Instructions... Score killers

[Fungi]

Whenever we get a new table, I immediately dive into it, bypassing the instructions. After all, part of the fun is discovering what does what. Some people consider it part of the game and that instructions are like reading spoilers to a puzzle.

I don't. I like to know what to shoot for to max out my points and to see how to turn on toys. But when I get a new table, I'm always too excited to read.

Here's the thing. Many times, I play a great game and put up an excellent score. Then I read the instructions. That's when my scores tank. I then have to play many more games before my scores go up again.

Wutupwitdat?

 

[pinballchris]

Possibly trying too hard on one specific shot instead of letting the game flow.

 

[ER777]

Possibly trying too hard on one specific shot instead of letting the game flow.

Exactly what I was thinking and I do the same thing all the time. I'm always getting hung up on starting a certain mode or whatever.

There's something to be said for playing without any thoughts about what needs to be shot next going through your head..

 

[Squid]

I usually just consult the instuctions when I come across a specific question. I like figuring out the rules on my own as much as I can.
I probably haven't read though all rules of Ripley's. I tried reading them but, 400 pages is a lot.
I do like reading the write-ups from Mr. SDC, however. Farsight should give him the job of doing that.

 

[Clawhammer]

Knowing what shots are worth can add pressure- hitting the piano for LITZ on ball 3 can feel a lot harder than the other door panels. I don't love IM, but I think the high intensity do or die hurry up is cool for that reason, although I do think the scoring is unbalanced.

 

[Timelord]

When these tables were released IRL one had no "complete instructions" for each and every goal, only what was outlined on the Scorecards located on the machines. The skill was to determine how to actually play the game, as much or more than basic pinball techniques. I love the fact that TPA includes these instructions, but they are by no means necessary to get high scores or have fun.

 

[Kolchak357]

When these tables were released IRL one had no "complete instructions" for each and every goal, only what was outlined on the Scorecards located on the machines. The skill was to determine how to actually play the game, as much or more than basic pinball techniques. I love the fact that TPA includes these instructions, but they are by no means necessary to get high scores or have fun.

Very true indeed. In my younger days I used to watch the older high schoolers play in order to figure out the rules. I was often told to get lost for being a pest (some things never change).

 

[Fungi]

Get lost!

 

[sotie]

Same thing here! I always dive in and sometimes I don't get around to reading instructions until months have gone by. Many tables I have only read certain sections of the instructions. Anyway, as soon as I read instructions my scores tank.

 

[Kolchak357]

Get lost!

I knew that was coming.

 

[shutyertrap]

I always just dive right in.

The instructions start being consulted usually when I can't figure out where a particular shot is, or how to complete a certain task. Since we don't have a 'fly over' mode in the game, I use the hand dandy pointing arrows to figure things out.

The next time I consult the instructions is to figure out the one or two 'goals' that I haven't gotten through regular play. What kills me, is that often I've already been completing wizard goals but haven't gotten some silly little standard goal.

The final time I consult the instructions is when I'm completely frozen at improving my score. This is what I did for RBION, to learn how to stack modes, and to learn what I'm supposed to be shooting for during Atlantis for jackpots.

I totally get the OP's point about reading the instructions and then having scores drop. I say find your rhythm and then shoot for shots that work with that.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Theres instructions!? maybe pro-mode instructions will help more.

 

[Chris Dunman]

Whenever we get a new table, I immediately dive into it, bypassing the instructions. After all, part of the fun is discovering what does what. Some people consider it part of the game and that instructions are like reading spoilers to a puzzle.

I don't. I like to know what to shoot for to max out my points and to see how to turn on toys. But when I get a new table, I'm always too excited to read.

Here's the thing. Many times, I play a great game and put up an excellent score. Then I read the instructions. That's when my scores tank. I then have to play many more games before my scores go up again.

Wutupwitdat?

Thank God Fungi, I thought it was just me....

