The left outlane!

[Zaphod77]

yeah, every plunge unavoidably enters the bumpers, and is thus at risk for that evil left outlane. I think in this case adding more randomness in the bumpers will help out. I remember it being a problem in phof, and it can definitely be a problem on some, but not all, real life pinbot machines.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is another game that punishes you severely for making shots, by the exact same mechanism. every castle lock or coffin lock feeds the bumpers, and can power drain after.

 

[Baramos]

Still love the table tho which says more about my psyche than anything else.

I find it to be one of the more frustrating tables, but I just love the music that comes on during multiball too much to dislike Pinbot. Just an absolutely amazing example of sound design and gameplay design working together. I rate it up there with the heartbeat on Gorgar in how well it works together.

 

[Zaphod77]

to add to the chorus of whingers.....if only to state the 2 outlane drain instances that leave me somewhat frustrated:

i) the ball accelerates down and lands squarely in the middle of the left inlane, and in real world physics, all momentum would be absorbed by the inlane walls, momentum & speed killed and the ball would continue on down the inlane. on TPA PinBot the ball will somehow wriggle back up and over into the outlane.... gobble, burp, more please!

This can and does happen in real life, if the ball is spinning rapidly counterclockwise going to the left, or clockwise going to the right. as soon as it touches the divider rubber it will zip past it and right into the outlane.

ii) the ball will be travelling back up the left inlane at speed and will travel vertically up beyond the end of the guide rails/post separator. without any collisions and whilst travelling vertically upwards, on descent the ball will suddenly vector leftwards into the left outlane

ALSO true to real life. the ball picks up spin from the divider as it rolls past it. Say it went up the left inlane. it's gettign counterclockwise spin. it rolls past the post on it's left side while contacting it, and picks up even more counterclockwise spin. now it falls back, approaching that divider post. with counterclockwise spin.. see number 1.

 

[Zorgwon]

Started this week on my droid and haven't experienced any significant outlane drains. Sometimes the slings ping pong into the outlanes. Overall it's less frequent than on any other table of that era (like EATPM, SSHTL, C1812 or even TZ). To reduce the number even more: Don't make the skill shot!

 

[MonkeyGrass]

This can and does happen in real life, if the ball is spinning rapidly counterclockwise going to the left, or clockwise going to the right. as soon as it touches the divider rubber it will zip past it and right into the outlane.


ALSO true to real life. the ball picks up spin from the divider as it rolls past it. Say it went up the left inlane. it's gettign counterclockwise spin. it rolls past the post on it's left side while contacting it, and picks up even more counterclockwise spin. now it falls back, approaching that divider post. with counterclockwise spin.. see number 1.

Happens all the time IRL. Pin*Bot is a ball-gobbler. As a teen, I loved the theme and music so much I didn't care. But that game has a very unique way of "punishing" good shots. Even trying to advance the planet puts you at serious risk of either losing the ball off the end of the left flipper, or a bad bounce straight down the left outlane. Obviously, the skill shot is a pisser... Selective light nudging is crucial on Pin*Bot.

Still love the game,b/c you never EVER feel like "I've got this table down!".

As for the walking up the inlane to the outlane - yes that's a "real" thing. My Taxi does is all the time, after nailing Drac, if it gets a serious launch from the catapult, it will spin so hard that it "moonwalks" backwards halfway up the inlane, and spins right around to the outlane!! A quick nudge at just the right time will usually stop it, but you never know when it's going to happen. It's just part of the random magic that makes pinball so darn thrilling and frustrating at the same time. For me, the truly great games have that unpredictable factor that keeps you coming back again and again.

 

[JefferyD]

Played this for the first time in ages and boy was I terrible. Five, six games where I was stuck on Pluto and firing ball after ball into the left outlane.

Then I had one of those magic games where the outlane fell asleep and I just let it all happen on its own. No cradling, dude. Watch the ball roll and flip when it wants you to. I hit the final two Wizard Goals without knowing or caring what they were, man. It's unimportant in the scheme of things, right?

I think I got about 11 million, but on my high score list it says 9,999,999. It doesn't even matter, tho. How can you put a points value on, you know, a perfect moment?