500.000 bonus goal

[Storm Chaser]

I got all nuts lit and the extra ball was lit, had about 260 sec left and purposedly drained to collect the 500k bonus goal but it was not ticked off! Do I count wrong or shold the lit nuts not count for 250k?

 

[Storm Chaser]

...it seems, after some testing, the first nut in the row don't give any bonus so the nut-bonus is only 200 k so one has to get 300 sec in order to get the 500k bonus goal.

 

[Slam23]

Thanks for the info, it's a hard day's work to get near those goals

 

[Storm Chaser]

The trick is to restart every game thatvwont make you score at least 50s on the first three ball run. If I drop below that on a single ball run i just let it drain. Its no point hasseling with two balls back and forth to gain 20s and then lose 20s.

During multiball i always try to shoot for the upper playfield while frantically hit the right flipper. During single ball play i go for the right target and shoot the right upper loop, keep the right flipper open sonit bounces through the left gate to start a two ball multiball.

Its just sad that
1. The bumpers are so friggin weak
2. FS always put the hardest to reach goals on the most boring tables - goals they dont even try themselves
3. That i actually get so die hard on making those goals anyway

 

[Storm Chaser]

So bloody frustrated now. Actually got over 303 seconds but it took more than those extra seconds to drain down so I had to continue playing. Played an additional 5-10 minutes up and down the 250+ but finally drained.

I hate this table so much. But I hate even more to be "beaten" by it! AAAAARGHHH!!

 

[gooche77]

Stay strong Cristobal! You are my inspiration to crack this nut.

 

[Storm Chaser]

Thanks for the support

I have literally spent hours and hours on cracking at least one of these goals (only have 4 WG left, where 2 are on this table). Just the fact that I have been so close makes it so much more annoying, cause it keeps bringing me back for more punishment. Punishment I haven't seen since the BFTK-goal (3 months).

I don't even wanna go in to the psychological factors that keep me playing

 

[Storm Chaser]

I always look at pinball in a probability kind of way. Like, say you do 100 attempts at a certain goal. If you reach 80% of that goal some 5% of your attempts you will have x% chance of actually achieving the goal after a while. That probability typically increases since you get more skilled, learn small tactical things that will give you a statistical advantage and so on.

The major problem on this table is that far too many things are down to randomness, such as re-creating a 3-ball multiball. There is NO skill move you can do to get that. You can only make a good hit if it by chance happens to end up by any of the top flippers, at a specific position. Then it is a matter of skill. I can't see why the table has been setup so that a left flipper-top loop-left top flipper won't hit that captive ball but I have never on any of my attempts managed to do so. That would have made the table FAR easier.

I have now tried some 500+ attempts at this goal (maybe more) and have come up to all the tactics and strategies I find possible in order to increase the probability to reach at least 300 seconds. I have not in the last 200 attempts learned anything new that will help me increase that probability. So, it is all a matter of just playing enough games to have one where I get at least 4-5 good 3-ball runs (which is the very least needed to reach 300 secs) without too much "downtime" in between and some good 2-ball multiballs.

The amount of games needed to get this, without an accidental drain, would likely be at least the double. So, until FS fix at least the bumpers (which would give that small statistical advantage) there is nothing I can do outside of playing 500+ more games. Which I won't.

I give up.

 

[Storm Chaser]

Ok, so I didn't give up. I didn't believe that myself either.

Under the influence of three glasses of wine, while semi-watching Breaking Bad I finally made the 500'000 goal!! I had it up to 309 seconds and had two balls cradled but didn't dare to put both in play again (in case I would accidently get below 300 again). So I flipped one out and played that for about 5-10 more seconds until it drained, so I drained the other one too.

Phew. That was so not worth the time I spent on it

Consequentially, this should mean I should drink half a bottle of scotch, while trying to solve a Sudoku and listening to an audio course in Korean to get that 360 second goal, right?

 

[haj]

You have my admiration.

 

[Storm Chaser]

...and I finally made the 360 sec goal as well! This time while semi-watching "How I met your mother".

One down, two more Impossibles to go!

 

[gooche77]

Which impossibles? Congrats BTW.

 

[Storm Chaser]

Thanks

Genie 3M & Champion Pub: Ultimate challenge.

Anyways, my trick for this table was:

- Always shoot for the upper right loop when in multiball (especially 3-ball MB). This will keep the amount of balls at play in the lower playfield less.
- Unless you have a ball at the right flipper, flip it randomly (it will help hitting the targets with the upper flippers). There is no way to control those.
- Try not to aim for the green drop targets, especially not the middle one. You will hit them anyway. In case there is only one of the outer green targets you can go for it, but just by touching it on the way past the targets. It will drop and the ball will continue up.
- Go for the red targets most of the time.
- (Obviously) nudge the table on launch. The table is quite generous with nudging and most balls can be saved. After a while you learn which paths they take and when you must nudge.
- Unless you hit 50+ seconds, or even 60-70 seconds on the first 3-ball, just try it all over. You need a good head start. It's the three balls that will make you hit 360. The two balls will balance out the single ball-subtracted time, more or less.
- Do something else while playing (like listening to an audio book) in order to distract yourself. Doing so will distract you from being too bored or too excited when you start getting closer.

...and finally...

Don't do anything of the above. Shut the game off, go out and have a walk, call your mom or visit a friend. This was so not worth it!

 

[inspector42]

You are an inspiration Cristobal, and (judging by your obsessive pursuit of goals) eerily similar to me in playing style and neuroses.

I am now motivated to go back to this one. Here's hoping I can match your feat.

 

[Storm Chaser]

Yeah, I wish I could play this game more casually but I keep coming back to the tables that I have unfinished business with rather than playing the ones I like the most. It's a key to frustration and I am surprised that my iPad still is in one piece!

Going Nuts is really not that difficult in the end. The WG is ridiculous but think of it in terms of probabilites. You need to get 2-3 good 3-balls in one turn to get 360s. The key is not to get bored and/or too excited so do something else while playing.

 

[fromduc]

One of the coolest stories ever bro

And by the way i like this table, a pity it doesnt have a correct music.