Strategy Guide - Guide for NBA Hangtime

---------------------------------------------------------
CHARACTER CREATION
---------------------------------------------------------

NBA Hangtime allows you, for the cost equal to one period of the game,
to create your own character. 

First you enter a six-character name for your player (like FOREGO).
Next you enter a four-digit (and/or space) PIN for your player.
A screen comes up with a depiction of your character on the upper right.
A column of options are on the left side of the screen. They are:
--View stats
        See your win-loss record, points for and against, trivia point score,
        number of world records held, and what teams have been defeated
--Choose attributes
        A new character has 40 attribute points which can be distributed among
        the following attributes:
        --Height
                Your height can range from 5'7" to 7'6". One point = one inch.
                Height probably slows you down a bit, but helps to block.
        --Weight
                Your weight can range from ??? to 295 pounds. One point = ???.
                Weight is probably related to how easily you knock others
                down or resist being knocked down with a push or dunk.
        --Head
                Choose from one of ??? heads. No cost.
        --Speed
                How fast your player will move.
        --Dunk
                Players with higher dunk values get rejected less during
                dunks and can jump from farther out.
        --Steal
                Players with higher steal values swipe at the ball and
                block or grab passed balls better.
        --Shoot
                Instead of 3-PT, there is the shoot attribute. It appears
                to be similar. Higher shoot values mean more accurate special
                shots like fadeaways and double-pump layins.
        --Block
                Players with higher block values jump higher for blocks,
                resist Powerful or Dunking players better, slow down
                players trying to move past them, and probably (?) are better
                at messing a player's shot up when they're nearby but not
                jumping.
        --Power
                Powerful players can knock down other players when dunking,
                laying up, leaning in on a jumper (maybe?), or shooting a
                running jumper (maybe?).
--Choose uniform
        Your player can wear any of the 29 NBA uniforms or can choose from one
        of ten custom uniforms. No cost.
--Choose privileges
        Your player starts out with two special priviliges. They can be one
        of the following:
        --No Tag Arrow
                I think this hides the arrow of your teammate so that you
                and your opponent don't know where your teammate is.
        --Big Head
                Gives your character a big head.
        --Hidden Attributes
                Your attributes will not be shown as a bar graph anymore.
        --Hidden Turbo
                The amount of turbo you have left is not shown. 
        --Drone Big Head
                Your CPU teammate (not human teammate?) has a big head.
        --Super rebound
                You rebound better. I believe that your character will
                try to 'home in' on the ball after you jump for it.
                I assume certain characters have this. Rodman, for
                example, rebounds a lot.
                (Strangely enough, I seem to get less rebounds with this
                privilege. I may be wrong.)
                This may be the "auto rebound" from the pre-release version.
        When your player becomes a Grand Champion, another privilege becomes
        available:
        --Smarter CPU drone
                Your CPU teammate plays better. This won't help if you have
                an idiot human for a teammate!
        These privileges appear on a pre-release version. They may not be
        available on the final version.
        --Break backboard
                Probably not allowed by the NBA for the final version...
        --Auto rebound
                This may be the old name for "Super Rebound".
        --Back door
                ??? Probably a debugging tool in the pre-release.
--Change nickname
        Change the six-character name you use for this character. Change the
        PIN, too, I believe. No cost.
--Change sound
        There are ??? digitized sounds for custom players' names in the 
        database. They range from "Viper" and "T-Rexx" to "Large Marge" or 
        "Pongo". No cost.
--Save and exit 
        Save changes to character. No cost.

You gain two attribute points for every three games won. To allocate them
to your character, you must spend more money and select CREATE A PLAYER
again. Enter your old name and PIN and the character will appear with his
or her current statistics. Needless to say, it's cheaper to wait a while
before upgrading a character!

HIDDEN ATTRIBUTES:
There are hidden attributes in the game.

PASS controls the speed of your players' passes. There does not appear
to be a way to adjust this directly during character creation, but it
is probably a function of your height, weight, and speed.

CLUTCH is another hidden attribute. It affects your character's success
of play in the last 10 seconds of any period. It is probably a function
of experience: the more games you've played (and won), the better your
clutch.
---------------------------------------------------------
SELECT A TEAM:
---------------------------------------------------------

On the team selection screen, you'll see various bar graphs depicting
the attributes of the two selected players on each team.

Press DOWN or UP to select a team. Press TURBO to see the team's
popularity, winning percentage, offensive and defensive rankings.
Press PASS, LEFT, or RIGHT to change players, and press SHOOT to select
the players.

TURBO will also change Dennis Rodman's hair color. His hair can be
blonde, blue, red, purple (default), black, green, and two other
colors.

