Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray

"I am way cool."

- "I" exam result

Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray
Date available	October 20, 2020
Category	The Williams collection
Based on	Characters created by Dennis Nordman
Designed by	Dennis Nordman; recreation by Zoltan Vari
Achievement	"The "HIP"-O-CRATIC Oath" - Become a Super Dude.
Plunger mechanism	Straight into irregular one-way orbit
Skill shot type	Plunger timing
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	2
Outlane protection	N/A
Number of main missions	N/A
Wizard mode type	Victory jackpot
Number of side modes	N/A
Number of multiball modes	1

Dr. Dude and His Excellent Ray is one of three Williams pinball tables released in the sixth wave of Zen Studios' Williams pinball collection, available in Pinball FX 3, the macOS version of Zen Pinball 2 and the Williams Pinball mobile app.  It follows the efforts of a scientist dude to become the coolest scientist in the world by inventing a powerful ray comprising of three particular components that he can apply upon himself.

The main protagonist of the table's scenario also makes an appearance in the crossover table The Party Zone, available in the second volume of Zen Studios' Williams pinball table collection.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

The titular Excellent Ray that Dr. Dude is inventing is installed on the left end of the table's back wall, represented as a large red ramp. In front of it is a bumper area which can be entered up the right orbit or a central lane. Balls in the bumper area can exit through the same central lane or down a one-way left orbit that cannot be shot up. Instead, any ball that goes up this lane will lead to a vertical upkicker that pops the ball into a wavy exit habitrail running along the side of the table wall to the left inlane. This VUK represents activation of the Excellent Ray, as it is placed near its large red lamp.

To the right of this lane is the table's lone ramp. It rises and curves right and threads through the back table wall to take a short, tight right U-turn. After returning to the table area, this ramp ends by dropping the ball directly onto a raised triangular spindisk structure called the Molecular Mix Master, the machine that Dr. Dude uses to mix the three ingredients of his Ray together once they are procured. The spindisk spins the ball inside randomly, allowing it to hit three small different-colored target banks (3 targets per bank for a total of 9), one for each vertex of the triangular platform before exiting down a wavy habitrail that runs along the right table wall towards the right inlane.

Right beside the Molecular Mix Master ramp is a red target representing the Heart of Rock and Roll, a critical component of the Ray. This target is right next to the table's central lane, leading to the bumper area. Behind this bumper area, at the back center of the table, is a hidden target that triggers an assessment of the "I" exam, with its outcome determined by which lamp was lit above it at the time it was hit. The right side of this lane is lined by a side-facing target bank that spells REFLEX.

To the right of the central lane is another lone red target, with a figure of a "big shot" bully standing behind it. This target represents retaliation against a childhood bully of Dr. Dude. Right next to this target is a short lane leading to another VUK, representing the Gift of Gab, another critical component of the Ray. This VUK pops the ball up a short habitrail that merges into the right exit habitrail that begins from the Molecular Mix Master. The right orbit is right next to this lane.

The lower half of the table

There is a short lane to the left of and in front of the ray activator lane and it represents the Magnetic Personality, a critical component of the Ray. It ends at a lone green target, with a magnet installed underneath and midway this lane. On the other side of the table is a side-facing target bank whose targets collapse after they are struck.

There are four return lanes, two rebounds and two flippers. A vertical line of lamps appear in the dead space to represent the Dude-O-Meter, a meter that fills as Dr. Dude becomes "cooler".

The plunger

The plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism that launches the ball up a straight shaft, before merging with the right orbit, following its path as the ball is dropped into play.

The goal of the skill shot is to plunge the ball into play when the top lamp on the "I" exam is lit, as the lamps constantly cycle, for 100,000 points. This skill shot is inaccessible on Zen physics due to a glitch, but strong shots to the right orbit during normal play will also collect this reward.

