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************************ Slam City with Scottie Pippen ************************
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Produced by Baker McCutcheon (bakermccutcheon@gmail.com), (c) August, 2015

Table of Contents

1) Why Am I Doing This?
2) Game Information
3) Welcome to Slam City
4) Objective
5) Controls
6) Options
7) Walkthrough
8) A Few More Tips
9) Special Thanks


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                   **** Section 1 - Why Am I Doing This? ****
###############################################################################

A few weeks before writing this FAQ I set out to stream myself beating every
single 32X/32XCD game. The first two games that I tried were Spiderman: Web of
Fire and Mortal Kombat 2. I had no problem beating either of those. Then, for
fun, I thought I would take a stab at Slam City with Scottie Pippen. I
instantly became aware that this game was nearly impossible to beat if you
tried to beat it the way the developers intended you to. You are supposed to
look for "breaks" in your opponent's defense but I quickly realized that a
"break" is a matter of opinion. Where I thought the "breaks" were and where the
developers thought the "breaks" were did not coincide with each other. I became
very frustrated to say the least and I thought my quest to beat all 32X/32XCD
games might become an unrealized pipe dream.

Then something occurred to me when I was playing against Mad Dog (one of your
four opponents). When I was on offense and he tossed me the ball, he would
always say or do something a little bit different. I also noticed that the game
did not switch scenes between the time he passed me the ball and when I was
driving towards the basket. So that means for each comment/action you should be
able to predict what will happen in that scene. So I went into training mode
and wrote down what Mad Dog did/said when he was passing me the ball and when
(using the shot clock) and how I was supposed to break past him.

The developers must have thought about this somewhat because there are A LOT of
different comments/actions, many of which are almost indistinguishable from
each other. For instance, Mad Dog might say "Let's see what you got" before
passing me the ball in one scene and in another scene he might say the same
thing but with a slightly different inflection. Even worse, some opponents
don't even say or do anything before they throw the ball in. Those issues
aside, there was enough difference between most of the opening comments/actions
for me to win with regularity.

Anyway, it was that discovery that led me down the path to beating this game
and showing Pippen what's what.


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                    **** Section 2 - Game Information ****
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Slam City with Scottie Pippen is a 1-player, one-on-one Full Motion Video (FMV)
basketball video game developed by Digital Pictures for the PC, Sega CD and
Sega 32XCD. It was released in 1994. Scottie Pippen stars in the game, and
performed the theme song. Ron Stein, who had previously directed the video
footage for Prize Fighter (another FMV game), directed the video footage for
the game.

In the game, players face various opponents in one-on-one games of basketball,
including Pippen himself.

The game allowed video playback of low resolution MPEG video without
specialized hardware utilizing video compression technology that Digital
Pictures dubbed "Digichrome." Lag free on-screen selection was accomplished
through a disc layout and buffering technology the company called
"Instaswitch".


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                  **** Section 3 - Welcome to Slam City ****
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(The text below is taken directly from game manual)

Look, this ain't some kind of summer camp.
This is the street.
We don't play ball here just to pass time.
It's a way of life.
We take our hoops seriously.
Around here, we play to win.
All right, Ace. You're the new guy.
So it's not like we're just going to give you respect.
You're gonna have to earn it.

You are gonna take on four of the toughest players Slam City has to offer.
You make a nice shot against these guys, you get some respect.
You take it to the hoop strong, you get more respect.
You figure out how to really sky - and I mean some outrageous slam-dunk action
- you're gonna see that respect really take off.
'Course, respect ain't all a one-way street.
Let one of these guys get by you and you're gonna lose some of that respect.
Let them beat you, and we're talkin' sinking ship.
What does all this respect get you?
A chance for a shot at the pros, maybe a Nike shoe deal of your own, and - oh,
yeah - a chance to go one-on-one with da man himself - Scottie Pippen!


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                        **** Section 4 - Objective ****
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The objective of this game is to earn respect. Respect can be gained or lost in
a variety of ways. Here is a quick summary:

Ways to gain respect:
- Block/reject an opponent's shot
- Steal the ball from an opponent
- Rebounding a ball after a missed shot
- Cause an opponent's shot clock to run out
- Score on an opponent (Slam dunks are worth more than other shots)
- Beat an opponent (the worse you beat them, the more points you earn)

Ways to lose respect:
- Your opponent blocks/rejects your shot
- You start shooting but never let go of the "A" button
- Your opponent steals the ball from you (this only occurs if you break in the
wrong direction. More on this later)
- Your opponent rebounds the ball
- Your shot clock runs out before you shoot
- Your opponent scores against you
- Your opponent beats you (the worse you get beat, the more points you lose)

There are four different opponents of varying difficulty that you will be
playing against in order to gain respect. They are:

Fingers:
He talks a lot of trash. He has to look good when he scores.

