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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
Table of the Week Club...week 9: WHITE WATER!
- Thread starter shutyertrap
- Start date
- Status
- Mar 14, 2012
- 7,334
- 0
- Thread starter
- #62
Oh man, finally got the vacation jackpot too. I had like 3 games where all I needed was the ball locks, and I couldn't do it. On this last game, I was in multiball when I almost started Wet Willies, the last thing I needed. I was really hoping to get it started too, as I didn't want to have to go through doing the locks again. And of course, I lose the balls right as the 3rd goes in to start the mode. Fortunately I was able to calm myself, breath, and then take my time relighting the locks. Talk about sweaty palms!
As for the jackpot animation...well now I know where RBION got the idea for it's DMD going haywire.
Now I can practice the other tables that are in the tourney and be done with this one. I do gotta say, I like this table a lot now. It seems really balanced in shots requiring both flippers, the modes aren't incredibly difficult to get through, yet they can be frustratingly challenging. I look forward to now playing it IRL as opposed to being clueless the other times I've come across it.
In case anyone cares, here's the strategy I used to get through the vacation planner...
-- First thing on my list was to get the class 6 rapids. I'd shoot No Way Out (lit or not), then shoot the whirlpool. Hold my right flipper with the lane lit, score 2 letters. Rinse and repeat. Boring as hell, but since you have to get it all on one ball, I didn't want to waste my time with everything else only to blow it on this.
-- Next was filling up the Boulder Garden. Took me a while to realize how to light it with Insanity Falls. Since I got really good at hitting the whirlpool shot when getting the rapids, this didn't prove too tough.
-- Now I tried filling up the rafts. Usually I was halfway there at this point, just from general game play. I also tried not to light the locks if at all possible. I got fairly comfortable shooting a rolling shot off the right flipper into the lock without touching the contact points, so that eliminated a lot of random start ups.
So I guess my next task will be to learn how to rack up big scores. This last game netted me 1.2 billion, so we'll see where I can go from there.
As for the jackpot animation...well now I know where RBION got the idea for it's DMD going haywire.
Now I can practice the other tables that are in the tourney and be done with this one. I do gotta say, I like this table a lot now. It seems really balanced in shots requiring both flippers, the modes aren't incredibly difficult to get through, yet they can be frustratingly challenging. I look forward to now playing it IRL as opposed to being clueless the other times I've come across it.
In case anyone cares, here's the strategy I used to get through the vacation planner...
-- First thing on my list was to get the class 6 rapids. I'd shoot No Way Out (lit or not), then shoot the whirlpool. Hold my right flipper with the lane lit, score 2 letters. Rinse and repeat. Boring as hell, but since you have to get it all on one ball, I didn't want to waste my time with everything else only to blow it on this.
-- Next was filling up the Boulder Garden. Took me a while to realize how to light it with Insanity Falls. Since I got really good at hitting the whirlpool shot when getting the rapids, this didn't prove too tough.
-- Now I tried filling up the rafts. Usually I was halfway there at this point, just from general game play. I also tried not to light the locks if at all possible. I got fairly comfortable shooting a rolling shot off the right flipper into the lock without touching the contact points, so that eliminated a lot of random start ups.
So I guess my next task will be to learn how to rack up big scores. This last game netted me 1.2 billion, so we'll see where I can go from there.
Slam23
Active member
- Jul 21, 2012
- 1,279
- 2
Just a tip that I found to have helped my game on Whitewater: you can spot Hazards in other ways than shooting them and while the middle three shots on the lower playfield (ramp, lock and Disaster Drop) and Insanity Falls/Whirlpool on the upper are quite save, both orbits can be dangerous because of the bumpers in the Boulder Garden. More often than not the ball can get directed towards the right outlane or get back uncontrollable on the playfield. There are two ways to circumvent the orbit shots and still progress the Rafts and this is lifted directly from the rulesheet: you can spot Hazards through (multiple) Disaster Drops or relighting a lit Bounceback. Doing so behaves as if you had actually hit the Hazard, so that you can collect the Man Overboard value in this fashion (but not Jackpots, Whirlpool Awards, or the Travelling Hazard in Wet Willie's). I haven't tried this for actually getting Wet Willie's which requires shooting all hazards.
If you do decide to go for those orbits, then the right orbit is the most difficult shot to nail. This can only be done from the left flipper and is quite hazardous (no pun intended). I found the best way to get the shot is letting a ball return from the upper playfield to the right flipper, do a flipper pass (hold up the right flipper) and one-time it through Boomerang Bend from the left. With some practice it's quite doable. You can get control back quite easily by deadpassing from the left to right flipper when it screams around the corner of the left orbit.
So for high scoring on this table there are two main strategies: going for triple jackpots in MB and keeping Whirlpool Challenge going as long as possible. In respect to the latter I'm now experimenting with keeping both balls going at the same time instead of keeping one ball on the left flipper. This speeds up the process offcourse but it's more difficult to control, sometimes you have to divide attention between both upper and lower playfield and balls that return directly to the right flipper instead of going into the Whirlpool can mess up the rhytm. It feels great though if you get it to work and in any case it's a good workout and less of a bore than playing with one ball. Because of the progressive nature of scoring in this mode, mistakes are more costly in the later stages when the Whirlpool Jackpot reaches the 100M. So I'm toying with the idea that to reach that plateau, I involve both balls, and then try to get control with one ball on the left flipper.
