All I can say here is play better. You have to time the bumper-kill so that it happens just after the ball hits the UR bumper. Anticipation is key. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make for better than 50% lefthand exits. Starting munchkin is even easier, since most UPF drains during Twister can be sent to the LL flipper by holding out the UR flip. Drop catch this pass and stick-back up the ramp to finish Twister.

Mag only stops the ball if the WOZ-lane hurryup is lit on an inlane feed, otherwise it goes all the way around. If you have a cradle, wait til the hurryup music quits, then make the shot to go full orbit.

So you have dangerous and difficult shots that tends to be drainy during single-ball play. However, this feature is available all the time and can even be started during other multiballs.. Hmmm, what to do....??

Well yea, she's a b*tch... mess with her and she messes with you back. At least she's not as mean as the Monger.

It doesn't. I believe the sequence goes 2,1,2,3,2,1,2,3,2,1,2.. etc. Not the ever-increasing count you see on other games.

I think you need to learn more about your new game, as most of the problems you've addressed aren't really problems

I'm not saying it would be better. I'm just saying that out of all the B/W titles. AFM looks cheap. First time i've ever seen AFM. It was in a lineup of 5 games. Out of all the 5, I looked at it, and walked right by. Compared to , TOM, Sopranos, TSPP, MB, it looked very cheap. Kind of like RS looks in sterns lineup.

Even with more shit on it, the rules are still written for a 5 year old and still wouldn't like it. Because MB has the same rules and layout, and has a ton of shit on it, and still don't like it.

I don't think my general dislike for the game comes from not knowing it. I am able to put up some pretty high scores, even without the Throne Room exploit. Rather, the things you see as strengths, I simply don't.

For instance, I don't want to have to squander time during the start of multiball trying to light the crystal ball. I'd like to be able to get a crystal ball mode lit, hit the crystal ball, and then start multiball.

Can I trap the ball to time out the hurry up on the right loop? Sure, but the hurry up gets activated damn near every time the ball comes through the inlane. That's trapping and waiting several seconds several times a game.

Winkie: OK, I'll admit I wasn't following the pattern. I still don't like the shot, especially since that switch seems to be really prone to coming loose.

I actually think Monger is better than the Witch. At least with Monger, you can tag the sides and avoid the magnet. With the witch, I find it best to graze it from the left flipper, but still, it's riskier than it should be. That said, it's really the only reliable way to hit some of those upper rainbow targets.

I think there are a few tweaks that could really improve the game:

1) Have a shot to the crystal ball scoop through the spinner spot a BALL letter.

2) Either allow the lit inlane hurry ups to be cycled by the flippers, or don't stop the ball on the magnet when the loop is hit on a hurry up. (This reminds me a lot of the Tiger Loop/Harem issue on TOTAN, where it encourages you to trap and time out so you can advance towards Harem MB)

3) Reinstate the longer timer on the skill shot so that you can let the ball come down to the right flipper to make the BALL super skill - it's just too wonky off the tip of the upper flipper.

I think WOZ is a blast to play. I will get one in the future when a good deal comes around they are to much right now.

123123 actually.

Disagree on all "points" above.
1) Why? If you want to pussify the BALL targets set it easier so a neighbor target lights a letter...or any target lights the next letter...PLENTY of settings to adjust difficulty of things.

2) Again, why? Use that magnet hold to increase your multipliers. It doesn't get activated that often. I think you can adjust the hurry up difficulties too. They progressively get harder to light.

3) It used to be that way but most agreed that that was dumb, including Keefer himself. Too easy to get that from the lower flipper. That should be earned with the tougher upper flipper.

I have fun playing WOZ. I just don't understand what to do in the game. Everything lights up at the same time. My favorite shot is the TOTO shot because I actually know what to shoot for. I wish they would use the lights more effectively to guide your journey.

Stop looking at the blinking lights and look at the monitor. I realize it's difficult to take your eyes off the playfield, but the rules make a ton more sense once you do that. This single change turned me from a hater to a fan.

