Energy Gate Glitch

Another screencap from a classic game which I tend to play on occasion: 3D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night.

During my playthrough on the Tower Table (Just the Tower Table), I came across this remarkable glitch that allows the Energy Gate, which is normally a 10-second challenge (which can be extended for an ADDITIONAL 10 seconds after it is hit 5 times in a row for a total of 20-seconds) or the gateway to obtain 'Goblin Goodies' (where you can get rewards such as a Continue, Light either left or right Kickback lane, travel between Pinball Tables, Instant Extra Ball or Instant Quick Multiball), to be active indefinitely until either the challenge or the Goblin Goodies mode is invoked again.

Each shot into the energy gate earns 20 MILLION Points, so imagine this with a 3-ball Multiball as seen here...

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3D Ultra Pinball: Creep Night is a pinball game released by Sierra, that holds kind of a Halloween/Spooky/Monster theme, with the presence of animated Ghosts, Goblins, Zombies etc. Players can choose between three tables to play (Castle, Tower or Dungeon) individually or play all three at once (The game's 'Story mode', where ALL Challenges on Each of the three tables must be completed in order to gain access to the Final Table, which acts as some kind of Wizard Mode in a way; the Final Table acts like the Castle Table, but there are NO Goblin Goodies to collect and there are five DIFFERENT challenges to complete; These challenges HAVE to be won in order to win the game!).

Regarding the challenges, they come in numerous variations; some trigger an instant 3-ball multiball event with a major target scoring MILLIONS of points, depending on the amount of balls left in play, avoid or catch a specific ghost or other etheral being, play a challenge according to a specific table-unique target (Like the Tower Table's Water Tank) Or strike a Goblin (or Spider in the Dungeon Table) which appears in a random spot on the main playfield a number of times. When all five challenges on a table are complete, an additional challenge can be accessed once.

The 'Goblin Goodies' are a set of 20 lights that have to be lit up in order to open a target for the ball to enter. Once done so, the player can select one of the following options:

- Continue (after Game over)
- Warp to another Pinball Table (only in the 'Story Mode')
- Light the left kick-back lane 
- Light the right kick-back lane
- Extra Ball (lights the 'Shoot Again' light immediately so the player has an Extra Ball turn after the current ball is drained)
- Start a Quick Multiball (two balls come in play and the multiball's jackpot target is available to be hit)
- 10 Bonus Gargoyles/Lasers/Torches (Targets that will add to the End of Ball Bonus)

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To activate this glitch, here is what you must do:

1. Get at least 18 out of the 20 Skull Points (those lights visible in the center of the table, set in two rows of 10, for the 'Goblin Goodies').
2. Light the M.O.N.S.T.E.R. lights. In the three Pinball Tables (Castle, Tower or Dungeon, lighting up letters on the field (GOBLIN for Castle, MONSTER for Tower and OUTLAW for Dungeon) will light the ball locks for a 3-ball Multiball.
3. Lock two balls into the cannon so you have Multiball ready.
4. Shoot the Chemical Tank Drop Hole (the hole next to the Gate Inlane) and make sure you get the 'Squid Hurry Up' award.
5. During that mode, collect the remaining two Skull Points to open the Energy Gate for Goblin Goodies (best way is to shoot the ball to the left playfield and hit the three switches there)
6. Wait for the Squid Hurry Up to time out, but make sure the ball remains in play. When done right, the cannon for Multiball should open again while the Energy Gate is open!
7. Shoot the Cannon instead of the Energy Gate. If you did it right, you will see the 'Shoot Again' message.

All you need to do then is to bring a new ball back in the play field and shoot the Energy Gate. You will see that it will now act as the REGULAR Energy Gate, giving you 20 million points per shot... but it does NOT time out! In fact, you can even shoot it while OTHER modes are active, like Multiball or four of the five 'missions'. If you want the Energy Gate to go away, then you have to either collect 20 Skull Points or Start the Energy Gate Challenge.