Hello, and please help a newcomer with Rocky?

[darc]

Hello all. I'm new to this forum and relatively green to FX2 from what I've read here.

I own all the tables now and my wife I have had tons of fun with the arbitrary goal of getting 10m+ on each of them. (I now gather that this was not even remotely ambitious, with so many of you going for 100m+ on all of them!)

So we've managed to get this meager job done on all but Extreme and Rocky and Bullwinkle. I can kind of wrap my head around Extreme and see where you just need to be very precise with "competitions", but we can't get ANYWHERE with Rocky & Bullwinkle. Nothing seems to generate points worth mentioning, balls are constantly veering into the outlanes. Even the occasional million point bonus amounts to nothing in the end. It's an anomoly for me to top 3m on this table, and we're generally in a pretty foul mood by the time we're done. (You can imagine our surprise when we saw that Zen had corrected a bug in R&B - by making the scoring less generous!)

So... can anyone help get us started with this? Of note: even on the tables where we average 15m or so, we very rarely, if ever get extra balls. I imagine I'm missing something big there. The R&B guide says something about "resetting ramp score" for extra balls, but I have no idea what that means. I'm a little new to pinball terminology.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[UranusIsBroken]

First of all, welcome.

Secondly, I want to say how awesome it is that you and your wife are pinballing together. Seriously, couples that play games together, laugh a lot more, and do better with one another. Proven fact.

R&B is frustrating. This is a fact. This is not the table, in my opinion, to play if you want to have fun, and leave without frustration. LOL This, like a few other tables, brings me to quote a passage from the movie War Games regarding thermonuclear war, one more time.

The only way to win is to not play.

LOL

[darc]

Thanks for the welcome and the kind words, UIB! And for giving me the sense that we're not crazy/ alone where Rocky & Bullwinkle is concerned. It definitely seems the hardest of the bunch. Funny, it looks so cheery and innocent, but it's so darned bleak. ("Yup, we failed...")

Still, we won't rest until we've seen 10m. And as tough as this table might be, there must be a way for even a relative novice to crack that, since so many are working at scores an order of magnitude higher. I'm a pretty decent player in terms of precision and response, or I'd like to think so, I just can't figure out how to make the rules of this table result in any significant scoring.

Well, there's that, and the fact that I can't seem to keep the ball out of the outlanes with any kind of consistency...

[Zuprichy]

Well, there's that, and the fact that I can't seem to keep the ball out of the outlanes with any kind of consistency...

Well,its only because...you can't. I hate this table because of that. All you have to do is light CAKE all the time..and hope for the best.To score big you have to try ramp bonuses, multiball ( it's quite easy to get it) and complete missions.Once you complete one you get 10 mil...and you achieve your personal goal.

[darc]

Once you complete one you get 10 mil...and you achieve your personal goal.

...whereupon I expect I will never play this table again LOL.

[Zuprichy]

I return to it from time to time.I'd really like to know how a friend of mine achieved 100 mil. on that table...but i usually leave frustrated after a while. Now, as i recall, the mission you have to choose is the one you must collect sheeps.So, ligh BOXTOP ( is that right?), hit the right hole( can't remember which is, i believe it's in the upper right of the table...) and look for the ramps with a flashing sheep on them. You have plenty of time, so don't rush it or you'll lose the ball for sure.I hope i remember right, it's been a while now since i played it, i'm busy with CA in these days...

[darc]

Well, I finally broke 10m last night. My wife got to 7.5m and an hour or so later, on the fifth or sixth "one last game", I hit 12.5m. In both cases we were in multiball mode collecting jackpots to pad out our scores, and in both cases we found a ball stuck at the top of the table which we could nudge free after it seemed we were out of balls. I'm not sure if this is a bug or an exploit or what, but it definitely seemed to help to have only one ball in play - i.e. to focus on - during this high-scoring mode, with another ball waiting safely in the wings. So I don't know whether this is a legit 12.5 million but we were pretty excited anyway.

12.5 is probably a pittance to a lot of you guys, anyway.

[rapierdwit]

Well, I finally broke 10m last night. My wife got to 7.5m and an hour or so later, on the fifth or sixth "one last game", I hit 12.5m. In both cases we were in multiball mode collecting jackpots to pad out our scores, and in both cases we found a ball stuck at the top of the table which we could nudge free after it seemed we were out of balls. I'm not sure if this is a bug or an exploit or what, but it definitely seemed to help to have only one ball in play - i.e. to focus on - during this high-scoring mode, with another ball waiting safely in the wings. So I don't know whether this is a legit 12.5 million but we were pretty excited anyway.

12.5 is probably a pittance to a lot of you guys, anyway.

