New to this game and pinball in general! Questions/table recommendations

[gameaddict4life]

Hey everybody! So I just bought the basic game earlier tonight after watching some gameplay videos on youtube of the game. I've played the demo for the first 4 tables my favorites being Arabian Nights and The Theater of Magic. The only pinball game I can remember playing was South Park while on vacation. I used to go to an arcade that I seem to recall had a line of them but I never played them, at least I don't remember playing them! Anyway, I've been looking at the different table packs and watching videos but I still can't decide quite what to get. I'm thinking of going with the Season One pack and maybe upgrading just the Scared Stiff table to pro for the non-family mode. Does anybody know if local scores are saved while in operator mode? I know that we can't post to the leaderboard but how about locally? Also how are the custom ball skins? It looks like I could get both of the ball packs and the upgraded table on top of the regular Season One pack for less than the Pro season would cost. The thing is I've never played any of these tables IRL. I'd like to get the monster/spooky ones for Halloween and some of the others as well. While watching the videos I found that I often liked one of the tables but the one that it was packed with not so much. Looking at Season 2 those tables are not very appealing to me at all with the exception of the western one and perhaps that Terminator 2 table. Can anybody recommend some good tables for a beginner? I'm wondering if I should just get the Season One pack or if I should just get a mix of both Season one and two, although Season 2 doesn't look as good as Season one. Oh, also I saw a thread or post on here about joining up on a friends list? I'm on PS3 so how do I go about doing that? If I sign up on that will I have member's scores for games on my game that I can compete with? Finally, are there any tournaments going on? Thanks for reading and responding!

 

[smbhax]

Local scores are saved while in operator mode, yes.

The custom ball skins are not that great; on PS3 they are very dull and unshiny--hopefully that'll get fixed up at some point but for now they're somewhat underwhelming.

The Season One pack probably is the best bang for your buck at this point. There's good stuff in Season Two as well but One wouldn't be a bad place to start.

There is a PS3-specific board here, and there you'll find The Official PSN ID Thread where you can tell people your PSN handle so they can add you to their PSN friend lists; your PSN friends will show up in the Friends leaderboard in game so you can see their scores on a table and how yours stacks up against them.

There are no tournaments going on at the moment.

 

[Zorgwon]

Pro Packs might reset your local high scores (without restoring them later) and after changes in the settings you will not be able to participate on the leaderboards.

With Season Pack 1 you will enough to do.

 

[neglectoid]

season 1 rocks, it has a lot of great games in it. MEDIEVAL MADNESS, ATTACK FROM MARS, MONSTER BASH, TWILIGHT ZONE, FUNHOUSE.
season 2 has some real gems in it also. I think there is gonna be a tournament soon (next month?) we just finished a tourney a few weeks ago, and they are fun.
as for good tables for beginners, i'd say ATTACK FROM MARS. that table is fun and easy and it sucks you in right away.
I wish I was in your shoes and just rediscovering pinball. have fun!

 

[gameaddict4life]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I didn't think about the possibility that the game can't save both non-pro and pro local scores at the same time. Can anybody confirm if that is true? Also are the tournaments just going to be for Season 2 tables only? Can you only compete in them if you own the tables that are in the tournament? What if you own some but not all of them? Oh, has anybody experienced lag or trouble moving between the items in the main menu? While I'm in the games I don't get any lag but sometimes while in the main menu it seems I have to hit the joystick dead right, left, up, or down to get it to move. The D-pad is better but sometimes it happens even with that. The menus just seem a bit clunky. Its a new Dualshock 3 controller too.

 

[Tabe]

The game doesn't save non-pro scores at all. Every time you go into a particular table, those local scores will get reset.

 

[Naildriver74]

Welcome and glad you found the pinball arcade. Season one is a great place to start. I'll bet you end up with all of the tables before you know it. There are a lot of good people here that can help you along the way. Have fun!

 

[smbhax]

The game doesn't save non-pro scores at all. Every time you go into a particular table, those local scores will get reset.

On a PS3 at least they don't reset.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Welcome fellow addict SEASON 1 has all your monster games ELVIRA SCARED STIFF, ELVIRA and the PARTY MONSTERS, MONSTER BASH. The tournament consists of 8 tables across both seasons usually, there have only been 2 but you must own the tables to play them and post points.

