{"id":5605,"date":"2016-09-26T22:22:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=5605"},"modified":"2017-08-26T00:05:12","modified_gmt":"2017-08-25T23:05:12","slug":"european-pinball-championship-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2016\/09\/26\/european-pinball-championship-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"EUROPEAN PINBALL CHAMPIONSHIP 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Pinball Championship (or EPC) is the continents biggest competitive event and it is held in a different country each year. Last year we were in Belgium and the year before that in Italy, but for 2016 we headed to the Polish city of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a and the Port \u0141\u00f3d\u017a shopping centre.<\/p>\n

\"Port<\/a>
Port \u0141\u00f3d\u017a shopping centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Port \u0141\u00f3d\u017a is an out-of-town shopping centre a few miles south-west of the centre of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a. It is a large complex with DIY stores, a supermarket, computer and electrical outlets, plenty of ice cream and coffee shops, and a food court.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The shopping centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately there are no good-quality hotels in the immediate neighbourhood of Port \u0141\u00f3d\u017a. We stayed at a pleasant guest house which was around a 20-minute walk away which proved to be no problem given the lovely weather. We also spent one night at the nearest hotel which is the Willa Marina, located just across the street from the shopping centre. We could say it has seen better days, but in truth it probably hasn’t.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the shopping centre is a circular courtyard with more food and drink stalls, and some outside seating. It was in a former Marks & Spencer unit that the Polish organisers had set up the tournament and free play machines for this year’s EPC.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The venue for the EPC 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The venue for the EPC 2016<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being a former clothing and housewares store the interior was brightly lit, with a large open-plan layout which made the whole unit feel very spacious.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the shopping centre retail unit used for the EPC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As players entered through the main set of doors, the registration desk was on the right. It was here that the 149 registered entrants signed-in and collected their commemorative bags containing promotional fliers, their player badge, a pair of lanyards and a guide to the city of \u0141\u00f3d\u017a.<\/p>\n

\"Goodie<\/a>
Goodie bags for the players<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rest of the unit was split into five areas.<\/p>\n

The first of these was the free-play machine zone. This is where the twenty practice machines were set up for people to play before and after their qualifying round.<\/p>\n

\"Free-play<\/a>
Free-play practice machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Free-play<\/a>
Free-play practice machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Free-play<\/a>
Free-play practice machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Free-play<\/a>
Free-play practice machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The free-play machines were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Bad Cats<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Batman Forever<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Batman Forever<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Big Guns<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Doctor Who*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elvira & the Party Monsters*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
F-14 Tomcat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
F-14 Tomcat*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Funhouse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hot Tip*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Indiana Jones (WMS)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jurassic Park: The Lost World*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NBA Fastbreak<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Secret Service*<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shadow, The<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shaq Attaq<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Space Shuttle (Zac)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Spirit of ’76<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Time Machine (DE)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
*machine was turned off or otherwise not playable<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sadly, with one or two notable exceptions, the condition of these free-play machines was not great. Some never seemed to work all weekend, while others had problems such as missing parts, weak flippers, reset issues or simply had no credits for much of the time.<\/p>\n

\"Secret<\/a>
Secret Service – a fun game, when it has credits<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were also two more free-play games. One was an Indiana Jones which was demonstrating the PinSound customisable sound board and was part of the PinSound<\/a> stand. The other was a Bride of Pinbot 2.0 which was only available to play at certain times.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The PinSound Indiana Jones and the Bride of Pinbot 2.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind the PinSound stand was the area used for the ’80s Tournament which was the ‘classics’ tournament at this year’s EPC.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The machine numbers board for the ’80s Tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Eight machines were used for the ’80s Tournament, although one of them was actually a ’90s machine. The machines were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Earthshaker!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Comet<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Funhouse<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fire!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n\n\n\n<\/colgroup>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Black Knight 2000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pinbot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Road Kings<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Swords of Fury<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Players<\/a>
Players in the ’80s Tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Competitors could play one game on any four of the eight machines. Those scores were ranked alongside all the other scores on those machines and points awarded. The top 16 scorers would qualify for the play-offs on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/a>
Players in the ’80s Tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To the right of the PinSound stand was the organisers’ desk which is where the trophies and the current standings were on display.<\/p>\n

\"Trophies<\/a>
Trophies and cash prizes for the tournaments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The trophies for the main EPC tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The trophy for the winner of the main EPC tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Fair Play trophy given to the player who shows the best sportsmanship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Team Tournament awards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The scores and standings were shown on projector screens at the organisers’ desk.<\/p>\n

