ST:TNG Tactics and Strategies

iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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Hi there,

No one else has put a thread together on this, so I wanted to write one! My highest score is just under 28 billion on my iPod touch (landscape, camera position 1), and this table has become a real favourite of mine. (Mainly because a good game doesn't take hours like TZ or whatever.)

Rule sheet from pinball.org
Strategy guide from PAPA attendee Bowen

I always found ST:TNG to be a brutal but fair pinball experience on the real table, and find that online as well. I haven't found another TPA table that punishes missed shots so much. However, I think the TPA table has one big advantage over the real table: nudges are easier (the real table weighs a ton) and consistent. Even without an up-nudge on my iPod touch, consistent nudging is incredibly useful.

Here's the rules and pointers I follow in my head when I'm playing, in only a rough order of play. NOTE: People may disagree with some of my approaches! And maybe my way is flawed. Hey, it's just the way I play it. (And it works for me!)

- Choose Warp factor 4 if available (i.e. you haven't hit warp 9 yet), otherwise Start Mission. This is because warp 5 holds your multipliers (worth 300M+ at 10x), warp 7 doubles the spinner (you can get tens, or hundreds, of millions per spin of the spinner later in big games), and warp 8 gives you an extra ball or artifact. Start Mission is your 2nd choice because Final Frontiers get you a guaranteed 4-7 billion later on in big games.

- On launch, use the flippers to make sure the middle lane (of the three lanes above the bumpers) is not lit. A launched ball will go down the left lane 80% or so of the time, but down the middle lane 20%, and on that 20% it goes straight down. So make sure the middle lane is not lit, and if the ball doesn't go down there, you've got plenty of time to make the left lane not lit for when the ball goes down there instead.

- When the ball is flying around in the bumpers, I find it tends to go up the left lane the most, then the middle, then the right. That dictates which lanes I leave not lit when it's in the bumpers.

- When the ball is coming down the right orbit 90% of the time from ball launch, I always go for the left ramp, even (weirdly, I know) if I've hit Warp 9 before so don't get a warp. It's a nice way for me to get the ball controlled.

- Shoot to start missions whenever possible. Always, always, always that's your priority shot if it's lit. The one exception is if start mission is Final Frontier, I'm an artifact short of a billion, and the shuttle simulation is lit. I'll then go for the shuttle simulation before FF.

- Use nudges way more often than on other tables. Of balls that would head for the inlane/outlane areas, I reckon I can avoid 75% of those by nudging the table when I've missed my shot. TPA's consistent, fairly strong and safe nudges give a big advantage here.

- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss 'Start mission', flip too early. There's a guaranteed drain if you hit a certain amount too late (it bounces off something right of the hole and straight down the left outlane).

- From the left flipper, if you're going to miss the right ramp, flip too late. There's another guaranteed drain off the right ramp's left post, straight down the left outlane again.

- A ball part of the way up the left orbit can be controlled 100% of the time. If it's a long way up before coming back down (e.g. it almost makes it to the multipliers, but not quite), just let it bounce off the left flipper and trap it on the right. If it only goes a short way up, do a right nudge on the table just before it passes the time rift / spinner target on its way down. It'll then allow you to let it bounce off the left flipper and trap on the right.

- Start mission is a hard shot off the right flipper. It's much easier off the left.

- Always take shuttle simulation (video mode), and go LLRRLLRLLL for maximum points and an artifact.

- In order of highest to lowest chance of me getting an artifact, here's how I rate the missions: Rescue, Time Rift, Asteroid Threat, Worm Hole, Search the Galaxy, Battle Simulation, Q's Challenge. That's not an order for everyone, but hey, I have a hatred of Q's Challenge. I tend to drain a lot on it and it feels like it drags on.

A few notes on missions:

Rescue: The artifact is just awarded by hitting any switch on the table a number of times. So right from the start, do right ramp -> left orbit for a guaranteed artifact.

Asteroid Threat: Despite the game's pressure, getting 20 mil or 5 mil per shot is no big deal. Just get the artifact. If you miss the first shot for 20 mil, even consider trapping the ball until the timer runs out and the asteroid shots light up.

Q's challenge: If you hit right ramp off the start, and then can keep a left orbit -> left ramp rotation going, you're set for a decent whack of points. However, as missing either of those two shots is a high drain risk, it's a risky whack of points.

Battle simulation: Choose a spot on the table that the gun turns over, to indicate when to fire. On my iPod widescreen at camera 1, it's just after each gun clips one of the mission lights. Pick your spot rather than 'aim' the gun and you'll find the shots much easier.

Search the galaxy: Don't get cute trying to do the galaxies in order for the 2nd artifact in the gamma quadrant. That requires a hard left flipper at speed shot to alpha quadrant, and it gets messy if you miss it. Just take home your right ramp -> middle ramp -> right orbit for left ramp artifact (or alternatively, right ramp -> left orbit -> left ramp -> middle ramp, but for whatever reason I never take that approach).

Time Rift: They should rename this mission "hit your shots and yawn". The time additions it gives are far too generous.

