TOM Tactics and Strategies

[Sean DonCarlos]

An addendum to my strategy: If you are planning to go for Grand Finale multiple times, then avoid collecting the Theatre hurry-up. Doing so causes your THEATRE letters to start resetting at the beginning of each ball. If you pass on the hurry-up, your letters will still be retained and it is easier to spell THEATRE a second time for Grand Finale #2.

A nice skill shot to learn is nudging the ball into the left-hand secret ball lock when doing a slow shot up the left centre loop. This completely bypasses the need to spell MAGIC over and over to get multiball. It can be tricky but it's a great shot to learn, because obviously the more regularly you have Magic Multiball, the higher your score is going to be.

You can only activate the Secret Ball Lock so many times (I think 2 or 3) before the table starts awarding 10M for a Secret Ball Lock instead of actually locking a ball. After that, you have to spell MAGIC the old-fashioned way via the right ramp.

On top of that, all I have to add is my technique for Midnight Madness to net 176 million every time. Assuming you get your first shot for 24 million, hold down both flippers. The ball will bounce off the left flipper, left bumper, then land safely on the right flipper. If you release the right flipper JUST as the ball lands on it, the ball will be more controlled instead of rolling further up towards the right lanes. It also gives you just about the right amount of time for the trunk's magnet to reset after releasing the ball. Rinse and repeat this once per chime of the clock. I have tried various methods of trying to score higher, but never get as high as 176 million.

This is good to know; I'll have to try it out. I bounce the ball vertically up and down, but the timing's tight on that and I've been looking for an easier way.

On a side note, this site seems to have a really good community going on! This is my first post here as I only discovered that this site even existed yesterday evening. But I'm glad that it does and this awesome global community of pinball enthusiasts has gathered here. I never knew so many people were interested! Great site, great forums, great community, great game!

Good to hear that you're enjoying it, and welcome!

 

[Paul Petrissans]

Anybody have advice for catching/stopping the ball on this table? The floatiness and hungry kickers keeps killing me.

 

[smbhax]

Just a few things I've noticed in my quest to get a halfway-decent score in the TPA version:

- Although SDC noted that the left inner loop is a SDTM risk, this doesn't seem to be the case in TPA, at least not currently in the PS3 version--the ball usually hits the lower part of the left slingshot and kicks off for an easy catch on the right flipper; at any rate, I don't think I've ever had it go SDTM there.

- If the pop bumpers are going to kick the ball up through the rollovers, it's almost always up through the right rollover lane--so if you have the right rollover light lit and the ball is in the pops, hit a flipper button to shift the light over to the left, and there's a good chance the ball will come up through the right to complete the bonus x.

- If the ball is coming down the right orbit after having gone only part of the way up, it will usually hit the left side of the tip of the right slingshot, and will then be in danger in the slings; to avoid this, nudge to the left as the ball is coming down that right orbit wall. On the other hand, if the ball is coming all the way down from the top of the orbit, it will usually clear the tip of the slingshot on its own, so you can just hold up the right flipper for an easy catch.

- On the left orbit, if the ball is coming all the way around from going up the right orbit, it will be going fast enough that it can go SDTM if you don't flip at it--it may not hit the left flipper for a dead pass, I mean. On the other hand, if it's coming down the left orbit from just going part way up, or from the top kickout, you can just hold up the left flipper and catch it; I think dead passes usually work from there, too, but I don't tend to do that as there's usually more I want to shoot at from the left flipper.

 

[vikingerik]

I discovered this accidentally but it was awesome:

Complete all requirements for Grand Finale except the clock, and get that to 11 PM so Midnight Madness is ready. Also lock a Vanish ball so that Tiger Saw Multiball is lit. Shoot the right orbit and they will all stack together! Not only do you get two balls for Grand Finale, the trunk stays on the magnet side (because Midnight Madness) to easily catch and regain control of each ball!

I didn't even realize what was happening at first. Each trunk shot yelled "Fifty Million", and I didn't even realize why - thought that maybe Midnight Madness was doubled during Tiger Saw, or something like that. No - ohh - holy crap - that's Grand Finale! I got about 9 letters before I even knew the mode was running, and finished it off easily.

However, completing Grand Finale that way didn't count for the wizard goal - guess the program got confused with all that stacking.

 

[Punisher]

I discovered this accidentally but it was awesome:

Complete all requirements for Grand Finale except the clock, and get that to 11 PM so Midnight Madness is ready. Also lock a Vanish ball so that Tiger Saw Multiball is lit. Shoot the right orbit and they will all stack together! Not only do you get two balls for Grand Finale, the trunk stays on the magnet side (because Midnight Madness) to easily catch and regain control of each ball!

