New to this version: Lots of updates from Keefer, including many scoring corrections and corrected behaviour of Loop extra balls, and some updates for version 1.30.

New to version 1.4: How to disable the jet bumpers. Change in Dock ramp behaviour in 1.10E.

New to version 1.3: Mystery target behavior. Level 6 in Skyscraper mode. New Explosion award.

New to version 1.2: Updates to Reactor and Shuttle modes; number of combos needed for Combo Mania is 12.

New to version 1.1: Behaviour of unlit lock hole; update to Elevator mission; Power awards above level 8. All rules apply to 1.10E.

These are Dave's rules for the computer pinball simulation The Web, from Empire Interactive. This document is copyright 1995, 1996 by David M. Smith. Permission is granted to copy this document verbatim in any medium without charge. Multiball (and probably other terms) is a trademark of Williams/Bally/Midway. The Web is probably a trademark of Empire Interactive. Just imagine a (TM) after every noun and you'll be right.

Thanks to: Ade Barritt, Cad Delworth, Mark Green, Keith Johnson, Mark Sloan.

Contents

• Introduction
• Playfield
• The Rules
  • Instruction card
  • Basics
    • Ball Rescue
    • Credits and high scores
  • Skill shot
  • Power Levels
  • Combos
  • Missions
    • Reactor Critical
    • Biker Race
    • Hunt Down
    • Shuttle
    • Skyscraper
    • Ammo Dump
    • All Missions Completed
  • Modes
    • Quick Shot
    • Super Launcher
    • Combo Mania
  • Multiball: Space Station Frenzy
  • Fast Frenzy
  • Video Mode
  • Explosions and The Magnet
  • Super Jets
  • The Loop
  • Bike Ramp
  • Bonus
  • Extra Balls
  • Secrets and Easter Eggs
• Changes in Version 1.10E

Introduction

Pro Pinball: The Web is the first table released by Pro Pinball and for a first effort, it's a damn fine game. I wrote a review on rec.games.pinball just after I bought the game: I liked it then, and now after may hours of play my opinion hasn't diminished at all. The Web combines the two crucial elements in pinball, one or both of which are lacking in most pinball simulations: it has a great playfield design and sensible, balanced rules. On top of this, it has realistic ball and flipper behaviour, and a nice user interface to boot.

Unlike just about all pinball sims in recent years, The Web has abandoned scrolling and instead gives a three-dimensional players-eye view of the playfield (with a choice of six different viewing angles). The playfield is rendered from a highly detailed 3-d model of the playfield and includes lighting, shadows and reflections (even on the ball!). The design itself is in the Ritchie style with plenty of fun, high-paced shots; it's sort of like a reversed ST:TNG, with touches of HS2 and Rollergames thrown in. The rules, too, are well designed and nicely balanced, with lots of parallel goals leading towards a challenging Wizard mode. There's a great sound package with some cool music and quotes (although the sound effects aren't quite up to WMS standard), and some nifty DMD animations too.

Ob-Brag: My best so far (and given the amount I've played it, it's a fairly disappointing best) is 15.5B regulation (that's with starting, but not completing, the Ultimate Showdown) and 17.5B buy-in. The Combo Champion stands at 10 Combos; the Loop champion is 11 (yes, 11!) loops. I'm sure most can do better. :)

This rulesheet corresponds to Version 1.10E of The Web. Changes in from version 1.00E are listed below. An upgrade from 1.00E is available from the Empire Interactive website.

Playfield

Playfield description starts, as customary, from the flippers and proceeds clockwise. I include this section mainly to give names to the shots and describe their basic purpose.

Flippers

Judging from the apparent dimensions of the playfield, these seem to be almost identical to the standard Williams flipper (except for the small `e' near the flipper heel). White with black rubber.

Left Slingshot

A perfectly ordinary slingshot. (The detail here is amazing, incidentally: you can even see the heads of the Phillips-head screws used to bolt it down.)

Left inlanes

Actually, a Lawlor-style `twinlane'. The left inlane briefly lights `power' on the right orbit. The right inlane briefly lights `Light Magnet' at the explosion hole. Both briefly light the 'Light Kickback' target.

Left outlane

Includes a kickback, which returns the ball to play when lit or flashing. May also be lit for Extra Ball with an Explosion Award.