And back to my general pointers:

- I avoid the neutral zone on the whole. However, if you've started Ferengi multiball with (hopefully) 3 balls, don't go for its jackpot, just (a) build shuttles and (b) hit the target just right of the left orbit, which increases the spinner. Ignore the Romulan and Cardassian neutral zones; just play them out (multiball) or trap the ball until they end. (I occasionally get cocky and go for a right orbit.)

- If you get Ferengi multiball, immediately get Warp 9 if you're close to it. The neutral zone multiball reloader then stays active throughout the whole warp 9 mode, so as long as you get a .1 warp increase every so often, you have a very long, guaranteed 4 ball multiball.

- If I miss one battle simulation shot, or two maximum, I trap the ball and wait it out. Missed neutral zone shots from the right gun have a nasty habit of draining down the right outlane, so it's not worth just an artifact (and if you've missed once or twice, you probably run out of time for the extra ball attempt).

- If I get command decision, I just choose whatever comes up. A big score means you'll need them all anyway. I can't think of a single good reason to rerun a mission. Even if I'm one artifact off a billion, a good game -- where you get multiple final frontiers -- will negate any such points loss. You're either on your game or not. :)

- I don't go for multiball unless it's later in the game and it's worth something juicy like 500M for the big jackpot (as it was in my highest scoring game). My way of scoring big is Final Frontier repeats, and shooting that iffy right orbit for locks doesn't work for me.

- If at all possible, get a shuttle simulation (three right ramps then right orbit) before you get the Special at 450M (which is an extra ball on a free play table like TPA). By getting a simulation before this, you get an 'extra' extra ball in the simulation seemingly 100% of the time, as opposed to 0% of the time after the special. (On the real table I remember it being more random. Could be wrong.)

- My Final Frontier strategy is evolving, but I'm finding it better to go for middle table shots when there's lots of balls, and then left orbit / right orbit / right ramp shots when there's 2 or 3 left. My highest scores in Final Frontier come when I play two or three balls for a long time, not when there's chaos at the start with many more balls.


Hope that helps some people. If you practice your shots and work hard at maTHANK YOU MR DATA.
 
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pin pin

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Jun 5, 2012
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Tip: to catch the ball on the left flipper from the kickout- flip the ball as early as possible (back toward the left orbit) and allow it to roll down to an easy catch.

Also, try to time Q's Challenge with Borg Multiball, it's the only mission that stacks. If Q is the next mission and multiball isn't ready to go, I shoot the right orbit to either change the mission or light locks.

...And while Searching The Galaxy in order is a pain in the ass, it will give 3 artifacts if you pull it off- and the alpha quadrant is easier to hit from the right flipper if you can catch it there.
 

iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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Tip: to catch the ball on the left flipper from the kickout- flip the ball as early as possible (back toward the left orbit) and allow it to roll down to an easy catch.

I can't believe I didn't think to try that before. That's a huge benefit, not having to make a forced shot from the kickout. Thank you!
 

pin pin

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Jun 5, 2012
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It's the pin pin maneuver. I can't believe you got to 28 bil without it. It's very safe even if you miss. Were you shooting for the beta ramp from the kickout?
 
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iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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It's the pin pin maneuver. I can't believe you got to 28 bil without it. It's very safe even if you miss. Were you shooting for the beta ramp from the kickout?

Yup, usually the beta quadrant, although the nature of kickouts often meant I was going for start mission for some reason, and an occasional right orbit for the hurry up. I spent so long trying to do flipper transfers reliably that I didn't stop to think about traps from speedy inlane deliveries.
 

Willi Cicci

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Dec 25, 2012
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Tip: to catch the ball on the left flipper from the kickout- flip the ball as early as possible (back toward the left orbit) and allow it to roll down to an easy catch.

This is not AS reliable since build 1.10.0. It used to be close to 100%. Now about 1/3 of the time you have to nudge to make sure the ball doesn't land on top of the slingshot and end up in the outlane.

And actually, sometimes I'll hit the bottom of the slingshot and it shoots up towards the upper right flipper. I don't really remember that happening with previous builds at all.
 
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pezpunk

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Jul 29, 2012
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i've been picking Warp 4 to start with and then Start Mission after that, but i'm pretty good at starting missions anyway and i'm not sure how much is gained by picking that at the launch. is it worth considering the Light Lock (since that's a much dodgier shot, at least for me) or even the Probe or Skill Shot (for the latter two, i guess it would depend on what percentage of the time they reward with an extra ball, light extra ball, or special)?
 

iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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i've been picking Warp 4 to start with and then Start Mission after that, but i'm pretty good at starting missions anyway and i'm not sure how much is gained by picking that at the launch. is it worth considering the Light Lock (since that's a much dodgier shot, at least for me) or even the Probe or Skill Shot (for the latter two, i guess it would depend on what percentage of the time they reward with an extra ball, light extra ball, or special)?

I've thought about choosing lock as well. However, the only time I end up actually choosing it is on the last ball of a huge game, when a multiball is worth 1B+, and I know I'm not going to reach another Final Frontier without a miracle. So I choose it when I want to bump my score up a bit at the end.

