Ahhh, I was wondering if the Seventh Gift was required for Valinor. Now I know.
By the way, Atomicboy, I believe that's why your Gift shot was flashing again -- it was letting you know there was one more gift to collect (it doesn't have an insert).

I've been getting fairly close to Valinor this last week, so I really need to nail down the rules. I think I have them down well, except for the 7th GotE.

Earlier today, I beat all 3 multiballs, got to TABA, and collected 6 GotE's. (I also destroyed the ring earlier in the game, but that's almost irrelevant to the discussion).

Now that I had accomplished all the above, I gain control of the ball and consider what I need to do to get to Valinor. The six GotE inserts were all lit solid.

How do I get the 7th gift??

At this point, I had played all 3 MBs again (thank God for MB progression, that's how I've been able to beat RotK), so DTR was lit! I knew I didn't have the 7th GotE, so I didn't want to start DTR, as that means that I would have had to qualify all three MBs again, get the 7th GotE, and then DTR again!

Once DTR is lit, is there a way to start a mode without shooting the ring?

How will you know when you have obtained the 7th GotE?

LOTR-Pinball-Score3.jpg

Crap! Of course this is the answer! Should have thought of this. It obviously makes more sense to try and qualify Gollum and start his MB than it would be to start DTR and try to qualify all the MBs again.

Thanks for the response.

I'd still like to know how to confirm that you have obtained the 7th GotE?

Excellent! Thanks for posting this.

WTF!?

Had my best game ever on LOTR today. Making shots left and right, lots of extra balls, beat all 3 MB's, got to TABA, got 7th GotE (and more)...all I needed to do to finish it off and get to Valinor was DTR.

I need to start all 3 MBs again to get to DTR. I was able to do that with FotR and RotK, but...what the hell...I could not start TTT to save my life! Seems like I had hundreds of KEEP letters, but I couldn't lock a single ball to save my life! I had played TTT at least two times previously.

What was I doing wrong? Obviously I still don't know the rules good enough.

This was pretty frustrating...so close, but so very far away.

I do have the outlanes pulled in (not closed), and the tilt is on the loose side, but the settings are all factory (Directors Cut). I want to at least have a chance to get to Valinor!

But you have yours on 5 balls!

Yes, but the outlanes being in the minimum position make more of a difference than the loose tilt in my opinion.

At least I have it on 3 balls, not 5 like Ice!

That certainly sounds accurate to me.

So when you get to the "Kosmal lock rule", is there even a way to lock balls for TTT?

Perfect! Thanks for the explanation.

I'm with you! That's why I pulled my outlane posts in and loosened the tilt. I want to have a chance to get their too. But I want to do it on 3 balls. I know, I know, some will say six of one, half dozen of the other etc.

I'm also still learning the rules...as you can see in this thread. Keith's work on this game was genius!

That's a very good point. I've been playing the crap out of LOTR the last few weeks, and the main reason is that I've been as close to Valinor as ever (which still isn't *that* close, since I haven't even been to the stage where I have started DTR as the last step), so I feel that it is within reach. It's what is keeping me coming back for more. Well, that and all the other great stuff I experience on the way, including TABA, which is a super cool mini wizard mode.

I agree!

If I get to Valinor on my current settings, the first thing that I will do after that is open the outlane posts back up and tighten the tilt.

Couldn't agree more.

Thanks for posting this. I was starting to lose some of the excitement that I had been feeling about getting somewhat close to Valinor based on some of the posts about closing the outlanes and a loose tilt! It is what it is, and I know I have a better chance of getting there with these settings.

Now I'm motivated again! I'm going to keep at it for sure.

And today is the best pinball day of my life! I was smelling Valinor, which kept me coming back for more.

Today I had a great first ball, got to DTR on first ball (but failed), and was able to complete a lot of the modes which helped me collect the GotE's quickly. Once I got to TABA I had already collected 7 GotE's (that 7th GotE is cool!), I sucked hard at TABA, but I was on a roll. Last MB to defeat was RotK, which I did.

At this point I noticed that the rollovers were turning off again for TTT and I was thinking that it was going to be a bitch to restart it so I could DTR to get to Valinor. I was shocked when RotK MB was over and I hit the Ring that DTR started. I wasn't paying attention, and TTT and FotR were already lit solid, so once I was done with RotK, DTR was ready.

Up to this point, I was very calm. I think that played a huge part in why I was doing so well. Shots were feeling effortless.

Of course as soon as I realized that this was the last step before Valinor, the blood pressure immediately skyrocketed, and my damn hands started to shake! I thought that there was no chance in hell that I was going to DTR under these circumstances. Well, it sure wasn't easy! Came close to tilting once. Got the ball in the Ring, and I was down to one final shot for DTR. Despite my negativity (I was still confident I would choke), my shaking hands, and through the roof blood pressure...I nailed the final shot and Destroyed the Ring!

I quickly pulled out my iPhone to take a video. I think you can see my hands shaking in the video! Was home alone so nobody was around to video actual Valinor gameplay, but I did get the start of it.

You can see at the start of the video that it took me 2 1/2 minutes to DTR! Long enough to pop a blood vessel or two!

Of course once I started playing the mode, I was so relieved and excited just to be there that I pretty much choked. So now the motivation will be to get there again and do better once there.

I will PM you my address!

Wow! Talk about a blast from the past. I can't believe that it was 5 years ago that I got to Valinor.