Lock hole

A small sinkhole just below the upper flipper. It's recessed slightly into the playfield wall so it's only shootable with a direct shot from the tip of the right flipper. Can be lit for Frenzy Lock or for Video Mode. Also has a Spider light.

Left popper

A VUK which feeds into the habitrail from the Bike ramp, and thus feeds into the leftmost left inlane. Shots to the Lock hole and the Mission Start hole (usually) appear here.

Upper flipper

On the left hand side, just above the Lock hole at the entrance to the left orbit. Used for shots to the Dock ramp and the Loop. Shots to Reactor hole or the Explosion hole may also be attempted.

Grab magnet

Situated under the playfield near the tip of the upper flipper is a magnet used to trap the ball for a clean shot to the Dock ramp (like in Rollergames). It's lit by shooting the Explosion hole when lit (which feeds to the upper flipper).

Left Orbit and Spinner

A Ritchie-style orbit which leads between the upper flipper and the Bike ramp around the back of the table and exits out the Right Orbit (although weak shots may dribble into the Rollover Lanes or even out the Loop). Used for increasing the Power Level (when the yellow Power light is lit), and the Spider light is used in some modes.

Bike (Left) Ramp

The Bike ramp is a short steep ramp which does a 180-degree turn near the back of the playfield and leads to the leftmost left inlane. (Very similar to the Beta Quadrant on ST:TNG, but on the other side). Shots to this ramp count towards lighting Lock. The ramp is also used in some modes (it also has a Spider light).

x2 Bike targets

Two small standups at either side of the entrance to the Bike ramp, these targets act identically to the 2x Shuttle targets on ST:TNG. When hit, they flash for a short time. Shooting the Bike Ramp when one is flashing awards 2 ramp shots instead of just one; when both are flashing 4 ramps shots are awarded.

Bumper lane

A small lane out of which the ball may drain from the Jet Bumper area, but a careful shot to this lane may be used to send the ball into the jets as well. Has a red `Super Jets' light; shoot this lane (from below) when flashing to increase the Super Jets level.

Mystery target

A round standup with a yellow `?' light. Used in some missions, and advances the lit mission.

Jet Bumpers

Your usual triangle of three jet bumpers. They flash when Super Jets is active, and during the Ammo Dump mission. Hold down both flipper buttons to disable the jets; this is useful during timed modes when you don't want to waste time with the ball rattling in the jets.

Rollover Lanes

Three rollover situated above the Jet Bumpers (like T2). Each has a green light; roll over a lane to light one; light all three to advance bonus. Change the lit lanes with the flippers. Note there is no real shot to these lanes, but a weak shot to the Loop often ends up in them.

Mission Start hole

A sinkhole dead centre at the back of the playfield. Very similar to the Mode Start hole in ST:TNG except the metal guide wall is to the left, making shots from the right flipper easy. (Shots from the left flipper are difficult, but not impossible.) Shots here normally feed to the left popper, but in some modes feeds to the right instead. Can be lit for Start Mission or Start Mode and for Extra Ball. This is the Jackpot shot during Multiball. There's a Spider Light for this shot, too.

Reactor hole

A sinkhole framed by the two sets of Reactor Drop targets, shootable from the left flipper or (with luck) from the upper flipper. Used during the Reactor Critical mission, and spots drop targets to light Dock. Can be lit for Light Magnet, and also has a Spider light. Shots here emerge at the Right Popper.

Reactor Drop Targets

Two sets of three drop targets on either side of the Reactor hole. When either set of three drop, they are reset. Used to light Dock, light Light Magnet, and during the Reactor Critical mission.

The Loop

A small orbit whose entrance is between the Dock Ramp and the right set of Reactor Drops. Feeds around the back to the upper flipper for repeated shots (when the Loop light lights). Weak shots usually end up in the Rollover lanes. Has a Spider light, too.

Dock ramp

A steep ramp on the right side of the playfield about 2/3 of the way up, with an entrance facing left for shots from the upper flipper. Leads into the Space Station (a large blue plastic model above the Start Mission hole) where the ball is locked if Dock is lit, and to either the left or right inlane if it is not. May be lit for the Super or Ultra jackpot during Multiball. Has a Spider light.

