Tactics and Strategy

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Kicking it off, with a few observations:
- Extra balls are gold dust. There are three guaranteed one-time extra balls available: 20M, 3x bonus, and 6x bonus. What's more, you can't light both the 3x and 6x EBs on the same ball. if you want more, you're going to be shooting the Cats (right-hand 4 bank of spots) to relight the Mystery more than you'd like. Special only gives you points (the instructions say 1M, I've not been able to verify this) - I've absolutely verified that Special does not award an EB.
- That said, shooting the Dummy from a trap on the right flipper is pretty safe. Far more so than on a real Hurricane where the Dummy is a drain-o-matic. A decent shot will rattle between the posts on either side of the target, softening the ball's path back down the table for an easy catch on the right or more likely bounce pass from the left flipper.
- Clown Time and Jackpot are decent score boosters, but not worth chasing. Take a Palace letter when it's on offer. Grab Clown Time when there's one piece left. Stacking Clown Time into multiball isn't necessarily as good as it sounds, because Clown Time is all about the Comet (center ramp) and multiball is all about the Hurricane (right ramp).
- The consistent points are all in multiball. Keep 1 or 2 balls on the right flipper and keep looping the Hurricane for 8M every 3 ramps.
- After multiball, try to have the following lit: Mystery, and the Comet. Grab the Mystery, you could get up to 5x5M. Then go for the Comet, and get as many multiplied millions as you can.
- Otherwise, if locks aren't lit, keep shooting the Ducks (drop targets), practice your angles so you get a bank into the Juggler every time.

Hurricane has very linear scoring. There's no fast scoring strategy, bonus maxes out at 6x500K, and anyway because of limited EBs the key is keeping the ball in play and staying in multiball and looping that ramp.

 

[Fungi]

I got caught up in the multiball Hurricane shot for a while. That was a fun piece of kinetic art I had going on there.

 

[Slam23]

I have nothing to add, excellent rundown. The table is more fun to play then this strategy post may make you believe (no disrespect EOS), especially keeping MB going for multiple tens of millions is very good ball control practice. Try getting two balls on the right flipper and loop the Hurricane ramp. Experiment with the ball returning from incomplete ramp shots, catch with the left flipper or bounce it off the balls and/or flipper on the right and impress the girls while you are at it...

 

[Fungi]

Chicks love ball control.

 

[invitro]

and impress the girls while you are at it...

You and Fungi are stealing my heart. Anyway, I got 510M on Hurry this morning. It's too easy and too boring, but more fun than I expected with all the "iconic" callouts, and some nifty animations -- I didn't know Cirqus's Juggler came from Hurry.

I'd probably suggest to never try for the Dummy, as I didn't in this game and got Bonus X early and often. It's just light locks, shoot locks, play MB. I slightly prefer dropping a ball in the Ferris wheels to holding on the R flipper, maybe because I think I'll need that flipper to handle missed ramp shots, or maybe just because it seems more fun or I like the 1M that you apparently get from Ferris or because it had pretty flashing lights.

I probably get over-interested in thinking about how tables will do in the tourney, but I think Hurry might be fun next week. I hope the combo of playfield X and big wheel prize is important. (N.B. I don't know the rules to Hurry very well.)

 

[switch3flip]

After you had multiball going for 15 seconds, for every second you have the multiball going, you add a second to the time you have playfield x going after multiball is over.
However, the timer only registers when flippers are down, so sending balls to ferris wheel instead of trapping on right flipper does serve a purpose.

 

[Zaphod77]

Okay i have had enough of that stupid jackpot goal.

13 million... 13... sigh..

how to you safely increase the jackpot without collecting it?

btw seems ferris wheel is lit permanently on 3x in multiball. pretty decent points actually.

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

Okay i have had enough of that stupid jackpot goal.

13 million... 13... sigh..

how to you safely increase the jackpot without collecting it?

btw seems ferris wheel is lit permanently on 3x in multiball. pretty decent points actually.

You shoot the Comet or Hurricane over and over to increase the Jackpot. In general, you can do this by shooting for the Comet Million over and over. It's not recommended you go for Hurricane Millions because it eventually lights the Jackpot for you.

 

[kinggo]

Okay i have had enough of that stupid jackpot goal.

13 million... 13... sigh..

how to you safely increase the jackpot without collecting it?

btw seems ferris wheel is lit permanently on 3x in multiball. pretty decent points actually.

shoot the ramp to increase jackpot. When it does light up, trap the ball and wait till timer goes down to zero. Then shoot the ramps again.

 

[zmcvay]

I'd also add that PALACE letters and jackpot value carry from game to game as long as you don't exit the game. Just time out the jackpot if you activate it (Palace drops back to PAL collected) and then hit the ramps over and over until the jackpot reaches 15mil. Easy goal to get if a bit grindy.

 

[Zaphod77]

i was hoping to get it WITHOUT grinding and trapping balls...

 

[kinggo]

well, then just don't collect it before it reaches 15M. It's not that difficult to avoid that shot. And since you have to shoot ramps anyway all the time (lets not call that grinding then) jackpot will rise pretty quick. I usually raise it by some 4-5 M after collecting it. So, skipping three of them should be enough.

 

[relaxation]

10/.13, 77 ramps to collect a 15M jackpot.. it's similar to TAF and WW ramp goals, just with a don't collect until you're finished twist.

I shot the middle ramp, I line my balls up with the clowns belt strap and loop it, a majority of the time. A lot of tables I'm finding have art in line with important shots.

 

[switch3flip]

Okay i have had enough of that stupid jackpot goal.

13 million... 13... sigh..

how to you safely increase the jackpot without collecting it?

btw seems ferris wheel is lit permanently on 3x in multiball. pretty decent points actually.

Yeah like others said, jackpot carries over from game to game, so just let it drain instead of chance rescuing out of control balls. If you start jackpot collect, drain. That's pretty safe.

Also according to instructions, the ferris wheel is 750k first shot, 1M if you shoot a second ball up there fast enough and 2M if you get a third up there fast as well.

 

[Zaphod77]

Problem is i get the palace letter in multiball... and then a ball finds it's way in. that's how i collected it prematurely last time...

 

[switch3flip]

Problem is i get the palace letter in multiball... and then a ball finds it's way in. that's how i collected it prematurely last time...

Ok. Do you stop the ball on left flipper or shoot for the ramp directly when ball is fed to left flipper? Try to hold up left flipper and just when the ball rolls up on the left flipper, nudge hard to the side. The ball will stop ond you can hold the ball and the ramp shot gets much easier from a cradled ball than on the go. So shoot ramp and do the nudge thing it again every time when ball comes back to left flipper.

 

[tenparts]

So basically never go for multiball because someone didn't check to see if it was exploitable? The difference between a good table and a boring one is almost never a fundamental issue with design and almost always a small exploit or two that needs to be fixed someday, preferably without remaking the entire game into something strictly inferior.

 

[Zaphod77]

lol bop 2.0

original game was not perfect by far but at least it had soul.

I did get a chuckle from "MOVE YOUR SHUTTLE" though.

 

[invitro]

This is the first time I've viewed BoP 2.0, and oh my God it looks horrible. It sucks all the life out of BoP. Turns it into a dull, lifeless game... much like many modern Sterns.

 

[Tarek Oberdieck]

This is the first time I've viewed BoP 2.0, and oh my God it looks horrible. It sucks all the life out of BoP. Turns it into a dull, lifeless game... much like many modern Sterns.

I would say the original BoP is dull and lifeless too. My 99B game last week was one of the most boring long time games I've ever played and I believe that I wont play this table anymore. She's alive and I'm sleeping during the ramp shots.