- Right nudge: K
	- Plunger: B
Don't be afraid of tilting, despite the "Careful" message appearing every now and then. If you just press the button softly two or three times, you'll get away with it. Of course there will still be unstoppable balls (tremendously high speed, or falls straight down), but in many other cases the nudge will make a crucial difference. Plus, nudging is not only useful for preventing middle drains - you could eventually stop the ball from going to the left out-lane from the bottom rebounds, or you could prevent a long chain of red wormhole enterings if both the middle and right Field Multiplier object are hit.

3. The most useful gadget on the table and how to use it:
Contrary to popular belief, the medal targets are too difficult to fill up with ease for multiple extra balls. Of course, once you get two commendations, try to make use of your chance, but the timeframe is very thin. Your main focus during the whole game should be the Hyperspace Kicker. Being able to make hits reliably when needed is key factor for a successful game.
- Once you proceed from two to three lights, you get the center post. It aids you to make all balls stoppable that you otherwise couldn't stop even with nudging.
- If you proceed from three to four lights, you get the extra ball lights in the out-lanes. If any of the two lanes is locked, you'll need this to prevent a ball loss from said lane. This safety is about just as important as the center post, and even if no lane is locked, it's your only chance to really ACHIEVE extra balls most of the time.
- It's sometimes a real double-edged sword to proceed to four lights and put up with the loss of center post. As some rule of thumb, I don't recommend to do it under the following circumstances:
	a) no lanes locked and you already earned a couple of extra balls from your current ball.
	b) no lanes locked and you're in a difficult / important mission and you already have some progress you really don't want to lose.
	c) you already guess that the center post will cease soon (at the latest once it starts blinking). Even with lanes closed,
	   better hope for two subsequent hits.
When dropping back from four to three lights (which you should usually let happen, see below), try to immediately hit back unless case a) applies. Otherwise judge yourself if you want to keep waiting for another light to cease.
- If you hit again with four lights, you activate Gravity Well and all lights are lost. This can be really bad if you don't manage to quickly get them back. Plus Gravity Well itself is sometimes a curse, especially after losing center post. There's only one case when you should consider striving for Gravity Well, namely if you want to hit the black hole (as Gravity Well alters the rebound and directs it to the fuel chute), and you don't have too much trouble regarding the out lanes otherwise.

Finally, practicing effective hitting of the start ramp is also important, not only when it's required during your current mission, but also when you're about to select a favorable mission and you need to take the chance quickly.

4. Practicing shots and trick shots
Learn to make effective use especially of "calm" balls that roll down the return or bonus lane. The standard shots are:
- sending the ball to the hyperspace chute or start ramp from the left flipper (making reflex shots possible, try to practice this for consecutively entering the start ramp).
- sending the ball to the start ramp or through the fuel chute (more difficult) from the right flipper
- sending the ball to the upper table, usually through the gap between medal targets and hyperspace lane. Can be done with both flippers.
Some balls that rebound at more speed can be effectively cut
There's also a few trick shots that have a rare chance of success, but still are worth trying every now and then. This especially

5. Thoughts on the missions of Cadet, Ensign and Lieutenant
- During Cadet, Target Practice is the easiest of all. If you have trouble with doing reflex shots, you might want to avoid Launch Training. Science will reset your currently hit drop targets upon activation. Accept this if it's not much of a trouble, Science is fun. During Ensign and Lieutenant, you have to be really thoughtful about accepting a mission for the first time.
- Bug Hunt is a cake walk (in the original Full Tilt version, there was a subsequent phase of hitting the space warp rollover,        which explains why there's still an arrow pointing at it despite the rollover being useless). However, it comes at a cost. BOTH drop-down targets AND spot targets are completely reset, which is especially a nuisance regarding the hazard banks. If you have an out-lane closed and two respective hazard lights lit, Bug Hunt could ruin your chance of reopening the lane. As a reminder, drop-down targets and the wormhole opener also count as targets, despite no arrows pointing towards them.
- Rescue requires you to upgrade the flags. If they already ARE upgraded, they will be reset to normal, however the corresponding
first booster light is not turned off. You have to wait for it to turn off until you can upgrade the flags. Next, you're only 	   allowed to enter hyperspace as long as the flags stay upgraded, which means that you're under time pressure. If a hyperspace hit 	   could prove unfavorable for reasons listed above, you have to come to terms with yourself if you want to deal with the downside 	   or if you wait and maybe have to upgrade the flags again.
- Alien Menace requires you to upgrade the upper attack bumpers; they're reset to blue; don't mind the slight score loss. Keep in mind you can control the reentry lane lights with your flippers. Reentry lights activated beforehand do not reset upon starting this mission, so if you already have two, it's a great chance to have this quickly done. But even with no light, it's not worringly hard. Contrary to the original Full Tilt version, there's no time pressure for the second part (repeating Target Practice), it stays active even if the bumpers are downgraded again.
- Never accept Secret. It's the unchallengedly hardest mission of the game. Should you accept it on accidence, consider aborting 	   it through fuel loss, maybe unless you already arrived at the green wormhole. But even if the green wormhole were the only task, 	   I wouldn't recommend it at all.