Explosion hole

A small sinkhole just below the entrance to the Dock ramp. May be lit for an Explosion award, and has a Spider light (used during some missions). The shot feeds (via a VUK) to a short habitrail which leads across the playfield and deposits the ball just above the upper flipper. When the small magnet-shaped lamp near the explosion hole is lit, the grab magnet activates for a clean shot at the Dock ramp.

Right orbit and Spinner

The mirror image of the Left orbit. Shots here end up screaming out the Left Orbit, although weak shots may end up in the Rollover Lanes.

Light Kickback target

A large standup just above the right slingshot. Either left inlane briefly lights it to relight kickback (very similar to WCS).

Right outlane

May be lit for Extra Ball (Special?)

Right inlane

Briefly lights Power at the Left Orbit. Shots from the Reactor Hole and (sometimes) from the Dock ramp feed here.

Right slingshot

Another perfectly ordinary (albeit virtual) slingshot.

Centre playfield lamps

Between the flippers there is a Shoot Again lamp, with a Ball Saver flashing lamp above that. Just above those is a triangle of six green lamps for the Missions; lit lamps are completed missions, and the flashing lamp is the next or current mission. Above those is five white lights in a circle marked (clockwise from top) Missions, Power, Ultra, Bonus and Combos, with a red lamp marked The Ultimate Showdown in the centre.

The Rules

These rules correspond to version 1.10E of The Web. See below for rule changes from 1.00E.

Instruction card

On the playfield poster included with the game is a short instruction card as you'd expect to find on a real pinball machine:

Space Station Frenzy Shoot all drop targets to light dock. Dock 3 balls to start Frenzy and score jackpots.

Fast Frenzy Shoot the web ramp repeatedly to light lock. Shoot lock to start Frenzy and score fast jackpots.

Missions Shoot the centre sinkhole to activate missions.

Power Levels Inlanes light spinners. Shoot lit spinners to advance power levels and light awards.

The Arena Shoot consecutive loops to light extra balls and bonus held.

The Ultimate Showdown Complete "missions", "combos", "power", "bonus" and "ultra" to begin the Ultimate Showdown.

Basics

Three balls per game, plus extra balls earned. There is a fairly long ball-saver with each ball; if you drain while the red "Ball Saver" light is flashing your ball will be returned to play. (You don't get another shot at the Skill Shot, however.) The ballsaver also lights for a shorter period after balls are launched following a lock, and also at the start of any multiball.

Flippers are activated with the Control or Shift keys; hold one flipper for the Status Report; press both to make selections (Return also works for this), cancel Buy-In, and disable the Jets (while held). Return launches a ball. Press `S' to start a 1-player game. Pressing 'S' during Ball 1 adds players (to a maximum of 4); 'S' starts a new game on later balls. Use 'C' to buy in (if credits are available) at the end of the game. In version 1.30, 'P' may be used to pause the game.

Ball Rescue
The kickback (Ball Rescue) is lit at the start of each ball; it unlights if the ball goes down the left outlane (and is kicked back into play). However, the kickback will never unlight if the ball saver is still lit (yaay!). Relight the kickback by shooting the Light Kickback target immediately after rolling though either left inlane. The `Super Ball Rescue' award keeps the kickback lit until the end of the current ball, with one exception: Super Ball Rescue ends after Space Station Frenzy, leaving the kickback normally lit. (NB: this is a feature, not a bug.)

Credits and high scores
The game keeps a record of credits earned through replays (the replay score reflexes) and high score awards, to a maximum of 9 credits. It doesn't cost you an credits to start a game, but at the end of the game, if you have any credits, you can choose to buy an extra ball (press `C'), but any high scores will then go into the "Bought In High Scores" table, and you will be ineligible for the Grand Champion score. You can keep buying in as long as you have credits in store.

Skill shot

Shoot the Dock ramp immediately after launch for a Skill Shot award of 25M on the first ball, increasing by 25M. Alternatively, go for the Super Skill Shot by shooting the Loop followed by the Dock ramp for double the current skill shot value, and advance the skill shot value by 25M (this was 50M before 1.10E).

The skill shot is available at the beginning of all balls (regulation, extra and bought), but not after locked balls.