Juice:
She can hit anything from anywhere. Competition is her middle name; makin' you
look bad is her game.

Mad Dog:
He's been known to ask for help climbing off the backboard after skying past
you to the hoop. White men can jump.

Smash:
He's from the same gene pool as the big men. Hates humanity. Hates you.

Scottie Pippen:
The real thing-not some cheap cartoon character that maybe on a good day sorta
look like him. There ain't nobody tougher.


The ultimate objective of the game is to play against (and beat) Scottie Pippen
himself. In order to do this, you must accumulate 1,000,000,000 (1 Billion)
respect points. You will then be presented with a congratulatory video and have
a chance to face the master.


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                        **** Section 5 - Controls ****
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Offense:
- Move "left" and "right" with the d-pad to get a clear shot at the basket
without your opponent getting in the way.
- Press the "A" button to begin your shot. Time your release so that you let go
of the "A" button when you are as close as possible to the top of your jump.
Failure to let go of the "A" button will result in you losing serious respect.
You should also make sure that your opponent's hands are not up when shooting.
- Pressing "up" and "down" on the d-pad will adjust the strength of your shot.
The further you are from the basket, the more strength you will need. The
closer you are to the basket, the less strength you need.
- Pressing "B" while you are at the extreme left or the extreme right can
result in a slam dunk. You will only perform a dunk if you press the "B" button
at the correct time and you are on the correct side of the screen. If you are
on the wrong side of the screen when you press the "B" button, your opponent
will steal the ball from you. One huge problem with this game is that it is not
obvious when you are allowed to break past your opponent. As mentioned above,
that was my main motivation for making this FAQ.
- If you miss a shot and there is an opportunity for a rebound, press the d-pad
"left" and "right" to move and press the "A" button to jump for the ball.

Defense:
- Move "left" and "right" to try to position yourself in front of your
opponent. The better job you do at staying in front of your opponent, the less
likely they are to break past you.
- If you think you can tell which direction your opponent is about break
toward, you can steal the ball by moving to the extreme left or extreme right
and pressing the "C" button. If you are on the wrong side of the screen when
you press the "C" button, your opponent will blow past you.
- If your opponent tries to take a shot, press the "A" button to get your hands
up in their face. This will decrease the odds of your opponent making the shot.
- Additionally, if your opponent tries to take a shot, press the "B" button at
the right time to reject their shot.
- If your opponent misses a shot and there is an opportunity for a rebound,
press the d-pad "left" and "right" to move and press the "A" button to jump for
the ball.


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                        **** Section 6 - Options ****
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Save Game:
Not much to say here. I would save after victory so that you can restore your
game if you lose a game later on.

Restore Game:
Use this option to load a previously saved game. If you are saving every time
you win a game, then you can load from your last save so that you never lose
respect points.

Delete Game:
Removes previously saved Slam City games. You can save up to 10 Slam City
games. Deleting a saved Slam City game does not free up any backup RAM,
however.

Delete Backup RAM File:
Removes files from backup RAM. The Slam City saved games are stored in a file
called "SLAMCITYSAV". The high score data is saved in a file called
"SLAMCITYHGH".

High Score List:
Displays the top ten respected players.

Statistics:
Displays your performance stats against your opponents.

Music:
You can toggle the music on and off. The music is funky as hell, so I would
recommend cranking it. It might be easier to hear what your opponents are
saying to you if you turn the music off, however. I will go into why this is
important in the next section.

Training Mode:
When training mode is enabled, the game will tell you when it is appropriate to
break past your opponent when you are on offense. It will also tell you when it
is appropriate to steal the ball from your opponent when you are on defense.
The word "BREAK" will appear on one side of the screen. For instance, if you
are on offense and the word break appears at the top left when there is 7
seconds on the shot clock, your character would need to be at the extreme left
of the screen and you would need to press the "B" button at that moment to
break past them. Alternatively, if you are on defense and the word "BREAK"
appears at the top right when there is 5 seconds on the shot clock, your
character would need to be at the extreme right of the screen and you would
need to press the "C" button to steal the ball. While in training mode you do
not gain or lose respect points.

