Blogs

Sean DonCarlos · Nov 8, 2012

On the non-league front, starting ST:TNG's Final Frontier mode is much more interesting with a set of artifacts collected (which in addition to the 100M bonus for each artifact gives a 1 billion point payoff for the set). High score advanced from 2.4B to a touch below 4.2B. Thank you Mr. Data! For the record, ST:TNG's Final Frontier is quite a bit easier to reach than TZ's Lost in the Zone. But FF doesn't have anywhere near the dramatic entrance of LITZ, nor does it feel as frenetic as LITZ, even though both are 6-ball multiballs. Maybe ST:TNG's wide-open playfield gives the balls more room to move about and makes it feel slower. Also got to hear ST:TNG clearly for the first time, since the neighboring machines were mostly off. Very...

Sean DonCarlos · Oct 2, 2012

[Continued from Part I] Then the dreaded plateau hit. When you first start learning (or restart, in my case), your results usually rise swiftly, simply because you have so many avenues for improvement. But after you've learned the basics, further progress becomes harder and slower. You have less paths for improvement, although someone at my level still has plenty of path to follow, but it is harder to walk down them. Instead of worrying about basic aim and traps, you now worry about "I have to keep the ball out of the pops, because Lite Extra Ball is lit on the door and I need to collect it before it changes or I'll get screwed out of an extra ball". And then you worry so much about this that you forget your basics and drain, usually...

Sean DonCarlos · Nov 8, 2012

But if there were, 15M on Creature from the Black Lagoon in a league game would definitely qualify. I think my beginner's luck has run out.

Sean DonCarlos · Nov 2, 2012

I'm a little behind on my coverage of DLC tables, so it's time to get current on my coverage of recommended TPA tables for beginners and beyond before TZ lands. For thoughts on the core tables and the first four DLC packs, see Recommended TPA Tables for Beginners and Beyond. Difficulty is rated by pinballs, 1 being stupid easy and 5 being blood-on-the-cabinet tough. Taxi (3 pinballs): A nice uncluttered table with great flow, elegant in its simplicity and ferocious in its speed. No matter what kind of tables you like, it's hard to hate Taxi. Great for unwinding after wading through the complexities of RBION or getting beat down by Black Knight or Big Shot. Harley Davidson Third Edition (2 pinballs, 3.5 for Milwaukee Multiball)...

Carl Spiby · Oct 28, 2012

So it was the weekend, so this gave me chance to go out with my other half. I know my hobby is acceptable when she suggests that 'we' go to play Pinball, I think she's a good catch. So all week I've been preparing to play Stern's Avatar at a pub in Lancaster, we get there and I put my money in only for it to spit it back out on to the floor, was my money not good enough for it? There it was taunting me with it's flashing lights but it wouldn't take a credit! How infuriating, the bar staff were clueless and I never got to play on it. So around the corner I know of a sports bar which has two tables, a Twilight Zone (my personal favourite) and a T2 (an absolute drain monster). So I pop my pound coin in TZ, plunge, flip the flippers...

Sean DonCarlos · Oct 25, 2012

League again did not go so well tonight, including a 32M disaster of a game on TZ. (Sometimes the table just hates you.) But of course I wasn't going to leave for the evening without taking at least a small measure of revenge. Nothing too major, a simple replay (238M tonight) would do. A small measure of revenge ended up consisting of a mediocre first two balls, followed by nailing all 13 remaining door panels on ball 3, thereby starting my second round of Lost in the Zone on a physical TZ! Ended up with 830M; I have three-fifths of the high score table now. Why couldn't I do this an hour earlier?! WHY?!?!?! Challenge for expert players: Start LITZ without playing any multiball round first (no regulation multiball, no Fast Lock...

Sean DonCarlos · Oct 25, 2012

Blast those Martians! Congratulations to Carlin Reed for scoring 8 billion points on a single ball tonight on Attack from Mars at CP Pinball! Truly unbelievable unless you were there...

Sean DonCarlos · Oct 11, 2012

Apparently, I've forgotten how to play pinball in the last 2 weeks. But while I try to put my game back together, some selected random observations from the trenches: If you're too tired to keep your eyes open on the way to the arcade, you'll be too slow to play good pinball once you get there. The right edge of the cabinet on High Speed II is sharper than it looks. It is possible to score 45 million in one ball on Batman through stacking all three multiballs, even without any knowledge of how to activate said multiballs or where the jackpots and super jackpots are for each one. I have played and watched others play enough Doctor Who that I hear the Daleks screaming "Exterminate!" in my sleep now. "Shoot the flashing light" is not a...

Pinballwiz45b · Oct 10, 2012

I was really nervous, because this is my first time. Unfortunately, I only locked 2 balls, one in Rome and Prehistoric. Really felt great at least reaching it, though :) EDIT: By the way, almost a 3 billion point game, not bad really

Sean DonCarlos · Oct 2, 2012

[EDIT: So apparently there's a 10,000 character limit on blog posts. Only I would be so long-winded as to find it. But my journey with TZ takes a while to do it justice, so I've split it into two parts and disabled commenting on this part. If you want to comment, please do so on Part II. Thanks! -S7] I played pinball off and on in college and shortly thereafter, but had moved on for lack of places to play, and my experience with video pinball was limited to the Space Cadet table that comes with Windows - not exactly a quality simulation. Hence I've gone from practically zero pinball for the last eight years (because I didn't know I had any options) to a veritable glut of pinball in 2012. I was reading a Wired game review of the 3DS...

Jim O'Brien · Sep 30, 2012

Sean DonCarlos · Sep 25, 2012

Gord Lacey, our founder and administrator, turned on the blog feature of this forum a little while ago to combat some overly long signatures, of which mine was probably a prime offender. (Sorry, Gord!) But now I have this little soapbox in the corner of the arcade, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste by holding nothing but my high score list. Hence, this blog, "Lost in the Zone", named after my favorite table's wizard mode. If my good intentions don't lead me down the proverbial paved road, I hope to offer more in-depth opinions, commentary and observations about all things pinball (real and virtual) than is possible and/or appropriate in the main forums. Not really sure what I'll start with, but there are 70+ real tables...

BonzoGonzo · Sep 20, 2012

TOTAN - 270,074,590 , RBION - 320,675,550 , BH - 1,742,550 , TOM - 8,681,535,850 , BoP - 3,258,713,230 , MM - 383,713,850 , FH - 189,584,980 , CV - 164,605,630 , GG - 1,610,310 , MB - 2,983,094,280

Blogs

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Having Propelled the Ball Along the Proper Trajectory, I Have Indeed Been Rewarded

On Returning to Real Pinball and the Taming of the Twilight Zone, Part II

There's No Crying in Pinball

More Recommended TPA Tables for Beginners and Beyond (DLC Packs 5 - 7)

In the pursuit of Pinball

Return to the Zone

No Time for Tea

Observations on League Play

First Dawn of Time in Timeshock!

On Returning to Real Pinball and the Taming of the Twilight Zone, Part I

Trophy Help For Version 2.03

Welcome to Lost in the Zone

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