Also, I came to the conclusion that even though a Start Mission shot is a 95% certainty for me, there's no harm in choosing it from ball launch so it's a 100% certainty, and I also get the full ball save duration for any screw ups early in the mission. [Deleted some other inaccurate thing I wrote here.]

I think launch probe and skill shot are worthless. For skill shot, if there was a more than decent chance of getting an extra ball, I'm there, but I'm not about to waste the start of a ball shooting the beta quadrant to, say, hold multipliers. (If I'm on my game, I'll get this through warps anyway.) And the probe launch is fraught with needless ball drain potential for little gain, IMO.
 
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Matt McIrvin

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Jun 5, 2012
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Launch Probe is tempting just because it's fun, but, yeah, I wouldn't choose it when playing for points. It's either Start Mission or Warp Factor 4.
 

iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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Is a video of benefit to anyone, or are written tactics enough? I recorded a decent scoring game example, but the video quality is not amazing, and I'd only spend more time on it if someone was interested!

[Edit: let me put my ego back in check about showing off my 1337 sklz. I may end up making a video anyway, partly because I spent two hours duct taping my iPod touch to my kids' easel to hold it steady. Time well spent? Not sure :) ]
 
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DJWhoDunnit

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Dec 23, 2012
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personally I find the right orbit probably my easiest shot on this table, maybe because of the amount of MB/MM/AFM I've been playing, but it is well worth it for me to shoot it often...on the third multiball the shots are usually 140/280/420 range that's 840 mil for three shots, and if you're dead on for the center shot you can just ream all 3 balls in over and over and over again. I only say this because I had a 6 billion Borg mb and I suck at the middle shot...that's easily worth a final frontier, and since most players are lucky to reach one final frontier much less a second one, this can certainly be an alternative, as I have never had a fourth or fifth Borg in a game, but I would imagine they are killer points.
 

Jutter

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Dec 30, 2012
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Watch a Star Trek; the next generation episode before playing this table.
Doesn't help with scoring, but it's a good strategy damnit.
 

BRZ

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Aug 2, 2012
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Alright I give up. Help!
Read the write-ups, watched the vid... I can't get a nice score. 3B on a very good game. 8B best ever.
Roy Wils says go for Borg MB, Bowen says spinner. Both dangerous, high risk shots.
I think I'm a decent player, finished just shy of top 10 in tourney.
But this table drives me crazy. Drain, drain, drain.
Yet it's prolly the TPA table I have played the most.
Can't wait to get my real STTNG in a few weeks :))

What's the secret? In AFM I figured the secret is just go for MB and avoid the danger saucer.
In MM it's hit castle, feed to bounce off left flipper and take controlled castle shot off right flipper. Repeat.
There has got to be a trick here too. So many people getting huge scores.
Help!
 

iguanarama

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Dec 20, 2012
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Alright I give up. Help!
There has got to be a trick here too. So many people getting huge scores.
Help!

Most of how I go about it is in the first part of the thread, but the short version: I go for start mission whenever lit, from either flipper. Other than that, from the left flipper I tend to go right ramp unless shuttle simulation or hurry up is lit, and from the right flipper I go for left orbit -> left ramp. I think that sums up 90% of my game. Play ferengi multi ball, trap the ball during romulan/cardassian.

Use the nudges to keep the ball out of the sides of the table (i.e. keep the ball inside the weird shaped angle at the top of each bumper). Also use the nudges to keep the ball off the bumpers completely if possible (e.g. for ball that misses 'start mission', nudge it when it's high up the table so it misses the bumpers on the way down and instead lands on one flipper, where you can then dead pass it to the other and trap it).
 

xNiCeGuYx

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Apr 16, 2012
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Looks like the borg multiball strategy is the best for high scores.
Managed to earn more than 23 billion just going for borg multiball and ignoring the rest. :D
 

pezpunk

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Jul 29, 2012
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Looks like the borg multiball strategy is the best for high scores.
Managed to earn more than 23 billion just going for borg multiball and ignoring the rest. :D

interesting. tell me about what you do to raise the jackpot, and when you decide to start borg multiball, etc.
 

Clawhammer

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Nov 1, 2012
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Looks like the borg multiball strategy is the best for high scores.
Managed to earn more than 23 billion just going for borg multiball and ignoring the rest. :D

I'm convinced that Borg Multiball all day long is the best strategy for scores (although not necessarily for fun). I got 160 billion last night with this method over a 2 hour plus game; I think I only played 2, maybe 3, Final Frontiers the whole game, and had the base Borg jackpot up to a billion (so 3x jackpots were 3 billion). With my previous high going for artifacts/Final Frontier being about 20 or so billion, I think one would have to be impeccably accurate with their shooting to get very high scores going solely for FF. Thoughts? Experiences?

While I'm happy with my score, this strategy has ruined STTNG for me. I probably won't ever play it again knowing that the more enjoyable strategy is greatly overpowered by the wood chopping until your eyes bleed one.
 

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