iguanarama
New member
- Dec 20, 2012
- 44
- 0
Hi there,
No one else has put a thread together on this, so I wanted to write one! My highest score is just under 28 billion on my iPod touch (landscape, camera position 1), and this table has become a real favourite of mine. (Mainly because a good game doesn't take hours like TZ or whatever.)
Rule sheet from pinball.org
Strategy guide from PAPA attendee Bowen
I always found ST:TNG to be a brutal but fair pinball experience on the real table, and find that online as well. I haven't found another TPA table that punishes missed shots so much. However, I think the TPA table has one big advantage over the real table: nudges are easier (the real table weighs a ton) and consistent. Even without an up-nudge on my iPod touch, consistent nudging is incredibly useful.
Here's the rules and pointers I follow in my head when I'm playing, in only a rough order of play. NOTE: People may disagree with some of my approaches! And maybe my way is flawed. Hey, it's just the way I play it. (And it works for me!)
- Choose Warp factor 4 if available (i.e. you haven't hit warp 9 yet), otherwise Start Mission. This is because warp 5 holds your multipliers (worth 300M+ at 10x), warp 7 doubles the spinner (you can get tens, or hundreds, of millions per spin of the spinner later in big games), and warp 8 gives you an extra ball or artifact. Start Mission is your 2nd choice because Final Frontiers get you a guaranteed 4-7 billion later on in big games.
- On launch, use the flippers to make sure the middle lane (of the three lanes above the bumpers) is not lit. A launched ball will go down the left lane 80% or so of the time, but down the middle lane 20%, and on that 20% it goes straight down. So make sure the middle lane is not lit, and if the ball doesn't go down there, you've got plenty of time to make the left lane not lit for when the ball goes down there instead.
- When the ball is flying around in the bumpers, I find it tends to go up the left lane the most, then the middle, then the right. That dictates which lanes I leave not lit when it's in the bumpers.
- When the ball is coming down the right orbit 90% of the time from ball launch, I always go for the left ramp, even (weirdly, I know) if I've hit Warp 9 before so don't get a warp. It's a nice way for me to get the ball controlled.
- Shoot to start missions whenever possible. Always, always, always that's your priority shot if it's lit. The one exception is if start mission is Final Frontier, I'm an artifact short of a billion, and the shuttle simulation is lit. I'll then go for the shuttle simulation before FF.
- Use nudges way more often than on other tables. Of balls that would head for the inlane/outlane areas, I reckon I can avoid 75% of those by nudging the table when I've missed my shot. TPA's consistent, fairly strong and safe nudges give a big advantage here.
- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss 'Start mission', flip too early. There's a guaranteed drain if you hit a certain amount too late (it bounces off something right of the hole and straight down the left outlane).
- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss the right ramp, flip too late. There's another guaranteed drain off the right ramp's left post, straight down the left outlane again.
- A ball part of the way up the left orbit can be controlled 100% of the time. If it's a long way up before coming back down (e.g. it almost makes it to the multipliers, but not quite), just let it bounce off the left flipper and trap it on the right. If it only goes a short way up, do a right nudge on the table just before it passes the time rift / spinner target on its way down. It'll then allow you to let it bounce off the left flipper and trap on the right.
- Start mission is a hard shot off the right flipper. It's much easier off the left.
- Always take shuttle simulation (video mode), and go LLRRLLRLLL for maximum points and an artifact.
- In order of highest to lowest chance of me getting an artifact, here's how I rate the missions: Rescue, Time Rift, Asteroid Threat, Worm Hole, Search the Galaxy, Battle Simulation, Q's Challenge. That's not an order for everyone, but hey, I have a hatred of Q's Challenge. I tend to drain a lot on it and it feels like it drags on.
A few notes on missions:
Rescue: The artifact is just awarded by hitting any switch on the table a number of times. So right from the start, do right ramp -> left orbit for a guaranteed artifact.
Asteroid Threat: Despite the game's pressure, getting 20 mil or 5 mil per shot is no big deal. Just get the artifact. If you miss the first shot for 20 mil, even consider trapping the ball until the timer runs out and the asteroid shots light up.
Q's challenge: If you hit right ramp off the start, and then can keep a left orbit -> left ramp rotation going, you're set for a decent whack of points. However, as missing either of those two shots is a high drain risk, it's a risky whack of points.
Battle simulation: Choose a spot on the table that the gun turns over, to indicate when to fire. On my iPod widescreen at camera 1, it's just after each gun clips one of the mission lights. Pick your spot rather than 'aim' the gun and you'll find the shots much easier.
