Table of the Week Club...week 9: WHITE WATER!

[Bahnzo]

This is one of those tables I've barely touched and really know nothing about. You might even say it's because of tables like this that I started this whole TotW to begin with, because it forces me to play what I normally ignore. Should be an interesting week.

Same. I've only played it a handful of times and seem to move on to other tables instead. Gonna have to take the time to learn it tonite. Also: the bowling alley down the block is supposed to have this machine, although it's not supposed to be in very good condition.

 

[shutyertrap]

Now that I've put some time into it today...

WTF is up with the right outlane? I mean, people complained about CV's but not this? When the ball shoots out the mine to the right, if you don't have your flipper up it seems to bounce around and then go out the right lane 9 times out of 10. That thing be hungry.

So I've knocked off 2 wizard goals, now have the Traveling shot, the Vacation Planner, and the 5 way combo to do. So any hint as to how to get that 5 way? It has to be the most awkward flow shot I've come across. I can hit the ramp, followed by insanity falls, but hitting No Way Out from the left flipper with ball in motion is just a lesson in frustration for me. Hell, I can barely hit the final (sorry, haven't learned all the names yet) shot to the right with it in motion.

I've tried holding the left flipper up so it might bounce to the right, but IF it makes the gap, it's an immediate flip instead of catch on the right. I've tried nudging up to keep it on the left, but that didn't work either. So what's the trick?

As usual, I become obsessed with wizards and can't move on to learning where all the good scoring is until those are complete. I've accidentally gotten 800+ million, but that's it. And I agree, there seems to just be a lot of cheap drains on this table.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Now that I've put some time into it today...

WTF is up with the right outlane? I mean, people complained about CV's but not this? When the ball shoots out the mine to the right, if you don't have your flipper up it seems to bounce around and then go out the right lane 9 times out of 10. That thing be hungry.

So I've knocked off 2 wizard goals, now have the Traveling shot, the Vacation Planner, and the 5 way combo to do. So any hint as to how to get that 5 way? It has to be the most awkward flow shot I've come across. I can hit the ramp, followed by insanity falls, but hitting No Way Out from the left flipper with ball in motion is just a lesson in frustration for me. Hell, I can barely hit the final (sorry, haven't learned all the names yet) shot to the right with it in motion.

I've tried holding the left flipper up so it might bounce to the right, but IF it makes the gap, it's an immediate flip instead of catch on the right. I've tried nudging up to keep it on the left, but that didn't work either. So what's the trick?

As usual, I become obsessed with wizards and can't move on to learning where all the good scoring is until those are complete. I've accidentally gotten 800+ million, but that's it. And I agree, there seems to just be a lot of cheap drains on this table.

For Lost Mine kickouts, always hold up the right flipper. The ball rolls up the right inlane, bounces off some rubber, and back down the inlane. 100% of the time. Make sure the light is lit for 2 easy R-I-V-E-R letters. In fact the easiest way to get to River Class VI is No Way Out->Bigfoot Bluff->Lost Mine kickout->up/down the right inlane->No Way Out, rinse and repeat. Just watch Bigfoot Bluff - sometimes the ball won't get diverted to the Whirlpool even though it should. I've seen it happen on a real table but not nearly as often as TPA will do it.

The 5-way combo is a pain; that Insanity Falls->No Way Out shot is very, very, tricky. Trickier even than on a real table. Some people claim to be able to hold up the left flipper for a pass to the right, and there's enough grace period to continue the combo, but I'm not so sure. Also if there's a lock lit at No Way Out, that breaks the combo.

 

[Gus]

For Insanity Falls to No Way Out I hold the left flipper up to pass it to the right and shoot on volley. Obviously not a 100% shot but a decent chance.

Safest way to collect extra ball for me is: from the mine kickout, hold right flipper. IF the ball travels all the way up above the inlane it will be right next to the eb target (happens maybe 1/3), nudge hard to the side (from right to left) to collect.

