Missionsīoth the difficulty of the completion requirements and the point values of the rewards for these missions stepped up with every promotion you received. Players were limited to three balls with the possibility to earn extra ' lives'. Whenever one player lost a ball, it would become the next player's turn to continue. Up to four players could play at once using a type of pass and play mechanic on one computer. As with many pinball games, there was a penalty for overusing the tilt controls.
Due to the format, many mission objectives consisted of hitting certain targets or passing through certain areas on the table a set number of times. There are a total of nine ranks in the game, from Cadet to Fleet Admiral. As you earn points, your cadet will be promoted to the next rank, making new missions available. GameplayģD Pinball: Space Cadet is a video pinball game with pseudo-3D graphics and an emphasis on progression through completion of missions.
This process was later discontinued beginning with Windows Vista. It was later included in multiple Windows releases (along with other games, namely Solitaire, Minesweeper, FreeCell, and Hearts), where it gained in popularity.
The table is presented in a skewed pseudo-3D perspective (with a pre-rendered table and a dynamically-resizing 2D pinball) and has some differences with the Full Tilt version (such as the lack of extra balls and multiball rounds). In it, players play as a starfleet cadet as they complete missions to get promotions (from Ensign to Fleet Admiral). The game only includes one table: the sci-fi themed "Space Cadet". It was later bundled with most installations of the Microsoft Windows operating systems from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows XP.ĭeveloped as part of the Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 expansion disc (which was released in-tandem with the Windows 95 operating system), 3D Pinball for Windows is a special pre-release version of the Maxis game Full Tilt! Pinball, released months later. Oh well.Overview A standard game of 3D Pinball for Windows, running on Windows 98.ģD Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet (also known as Microsoft 3D Pinball for Windows - Space Cadet, 3D Pinball: Space Cadet, 3D Pinball, and Pinball) is a sci-fi video pinball game developed by Cinematronics and released by Microsoft for Windows PCs on August 1995 as part of the Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 package. My own record score is not even verified, nor can it be, as I did not capture it onto videotape. So, Adam is our first verified submitter on this title. I take it that it was extremely difficult but would like to know more about it as I havd never seen it before. I got to see the entire central circile all lit up, and saw all the missions accomplished except one.the "Secret Mission", which I will soon be asking Adam about as I am very curious to know why he intentionally avoided selecting the mission. Verifying this was a pleasure as I dabble in this game myself from time to time with a personal best of about 5.3-5.6M, but I usually average around 2.5-3.0M. Like most expert pinball players, Adam maintains a basic "pattern" which is easy to learn but hard to execute due to the precision involved, so constantly re-adjusting to get back into pattern seems to be what it all comes down to, so as to maximize your gameplay and minimize the propensity for the ball to go down the drain.Īt no point did the field multiplier ever go about 3X. The score is very impressive considering the propensity for the ball to take a path down the central drain or either of the sides, and his useage of the "nudge" was very skillful along the way.Īdam's favourite mission along the way involved capturing the flags in the right-most chute, and the toughest mission involved the bumpers by your flippers due to their propensity to hit the ball into either side and ultimately down the drain.
The entire game was captured via videocamera submission and meets our standards for submission purposes.Īmazingly, Adam's 1st ball scored the bulk of his score.108,288,000 points !! He encountered some major headaches immediately thereafter, and his 2nd ball ended at 113,127,000 points, and his last ball not too long thereafter. Well, I am done verifying Adam's score.a whopping 116,271,000 points after well over an hour of gameplay !!