Search the galaxy: Don't get cute trying to do the galaxies in order for the 2nd artifact in the gamma quadrant. That requires a hard left flipper at speed shot to alpha quadrant, and it gets messy if you miss it. Just take home your right ramp -> middle ramp -> right orbit for left ramp artifact (or alternatively, right ramp -> left orbit -> left ramp -> middle ramp, but for whatever reason I never take that approach).
Time Rift: They should rename this mission "hit your shots and yawn". The time additions it gives are far too generous.
And back to my general pointers:
- I avoid the neutral zone on the whole. However, if you've started Ferengi multiball with (hopefully) 3 balls, don't go for its jackpot, just (a) build shuttles and (b) hit the target just right of the left orbit, which increases the spinner. Ignore the Romulan and Cardassian neutral zones; just play them out (multiball) or trap the ball until they end. (I occasionally get cocky and go for a right orbit.)
- If you get Ferengi multiball, immediately get Warp 9 if you're close to it. The neutral zone multiball reloader then stays active throughout the whole warp 9 mode, so as long as you get a .1 warp increase every so often, you have a very long, guaranteed 4 ball multiball.
- If I miss one battle simulation shot, or two maximum, I trap the ball and wait it out. Missed neutral zone shots from the right gun have a nasty habit of draining down the right outlane, so it's not worth just an artifact (and if you've missed once or twice, you probably run out of time for the extra ball attempt).
- If I get command decision, I just choose whatever comes up. A big score means you'll need them all anyway. I can't think of a single good reason to rerun a mission. Even if I'm one artifact off a billion, a good game -- where you get multiple final frontiers -- will negate any such points loss. You're either on your game or not.
- I don't go for multiball unless it's later in the game and it's worth something juicy like 500M for the big jackpot (as it was in my highest scoring game). My way of scoring big is Final Frontier repeats, and shooting that iffy right orbit for locks doesn't work for me.
- If at all possible, get a shuttle simulation (three right ramps then right orbit) before you get the Special at 450M (which is an extra ball on a free play table like TPA). By getting a simulation before this, you get an 'extra' extra ball in the simulation seemingly 100% of the time, as opposed to 0% of the time after the special. (On the real table I remember it being more random. Could be wrong.)
- My Final Frontier strategy is evolving, but I'm finding it better to go for middle table shots when there's lots of balls, and then left orbit / right orbit / right ramp shots when there's 2 or 3 left. My highest scores in Final Frontier come when I play two or three balls for a long time, not when there's chaos at the start with many more balls.
Hope that helps some people. If you practice your shots and work hard at maTHANK YOU MR DATA.
No one else has put a thread together on this, so I wanted to write one! My highest score is just under 28 billion on my iPod touch (landscape, camera position 1), and this table has become a real favourite of mine. (Mainly because a good game doesn't take hours like TZ or whatever.)
Rule sheet from pinball.org
Strategy guide from PAPA attendee Bowen
I always found ST:TNG to be a brutal but fair pinball experience on the real table, and find that online as well. I haven't found another TPA table that punishes missed shots so much. However, I think the TPA table has one big advantage over the real table: nudges are easier (the real table weighs a ton) and consistent. Even without an up-nudge on my iPod touch, consistent nudging is incredibly useful.
Here's the rules and pointers I follow in my head when I'm playing, in only a rough order of play. NOTE: People may disagree with some of my approaches! And maybe my way is flawed. Hey, it's just the way I play it. (And it works for me!)
- Choose Warp factor 4 if available (i.e. you haven't hit warp 9 yet), otherwise Start Mission. This is because warp 5 holds your multipliers (worth 300M+ at 10x), warp 7 doubles the spinner (you can get tens, or hundreds, of millions per spin of the spinner later in big games), and warp 8 gives you an extra ball or artifact. Start Mission is your 2nd choice because Final Frontiers get you a guaranteed 4-7 billion later on in big games.
- On launch, use the flippers to make sure the middle lane (of the three lanes above the bumpers) is not lit. A launched ball will go down the left lane 80% or so of the time, but down the middle lane 20%, and on that 20% it goes straight down. So make sure the middle lane is not lit, and if the ball doesn't go down there, you've got plenty of time to make the left lane not lit for when the ball goes down there instead.
- When the ball is flying around in the bumpers, I find it tends to go up the left lane the most, then the middle, then the right. That dictates which lanes I leave not lit when it's in the bumpers.
- When the ball is coming down the right orbit 90% of the time from ball launch, I always go for the left ramp, even (weirdly, I know) if I've hit Warp 9 before so don't get a warp. It's a nice way for me to get the ball controlled.
- Shoot to start missions whenever possible. Always, always, always that's your priority shot if it's lit. The one exception is if start mission is Final Frontier, I'm an artifact short of a billion, and the shuttle simulation is lit. I'll then go for the shuttle simulation before FF.