 

[Slam23]

I once kept one going for 40 minutes and 8 billion total.

But that said, I later found that regular multiball jackpots score faster on the high end. I can complete the whirlpool awards once per ball on average to go infinite from the EBs (plus the occasional special/EB from a Vacation Jackpot), so once infinity is possible, pounding on the lite-lock targets and prioritizing regular multiball will score faster than spending eternity in Whirlpool Challenge.

5X Playfield isn't a significant part of that. The real points come from stringing together triple jackpots at 210M each when maxed. 20 in one multiball scores 4B, way faster than Whirlpool Challenge. This does take pinpoint accuracy on the multiball-start jackpot shots that establish the multiplier, and immense discipline on catching and controlled shooting; any flailing at all on this table will kill you right quick.

The math is clear, but risk/reward leads me back to the Whirlpool Challenge. I haven't had much luck trying to control MB, do you intentionally drain one ball for that? I always try to keep all balls in play as long as I can on most tables figuring that that will maximize scoring while off-setting risk, but on TAF I have learned how to take full advantage of the 2-ball instead of 3-ball MB situation. Going for MB is more fun though on this table, playing Whirlpool Challenge ad infinitum is a definite bore after a while. I have reached a modest 5.9B on this table, there is a rollover issue at 10B with the table preventing getting the full HOF points (16B required). So there is room for improvement, now finding the time is the issue, especially with the Kickstarted game Pillars of Eternity right around the corner, ready to gobble up my spare time....

 

[Slam23]

Hi Gus,
Will definitely try your extra ball nudge! I found direct shooting for the target very risky, leads to a lot of tilt-inducing nudging to keep that ball from the outlane....

 

[Bahnzo]

Safest way to collect extra ball for me is: from the mine kickout, hold right flipper. IF the ball travels all the way up above the inlane it will be right next to the eb target (happens maybe 1/3), nudge hard to the side (from right to left) to collect.

I *just* discovered this myself and came here to share....grr! Like Gus says, it's the safest way. Not 100% foolproof tho and you still risk a drain.

Had my highest score, 2B+. Ran the Vacation dohicky/thingy twice and had it lined up for a third time but I couldn't get the locks lit. Lighting the locks for a third time is damn near impossible...anyone have any tricks/tips for that?

 

[Extork]

Some crazy stuff just happened. I've never had it happen before but I scored a cow jackpot. It shows that whirlpool wizard dude holding a cow, and it says 'the secret of the cow'. After reading the instructions for Bigfoot Hotfoot, it's actually not that hard to do though, or worth it.

The other crazy thing I had happen (by accident... It'll NEVER happen again), was, 5x playfield + multiball + wet willy wizard mode all activated within a couple shots. Got the 5x playfield award, oh dang multiball is ready, so I got that going, and during all of that, I didn't know wet willy was 1 or 2 shots away. But actually I didn't score many points because I was too excited about what just happened. My next game I went for triple jackpots and got my score up to half of what I had when that craziness happened. I'm too embarrassed to say the scores though. But just imagine what could've been if I didnt get all freaked out.

Triple jackpots really are the way to go. On that crazy game I had, camera craze was going ontop of whirlpool challenge. It was nice, but I don't think it was actually adding as much as I thought. Yeah, this is a fun table, one that I keep forgetting about

 

[Slam23]

I *just* discovered this myself and came here to share....grr! Like Gus says, it's the safest way. Not 100% foolproof tho and you still risk a drain.

Had my highest score, 2B+. Ran the Vacation dohicky/thingy twice and had it lined up for a third time but I couldn't get the locks lit. Lighting the locks for a third time is damn near impossible...anyone have any tricks/tips for that?