Power Levels

The leftmost left inlane and the right inlane briefly light the right and left spinners to increase the Power level. The first award is Power Level 1, then Power Level 2, up to Power Level 8. Note that although the award lamps are split between the left (odd) and right (even) orbits, you don't need to alternate shots to collect power awards. The awards, in order, are:

• Power Level 1: 5 million (the display says Small Points :))
• Power Level 2: Explosion (lights the Explosion Hole for an Explosion Award)
• Power Level 3: Super Jets (lights the Jet Bumpers for 1M a pop)
• Power Level 4: Light Quick shot (lights the Quick Shot mode at the Mission Start hole)
• Power Level 5: Light Video mode (lit at the Lock hole)
• Power Level 6: Super Ball Rescue (kickback lit (light flashes) for the rest of the current ball)
• Power Level 7: Light Super Launcher (lights Super Launcher mission at the Mission Start hole)
• Power Level 8: Showdown Sphere (awards one Showdown Sphere)

Combos

Any of the non-sinkhole Spider shots (left and right orbits, Dock ramp, Bike ramp and Loop) shot in succession count as a Combo. (After you shoot one of these shots, the Spider light on the next shot(s) in sequence for a combo flashes.) Two shots in a row is a Combo; three shots in a row is a Double Combo, four shots in a row is a Triple Combo and any further shots score a Super Combo, all for increasing amounts of points. Note that the Loop only advances the Combo one level (the Right Orbit lights both the Loop and the Dock ramp for the next combo, but the Loop only lights the Dock ramp); repeated shots don't score further shots but subsequently shooting the Dock ramp continues the Combo sequence where you left off.

Combos scored are counted, and count towards bonus. In addition, Combo Mania is lit every 12 combos (the number required to light it is displayed when a combo is scored).

The person to shoot the most shots in succession gets to enter his or her initials as the Combo Champion.

Missions

The Mission Start hole is normally lit for Start Mission at the beginning of each ball (although lit Modes take precedence). When lit, shoot the Mission Start hole to start the currently flashing mission. In general, missions last about 45 seconds and require a certain number of shots to be completed within the time limit to complete the mission. The Spider lights indicate which shots need to be hit (except for the Ammo Dump mission). If a Mission is successfully completed, a Showdown Sphere is awarded (as well as maximum points for the mission). After a Mission ends, the mission total is displayed, and either Ramp must be shot before Mission Start will be lit again.

The lit mission is advanced with the Jet Bumpers or with the Mystery target.

The mission descriptions proceed in the order of the playfield lights, from the top down and right to left.

Reactor Critical
Shoot the Reactor drop targets to insert control rods in the reactor to shut it down. Ten drops are required (the drop targets all reset after each shot); however shooting the Reactor Hole removes two rods, requiring another two drop targets. Each drop awards 5M. The Mystery target lights during this mode, and unlights the radiation lamp at the reactor hole, preventing it from removing rods if you shoot it. Once ten rods have been inserted, shoot the Reactor Hole to contain the reactor and collect a Showdown Sphere.

Biker Race
It's a bike race through the streets! Shoot the lit shot (which travels through the Bike Ramp, Dock Ramp, Right Orbit and Left Orbit before repeating) to bump your opponent -- four bumps and you win. The Loop is also lit at the start of the mode and awards one bump (relight it by shooting the traveling shot). The Mystery target locks the traveling shot in place until you collect it. A bump awards 10M, with 60M bonus (i.e. a 100M total) for completing the mode.

Hunt Down
Shoot lit sinkholes (Mission Start, Reactor Hole, Explosion Hole and Lock Hole) to catch whoever it is you are chasing. One hole is lit at a time, but the Mystery target lights all holes until one is collected. Five holes to apprehend the target for 100M and a Showdown Sphere.

Shuttle
Fire guns at the shuttle by shooting either the Dock ramp or the Bike ramp. About four shots are required to destroy the shuttle and complete the mission for 105M and a Showdown Sphere; the percentage completed is displayed on the DMD. The Dock ramp awards a greater percentage than the Bike ramp, and the value of both ramps increases as the mode progresses. The Mystery Target lights after a successful ramp shot; shoot it when lit to award one free ramp shot.

