Pinball FX

Blackice 2018-01-07 22:30:24 UTC #582

Really nice score, nobody else is near it yet! I’ve scrambled into third, but I think I can do better. I probably won’t but I’d like to get past 100m!

Blackice 2018-01-08 20:40:30 UTC #583

Well, I managed to beat 100mil and get into 2nd place… but still 120mil behind @Ffrog!

vinraith 2018-01-09 15:43:38 UTC #584

I am perpetually amazed by the level of talent displayed by some folks in this thread!

One thing I find very difficult about FX2/3 is that so much of my attention is focused on simply keeping the ball in play that I can’t keep track of all the other “stuff” the table wants me to do. I don’t dare look at the dot matrix display most of the time. Any vets have tips on this? Most of the tables are fascinatingly complex, but I don’t know how to learn them through playing if I don’t dare look away from the moment-to-moment ball motion. The best solution I’ve come up with is to play with my wife looking over my shoulder so she can provide directions. That’s fun, but it’s only viable when she’s around and up for it, obviously!

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-09 15:59:14 UTC #585

At that point, maximising the time the ball stays in play is the best thing you can do I think.
Most of the time, I also have no clue what is going on, like how you start missions or multiballs (these usually net you the most points). I usually try hitting the lanes where lights are flashing, since that means something is going on there. After a while you start to notice which lanes are easier for you to hit and which tend to bounce your ball around and drain it, when you miss.
Then start focussing on the easier lanes, as said earlier, to maximise your playing time. This might not be the most optimal or even fun way to play, but you get to know the table this way and learn your way around it and see what tends to give you more points.

For example, on the current Portal table, I regularly fail missions that require me to hit some of the lanes on the right side and when I try to hit those, the ball often drains. So when this comes up, I just ignore it because the risk isn’t worth it for me (unless I hit them accidentally ).

Blackice 2018-01-09 18:56:52 UTC #586

I also struggle to look at the matrix display - some tables do give you a little bit of time to read instructions while a mission begins but I generally ignore it. There are in-game guides for each table, plus these are excellent (link here in case you’ve not seen them before)

https://forum.zenstudios.com/showthread.php?4006-Official-Pinball-Table-Guides

A Steam friend also has an excellent guide to PFX2 here

Having said all that, I’ve read these things and I’m still bad at pinball! I just try to keep the ball alive as long as possible, chipping away at missions or multiballs. For example my score on this table was achieved without completing one mission, but I did get a couple of multiballs by hitting the P-Body and Atlas ramps multiple times.

Ffrog 2018-01-09 23:47:18 UTC #587

On most tables, my tactics are just to keep the ball in play and try and hit things that are flashing.

I usually look up one of the guides to see what the launch skillshot is, as some of them are quite straightforward (I can get the Portal one quite reliably. Never managed to get the Adventureland one though).

I know the Portal table better than any other, so I do have a couple of other tactics on that one. I like to choose the Sentry Turret mission first, as that is a multiball, which helps activate other things on the table.

Then I alternate between that and the Ratman’s Den mission, which is a mini playfield I like to use as a break from the main table.

For my highscore I didn’t manage to complete any missions. But I activated plenty of multiballs that got me entry to the turret factory mini playfield (which you unlock by hitting the bumpers enough times, and gives up lots of points), and unlocked an extra ball (don’t actually know how I did that!).

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-13 16:46:09 UTC #588

So, apparently our winner ignored the tests by our most beloved AI and instead played with multiple balls for more points! Congratulations Ffrog!
Half of our participants even managed to get more than 100 million points, which is pretty good I might say.

The next challenge leads us back to the Marvel tables. Does anyone have favourites there? I’m always which one to take from there, since it’s a pretty mixed bag. Anyway, right now we’ll continue with this:

RPS PFX3 Challenge 12
Table: Marvel’s Avengers
Password: RPSPinball
Rules: Survival, no upgrades
Created by: Bexo Dust
Duration: 7 days (finishes the 20th of january)

Good luck!

Blackice 2018-01-13 20:14:10 UTC #589

Congrats @Ffrog, that really was an untouchable score this week. I’m happy with third.

I have no recollection of the Avengers table, should be interesting on survival mode… In fact I can’t remember much about the Marvel tables… apart from really hating Iron Man. Loathe that table!

Ffrog 2018-01-13 22:13:12 UTC #590

Woop! I was very happy with that score. Portal is still my favourite table

Fumarole 2018-01-16 15:28:24 UTC #591

Anyone else feel that the ball spends waaaaay too much time up in bumperland on this Avengers table for playing in survival mode? It wouldn’t be bad if the bumper scores were higher, but unfortunately no amount of bumping the table seems to help to dislodge the ball once it decides it wants to stay up there. I fear I will remain in the bottom of the rankings on this table.

