Why am I not enjoying Twilight Zone table??

I can't quite figure it out. It's one of the few modern machines I never had a chance to play in
the real world so my first experience with this was TPA.

Perhaps I was caught up in the hype. I donated on day 1 and waited patiently for it to hit the PS3.

Maybe I need to read the directions, but I start going through and see 700+ pages and then just jump into the game only to be confused.
The table seems really cluttered to me. I just have so much trouble finding a camera view that works well.

Is something not right about the PS3 table? Did they forget to add something that makes it fun? Maybe I'm getting burned out on pinball (I hope not!).
I still enjoy tables such as Medieval Madness, TOTAN, Ripley's, Funhouse, and others, so I don't think this is the case,
but for whatever reason I don't find myself wanting to play TZ.

I am also a huge fan of the TV series too. Maybe part of the reason was I was expecting more tie-ins with the show.
More samples or voices from the show. I didn't see any references to "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", "Time Enough At Last" or other classics.

I won't give up on it just yet though. I will continue to seek out the fun on this one.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Don't worry, it's not for everyone.

It's a complex, cluttered table design and it doesn't have a lot of flow.

Many people admire all the gadgets and the complexity of the rules, but it's not a table you can just kick back with and make free-flowing shot after shot.

Just my opinion, but I think TZ was pinball going too far; it has a great theme, and good art, but the gameplay got too far away from the basics. I have similar problems with Ripley's. I much prefer the MM or AFM schools of thought.

spoonman said:

I didn't see any references to "Time Enough At Last" or other classics.

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Check out the table art on the right orbit...

To me it seems a bit heavy on the left ramp, right ramp, piano, gumball, lock.
It took a little while to grow on me but I do really like it now. I would say it is probably my favorite out of the more complex tables available on the PS3.

Read the rules. Don't look at the page count and be intimidated. Remember, they aren't pages of a book. Each page is only a couple of lines long.

That being said, do the following:

Hit left ramp
Hit right ramp
Hit Piano
Repeat.

Allow the other stuff to just happen. This table makes more sense to me than RBIoN ever did.

Fungi said:

Read the rules. Don't look at the page count and be intimidated. Remember, they aren't pages of a book. Each page is only a couple of lines long.

That being said, do the following:

Hit left ramp
Hit right ramp
Hit Piano
Repeat.

Allow the other stuff to just happen. This table makes more sense to me than RBIoN ever did.

Click to expand...

Not to mention that they repeat several pages over and over again. For instance, they tell you how to light and/or hit the piano and slot machine before they describe each panel. Same with other features that require the same steps to start/qualify.

OP, maybe your expectations for the table were unrealistically high. It has happened to me with other games and DLC. It's the reason why I haven't bought the game Journey for PS3 yet. I have heard soooooooo many good things about it, I'm sure it's going to dissapoint me because my expectations for it are so high.

Personally I like the table a lot, and I think the good reputation it has is well deserved. Try to play it a little bit more to see if you get it.

The reasons why I like it so much, it's because the table has a lot of features that are very unique and exciting. Ever reached lost in the zone? It's like the coolest wizard mode, in my opinion, out of all the current TPA tables. Activating the gumball machine and getting the powerball is really cool too. What about fighting the power? I just love everything about this table.

Too me, that's a lot more fun than, for example, hitting the same shots a million times in Medieval Madness for stuff to happen.

It's a good table. It doesn't get much play from me either though mainly because i tend to gravitate to the quicker games. A lot of my play time is when i'm waiting for my GF to come out of work or when it's slow at work. I need something i can put down without feeling like i'm losing a lot. I've started taking footage of my games for youtube and want to make that into a tactics and strategy series, so right now i'm going through the tables in release order. I'm only at black hole and trying to get my strategies down for that before filming...it's going to bring me through all the tables one by one though.

I've played it a bit but since I have every table released, sometimes it's just one of 24 (24? 26?) and I tend to fixate on a single table at a time.
Also...now that that thing was taken out from the bumpers...this table is a demon.

SB - what's your YouTube page address?

I felt the same way when I played the real machine. There is so much stuff and the games don't last very long. Frustrating and intimidating the first 50 times I played. And what does a gumball machine have to do with Twilight Zone? (answer-nothing) I'm still not very good at the real machine, but I learned to really love it.