 

[norbert26]

sometimes its better to shoot for whatever is convenient at a given time. For example if i am playing Centaur and i am not in position to hit the queens chamber i grab the orb targets instead. Most of the time i will glance through instructions but not right away. My best games are shoot for what is convenient at any given time. This is also how i make goals. I don't even read the goals are they just fall into place. If i notice i am not completing standard goals on a table after a passage of time i will look and see what goal i am having trouble with. If i have a question on what a given set of targets do i will look it up. Then in the virtual world outside TPA i have encountered tables with no instruction at all figure it as you go.

 

[Timelord]

Knowing what shots are worth can add pressure- hitting the piano for LITZ on ball 3 can feel a lot harder than the other door panels. I don't love IM, but I think the high intensity do or die hurry up is cool for that reason, although I do think the scoring is unbalanced.

This is definitely one factor, and one that some designers use to their advantage in making the game play more challenging.

Let's consider Bride of Pinbot, for example. The game play largely revolves around making the "Shuttle Ramp", which in TPA is a relatively easy task. It, however, can seem much more difficult when the Bride is singing and you are trying to make that "Billionaire's Club" shot; where in reality it is the very same shot that brought you there in the first place.

Some designers make key shots "dangerous" by carefully aligning the geometry, so that a slightly missed shot will bring certain death via outlanes or SDTM. This is tuned at the whiteboard level. This is the tuning that Bobby does at the end; and considering the turn around time schedule that Farsight has set for itself, does a very credible job. In general Bobby tunes these tables down quite a bit to accommodate more causal players, and they are quite forgiving in comparison to the tables IRL, that are in top mechanical and electronic condition.

Can anyone else think of other factors that come into play?

Timelord ...

 

[Clawhammer]

This is definitely one factor, and one that some designers use to their advantage in making the game play more challenging.

Let's consider Bride of Pinbot, for example. The game play largely revolves around making the "Shuttle Ramp", which in TPA is a relatively easy task. It, however, can seem much more difficult when the Bride is singing and you are trying to make that "Billionaire's Club" shot; where in reality it is the very same shot that brought you there in the first place.

Some designers make key shots "dangerous" by carefully aligning the geometry, so that a slightly missed shot will bring certain death via outlanes or SDTM. This is tuned at the whiteboard level. This is the tuning that Bobby does at the end; and considering the turn around time schedule that Farsight has set for itself, does a very credible job. In general Bobby tunes these tables down quite a bit to accommodate more causal players, and they are quite forgiving in comparison to the tables IRL, that are in top mechanical and electronic condition.

Can anyone else think of other factors that come into play?

Timelord ...

Like you mentioned, sound can play a factor. Raising the stiff-o-meter in SS immediately comes to mind.

 

[Fungi]

Like you mentioned, sound can play a factor. Raising the stiff-o-meter in SS immediately comes to mind.

The first time I made it to Warp 9.9 in STTNG, the sound happened to be turned way down.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

Does Wet Willie's in White Water count? It's kinda like the Stiffometer, except the music only changes orchestration and goes up a pitch. Trust me, the Stiffometer was much harder for me.

 

[Echeos]

Discovery is an important part of the pinball experience for me. Working out how a table plays is half the fun. Also, learning it the hard way tends to make the lesson stick more. Admittedly, with the standard and wizard goals I am sometimes tempted to look up what I've achieved in a game and inadvertently reveal to myself parts of the game I was not yet aware of but I'm trying to be more disciplined in avoiding such spoilers now.

As for the idea that knowing what you've to do affecting your ability to do it; I've absolutely found this to be true. But I don't think there's any difference between discovering what you've to do and reading the instructions. The mere fact of focusing on a particular shot, or series of shots, makes it harder unless you're so confident in your muscle memory that it doesn't force you to consciously consider it.

 

[Carl Spiby]

We had a white water put on site at a local pool place, whilst the operator was there I had a test game on it and got on the HST, it took me about 3 or 4 months to get on there again.