Twilight Zone: Was That Really a Bug?

[Sean DonCarlos]

As more of us become involved in beta testing the Twilight Zone, issues have been raised concerning "bugs" that either are intended features of the real table, actual bugs of the real table, or otherwise considered normal. In an effort to minimize time spent chasing phantoms, as well as assure players at release that FarSight and the beta testers did not miss a whole bunch of issues, I've cataloged some of the most common unusual and/or surprising behaviors below. Some of this is no doubt in the table instructions as well, but who reads instructions these days?

Moderators: Once TZ is released and we have a TZ table forum, please move this thread there. Thanks!

EDIT: Again, this is a list of things that the real table does that are not TPA bugs. I don't want anyone reading this and thinking the beta is chock full of bugs.

Scoring Silliness:

• Hitting a lit Greed target shows a brief "5 Million" animation on the DMD, but 10 million is actually scored. (This may have been fixed in V9.2+ ROMs...could someone please test?)
• The base jackpot value in multiball starts at either 15M (only one ball was locked and/or multiball was restarted) or 40M (otherwise). The value is increased by 5M for each Greed target hit until collected, up to 255M. When the jackpot is collected, it resets to the base value and 10M is added to the base value. The "adding 10M" step can happen a maximum of 5 times per multiball, so the maximum base value is 65M or 90M.
• Hitting a Jackpot in regulation multiball with the Powerball awards a double jackpot. However, the score displayed overflows at 256 million, so that a 130M jackpot doubled to 260M is displayed "4M", etc. The correct doubled value is credited to the player's score even though the display is wrong.
• Clock Chaos, Clock Millions, Clock 10 Millions, Greed, Powerball Mania, Powerfield, and Town Square Madness all score toward the end-of-ball bonus, and are not applied to the current score as the round is played.
• Lost in the Zone adds the value of any existing Clock Millions, Greed, Powerball Mania and Town Square Madness boni to its own total. (Hence having a good round of Powerball Mania right before entering LITZ is a good way to get LITZ Champion.) However, LITZ zeroes out these boni after the round concludes, so you don't get to collect them twice.

Powerball Pitfalls:

• When the Powerball is the only ball on the playfield, the Powerfield becomes unavailable. This is to prevent the Battle the Power round from being played with the nonmagnetic Powerball, which makes Magna-Flip[SUP]TM[/SUP] useless. However, the Battle the Power light may still be illuminated (or may become illuminated) if Battle the Power was previously earned or is earned while the Powerball is out.
• If the Powerball is not detected in the trough properly - i.e., the table is not periodically highlighting the gumball load shot and taunting you to "put it back!" - shoot the Powerball into the Camera, Dead End or Piano (but not the Slot Machine) to see if the table will re-detect it. If you do not do this, and then you...
  • ...shoot the right ramp while Battle the Power is lit, the table will not prevent the Powerball from reaching the Powerfield. This will result in a very futile Battle the Power round.
  • ...load the gumball machine with the Powerball, it will load successfully, but Powerball Mania will not start and the Powerball Payoff value will not be awarded.
• It is possible to put the Powerball in the lock for standard multiball. If you start multiball afterwards and lose the two non-Powerballs, the table may not properly identify the Powerball until you shoot the Camera, Dead End or Piano.

Mode and Door Panel Mysteries:

• The clock times most modes from 12:00 to 12:00, counting forward. The one exception is Clock Chaos, which starts at 6:00 going backwards. Each hit to the Clock Target scores the value on the clock times 1M, reverses the direction of the clock, and speeds it up a little. The round ends when the clock hits 12:00 (in either direction).
• When a jackpot is made in regulation multiball, the table delays releasing any balls held in holes or the bridge diverter to allow you to enjoy the jackpot animation and sounds. If there are balls in both the diverter and the slot machine, the diverter releases first.
• The behavior of the Spiral Helpers (the magnets) while Spiral is running is complex, and the interaction of Spiral with other rounds is more complex still. If the magnets are not holding the ball when you think they should, or are grabbing the ball when you think they shouldn't, check whether Spiral is running.
• If Spiral is running and you start multiball, the auto-launched balls will be stopped (for the first 3 Spiral hits) or not (for Spiral Breakthroughs) and score 10M or 15M each as appropriate.
• During Powerball Mania, it is possible to score Mania Jackpots by shooting the Camera shortly after a ball nears the upper exit of the Powerfield but doesn't go in. This also works during Lost in the Zone (because Powerball Mania is one of the rounds that runs during LITZ).
• Super Slot won't necessarily award random door panels even though the light above the slot machine is flashing. Only if the Slot Machine is actually lit (by the right ramp or appropriate inlane) will it award a door panel in addition to the point award.
• The Camera door panel actually lights the Camera twice.
• The Camera will not give the same award twice in a row and it will give each award once before repeating any. On the real table, the Camera award sequence is held game-to-game. It appears that in TPA, the Camera award sequence is randomly determined when the table is first loaded from the menu.
• Collecting an extra ball by any means will spot the Lite Extra Ball door panel, which screws you out of a potential extra ball if you didn't collect the one from the door panel first. However, merely lighting some other extra ball without collecting it does not by itself disqualify the Lite Extra Ball door panel.
• Similarly, scoring the Yellow normal Skill Shot (10M) spots the 10M door panel.
• Clock Millions and Clock 10 Millions can run simultaneously, in which case you score 10M + (1M * Clock value) per hit on the Clock target.
• More generally, if multiple modes are running, the first one started keeps control of the physical clock. Modes do not share timers; this is not RBION! The exceptions are Clock Chaos, which takes control of the physical clock over anything else, and Lost in the Zone.

