More Skyrim Questions and Maybe Bugs

[hunter328]

Do some towns not have shops? A few times now I've gotten to towns ready to buy/sell and there was no shop. I've waited around until later in the day too, in case they were just closed, but the shop never appeared.
My last game I finally hit smithing level 40, checked my inventory to make sure I had the listed components to craft and oricsh bow, went to craft it but it never highlighted as craftable. I was the right level and had the components. I haven't played a game since to see if it still isn't craftable but couldn't figure out if I was missing something else or if it was a bug.


With the points you get from leveling up I started wondering if, for higher scores, it wouldn't just be better to start a new character each new game. I play probably at least 95% of my ZP2 games on Vita, which is where my leveled up character is, and was going to test if starting a new character would be better by doing so on PS4. However, I'm so used to how the table plays on Vita that I couldn't get a decent game going long enough on PS4 to really tell. Has anyone else tested to see what the better approach is for higher scores? I'm thinking it might be starting a new character but I really hope I'm wrong as I love the character progression on this table. If that is the case then maybe things can get tweaked to provide more score for higher levels.

One question that came out of that was why do two versions of the same table play so noticeably different. I'd think a ball rolling going from a to b and hit in the same way would react the same. What causes it to react differently in the same circumstances?

Last thing, I don't understand sneaking or blocking? How do they work, what do they do, and how do you gain levels in them? Do you need to equip a shield to block? Is that what the bash lane is for during fights? If so, does hitting those targets do anything if you don't have a shield?

Last last thing, the bars at the bottom center. I'm guessing the yellow is Power for attacks? Do you have to hit the enemy with the ball or do shots to the center target and center lanes do damage too? Any benefit to hitting the enemy directly if the other three also count?
I probably should have noticed a lot of this already but you all know how when you're playing it's hard to keep a watch on any data on the dot matrix while trying to keep the ball alive.

Thanks for any info and thanks to those who've made my favorite table in quite some time. This one ranks up there with Fantastic Four, and The Empire Strikes Back as one of my favorites.

[deep]

Thanks for contacting us, I'll try to answer all your questions

Do some towns not have shops? A few times now I've gotten to towns ready to buy/sell and there was no shop. I've waited around until later in the day too, in case they were just closed, but the shop never appeared.
My last game I finally hit smithing level 40, checked my inventory to make sure I had the listed components to craft and oricsh bow, went to craft it but it never highlighted as craftable. I was the right level and had the components. I haven't played a game since to see if it still isn't craftable but couldn't figure out if I was missing something else or if it was a bug.

There are some hickups in these features, the shop can remain closed if you reach a town at night. There is a patch coming very soon that will fix this. I am not sure about the smithing problem you mentioned, but there are many changes about crafting too in the patch.

With the points you get from leveling up I started wondering if, for higher scores, it wouldn't just be better to start a new character each new game. I play probably at least 95% of my ZP2 games on Vita, which is where my leveled up character is, and was going to test if starting a new character would be better by doing so on PS4. However, I'm so used to how the table plays on Vita that I couldn't get a decent game going long enough on PS4 to really tell. Has anyone else tested to see what the better approach is for higher scores? I'm thinking it might be starting a new character but I really hope I'm wrong as I love the character progression on this table. If that is the case then maybe things can get tweaked to provide more score for higher levels.

With higher levels you get higher ballout bonuses and bigger scores for dealing and taking damage, etc. So I would say you have better chances with a higher level character.

One question that came out of that was why do two versions of the same table play so noticeably different. I'd think a ball rolling going from a to b and hit in the same way would react the same. What causes it to react differently in the same circumstances?

There are minor differences in the number of polygons between the two versions that could cause different ball behavior but this should be barely noticable and should not affect the gameplay. I personally didn't notice any negative result of this difference.

Last thing, I don't understand sneaking or blocking? How do they work, what do they do, and how do you gain levels in them? Do you need to equip a shield to block? Is that what the bash lane is for during fights? If so, does hitting those targets do anything if you don't have a shield?

The sneaking activates at the beginning of every regular battle (not vs dragons) if you have equipped a melee weapon or a bow. The right sinkhole will be flashing for a short time. Shoot the ball there to activate the sneak attack and hit the enemy for boosted damage. If you miss the enemy, it will notice you and the sneaking ends. About blocking and bashing: you have to equip a melee weapon or a shield to block and bash. A single hit to the block/bash lane will activate blocking that will block the next incoming (melee) attack. If the ball hits enough targets there, a bash attack will be triggered. These will be balanced and become more effective after the patch.

Last last thing, the bars at the bottom center. I'm guessing the yellow is Power for attacks? Do you have to hit the enemy with the ball or do shots to the center target and center lanes do damage too? Any benefit to hitting the enemy directly if the other three also count? I probably should have noticed a lot of this already but you all know how when you're playing it's hard to keep a watch on any data on the dot matrix while trying to keep the ball alive.

Yes, the yellow is for power attacks. Hit the enemies during the power attack bar flashing for massive damage Only hits to the enemy's target will damage them.

Thanks for any info and thanks to those who've made my favorite table in quite some time. This one ranks up there with Fantastic Four, and The Empire Strikes Back as one of my favorites.

Thank you for playing our tables

[hunter328]

Thanks so much, Deep. You're help is very appreciated. Probably the thing I love the most about Zen is how helpful and involved you guys are. So many companies are the complete opposite that it really does make you guys special.

BTW, I played again last night and tried to craft that orc bow again. I made sure I had the iron ingot, orc inguts, and leather strips that were listed as required but it still just brought up the required components when selecting it instead of crafting it. No big deal as soon after I found an eleven bow in a chest so I don't need to orc one. I crafted orc arrows instead.

Thanks again!

Ps, It'd be great if the patch included a way to craft leather strips. Those are needed for everything and hard to come by in large quantities.

[deep]

Thanks so much, Deep. You're help is very appreciated. Probably the thing I love the most about Zen is how helpful and involved you guys are. So many companies are the complete opposite that it really does make you guys special.

BTW, I played again last night and tried to craft that orc bow again. I made sure I had the iron ingot, orc inguts, and leather strips that were listed as required but it still just brought up the required components when selecting it instead of crafting it. No big deal as soon after I found an eleven bow in a chest so I don't need to orc one. I crafted orc arrows instead.

Thanks again!

Ps, It'd be great if the patch included a way to craft leather strips. Those are needed for everything and hard to come by in large quantities.

No problem I think there is a problem with the crafting of the orcish bow that will be fixed with the patch. There will be a huge balancing for the leather strips too, you'll find much more of them.