 

[smbhax]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I didn't think about the possibility that the game can't save both non-pro and pro local scores at the same time. Can anybody confirm if that is true? Also are the tournaments just going to be for Season 2 tables only? Can you only compete in them if you own the tables that are in the tournament? What if you own some but not all of them? Oh, has anybody experienced lag or trouble moving between the items in the main menu? While I'm in the games I don't get any lag but sometimes while in the main menu it seems I have to hit the joystick dead right, left, up, or down to get it to move. The D-pad is better but sometimes it happens even with that. The menus just seem a bit clunky. Its a new Dualshock 3 controller too.

Non-pro scores definitely save. I've only just bought Scared Stiff Pro, and it did save my Pro score as well...although I think it also credited me with two or three other scores that I hadn't played--not sure what was up with that.

Tournaments so far have not been season-specific. If you don't have all the tables you can still compete but it will be hard to place well because you're ranked by the sum of your scores on all the tables you've played.

The menus are clunky, yes.

 

[Tabe]

On a PS3 at least they don't reset.

I'm an idiot. I knew this, no idea why I said otherwise.

 

[gameaddict4life]

Ok, so I've been playing the original 4 tables for almost 4 and a half hours tonight! I've noticed a few bugs but overall its worked pretty well. I've made it into the top 5 locally on all of the pins so that's something. One thing I've noticed is that while I'm playing my view doesn't move. Is there a way to have the game follow the ball? Not all the time but with some of the boards it would be nice to see what's going on at the top to get a better feel of what the ball is doing/table layout. I also had a glitch in my Tales of Arabian Nights where the video screen at the top left went away. I tried to pause and unpause, that made the music cut out as well but I was able to finish the game. I was a bit lost though when it came to the Bazaar rewards because I didn't know at the time that the left flipper always selects jewel. That also happened to be my highest scoring game until later when I more than doubled it, 32 million something. I got the final battle with the genie but he won in the fight over the bottle, couldn't hit those yellow targets! That's my favorite game so far out of the 4. It seems I can hit those fireball bonuses like crazy sometimes and I love the ramps in that one. Anyway, I'll be getting the Season 1 pack soon and I might upgrade SS to pro. I saw on the PSN where the pro version of TAN was only 1.99. Have they lowered the price on the pro upgrades? I thought it was 3.99 or something? Oh, and I read on the board, Tabe I think posted it, that a major PS3 patch is in the works? Will they improve the audio bitrate? The in game audio is good but the main menu music seems a bit low sample to me. Thanks for the responses!

 

[gameaddict4life]

I'm also strangely looking forward to playing that Harley Davidson table. I'm not into the whole bike scene at all but that table looks really fun!

 

[Squid]

The triangle button toggles the DMD (Dot Matrix Display) on and off. The square button toggles the view lock on and off. You'll notice a little lock icon at the side of the view number at the bottom left corner. When it is locked the view will remain constant. When it is unlocked the view will focus more on the upper half of the playfield when the ball is up there.

Harley-Davidson doesn't get much love because there are much better tables to be played. The only redeeming quality of it is that it has a lot of multi-ball modes.

 

[gameaddict4life]

Huh, I must have had it locked this whole time. I remember using both square and circle to change the camera back and forth so it must have ended up getting locked every time. As far as the Harley table, well I saw some gameplay video of it and I really like the music. I think its "Born to be Wild" or some rendition of it. Also the number match part with the DMD of the girl getting the number tattooed on her lower backside was a nice touch. Oh, and I just bought the Season 1 pack off the PSN! It was a little nerve-racking though because the PSN decided to freeze on me right after I clicked the buy now button. It just stuck on the status bar until I reset the PS3. I went back on there and it went through though so its downloading now.

 

[smbhax]

Also the Circle button changes the camera position.

Have fun with the Season One pack! Lots of great tables in there.

 

[DoX]

Hi and welcome to TPA world - I wish you many great hours of play.

As for the beginner tables I'd say the easyest are Scared Stiff, Attack From Mars, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash and Harley Davidson.

As for an advice I think you should master the art of nudging (left stick), you'll need that on some harder tables (like Terminator 2). It will take some time to master it, but it pays off later.

Have fun!