If you do decide to go for those orbits, then the right orbit is the most difficult shot to nail. This can only be done from the left flipper and is quite hazardous (no pun intended). I found the best way to get the shot is letting a ball return from the upper playfield to the right flipper, do a flipper pass (hold up the right flipper) and one-time it through Boomerang Bend from the left. With some practice it's quite doable. You can get control back quite easily by deadpassing from the left to right flipper when it screams around the corner of the left orbit.
So for high scoring on this table there are two main strategies: going for triple jackpots in MB and keeping Whirlpool Challenge going as long as possible. In respect to the latter I'm now experimenting with keeping both balls going at the same time instead of keeping one ball on the left flipper. This speeds up the process offcourse but it's more difficult to control, sometimes you have to divide attention between both upper and lower playfield and balls that return directly to the right flipper instead of going into the Whirlpool can mess up the rhytm. It feels great though if you get it to work and in any case it's a good workout and less of a bore than playing with one ball. Because of the progressive nature of scoring in this mode, mistakes are more costly in the later stages when the Whirlpool Jackpot reaches the 100M. So I'm toying with the idea that to reach that plateau, I involve both balls, and then try to get control with one ball on the left flipper.
For me, the left orbit is worse than the right orbit, though neither are good. I can hit the left orbit more easily, but at the expense of high risk of losing it off the boulders. If I can clear the right orbit, it's usually pretty controllable, but a miss is into the boulders and same problem. So I've been using disaster drop to avoid both as much as possible. Disaster drop also kicks out an extra ball or two eventually. I finally got over 1B, which had been one goal of mine. But I'm not going much further than that until I can learn how to exploit whirlpool challenge much better than I do. I choke every time and start missing No Way, even though I can hit it pretty cleanly the rest of the time. Practice, practice, practice.
vikingerik
Active member
- Nov 6, 2013
- 1,205
- 0
Aim a lot higher than you think you need to. Every time I start missing No Way Out, it's because I got lazy and started drooping my shots over towards Spine Chiller's direction. No Way Out is a very straight up shot on a ball rolling through that inlane.
Extork
Active member
- Mar 14, 2013
- 1,811
- 0
Sometimes even just changing the camera angle will help you make your shots. #3 is just too far away on this table.
I'll be lucky to get 375mil (a pint?) in the tourney. Im able to get over a bil, but I'm just being realistic. So my strategy is simple, collect whirlpool awards, try to keep the multiballs going as long as possible. Vacation jackpots are probably not gonna happen, or wet willies, or triple jackpots. But if they do, I'll be bouncing off the walls. I've been switching between High Speed and WH2O for practice. Just to get the feel for switching from HS. It's easy to get too used to the table before
Captain B. Zarre
New member
- Apr 16, 2013
- 2,253
- 0
Just had a 2 billion game. 
- Mar 14, 2012
- 7,334
- 0
- Thread starter
- #69
There are a lot of members who have read this very thread, but haven't signed up for the TotM tourney yet. What are you waiting for?! It's a load of fun, takes only as long as playing 4 tables twice does, and you have a 1 in 4 chance of winning full points for each table. We are almost at 100% return rate for everyone that played in last months, and I expect those stragglers will be joining too.
On top of that, anyone who posts scores will be entered into a random drawing for a TAF download supplied by [MENTION=3761]JoCool[/MENTION] if they so choose. Don't be content to sit on the sidelines, join in the fun!
On top of that, anyone who posts scores will be entered into a random drawing for a TAF download supplied by [MENTION=3761]JoCool[/MENTION] if they so choose. Don't be content to sit on the sidelines, join in the fun!
Bahnzo
New member
- Apr 18, 2012
- 109
- 0
Really enjoying this table, but it has the one thing that really irks me about TPA. The kickout. It's exactly the same each and every time....c'mon Farsight you couldn't add some randomness to this?
One of the great things I love about pinball is "the ball is wild". Only it's not in TPA many times.
One of the great things I love about pinball is "the ball is wild". Only it's not in TPA many times.
switch3flip
Member
- Jan 30, 2013
- 944
- 0
I totally agree. It takes away excitement and makes tables more boring. If they can't make kickouts random at least make us work for it. Make us be active, not passively holding up a flipper and it's all good. I want to play not sit and watch. They're actually losing players. The main problem my pinball friends have with TPA is exactly this.
Last edited:
Gus
Member
- Mar 5, 2014
- 432
- 0
I'm actually getting some funky behaviour on the mine kickout that I don't think I ever had before. 2 balls in one game went up the inlane and down the outlane (right flipper help up and no nudging). A couple of balls never got up the inlane at all but bounced to the right of the flipper and into the center of the playfield. Still, 95% of the balls were very safe up/down the outlane. I had zero balls going up the inlane all the way to the extra ball target, which I recall happened quite frequently before.
It's much better this way, but shows again that there are differences between the platforms and versions.
It's much better this way, but shows again that there are differences between the platforms and versions.
- Mar 14, 2012
- 7,334
- 0
- Thread starter
- #74
You have no idea how big a smile you just put on my face!
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