PC tourney 2015-07-31: SC, SpSh, WWind, Firepwr, Vctry, HH, Fl2000, JY

[Shulk]

Assault on the Vault scores don't count for Safe Cracker, right?

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

Hey Pbw, don't know if you knew this, but last month on HH, it seemed that if you ran out of time, you wouldn't get credit for your last rollover (although you might get it in a future game). If you drained all balls right before 20 minutes, you did. There is some discussion in the thread for last month's tourney.

Now go beat that nasty Moovenstein character.

Got it. 10 seconds left on the clock.

 

[invitro]

Assault on the Vault scores don't count for Safe Cracker, right?

They DO count.

 

[invitro]

Got it. 10 seconds left on the clock.

Congrats for smashing Victory to pieces. The high score on Victory last month was 94M (by JPelter), so you would've smashed that too (you had 78M fwiw).

Tips for doing this in 20 minutes? I'm #7 on the regular Victory l'board with 410M, so I'm no piker on this game, but scoring like this in 20 minutes...? I suppose it's just run the checkpoints without missing. Do you go for 8X, and when? How about Extra Ball? If you want to hold back from tips I understand .

Very curious to see if this holds up. v.e., JPelter, and Dizzer haven't started yet, and [MENTION=5136]Tarek Oberdieck[/MENTION] said last month he would play this month. Maybe he needs a reminder?

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

Congrats for smashing Victory to pieces. The high score on Victory last month was 94M (by JPelter), so you would've smashed that too (you had 78M fwiw).

Tips for doing this in 20 minutes? I'm #7 on the regular Victory l'board with 410M, so I'm no piker on this game, but scoring like this in 20 minutes...? I suppose it's just run the checkpoints without missing. Do you go for 8X, and when? How about Extra Ball? If you want to hold back from tips I understand .

Very curious to see if this holds up. v.e., JPelter, and Dizzer haven't started yet, and [MENTION=5136]Tarek Oberdieck[/MENTION] said last month he would play this month. Maybe he needs a reminder?

8x early. Go for spinners and the left kicker (where the Xtra Ball light is) for max points while the Checkpoints are active.

The kicker hole can be worth up to 1.6 million per shot, assuming there is no ball locked, and it resets each ball. I'd recommend collecting the EB at Checkpoint 3 instead, so you can keep racking in those points.

Double left spinners make it even more valuable when the ball goes through the inlane.

Due to DX11 lighting, it can be hard to tell which spinner is lit for 10K each spin.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Just posted a solid score on Space Shuttle. One thing to note about this table: the timer pauses during bonus countdown. I drained my last ball with 8s left, maybe I had time for a last shot at the spinner for the extra 100K to take the #1 spot from Sir M.

Tarek would be in Bronze if he plays this month. That's the good news. Ve hasn't started in Silver yet (and may not because JY is S3 which he doesn't own).

 

[switch3flip]

Just posted a solid score on Space Shuttle. One thing to note about this table: the timer pauses during bonus countdown. I drained my last ball with 8s left, maybe I had time for a last shot at the spinner for the extra 100K to take the #1 spot from Sir M.

Actually the timer only pauses as long as you don't have any balls locked on playfield. It's probably the same on most other tables where you can have a ball locked on playfield.

 

[invitro]

Pbw, thanks for the Victory info... I see it's in the strategy thread too which I should have looked at, but yours is more specific/detailed.

Thanks you other guys on the SpSh timer. I had noticed it both stopping and not stopping and didn't know why.

 

[JPelter]

Having motivation issues re: the game recently. I might try to push a set of scores to at least stay out of relegation maybe. When's the tournament ending?

Also how nice of them to run haunted house again which ignores rollovers over and over. Basically having to run 20 minutes like five times to get a single score is just stupid.

 

[invitro]

having motivation issues re: The game recently. I might try to push a set of scores to at least stay out of relegation maybe. When's the tournament ending?

2015-08-08, 00:11 gmt.

 

[switch3flip]

Having motivation issues re: the game recently. I might try to push a set of scores to at least stay out of relegation maybe. When's the tournament ending?

Also how nice of them to run haunted house again which ignores rollovers over and over. Basically having to run 20 minutes like five times to get a single score is just stupid.

For some reason I haven't had any rollover issues this time at all, played about 5 games with rollovers. No millions taken or added.

 

[vikingerik]

v.e., JPelter, and Dizzer haven't started yet

I won't be. Busy elsewhere this week, don't feel like playing the same lousy tables in HH and Victory over again, and don't feel like buying Junkyard in which I have no interest otherwise.