- Use nudges way more often than on other tables. Of balls that would head for the inlane/outlane areas, I reckon I can avoid 75% of those by nudging the table when I've missed my shot. TPA's consistent, fairly strong and safe nudges give a big advantage here.
- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss 'Start mission', flip too early. There's a guaranteed drain if you hit a certain amount too late (it bounces off something right of the hole and straight down the left outlane).
- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss the right ramp, flip too late. There's another guaranteed drain off the right ramp's left post, straight down the left outlane again.
- A ball part of the way up the left orbit can be controlled 100% of the time. If it's a long way up before coming back down (e.g. it almost makes it to the multipliers, but not quite), just let it bounce off the left flipper and trap it on the right. If it only goes a short way up, do a right nudge on the table just before it passes the time rift / spinner target on its way down. It'll then allow you to let it bounce off the left flipper and trap on the right.
- Start mission is a hard shot off the right flipper. It's much easier off the left.
- Always take shuttle simulation (video mode), and go LLRRLLRLLL for maximum points and an artifact.
- In order of highest to lowest chance of me getting an artifact, here's how I rate the missions: Rescue, Time Rift, Asteroid Threat, Worm Hole, Search the Galaxy, Battle Simulation, Q's Challenge. That's not an order for everyone, but hey, I have a hatred of Q's Challenge. I tend to drain a lot on it and it feels like it drags on.
A few notes on missions:
Rescue: The artifact is just awarded by hitting any switch on the table a number of times. So right from the start, do right ramp -> left orbit for a guaranteed artifact.
Asteroid Threat: Despite the game's pressure, getting 20 mil or 5 mil per shot is no big deal. Just get the artifact. If you miss the first shot for 20 mil, even consider trapping the ball until the timer runs out and the asteroid shots light up.
Q's challenge: If you hit right ramp off the start, and then can keep a left orbit -> left ramp rotation going, you're set for a decent whack of points. However, as missing either of those two shots is a high drain risk, it's a risky whack of points.
Battle simulation: Choose a spot on the table that the gun turns over, to indicate when to fire. On my iPod widescreen at camera 1, it's just after each gun clips one of the mission lights. Pick your spot rather than 'aim' the gun and you'll find the shots much easier.
Search the galaxy: Don't get cute trying to do the galaxies in order for the 2nd artifact in the gamma quadrant. That requires a hard left flipper at speed shot to alpha quadrant, and it gets messy if you miss it. Just take home your right ramp -> middle ramp -> right orbit for left ramp artifact (or alternatively, right ramp -> left orbit -> left ramp -> middle ramp, but for whatever reason I never take that approach).
Time Rift: They should rename this mission "hit your shots and yawn". The time additions it gives are far too generous.
And back to my general pointers:
- I avoid the neutral zone on the whole. However, if you've started Ferengi multiball with (hopefully) 3 balls, don't go for its jackpot, just (a) build shuttles and (b) hit the target just right of the left orbit, which increases the spinner. Ignore the Romulan and Cardassian neutral zones; just play them out (multiball) or trap the ball until they end. (I occasionally get cocky and go for a right orbit.)
- If you get Ferengi multiball, immediately get Warp 9 if you're close to it. The neutral zone multiball reloader then stays active throughout the whole warp 9 mode, so as long as you get a .1 warp increase every so often, you have a very long, guaranteed 4 ball multiball.
- If I miss one battle simulation shot, or two maximum, I trap the ball and wait it out. Missed neutral zone shots from the right gun have a nasty habit of draining down the right outlane, so it's not worth just an artifact (and if you've missed once or twice, you probably run out of time for the extra ball attempt).
- If I get command decision, I just choose whatever comes up. A big score means you'll need them all anyway. I can't think of a single good reason to rerun a mission. Even if I'm one artifact off a billion, a good game -- where you get multiple final frontiers -- will negate any such points loss. You're either on your game or not.
- I don't go for multiball unless it's later in the game and it's worth something juicy like 500M for the big jackpot (as it was in my highest scoring game). My way of scoring big is Final Frontier repeats, and shooting that iffy right orbit for locks doesn't work for me.
- If at all possible, get a shuttle simulation (three right ramps then right orbit) before you get the Special at 450M (which is an extra ball on a free play table like TPA). By getting a simulation before this, you get an 'extra' extra ball in the simulation seemingly 100% of the time, as opposed to 0% of the time after the special. (On the real table I remember it being more random. Could be wrong.)
- My Final Frontier strategy is evolving, but I'm finding it better to go for middle table shots when there's lots of balls, and then left orbit / right orbit / right ramp shots when there's 2 or 3 left. My highest scores in Final Frontier come when I play two or three balls for a long time, not when there's chaos at the start with many more balls.
Hope that helps some people. If you practice your shots and work hard at maTHANK YOU MR DATA.
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