Official Plants vs Zombies Thread

[surf1der]

Okay I figured some things out. There is a "Fertilizer Bonus." Steps to collect this bonus. 1) Make a combo. 2) This lights up a single yellow "shot" star in front of one of the lanes. 3) Quickly shoot the lane that has the lit star and collect the Fertilizer Bonus before the "shot" light goes out.

Fertilizer bonuses I have seen so far:
"Jackpot Increase! New Value: 200,000." Increases Jackpots in 100,000 increments.
"Plenty Money." Adds $ to your money income.
"Mission Bonus Up! New Value: 5,500,000." Increases mission completion bonuses in 1/2 million increments.
"Plenty Sun." Adds sun points to your sun income.

Jack-in-the-box rewards I have seen so far: bonus sun, bonus money, light extra ball, advance multiplier, "stray zombie" (spawns a single zombie), ball save, kickbacks, "A Point! 2,002 point," "Huge Score 2,812,782 points," "Hit Locker" (locks a ball in the mailbox?).

[surf1der]

Crazy Dave's score multipliers apply to the Mission Bonuses as well, and his "+1000 Point" offering (the 8,000 Coin one) sometimes seems to stack with the "double score" (10,000 Coin) award in less-than-mathematically sound ways.

If you have just the double score, then you'll get 10 million for completing a mission. If you have that and the +1000 Point one, that seems to raise it to 11 million and change.


Honestly, the most frustrating thing about the Plants VS Zombies table is just how many points I keep losing because my inaccurate shots keep completing Sun Frenzy instead of getting the ball in the back of the vehicle, making him drive off and delay the double score bonus for that much longer.

I think it was almost designed to be the table that less skilled players (such as myself) can get the Pinball Fanatic trophy on without too much difficulty.

I think you probably raised the base value of the mission complete bonus with a fertilizer bonus. I just completed a mission with just the watering can and got 5,001,000. I think the watering can just add 1,000 points to the base value of every possible scoring mechanism (i.e. ramp shots, sink hole shots, mission bonuses, etc.)

[Peridot Weapon]

I think you probably raised the base value of the mission complete bonus with a fertilizer bonus. I just completed a mission with just the watering can and got 5,001,000. I think the watering can just add 1,000 points to the base value of every possible scoring mechanism (i.e. ramp shots, sink hole shots, mission bonuses, etc.)

Nodnod. Makes sense. I assume the 1,000 points is also doubled by the 2x score bonus, making the "base" value for missions 10,002,000 plus any fertilizer bonus at that point.

Not used to having to max/min a Pinball table like an RPG: "Let's see, I want to hit Crazy Dave first to get Double Money with the 5,000 coins I start with, then two more visits with 18K coins for the double score and +1,000 point options, then another visit for Double Sun ..." I actually prefer to FAIL the fog mission a couple times because it's one of the fastest ways to get your cash reserves up.

[surf1der]

The base value for missions is 5 million. You can raise this base value in 500,000 increments with the correct fertilizer bonus. The gatling pea doubles this base value. I am not sure if the +1000 watering can bonus is added before or after the gatling pea multiplier is calculated.

For those wondering, I have confirmed that advancing the EoB bonus multiplier is one of the random jack-in-the-box rewards. See my post #46 above for other rewards. I have not found any other way to advance the multiplier. By the way, how do you receive the jack-in-the-box reward? I thought you had to shoot the water sinkhole above the entrance to the the Zomboss mini ramp. But I think it may just be bumper hits.

[surf1der]

Made a mistake about how to obtain the fertilizer bonus. It is not combo shots. You must hit the spinner via a left or right orbit shot. As the spinner rotates, you can see the lit yellow "shot" stars rotate. Once the spinner stops, a single yellow "shot" star will remain lit. Hit that lane with the lit star and you will receive the bonus.


Edit: Just got 3rd place on the leaderboard with 655 milion. 5 million short of 2nd. I'm done with this table. That was an exhausting grind.