I'll try that

You shouldn't have to look at the monitor to know what to shoot at.....at least not most of the time. Maybe if there is some brief time out like a ball lock or something then they can put up some helpful information.

I never look at the display while actively playing a ball.

The things I wrote were points, not "points."

As far as I'm concerned, the BALL modes at default are not well-balanced difficulty-wise. I'm all for a tough shot, like the Gem shot on Tron, which is really tough. But at least that is a safe shot. B on BALL in WOZ is not at all safe. It's just asking for a left outlane drain, and that's just no fun, especially when it's a gatekeeper for a critical feature. The spinner shot is a risky shot if you brick it, but at least it's fair. I see no reason why the spinner shouldn't spot a letter on default difficulty.

And when you say that the hurry ups become increasingly difficult to light, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Seems like they light every time you hit the center ramp.

The only thing missing in this thread is honesty.

Thanks for being so clear.

We've had every possible response ranging from love to hate of the game......you expected otherwise?

Same guy whining about AFM also loves TFLE with all the crap that is on that game. Wonder which one most people think it fun.

Any positive response on WOZ by him is seen as someone who is lying or delusional, nothing new.

This. So much this.

I've played the game somewhere around 70-80 times at this point, and every time I start something I've not seen several times before all I can say is "The heck do I do now?". It probably took me five-six games before I got any sort of inkling on what was going on with the multiball rollovers or what I'd done to qualify a lock on the ramp. At least the ramp lock insert is well positioned and self-explanatory. I've never encountered a game before where I could not figure out what the heck was going on MOST OF THE TIME.

On top of that, the lights on and lights off BALL modes (arguably the easiest thing to figure out how to start on the table) are designed to remove your ability to follow what your current objectives are. Annoys the heck out of me.

I'm saving my pennies to get me one of them! Maybe for my birthday later this year. I played it during our first real expo here in Sydney. I was hooked, line and sinker! For the last couple of years, it's always been a MM that I was saving up for. Let's just say that now, things might be a little different.

https://twitter.com/jjpsoftware/status/469220169739284480

Check your skill target, it may be gapped to closely. I don't see an extraordinary amount of hurryups on my or any other game...

Lock still lights as well as twister, etc.

How can you guys not understand whats going on? You roll over scare crow, tin man, or lion and you get a letter for their respective name. Spell their name, get a lock. spell all three, get all three balls locked, start multiball.

Rainbow targets...hit them all, light twister, spin the house, get a munchkin mode.

Castle playfield, spell rescue, open door, make shot into saucer behind door, start rescue multiball.

Hit the witch, start a witch hurry up, hit her some more, complete hurry up. Complete all hurry ups, get fireball frenzy. Wack the hell out of witch to complete fireball frenzy. Hit her some more to start melt the witch. Turn white shots to red by making them...melt that GD witch.

Not hard. Not hard at all. ESPECIALLY after 80 games. COME ON! 80! Took me about 25-30.

Wonder what code you were playing at the shows...the early code was certainly confusing...the most recent, really isn't.

Let's be honest, NO!

+1

I just didn't pick up on what was going on. The rollovers themselves as well as their associated inserts are kind of buried in the light show. The "lock three balls" sure, I've got that, but it took me way longer than I'd like to realize that I was actually supposed to be targeting insert rollovers (generally not used in such a significant fashion) to qualify the locks. At that point, sure I started the multiball. What then? It took the exploit video last week for me to figure out I was supposed to be watching a bunch of quarter-sized icons in the upper right corner of the screen while juggling three or four balls. So, I go online to figure that out. Is that fun?

Took me a while to figure that out as well, mostly because of the shared ramp I think. I'd finish the rainbow and hit the ramp- for a lock? Then the munchkin modes themselves- a bunch of stuff is lit? hit everything frenzy-type modes? More flashing lights? Still no idea there.