6. Thoughts on the missions of Captain and Lt. Commander
This is by the hardest set of missions, as all of them can be very troublesome at times. Accept Cosmic Plague whenever you get the chance, it's probably the easiest of the four, and most importantly, it allows you to skip a mission (if you haven't done already two basic missions before).
- Stray Comet and Space Radiation require you to fill up the right, respectively left, hazard banks. Both missions reset the lights already obtained on the respective hazard bank, so if the corresponding out-lane is closed, you might want to choose to not select the mission for this reason alone. Otherwise, all you should do is send the ball to the upper table as often as possible and hope for luck. In the second phase, Stray Comet asks for a hyperspace hit, with no time constraint however, so you could eventually wait until the hit is generally recommendable. Space Radiation asks for hitting a wormhole; if you really lucky you could get a replay on top.
- Black Hole Threat first asks you to fill up the reentry lanes in the start ramp, analogously to Alien Menace, but this time, you must complete the second part of the mission as long as the bumpers stay upgraded; otherwise you have to upgrade them again. So if you want to be more relieved, also take care about upgrading them to Yellow. Try to use reflex shots or hyperspace rebounds as much as needed. Now, the second part is to enter the Black hole. Nothing more. But usually it happens on complete accidence, there are not many ways to head for the black hole actively. You could hope to squeeze the ball through the fuel chute from the left flipper, you could try to hit the left medal target if it's not hit, you could try to enter the black hole from a hyperspace rebound with Gravity Well.
- Cosmic Plague, as said, should always be accepted when possible. The first part is rotating the flags 75 times. A hyperspace hit usually gets you 24 or 25 rotations, so you could already do this with three hits. Otherwise you could hope to just enter the ramp (e.g. through slicing the ball from the right flipper). Afterwards, you have to hit the space warp rollover, but don't expect this to be too easy. It could also wreck your nerves if you're unlucky.

7. Thoughts on the other missions
- For Commander and Commodore, you only need two missions per rank if not less. Accept Recon under any circumstances, it's about as easy as the Cadet missions. Time Warp should also be accepted and of course finished through the start ramp, resulting in instant promotion. Doomsday machine should only be accepted if both out-lanes are open or if you have hopes to quickly open them back. Combine this mission with attempts to achieve extra balls. Regarding Satellite Retrieval, if you want to accept it (I accept rather not to), then hope for entering a wormhole if the green wormhole is active, or for reaching the satellite bumper through the fuel chute or left out-lane.
- In the ultimate ranks Admiral and Fleet Admiral, you'll meet again the special missions of the prior ranks (Cosmic Plague, Secret and Time warp). Again, avoid Secret, unless you already have all your imaginable wishes in the game fulfilled and finally want to get to beating this thing.
- Maelstrom is the ultimate Holy Grail in this game. Its reward is incredible - you'll get 5 million points and all drop target lights, i.e. 10x Field Multiplier, Bonus Hold, and an extra ball, and center post and the extra ball lights. Its required endurance however is incredible just as much. Having a replay and otherwisely advantegous table conditions is more important than anywhere else. There are eight phases in total, with the most demanding ones probably being the 4th (make a full shot through the fuel chute) and the 7th (enter a wormhole).