Buckets Mode:
When buckets mode is OFF, the ball changes possession when a player scores. If
buckets mode is ON, a player continues to have possession until they miss a
shot or the ball gets stolen from them.

Game Type:
This is where you choose how each game will end. You can choose to have the
game end when a player gets a certain number of points or you can choose to
have the game end after a certain amount of time has elapsed. The "SCORE TO 7"
option will make it so the games go by the quickest.


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                       **** Section 7 - Walkthrough ****
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Here's the moment you've been waiting for. I must preface that this walkthrough
is INCOMPLETE. I am basically just sharing the information that I compiled
myself that helped me beat the game. I have done my best to describe each
players opening actions/comments, as well as, when to perform your breaks and
steals. Because some of the actions/comments are very similar for some
opponents there may be some ambiguity as to what you should do at a given time.
That's why I have multiple "break" times listed for a given action/comment.
Sometimes you just have to choose one and/or use visual cues to help you as
well.

Before we begin, let me show you how to use the hints below. Let's say for
example you are reading this hint:

Fingers: Says "Poopy butt"
You: Break left at 8

This would mean that if Fingers says "Poopy butt" as he is throwing you the
ball, then you would need to head to the extreme left of the screen and press
"B" when the shot clock has 8 seconds left.

Alrighty then, let's hop in.

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                                  - Fingers -
*******************************************************************************

Fingers is the second easiest of the four opponents because it's a little
easier to spot his openings and his actions/comments are relatively easy to
distinguish from each other.

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Fingers: Dribbles, clasps ball, pulls up shorts
You: Break left at 10 or Break left at 6

Fingers: Dribbles then mumbles "Come on"
You: Break right at 10, break left at 7

Fingers: Dribbles, then says "Let's go Ace, come on"
You: Break right at 7

Fingers: Dribbles, clasps ball
You: Break right at 6 or left at 6

Fingers: Clasps ball twice, then says "Let's go, Ace"
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Dribbles, clasps ball, then says "Come on, Ace, Let's go"
You: Break left at 5

Fingers: Says "Let's see what you got"
You: Break left at 5.5

Fingers: Says "Let's go, Ace"	(In a low voice)
You: Break right at 7 or left at 6

Fingers: Mumbles "Come on, Ace"
You: Break right at 6

Fingers: Dribbles then mumbles incoherently
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Clasps ball twice
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Dribbles, clasps ball, makes "sss" sound
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Says normally "Come on, Ace"
You: Break left at 6

Fingers: Says "Ace"
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Says "Let's go, baby"
You: Break right at 9

Fingers: Says "Let's go, baby. Come on."
You: Break left at 7

Fingers: Dribbles a bunch, then says "Yo, baby. Come on"
You: Break right at 7

Fingers: Says "Come on, baby, let's go"
You: Break left at 9 or break left at 5

Fingers: Says "Come on, baby"
You: Break left at 7

#########################
#When you are on defense#
#########################

Fingers: Flails around
You: Steal left at 10

Fingers: Claps once
You: Steal left at 8

Fingers: Says "Ball"
You: Steal right at 9

Fingers: Wiggles fingers and mumbles
You: Steal right at 10

Fingers: Clasps ball
You: Steal right at 8

Fingers: Holds hands out
You: Steal right at 6

Fingers: Makes loud panting sounds
You: Steal right at 7

Fingers: Wiggles fingers then says "Come on"
You: Steal right at 6.5

Fingers: Wiggles and claps
You: Steal right at 5

Fingers: Claps and wiggles
You: Steal left at 10

Fingers: Wiggles fingers, claps, mumbles "Come on"
You: Steal left at 8


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                                - Juice -
*******************************************************************************

Juice is the toughest opponent in my opinion because she is not very vocal. You
have to depend on just her actions to tip you off and many of her actions look
the same to me. I would play against her as little as possible.