 

[switch3flip]

I won't be. Busy elsewhere this week, don't feel like playing the same lousy tables in HH and Victory over again, and don't feel like buying Junkyard in which I have no interest otherwise.

You are definitely not missing out on anything regarding Junkyard. Not only is it boring, the tuning feels like the most unnatural table in TPA. Absolutely horrible. Seriously, what's up with this pin? I never played the real thing. For those that have; is it just Farsight's terrible tuning or are the shots so way off on the real thing as well? Can't be. Many shots just slip off in weird directions all the time. Some are just impossible from cradle and rolling balls are hell as well. Aiming is pure crap. Makes me nauseous. Must be the worst tuning in TPA by far.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

You are definitely not missing out on anything regarding Junkyard. Not only is it boring, the tuning feels like the most unnatural table in TPA. Absolutely horrible. Seriously, what's up with this pin? I never played the real thing. For those that have; is it just Farsight's terrible tuning or are the shots so way off on the real thing as well? Can't be. Many shots just slip off in weird directions all the time. Some are just impossible from cradle and rolling balls are hell as well. Aiming is pure crap. Makes me nauseous. Must be the worst tuning in TPA by far.

I just played it again, and I agree. This needs the new physics badly. And tuning.

 

[shutyertrap]

As mentioned in our podcast, I'm going to only play each table 5 times and just live with the scores I get. Maybe. Haven't played any yet though.

 

[vikingerik]

You are definitely not missing out on anything regarding Junkyard.

I know. I played it when it was the free monthly table and had enough of it in two days. The tuning is below average but I don't quite think it's the worst in TPA, I'd rate Haunted House and High Roller Casino below it. But just as a pinball game apart from anything of Farsight's, it's pretty lousy in its own right, just repeating the same four dull modes with no variety or emergent behavior.

 

[invitro]

You are definitely not missing out on anything regarding Junkyard. Not only is it boring, the tuning feels like the most unnatural table in TPA. Absolutely horrible. Seriously, what's up with this pin? I never played the real thing. For those that have; is it just Farsight's terrible tuning or are the shots so way off on the real thing as well? Can't be. Many shots just slip off in weird directions all the time. Some are just impossible from cradle and rolling balls are hell as well. Aiming is pure crap. Makes me nauseous. Must be the worst tuning in TPA by far.

I played JY extensively when it was new, including a great game (the best that year, I think) on it at a PAPA. I don't think the TPA version is off at all, any more than the general TPA offness. My memory of the real thing may have decayed, but I don't think so. It seems to feel very much like the real thing.

What shots do you think are impossible from cradle?

The main problem with the real table is that the video mode dominates everything else (which is how I blasted it at PAPA). This problem is gone with the 20-minute limit, or I think it is... my strategy could be bad as is often the case!

I'm feeling a bit kindly toward JY right now. I'd put it in the middle of Season 3, ahead of WD, LCA, BK2K, and HRC, and maybe HS.

 

[invitro]

For some reason I haven't had any rollover issues this time at all, played about 5 games with rollovers. No millions taken or added.

Did you run out of time, or balls? Did you roll over 3M, 2M, or just 1M? Did you lose a ball after the rollover?

 

[tenparts]

I don't know if I'd put JY above HS and BK2000, but I enjoy flailing away at Ritchie Loops™. Same with HS2 and TNG.

 

[vikingerik]

I don't think the TPA version is off at all, any more than the general TPA offness.

I'm inclined to agree, but the thing is the general TPA offness hits Junkyard right where it hurts. Mostly how TPA's flippers are anemically weak up the middle on any kind of rolling shot. You can't have fun whacking on the wrecking ball like you're supposed to, and the jackpot shot is a lot harder than it should be. Especially during the super jackpot phase where you need accurate fast shots to knock the crane out of the way and sneak in.

The other part is that all the shots besides the wrecking ball are naturally narrow, which isn't a problem in itself, but is in TPA. What tends to happen is that those shots are hittable ONLY via the preordained railroad from a cradle and almost always miss from any other setup. High Roller Casino has this same problem, as does Theatre of Magic from the early days.

All the shots in TPA Junkyard are possible from a cradle, and not particularly tough, but that's not how the game is supposed to be played. It's one of those games (like STTNG) that feeds everything you do to a flipper inlane, so it's meant to have decent flow, which the TPA version sorely misses. You can't shoot the wrecking ball or Dog ramp from a rolling feed, and those are half the game.

I played a real Junkyard too, when it first came out. Seemed decent, but once you saw and got the wrecking ball jackpot, no real reason to play it over the AFM and TOTAN and Jack*Bot that were in the same arcade. Same goes in TPA.