To decide on a strategy for Dirty Harry, you have to ask yourself one question: do I feel confident in an upper flipper side ramp shot?
If you are, that's what you will focus on during main gameplay; side ramps advance your rank up to Chief where side ramps are worth 50,000,000 for the rest of the ball, and the side ramp is also the double jackpot shot in standard multiball, which is lit at the warehouse by making the 5 badge shots during normal play.
If you're less confident in a side ramp shot, focus on modes, which are qualified by shooting lit orbits and started at the far left HQ hole.
Using the flippers, one of three skill shot options can be selected.
Option 1 is always Load Gun. This drops the ball into the gun toy in the middle right of the playfield; it's almost the same as the gun on Terminator 2, but moves much faster and has a much wider range of motion. Shooting the HQ hole in the middle left scores 5,000,000 and starts the next mode instantly (subsequent shots score 5,000,000 more than the previous).
Option 2 is always Ramp Shot. The plunge will put the ball into the right orbit, score a 10,000,000-point Magna Force, and then drop the ball onto the upper right flipper. Making the side ramp from here scores 10,000,000 the first time, and an additional 5,000,000 each subsequent time.
Option 3 will be either Advance Bonus X, 5,000,000 points, or 3 Bullets. This award is given instantly, and the pinball is dropped into the top lanes.
Guidance on which skill shot to take calls back to the opening question: if you can reliably make the side ramp, go for that every time for the bigger points. If not, help yourself get modes going by choosing Load Gun. There really isn't a reason to ever choose the third, random award.
There are 6 standard modes, and a wizard mode available only after the first 6 have been played. To start the currently flashing mode, shoot the lit HQ hole in the middle-left of the playfield. If the HQ hole is not lit, shoot the lit orbit to light it; depending on settings, either one or both orbits will be lit for Light HQ. Bumpers and slingshots change the currently flashing selected mode. The modes are:
Playing all 6 modes means that the next mode start at the HQ hole is Crime Wave wizard mode. Crime Wave is a 6-ball multiball with about 30 seconds of ball save. The goal of Crime Wave is to complete as many sets of police badges as possible by shooting th HQ hole, the safe house, the Warehouse, and both ramps. Each individual shot scores 20,000,000 points. Making a set of the 5 badges scores an additional 50,000,000 points. As wizard modes go, this one is really difficult and not all that valuable, but still kind of fun.
In competition settings, modes are always played in the order they are listed from bottom to top on the playfield, which is the order I have listed them here as well.
Shotmaking tip: on some Dirty Harrys, shooting the left orbit and then holding the upper right flipper up will bounce the ball into the HQ hole. This can be helpful if you miss a direct shot to the HQ, or if the left orbit is the shot required to light HQ.
There are 8 bullet targets in the game: two each in the lower left and lower right, two in the dead center of the playfield, one between the left orbit and side ramp, and one between the right ramp and right orbit. Hit a bullet target to light it. Making either ramp spots a bullet target for free. The 3 Bullets skill shot spots 3 bullet targets, as you would expect. Completing a set of the 8 bullet targets causes the lowest unlit award in the Magazine on the playfield to start flashing. Shoot the Warehouse to collect the lowest flashing award. The awards are:
Shootout is an interesting and unique mode. It is lit at the two out lanes, and starts immediately. Balls are constantly fed onto the playfield for 20 seconds. During this time, you want to collect the 8 bullet targets once again; do so for 50,000,000 points. When you complete the set, or when time runs out, all balls drain and your turn then ends. (It would be cool if winning this let you get your ball back and keep your turn, but alas.)
Hit the 5 badge shots- HQ, side ramp, safe house, Warehouse, and right ramp- at any point during the game to light multiball. Multiball is started at the Warehouse (with a 20,000,000 base jackpot value) or the side ramp (with a 25,000,000 base jackpot value). Right off the bat, one ball will be loaded into the gun, and you get one free shot at either ramp to collect an instant jackpot. Whether you succeed or not, two more balls are thrown into play for a 3-ball multiball. The right ramp scores the jackpot value, and unlights once collected; the Warehouse relights the right ramp. The side ramp is always lit and scores a Double Jackpot. The safe house increases the base jackpot value by 2,000,000. This is why multiball is most valuable for those confident in their side ramp shooting: points are a lot lower and a lot less efficient outside of that side ramp.
If multiball ends and no jackpots have been collected so far, the player receives 10 seconds of Last Chance, where the jackpots remain lit with just one ball in play. Collecting either jackpot instantly ends the Last Chance.
For subsequent multiballs, only 3 of the badge shots will be lit at first, and those three must be collected before the last two will light.
You start the game as a Rookie. Certain numbers of side ramps made throughout the game advance your rank and give you a score bonus:
Ramp count and rank are preserved from ball to ball, until you get to Chief: at that point, all side ramps score 50,000,000 points for the rest of that ball, and you will return to Rookie status when the ball drains. Any time you advance a Rank, the safe house is lit for a Safehouse Mode.
The playfield multiplier given by Playfield Promotion is 2x for a Rookie or Officer, 3x for a Sergeant, 4x for a Detective, and 5x for a Lieutenant, Captain, or Chief.
Shooting the unlit safe house or advancing your police rank will light the safe house. Shoot the lit safe house to start a scoring feature. Safehouse modes are always played in this order:
The 6th started safe house award will be Bank Robber again. Safehouse modes cannot be started while a main mode or multiball is running, but Bank Robber and Super Loops can be brought into a main mode or multiball.
