Welcome once again to View From Behind the Flippers! Today's post is one that I had been intending to write for a while, because it will probably be more helpful to more people since it will not be machine specific. Introduction

The formulation of a strategy, or as I call it "frame", has become increasingly important as the machines have grown more and more complex. Current pins generally feature deeper rule sets and many secret awards, allowing for more and more choices and options, and therefore more to know and more decisions to be made. The machines also now allow a player to play according to his/her own strengths; when the scoring is balanced. For example, Judge Dredd allows you to choose each mode, so if you are a multiball master you should start with Blackout, or if you can nail the captive balls you should go with Melt Down.

The formulation and successful implementation of a strong strategy gives a player a large advantage over someone who just shoots for whatever is lit. The strategy should be very clear in a serious players mind, yet malleable to change depending upon the given characteristics of a particular machine. For example, if you are playing in a tournament and find that the Twilight Zone that you are playing is sending the balls out of the slot machine at 100 mph instead of dribbling out like at your local arcade, you may wish to reconsider holding out your right flipper for a trap. Or if you find that the mode start on the IJ you are playing is sucking up all balls which near it like a black hole, you may wish to attemp backhands with the left flipper after trapping. In short, as important it is to make a strong strategy of the given pin you must be able to adapt to the particular machine you are playing on.

Now here are some tips for formulating your strategy on Machine X, which we'll call Xenon II - Escape from Paradise. Please note that this machine does not exist. I simply use it to give examples. Scenario

A prototype of Xenon II has surprisingly shown up at your local arcade. You have been looking forward to playing it ever since you heard about it from the net, but you figured it would take a lot longer before you actually got to lay your hands on one. You start to play and realize that there is absolutely no tilt! You could drag this game home while playing and you would only get one warning! (while pulling it up the stairs). If you are in this situation, (like I was with DM) do not seriously expect to repeat your performance at the next major tourney. Have a good time, but wait until the tech figures out that the weight has fallen off the gyroscope (probably by the huge scratches on the floor from death saves) and sets it to a more strict tilt before you start to make a strategy. Find a machine that is set similarly to how you would expect to see it in a tournament before beginning to make a strategy.

You really enjoy playing Xenon II, except that whenever you hit the drop targets in the middle with your left flipper, it sends the ball down the right outlane because of the angles involved. Rather than assuming that the company will add a ball saver to this constant executioner, (like Williams did with ID) try to make sure that you add into your frame to aim for alternative shots with the left flipper and to go for the targets (if they are important) with the right flipper since the angle is different. Identify the most dangerous parts of the playfield and the "causes of death".

In addition, you find that you can always hit the wide scoop in the center with either flipper consistently, and then it just feeds the left flipper again, so you can loop this somewhat indefinitely. Add this to your strategy if the points are significant, and be patient, pinball at it's highest level is often a game of control, despite the steeper and steeper ramps. Identify the shots that you can hit consistently and be patient toward repeating them.

Like most new machines, there are a lot of points in Multiball in Xenon II. Also, you find that a ball saver turns on at the beginning of each Multiball and also when you hit the big X target in the middle. If you deliberately let the ball drain, you find that it shoots the ball back into the rollover targets where you can keep adding on to your multiplier to work on the extra ball. In short, you find that between the ball saver and the Multiballs that you start up, you are often invincible with respect to your ball actually ending completely. Identify the invincibility aspects of the game and take advantage. Form your strategy such that you are going from one Multiball to another, you are keeping your kickbacks lit and you make use of the ball saver when it is advantageous to do so.

Xenon II unfortunately has killer outlanes like STTNG. Thus you find that even with the Multiballs and ball savers you score, your balls still don't last too long. Thus you must economize your ball time, by creating a strict hierarchy between the shots you take. You make an order of shots, such that you consolidate. For example, you wait until you get two more transport tube ramps to light the extra ball before shooting the start Multiball saucer, so that you can get them both with one shot. Form a hierarchy of shots based on level of importance, taking into account the relationship the shots have amongst each other, thus enabling you to consolidate your shots and economize your ball time. /pinball/ Back to the Pinball Pasture /pinball/playing/ Back to Playing Pinball