Centaur and Centaur II are the same game, with only cosmetic differences. Just like Eight Ball Deluxe Limited Edition, Centaur II was a rerelease to help Bally get rid of an alternate type of backbox they used for their game Rapid Fire.
Try to always be in multiball. Since basically everything on the table is progress toward multiball of some kind, being in multiball makes it easier to stay in yet more multiball. There's no jackpot or playfield multiplier in multiball, it just keeps you further from draining and ending your turn. To instantly add a ball to the playfield, complete the ORBS drop targets in order or light up all 4 in/out lanes. To work toward even bigger multiball, light virtual locks by completing the ORBS target in any order, then release by completing the upper left captive ball or clearing the 1-2-3-4 drops in order and shooting the upper right lane.
There are three different sets of lane change that the flippers operate all at the same time: one for the three top lanes, one for the left in and out lanes, and one for the right in and out lanes. The top lanes rotate their lane change in the opposite direction of most other lane changes (right to left instead of left to right) and both flippers rotate the lane change in the same direction. If the game says "Bad move, human" or "Slow, aren't you?". then you missed a lane change chance.
This game has two tilt settings. The first is the conventional, where tilt ends the current ball in play. The second is called Game Tilt, wherein your first tilt in a game lights a Warning lamp on the backglass, and if you tilt again with Warning lit, your entire game ends. Be mindful of this possibility and try to learn if your copy of the machine is set to Game Tilt if you can.
Each lane scores 500 points and a bonus advance, and lights that lane. Rotate lit lanes with either flipper lane change. Complete the lanes to advance the bonus multiplier toward its maximum of 5x. I do not believe there is any special award for additional top lanes completions after 5x is made.
This game really really likes house balls. If your plunge ends up leaving the bumpers to the left, you may need to have a slap save ready to even begin playing your ball.
Each target down scores 1,000 points and a bonus advance. Completing the targets in any order adds one virtual lock, which can be seen in the orange lights near the flippers. If you are currently in progress of clearing the drops in order, the lights in front of them will be flashing instead of solid. Completing ORBS in order immediately adds one ball to the playfield in addition to adding a virtual lock. Clearing ORBS in any order when 4 balls are virtually locked scores a special the first time, then 50,000 points each subsequent time.
The red standup targets behind the ORBS drop targets score 5,000 points and 1 bonus advance.
Unlit targets in this set score 500 points and 1 bonus advance. If a green light is flashing in front of the bank, you are still in sequence on these drop targets. Lit drop targets score 10,000 and 1 bonus advance for the #1 target, then 20,000 and 2 advances for the #2 target, then 40,000 and 4 advances for #3, then 80,000 and 8 advances for #4.
Completing 1-2-3-4 in any order lights the target in the far upper right of the game for a bonus collect. This bonus collect does not use the multiplier that you have earned from completions of the top lanes; rather, the shot has its own multiplier, which periodically rotates, and whichever light is lit is the multiplier you get on your bonus collect (or 1x if none of them are lit). The bonus collect does not add to or reset your base bonus count or multiplier.
Completing 1-2-3-4 in order lights the upper right bonus collect target for Release. Hitting the target when lit for Release cashes in your virtual locks, adding one ball to the playfield for each lit orange virtual lock on the playfield until there are none left or until there are 5 balls in play.
The standup target slightly above and to the right of the bumpers with the green light in front of it always spots the next 1-2-3-4 target, whether you are currently in sequence or not. The standup target on the left in front of the side lane resets the 1-2-3-4 target bank if you are currently out of sequence.
On the final ball of the game, the far upper right standup target will be lit for Release for free. This light can be set to either stay on until collected, or intermittently turn itself on or off depending on game settings.
The four inline drop targets behind the captive ball lane score 10,000 and 1 bonus advance, then 20,000 and 2 advances, then 30,000 and 3 advances, then 40,000 and 4 advances. The standup target at the end of the lane scores 50,000 points, 5 bonus advances, and a special if you hit it twice in one ball.
On the far left is a small side lane with two star rollovers. Each of these scores 5,000 points and a bonus advance on its own. If you go through this lane and then hit the captive ball into an inline drop target or standup target, you receive double the point value of that target (although I'm pretty sure you do not get twice as many bonus advances).
Centaur has a conventional in/out lane setup. There is a one way gate that makes up part of the in/out lane separator rail on each side, and a pin with a rather large rubber ine ach outlane. A well timed nudge off the pin can save an out lane ball back into the in lane. All in/out lane rollovers score 5,000 points and a bonus advance.
Each in and out lane has a blue light above it. Rolling through an unlit lane lights it. (The game will mock you if you go through a lane that's already lit.) Lane change with either flipper will alternate the position of the lights on each side, but the left in+out lane and the right in+out lane are two separate groups of lanes for the purpose of lane change. Lighting all 4 blue lights will, either once per ball or at any time, add 1 ball to the playfield unless there are already 5 balls in play.
Bonus is advanced 1 time by any standup target, ORBS drop target, unlit 1-2-3-4 target, or star rollover. As described above, the left inline drop targets can award 2, 3, 4, or 5 bonus advance, and the right 1-2-3-4 targets can award 2, 4, or 8 bonus advance when made in order. Bonus multiplier is advanced by completing the three top lanes. Max bonus is 5x 79,000 = 395,000 points. 20,000, 40,000, and 60,000 serve as checkpoints for the base bonus; those amounts are carried over from ball to ball, but the remainder beyond those values is lost. Bonus multipliers do not carry over from ball to ball by default, though a setting exists to enable this. A mid-ball bonus collect is available at the upper right standup target after completing the 1-2-3-4 targets; see that section for more details.
On competiton/novelty settings, specials score 50,000 points. There are no extra balls in the conventional sense, though specials can be set to award an extra ball; the only indicator that you have earned an extra ball is a "same player shoots again" light on the backglass.
The game can be set to carry over all bonus, not just the 20/40/60k super bonus checkpoints. Also, bonus multiplier can be carried from ball to ball. These are both off by default.
The 1-2-3-4 targets, ORBS targets, and inline drop targets can all have their progress preserved from ball to ball.
The bottom lanes can be set to award their Guardian Orb add-a-ball any time the lanes are completed, or only once per ball. The blue light between the flippers indicates whether a bottom lanes completion is good for an add-a-ball or not.
The free Release lit at the upper right lane on the final ball of the game can either stay on or intermittently turn on and off until collected.
1 virtual lock may be spotted for you at game start.
The 'liberal' tilt setting is a standard tilt rule: when you tilt, your ball in play is disqualified from further scoring, but that is all. There is a 'conservative' tilt setting, mentioned at the top of the guide, where the first tilt will allow you to keep playing but with a Warning light on the backglass, with the second tilt ending your whole game, even in multiplayer.
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