The Scoring On This Table Is Terribly Unbalanced

[Crush3d_Turtle]

Let me start this off by saying that I know this is how the real table is but frankly I find the scoring on this table to be broken by the billion point shot. At this point, all of my top highscores are above 1,000,000,000 which renders the rest of the table completely useless. Take the skill shot for instance; the highest multiplier I have got so far in a game is 20x. Even if I manage to hit the 200,000 slot on an extraordinary turn I will get 4,000,000 points which is 0.4% of the score required for me to even get close to the lowest possible score that can be on my highscore list. Or as another example if you get unlimited millions on the heartbeat ramp you would need to make that shot 1000 times which I think is quite absurd. Even the jackpot is completely useless since the highest I have even seen it is just over 3,000,000. So basically a table with a fantastic layout and great ruleset has been completely ruined by a single grossly over valued shot. This leads to the problem of the coming down to rinse and repeat paired with luck. I have gotten to the point where I can cycle any ball from the left flipper up the heart ramp and then up the shuttle ramp with the right flipper with about 90% consistency. But, even after I make several skilled shots and get both balls locked to spin the Big Wheel it all comes down to luck. I find that after I get to the 4 Billion score point the game simply does not want to deliver any more billion point shots. Cycling it over and over again and just getting 5,000,000 really makes the game drag on since all of the skillful shots that were made are basically useless since you would need 200 of those to equal the one shot. Well this rant is over for me, and that is my 2 cents about a great table ruined by a single shot.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Or as another example if you get unlimited millions on the heartbeat ramp you would need to make that shot 1000 times which I think is quite absurd.

Actually, 49 shots properly timed will do it. If you score a 4-way loop combo, then a 5-way, then a 6-way, all the way up to 10-way, the game will award a "Backdoor Billion". Still probably easier to get the billion the normal way.

 

[Jeff Strong]

You almost have to consider there are two different types of games on this table: those where you score a Billion and those where you don't. That's why the Billionaire's Club should be a separate high score list (I think it is on the real machine).

 

[Rudy Yagov]

I agree, and that's why this isn't a very good table to play for score. The billion really was just a gimmick. You'll need to play for a very long time to score over a billion through normal gameplay.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

You almost have to consider there are two different types of games on this table: those where you score a Billion and those where you don't. That's why the Billionaire's Club should be a separate high score list (I think it is on the real machine).

It is. There's the 20-slot Billionaire's Club list and then the standard 5-slot high score list for sub-billion scores.

 

[RetroBlast]

There are two separate leaderboards in the game and therefore, it is not a useless shot. You must consider both scores separate, those in the billionaire club and those not. Of course, you must consider yourself special if you are a member of the billionaires club .... but do you have the highest score on the leaderboard, if not, crush ... you still have something to fight for!

 

[Fungi]

So that means, if I want to get a score in the non-billionaires club leaderboard, I have to consciously avoid that shot? I don't think I could do it. I'm not saying I get that shot everytime, it's just that whenever the shot presents itself, I don't think I have the will power to not take it.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

The problem, even with separate leaderboards, is that someone can get lucky and have multiple billion shot spins on the big wheel in one game, and someone else might not, despite playing better in the main game and having a better score after the billions digit. No matter how you slice it, this just isn't a great table to play for score or judge skill by.

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

There are two separate leaderboards in the game and therefore, it is not a useless shot. You must consider both scores separate, those in the billionaire club and those not. Of course, you must consider yourself special if you are a member of the billionaires club .... but do you have the highest score on the leaderboard, if not, crush ... you still have something to fight for!

I am at 38 right now but if I really put my mind to it I am sure that I can easily break into the top 10 over the next day or two. The one thing that has me concerned is that the top score on the leaderboards in just shy of 10 Billion which makes me think that this table is susceptible to the roll over problems like in ToM and I really don't want to waste an hour or so playing just to find out if hitting 10 Billion makes the score go back to 0.

The problem, even with separate leaderboards, is that someone can get lucky and have multiple billion shot spins on the big wheel in one game, and someone else might not, despite playing better in the main game and having a better score after the billions digit. No matter how you slice it, this just isn't a great table to play for score or judge skill by.