Is that how that works? I'm pretty sure you also have to kidnap Dorothy first, which is qualified by hitting the hidden luck standups in the pop bumper area. I made it up there and managed to get a ball into the saucer a few times when I started playing, just to have it eject and... nothing happen? Yet another "the heck?" moment.

This is a mini-wizard mode, not sure it's relevant to the "what do I do when I start playing the game to figure out some basic objectives" discussion. That said, how did you figure this out? Sure, you can know the rules, but where did that knowledge come from? The first time I started, say - Portal on Tron, or Battle Royale on Spider Man, I didn't particularly know what to do but the game gave me enough clues and adjusted play to nudge me in the right direction. WoZ? Not so much. I recall knowing something was afoot when the entire machine turned orange for fireball frenzy, but what do I do then? No clear objective.

I'm not saying you cannot figure out the *first level* of rules or that I'm still completely clueless after 80 games, I'm saying that for the most part they're incredibly opaque and the game doesn't do a great job of isolating objectives,letting you know what you've done to get to the point you're at now, or letting you know what your next objectives should be. Just figuring out where jackpots are when you start a new multiball is a chore. Where was it you figured out you could deaden the pop bumpers by holding both flipper buttons? Sure, someone can explain it to you, but is that fun? Not particularly, for me at least. That's what this thread is about.

I may have played it at TPF once. The rest of the games were on the two ECLEs on route in my area. No idea what code version but the operator usually updates their machines soon-ish after an update is out.

@Law. Your confusion reflects my initial confusion and my initial lukewarm response. I realize that the following advice may seem like a lot to demand of a player, especially for a machine on route. But like some other things in life, if you are willing to invest a little bit up front, you will discover there is more underneath.

1) Stop paying attention to the playfield insert lights. The general rule "aim for the blinky thing" doesn't work for WOZ because this is not a linear mode-based game. At any given time, several objectives are active which results in everything blinking.

Pay attention to the screen which keeps you apprised of the status of the main active items. To simplify things, you may want to play a game where you pay attention only to the upper right quadrant of the screen. See how far you can get with that. Then do another game you pay attention only to the upper left quadrant. Continue until you are comfortable with all four quadrants.

2) For a short cut to the above, download the WOZ owners manual, which is publicly available (http://www.jerseyjackpinball.com/game-specific-downloads/). There are pages explaining these rules in basic form. This 10 minute step turned me from a WOZ hater to a WOZ fan.

----------------------

Yes, this is a lot to ask of a player. This is what you get with such a deep rule set. It's not even necessarily unique to WOZ. Spend 10 minutes studying the rule set and you'll discover one of the deepest (if not THE deepest) pinball machines ever made. Good luck.

Well put.

The general rule "aim for the blinky thing" has served pinball really well for 60 years.

Not sure why they abandoned it on this one, especially considering how complicated it is.

Maybe the same committee that decided that another 60-year crowd-pleaser - general illumination lighting - wasn't necessary for this table.

Well, it certainly is unique.

once I learnt this game, (not that difficult) Love this game. Things change, I like when things change

Slight correction here.

The goal in Fireball Frenzy is to collect 10 jackpots by hitting the shots that are lit blue and avoiding the shots that are lit red. The idea is that the blue shots are water to put out the fire and the red shots cause the witch to throw a fireball at Scarecrow.

Hitting the witch changes the locations of the shots. So hit her to move the "blue" shot to an easier place to hit.

LOL! Ok...maybe I dont COMPLETELY understand it either. My flailing must have been good enough to complete this twice at this point. Hilarious.

I think that mode usually ends with the Scarecrow burning up.

A fun way to learn how to play Woz is to play with other people, taking turns watching the screen and giving advice as people play.