Other Notes:

• Multiball is started in the following way:
  • For the first MB: Spell GUM-BALL to light Lock. Shoot Lock to lock first ball. Then either shoot left ramp to start multiball immediately (but with a 15M base jackpot instead of 40M) or shoot Lock to lock second ball. If second ball is locked, shoot left ramp or Lock to start multiball.
  • For the second MB: Spell GUM-BALL to light Lock. Shoot Lock to lock first ball. Spell GUM-BALL a second time to light Lock again. Shoot Lock to lock second ball. Then shoot Lock a third time to start multiball.
  • For the third and higher MBs: Spell GUM-BALL and shoot Lock three times, once for first lock, once for second lock and once to release.
• You start with 1 Hitchhiker already collected. This is so if you suffer an immediate drain, you have something for the machine to count as end-of-ball bonus.
• It is possible to plunge very softly and graze the Red skill shot while the ball falls back into the plunger. If this happens, you get the Red skill shot award regardless of how you plunge the ball subsequently.
• No more than 4 extra balls stacked at a time. (This is adjustable if you have Pro Mode.)
• On default settings, there is no ball saver in TZ, either at beginning of ball or the start of multiball rounds. The one exception is Powerball Mania, which has a "hidden" ball saver for the first few seconds of the round. No light or other indication is given that a ball saver is active. (Again, Pro Mode can change this.)

I know I'm probably forgetting several other anomalies - it's 2 in the morning here! As I remember them, I'll add them here.

 

[Squid]

Almost a hundred views... and no comments. Nice Job, Mr. S7!

Stellar foresight and write-up on the matter. I, for one, am grateful you are on board for the TZ beta test.
I wish I was.

I think your title should be... Senior Pinballogist.

 

[iCub]

An exhaustive account! Give the guy a job farsight!

It sounds from this list that a full release is rather a long way off then...

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

An exhaustive account! Give the guy a job farsight!

It sounds from this list that a full release is rather a long way off then...

This is actually a list of things that are not TPA bugs! They just might look like bugs to beta testers who haven't played a lot of the real TZ. I recorded them here so that beta testers who encounter "weird" behavior have a reference of what the real table does, so they can tell actual bugs apart from merely unusual behavior.

For instance, we had a bug report that TZ was allowing multiball to start after only one ball was locked. This is normal behavior for the first multiball on TZ, but on most other tables (like CV, which actually did have a bug with multiball starting too early) that would be a malfunction. So I recorded the multiball starting rules here to reduce future confusion.

 

[iCub]

This is actually a list of things that are not TPA bugs! They just might look like bugs to beta testers who haven't played a lot of the real TZ. I recorded them here so that beta testers who encounter "weird" behavior have a reference of what the real table does, so they can tell actual bugs apart from merely unusual behavior.

For instance, we had a bug report that TZ was allowing multiball to start after only one ball was locked. This is normal behavior for the first multiball on TZ, but on most other tables (like CV, which actually did have a bug with multiball starting too early) that would be a malfunction. So I recorded the multiball starting rules here to reduce future confusion.

Ah apologies, my bad. I must have misread your introduction.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Ah apologies, my bad. I must have misread your introduction.

It's all good. I added some wording to my original post to make it clear it is not a bug list, so that I don't cause needless panic.

 

[Clawhammer]

I know the table is going to be released soon, but I just have to know... how did FS handle the powerball? Is it just faster than the regular ball? Does it feel at all similar to the real thing?

 

[Jan Duin]

Wow. Is this from the top of your head, Serenseven? Unbelievable!


@Clawhammer: The powerball feels lighter and floatier. I never played the real machine so I can't say whether it's realistic or not.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I know the table is going to be released soon, but I just have to know... how did FS handle the powerball? Is it just faster than the regular ball? Does it feel at all similar to the real thing?

Yep, it is faster. Some issues with ball skins exist at the moment that affect performance on mobile platforms, dropping frame rates (at least for some android users).

And I have to also comment that TZ will surprise those players used to the real table. It is very easy to get 1bn points. Unsatisfactorily easy.

 

[Nik Barbour]

And I have to also comment that TZ will surprise those players used to the real table. It is very easy to get 1bn points. Unsatisfactorily easy.

I just got a smidge under 3 billion and do not consider myself a good player.
But this is the same for all Pinball Arcade Tables - ridiculously easy compared to the real tables in my opinion!

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Management, could we move this thread to the TZ forum? I can move the OP, but I can't take the responses with it. Thanks!

 

[Rubicant]

TZ was an awesomely quirky table...especially the first run variant that is depicted in TPA. To Farsight reps: Can we trivia buffs get one of you guys to run over the reference table with a black light and get the SN of the original table used? Some of us are OCD on what tables we've played on.