The pop bumper value starts at 100,000 points. Each bumper hit will add this amount to your score and to the Ransom value. The Ransom value starts at 5,000,000 points and maxes out at 50,000,000 points. The first completion of the top lanes near the bumpers increases the bumper value to 250,000 points. The second completion advances the ransom multiplier to 2x. The third completion maxes out the bumper value at 500,000. The fourth completion maxes out the ransom multiplier at 3x. If Magnum Jets is running, each pop bumper hit will add 2,000,000 to your score, but the value that they contribute to the Ransom jackpot must still be advanced with top lane completions. The Ransom value carries over from ball to ball, but the multiplier and jet value reset once the ball drains.
The right in lane lights Collect Ransom at the HQ hole. This only lasts about 5 seconds, so you need to either make the hole directly pretty quickly or have another ball help you out during multiball. (This is another application of the left orbit -> hold up right flipper -> land in HQ hole trick mentioned earlier, as well, if that works on your machine.) This scores the Ransom value times the Ransom multiplier, which could be as much as 3x 50,000,000 = 150,000,000 points, before giving you anything else that may be lit at the HQ hole. Collecting any Ransom award will reset the base value to 5,000,000, but the pop bumper value and the Ransom multiplier remain intact for the rest of the ball.
Shooting HQ when it is not lit for anything adds 1,000,000 points (I think?) to the Ransom value.
If the Warehouse is not lit for anything else (no mode or multiball is running, no Magazine award is flashing, Feel Lucky and Multiball are not lit), shoot it to light it yellow. If the Warehouse is hit when lit yellow, shooting it scores a Contraband award. The Contraband most frequently scores 10,000,000 points, but it sometimes scores 5,000,000 or 15,000,000 instead randomly. Also, rarely, the Contraband will be a Copper Pinball, which scores an instant extra ball; this seems to appear most commonly if Contraband is collected 2 or 3 times in quick succession.
Making the right ramp at any time scores a Helicopter. At 1, 3, and 5 Helicopters, then every 10th after that, the Warehouse will be lit for Feel Lucky?. In Feel Lucky?, you will be given an option between one of the two flipper buttons for an award. The left award will always be points: 15,000,000 the first time, and an additional 5,000,000 for each subsequent Feel Lucky?. These points are paid out instantly if you select it. The right flipper option, though, is a better award, but the ball will be fed to the gun toy, and you must shoot the lit bullet target to collect that award. Possible awards from the right hand option include:
Multiball can be started at the Warehouse, but with a lower starting jackpot value than if it is started at the side ramp (20,000,000 instead of 25,000,000).
Making a right ramp once sends the ball to the left flipper. Making the right ramp twice consecutively sends the ball to the right flipper instead and very briefly lights the left orbit for Ricochet. Alternatively, a Feel Lucky award briefly lights the left orbit for Super Ricochet. I have never actually pulled off one of these combos myself and have not been able to find footage of someone else doing the same: I would expect Ricochet to be worht somewhere around 25,000,000 and Super Ricochet to be worth somewhere around 50,000,000, but do not know these numbers for sure.
Dirty Harry has a conventional in/out lane setup. There is no center post or left side kickback.
Both out lanes are lit for Shootout by the fourth Magazine award; see the Bullet awards section for more detail on this mode.
The left in lane is lit for Magna Force: making the left in lane immediately followed by a right orbit shot will score 10,000,000 points and trap the ball with a magnet, feeding it to the upper flipper at a controlled speed. (Picking the Ramp Shot skill shot has the same effect.)
The right in lane briefly lights the left HQ hole for Collect Ransom.
Base bonus is scored as 500,000 points per bullet target hit on the ball (spotted bullets from ramps do not count), plus 5,000,000 points times your rank (5M for Rookie, 10M for Sergeant, etc., up to 35,000,000 for a Chief), plus "Big Points" (which as far as I can tell is just 1,000,000 times the ball number). Bonus multipliers can only be obtained via the Skill shot or Feel Lucky?, and it's random whether they appear as options or not; I am not aware of a max bonus multiplier, as I have only gotten to 2X myself, and I would assume that the max wouldn't be much more than 5X. Bonus cannot be collected mid-ball. The full bonus can be carried over to the next ball only be collecting the Hold Bonus award from Feel Lucky?.
The manual indicated that a Special would score 1,000,000 points in competition/novelty play, but as with other mid-90s Williams games, I would expect this to be incorrect. I would expect a special to be worth between 100,000,000 and 250,000,000 points. Extra ball cannot be set to be worth points.
Several random events on Dirty Harry are set up not to be random in tournament mode.
The Skill Shot's third choice will always be Bonus X on ball 1, 5,000,000 points on ball 2, and 3 Bullets on ball 3.
Feel Lucky?'s right side option will always go in the order of double points, then advance magazine, then advance rank, then bonus X, then super ricochet, then hold bonus (then repeats?).
The Shotgun main modes cannot be rotated with bumper hits and will always be played from bottom to top on the playfield.
The ball save time can be set to anywhere from 3-15 seconds (default 6). The number of times ball save can be used in a game can be set from 0-5 (default 2).
There are several difficulties available for when HQ is light: it can be always lit, lit at the start of each ball with one or both orbits lit, or lit for free only at the start of the game with one orbit lit for a relight.
Badges toward multiball can be spotted as one-per-ball, one-per-ball-until-a-multiball-is-played, or never.
The side ramp can be set to increase rank after each hit and never reset; or, advance as described earlier in the guide; or, be harder by clearing the progress toward the next rank between each ball.
Ramps can be set to spot bullets always, never, or only when no mode or multiball is running.
The Magazine can be set to have the first award ready at the start of the game, be empty at the start of the game, or be empty and erase uncollected awards each ball.
Feel Lucky can be lit for free at the start of each ball or game instead of forcing the player through the right ramp progression.
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