Jurple 2018-01-16 17:44:45 UTC #592

Not me. Lot of time on the lanes, way too much time bopping the targets at Loki’s feet, but not all that much bumpertime.

Blackice 2018-01-16 20:13:06 UTC #593

I reckon you won’t be right at the bottom, that’s destined to be my spot this week! I’ve only managed to get past the 2.7m barrier once… I just can’t get anything going in the time available. My biggest time waster on this table has mainly been just the ball draining and waiting for the release animation of the replacement. I drain a lot on this table…

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-17 17:20:53 UTC #594

I got my highscore mainly through a single multiball, which awards crazy points. After some testing, this is how you can access it:

Use the Black Widow ball (the upper most one) and try to hit both highlighted lanes (the ones in the middle on both sides). With this ball the Jet shows up faster - the one where you have to nudge the platform to lead the ball over it. If you get the ball two times successfully over the plattform you’ll start the multiball. I’ve got scores over 4 million just for hitting a single ramp.

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-23 20:24:04 UTC #595

Well well well, seems like I’m late again, sorry guys!

The last challenge was pretty unusual and you could say … challenging. Lots of different objectives and ball types had to be managed with a strict time limit. Our best marvelous vengeful ball manager is: Thermal Ions! Congratulations!

Maybe the next table is able to draw more players? I don’t know! I haven’t played many of the Star Wars tables, so now I’m randomly choosing one!

RPS PFX3 Challenge 13
Table: Star Wars Droids
Password: RPSPinball
Rules: 5 minutes, no upgrades
Created by: Bexo Dust
Duration: 7 days (finishes the 30th of january)

Good luck!

Blackice 2018-01-25 14:58:38 UTC #596

Congrats Thermal Ions; this makes you the overall leader with three wins. If anyone’s curious, the leader-board goes like this:-

Thermal Ions 3 wins
Vasova 2 wins
=. Blackice 2 wins
Angorafish 1 win
=. Bexo Dust 1 win (aka Stirbelwurm)
=. Sp4rkr4t 1 win
=. Crimethink 1 win (aka Fumarole)
=. Ffrog 1 win

Of course not everyone has taken part in every week…

I’m quite pleased with my effort so far on this weeks challenge, not sure I’ll be able to beat my current score.

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-25 18:58:10 UTC #597

Interesting list, thanks for that! Still pretty good distribution I’d say.

Also, did you guys also receive these table coupons? I got 5, with discounts between 75 and 80%. I got almost every table from these coupons, but I noticed that they are for those packs that Steam still thinks that I don’t own. Maybe that’s their solution for the problem?

These are the coupons:

Medieval Pack (-75%)
Marvel Legends (-80%)
Marvel Heavy Hitters (-80%)
Marvel Cinematic (-80%)
Star Wars Unsung Heroes (-75%)

Jurple 2018-01-25 19:54:57 UTC #598

I got the first three of those coupons, though I don’t own all tables covered by them. I guess I’ll use the Heavy Hitters coupon to get Venom & Deadpool for a buck each. And I could use the Legends coupon to get the Fantastic Four table. But I really don’t see myself buying the Medieval pack, when I an already play both tables in it.

But your guess jibes with me not getting the Cinematic and Unsung coupons, as I own none of the tables in those packs.

Blackice 2018-01-25 20:04:28 UTC #599

It’s certainly the most fun competition I take part in, close scoring most weeks.

I got all the coupons as well, don’t need any of the tables covered by them! If anyone requires a coupon or two just ask.

Stirbelwurm 2018-01-25 20:12:42 UTC #600

I’m missing one table from the Unsung pack, so I think I’m going to use that myself. But I’ll happily give the other coupons away, if someone is interested!

Thermal_Ions 2018-01-26 02:39:21 UTC #601

I agree. It seems like any of us could win, or be fighting for the top or bottom of the list in any given week. If we took a larger sample that included the FX2 challenges, I’m sure someone else would be on top.

I’d been playing in another competition (run by Roger035600), but no offense to anyone here, it has real pinball players competing now (no lucky multi-balls to propel you to the top of the list) and it’s less fun knowing you’ll be bottom of the table every single week.

I also have all of these vouchers to give away. I own all the tables in them, but Steam seems to be confused about that fact. Hit me up via Steam chat or here if you want any of the vouchers. I believe the only tables I’m missing within the game are the Universal Classics pack - waiting for a decent special.