Congrats! And, yes, this is a known bug for this table, If you put any amount of time into this table, you will see it occur. It is more of a bug than an exploit since it is not something the player can control from happening or not happening. It is currently listed in the new "bug/glitch" thread. Glad you are having fun with the game, me and my wife like to play Pasha and/or Secrets of the Deep split screen with a scoring race. Check it out if you have not, you can set the score goal as 10m and the penalty for losing a ball at any number of settings (including forgiving, which takes away no points.)

[darc]

Thanks, rapierdwit!

Yes, we played a lot of split screen early on, but switched to hot seat when we started running into tables that didn't support it. Then we got hung up on chasing these high (for us) scores. We eventually found that we had an easier time getting into a groove if we each played a full game through vs. trading off every time a ball drained, so now we mostly alternate games in single player mode.

But once we get 10m on Extreme (last one left) then we might mix it up a little bit.

[UranusIsBroken]

Thanks, rapierdwit!

Yes, we played a lot of split screen early on, but switched to hot seat when we started running into tables that didn't support it. Then we got hung up on chasing these high (for us) scores. We eventually found that we had an easier time getting into a groove if we each played a full game through vs. trading off every time a ball drained, so now we mostly alternate games in single player mode.

But once we get 10m on Extreme (last one left) then we might mix it up a little bit.

It's nice to have goals. They help give you something to shoot for, and a sense of accomplishment. After you've hit 10M on everything, shoot for 25M, and so on. In the process of doing so, you'll have no choice but to discover how the game modes are played, and where the big or even easy points are scored.

Another neat thing is that you're bound to find tables you like, and ones you don't. You'll hone your skills on a particular table, and the light bulb will go on that there are other tables with pretty much identical shots. It's not uncommon to go back to a table you previously had little success with, and find that with your new bag of tricks, you have what it takes to put a hurtin' on it.

[X DrLobo]

I don't understand how they made rocky from an easy and quite fun table with big scores to a frusrating, no fun, no scoring one ! It's a shame since that's almost one table less in the roster , nobody plays it anymore...well i know i don't .

[IndyRC_Racer]

Actually 10 million on R&B is relatively easy if you can keep the ball in play and activate multiball. Keeping the ball in play for an extended amount of time will usually result in some good bonuses.

To keep the ball in play on R&B, I would suggest a more conservative approach to playing. Try to trap the ball on the flipper and hit precise shots. The penalty for missing ramps on this table can be severe if the ball bounces into the outlanes. Another thing to do is take advantage of bounce passes (or dead flipper passes) - (http://www.ipdb.org/playing/advanced.html#BouncePass). There are many times when I miss the right ramp and I let the ball fall back off the right flipper and it will usually bounce over the the left flipper. The same for the left flipper. When the ball launches after a new ball 99.9% of the time you can let it bounce off the left flipper to the right flipper and then you can perform a trap hold. Practicing basic pinball skills makes this table a bit easier.

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Now on to some scoring help.

There is a quick way to score millions on R&B. If you hit the 3 mushroom bumpers and the target to the right of the spinner, you will hear an audio cue of "Now here is something you will really like". Look on the table for a flashing blue top hat near the capture holes. You have about 10-15 seconds to get the ball to that hole for 1 million points. After successfully hitting the shot, a different top hat will light up and you will now have a new countdown of 10-15 seconds. Get the ball to the 2nd hole and you will get 2 million points. The best I have ever done is hit 4 successive top hat shots (did this last night). I earned a quick 10 million (1+2+3+4 = 10). If you don't see a flashing top hat, you need to get the ball to the capture hole in the top right part of the machine that is above the bonus multiplier lanes. Hitting this shot returns the ball to the right flipper. The easiest top hat shot to hit is the one that is left of the bonus multiplier lanes. Simply trap the ball on the left flipper, release the ball, and quickly hit the flipper. If successful, you should have performed a back flip and the ball will go straight up to the capture hole. This is also a good technique for getting the extra ball when lit.

Another way to score big points and various bonuses on R&B is by hitting the slingback (bumpers above the bottom flippers). After 25 combined hits on the slingback bumpers you are rewarded a random bonus. The counter will then reset and you will have to get 25 more hits for the next random bonus. While I haven't paid close attention to all of the possible bonuses, here are some that I've gotten:

10x bonus multiplier
Enable multi-ball lock
1 million points or more
Light Extra Ball

I don't specifically play to hit the slingbacks, but I find that if I can keep a multi-ball going for a little while, I will usually get 1 or 2 of the bumper bonuses.

...more in next post

[IndyRC_Racer]

...continued

There is also a random "SPECIAL" bonus if you can hit the spinner 300 times during one ball. After each 100 spins, you will see an orange circle light up near the spinner to mark your progess. After 300 the special triangle will light. I haven't paid as much attention to the special bonuses/rewards, but I believe they are similar to the slingback rewards.