Beat Zomboss twice. To beat the big fireballs/snowballs that Zomboss throws at you, you don't have to switch ball types at the flower pot sinkhole. If you shoot a fireball with a "fire" pea, your pea gets destroyed and a snow pea get ejected from the "my flower pot" sinkhole. Then just shoot the fireball with the snow pea. This technique works with the giant snow ball as well.

The only mission that really gets harder seems to be the "Welcome to the Neighborhood" mission because all the zombies are coneheads or bucketheads. Strategy comes into play here though. If you have the torchwood fireball for this level, it is much easier because all zombie types are killed with a single hit. Also noticed the fertilizer bonuses for increasing jackpots and mission bonuses reset after you start a multiball or mission, respectively. Advancing the multiplier helps boost your score. I think I got close to 100,000,000 end of ball bonus after advancing to x8. Just spam the bumpers/water sinkhole to get the jack-in-the-box random rewards. Slowly but surely you will advance the multiplier.

[Piccalilli]

Crazy Dave's score multipliers apply to the Mission Bonuses as well, and his "+1000 Point" offering (the 8,000 Coin one) sometimes seems to stack with the "double score" (10,000 Coin) award in less-than-mathematically sound ways.

If you have just the double score, then you'll get 10 million for completing a mission. If you have that and the +1000 Point one, that seems to raise it to 11 million and change.


Honestly, the most frustrating thing about the Plants VS Zombies table is just how many points I keep losing because my inaccurate shots keep completing Sun Frenzy instead of getting the ball in the back of the vehicle, making him drive off and delay the double score bonus for that much longer.

I think it was almost designed to be the table that less skilled players (such as myself) can get the Pinball Fanatic trophy on without too much difficulty.

I've just started with pinball (only been playing for a few days now), and I've been feeling that PvZ is a pretty good table for beginners who are learning the game. The ball seems a little slower than most of my other tables, the missions are pretty clear as to what you need to do, and the table--while beautiful--isn't overly distracting. For someone who is just wrapping her mind around pinball concepts beyond just keeping the ball out of the drain, it's easy to get overwhelmed. It also doesn't hurt that the table is absolutely charming, so it's a fun table to pick when I'm practicing. I love all the ZP2 tables that I've played so far, and they each seem to offer something different. I still get excited when I manage to complete a pretty basic mini mission, or when I start to feel like I might be getting the hang of getting the ball to go in the basic direction that I want. ~.^ PvZ seems to be a good table for honing my skills, so I've been playing a fair bit of it and Mars at the moment.

[surf1der]

I've just started with pinball (only been playing for a few days now), and I've been feeling that PvZ is a pretty good table for beginners who are learning the game.

Welcome to the forums. It seems you have picked up the number 1 rule of pinball, keep the ball in play at all costs. Rule #2, when in doubt shoot for the flashing lights. Everything else comes with time. Be warned, pinball is habit-forming. If you need tips go to the player skills section at http://www.ipdb.org. Or do a youtube search for hypno74. He has some great zen/marvel pinball videos.

[Piccalilli]

Welcome to the forums. It seems you have picked up the number 1 rule of pinball, keep the ball in play at all costs. Rule #2, when in doubt shoot for the flashing lights. Everything else comes with time. Be warned, pinball is habit-forming. If you need tips go to the player skills section at http://www.ipdb.org. Or do a youtube search for hypno74. He has some great zen/marvel pinball videos.

Thank you! The skills info you linked was very interesting and helpful. Bookmarked it. I'll have to check out the videos too, so I can see some of the techniques in action. I think the addiction is already taking hold--was playing Ironman last night until one in the morning. The high ramps make for good save practice and good experience for staying calm when balls come screaming back at me. Today/tonight's agenda is aiming for kickbacks, ballsaves, and extra balls on PvZ. Also want to practice getting my ball into Crazy Dave's hatchback without accidentally triggering Sun Frenzy instead. Off to get in a few hours of play in the afternoon quiet.

[caper_26]

Edit: Just got 3rd place on the leaderboard with 655 milion. 5 million short of 2nd. I'm done with this table. That was an exhausting grind.