Well, my point is not going that way because as EldarOfSuburbia already mentioned, the lock targets time out faster than you can lit them after 3rd/4th MB. I would rely on getting your points from the Whirlpool Challenge which requires you to control one ball on the left flipper, and shooting the lock hole and Whirlpool with the other. Although the Whirlpool maxes out after a while on 53MB and 100M for the "jackpot", but with patience this easily beats out the vacation jackpots. If you get VikingErik-like skills, going for maxed out Jackpots is way faster, but I lack the ball control for that I think...
Anyway, no tips here for making your MB life easier

 

[vikingerik]

The math is clear, but risk/reward leads me back to the Whirlpool Challenge. I haven't had much luck trying to control MB, do you intentionally drain one ball for that?

Not intentionally, but it usually doesn't stick around long anyway.

The important tactic for control in multiball is what to do with balls coming down Insanity Falls from a jackpot shot. As the 5-way combo players know, you can't make a flow shot from there into No Way Out. As Gus says, hold pass, catch on the right if possible, or if not just one-time a shot towards Spine Chiller / No Way Out. Hitting one of the two happens with decent reliability to set up the next jackpot shot.

As usual, this takes controlled discipline. DO NOT be tempted to whack a flow shot coming from Insanity up into Disaster Drop. That does nothing productive and makes things worse, as that ball will return from Disaster Drop at just the same time as the other ball is coming down either Insanity or the right inlane return.

If you lose control, do whatever you can to pound balls into No Way Out. It's a great move to hit that with a second ball while the first is already in there. You get several seconds of peace and clear jackpot shots with both balls.

As for risk/reward, yes Whirlpool Challenge is likely favorable there. I'm talking about when risk is removed because you're already at max EBs and going infinite from cycling the whirlpool EB award every ball, so in that case regular multiball scores faster than Whirlpool.

Had my highest score, 2B+. Ran the Vacation dohicky/thingy twice and had it lined up for a third time but I couldn't get the locks lit. Lighting the locks for a third time is damn near impossible...anyone have any tricks/tips for that?

Eldar has the mechanics right: you need to have both Lite-Lock lit (one hit on each), hit one to start it flashing, then hit the other before the very fast timeout. My most reliable method was to backhand Lite from a catch on the left flipper, which usually yields a rebound that is controllable quickly, most often with a dead pass. Then shoot the other target.

The trick there is don't get mad or annoyed when you miss. Just regain control, relight the target that went out, and regain control again to try again. It takes a few tries and that's normal.

 

[Slam23]

Well, bit the bullet and upped my best from 5.9B to 8B, couple of nice Whirlpool Challenges and that extra ball trick from Gus worked. Got also 2 drains and a tilt from that though, so timing is still crucial. Drains occured I believe from nudging to late to the left, which gave a ricochet from the top of the right slingshot to the right outlane. Multiball is still a problem, I can see where those jackpots get fat and juicy, but I can't hit Insanity Falls yet with enough consistency. Got the secret cow from the Spirit of the River too in this game, just couldn't see what the reward was, besides from a nice graphic.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I got a 7.7B game right after the 5.9B game I posted. Trouble was I spent most of the last few balls trying to re-light locks at the expense of everything else. It's not a fun distraction. But the temptation/necessity of maxed triple jackpots is always there.

 

[Maggie]

One thing to say for this table is that unlike some others we have done (Black Hole, Creature), this one really does separate players. I've put in a few hours now, and still only have a high score just north of 500m. I have no nudge capacity which is part of my problem. And am too inconsistent, and this table really makes me pay for that. But I'll keep plugging away!

 

[Bahnzo]

One thing to say for this table is that unlike some others we have done (Black Hole, Creature), this one really does separate players. I've put in a few hours now, and still only have a high score just north of 500m. I have no nudge capacity which is part of my problem. And am too inconsistent, and this table really makes me pay for that. But I'll keep plugging away!

I find there are two things that help me pump my score up on a table. First is really knowing the ruleset. Knowing what shots I need to hit without having to think too much about it helps a lot. The other (and arguably more important) is simply time on the table and understanding when to nudge to keep a ball under control. Instinctively knowing when the ball needs to be nudged a certain way at a certain point is something that comes (to me anyways) only with playing the table for a couple hours.