Another scoring opportunity is to complete the missions on this table. To start the missions, light all 6 boxtop targets and simply get the ball to one of the flashing capture holes. After you complete a mission, the corresponding picture on the playfield will light up and you will no longer be able to play that mission. Off the top of my head, here are the rewards.

Boris & Natasha - 5 million
Dudley Do-Right - 5 million
Aesop - 10 million
Peabody & Sherman - 10 million?? (This is the hardest for me to complete)

The easiest mission to complete is Aesop. The easiest way to start this mission (when missions are active) is to trap the ball on the left flipper and perform a back flip up to the capture hole to the left of the bonus multiplier lanes (top hat/extra ball hole). To complete this mission you have to first hit the left ramp, right ramp, and sheep collect shot/orbit (hitting this shot returns the ball to the right flipper). You cannot proceed until you hit all 3 shots at least once. After the 3 have been completed the first time, you will have to hit all 3 shots a second time. The good news is that you do not have to hit the 3 shots in any specific order and the count-down timer is fairly long. If you have mastered the basic shots on this table, this mission should be fairly simple.

One thing to note on all missions is that they are time sensitive. If you fail to complete any shots in the required time, the mission will fail completely. However if you hit at least one shot/ramp and then let the timer run out, the mission will reset. This can be a bit frustrating on Dudley Do-Right with the shorter count-down timer. The mission reset doesn't apply to the Peabody & Sherman mission as far as I've noticed.

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Once I learned how to play this table, R&B became a lot more fun. Currently my high score is around 250 million. I can now score between 25-50 million on an average game.

I hope my info helps everyone improve their scores on this table. Hopefully one of the table guide masters will decide to create a guide for R&B. I should at least post information on how to complete each mission. I'm still working on trying to get to wizard mode on this table. I keep getting stuck on 3 out of 4 missions complete with Peabody & Sherman as the last to go.

[IndyRC_Racer]

I should add that most (if not all) of what I posted above is in the rules sheet for this table.

However, there is something that I have noticed when playing the Boris & Natasha mission. There are 4 shots that you have to make to complete this mission. The first shot is located under the 2 left ramps. When you make this shot you are awarded 1 million points. Then the next shot is the lock hole located to the right of the upper right flipper. If you let the count-down timer reach zero, the mission will reset and you will have to hit the first shot again and it will be worth 1 million points.

If someone had a goal to only score 10 million on this table, you could easily exploit this mission by hitting the 1st shot, letting the timer run down, and hitting the 1st shot again. Be warned that the count-down timer is fairly long (60 seconds?), so this wouldn't be a fast way to score millions.

Personally I feel there are much quicker ways to score millions on this table, but I felt I would point this out.

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I should add that I played yesterday and again had all 3 missions completed except Peabody & Sherman. I activated that mission 3 times but could never get the ball up to the mushroom bumpers enough to complete. I really want to see what kind of score I can get if I ever get to wizard mode.

[IndyRC_Racer]

Complete Boris & Natasha

Since there is no table guide thread, this is a good place to post the info about how to complete the Boris & Natasha mission. Completing this mission will award the 30pt achievement - Counterfeit Box Tops

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Here is a basic guide for the Boris & Natasha mission/goal.

- Light BOXTOP targets.
- Get ball to "hole" underneath the left 2 ramps (starts mission)
- Let ball fall and bounce off left flipper over to right flipper (trap ball on right)
- Shoot ball back to the flashing "hole" underneath left ramps (1st required shot)
- Let ball fall and it will bounce over to right flipper again
- Shoot ball up the left ramps. During this mission the ramp diverter appears to always get the ball to the upper left flipper
- Hold the upper left flipper to trap the ball
- Shoot the ball into the flashing "hole" under the right ramp (2nd required shot)
- Let the ball drop out of the hole. 99% of the time the ball will fall down to the left flipper and you can choose to either trap it on the left or let it bounce to the right. Resist the urge to hit the ball with the right flipper as it can change momentum and will go STDM.
- Next flashing "hole" is the orbit shot to get the ball from the bottom of the table to the upper right of the table (above & to right of 3 mutliplier lanes). (3rd required shot). It is easier for me to hit this shot from the right flipper, but it is possible to use a back flip from the lower left flipper as well.
- The ball will then be returned to the right flipper. If you are good at nudge passing, get the ball to the left flipper and trap it there.
- Using a back flip, get the ball up to the flashing "hole" that is immediately left of multiplier lanes (Extra ball hole/top hat hole") (4th required shot)
- Mission will be completed and you will rewarded 5 million points.

A couple of quick notes on this mission.
- Each shot has a countdown timer. Fail to complete shot 2,3, or 4 during the countdown, and you will have to start again at shot 1 with a new timer. Fail to hit shot 1 and the mission fails.
- Each completed shot is worth 1 million points (IIRC).

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If you are good at hitting the ramps/orbit on this table, it is possible to complete this mission in as little as 4 or 5 shots from a flipper.