Diner: Tactics and Strategies

Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
2
I wanted to start this thread early, although I'm still figuring the table out myself. I hope others contribute because I think this is a challenging table to get high scores on. Right now I hover around the 50M as max score, but my games can vary wildly. The first vibe I got from the table was "Taxi-like", but after playing some Taxi games, I think this table is even faster, more drainy and definitely more unpredictable. Scoring on Taxi is also more evenly distributed, on this table you can make sudden jumps in scoring when you get a good "DINE-TIME"-jackpot. But they share a lot of the same DNA in layout and style. Although the rulesheet is not particularly deep or anything, I think there is one important choice in strategy you can make and that will be discussed.

Skillshot
150K is the target and that is feasible every plunge when you do a full power plunge just right after the 100k lights up. This builds up to max 3x 150k on ball three, regardless from extra balls earned. With a bit of practice you can get this easily.

Rollover bonus
With a little effort and smart changing of the rollover lights, this is easily brought up to 5x bonus. After this, a rollover lights completion (E-A-T) will get you 100k which maxes out at 500k in ateps of 100 k. This is profitable side scoring, especially combined with multiball. Completing the roll-overs also light other fun stuff on the table like advance clock on one of the the inlanes and also "serve food" at the ramps.

Multiball vs. stirring the cup
Shooting the right ramp when you have completed the D-I-N-E-R letters (lit at start of the game) offers 2 things: you can shoot the ramp again within a time limit to "stir the cup", which can net you anywhere between 500.00 and 3.500.000 max, and lighting lock beneath the left ramp. I haven't figured out how to get the max score out of the cup, partly it seems that a clean, forcefull shot maxes the times the ball goes around, but other times it seems a bit random. I'm not sure if nudging helps to get more rotations, this sometimes also seems to stop the ball. The main question is if you should go for the cup. This is because of the second option: working towards multiball via the lock that opens under the left ramp. If you shoot for the cup, it resets the D-I-N-E-R letters, which needs 5 shots to the right ramp to light again for stirring the cup and the lock beneath the left ramp. If you time out the cup shot (not shooting for the right ramp), D-I-N-E-R stays lit for another cup shot, but also the possibility to go for lock again and multiball. When you start multiball and complete rush hour (shot through the middle lane to the rollover area, and shot to the right hole), the ramps lit for 500k each. This is a conundrum because shooting 5 right ramps is a drain hazard, and keeping multiball going long enough to lit the ramps for 500k (and then make ramps) is also quite difficult. Which strategy yields more points? If the cup would give out 3,5M each time, it would be no contest, it's really hard to get that score out of a multiball. Then again, multiball helps quite nicely to collect meals for your customers more quickly, which eventually will lead to a nice fat DINE-TIME jackpot, especially if you can start multiball multiple times. Offcourse there is always the "risk" that you inadvertently stir the cup when in multiball, but hey, then just be happy with that! The jury is still out on this one for me, but I gravitate towards favoring multiball over the Cup. Let's hear the opinions from other players!

* Late addition: the one rulesheet that I could find promotes the Cup a bit more than aforementioned multiball strategy, but an additional "tip sheet" that can be found, essentially says go for the multiball strategy.

Getting the extra ball(s)
Aside from the one you automatically earn by scoring minimum 6M, you can earn up to three extra balls (one per ball in play) from shooting a timed succesion of left ramp shots. The first extra ball needs 5 left ramp shots, all within max 12 seconds of each other. After that you have to hit more ramps (see rules). Normally I would say that getting this extra ball is priority number one for extended play, but I find hitting succesive left ramps really hard to do, there is a very narrow piece of real estate on the right flipper to shoot from to hit the ramp and the ball seems to accelerate when coming through the right inlane. Ramp shots on Taxi are in comparison very peaceful and much easier to get in rhytm. When you miss the ramp you essentially have a wild ball that is hard to get under control in a short amount of time, even aside from the drain hazard that this poses. So there seems not to be a really easy controlled way to get those shots in succession.

