Table of the Week Club...Week 10: THEATRE OF MAGIC

[vikingerik]

I hate this table. It's the first one of this series that I don't love.

Thanks for that, I thought I was the only one who doesn't love ToM. It's decent, but there's much better out there. The illusions are grindy to start and pointless to play. The wizard mode is underwhelming and nasty-difficult unless you sneak your way into stacking it with a multiball. Scoring is unbalanced with bonus dominating everything once you get going. I think folks glorify the atmosphere - people like everything with a sultry female doing the voiceovers - but the pinballing is less than great.

As for the TPA conversion, the physics are discernibly cruder than more recent efforts, but I'll give Farsight a pass on that for the early tables when they were just getting started. The unshootable right orbit is regrettable, but at least ToM gives you a skill shot option to work around it and frequent left inlane feeds for a makeable rolling shot.

 

[Kratos3]

Thanks for that, I thought I was the only one who doesn't love ToM. It's decent, but there's much better out there. The illusions are grindy to start and pointless to play. The wizard mode is underwhelming and nasty-difficult unless you sneak your way into stacking it with a multiball. Scoring is unbalanced with bonus dominating everything once you get going. I think folks glorify the atmosphere - people like everything with a sultry female doing the voiceovers - but the pinballing is less than great.

As for the TPA conversion, the physics are discernibly cruder than more recent efforts, but I'll give Farsight a pass on that for the early tables when they were just getting started. The unshootable right orbit is regrettable, but at least ToM gives you a skill shot option to work around it and frequent left inlane feeds for a makeable rolling shot.

I just went from playing ToM to playing TAF on the iPad, and I have to agree about the physics feeling a little cruder on ToM. I hadn't really noticed that before.....huh.

 

[Fungi]

Nevermind then. I HATE this table. (I'm easily influenced.)

 

[Bahnzo]

As for the TPA conversion, the physics are discernibly cruder than more recent efforts, but I'll give Farsight a pass on that for the early tables when they were just getting started. The unshootable right orbit is regrettable, but at least ToM gives you a skill shot option to work around it and frequent left inlane feeds for a makeable rolling shot.

I wish they would go back and redo a lot of the first season tables. Add Pro mode to the ones missing, the physics tweak you mention, etc. The first season has many of the best ever tables and seems a shame they aren't being updated.

 

[shutyertrap]

I don't know exactly what I did (I suspect it had to do with the center stair ramp), but I just had the sound clip of "Move your car!" play at me. Never had that before.

 

[Dedpop]

I don't know exactly what I did (I suspect it had to do with the center stair ramp), but I just had the sound clip of "Move your car!" play at me. Never had that before.

Shooting the Trunk three times in Hat Magic mode makes a telephone appear on the screen.
"Move your car" is heard from it.

 

[Johni3w6]

Shooting the Trunk three times in Hat Magic mode makes a telephone appear on the screen.
"Move your car" is heard from it.

It seems every time I get Hat Magic, that's the time I can't hit the trunk.

 

[Johni3w6]

Might have to give this table some attention tomorrow, haven't played it much due to the fact I played the heck out of it when the PS3 users only had a few tables.

My all time high score on this is just over 4 Bil.

 

[Bahnzo]

Had a great game, just over 6 bil, but I had one problem.....I couldn't start the Grand Finale again. I thought I had everything for the second finale, just needed the illusions. And when I got them, they just seemed to restart everything. What did I miss, any idea?

 

[Bahnzo]

9B in 40 minutes:

Watching this video, I'm guessing this is tablet/phone? Because it's certainly different from PC. The flippers on the PC are stronger...I can tell this because the watching this video, the timing windows for hitting certain shots are much tighter on the PC.

Watching shots from the left flipper to the center staircase ramp: from a dead catch in this video the ball is able to travel much further down the flipper than on PC.

Also shots from a dead catch to the orbits look much easier than what I'm used to.

One reason I really wish leaderboards were separated.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Watching this video, I'm guessing this is tablet/phone? Because it's certainly different from PC. The flippers on the PC are stronger...I can tell this because the watching this video, the timing windows for hitting certain shots are much tighter on the PC.

Watching shots from the left flipper to the center staircase ramp: from a dead catch in this video the ball is able to travel much further down the flipper than on PC.

Also shots from a dead catch to the orbits look much easier than what I'm used to.

One reason I really wish leaderboards were separated.

That's on a PC.

 

[Extork]

Shooting the Trunk three times in Hat Magic mode makes a telephone appear on the screen.
"Move your car" is heard from it.

Don't bother getting more than 3 for more easter eggs

I'm curious to know who all plays out the illusions. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem to add up to much. Points is points. But how many of you will time them out? For me, I can't help but play them. It's too exciting!

 

[Locksley]

Virtual pinball in a virtual pinball.
Clearly this table could not look into the future, so much for magic...

One of my friends favorite table. He hasn't been over to try it in the Pinball Arcade yet though, he might not like the virtual one, hmm...

Also, I almost gotten rid of the strange ball lag (it is very hard to notice, only slow long balls really make it noticeable). Although it works perfect in 60Hz I notice a bigger flipper lag than when I run in 120Hz. So rather an almost unnoticable ball lag/stutter than laggy flippers (yup, using 1 frame buffer).
Not really laggy flippers, but they sure are more responsive in 120Hz...

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Don't bother getting more than 3 for more easter eggs

I'm curious to know who all plays out the illusions. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem to add up to much. Points is points. But how many of you will time them out? For me, I can't help but play them. It's too exciting!

I play straight jacket because it feeds the jets (bonus multiplier!). Spirit Cards, Safe Escape if locks are lit. Metamorphosis as it's relatively safe. Otherwise time them out or go for Spirit Rings. 60M from Spirit Rings is safer and about what you'd score from playing the illusion anyway. Plus it lights MAGIC letters.

 

[Bahnzo]

That's on a PC.

How do you get the DMD over the middle like that?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

How do you get the DMD over the middle like that?

I didn't do anything special - a combination of my chosen camera, and playing in portrait mode.

 

[Bahnzo]

I didn't do anything special - a combination of my chosen camera, and playing in portrait mode.

Ahh, I see thanks! I had no idea this was possible on PC.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Ahh, I see thanks! I had no idea this was possible on PC.

You just need a monitor that can be swiveled. This is mine: http://www.asus.com/Monitors/VG248QE/

 

[invitro]

In regular play my favorite thing to try is to nudge the ball upwards when over the rollover area, forcing it to stop and drop down.

Thanks for this tip. I'm pretty sure I wasn't doing this before. I use PC/keyboard, and use left/right nudge all the time and up nudge almost never. It works for me about 50% like vikingerik says, or even more if I concentrate on timing. I can get 8X easily now! I've boosted my high score from 6.6B #850 to 12.9B #80. I didn't count my balls but I think about 6B of that 12.9B was bonus?

And I don't hate ToM any more... I like it a lot now . Funny how that happens.

 

[superdan]

I think Nate from coast2coast pinball podcast ruined this game for me because ToM has one of the most annoying call outs in pinball..."you have the magic." Ugh, put an unremarkable 1.45 bil just now after not playing it for a long while. I'd like it more with better call outs, don't hate it nor love it, just is. Appreciate the playing tidbits, wanted to learn how to play this one better besides hitting the ball to flashing lights and call outs. Cheers.