Big Shot Tactics and Strategies

[B-cubed]

Ok, first off, I must confess that I have instantly fallen in love with this table. It is just like my relationships with all of my old girl friends. It kicks me around 95% of the time, but I stay around and deal with it for the 5% of the time it's good to me. I am a sucker.

As for the tips, I am pretty good (a few 200,000+ efforts) but no expert. I just wanted to pass along what works for me to get the discussion rolling.

1. I start by working on the eight. First with the plunger. If that does not work out, I will focus on shooting at the tops of both sets of drop targets (9 and 7's area). I figure that either I will get these numbers, or miss them and have a good chance to get the rollover eight up top (or 1000 as a consolation prize). I will keep at this util I get it.

2. As for the drops, I like to aim near numbers that are already down (but which have neighboring numbers still up). Doing this will often knock two targets down for the price of one. In a game this fast, you got to look for any advantage you can get.

Technically that's all I got. This game is a nightmare when it comes to balls that you don't even get a single flipper on. i have been working on nudging to help, but so far, with little success. In a sick way, thats part of the fun for me. I try to control the ball when I can, and let the game come to me. The only other advice i have is a mental tip. I do my best when I go in assuming that most games will be quick and painful. That way I am not uptight about the results, and I play looser. This In turn allows me to be at my best on the rare game when the bounces go my way more times than not (and if you have been playing this table, you know how rare this can be)

I hope this helps, and I would love to hear what everybody else is doing.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the tips!

Stickied.

 

[superballs]

Nice, our first em gets a tactics thread pretty quick.

I can see this one being simple but killer.
Whole different ball game in this world.

Thanks for the tips B-Cubed

 

[Carl Spiby]

My main tactic is to hit the drop targets.

 

[Bonzo]

You don't say!

 

[Heretic]

Its not the target you hit but yourself

 

[pezpunk]

i find i am losing a LOT of balls when i try to catch. i get a lot of lame flops right down the middle on shots where i thought i'd be able to stop it. i actually do better when i simply try to slap it in the right direction, instead of trying to calm it down. this is in contrast to almost every other table, where i'm better off trying to gain control of the ball and take a measured shot from a standstill. is anyone else seeing this?

 

[Kevlar]

My main strategy with this table is to drink lots of coffee and jam my eyelids open with matchsticks to try to stay awake. Should be one of the wizard goals cos its really tough.

 

[Carl Spiby]

Wrongly, it appears that specials award extra balls :/

 

[pezpunk]

Wrongly, it appears that specials award extra balls :/

That's a silly thing to complain about. Every other TPA machine does this, too, and the reasoning is sound. It makes sense to reward the player for getting the special, and obviously a "free game" would be meaningless.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Another nice thing about this table is that the bonus increases on balls 4 and 5. Therefore, even if you have a lousy first or second ball, you can make up for it later on by rocking the last couple.

 

[Nik Barbour]

Love this table - just had first "proper" play (ie using a controller instead of touch screen - been working away from home). First game got 210,580 #27 on Android leader board - yeeeeesss!
And in case you didn't know I'm generally pretty crap at pinball - love it to bits, but I'm pants).

Tactics used:- don't let the ball go through the gap between the flippers, or down the outlanes!
I'm gonna try this on other tables too now I've figured it out.
Loving this table - (and Jacks Open in VP).

 

[Carl Spiby]

That's a silly thing to complain about. Every other TPA machine does this, too, and the reasoning is sound. It makes sense to reward the player for getting the special, and obviously a "free game" would be meaningless.

The difference is that SS tables had this option, EM's never had the option for specials being extra balls as far as I'm aware!

Anyone got the Big Shot manual?

 

[FurVid]

I mentioned this in an another thread - if you're going to turn specials into extra balls, then this was a very poor choice for a table. There were many EM tables for which extra balls would be fine, and many had "Add-a-ball" variations for locales where awarding credits was illegal. In this case, however, the scoring system meant that for the add-a-ball version they had to make it a different table with different scoring rules. Would have made more sense to emulate that table instead.

 

[k88dad]

Skill Shot, and more

There is no official skill shot in Big Shot, but you clearly want to adjust the plunger to drop it through the middle lane. You should be hitting one of the three lanes on a near 100% basis. If not, keep experimenting until you figure out how much to pull it back.