Don't forget the grill!
An easy and relatively hazard-free points pickup is hitting the Grill shot at various times during the game. It can be lit for max 1.5M and that is no chump change on this machine.

The sinkhole v.s. the middle lane
The sinkhole is solidly lit on the start of every ball, and can be temporarily lit through the left inlane, conveniently setting up a shot from the left. It's not a particularly easy shot and missing it towards the left is an immediate drain hazard from the rubber right ramp posts. I think it stinks when it comes to the rewards, I have played maybe 30 games now, and have never-ever gotten the extra ball. Any of you gotten lucky? I don't think it's a coincidence.... :) Most of the time it's a point reward, I got some customers and advance clock. It sure is dependable in starting multiball when you have a locked ball though. I favor the middle lane shot myself to start multiball, also very important in getting the DINE-TIME jackpot, so you better get good at hitting it!

To sum up:
Advantages of multiball strategy:
- increased change of completing customers which leads faster to DINE-TIME, which is the main way to get good points
- getting customers also increases the end of ball bonus tip % determined by the number of customers served up to 10. When you score around 50M, and you have a 10% tip, it's an extra 5M bonus. The internet rulesheet says don't bother with the bonus, but I heartily disagree. I do agree with not aiming purposely for the customers because of the drain risk, let the multiball do it's work there.
- one extra skill shot per multiball, yielding between max 150-450k depending on which ball you're on
- one extra ball that you can drain without risk, although you could also argue that playing multiball is harder to control and actually leads faster to drains.
- one more ball to get other good stuff like the Grill shot, roll-overs/bonus/advance clock, maybe even getting that extra ball from the left ramp

Advantages of the Cup strategy:
- chance for instant nice points, especially if clean shots can be mastered to get the 3.5M more consistently, and/or smart nudging will prove to be helpful in getting more rotations from the Cup
- really good practice for hitting that right ramp, because you'll have to hit it often.....

Slam23
 
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EldarOfSuburbia

New member
Feb 8, 2014
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One thing to note about using the sinkhole to start multi-ball. This has been noted elsewhere but since this is now I guess the "official" strategy thread it bears repeating.

Anyhoo...

With the sink-hole lit and a ball locked, the odds of getting "Start Multiball" are increased greatly. The sink hole then kicks the ball out directly to the trap at the back, which conveniently lights Rush 1 for you.

Indeed shooting the sink-hole instead of the spinner will always get you whatever's lit on the spinner/trap shot, be it Rush 1 or the Dine-Time jackpot.
 

kinggo

Active member
Feb 9, 2014
1,024
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I think this is a challenging table to get high scores on.
aparently, it isn't. #1 at the moment is 73B :confused: That guy probably started a game on first beta.

@ Eldar sink hole will always give you multiball if the ball is locked
 

kinggo

Active member
Feb 9, 2014
1,024
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hmmmm....... never happened to me. And I always start multiball this way. Unless I accidentally hit spinner while trying to do something else.
Maybe some bug with registering which ball is where.
 

Martin Rusby

New member
Nov 6, 2012
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Playing on android i have done well nudging when the ball is in the cup to get it up to the max score. Had extra ball a few times from the sinkhole
 

EldarOfSuburbia

New member
Feb 8, 2014
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On PC the cup acts weird. Sometimes it acts "normally". Sometimes the ball mysteriously speeds up just when you thought it was giving up, and you score the max. I've scored 3.5M a few times, I've got 1M or less a few times. I've never tried nudging - I'm not sure it'll help, much like it doesn't really help in the Creature Feature Whirlpool in CftBL.
 

Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
2
On PC the cup acts weird. Sometimes it acts "normally". Sometimes the ball mysteriously speeds up just when you thought it was giving up, and you score the max. I've scored 3.5M a few times, I've got 1M or less a few times. I've never tried nudging - I'm not sure it'll help, much like it doesn't really help in the Creature Feature Whirlpool in CftBL.

