Misleading Bonus Instructions

The instructions for the bonus scoring on this table reads, "Once a turn ends, the number of balls collected on that turn is multiplied times the value shown here." 'Here' being 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000.

Conversely, the table art between the flippers states, "Bonus value for each lit ball." And in actual game play, the bonus is indeed only scored for each lit ball on the playfield, not the total number of balls lit on that turn. So if you manage to hit the special and then immediately lose the ball without hitting any drop targets, you get no bonus.

This was really confusing to me after reading the instructions and at first I thought it was a bug. But it seems that's how the table is supposed to be scoring the bonus and the instructions are wrong. Very minor issue, but I thought I'd point it out.

151 said:

The instructions for the bonus scoring on this table reads, "Once a turn ends, the number of balls collected on that turn is multiplied times the value shown here." 'Here' being 1,000, 2,000, or 3,000.

Conversely, the table art between the flippers states, "Bonus value for each lit ball." And in actual game play, the bonus is indeed only scored for each lit ball on the playfield, not the total number of balls lit on that turn. So if you manage to hit the special and then immediately lose the ball without hitting any drop targets, you get no bonus.

This was really confusing to me after reading the instructions and at first I thought it was a bug. But it seems that's how the table is supposed to be scoring the bonus and the instructions are wrong. Very minor issue, but I thought I'd point it out.

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Whoa. So wait. It's to my benenfit to let the ball drain rather than attempt to clear the racks over again?

Fungi said:

Whoa. So wait. It's to my benenfit to let the ball drain rather than attempt to clear the racks over again?

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Probably not on the 1k or 2k bonus levels. But for a 3k bonus with a full set of lit balls and you already have the special...tempting...

I don't think that's right - when the targets reset and the lights go out you immediately get full current bonus value (including the multiplier) added to your score. There's nothing to be gained by letting the ball drain.

FurVid said:

I don't think that's right - when the targets reset and the lights go out you immediately get full current bonus value (including the multiplier) added to your score. There's nothing to be gained by letting the ball drain.

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True.

I'm saying that if you hit the special and reset the targets after lighting 11 balls, then light 3 more after they reset and drain the ball, your bonus will be 3 times the multiplier, not 14x--which you would expect by the wording in the instructions.

Yep. I just took one for the team. At 94,000 I cleared the board on ball 4. For science, I let the ball drain after hitting special therefore resetting the racks. I got not one single bonus point.

You're welcome.


Considering this is an EM, I bet it's normal. No digital memory here.

Yes but the only problem is in the wording of the instructions. You get 1000 times the multiplier for every target you drop, but if you reset the targets you get it right away for the reset ones, not at the end of the ball. One problem is the weird way the numbers are animated - it's basically just a digital counter with the numbers animated so that they slowly roll from one to the next. It's not acting like the actual analog counters in the original games (or like odometers from cars made in the last millennium). In the PHOF versions of these tables, it was much more clear from both the sounds and the score display that you had been awarded a bunch of points when you reset the targets. In TPA, the points just show up, rolling in from the most significant digits first, and you can easily not notice if you're not watching for it. At least, that's my memory of the PHOF ones - I should find one of those disks and check.

Oh wait, so resetting the racks DO give me the bonus points? So that means I DON'T have to drain to collect?

Right - I recently verified by collecting the special and closely watching my score before and after. I did this on ball 4, and got both the points and the multiplier (I don't think you get anything for the eight ball - not sure if you're supposed to).

In PHOF (and presumably in the original physical machine), it was hard to miss. The game didn't say "Double Super Jackpot, ha ha ha ha" but did the next best thing by ringing lots of bells and taking so long to rack up the points that you knew you just did something special. It's too quick in TPA, since they're not trying to simulate an analog counter, just showing a digital counter with a font made to look like it's old. The tell is in the way the numbers roll in. If you have 89000 and score 4000 points you should see this:

89000
90000
91000
92000
93000

instead you see this:

89000
99000
90000
91000
92000
93000

Ah, got it. Thanks. So I just dumped 94,000 points for nothing. Good ta know. Where're my cool analog score tumbler noises FarSight?!

Just wanted to second that this table desperately needs analog noise at new game (resetting the wheels) and also when scoring. The simulation is incomplete without it.

i was about to make a thread asking if it was strategically beneficial to intentionally drain once you've gotten the special and cleared the table again, especially at the 2k or 3k bonus levels. i did not realize that the bonus is awarded instantly upon resetting the table after collecting the special! good to know!