That is precisely how I feel. There was a point where I was cycling both balls very efficiently and got about 10 spins of the big wheel that did not light the Billion shot. I just don't like randomness when going for a highscore especially when a shot is worth 5 Million one time and then 1 Billion the next.

 

[RetroBlast]

I am not sure of all the INS and OUTS of the table, all I know is that I got metamorphosis, got two balls up into her face again and realized if I could get to her heart, I'd pop the BILLION cherry... and I nailed it, and damn it felt good!

As I read your posts, I am realizing that that was based on a turn of the big wheel and luck of it landing on the Billion ...

This table is just like a woman! Flashy, teasing, enticing, and at times brutal ... and we all keep coming back for more hoping we get LUCKY ... Trying to figure her out, will she do this if I do this? Will it reach a point that my chances of getting Lucky with her will become less and less? I don't want to waste time on her if I can't get lucky .... sounds like a relationship and I'm stickin with this lady!

 

[Richard B]

I wondered about that too. FS seems to pair a PHOF table, and a top 20 table. They had the opportunity to score a double whammy with DLC Pack 1, but they had to pair MM with this (comparative) bottom feeder (currently No. 28).

 

[Jeff Strong]

It's still a fantastic table, even if it's not suited for competitive play.......I personally like the fact that it offers something non-traditional in the way of scoring.

However, it would be nice to have a tournament mode that disabled the Billion point shot though.....but either way, the gameplay is a blast, and that's what's most important, imo.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

The game has good shots and top-notch presentation, that's for sure.

 

[JPelter]

As an aside I had some free time today and tested it out and the scoring cap is indeed 10 billion. Going over that will roll you back to 0. That makes it kind of interesting that on the PS3 leaderboard there are mobile scores listed above that mark, but I tend to ignore mobile scores anyway due to how easy they are to mess with so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

 

[shutyertrap]

All I know is I'm addicted to this table on the PS3. I remember being addicted to it in the arcade I worked in back in the 90's too. Yeah, I'm shooting the same shot over and over again, but for some reason I don't tire of it. That being said, I agree that it would be nice to have 2 separate leader boards cause then I'd start obsessing about getting nothing but combo loop shots!

I've only gotten to 2 billion, so maybe I'll lose some interest once I get to 9 billion. Until I get there, I just don't know!

 

[Matt McIrvin]

As an aside I had some free time today and tested it out and the scoring cap is indeed 10 billion. Going over that will roll you back to 0. That makes it kind of interesting that on the PS3 leaderboard there are mobile scores listed above that mark, but I tend to ignore mobile scores anyway due to how easy they are to mess with so I guess it doesn't matter that much.

Generally speaking, with the tables whose score displays have a limited number of digits, TPA and PHoF will still record scores that are too large for the machine's display to handle and cause it to roll over. This is often well within the limits of possibility, though I haven't done it yet with any table on TPA.

 

[Fungi]

With the scoring set up like this, I'm more impressed with a score of 500 million than 1 billion.

 

[Rooter]

I love the billion score on this table. It's kind of like winning the game. You aren't meant to play a pinball machine for an hour on one quarter racking up a million different shots all over the table. They set a goal, it takes skill to get there, when you get there you win. Simple enough to me.

On most tables you are exploiting one thing over and over again to get insane scores (multiball in MM), this table is no different.

 

[JPelter]

Generally speaking, with the tables whose score displays have a limited number of digits, TPA and PHoF will still record scores that are too large for the machine's display to handle and cause it to roll over. This is often well within the limits of possibility, though I haven't done it yet with any table on TPA.

Myeah that's what I meant. I tested it and TPA itself will roll the score over when you reach 10B. Probably for the best though, since competing for who can hit the most billion shots would be pretty silly anyway.

 

[Stormchild]

I've hit the billion point shot twice on one ball in this game (once and only once), and besides that, I've never gotten it even once on any other game. While it does require a little bit of skill to hit the billion point shot (it really isn't that difficult), lighting it is purely a matter of luck, so I personally don't see it as any indication of skill. It's exciting to score a billion points, but I honestly think it was a dumb design choice, overall, as it totally throws off the rankings. As far as I'm concerned, if I score 2,050,000,000, and someone else got 75,000,000, the latter is the better score.