This table is quite steep. I suspect that the developers did this intentionally to increase the difficulty. The result is more speed for the ball and more likely drains. Your defense is nudging and slapping. For the outlanes, the trick is to nudge before the ball heads towards them. This can be valuable when the ball is on the slingshots. Pay attention to how high the ball is on the slingshots when it does drain left or right, and learn when nudging might be necessary. For balls hurtling towards the flippers, your defense is slapping at the ball instead of trying to catch the ball. Catching the ball seems to only be possible when it is bouncing off of the sides (and, thus, not at top speed) and clearly heading for the meat of the flipper.

The 8-ball kick-out hole has some variability in direction, but I find it quite safe to hold the right flipper up and attempt a catch. When the catch fails, the ball either flips safely to the opposite flipper or it can be slapped at with the same right flipper. It's tough to aim for the kick-out hole, and that's why the center lane is valuable. The hole does engage the right outlane save, so it is useful even when you have already sunk the 8-ball.

The general strategy is to knock down one bank of drop targets (plus the 8-ball) and then hit the special. The special awards an extra ball, since the free play nature of PA makes a free game pointless. Aiming for the special buttons takes some practice, since you are used to mostly aiming for the drop targets.

Once you have an extra ball, it's all about racking up bonus. This is doubly (and triply) so on the last two balls. Completing the drop targets will reset them, for even more bonus potential.

One bit of trivia: you do score for hitting the spot where a drop target used to be. The score is even more than hitting a drop target, so it's not a complete waste of effort when you miss a target.

 

[phreaker47]

You've touched on pretty much everything I was going to add, so...
(Note: all my comments are based on my first few days with the Vita version, but typically it seems most things, even subtle things, apply across all versions)

This table is quite steep. I suspect that the developers did this intentionally to increase the difficulty. The result is more speed for the ball and more likely drains. Your defense is nudging and slapping. For the outlanes, the trick is to nudge before the ball heads towards them. This can be valuable when the ball is on the slingshots. Pay attention to how high the ball is on the slingshots when it does drain left or right, and learn when nudging might be necessary. For balls hurtling towards the flippers, your defense is slapping at the ball instead of trying to catch the ball. Catching the ball seems to only be possible when it is bouncing off of the sides (and, thus, not at top speed) and clearly heading for the meat of the flipper.

Unfortunately, TILTs are always possible, even on the first nudge. EMs never had the "one, two, three strikes you're out" warning systems, so be aware and try not to do full power nudges if possible... and just consider yourself fortunate if you manage to save a ball and NOT tilt.

Catches and dead passes ARE possible, but need to be done with extra care. I'm still flopping several of them and cursing myself for them...heh. But gentle rolls down the slings can be caught, and as you say, solid bounces to the heart of the flipper can become reliable dead passes. Just choose them conservatively and yes, definitely be more willing to slap than you are generally used to with SS tables. I know I'm just restating what you said, heh...

Oh, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that post transfers are highly reliable!

The 8-ball kick-out hole has some variability in direction, but I find it quite safe to hold the right flipper up and attempt a catch. When the catch fails, the ball either flips safely to the opposite flipper or it can be slapped at with the same right flipper. It's tough to aim for the kick-out hole, and that's why the center lane is valuable. The hole does engage the right outlane save, so it is useful even when you have already sunk the 8-ball.

I'll just add that I discovered quickly that shooting for the kickout simply isn't viable, since the ball has too much speed. You've basically got to hope for a happy accident to get it. As for needing to get the 8 ball when missing it from the plunge, as the OP said you just want to hope that a shot to the drop targets eventually banks it up to the center lane somehow... possibly with a little help from the pop bumper (which, in somewhat of a twist, is ENTIRELY YOUR FRIEND on this table!)

The general strategy is to knock down one bank of drop targets (plus the 8-ball) and then hit the special. The special awards an extra ball, since the free play nature of PA makes a free game pointless. Aiming for the special buttons takes some practice, since you are used to mostly aiming for the drop targets.

I'll add that once you get one side of the drop targets started, you should focus on that side (I'm just further emphasizing this). Use post transfers (again, they are reliable here, on both sides) to help you do so. And since this table is entirely symmetrical, I don't see any clear advantage on which side that should be. So, just whichever one you happen to hit first.

From a trap, the special shots are pretty much:
For the left, a nearly immediate shot from a trap.
For the right, a slightly more delayed shot.

And again, post transfer if you trap on the opposite side of where the special is lit. You'll never hit it from the opposite flipper, at least not directly.

Once you have an extra ball, it's all about racking up bonus. This is doubly (and triply) so on the last two balls. Completing the drop targets will reset them, for even more bonus potential.

One bit of trivia: you do score for hitting the spot where a drop target used to be. The score is even more than hitting a drop target, so it's not a complete waste of effort when you miss a target.