The same here on iOS, seems random to me. Tried nudging some more but couldn't produce any stable results.
 

IceMaster

New member
Aug 12, 2014
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I'm not sure about all platforms but on PC it seems very hard to tilt on this table. I've even tried to rage tilt after a frustrating drain and nothing. The warnings come but no tilt.
 

kinggo

Active member
Feb 9, 2014
1,024
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@ IceMaster it tilts on android
The same here on iOS, seems random to me. Tried nudging some more but couldn't produce any stable results.
yes, it seems quite random. And I hope it will stay like this and that there really is no exploit. 750k and 1M is the most common for me but I did have few 500k and a lot of 2.5M+ scores. And nudging with a ball in the cup....... I can't say that I see any pattern in that. Sometimes it seems like a great help, sometimes it seems like a handbrake for a ball. The whole cup thing is unpredictable and I like it.
 

Slam23

Active member
Jul 21, 2012
1,279
2
@ IceMaster it tilts on android

yes, it seems quite random. And I hope it will stay like this and that there really is no exploit. 750k and 1M is the most common for me but I did have few 500k and a lot of 2.5M+ scores. And nudging with a ball in the cup....... I can't say that I see any pattern in that. Sometimes it seems like a great help, sometimes it seems like a handbrake for a ball. The whole cup thing is unpredictable and I like it.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I also like it when Farsight introduces randomness in their tables, but I also would like that to look like "normal" physics. The thing that is strange with the cup is that sometimes the ball speeds up again for no apparent reason. I haven't seen a real Diner yet, so I don't know for sure how the Cup exactly works (is there an active mechanism involved? Or is it a passive "whirlpool" like thing?), but it looks a bit off to me.
 

Zaphod77

Active member
Feb 14, 2013
1,316
2
okay i played this.

Skill Shot: Release plunger JUST as 75k lights, and you will get numbahhh one!

The eat lanes are good. they light food on the ramps, and inlanes for advance clock. But sometimes you will drain right out of the bumpers. SO always be prepared to nudge.

You CAN loop the cash register, but the inlane feed is unpredictable. there are about three possible speeds, and the timing for the loop shot is different for each of them.

At least 2/3rds of the time a hard LEFT nudge just after the ball reaches the right fliper will cause it to come to a trap. you can then shoot the cash register again before it times out. It is worth maxing dine time with the cash register, and collecting those extra balls from it.

The drop targets are death if hit wrong, but they also light grill bonuses and serve customers.

NEVER go for that drop target bonus after you get the wizard goal for it. dine time will be almost sure to be at least 2 or 3 million, if not much more.

Even if special of the day is not lit at all, the shot will still start multiball. but it will only start it and credit you for rush one if it is lit when you shoot it.

and yeah try to avoid the cup. if you DO end up stirring it by mistake, aim for the spinner and special hole to feed the eat lanes untill it's lit for food before shooting it again. serve food on ramps is your FRIEND, and lane change will advance dine time as well for you. do NOT try to loop it, it's too difficult.

Dine time and the 10% tip (for serving 10 customers, and it never goes down after) is where the points are at. so try and collect all the extra balls, and not lose any before you collect dine time a couple times. grill bonus is nice, but not always safe to shoot at. any drop target or standup hit can and will drain.
 

BigFoot HotFoot

New member
Apr 3, 2015
51
0
I am trying to break the High Score the game comes with. 29 million and change. I scored 25 mil, 22 mil, 21 mil but still trying.

Counting restarts, I'd say I have cued up about 600 games so far. Just want 30 mil.
 

Zaphod77

Active member
Feb 14, 2013
1,316
2
Quick summary. Max dine time by shooting cash register. start multiball. serve customers. collect dine time. repeat. try to reach 10% tip on your first ball. you will then be getting 3 million plus per drain. be glad extra balls are NOT infinite. don't waste lit serve food on ramps, it saves you a drop target death shot.
 

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