Table of the Week Club...Week 51: SPACE SHUTTLE

[switch3flip]

I just played android and PC and compared the airlock drops shots and find it MUCH easier to hit the airlock drop targets from left flipper when playing on android compared to PC. There is definitely a big difference in leeway I have to say. On android if you shoot from left flipper, pretty much almost wherever you hit on the T-L-E spots on the right, (as long as not too low), the ball bounces to the drops and the drops get cleared and ball returns back down or you will at least clear some of the drops. On PC the sweetspot is much smaller. Also much more dangerous to hit the "E" target on PC, on android it doesn't bounce out to outlane like it can on PC, on android it bounces to inlane instead of outlane.
From right flipper, if there is any difference I would lean towards it being slightly easier on PC, but can't say for sure but the difference is definitely not as noticable, if there is any.


And [MENTION=134]shutyertrap[/MENTION] I just listened to the podcast, if nobody told you yet there are indicators telling you about how many times you have cleared the drops. The three arrows in the lane by the drops light up in different combinations depending on how many times you've cleared them, you want to end up with them all lit.

 

[shutyertrap]

Yep, the 3 lights were pointed out to me in the comments while we were recording. Even when looking at the instructions, the inserts are so blown out it's hard to tell what they say. But yeah, aware of it now, wizard goal finally met.

I've been messing around today with shooting from the left flipper. In no way, shape, or form is it more safe for me. I'll bounce off the standups, knock one of the drops down, and the ball will still travel to the rollovers and into the pops. And yes, I'm playing on a PC. The only advantage I do see with the left flipper is hitting a running shot. Seems the only way to hit the drops from the right is with a captured ball.

 

[superdan]

Wish I heard about TLE recochet shot from left flipper shot sooner rather than later. Never occurred to me to do deliberately while I thought right flipper was key to the airlock targets. Seems to be working for me (iOS platform). Now I just need to practice it until I hit 27 mil
Cheers

 

[Crooker]

The key to this table and prolonged games is mastering the ricochet shot to the TLE targets into the drop targets from the left flipper. This either drops targets in the lane and returns to the left or right flipper, nudging required in about 10-20% imstances I would say, or shoot through the lanes toward the USA rollovers. Shooting the lane from the right is also useful but produces less dropped targets on average. This is especially dangerous with an open gate ("airlock") in the right outlane because when the ball leaves the bumper area, you want that gate closed. If played very controlled you can get 2 EB's per played ball, one from 7x bonus, and one from a completely lit 7K spinner. So in theory this table can be infinite. It's very hard to get those 2 EB's without draining in between though, the table let's you work very hard for those which is actually quite satisfying.
I'm currently at 24M for 13th place overall, up from my previous high of 17M. It feels like more is possible and that's exactly the lure of this table...

This. This is great slam. Never noticed this before. Not observent enough I guess. Just put up 24m for 14th. Congrats on your 27m.

 

[Slam23]

Nice one Crooker! And interesting to hear about physics differences between platforms, this is not the first time that we have noted differences which can make some strategies void on the other platform. I really want to state here that I was not the first to notice the left flipper to TLE targets bounce, the original strategy poster was VikingErik who then already put up a 40M score. You can look it up in the Space Shuttle tips and strategies thread. And also interesting to note is that he plays only on the PC...

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Oddly I find it more difficult to get the ricochet off the TLE targets on my Android tablet than I do on PC.

One big difference is that Android does not yet have the 3.0 physics and PC does.

Also I just got a new, faster, tablet, and the game plays differently than on my old device.

 

[switch3flip]

Nice one Crooker! And interesting to hear about physics differences between platforms, this is not the first time that we have noted differences which can make some strategies void on the other platform. I really want to state here that I was not the first to notice the left flipper to TLE targets bounce, the original strategy poster was VikingErik who then already put up a 40M score. You can look it up in the Space Shuttle tips and strategies thread. And also interesting to note is that he plays only on the PC...

VE probably played and wrote about it before the physics update to PC.

 

[Extork]

Been playing a lot lot lot of El Dorito, and when I re-entered SPACE SHATTLE, it was so different that I was like waaa. And that dang gone spinner value drop shooter things, it hard. I argue that it's hard to hit except by a. Trap. Still there's the arrows that say the stuff. And the ball just goes flingin all around the place. And multi all isn't fun. Man screw this table, it's too hard

 

[vikingerik]

Nice one Crooker! And interesting to hear about physics differences between platforms, this is not the first time that we have noted differences which can make some strategies void on the other platform. I really want to state here that I was not the first to notice the left flipper to TLE targets bounce, the original strategy poster was VikingErik who then already put up a 40M score. You can look it up in the Space Shuttle tips and strategies thread. And also interesting to note is that he plays only on the PC...