Objective

Help Dr. Dude build his Excellent Ray and become an even cooler dude by collecting the three Elements of Coolness, then powering up the Ray to start 2-ball multiball. The inserts directly above the flippers indicate the level of "dude" that Dr. Dude has become; 5 playthroughs of multiball in a single game will turn him into a Super Dude, and qualify the gazillion point shot at the ramp.

Elements of Coolness

The player can collect the three Elements of Coolness - Magnetic Personality, Heart of Rock & Roll, and Gift of Gab - by shooting their respective shots across the playfield enough times. Only two shots to each element are required to collect them for the first multiball activation, but subsequent multiball activations in the session will require three shots to each. Shots to each element score 5,000, then 25,000, and finally 50,000; these values can be collected even if the elements have already been spotted. Progress towards collecting the Elements of Coolness is retained from ball to ball. The player can also spot elements by making 10 hits to any of the banks of colored targets in the Mix Master, or as a random award from the Bag of Tricks.

Activating the ray & Multiball

After collecting all three Elements of Coolness, the player must activate the ray and start 2-ball multiball by first shooting the ramp, followed by a shot to the left VUK. If the player drains while trying to activate the ray, progress will carry over to the next ball. The Bag of Tricks can also light the ramp, or automatically activate the ray if certain conditions are met. To score the jackpot, the player must shoot the ramp until the ball hits any combination of the targets inside the Mix Master enough times (10 for the first jackpot + 10 for subsequent jackpots). The jackpot value for multiball starts at 1 million points, and increases by 100,000 points each time one of the target banks in the Mix Master is hit, up to 5 million. If the player completes the drop targets during multiball, the jackpot value will be doubled until the player collects it or drains out of multiball. After multiball ends, regardless of whether or not a jackpot was collected, all playfield scoring will be doubled for the rest of the ball.

Gazillion Point Shot

Every time the player starts multiball, the Dude-O-Meter at the center of the table will increase by one level. The five possible levels are Dude, Party Dude, Cool Dude, Major Dude and finally Super Dude. Once the player reaches Super Dude status, either by playing multiball five times or by advancing the meter there off of the Bag of Tricks, the next multiball will enable the gazillion point shot at the ramp, which takes priority over the normal jackpot sequence and scores 500,000 points multiplied by the number of targets the ball hit while inside the Mix Master. Collecting the gazillion point shot will reset the Dude-O-Meter for another attempt at becoming a Super Dude. (On the real table, the Dude-O-Meter progress carried over between games; in the recreation, to prevent exploits in challenge modes, the Dude-O-Meter level resets between sessions.)

Perks

The following perks can be activated during play:

