Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
For latest updates, follow Digital Pinball Fans on Facebook and Twitter

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sean DonCarlos" data-source="post: 3823" data-attributes="member: 152">The Theatre's one of the few tables I can claim extensive real-world experience with, so I'll share how I approach the table when I'm playing it for score. By no means is this gospel - just how I've done it.General strategy: Priority one is to start Illusions, since this is the hardest part of the trek to the Grand Finale and is the least likely to happen on its own. T-H-E-A-T-R-E and Magic Multiball will usually take care of themselves over the course of a game, and Midnight Madness can be reached relatively easy via skill shots and right orbit shots. So get to know and love your trunk shots, and learn how to hit them from either flipper - and how to recover from them; the trunk's a bit of a drain hazard. Note that starting Illusions does not necessarily mean playing Illusions - more on this later. Get the Bonus multiplier to 8X as often as possible, ideally on each ball - 8X Bonus is huge (potentially hundreds of millions) on this table.Skill shot priority: Start Illusion if you have that option. Adv. Clock as a second choice if you have not already played Midnight Madness or if you are close to 6:00 or midnight. Otherwise, 2x Bonus is probably the best deal of the remaining choices, especially if you've got a large bonus going from Magic letters and illusions over the course of the game.First ball: You want to be conservative and keep this ball in play as long as possible. All Magic letters and illusions you get during this ball will count for your bonus on all future balls as well, so a big first ball is important on ToM. Start to work right away on starting Magic Multiball and illusions. Also whack the captive ball a few times and Vanish a ball. (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.)Multiballs: I find that the Vanished ball is better used for Tiger Saw Multiball and not for 4-ball Magic Multiball. Four balls do not seem to score noticeably better than three in Magic Multiball, and I find trapping 3 balls and playing with the fourth much harder than trapping 2 and playing with the third. Your mileage may vary. Tiger Saw jackpots are smaller, but they do not have to be re-lit between collections and the captive ball is an easier target than the trunk hole. Also, during any multiball, the diverter to the Bonus X lanes is active. Be sure to send some balls up the left orbit and get to 8X during this time.The Trap Door: I don't go out of my way to raise the trap door - it generally happens enough in the course of normal play - but I do drop whatever I'm doing when it opens to get a ball in there. The rewards are too good to pass up.The Spirit Ring: If you're good at that right ramp shot, looping the Spirit Ring for 10M+20M+30M is not a bad idea if nothing else urgent is going on at the time. Sixty million is bigger than the starting values for the Theatre Hurry-Up and the standard Multiball Jackpot, and the Spirit Ring loops aren't hard at all.The Hocus Pocus magnets: Pretend they are not there until FarSight fixes them, and assume you will have to rely on your own nudging to make outlane saves. Be pleasantly surprised when the magnets actually do their job.How to use your illusions: A few illusions are worth playing; the others are too low-scoring or too much of a drain hazard to bother with. My opinions:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tiger Saw: Captive ball hits are 15M, no limit. This is so-so. The captive ball's not much of risk, but I generally prefer to do other things (like advancing the clock) during this time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Levitating Woman: Center ramp is 11M+1M, no limit. If the center ramp still lights Magic letters or if it will raise the trap door, go for it. Otherwise, this doesn't score enough to really justify itself, although the center ramp is pretty low-risk.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Trunk Escape: Trunk hits are 17M, limit 4 hits. Nice for the score, but the hits don't count for the next illusion and the trunk's a drain hazard. I may whack it once or twice, but I don't kill myself trying to finish this one.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Spirit Cards: Inner loop shots are 500K+300K per spin, no limit. Not worth bothering with, and the left inner loop is a SDTM risk.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Safe Escape: Inner loop shots are 20M, limit 3 shots. Good score, but high risk - unless the locks are lit. Then you don't have to worry about a drain from the return.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Metamorphosis: Right ramp shots are 12M+4M, no limit, with the Spirit Ring lit (but non-scoring) so you can loop the right ramp. Decent scoring, safe, and the right ramp lights Magic letters! Play this one.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strait Jacket: Jet bumper hits are 6M, limit 10 hits. Great scoring, safe, and gives a chance to advance Bonus X. Just do it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hat Magic: Trunk hole shots are 15M, no limit. Same issues as Trunk Escape, and it's a harder shot. I recommend against playing it out. (Creature from the Black Lagoon fans: Play this once, and pay attention to the DMD and sound after the third shot.)</li> </ul>Obviously, you ignore the eighth illusion you start regardless of what it is and instead proceed straight to the Grand Finale.The Grand Finale: You have 12 shots to make in 60 seconds. This is plenty of time. If you're good at combo shots, now's your chance to shine. Otherwise, make a shot, trap the ball, aim, make next shot. You have enough time to get all 12 shots in if you're accurate. You will be accurate if you take a second to aim - ToM's ramps are nice and wide. What you don't want is a lot of bouncing around - so nudge as needed to keep the ball off those slingshots. The ball should be either on a ramp or loop, returning from either of those or on a flipper at all times. It's all about control, control, control!If you're getting nervous, pretend that each shot is not worth 50M (and that there's not another 500M riding on making all 12) and just act like it's a simple center ramp shot to light a letter in Magic, or a simple right ramp for Metamorphosis - shots you make 100 times a game in the course of normal play! This self-deception will be tough, since the table will be announcing each 50M shot as you make it and the DMD will show the timer counting down, but by far the greatest enemy in the Grand Finale is your own nerves.That's pretty much it. Combined with good ball control, following this strategy lets me consistently hit around 3B; my high score in TPA so far is 5.1B. Obviously there are others who have scored higher; maybe they'll share their tips here as well, and hopefully our advice will help you join us in the stratosphere. Good luck!</blockquote>

Verification

Members online

No members online now.

Total: 131 (members: 0, guests: 131)