---------------------------------------------------------
KEY:
---------------------------------------------------------
 
L, R, U, D = left, right, down, up
T = turbo
S = shoot
P = pass
+ = while doing other actions
, = do this, then do next
        Ex:(T, T) + L = press turbo twice while pressing left
    may also be given as a multiplied number.
        Ex:2xT, L = pressing turbo twice, then press left

---------------------------------------------------------
MOVES:
---------------------------------------------------------

There are several new moves in NBA Hangtime.

When this list says "while running", it means that you're moving while
holding turbo. Thus, a pull-up jumper will happen if you're running, but
if you're walking then you'll do a normal jumper.

-MOVE-                                  JOYSTICK MOTION         FROM

-block-                                 hold button until       on-screen
                                        ball is near, then      hint
                                        release

        Blocking (and goaltending) is now much more dependent on your timing.
        You can't just press SHOOT while on fire and expect to swat all
        incoming balls away; you now have to stand in the right spot and time
        the swat.

-defend-                                depends                 *C

        Stand as close to the ballhandler as possible. If he or she shoots, 
        the shot has a better chance of missing. Even with a thirty-five
        point lead and CPU assistance on, you can still mess up a player's
        shot this way!
        
-hook shot-                             (D or U) + S            *C

        There is a way to make it a turnaround hook shot. Perhaps a
        circular motion after starting a hook shot?

-Spin Move-                             (T, T) while running    *4

        But you must have enough turbo power to do it.

-Alley oop-                             without ball:           cabinet
                                          (T + S) to call for
                                          ball
                                        with ball:
                                          P or S while other
                                          player jumps/flashes

        The double dunk is a variation of the alley oop. Instead of
        lobbing from the floor, you're lobbing to your teammate in midair.

-Double dunk-                           P or S while other      *C
                                          player flashes
-Triple dunk-                                                   *6

        Hard, but same concept as the double dunk.


-fadeaway jumper-                       push away from basket   on-screen
                                          while shooting        hint

-lean-in jumper-                        while facing up or      on-screen
                                          down, push left or    hint
                                          right while shooting

-pull-up jumper-                        (T + S) while           *C
                                          running?
        (Could this move result in a "charge"?)

-charge-                        ? (Chat session said that charging exists)

While dunking, you can decide to lay up by pressing the shoot button again.
However, if your teammate is flashing, you will pass to him or her instead
of laying up. Beware.

When making a jumper, you can control the amount of time you hold the ball
by holding SHOOT. Because players now flail their arms around to block (they
don't stick their arms up for several seconds) there is a better chance
of shooting over a defender. However, your shot percentage does go way down
with a quick or slow shot.

---------------------------------------------------------
CODES:
---------------------------------------------------------

There are many new codes in NBA Hangtime.

*4 There appears to be a counter of button presses at the bottom of the 
screen. The number blocks act as counters. They count how many times certain 
buttons were pushed. (No, wait! I have proof!)

        During the match-up screen tap turbo twice.            [200]
        -Nothing, right?
        Tap it twice, tap left.                              L+[200]
        BANG: outdoor, roof-top court!  

        Now Try this:
        Tap turbo twice. (Nothing)                             [200]         
        then tap turbo twice more, then tap left.            L+[400]
        Roof-top court again. 

        See? it only counted how many times you hit the button 
        So, you CAN enter more than one code at a time.

*C HOW TO ENTER MULTIPLE CODES:

        It seems that you need to do all necessary button presses for a code,
        then press the direction for that code. Then continue to enter more 
        button presses and press more directions. Press down to finish.

        I'm not sure whether or not you need to have a total number of
        button presses equal to the total of all the codes' presses.

                Example: one multiple code I know is Hyper Speed + Shot %.
                                5xT, 5xS, 2xP, D, CW            [552]
                        To add rooftop court to that, is it
                                (2xT)+L, 5xT, 5xS, 2xP, D, CW   [752]
                        or is it 
                                (2xT)+L, 3xT, 5xS, 2xP, D, CW   [552]
                        Which one????????


COUNTER DEFINITION:
Digit:  1st     2nd     3rd
Button: TURBO   SHOOT   PASS

In this FAQ, all codes will be given with the motions and button presses, 
followed by the counter reading in brackets ([]). You may get the code 
working even if the counter on the screen may not the counter in this 
FAQ; see the above example for an explanation.

All codes are entered at the "Matchup" screen, unless otherwise noted.

Once you press down, all codes are locked in and no more can be entered.

---------------------------------------------------------
CODES AFFECTING GAMEPLAY:
---------------------------------------------------------

MOTION                  AFFECT                                  FROM

U + T                   = random select (on team select screen) *7

2xS, 5xP [025]          = baby mode                             *5

(P, P)+R [002]          = Computer assistance disabled          *4, *J

        Team with large lead will not be handicapped. 