I didn't even realize what was happening at first. Each trunk shot yelled "Fifty Million", and I didn't even realize why - thought that maybe Midnight Madness was doubled during Tiger Saw, or something like that. No - ohh - holy crap - that's Grand Finale! I got about 9 letters before I even knew the mode was running, and finished it off easily.

However, completing Grand Finale that way didn't count for the wizard goal - guess the program got confused with all that stacking.

That is a good strategy, but it's vastly situational. As for the wizard goal not spotting, it only happens when you do it with one ball, for some reason. FS REALLY needs to fix that.

 

[vikingerik]

I was also able to stack regular multiball with Grand Finale somehow, which doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet in this thread. That's hard to do since locks are disabled while GF is lit. I think this sequence does it:

- the last component for GF must be Theatre or Midnight (must already have Multiball and 8 Illusions)
- lock 2 balls
- finish the remaining Theatre or Midnight, lighting GF
- start multiball
- start GF during multiball (I'm not sure of the order of these last two, either or both may work.)

The tricky part is that the 8 Illusions can't be the last item. If it is, GF lights as soon as the illusion starts, leaving you no window to start multiball (you can't lock a ball, and you can't have two balls locked and multiball ready since then you couldn't have started the illusion.) Although it might work if the 8th illusion gets started by the basement while multiball is already ready.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Although it might work if the 8th illusion gets started by the basement while multiball is already ready.

It does. Of course that's not something you can count on happening.

While having multiball going with Grand Finale increases your chances of completing Grand Finale, for scoring purposes it's better not to stack them. While Grand Finale is going on, you are concentrating on those shots and not the multiball jackpots. Typically you'll have lost both "extra" balls by the time Grand Finale ends and so won't have a chance to go for the multiball jackpots.

Midnight Madness stacked with Grand Finale, on the other hand, is glorious. Cradle on the left flipper, and bounce the ball vertically up to the trunk, then catch it when it comes back down. Repeat 11 times.

 

[oqvist]

Good grief... thanks to the tips and strategies in this thread, I just posted a score of 3,051,475,260. My previous high was just under 1.6B... haha, I don't think my heart has ever pounded so hard as it did during the Grand Finale, I came up just 1 letter short. And my biggest bonus multiplier was only 2 x. Makes me think of what could have been. Makes me want to play again. Pinball: The Ultimate "Oh, just one more game"

hmm wonder if we are just beside eachother. But I am sure you improved on it by now

I have yet to come to the grand finale but need to save that as a last wizard goal to go for. I do believe I got the rest. I at least started all eight illusions but drained immediately after starting the last lol My 3.05 was going against the rule. Crappy first ball. Crappy second ball but then I got the extra balls I was used to. I never get any extra balls through trunk I get them open to seldom and I miss more then 50 % because I get so shocked when I do. Going for the illusions seem to be a sure way to drain overall I don´t know if I have ever completed one illusion. Do you get a sure affirmation if you have?

But I am starting to get to grips on what do what.

 

[vikingerik]

Most illusions have no notion of completion. They just run for their timer and award points for however many shots you make, that's it. A few will terminate after a certain number of shots, but there's no extra reward (not even points) for doing so. For getting to Grand Finale, just ignore them completely, trap the ball and wait for it to time out so you can start towards another. Your score won't care.

 

[Zaphod77]

Here's my advice on the game.

1) Maxing bonusx is huge. it's even worth slamming the table with a full strength vertical nudge to break up your theater loop to get more bonusx.
2) do not fear the captive ball. hit it whenever vanish is not lit. ALso hit it for advance clock skillshot.
3) it's worth flailing around at those standups when you have a ballsaver to light open trapdoor. Otherwise let your misses take care of it.
4) collect trapdoor awards whenever they are lit.
5) skill shot priority is.
a) start illusion
b) advance clock
c) advance bonus

one of these three will always be available.

The way to big points in this game is grand finale and end of ball bonus with maxed bonus x. each illusion played over the course of the game is worth 32 million in end of ball bonus per ball at 8x, and every magic letter is worth 8 million. Theater letters are worth 4 million at 8x bonus. and magic and theater letters are very easy to get.

If you collect say the 6 o clock extra ball, a Digital Pinball extra ball, a vanish extra ball, a score extra ball, and a special, that's 8x32M=256 million in end of ball bonus per illusion completed on ball 1. now say you go through all 8 on ball one and make grand finale. and get 8x on every ball. that's over 2 billion on bonus alone! and you wil get many theater letters, many magic letters, and all of those add to end of ball bonus on every ball. And you may be able to squeze out even more extra balls. You can get ahceat midnight madness extra ball from the trapdoor, and you can get special and digital pinball extra balls more than once.