From this thread, I'm starting to suspect that the reliable TLE -> drop ricochet happened only with older physics, which were on PC at the time I played and on Android now, but doesn't work on the PC now. I'll try to remember to try it out after work tonight.

 

[Snorzel]

The PS4 version is currently easier to get a long game on and the TLE bank-shot than PC it seems

 

[Crooker]

From this thread, I'm starting to suspect that the reliable TLE -> drop ricochet happened only with older physics, which were on PC at the time I played and on Android now, but doesn't work on the PC now. I'll try to remember to try it out after work tonight.

I've lost track of what has what physics but I play on iOS.

 

[WhiteChocolate]

waves hey extort! perservere... i've only gotten a couple of decent little local highscores on it a few times before. it's a tough one! still a cool classic...

 

[vikingerik]

Ok I tried it. Yeah, it seems you guys are right, that rebound isn't reliable on the current PC version. The ball almost always goes up the lane into the bumpers. There's one exception: a square hit to the E target while the bottom drop is already down will see the ball hit the bottom edge of the middle target, then also rattle into the top target. But the sweet spot for this is quite narrow, and missing it (hitting higher up on T-L-E) means you go into the bumpers without hitting any drops.

So I agree with Tarek now, just shoot the drops from the right flipper instead.

 

[Extork]

waves hey extort! perservere... i've only gotten a couple of decent little local highscores on it a few times before. it's a tough one! still a cool classic...

Waves back. Yeah it's tough. I agree with Jared about the noises. Yes most of them get annoying really fast but there are some that get me hyped. You ever hear the sound when you get the match number at the end of the game? It's bleeeldkekelweeeelemdwkrlel, and I love it. The table though, I'm gonna have to give it a C+. How in the world this table revived pinball in general is beyond me. It goes beyond my understanding. To infinity. And... Well... Space

 

[Slam23]

I don't know what it is with this week's TotW but I keep improving on this table, I'm now at 39M and change for #9, just below Dizzer2012. I was a bit angry with myself that I didn't push through over his 40M but when I think about starting this week at 17M for my previous best, I'm very content. Last week I didn't come anywhere close beating my own 192M on Cactus Canyon, and I got so fed up with all those SDTM drains from the left orbit return, that I just gave up on that table. I'll wait till it comes around again I guess...

 

[Snorzel]

This is one of the tables in the May - 8 table tournament!

If you win the Zac code, you can look forward to a couple great tables that also released in '84, Devil Riders & Magic Castle. Also, its cool to compare the Williams version to Zaccarias Space Shuttle released 4 years earlier, also an awesome game.

What is the key to avoiding that cursed right outlane?

 

[vikingerik]

What is the key to avoiding that cursed right outlane?

When the ball is a few inches above it, nudge hard leftwards to smack that vertical wall into it and bump the ball to the safety of the flippers. (TPA's default nudge direction is brokenly counterintuitive here. Turn on reverse nudging and it's way more obvious that what you're doing is smacking the wall into the ball.)

Most tables want you to nudge upwards at the in/outlane divider, but this one needs that hard sideways nudge. Firepower is the other table that comes to mind where this happens, on both of its outlanes.

 

[Slam23]

Make it a priority to close the gate
Kidding aside, on iOS it's a very good strategy to learn how to drop those targets in the tunnel by having the ball ricochet from the TLE targets. When deployed properly you can get the ball at the left flipper fairly easy. The fun starts when the gate is open and you inadvertently end up in the bumpers. Reading the exit is then paramount, and preventive nudging. Haven't had much succes with reverse nudging (i.e. nudging in a contra-intuitive direction for example here towards the wall above the outlane, not mirroring the controls)/

 

[vikingerik]

Kidding aside, on iOS it's a very good strategy to learn how to drop those targets in the tunnel by having the ball ricochet from the TLE targets.

This used to work on the PC as well, but seems not to now. Ricocheting from TLE either doesn't go towards the drop targets, or hits them but then goes up the spinner lane anyway. What you really want is to hit the drops without going up into the bumpers, but I haven't found any way to do that currently on the PC.

 

[Snorzel]

Nudging left just as the ball reaches those drop targets has helped me some on the PC version but the ball still ends up in those bumpers most of the time.