Unfortunately, when you get the extra ball, your EOB bonus is also reset. It does not accumulate. But that doesn't change the strategy, of course. Get the EB and then focus on ALL targets, both sides. And yes, even more so on ball 4 and 5... which also brings up the point again: unless you literally drain the first 3 with nothing at all (say, less than 10k), don't give up and restart! Balls 4 and 5 are where it's at for scoring.

 

[SilverBallFiend]

I mentioned this in an another thread - if you're going to turn specials into extra balls, then this was a very poor choice for a table. There were many EM tables for which extra balls would be fine, and many had "Add-a-ball" variations for locales where awarding credits was illegal. In this case, however, the scoring system meant that for the add-a-ball version they had to make it a different table with different scoring rules. Would have made more sense to emulate that table instead.

That would have been "Pro Pool" - the single player version of "Big Shot" that Gottlieb produced.
I have the real pin for Pro Pool Add-a-ball, and it would have made more sense to emulate this directly for this reason to keep "Special and extra ball" distinct, yet still work based on reality with mininal trauma to TPA in efforts to keep emulation as "real as possible" to the real thing.
I understand "special" gives you an extra ball instead of extra game for reasons noted (useless getting a free game in TPA), but I am pretty sure Big Shot is not an Add-a-ball

 

[smbhax]

Unfortunately, when you get the extra ball, your EOB bonus is also reset. It does not accumulate.