Skyscraper
Shoot the spinners to climb the floors of the building, from the first floor to the fifth floor (five shots). While you only need to trip the spinner to advance a floor, the spinners unlight for a few seconds after a successful shot so a complete orbit only advances one floor. Each floor awards 1M and advances the mission total (displayed on the DMD). You can exit the elevator to collect the mission total (and finish the mode) at any time by shooting the Mission Start hole, but only by exiting on the fifth floor will you collect the Showdown Sphere and the mission maximum of 105M. The Mystery target lights after reaching floor 5 and relights the spinners to move to floor 6 (with the appropriate quote, even!). Exiting at floor 6 awards an Extra Ball, as well as 100M. I love the elevator musak in this mode!

Ammo Dump
Shoot the pop bumpers to destroy the ammo dump. 25 shots are required, but the Mystery Target makes pops worth double. The completed mission (without using the Mystery target) is worth 95M (and a Showdown Spere).

All Missions Completed
Once all six missions have been completed, there is a seventh 'mission' to get. The six Mission lights on the playfield cycle to indicate all missions have been completed; re-light Mission Start as normal and shoot the Mission Start hole for 250M and a Showdown Sphere.

After relighting Mission Start with a ramp shot (as usual) you can then replay all the missions as before. Each time through the missions increases their value (2x the original value, then 3x, etc.), including the completion award. So the 2nd time through, every target is worth double what it was before, all modes will be about 200M for finishing, and the completion bonus is 500M.

Modes

In addition to Missions, there are Modes may be lit at various points in the game. Modes are started at the Mission Start hole when the red arrow is flashing. Modes take priority over the missions, and are started in the order they are lit. Lit modes carry between balls.

Quick Shot
Lit at power level 4. Shoot the lit orbit for the hurry-up value, which decreases rapidly. (You must shoot the complete orbit, not just the spinner.) The first quick shot is worth 25M max; collecting a quick shot (at any value) makes the next one start at 50M more (so it's worth collecting a quick shot even if it's about to time out). Lighting Quick Shot again increases the value by 25M (even if you don't start it: if you light Quick Shot the first time, then drain, then light it again before starting it, the initial value is 50M). Curiously, you can't advance Power Levels during Quick Shot.

Super Launcher
Lit at Power Level 7. A 10-second timer starts counting down; shoot the Dock ramp before time runs out to destroy the space ship for 50M and restart the timer for another shot; the value increases by 25M each time to a maximum of 150M, where the mode ends immediately and awards a Showdown Sphere. The Magnet is always lit during this mode, but Dock is not available. The base value and the increment increases by 25M each subsequent time you start Super Laucherm, so the second run of this mode in a game is worth 75M+50M for each destroyed ship; and it's worth big points indeed at 150M+125M!

Combo Mania
Lit after 12 Combos have been collected. This is a 1-ball timed mode, where all Combo shots remain lit (so `1-way Combos' are possible). Combos score 25M, Double combos 50M, Triples 75M and Super Combos score 100M to a max of 150M (five combos). The base combo value increases by 5M each time you subsequently start Combo Mania. Needless to say, this can be a very lucrative mode.

Multiball: Space Station Frenzy

Shoot all six drop targets to light Dock at the Dock ramp. The yellow lights indicate which drops remain to be hit. The Reactor hole, and re-completing an already completed 3-bank spots a target in the other bank. (These rules don't seem to change for subsequent multiballs, so starting multiball never gets any more difficult.) When lock is lit, shoot the Dock ramp to lock three balls to start Multiball.

Multiball (Space Station Frenzy) starts immediately when the third ball is locked. It is normally a three-ball multiball, but there's a secret way of increasing the number to four.

The goal of Multiball is to score the Ultra jackpot, which proceeds as follows:

1. Shoot the Mission start hole for single jackpot
2. Shoot the Mission start hole for double jackpot
3. Shoot the Mission start hole for triple jackpot. Until the Super or Ultra jackpot is collected, the Mission Start hole continues to score single jackpots.
4. Shoot the Dock ramp for Super jackpot (5x). (NB: The mission start hole now scores single-double-triple jackpots to re-light Super Jackpot.)
5. Complete the drop targets, which lights the Explosion hole ("You're close!")
6. Shoot the explosion hole (the Spider will be lit) and then Dock ramp for Ultra Jackpot (10x). However, if you shoot the Reactor Hole (`Oh No...') before the Dock ramp, the explosion hole unlights and you must re-complete the drop targets. If you miss the Ultra Jackpot, the Explosion hole relights until you shoot it again, or hit the Reactor Hole.

