Author Topic: Dr.Who basic game strategy  (Read 4541 times)

Offline getyourselfahotdog

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Dr.Who basic game strategy
« on: April 20, 2015, 03:15:41 PM »
 I was excited to see a doctor who at replay yesterday!  What are some basic game strategies and advantages for picking certain doctors at the beginning of the game?

 Thanks in advance. 😄

Offline micksimmonds

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2015, 03:17:53 PM »
beat crap out of time expander, repeat :D

there is some skill to getting the Docs in certain order, but I cant remember, I like the video mode thou
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Offline HammysHangout ( Hammy )

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2015, 03:54:52 PM »
FYI, the epxander optos are broken on the game @ Replay, so the game play will not be 100%
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Offline ratsflif

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2015, 04:02:15 PM »
Here is my Dr Who strategy:

Step one:  Walk away from the game

Step two:  Play another game that doesn't suck

Offline getyourselfahotdog

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2015, 04:19:06 PM »
FYI, the epxander optos are broken on the game @ Replay, so the game play will not be 100%

That answers a lot. I kept thinking you had to be on a certain Dr for the shots to count!

Offline number six

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2015, 04:34:15 PM »
The key to Doctor Who is all about leveraging the different doctors. Each one adds a bonus to gameplay but some are definitely more important than other.

The 'key' Doctor is Colin Baker. He allows you to double your Multiplyers. Once you have your multiplyer up to 6x you want to exploit one of two modes:

The first is the Time Expander / Multiball. This can be worth some good points when properly stacked. Sylvester McCoy will help you with the Time Expander.

My favorite point whoring is the Video Mode. You get this by spelling ESCAPE. Hartnell will spot you an extra ESCAPE letter on each hit which makes him very useful. The video modes can stack to STUPID amounts of points on the last few runs.. plus things like Extra Balls (depending on game settings). Finally video mode will spot you Doctors which makes life easier as it gives you additional bonuses at once. Plus if you get all 7 doctors you'll get a nice bonus at the end of the game.

Offline Lowtiersteve

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #6 on: April 20, 2015, 04:37:25 PM »
Dr. Who is one of my favorite pins, and probably one I've put the most time into learning.  A lot of people start with Doc #6 (Colin Baker), which increases scoring in a general way across the playfield.  If you're going for multiball, you'll want to start with Doc 7, which will help you out from having to bash the unsafe Time Expander as much. 

My strategy whih has helped me score over a billion consistently is to start with the Doc that increases the multiplier at the left lane (the one that feeds the upper-left flipper) - that's Doc 2 or 3 IIRC.  At the beginning of the game, the ball feeds from the TARDIS to the right flipper; I shoot left lane, upper ramp loop 10x which feeds to bottom left flipper, and shoot the right ramp for the TARDIS Combo, and repeat.  At some point when your multiplier is maxed, use the opportunity to shoot the multiball locks (you can keep the combo going to get the ball to either flipper and make the lock you need).  Then, I start shooting the upper inlane that feeds the pop bumpers and TARDIS, to light video mode (which will award extra doctors). Doc 1 will help you get to video mode faster, so you might want to choose him if you need score but are having trouble making the ramp shots or can't keep control of the ball while bashing Time Expander.

The main goal at all times, for me, is to have the multiplier maxed before starting multiball or video mode - that's what moves my score up from 200 million to 1 billion +.  If your shots are inaccurate, you'll probably light some extra video mode targets to the left of the TARDIS, or you'll bash some Time Expander targets on your way to multiball.  The main issue is losing control of the ball, as the outlanes can be pretty rough on this game.

Hope that helps!
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Offline Redfox

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2015, 04:42:56 PM »
First you pick Hell's Bells and then........................ ;)


Just kidding! I find the best strategy is to go for the doctor that does the playfield multiplier (not unlike Hells Bells in a way) then do the loop shot, which Steve laid out.

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Offline Cloud2Ground

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2015, 05:08:40 PM »
FYI, the epxander optos are broken on the game @ Replay, so the game play will not be 100%
That be my game and Yeah, it might not register the first two hits or so, then it goes nuts and gives you all but two or three to hit at the far right. Think of it as Novice mode :P

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Offline Cloud2Ground

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2015, 05:12:24 PM »
Here is my Dr Who strategy:

Step one:  Walk away from the game

Step two:  Play another game that doesn't suck
Step three: EAT ME! :P
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Offline SpineyNorman

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2015, 05:40:16 PM »
Step 4

Fix yer optos ya bum.

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Offline pinballcorpse

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2015, 11:09:23 PM »
If it is in a tourney one main method is, loops, loops, loops, sonic boom, lather, rinse, repeat.   Boring, but safe and repeatable as long as the upper left flipper holds up.  I seem to recall Lyman hit 300 loops in a tourney. 

The video mode strategy is somewhat repeatable as well, but a longer path to points. Memorize the patterns, ball back to the right flipper and back up top. Slow and steady.

Multiball is lucrative but more dangerous to set up as the ball is out of control more often before the multiball starts.

Whatever path you choose, keep the playfield multiplier high.

Anyway, here is what Bowen wrote 20 years ago about playing Dr. Who.

http://pinball.org/rules/drwho.html
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Offline getyourselfahotdog

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #12 on: April 21, 2015, 05:47:40 PM »
Thanks for the responses, I appreciate the different views and approaches to playing Dr. Who. This is one game that never caught my eye and outside of the Arcade Odyssey tourney I've had little opportunity to play one. I hope it stays at replay for a while so I can try out a few of these strategies. Thanks again.

Offline Cloud2Ground

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #13 on: April 21, 2015, 06:22:46 PM »
Yeah, I'll leave it there for a bit. got other stuff on my plate right now. ENJOY! ;D
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Offline pindan3

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Re: Dr.Who basic game strategy
« Reply #14 on: April 21, 2015, 07:28:03 PM »
Holy Crap! Hot dog......I was there and forgot to play that game!..... :-[
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