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Juice: Dribble, clasp
You: Break left at 10 or left at 7

Juice: Hard clasp
You: Break right at 7

Juice: Hard clasp then waits
You: Break left at 7

Juice: Dribble, clasp, dribble, clasp
You: Break right at 10 or left at 8

Juice: Clasp, dribble
You: Break right at 7 or left at 7

Juice: Dribble, clasp then waits
You: Break left at 10 or right at 7

Juice: Regular clasp
You: Break left at 7 or right at 7 or left at 5

Juice: Clasp from far away
You: Break right at 7

Juice: Dribbles three times
You: Break right at 10

Juice: Dribble, dribble, clasp
You: Break right at 10

#########################
#When you are on defense#
#########################

Juice: Calmly Says "Ball"
You: Steal left at 7 or right at 6

Juice: Says "Ball" with moderate energy
You: Steal left at 8

Juice: Says "Ball...Ball" with a little attitude
You: Steal right at 7 or left at 7

Juice: Mumbles something then says "Ball"
You: Steal left at 10

Juice: Says "Gimme the ball"
You: Steal right at 10

Juice: Holds hands out
You: Steal right at 10

Juice: Claps
You: Steal left at 3 or right at 5

Juice: Flicks nose
You: Steal left at 7

Juice: Says "Ball" with hands out
You: Steal right at 7

Juice: Says "Ball" quietly with one hand out
You: Steal left at 10
Juice: Mumbles
You: Steal right at 7

Juice: Says "Ball" with attitude
You: Steal right at 10

*******************************************************************************
                                 - Mad Dog -
*******************************************************************************

Mad Dog is by far the easiest opponent because he is so vocal. It's easy to
describe what he says and it's pretty easy to see his openings. I would play
against him as much as possible to get respect points. Remember, though, that
you get less respect each time you play the same opponent, so you have to mix
it up somewhat.

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Mad Dog: Says "Lock you up" in a slightly angry tone
You: Break right at 7

Mad Dog: Says "Lock you up" in an angrier tone
You: Break left at 7 or 5

Mad Dog: Says "Mad dog"
You: Break left at 7

Mad Dog: Shakes/nods head
You: Break right at 6 (7)

Mad Dog: Says "Let's see what you got, Ace"
You: Break right at 10 or left at 10 or left at 7 or right at 6

Mad Dog: Quietly says "Let's see what you got, Ace"
You: Break right at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Let's see what you got"
You: Break left at 10 or break right at 8

Mad Dog: Says "Let's go, Ace"
You: Break right at 7

Mad Dog: Dribbles then passes
You: Break left at 7 or right at 10

Mad Dog: Dribbles, then slams ball down
You: Break left at 5

Mad Dog: Says "Your ball"
You: Break right at 7

Mad Dog: Mumbles something like "Gun nam gen" (Let's begin???)
You: Break left at 7

Mad Dog: Says "Give me your best shot"
You: Break left at 5

Mad Dog: Says "Let's see what you got, champ"
You: Break right at 7

Mad Dog: Says something like "Ball King"
You: Break left at 7

Mad Dog: Says something like "Thank god"
You: Break right at 7

Mad Dog: Clasps hands on ball
You: Break left at 10 or right at 7 or left at 7

Mad Dog: Says "Go"
You: Break right at 7

#########################
#When you are on defense#
#########################

Mad Dog: Reaches
You: Steal right at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Give up the rock punk"
You: Steal left at 6.5 or right at 6.5

Mad Dog: Says "Go"
You: Steal left at 10 or right at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Have the ball"
You: Steal right at 7

Mad Dog: Says "Can't hold me"
You: Steal right at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Give me the ball punk"
You: Steal left at 8

Mad Dog: Says "Ball"
You: Steal left at 10 or Steal left at 5.5

Mad Dog: Says "Give me the rock"
You: Steal left at 6.5

Mad Dog: Shrugs
You: Steal left at 7

Mad Dog: Says "Give up the rock tough guy"
You: Steal left at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Let's go give up the rock"
You: Steal right at 10

Mad Dog: Says "Ball punk"
You: Steal left at 10

Mad Dog: Says "The rock"
You: Steal right at 7

Mad Dog: Motions toward you
You: Steal left at 10 or right at 6

*******************************************************************************
                                 - Smash -
*******************************************************************************

Smash is the second most difficult opponent in my opinion because he is not
very vocal and many of his actions/comments look the same. I would try to play
against him as little as possible.