Beat Zomboss twice. To beat the big fireballs/snowballs that Zomboss throws at you, you don't have to switch ball types at the flower pot sinkhole. If you shoot a fireball with a "fire" pea, your pea gets destroyed and a snow pea get ejected from the "my flower pot" sinkhole. Then just shoot the fireball with the snow pea. This technique works with the giant snow ball as well.

Still a ways from 899M I think I beat Zom at least 3 times, if not 4. I still have no idea what is going on for most of the table yet! I only figured out how to activate missions before I started this game (BRAINZ), and near the end, you can buy stuff with suns, etc. My kids love this table, lol

[surf1der]

Still a ways from 899M I think I beat Zom at least 3 times, if not 4. I still have no idea what is going on for most of the table yet! I only figured out how to activate missions before I started this game (BRAINZ), and near the end, you can buy stuff with suns, etc. My kids love this table, lol

How long did it take you to get? I get bored after about an hour and lose focus. I probably got to around 550 million on my second ball and then got only 100 million more with my remaining 6 balls. And i lost those last balls in probably 10-15 minutes. I should probably save games but I rarely do that. By the way, i created a guide in this thread. Just scroll up and follow the google docs link.

[BarbieBobomb]

I've just started with pinball (only been playing for a few days now), and I've been feeling that PvZ is a pretty good table for beginners who are learning the game. The ball seems a little slower than most of my other tables, the missions are pretty clear as to what you need to do, and the table--while beautiful--isn't overly distracting. For someone who is just wrapping her mind around pinball concepts beyond just keeping the ball out of the drain, it's easy to get overwhelmed. It also doesn't hurt that the table is absolutely charming, so it's a fun table to pick when I'm practicing. I love all the ZP2 tables that I've played so far, and they each seem to offer something different. I still get excited when I manage to complete a pretty basic mini mission, or when I start to feel like I might be getting the hang of getting the ball to go in the basic direction that I want. ~.^ PvZ seems to be a good table for honing my skills, so I've been playing a fair bit of it and Mars at the moment.

Welcome!! I'm glad you like the new table and we hope you stick around! As I'm sure you've already noticed, the community is super friendly and helpful!

[shogun00]

PvZ seems to be a good table for honing my skills, so I've been playing a fair bit of it and Mars at the moment.

Sorcerer's Lair is another table that is great for beginners.

[caper_26]

How long did it take you to get? I get bored after about an hour and lose focus. I probably got to around 550 million on my second ball and then got only 100 million more with my remaining 6 balls. And i lost those last balls in probably 10-15 minutes. I should probably save games but I rarely do that. By the way, i created a guide in this thread. Just scroll up and follow the google docs link.

No idea exactly... I was probably on par with whatever scoring speed you had yourself. Lost a couple of quick ones back to back as i always do too. I am not a fan of saving games because I find I get better as I warm up and play more. Saving a game, you come in cold, and I usually suck and lose rather quickly...

[surf1der]

It seems there might be a possible PvZ bug. Has anyone experienced a situation in which you can't collect the "advance the multiplier" reward from the jack-in-the-box after collecting the max 5 extra balls? This was mentioned in the FX2 forum but I personally have not noticed this.

[Piccalilli]

Welcome!! I'm glad you like the new table and we hope you stick around! As I'm sure you've already noticed, the community is super friendly and helpful!

Thank you! It's a fantastic table. All the tables have been lots of fun. This is one of the most friendly forums I've had the pleasure of joining, and their advice is extremely helpful. They've helped me raise my score on this table to 31 million, which is really exciting after only having played pinball itself for around a week.

Sorcerer's Lair is another table that is great for beginners.

Thanks for the table recommendation! Gave it some solid playing and loved it. I've been trying to pick a single table to concentrate on for practice, so I can get better at missions, multipliers, raising my scores, etc. PvZ and SL are the top two contenders. Both are very approachable with clearcut missions. Plus, they're flat out fun.