(T, T)+L [200]          = outdoor court                         *2

        *D The rooftop code is apparently different on the beta and final 
        machines.
        *0 Beta machines have no cheerleaders, released machines do.

?                       = quick hands                           *J

rotate joystick CW once = shot percentage                       *J

        If you're having trouble getting it to work, try        *6
        pressing down to lock the code system, then rotate
        the joystick.

With the following codes, press down AFTER the button presses. If you do
it before pressing the buttons, the code system will lock and you won't be
able to put in any more button presses.

(T, S, S)+D [120]       =quick passing                          *0

(T, S, P)+D [111]       = Tournament mode                       *J

        Disables secret codes and hidden characters.

5xT, 5xS, 2xP, D [552]  = hyper speed (CPU also gets it...?)    *J

---------------------------------------------------------
CODES AFFECTING GRAPHICS:
---------------------------------------------------------

Code                    Effect                          Contributor
(T, S)+ U [101]         = big head                      *1, *!
(S, T, P)+ R [111]      = ABA ball (red, white, blue)   *!
 
---------------------------------------------------------
CODES FOR NEW CHARACTERS:
---------------------------------------------------------

Name    PIN     Character                       Contributor

AMRICH  2020    Dan Amrich                      *D (himself!)
                        Writer, SLAM magazine. Also a heavy contributor to
                        this FAQ!
DANR    0000    Dan Roan                        *M, *0, *D
                        Host of WGN's "Bull's Eye", a Bulls pregame show.
TURMEL  0322    Mark Turmell                    *5 
                        Developer of NBA Hangtime.
SNO     0103    Sheridan Oursler                *6
                        Developer of NBA Hangtime and some great pinball 
                        games.
ROOT    6000    ?                               *6
DIVITA  0201    Sal Divita                      *0, *!
                        Developer of NBA Hangtime, was Nightwolf and robots
                        in MK3.
MUNDAY  5432    Larry Munday                    *M, *LM 
                        Writer, Play Meter Magazine and friend of Mark 
                        Turmell.

The following have been seen by reliable sources, but no code is known:

?       ?       Ehrlich                         *C
                        Ehrlich's head changes when he shoots. This
                        looks like a bug.
?       ?       Japple
?       ?       Cary Mednick (ref?)
?       ?       Vinikour
?       ?       Air Morris                      *D
                        Willie Morris, local Chicago basketball player and
                        model for the animations.
?       ?       Hedrick
?       ?       Larry Johnson
                        Forward for Charlotte Hornets.
?       ?       M-DOC
                        Rapper of the Hangtime theme.
?       ?       Jason Kidd
                        Point guard for the Dallas Mavericks.
?       ?       Marty Martinez
?       ?       Fitzgerald
?       ?       Bardo
?       ?       Karl Malone
                        Forward for the Utah Jazz.
?       ?       John Tobias
                        Developer of Mortal Kombat.
?       ?       Carlos Pesina
                        Mortal Kombat fighter model.
?       ?       Ed Boon                         *D
                        Developer of Mortal Kombat, voice of Rudy in 
                        Funhouse, programmed Taxi.
?       ?       Scottie Pippen
                        Forward for the Chicago Bulls.

---------------------------------------------------------
THANKS TO:
---------------------------------------------------------

    e-mail address                      name or handle  Affiliation
 
*C: [email protected]                 Carl Chavez     me
*D: [email protected]                   Dan Amrich      SLAM magazine
*J: via [email protected]               Paul ?          NBAJin (?)
*M: [email protected]                  Midway Design   Midway Games
*LM: (confidential)                     Larry Munday    Play Meter magazine
*0: [email protected]        Jerry Cattell   previous NBA Jam FAQs
*1: [email protected]                     The BIah        ?
*2: [email protected]                    Par4ryan        ?
*3: [email protected]              John Bailon     Sunnyvale Golfland
*4: [email protected]               Hawk            Black Talon, Inc.
*5: [email protected]             Bryan Alfaro    Diversions game room
*6: [email protected]              Ken Steiner     ?
*7: [email protected]     Mark R Coates   ?

*!: public chat sessions on America Online with Midway programmers

Thanks also to John Bailon for reminding me to put the information 
on how to change Rodman's hair color into the FAQ.

---------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1996 Carl Chavez and contributors. This document may not be
published for profit without prior written consent from
Carl Chavez and _all_those_listed_in_the_"Thanks To:"_section_
_of_this_document_. This document may be distributed for free.
I WILL aggressively pursue any major violations.


+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Carl Chavez   [email protected]     http://nwlink.com/~forego19     |
| Visit the Bub and Bob home page: http://nwlink.com/~forego19/bb.html  |
| Everything about Bubble Bobble and all its derivatives!               |
| NBA Hangtime Page: http://nwlink.com/~forego19/hangtime/index.html    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+