Once you have a good ball 1, your two big priorities are to get as many extra balls as possible, and max the bonusx. once bonus is maxed, go for illusions, theater letters, magic letters, and multiball. Oh, and extra balls.

Oh, btw. that captive ball is a nightmare in real life. totally unpredictable bounces.

If you are playing grand finale and your bonus isn't yet maxed, shooting left orbit might not be a bad idea. but be mindful of your time left. you DO want that half billion completion bonus. But once you've got there a couple times, it's better to max the bonus, even if it means timing out grand finale, as it overwhelms everything else.

Oh. vanishes are good. each one lets you get another whack at the captive ball skillshot, which counts for bonus. As i said, do not fear the captive ball.

 

[PoSTedUP]

just get good with your shots first then experament, to keep the ball in play longer depends on how good you shoot. i usually go for the multiball, tiger saw and vanish, ive only completed the grand finale once and my high score is 6.4 billion, i just shoot for whatever i feel like and nail my shots, get the extra balls, hit the trap door etc. ive accumulated a lot of points in multiball and midnight madness.

 

[Zippy]

(And keep up the captive ball hits and Vanishing acts over the course of the game - it eventually lights an extra ball. For some reason, players often forget this extra ball is available and stop going for Vanish - don't, it's not hard to get.)

Is this undocumented in TPA's instructions? It's definitely not on list of "how to get extra balls" near the end. That only lists: extra ball lights when clock advanced to/past 6 o'clock, extra ball lights as basement reward, and the Specials.

I just scored it today in a game where I got my highest score ever, so I know it works.

 

[Martin Rusby]

Love this pinball.I probably played the physical pin more than any other years ago-it seemed to be in a lot of pubs here in England back in the day.Never got anywhere near starting the grand Finale despite pumping many pound coins into it!
Just completed grand Finale for the first time and got a high score of 4,375,548,910.Dead chuffed!First table i have completed all the wizard goals on too.Top 20 on the weekly high scores! Thanks for all the tips and tactics in this thread -i wouldn't have done it without them.

 

[Zippy]

- In multiball as it starts, let the first ball hit the right flipper and bounce to the left flipper. Quickly trap it and aim for the trunk. I hit 100m jackpots most of the time doing it that way. It's really quick since you have about 3 - 5 seconds - not sure.

I've pulled this shot off four times now, including twice in one game! Very good advice.

Only issue is, what to do with the other balls? It takes me a sec to trap and control the ball with the left flipper, before I can take the shot. I usually lose the second ball down the drain while making this shot.


Also, I've noticed that the more often I hit the basement random rewards, the crappier they get. I swear, the second time I hit it in a game it pretty much always gives me points.

 

[Zaphod77]

The shot is very picky.

Even if you trap and control it, if the game thinks the timing is wrong for flailing it in it won't give you the 100M jackpot.

It only works maybe one out of three times, even when i hit it, even though the countdown hasn't ended.

The shot is intended to be one timed in off the basement kickout, and the game does it's best to figure out if you actually did it that way.

That's why i said it's an issue that needs to be fixed.

 

[vikingerik]

I've never seen that happen. I've always gotten the 100M jackpot credit if the countdown is still running. You have more time than you think.

It is true that triggering any other switch on the table cancels the double jackpot chance. Is that happening somehow? There aren't any standups or such near the trunk entrance that you can graze on the way in, are there?

 

[Zaphod77]

i'm directly dead bouncing from right to left, holding up the left flipper just long enough to trap then taking the direct shot, and it doesn't give it to me. it only works 1 in three. what platform are you playing on?

 

[Zippy]

I'm playing the Steam version, and it's awarded it to me every time I've made the shot in time. Before I learned the bounce-catch combo, I scored it a few times with a lucky shot off the right flipper.

 

[Zaphod77]

that's what I'm playing and very often i do NOT get it. how long do you keep it trapped?

 

[Zippy]

Not very long... otherwise the other balls will be bouncing around and hitting things. You don't have to hit a shot to to disqualify the 100MM Jackpot, you just have to hit ANYTHING. My current method is: press and hold the right flipper while catching, controlling, shooting with the left. This keeps the other balls from draining while you take your shot, but you still don't have much time. It has to be in the hole before she finishes saying "1", and the second you hit anything she stops counting.

Just hit it twice again this morning. It's not an easy shot, but since it's a calculated shot, it's much more repeatable then the split-second timing of the right flipper shot.