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Smash: Says "Your ball, kid"
You: Break left at 7

Smash: Holds ball down with one hand then passes
You: Break left at 10 or right at 10 or right at 7 or left at 7

Smash: Mumbles then passes
You: Break left at 6

Smash: Dribbles twice then passes
You: Break left at 7 or left at 5

Smash: Stalls then passes
You: Break left at 10 or right at 7 or right at 5

Smash: Dribbles once then passes
You: Break right at 7

Smash: Throws up ball (plays around with the ball)
You: Break right at 7

Smash: Spins ball on finger
You: Break left at 7

Smash: Dribbles while mumbling
You: Break left at 7

Smash: Dribbles twice alternating hands
You: Break right at 7

Smash: Clasps ball and mumbles
You: Break left at 7

#########################
#When you are on defense#
#########################

Smash: Claps
You: Steal right at 7

Smash: Says "Give me the ball"
You: Steal left at 8 or right at 8

Smash: Says "Whew!"
You: Steal left at 7

Smash: Points at you
You: Steal left at 8

Smash: Mumbles a few words
You: Steal left at 10

Smash: Sways around
You: Steal left at 9

Smash: Motions toward himself with both hands and says "Come on, punk"
You: Steal left at 8

Smash: Says "Let's go, show me what you got"
You: Steal right at 10

Smash: Claps then says "Let's go"
You: Steal left at 8

Smash: Gets down low and rocks back and forth
You: Steal right at 7

Smash: Motions toward himself with one hand
You: Steal right at 10

Smash: Says "Come get some of this"
You: Steal left at 10

Smash: Sways and then claps
You: Steal left at 10

Smash: Stands up taller and motions toward you with one hand
You: Steal right at 7

Smash: Grabs nose and says something
You: Steal left at 5

Smash: Says "You're in my house now"
You: Steal left at 10

Smash: Motions towards himself with one hand then claps
You: Steal left at 7


*******************************************************************************
                             - Scottie Pippen -
*******************************************************************************

Okay so now you've made it to the final showdown. I'm sorry to say that if you
were expecting a super intense, hard-fought match, it's not going to happen.
Unfortunately, Pippen is a scrub in this game. I have some theories as to why.
My guess is that the developers did not have the money to pay Pippen to shoot
as much footage as the other actors/opponents did. Consequently, there are FAR
FEWER scenes for Pippen then there are for the other players. This means that
it is very easy to predict what he is going to do. Maybe I just got lucky, but
I beat him the first time without even going into training mode. I did later go
into training mode so that I could provide some guidance for this FAQ, however.
I did not compile as much info for Scottie as I did the other players because,
like I said, you really don't need it.

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Scottie: Dribble once, then says "Bring it on"
You: Break right at 10

Scottie: Squats then throws
You: Break right at 7

Scottie: Dribbles twice while squatting
You: Break right at 7

Scottie: Dribbles once while squatting
You: Break right at 7

Scottie: Mumbles
You: Break left at 10

Scottie: Dribbles then says "From the top"
You: Break left at 10

#########################
#When you are on offense#
#########################

Scottie: Says nothing but stays low
You: Steal left at 7

Scottie: Stands up and smiles
You: Steal left at 10

Scottie: Squats and sways
You: Steal right at 10


###############################################################################
                   **** Section 8 - A Few More Tips ****
###############################################################################

Saving and Reloading:
This is nothing revolutionary but I thought I would share. Every time a match
is over, as long as I ended the match with more respect points than I started
with, I would save my game. Pay attention to your points because sometimes you
will gain points even though you lost the match. If you ever lose a match or
end up with less respect points than you started with, simply load up your last
save.

Buckets mode:
I found myself turning buckets mode ON. Only do this after you have gotten good
at being on offense. When buckets mode is on, you can keep driving for the
basket each time you make a point. This is the quickest way to beat your
opponents and net the most respect points at the same time.

A Quick Note About Respect Points:
Remember, beating your opponent by a large margin will earn you more respect
points than barely winning. Also, dunks are worth more than regular shots, so
you should really only take a regular shot when you have missed all of the
break opportunities. Finally, if you continue to beat the same opponent
repeatedly, you will gain less and less respect each time. So, it is advisable
to switch to a different opponent every so often.



###############################################################################
                     **** Section 9 - Special Thanks ****
###############################################################################

- Digital Pictures for making this terrible but interesting and somewhat
innovative game.

- Wikipedia for some information regarding the release of this game.

- The instructional manual for this game, which was actually somewhat helpful
if you read it carefully.