• Ball Saver: Balls will be saved if the player drains without hitting a single switch on the playfield.
• 2x Scoring: Once the player exits multiball, all playfield scoring during single-ball play will be doubled. If the player activates multiball again while 2x scoring is running, the multiplier will be disabled until the player exits the multiball again.
• REFLEX 1-2-3: Hitting all six of the REFLEX standup targets will light the left VUK to start the timed REFLEX 1-2-3 sequence. After shooting the left VUK, the player must shoot the Gift of Gab VUK, then the Magnetic Personality target within 10 seconds per shot to score a bonus that starts at 1 million points and increases by 250,000 points each time the REFLEX targets are completed without completing all three shots. The bonus value resets to 1 million once collected.
• The Big Shot & Big Score: Collecting one of the Elements of Coolness will light the Big Shot target to earn 10,000 points, then 20,000 points + 20,000 per collection to a maximum of 100,000. Lit Big Shot targets can be stacked, and each lit target hit will add 100,000 points to the Big Score that can be collected at either outlane, which starts at 200,000 points and maxes out at 1 million.
• Drop Target Awards: Three alternating awards can be collected from the drop target bank, which also increases the bonus multiplier and lights Bag of Tricks if it isn't currently lit. These awards, in order, are:
  • Light Molecular Million: Collected on the second, sixth, etc. drop target bank completion. Lights the ramp to score 1 million points the next time it is shot. Molecular Millions can be stacked if one is already lit.
  • Light Extra Ball: Collected on the third, seventh, etc. drop target bank completion. Lights an extra ball at the left VUK.
  • Hot Score: Collected on the fourth, eighth, etc. drop target bank completion. Scores 100,000 points.
• Bonus Multiplier: Completing the right target bank will advance the end-of-ball bonus multiplier by +2x, which only lasts for the current ball and maxes out at 6x bonus.
• Bag of Tricks: At the start of each new ball, Bag of Tricks will be lit to collect at the left VUK; once it has been collected, the drop target bank will have to be completed to relight it. Bag of Tricks is a pseudo-random award, with increased percentages of certain awards if the player has accomplished certain tasks (it will frequently award "Excellent Ray Activated" if collected when the ramp shot is lit to activate the ray.), and won't award items that contradict the player's current status. Possible random awards include:
  • Points (25,000 - 400,000... or "a measly 10 points")
  • Collection of one or all of the Elements of Coolness
  • Advancing or maxing out the Dude-O-Meter
  • Advancing or maxing out the bonus multiplier
  • Maxing out the multiball jackpot at 5 million
  • Increased slingshot scoring (10,000 points per slingshot)
  • Maximum bumper scoring
  • An extra tilt warning -> CORRECTED - 3 strikes and you are out - 2 warnings and 3rd is a tilt. This gives you a tilt warning back!!. Does NOT reduce the sensitivity!!!
  • Lightin!!! the Molecular Million
  • Lighting REFLEX 1-2-3
  • Lighting an extra ball
• Bumper Scoring: Every shot to the right orbit increases the bumper value. Once three shots to the right orbit are made, all three bumpers will be flashing and score 5,000 points per bump.
• Special: Once the player reaches the replay score of 5 million points, a special worth an extra ball can be collected by shooting the left VUK.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be lit at the left VUK by completing the drop target bank when Light Extra Ball is flashing, as a random Bag of Tricks award, or as a pity award if the player scores below 1 million points on the first two balls combined. Up to 2 extra balls can be claimed per ball in play.
• End-of-ball bonus: Various switches add points to the end-of-ball bonus, which maxes out at 198,000 points, before being multiplied by the bonus multiplier. The maximum end-of-ball bonus is 1,188,000 points.

Tips

• Dr. Dude is one of the most aggressive tables in Pinball FX3, requiring players to be on-point with their nudging and shot-making skills to have any chance of getting a high score. The bumpers have a particularly high chance of draining the ball quickly; to avoid this, plunge the ball with low strength to get the ball on either lower flipper, and make shots from there. Similarly, don't intentionally aim for the REFLEX target bank unless you're in multiball and you're only one target away from lighting the feature.
• The drop target bank rewards can be immensely valuable; Bag of Tricks can spot progress towards collecting the Elements of Coolness and award other goodies, the Molecular Million can be multiplied by double scoring for an easy 2 million points, and completing the drop targets enough times is the only reliable way to light extra balls. During multiball, completing the drop targets can be less risky and more rewarding, as they will also double the jackpot value.
• During multiball, get control of the 2 balls as quickly as possible, and have one ball on both flippers. Repeatedly shoot the ramp with the ball on the right flipper to progress towards collecting jackpots, while holding the other flipper to save weak shots to the ramp that can otherwise quickly drain.

Gift of Gab quotes -> 2 versions exist. European has "always be excellent, never be rude" some NA tables have "always be excellent, never be mean" which doesn't work. I know all this because I released the Visual Pinball version many years ago. Destruk hijacked it as he couldn't play it and altered flipper strength to get up the Mix Master ramp easier.. I know the truth!! - Same with extra tilt warning. Took me 3 months to gather the hires photos from Australian friend and edit the table. Took Destruk 3 days to take it from me!!

External links

• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)