2014 TPA Resolution Thread

[BJ Wanlund]

My resolution is simple: Get (mostly) all the high score, wizard goal, and standard goal achievements on the Steam version

 

[Espy]

There are shortcuts to getting superdude status in Dr Dude? I really didn't think that Pro Mode sold all that well, especially for Dr Dude :/

I made it to Superdude as the dude level carried over between games. Is that meant to happen?

 

[Shaneus]

I made it to Superdude as the dude level carried over between games. Is that meant to happen?

Yup. Happens on the real-life table as well, until it's switched off. Very weird carry-over feature they have on that thing.

 

[netizen]

Yup. Happens on the real-life table as well, until it's switched off. Very weird carry-over feature they have on that thing.

It was pretty normal for that era. Taxi DD, EATPM etc all had progressive jackpots that carried over. Almost became an industry standard for a while.

Not that weird

 

[Squid]

I think my resolution is to get another #1 score on a table. I just don't know which one yet. I'm leaning towards Monster Bash or Attack from Mars. Star Trek is a possibility as well.

 

[joeblow]

Local #1 or all-time leaderboard #1?

 

[Squid]

Local #1 or all-time leaderboard #1?

All-time leaderboard. Nobody among my friends that play with me can come close to my scores so I gotta shoot for the global ones.

 

[Kolchak357]

I think my resolution is to get another #1 score on a table. I just don't know which one yet. I'm leaning towards Monster Bash or Attack from Mars. Star Trek is a possibility as well.

I'd like to see you take on STTNG. Seems like a pin you could sink your teeth into.

 

[joeblow]

I updated my list since I beat video pinball in Theater of Magic the other day. It's pretty easy so I wonder why I never did it before.

Next I will attempt to get a top 1K leader board score on a barely-played season 1 table (because I'm on the PS4 now). Which of the following is the most fun to play as I make the attempt?

Cirqus Voltaire
Funhouse
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Harley-Davidson 3rd Edition
No Good Gofers
Twilight Zone
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Ripley's Believe It or Not!

I've played these tables 0-3 times each, so I will be learning from scratch.

 

[vikingerik]

TZ and STTNG are the most fun out of those, but also the most popular so a top 1k leaderboard score will take some skill and effort.

CV and NGG might be fairly easy pickings. CV you can pretty much just bash the Ringmaster and do fine, NGG you have to know what you're doing with the golf shots.

I think my resolution is to get another #1 score on a table. I just don't know which one yet. I'm leaning towards Monster Bash or Attack from Mars.

I disapprove of this plan. I assure everyone this opinion has nothing to do with both of those #1 scores being mine.

 

[Squid]

I disapprove of this plan. I assure everyone this opinion has nothing to do with both of those #1 scores being mine.

I am kinda reluctant to post my strategy for Ripley's because if anyone could take me down, I think it would be you.

 

[Terminator]

Play pinball upside down. Well, flip the phone upside. That way I can have a bizzarley better perspective of the top half of the playfield, so I can score big.

 

[vikingerik]

I am kinda reluctant to post my strategy for Ripley's because if anyone could take me down, I think it would be you.

I would be really interested in seeing that, actually. I don't think I like Ripley's enough to play it for 34B worth of points anyway. I can play Ripley's well enough, getting to 6-8 continent tours and 2-3 Atlantis in one game, but that only scores a billion or so. With the limited EBs permitted, I don't know how anyone gets over 2B. (I know the 10/20B high score lists are bunk.) I suspect it involves some way to repeatedly railroad shots during a multiball, but I haven't found any way to do that here like in Funhouse and Whitewater.

 

[Espy]

TZ and STTNG are the most fun out of those, but also the most popular so a top 1k leaderboard score will take some skill and effort.

CV and NGG might be fairly easy pickings. CV you can pretty much just bash the Ringmaster and do fine, NGG you have to know what you're doing with the golf shots.



I disapprove of this plan. I assure everyone this opinion has nothing to do with both of those #1 scores being mine.

You are pretty insane on the leaderboard. The closest I've got to you is #5 on El Dorado. Even then, if I remember right you doubled the score of #2.

 

[Squid]

I suspect it involves some way to repeatedly railroad shots during a multiball.

Yup. Every multiball.

I tried to tackle TZ a while back. It pains me to say that a table of this caliber had me insanely bored after a few hours. I just turned off my PS3 and found something else to do.

 

[Espy]

Yup. Every multiball.

I tried to tackle TZ a while back. It pains me to say that a table of this caliber had me insanely bored after a few hours. I just turned off my PS3 and found something else to do.

That's because no pinball machine was ever designed to be played for hours.

 

[vikingerik]

You are pretty insane on the leaderboard. The closest I've got to you is #5 on El Dorado. Even then, if I remember right you doubled the score of #2.

There's no secret whatsoever to El Dorado, just get the EB again on every ball. Score is entirely a function of how many times you get that EB without the bad luck of a drain first. I surprised myself on that game too - ball 3 started with only 3M, but I just never missed getting the EB for another hour. I'm sure other players could do as well as me, they just haven't tried on such a dull table.

That's because no pinball machine was ever designed to be played for hours.

Lord of the Rings reportedly takes around 90 minutes to reach Valinor. And they're sims, but Pro Pinball Timeshock and BRUSA each take around an hour for their wizard modes. But yeah, Twilight Zone takes about fifteen minutes to reach LITZ depending on how much time you spend in the multiballs, and doesn't offer any more challenge or difficulty after that.

Yup. Every multiball.

Hmm. If it's every multiball, it's probably not the jackpot shots, since those vary and move around. There's some railroading you can do with the scoop and letting the ball fall past the upper flipper, but I don't know where the points come from. You don't get jewels or temple awards during multiball. Not bonus X, there's no railroaded safe way to enter and exit the bumpers.

 

[Espy]

Lord of the Rings reportedly takes around 90 minutes to reach Valinor. And they're sims, but Pro Pinball Timeshock and BRUSA each take around an hour for their wizard modes. But yeah, Twilight Zone takes about fifteen minutes to reach LITZ depending on how much time you spend in the multiballs, and doesn't offer any more challenge or difficulty after that./QUOTE]

Fair point on LOTR. But that is very much an exception, and there's a good reason very few people have reached that wizard mode. As for Pro Pinbal, I was referring to real machines.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

The Simpsons Pinball Party's wizard mode takes forever and a day to get to as well.

As for Lost in the Zone, it feels "cheap" on TPA because it's way too easy to get there. You can get to LITZ on a real machine in 15-20 minutes, but if the machine is set up correctly (i.e., it's actually challenging), it's an intense 15 to 20 minutes.

 

[vikingerik]

TSPP's wizard mode actually isn't all that lengthy in the number of shots to reach it. 7 TV modes, 10 Ottos, 5 Itchys, 6 hurryups, 5 Daredevils, 5 Couch SJs. Not really much more than RTU or BFTK, especially since you can continue to do all of them during any and all multiballs. Of course the problem is you have to *win* all the intermediate demi-wizard modes, which becomes the real challenge.