Table of the Week Club...Week 21: TWILIGHT ZONE

[shutyertrap]

I just hate when I need the camera shot, that's when I can't seem to get it.
Just play this table occasionally since it's been out so long.

In case you don't already, always have your left flipper up when you shoot for the camera. Wasn't until I had a good look at the real thing that I noticed how narrow it is otherwise.

 

[invitro]

Yes, FS cleared it up rather quickly, but the fact they actually had to make the call and wait for the okay did happen and did cause a minor delay in their release window.

I have no doubt that Twilight fans are goofs, although certainly the complainant here was not just a fan, but someone involved with the Twilight copyright? So that someone would register a complaint is very believable; that it would take a lawyer or judge long enough to settle it that it caused a significant delay is the stretched-tale part . I believe you, I'm just blathering...

 

[invitro]

So what do you folks go for during Fast Lock multiball? I get a Dead End if it's lit, but other than that, is anything better to go for than the Fast Lock ~6-16M points?

 

[shutyertrap]

I have no doubt that Twilight fans are goofs, although certainly the complainant here was not just a fan, but someone involved with the Twilight copyright? So that someone would register a complaint is very believable; that it would take a lawyer or judge long enough to settle it that it caused a significant delay is the stretched-tale part . I believe you, I'm just blathering...

You dare question me?? Do you not know who I am?

Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[Slam23]

So what do you folks go for during Fast Lock multiball? I get a Dead End if it's lit, but other than that, is anything better to go for than the Fast Lock ~6-16M points?

I'm fairly proficient with the lock shot, so I'll go for that. If I don't get it near the 12-15M range, I just carry on shooting the left ramp-right ramp-piano to continue towards LITZ, that's a risk/reward thing. I probably also try to do both at the same time I think, just to put one ball away somewhere. Good suggestion though to use one ball as insurance to do something more risky and get that 3x Dead End extra ball.

I played one game yesterday to see if I was in proper form/could get motivated for a marathon session. Ended up with a luke-warm 4.3B (high=13B)

 

[vikingerik]

Here are a couple questions I have, before checking the TZ forum:
- How can Bonus X be gotten on purpose? Or do you just need to let it happen?
- Does anyone have any luck with inlane-passing to light and collect the Spiral EB?

I covered these in the TZ forum.

Bonus X: Hold the right flipper while the *Powerball* ejects from the slot machine and it will railroad into the right inlane. This isn't 100% reliable but about 98%. Then just shoot the left ramp of course (although with the Powerball, aim higher than you think you need to.)

Spiral EB: Here's the easy way. Get two Gumballs lit, while the Powerball is out of the way (rear gumball position, or in the lock or trough.) Shoot the right spiral once, which lights it briefly for a spiral award. It stays lit long enough to dead pass from the slot machine eject and shoot it again. Don't catch, just shoot on the fly after the pass, but the shot is reliable. If you have lots of Gumballs lit and the PB out of the way, you can keep shooting this continuously.

 

[invitro]

I covered these in the TZ forum.

Thanks! I'll get around to reading the TZ forum one of these days. I had to read Sigma's TZ guide from the good old days this weekend, first. It looks like the Spiral EB method is much harder than just concentrating on getting the EB Door Panel every time, so I should focus on the latter for now.

 

[invitro]

I played one game yesterday to see if I was in proper form/could get motivated for a marathon session. Ended up with a luke-warm 4.3B (high=13B)

Your score isn't on the weekly leaderboard, for some reason.

I just put up a 15.9B. Nothing exciting though I did get a 1B bonus once. The weekly leaderboard is pretty much naked otherwise, a 4B, 3B, 2B, and down from there.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Your score isn't on the weekly leaderboard, for some reason.

I just put up a 15.9B. Nothing exciting though I did get a 1B bonus once. The weekly leaderboard is pretty much naked otherwise, a 4B, 3B, 2B, and down from there.

It resets Monday morning - I scored 7.7B on Sunday and it was gone today. Still in the Monthly leaderboard though.

 

[invitro]

Spiral EB: Here's the easy way. Get two Gumballs lit, while the Powerball is out of the way (rear gumball position, or in the lock or trough.) Shoot the right spiral once, which lights it briefly for a spiral award. It stays lit long enough to dead pass from the slot machine eject and shoot it again. Don't catch, just shoot on the fly after the pass, but the shot is reliable. If you have lots of Gumballs lit and the PB out of the way, you can keep shooting this continuously.

Ok, I read most of the TZ forum, and yes you answered my questions in detail there. A couple of followups: how many Spiral EBs after the 1st one do you get in a game (for some certain high score)? And do you know about how much you score per LITZ cycle (I know that will depend on number of HH and DP and Bonus X)?

My data says that I had 4.76B after 2 LITZ, 5.83B after 3 LITZ, 7.27B after 4 LITZ, and 26.85B after 14 LITZ. About 1.9B per LITZ.

 

[vikingerik]

Well, since I can fully go infinite on TZ, the answer to how many spiral EBs per game would be infinite, but of course that's not a helpful answer. I think the more helpful answer is how many spiral EBs compared to door EBs, which is probably roughly 1/3. I go for the Spiral EB usually when I'm down to one EB in stock or maybe two if far from the next EB door panel. I always save gumball loads to chain together for spiral awards by that method; I almost never intentionally play PB Mania. PB Mania is NOT good by a risk/reward metric. Surviving the end of PB Mania is actually one of the highest risk activities on the table, since it tends to end while the last ball is living dangerously on the Powerfield.

Points per LITZ cycle I don't think is a useful metric. It can be anywhere between 500M to 5B or more with a lot of big multiballs or bonuses. It varies wildly depending on whether you go for locks and gumballs, or just keep shooting left-right-piano for door panels.

Regular multiball is actually the plurality and fastest source of points. It's quite skill-testing to keep two balls under control in play and string together a dozen or two jackpots, which escalate to 90M each, more than any of the door panels.

Really, the relevant metric is LITZs per ball and therefore door EBs per ball, a metric that as it approaches 1 diverges the game length and score to infinity.

(Man, I can't even answer these straightforward questions without diving on tangents into three other related subsystems. This game is intricacy incarnate indeed.)