As for the TPA version, give it some time. They made it easier than the real deal so you will be able to get to the cool stuff. Defeat The Power, start Powerball Mania, and reach Lost In The Zone, then tell me you still aren't having fun. This pin takes some time to learn to love. You must master the three way combo to enjoy this pin to its fullest.

Wigoutboy said:

OP, maybe your expectations for the table were unrealistically high. It has happened to me with other games and DLC. It's the reason why I haven't bought the game Journey for PS3 yet. I have heard soooooooo many good things about it, I'm sure it's going to dissapoint me because my expectations for it are so high.

Personally I like the table a lot, and I think the good reputation it has is well deserved. Try to play it a little bit more to see if you get it.

The reasons why I like it so much, it's because the table has a lot of features that are very unique and exciting. Ever reached lost in the zone? It's like the coolest wizard mode, in my opinion, out of all the current TPA tables. Activating the gumball machine and getting the powerball is really cool too. What about fighting the power? I just love everything about this table.

Too me, that's a lot more fun than, for example, hitting the same shots a million times in Medieval Madness for stuff to happen.

Click to expand...

Buy Journey! It's an incredible experience. Though short, I've played through it about five times. There's also a lot of easter eggs and special things to find that make exploring a lot of fun.

spoonman said:

Is something not right about the PS3 table? Did they forget to add something that makes it fun? Maybe I'm getting burned out on pinball (I hope not!).
I still enjoy tables such as Medieval Madness, TOTAN, Ripley's, Funhouse, and others, so I don't think this is the case,
but for whatever reason I don't find myself wanting to play TZ.

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The other posters mostly have it covered: Twilight Zone takes a long time to learn to love. However, you say you enjoy RBION, which is considered TZ's little brother, so chances are good you'll enjoy TZ, too. (I had the reverse problem - I didn't "get" RBION until I had played a lot of TZ.)

spoonman said:

I am also a huge fan of the TV series too. Maybe part of the reason was I was expecting more tie-ins with the show.
More samples or voices from the show. I didn't see any references to "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", "Time Enough At Last" or other classics.

Click to expand...

A lot of the tie-ins are in the art, not in the actual gameplay. See here for an exhaustive list of references: Twilight Zone Notes.

Twilight Zone is one of those tables that has to be played in reality to get the full dynamic effect. Some tables are just like that, they don't do so great as a virtual recreation, unless they are really well done with the lighting effects. Playing real TZ in a darkened room is amazing with all the flashers and the shadows they cast everywhere. TPA is very underwhelming in the lighting department, it ends up looking washed out with no dynamics. There's a VP version of TZ that is a night mod, I absolutely love playing that one.

TZ has great lighting and great design layout, that's why it's so popular and always top of the favorite lists. For example, tables like Fire! and Big Guns, while having simpler designs and may not be so fun to play in virtual form, really shine when played in reality due to awesome light shows. You want to make the shots to get the lights going.

TZ night mode picture: http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9041/ballytwilightzonemegapi.jpg
Why can't we have this in TPA? Why does TPA's TZ look like a placemat?

Wigoutboy said:

OP, maybe your expectations for the table were unrealistically high. It has happened to me with other games and DLC. It's the reason why I haven't bought the game Journey for PS3 yet. I have heard soooooooo many good things about it, I'm sure it's going to dissapoint me because my expectations for it are so high.

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There's a demo. Thank goodness for that - I downloaded it and hated the game.

Tabe

Wigoutboy said:

OP, maybe your expectations for the table were unrealistically high. It has happened to me with other games and DLC. It's the reason why I haven't bought the game Journey for PS3 yet. I have heard soooooooo many good things about it, I'm sure it's going to dissapoint me because my expectations for it are so high.

Click to expand...

I have no clue why anybody says the game is good. I bought it after it got all the GOTY awards and it is downright awful. It is not "artistic" or "innovative" or any other buzzword you can throw in, it is just bland and boring.

night said:

TZ night mode picture: http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/9041/ballytwilightzonemegapi.jpg
Why can't we have this in TPA? Why does TPA's TZ look like a placemat?

Click to expand...

Yea I dunno, wish they upped the ante on the lighting somehow.

Here's TZ night mod in action (not really running so well on this guy's setup, but all I could find):

Here's the real TZ in a darkend room (unmodded, so theres no special led's or aftermarket stuff)

Honestly, I've only played TZ in TPA a handful of times because I tend to avoid the tables that require a half hour or more per game.

Love it! It looks just SO much better.. Thanks for posting this.