TPA from The Addams Family to WHO Dunnit

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Over the next... however long, I'm going to play a game or a session on every table in TPA in alphabetical order. I'll be streaming/recording these games on Twitch at http://www.twitch.tv/eldarofsuburbia.

It may be one table a day, possibly 2 or 3 at weekends, who knows. Entirely on my own schedule. Stuff like new tables and TotWC will get in the way.

Episode List (links to YouTube)
Episode 1: The Addams Family (Gold Edition)
Episode 2: Attack From Mars

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

First up, a game that you've probably not seen or played in a while. Maybe thirty minutes or so?

Yes, it The Addams Family!

Here's a link to the archive: http://www.twitch.tv/eldarofsuburbia/b/639694421

Twitch only keeps archives for 14 days, so I'm also going to export these to YouTube.

YouTube:

 

[Nightwing]

I'll take a look.

 

[Locksley]

Damn, when you get going it really flows! Wish I was a tenth as good

Keep it up

 

[workshed]

Twitch only keeps archives for 14 days, so I'm also going to export these to YouTube.

Please let us know when you do that. For some reason playback from the twitch archives has been terribly laggy for quite a while, or at least here in the states. Live streaming seems to work just fine. Using a VPN and pretending I'm in Europe helps a lot, but it's not an ideal solution.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Please let us know when you do that. For some reason playback from the twitch archives has been terribly laggy for quite a while, or at least here in the states. Live streaming seems to work just fine. Using a VPN and pretending I'm in Europe helps a lot, but it's not an ideal solution.

I'm putting YouTube links in the top post. First one is up. Export from Twitch to YouTube is flaky though. I may abandon streaming and record to disk so I can upload myself. Should be better than the 720p that Twitch supports.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Things got moving slowly, Cyclone got released, there was a Tournament Of The Month (thanks [MENTION=134]shutyertrap[/MENTION] !)

Anyway, onward and upwards, towards the far end of the alphabet. Our next stop: Bally's 1995 classic, Attack From Mars.

From now on I'm going to have a mini-questionnaire about each table, I'll pop my answers in and anyone lurking feel free to chime in yourself. I want this to be as much a trip through time and space as it is a trip through TPA.

Q: Have you played this table for real?
A: Yes! Quite a lot in fact.
Q: When did you last play it for real?
A: When I visited Free Gold Watch at the beginning of March 2015, an arcade and T-shirt printing shop in San Francisco. I was in town for a wedding and couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit an arcade with 40 pins. AFM was one of the ones I sunk some quarters into.
Q: Where have you played it the most?
A: Probably the Trocadero in London's Piccadilly Circus. At one time (still is? been years) a vast multi-level arcade. Not much pinball, but AFM was the one I played more than anything.
Q: Are you any good at it?
A: I've never once Ruled The Universe. I don't even recall conquering Mars. My top score is probably in the 10-15B range. So, not really?

Here's the Twitch archive: http://www.twitch.tv/eldarofsuburbia/b/644189692

YouTube:

 

[workshed]

Can you explain why you go for saucers exclusively before worrying about anything else? I've usually tried to start a multiball (regular or martian) to pick off the last one or two saucers more safely once the shield is down. Perhaps I am being too conservative, or I'm in too much a rush to try (and usually fail) for that strobe extra ball. I'll have to try it your way. Thanks for the YouTube vids btw.

Edit: Just played a game going all saucers first. It went well, only a super away from a second rule the universe. Not even half of my best score, but I'm pretty happy for a one game try. It really does help me to watch how better players get it done. Many thanks! Even defeated the mothership in video mode for the first time on PS4. I've been away from AfM for far too long.

 

[Extork]

Can you explain why you go for saucers exclusively before worrying about anything else? I've usually tried to start a multiball (regular or martian) to pick off the last one or two saucers more safely once the shield is down. Perhaps I am being too conservative, or I'm in too much a rush to try (and usually fail) for that strobe extra ball. I'll have to try it your way. Thanks for the YouTube vids btw.