The base Jackpot value is 10M, and can be increased during normal play by shooting the Jet Bumpers or the unlit Dock ramp. The Jackpot value accumulates during the game; it never decreases.

Fast Frenzy

The Bike ramp lights Lock at the Lock Hole every five ramp shots. Shoot the Lock Hole when lit to select your award. `2', `3' and `4' are the number of balls in the Frenzy; the first is locked now, and the remainder must be locked before the current ball ends to start the Fast Frenzy. Although lock will remain lit between balls if no balls have been locked yet (i.e. you haven't made a selection), it will unlight at the end of the ball if you haven't locked the requisite number of balls, and you will have to re-light Lock at the ramp and start again.

Fast Frenzy is a fairly simple multiball: shoot Mission Start when lit to score a Jackpot, and shoot the drops to light or build the jackpot value. When scored, the jackpot must be re-lit before it can be scored again. The base Jackpots value is balls-in-play * (balls-at-start-of-frenzy + 1M * Frenzies started), and is multiplied by the number of drop targets down except when all 6 are down when a 10x Jackpot is awarded. The drops reset when a jackpot is collected. Clearly, a 4-ball multiball is much more lucrative than a 2-ball (but correspondingly difficult to start). While not a always a particularly high-scoring round (especially for early 2 or 3-ball Frenzies), the quotes are great. ("I'm impressed!")

For a description of the `?' option, and how to get a 6-ball Fast Frenzy, see Easter Eggs below.

Fast Frenzy ends when there are less than two balls in play.

Video Mode

Video Mode is lit at by collecting Power Level 5 (or possibly from an Explosion award). Start it by shooting the Lock Hole when lit.

This is a fast and surprisingly exciting video mode. The idea is to shoot the approaching mines, but avoid shooting awards (and let them hit you instead). The objects appear to the left or right of centre, and you have to use the corresponding flipper button to shoot them down. You begin with five lives; letting a mine hit you, or shooting the funny atom-shaped object loses you a life. The awards are spheres with `5' written on them; let them hit you (don't shoot 'em!) for 5M. There's also an extra ball (EB) towards the end of the wave, and shooting it is a Bad Idea ('Oh Dear...').

Later waves are the same, except you start with one less life each time you play (to a minimum of one life, i.e. 2 hits), but are worth correspondingly more as all awards are multiplied by the wave number (number of times you started video mode), except the 5M spheres. Mines score 1M*wave; score 2M*wave for collecting atoms. Completion awards a Showdown Sphere plus 100M*wave, or 250M*wave (!) for a perfect completion (by shooting all mines, but no spheres or atoms). This is pretty difficult, as the video mode speeds up a lot as you progress.

Explosions and The Magnet

There is an under-playfield magnet just in front of the tip of the upper flipper which is used to grab the ball for a clean shot at the Dock ramp. The idea is to shoot the Explosion Hole when the Magnet is lit (the small magnet-shaped light). The magnet activates and the ball is dropped near the magnet which grabs it. You wait a bit for the ball to settle and at the "Fire!" cue, you flip, hitting the ball and neatly sending it up the Dock ramp. Pressing the left flipper button cancels the magnet.

The magnet is lit at the start the game and by completing the 6 reactor drop targets during normal play (lights Light Magnet at the Reactor Hole) and then shooting the Reactor Hole itself. During multiball play, you only need to complete a single 3-bank to light Light Magnet.

The Magnet is also momentarily lit at the Explosion Hole after the ball travels through the rightmost left inlane. Shooting the Explosion Hole immediately lights the Magnet as usual, but also lights Dock for a very short period. Shooting Dock before it times out scores one Dock, but leaves Dock unlit.