\"'80s<\/a>
’80s Tournament scores and standings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The groupings for the EPC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The rather ad-hoc projector mounting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Guests could buy commemorative EPC mugs or T-shirts. The mugs were 25 Zloty ($6.48\/\u20ac5.80\/\u00a35.00) and the T-shirts twice that price.<\/p>\n

\"EPC<\/a>
EPC 2016 mug<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"EPC<\/a>
EPC 2016 T-shirt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to the main EPC, Team Tournament and ’80s Tournament, there were three single-machine side tournaments taking place.<\/p>\n

The Lorneta Challenge and Crossroads Show were held on a High Speed 2 and a Roadshow respectively.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Lorneta Challenge tournament award<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Crossroads Show Tournament award<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Those two machines were positioned to the right of the organisers’ desk.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Lorneta Challenge and Crossroads Show machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A High Speed 2: The Getaway machine was used for the Lorneta Challenge but players had to wear distorting goggles while playing.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Lorneta Challenge goggles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The left and right flipper buttons were swapped on the Crossroads Show Roadshow game, with players forbidden from crossing their arms while playing it. EPC competitors could have one entry in both tournaments, and the highest scorers on each machine would win the trophies.<\/p>\n

There was another high score tournament. This one was the Whoa Nellie! Challenge. No prizes for guessing which machine was used for this one.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Whoa Nellie! Challenge machine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The game cost 2 Polish Zloty ($0.50\/\u20ac0.46\/\u00a30.40) to play, with unlimited attempts allowed during show hours. At the end of the EPC the player with the highest score would win.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Whoa Nellie! Challenge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The right side of the main room was where the EPC tournament machines were set up. The 27 games were divided into three pools of nine, with each pool containing eight tournament machines and one reserve.<\/p>\n

The pools were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
POOL A<\/strong><\/td>\nPOOL B<\/strong><\/td>\nPOOL C<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Metallica Pro
\nScared Stiff
\nKiss Pro
\nCorvette
\nTales of the Arabian Nights
\nBatman: Dark Knight
\nWhitewater
\nDemolition Man
\nReserve: Dirty Harry<\/em><\/td>\n		World Cup Soccer
\nGame of Thrones Pro
\nThe Addams Family
\nStar Trek Pro
\nAC\/DC Pro
\nCreature from the Black Lagoon
\nDirty Harry
\nBram Stoker’s Dracula
\nReserve: The Flintstones <\/em><\/td>\n		The Walking Dead Pro
\nTerminator 2
\nWorld Cup Soccer
\nScared Stiff
\nAC\/DC Pro
\nMetallica Pro
\nLethal Weapon 3
\nThe Lord of the Rings
\nReserve: Twilight Zone<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Each player was put into a group of 12 and played a single game against each of the other players in the group.<\/p>\n

Players were allocated to one of the pools – A, B or C – and played all their matches in that zone. The list of matches and the machines to be played were shown on the reverse of each player’s badge and also on a board next to the entrance to the pool.<\/p>\n

\"Pool<\/a>
Pool C<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some groups played their matches on the Friday, but the majority played during the three time slots on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The matches for the first round on Friday evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Players<\/a>
Players in Pool B await the start of their matches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pool<\/a>
Pool B machines, one with live stream cameras<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pool<\/a>
Pool A machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A win in a match earned a player 1 point while a loss earned them a zero. Once all eleven rounds had been played the four players with the most wins progressed to the play-off rounds on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/a>
Players in Pool C check their final scores<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If there were ties for any of the qualifying positions, the number of wins each tied player had over the other tied players was used to determine who qualified. If that still failed to break the tie, a single play-off match was played.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The number of wins between tied players is worked out<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond the EPC zones was a ‘chill-out’ area – a darkened room with soft seating and two table football (foosball) games. There was also a Demolition Man game set up in there, but this never seemed to be powered-up.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The chill-out zone (with the lights turned on)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The chill-out zone (with the lights turned on)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final zone was behind one of the banks of free-play practice machines, and it contained the four machines used for the Team Tournament: Mustang<\/em> Pro, Roadshow<\/em>, Johnny Mnemonic<\/em> and WWE Wrestlemania<\/em> Pro.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Team Tournament area<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These machines were also used on Sunday for the main EPC play-offs as a ‘Zone D’ area.<\/p>\n

Here’s a chance to look around the EPC venue during qualifying on Saturday afternoon in our exclusive Six Minute Tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n