Pinball has never seen a game with this much DEPTH and BREADTH. It is deep because there are many objectives and modes to complete. It has breadth because several of these can be done simultaneously. It is the breadth that causes the excessive number of blinky lights. There is, quite literally, a dozen things you could aim for. Rather than one or two shots being the one "best" shot at amy given time, with WOZ there are a dozen shots to choose from at amy given time, each with its own risk-reward balance.

This breadth is what is so new and in violation of expectations, which throws people off.

Dont you HAVE to complete it to melt the witch though? Ive had 2 attempts and 2 success melting her, but ive made it to that mode twice total so I would have HAD to beat it ya?

I can respect the machine.

But- is it fun?

Yeah, three RED shots and scarecrow burns up and the mode ends. You need ten BLUE shots before you get three RED shots to collect the diamond.

This game does have a complicated Ruleset, but it's no more complicated than most modern machines. Try explaining the ACDC rules to someone. The rules on WOZ are really straight-forward. My parents know the basic rules after only a few plays...neither of them play pinball very often. Once you understand the basic rules and use of color it's easy.

A WOZ thread wouldn't be complete without McCune popping in to bash. I was feeling a little disappointed he didn't show up, but he did the predictable and bashed. Couldn't resist.
Right back at ya with ACDC buddy!

Nope. Just play it. You need to beat it for the diamond. Play it for the Emerald.

That could be it...first time I played WOZ I walked away wondering what just happened. But the most recent iteration of code is flat-out awesome

For the average non-pinhead, it's "fill in the blank"

I find it fun. But this is not the fun of having a one night stand with a hot chick. WOZ is more like dating a respectable quiet librarian for a few weeks and then discovering that she is totally into S&M. At that point, you are either repulsed or you realize you have found a keeper.

^^^^^^^

You have to enter the saucer when RESCUE is spelled. The big yellow 'arrow' in front of the castle doors will let you know you're ready to initiate the mode.

WOZ is the first game to really be based more on color rather than what is flashing, I think that throws a lot of people off, now instead of just shoot for the blinking light , it's now shoot this when it's this color but not when it's this color.

I really don't think it is confusing at all, just different, a little time taken to understand the basic objectives should be all it takes.

And once again, yes it is a very fun game

I like that you can go for objectives, try to maximize points or do both if you're really ambitious.

I don't think the individual objectives are too difficult to understand, as others have laid out, for people just getting into the game. But, when to go for them and how best to combine them adds another layer of strategy to keep more advanced players interested.

If you're playing to maximize points the playfield multiplier system is straightforward and well balanced. It's easy for me to understand that every playfield I have going adds a playfield multiplier which can then be multiplied by a crystal ball multiplier. And, there is realtime visual feedback with the SuperX insert color.

I find the challenge isn't so much in understanding how things work but deciding what I want to try for every time I play, which changes as I play depending on how my game is going. To me, the balance of risk versus reward is brilliant and very fun!

When first learning WOZ, admittedly, it's nice to learn from a 2+ player game and have your co-pilot mention what's going on and what to shoot for.

Which one has rules written for a 5 year old and which one doesn't? Which one looks like an empty playfield with nothing on it and which was actually looks like some thought was put into it?

If this isn't the damn truth to a tee. When everything is lit up, nothing is lit up.

Colors...expand your mind. It's quite brilliant.

I think the DEPTH and the BREADTH of the colors are what I find confusing.

This thread has only expanded the DEPTH and the BREADTH of my hatred for this game.

Tell me, exactly what blinky things were you aiming at before 1976? Most EMs lamps/shots were simply lit or not... "Special when lit!" ... blinking came with solid state games. And I imagine people were bitching then just like you are now. "Damn newfangled flashing lights always messin' up my aiming. Back in my day it was on or off.. what's with this confounded blinking crap?!?"

Seriously, color is here to stay, and I like it. Gives game designers even more tools to create brilliant games. One can learn WOZ's rules in 30 minutes or less and it's a really easy game to follow once you understand each feature individually. Remember, none of the features are tied together so it's really pretty basic - start something, play and score it.