The Explosion Hole also gives Explosion Awards when lit (at Power Level 2). Some of the awards I've seen include:

• Special
• Light outlanes
• Extra Ball lit
• Extra Ball
• Power level
• Super Jets
• Super Jets Held
• Video mode lit
• Video mode activated (plays immediately)
• Quick Shot lit
• Advance bonus X
• Bonus Held
• 30 second saver (Ball Rescue lit for 30 seconds)
• Magnet ready
• Explosion ready (whee!)
• Super Ball Rescue
• Fast Frenzy (immediate 3-ball multiball)

Super Jets

When Super Jets is active, the jet bumpers are worth 1M, 2M or 3M a pop (the amount corresponds to the number of bumpers that are flashing). The Super Jets value is advanced with a Super Jets award from the Explosion Hole or at Power Level 3. It can also be advanced by shooting the small lane below the jet bumpers when the red light ("Super Jets") is flashing; you do this by shooting the same lane when it's unlit. In short, shooting the lane twice in fairly short order advances the Super Jets value.

Normally, the Super Jets value resets to zero (off) at the start of each ball. However, a Super Jets Held award (from Explosions or the Loop) maintains the value to the next ball. In this case the bumpers will be solidly lit, instead of flashing.

The Loop

Repeated shots to the Loop are possible, and quite valuable as well!

Firstly, complete shots around the Loop are counted and accumulated during the game, and are each worth 400K at Fun With Bonus.

Secondly, consecutive shots around the Loop are counted, and the person to score the most is the Loop Champion. Three consecutive shots awards Bonus Held and four consecutive shots awards Super Jets Held.

Best of all, Extra Balls can be lit from the Loop as well. The number of Loops required is listed in the Status Report. It starts at 2 Loops, and increases by 1 Loop every time an Extra Ball is collected (by whatever method). It is obviously very good strategy, then, to get the extra ball for 2 loops, then 3 loops, then 4 loops. After that, then you can get the rest of the extra balls. If you get an extra ball from Bonus X, for example, before the 2-loop one, then it will still go up to 3 loops. Extra Balls lit from the Loop are hurry-up Extra Balls; you must shoot the Mission Start while the EB light is still flashing to collect it. Unfortunately, the hurry-up timer decreases with the number of loops required to light it, so it's just about impossible to collect a 5-loop extra ball.

Bike Ramp

Shots to the Bike Ramp are counted, much like for the Shuttle ramp in ST:TNG. Ordinarily, shots to the Bike Ramp add one ramp shot to the total, but if one (both) of the 2x lights are flashing or lit the shot counts for 2 (4) ramp shots. Shooting one of the 2x targets makes it flash for a while; shooting the Lock hole when it's not lit for Lock or Video Mode and when no mode or mission is running lights one of the 2x targets until the ramp is shot.

Lock is lit at the Lock hole at 1 ramp and every multiple of 5 ramp shots. In addition, Extra Ball is lit at 20, 50, 100 and 150 ramp shots.

Bonus

Bonus is awarded at the end of each ball (provided you don't tilt). Bonus is calculated as follows: (400K per loop + 500K per power level collected + 600K per combo) * Bonus Multiplier.

The bonus multiplier is advanced (1x - 2x - 4x - 6x - 8x - 10x) by completing the rollover lanes above the jet bumpers. (It may also be advanced by a random Explosion award.) Completing the rollovers when the bonus is already at 10x award Bonus Maxed for 10M+5M, apparently without limit. Bonus Maxed (not 10x bonus) also lights the "Bonus" light for Ultimate Showdown.

The bonus resets to 1x at the end of the ball, unless Bonus Held is scored (from Loops or from an Explosion Award) during the current ball. If you have 10x Bonus Held, the Bonus Maxed value will reset to 10M for the next ball, however.

Once per game, the Extra Ball is lit by scoring 10x bonus.

Extra Balls

This game is littered with extra balls:

• 10x bonus (once)
• Video mode (once)
• Bike ramp (20, 50, 100 and 150 ramps)
• Loop (consecutive loops, hurry-up EB)
• Explosion award (maybe)
• Outlanes (maybe)
• Skyscraper raid mission (difficult)

Secrets and Easter Eggs

Like any good pinball machine, The Web contains several secret modes and special surprises (even a cow!). But of course, it's more fun to find them out for yourself.

Changes in Version 1.10E

The following changes were introduced between version 1.00E and version 1.10E of The Web:

• New backglass (although the old backglass still appears in the slide show)
• The Super Skill Shot advances the next skill shot value by 25M, not 50M
• The Dock ramp advances the Jackpot by 1M, not 750K.
• Video mode is no longer lit at the start of the game. You can see your score during video mode.
• Score award for power levels after level 8
• Some minor bug-fixes to the game engine