I could swear the current bonus is cashed in when you hit the Special. I got something like 120+K on ball 2 with four specials...that makes uh say 15K bonus X 4 + oh say another 15K scoring X 4...that's about right. If bonus wasn't cashed in I couldn't have got anywhere near what I did. I think. I should probably go check on this specifically, but I can never think straight (to check my score) once that Special light goes on.

~~~~~~

Thanks to that gargantuan ball 2 I finally beat that 250K goal (ball 5 hung on just long enough...), so here are some strategy things I had to learn to do it that haven't been mentioned yet--they may not be that valuable considering that it took me this long to crack 250 P:

- Points on this table are pretty much limited: they come from the drop targets, and the targets only reset with death or a Special. Balls 1-3 give 1x bonus for targets hit; ball 4 gives 2x, and ball 5 gives 3x; you'll pick up other points here and there but they won't amount to all that much by comparison. Fifteen targets with bonus plus trickle points from other things over those five balls works out to about 195K--this means that in order to reach 250K you pretty much need to hit at least one Special; in practice, because you will probably have a wasted ball or three, you will most likely need at least two Specials to reach 250K, and more if they don't come on ball 4 or 5.
- I had to learn to nudge lightly, so that I could get in more than a couple nudges in a row without tilting.
- When the ball is coming down the slanty part at the bottom of those little side lane loops, if it's going slowly it'll tend to skip off the top of the slingshot, hit the opposite slingshot square, and then it's totally out of control and likely heading for a side drain; if it's going faster, it'll spit out somewhere around the middle drain maybe, which is danger. So to avoid all that, nudge upward lightly as it's coming down that slanty part at the end of the lane--this will generally cause it to spill mildly out for an easy catch on one of the flippers.
- If the slingshots have got your ball and are just flinging it back and forth, give 'em a light upward nudge when the ball's about to contact one of them--if you're a bit lucky this will take the whiplash out of their sport and cause the ball to drop down to the flippers in a rebound or two.
- If the ball is headed for the middle or upper part of the slingshot, you'd better nudge, because there's a very good chance its next move will be down an outlane.
- The worst is when the ball is falling straight down toward the very tip-top of the slingshot; you can try to time a sideways nudge to kick the ball off to one side or the other, missing a possible ricochet into the outlane, but I found I screwed this up more often than not. I had much more success pre-emptively nudging as the ball passed the green barrier that forms the little side lane above the slingshot: use that barrier like a paddle to swat the ball away from the top of the slingshot. If you're too late with that and the ball is already past the barrier and about to land on the top of the slingshot, the best I could come up with was to nudge upward and pray.
- If the ball is coming down to the flippers under the slingshot with enough steam, you can just hold up the near flipper and let the ball skip over the center drain to the far flipper.
- I really should have worked on eh nudge passing or whatever it's called, you know, nudging a bit to the side as a too-fast-to-catch-but-not-quite-fast-enough-to-skip-over ball comes toward the flipper, to give it that extra oomph to skip over the center drain and land safely on the far flipper. I did not and every time I have tried to figure this out in the past it has been a disaster. Still gotta work on this.
- Get good at hitting the Special targets. They can be hit forehand from a moving ball, and either forehand or backhand from a caught (or possibly very slow) ball. I found I was actually better at the forehand shot--it looks like the Special target is at a nearly untouchable angle for a forehand shot, but this isn't really the case.
- You can ricochet the ball off the Special targets or the wall next to them and into the adjacent targets reasonably reliably; so, for instance, if there are targets at your backhand that you really want to hit from a trapped ball, you can try banking the ball into them off the Special target area. I thought this was a great breakthrough at one point, but if your aim is off you can get a really nasty ricochet into danger off that central thingy, so I can't say I really recommend this technique.
- For whatever reason--probably nerves --I had a lot of trouble with post passes on this table, so I gave up on them. If there were targets to shoot forehand from that side, I'd just shoot them; if all the targets had been hit and there was no Special to go for, I'd just fire the ball up toward the top of the target area--this seemed to be the safest option left, since I was stinking at active passes, and if I still needed the 8-ball there was always a chance the ball would get up to that center rollover and grab it for me.
- I didn't worry about trying to concentrate on the targets on one side or the other; I had more success just going with the flow and shooting whichever targets were available at the moment.
- When shooting targets, I would start at the top and work down: the top ones are maybe an easier angle, and are almost definitely safer, but mostly a hit on them has the potential to ricochet off the pop bumper and back into some targets lower down; it was nice when the ball would trickle down to the lowest targets because that very bottom one was by far the toughest for me to hit directly.
- Dead passes are your friends, your mothers, your secret lovers.
- I have no patience for skill shots generally so I just flicked a full-strength skill shot--a decent amount of the time this would ricochet a few times across the top, then drop near the center rollover for the 8-ball. Convenient for the lazy.
- I shot targets first before going for the 8-ball, since generally some carom or other would get the 8-ball for me anyway while I was going for targets.
- I found that I could sometimes backhand targets from a briskly moving ball, surprisingly enough; I never really tried this consciously, it would just sort of happen in the flow of things.
- Don't miss targets: not only do you need to clear those suckers as quickly as possible to have a chance of reaching the Special before the inevitable drain, but they also absorb a good deal of the speed of the ball; if you hit, say, the blank area behind them instead, the ball will tend to ricochet madly around the table and end up somewhere bad before you know it. Also, because targets give you the target value plus the bonus value, they end up being much more valuable than the blank area behind them, points-wise.
- If I still needed the 8-ball after clearing a bank of targets, as I mentioned above I'd just fling the ball up toward the top, either the top of the target area, or the gap between it and the rollovers, and hope the ball would get up to the top and drop down through the 8-ball rollover. Didn't usually try shooting the saucer for the 8-ball since it was hard to get the ball to stick and a miss that close to the center drain is risky.
- Generally, for every Special I lit, I would drain the next two or three balls fruitlessly. Some kind of mental block I think, for whatever reason I just became fatalistic after lighting that thing. As soon as I overcame this--probably just through my subconscious getting really sleepy--I finally cracked 250K.
- I found that nudging at the top of the table was dangerous--I needed all the play in the tilt bob for the real danger at the bottom of the table.
- If you've just done a few nudges and can catch the ball, do so and wait five seconds or so for the simulated tilt bob to settle--this will save you from a tilt due to accumulated nudging, I mean if your next flip would end up requiring another quick nudge or two.
- The advice I followed from someone more learned than I was to nudge outward if the ball was headed into the outlane. This did produce an honest-to-goodness outlane save now and then, but most of the time it seemed to have no effect; I got to wondering if a good hard nudge inward as the ball kissed the top outer wall of the outlane might not work better, but I didn't manage to try this out.

So basically I finally had to stay up all night and play a bajillion failed full or fragmentary games until I got this thing done. : P Take my advice for what that's worth.

 

[superballs]

Great writeup smbhax.

 

[ScotchYeti]

I have an easier time backhanding the Special from a stopped ball. Count quickly to 2 and shoot. With the other flipper it's pure luck. Keeping the ball alive afterwards is a must, these are the points that make the difference.

For whatever reason I find hitting the targets on the left side easier. When the ball comes down with lower speed and is close to the targets I always try to nudge slightly to the side. With good timing the ball slowly hits 3 or more targets and you can get control.

I have tried to focus more on ball 4 and 5 because the bonus is higher but this strategy is useless. You need to clear the targets as often as possible and collect the Special, no matter which ball it is. Scoring well on ball 4 or 5 means that the overall score will be higher but it's not unusual to have huge 2nd or 3rd balls.

While going for the Wizard goal I have always restarted the game when I had less than 100k after ball 4.