Edit: Just played a game going all saucers first. It went well, only a super away from a second rule the universe. Not even half of my best score, but I'm pretty happy for a one game try. It really does help me to watch how better players get it done. Many thanks! Even defeated the mothership in video mode for the first time on PS4. I've been away from AfM for far too long.

My guess is that he'd play differently if it was a 20 min time limit. Then it'd be total annihilation all day, but that's just a guess

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

If you've got nudging down, going for saucers in single-ball play is a lot safer than you think. Nudge early, just after hitting the target, that gets the ball out of STDM territory pretty consistently.

Killing saucers and conquering Mars is a one-time thing: might as well get it done early.

And yes in tournament play, not just timed, TA is the focus. In a long game though don't discount RTU, the 10B is nice but the victory laps can be nicer.

 

[Extork]

If you've got nudging down, going for saucers in single-ball play is a lot safer than you think. Nudge early, just after hitting the target, that gets the ball out of STDM territory pretty consistently.

Killing saucers and conquering Mars is a one-time thing: might as well get it done early.

And yes in tournament play, not just timed, TA is the focus. In a long game though don't discount RTU, the 10B is nice but the victory laps can be nicer.

I didn't watch your video. Only because I'm out of data. But question, when do you go for 5 way combo? Does it just happen naturally, or is it in the back of your mind? I've found after playing the PBA tourney that I was planning out every objective. Like, I would go for 2 saucers, then start multiball (just because if I didnt get the super jackpot, I'd just start over). Well, we are not talking about TPA's 20 min tourney here, but that did help me to prioritize what objectives I have to complete, and when. I'm still curious when you go for the 5-way combo. My problem is that I always forget about it, and it usually bites me in the ***

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I didn't watch your video. Only because I'm out of data. But question, when do you go for 5 way combo? Does it just happen naturally, or is it in the back of your mind? I've found after playing the PBA tourney that I was planning out every objective. Like, I would go for 2 saucers, then start multiball (just because if I didnt get the super jackpot, I'd just start over). Well, we are not talking about TPA's 20 min tourney here, but that did help me to prioritize what objectives I have to complete, and when. I'm still curious when you go for the 5-way combo. My problem is that I always forget about it, and it usually bites me in the ***

Usually it just happens. It can be quite tricky to consciously go for, since the orbits are vacuum cleaners and kill the combo when they've not been completed. I try not to think about it.

 

[Extork]

Usually it just happens. It can be quite tricky to consciously go for, since the orbits are vacuum cleaners and kill the combo when they've not been completed. I try not to think about it.

Going for that first is a mistake! I agree that if you're feeling it, keep trying for it, but it's gonna be well into the game, and prefferably not the last thing you need before RTU. As far as the victory laps, I'd like to hear more about that (would you like to know more? Lol). But seriously I've heard of people making most of their points just from victory laps. What's the key for that? Besides obviously draining after getting too excited about getting RTU

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Going for that first is a mistake! I agree that if you're feeling it, keep trying for it, but it's gonna be well into the game, and prefferably not the last thing you need before RTU. As far as the victory laps, I'd like to hear more about that (would you like to know more? Lol). But seriously I've heard of people making most of their points just from victory laps. What's the key for that? Besides obviously draining after getting too excited about getting RTU

Quite simply, after beating RTU, each major shot scores 100M+ in addition to whatever it would normally score. This remains active even during multiballs. Hitting the saucer increases the value by 10M. I think it maxes out at 500M, I've had it over 400M. The trick is to not drain. Hammering on the saucer during RTU and to a lesser extent TA is a good idea when Victory Laps are active.

 

[Extork]

It's pretty tough man, but I'm gonna try to keep up with you as you go from A to W. I've been meaning to do this myself, at least play to a certain point on every table in alphabetical order. I'll try to keep up with you. Maybe supersonic speed through the tabes isn't the answer. Either way, I hope this becomes a 'thing'. And people like me would love to hear more. Even if it's through the posts. I'll eventually watch the videos once I get better interwebs. Anyways, I'm all for this