 

[Bahnzo]

I would rely on getting your points from the Whirlpool Challenge which requires you to control one ball on the left flipper, and shooting the lock hole and Whirlpool with the other.

I did this for a game, and I'm not against it, but I have a real hard time with just doing rote stuff like this over and over (and over and over etc) to jack up scores. Yeah, I suppose it's the difference between a good score and a great score, but it feels exploitative after awhile and just not fun. And in the end I play for fun.

Eldar has the mechanics right: you need to have both Lite-Lock lit (one hit on each), hit one to start it flashing, then hit the other before the very fast timeout. My most reliable method was to backhand Lite from a catch on the left flipper, which usually yields a rebound that is controllable quickly, most often with a dead pass. Then shoot the other target.

Ah ok. The instructions are a little misleading because they state you need to hit the other lock lite *twice* in 5 secs, which obviously isn't true...just have it lit and once is enough. I'll have to spend a couple games practicing just this shot to see how difficult it is for me. Thanks!

 

[Slam23]

[MENTION=376]Bahnzo[/MENTION]: I get what you are saying, but it's just 2 different goals to shoot for. Playing STTNG is probably the poster boy (or are pins female? they sure can be fickle sometimes, sorry Maggie ) for this: top scores come from only playing Borg MB, just having fun on the table means playing modes and trying to get to Final Frontier. Tournament players on real pins also always find a way to maximize scoring and minimizing risk, which can lead to some pretty repetitive playing. Now TPA sure needs some tournament settings to offset it's predictability which leads to marathon games that nobody really wants but happen because it's possible.
Anyway, back to Whitewater!

 

[Maggie]

I find there are two things that help me pump my score up on a table. First is really knowing the ruleset. Knowing what shots I need to hit without having to think too much about it helps a lot. The other (and arguably more important) is simply time on the table and understanding when to nudge to keep a ball under control. Instinctively knowing when the ball needs to be nudged a certain way at a certain point is something that comes (to me anyways) only with playing the table for a couple hours.

Knowing the rules is huge! It always takes me a while because just reading the rules bores me to death. Anyway, I think I'm there on Whitewater. The second sure seems important judging from the videos I've watched. But for the life of me I can't figure out a way to make nudging part of my game, except rarely during a *really* slow sdtm drain. It doesn't come natural, and very often when I do try, my fingers aren't back to the flipper in time to do anything with it. I'd do much better if I could just shove my ipad and have that count as a nudge!

Ha ha slam! But I've known more than a few fickle boys!

 

[rehtroboi40]

Don't miss "The secret of the cow!"

Also, while playing the other day, I found a "DOHO" on the upper right corner of the DMD by the right cave.

 

[Extork]

Knowing the rules is huge! It always takes me a while because just reading the rules bores me to death. Anyway, I think I'm there on Whitewater. The second sure seems important judging from the videos I've watched. But for the life of me I can't figure out a way to make nudging part of my game, except rarely during a *really* slow sdtm drain. It doesn't come natural, and very often when I do try, my fingers aren't back to the flipper in time to do anything with it. I'd do much better if I could just shove my ipad and have that count as a nudge!

Ha ha slam! But I've known more than a few fickle boys!

I nudge all the time on my tiny little iPhone, to the point where it's too much, and it would've been better to not budge at all. On a iPad though, I tried it and it was awesome to have a bigger screen, but I didn't like that nudging was so hard. Yeah they have different schemes. And I'm not saying yo downgrade to a small screen. I was gonna say to practice on big shot but iPads are just hard to nudge

 

[HOW]

Gonna try again....though not really played any of the tables this month :/ LOL

Though I hit the link to register and get the below.....HELP!

BlahCade Tournament of the Month (March 28th)
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