Dude I suck at EVERY game!

Tron is a tuff game. But I love it. Sorry I didn't read the whole post.

I set all my machines up with too much angle but I feel if the flippers make the shots how they are supposed to its still ok.

That being said, I just picked up a tron on friday and it is relentlessly brutal. If I make my shots I have an ok ball time. If I miss, good luck. Although its not as bad as the sttng that ledt to make room for the tron.

He did...

*voila

Sometime to little slope can hurt to. Get it to 7 and practice and have fun. My best tip I can give you is try to stack as much as possible. I always try to prime quorra first as that normally gets me close to everything else in the process. If you can stack quorra, light cycle and clu at the same time it makes it much easier for me to collect them. Zuse and flynn normally happen in the MB.

Overall, just have fun.

Funny you mention this…just got done playing ~10 games and got my head handed to me. Didn't even reach SOS. High score from the 10 games ~30M…most ~10M.

Even though STLE is in the house, still gravitate toward MET, TRON, and AC/DC.

So I still suck at TRON as well, but keep coming back. I'm sure if didn't wax it I'd have a bit more luck, but I like keeping my games in tip top shape and like the speed.

I suck at every game as well. Not only that, but I don't even know how to play my TF. I have completed only 2 modes on it. I just bash and hack my way through till the ball finds the drain. LOL People are going to come over and ask me how to play my games and I won't even be able to tell them. LOL Does it get worse than that!?

"Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something"

I have to admit, I suck too. Mine plays lightning fast and I don't even get to SoS very often.
I thought I was a decent player and usually near the top in a local league, but Tron kicks my ass.
love the game and light show tho and it's not leaving anytime soon.

Having that much less incline than 6.5 degrees can actually make the game harder.

Setup correctly, Tron is a brutal game. Fast, flowy, and mean. It can be made easier, but it should remain a bitch. So my question to the OP is, what are your expectations? Are you expecting getting to Portal every 10 games? I seem to be averaging a trip to Portal once every 700 games. SOS is common enough, but lighting everything solid is very difficult. So I guess I just wanted to make sure you are not expecting to actually beat the game. Something very few people can do consistany.

I think MET is an exceptionally well balanced game (one of Stern's best art packages, tight/fun shots, love the metal ramp "feel", deep/interesting rules with the new 1.5 release). Not very familiar with Metallica's music, but enjoy the hard driving rock and roll. The songs they've selected are just perfect for pinball. The newly added "Crank It Up" modes are cool and challenging…very difficult to complete, but not that difficult to start and enjoy.

With TRON, I can't reliably make the GEM shot. On Metallica, I don't feel that way about any shot. Come to think of it, the GEM shot is unlike any shot on ANY pinball I've ever owned. I know some really good players/collectors that feel GEM is simply a poorly designed shot. Poorly designed or not, I still want to play the damn thing and master that stupid shot (which I'm doubtful I'll ever do, actually

Yep. It is fun but frustrating. GEM shot is a pain. Just keep hittin' "start".

well till you try to finish that damn portal multiball ... had the game for more 2 years and that is still ô so close yet ô so unreachable

Keep practicing
You will get there.

At 15 degrees you will not get there though lol

suckatron? is that a mechanical relative of the orgasmatron? (woody allan "sleeper" if anyone remembers it).
if I remember correctly, its a very BAD IDEA to enter the machine alone unless youre into something like that.
*groan*

long ago xenon was a pretty mean wench to me.

Hello Geremy,

Maybe Tron is a hard game, I go thru portal only 1 time after 24 month of playing it. (I think 600 plays at all)

Best and cheap hint: Try Superbands flipperrubbers, you can better aim targets with that.

Do not despair.

Greets from
Roland

One thing I check are my ball times under the audits menu. With Tron, I started out with 40 sec ball times.
Now I think I'm up to 43...I know I suck too.

As I own FH, I found it quite easy to hit all the hard shots (gem especially), given tron is the same layout. The first game I ever played on a friend's machine I posted the GC on it without knowing what I was really shooting for.

Much like FH, it is a drainer, and given it's insanely shallow rules for the time, it needs to be. Nothing wrong with drainers at all, but the rules have to be indicative of this aspect. Don't want a deep game that drains badly, and you don't want a shallow ruleset for a game that doesn't drain quick.

I really don't get this. You might've been able to make a real solid point before the last code update that Portal was a lot more difficult to get to. You know, before they added disc multiball restart and the "advance SOS" mystery award. They keys are dialing in Quorra, which isn't that hard of a shot really, learning to play controlled once you DO start Quorra/Lightcycle, and getting the Lightcycle and Gem modes finished. Once you do that more consistently, you'll find that getting to Portal is a joke.

Every 10 games just about sums it up how I was playing shortly before we sold it. I had one game with Portal twice in the same game, and one night where I got to Portal 2 or 3 times, and I guarantee you it was under 20 games. I've probably played around 100-150 games on two different location games, one I have never managed to get Portal, the other I have only ever done twice. If you're having a LOT of problems, make sure things aren't out of place...specifically the "U" target...it tends to get beat up and lean into the Quorra lane, making that shot SUBSTANTIALLY more difficult than it should be.

Lightcycle multiball.... catch scoop eject on right flipper if you can live catch it. It works on most Trons. Shoot left ramp. IGNORE THE ADDED BALL THAT IS PLUNGED BY THE GAME! Shoot Quorra, then shoot the right ramp. Boom, lightcycle is done. If you miss the shots, trap the balls, stage the upper flipper if you're comfortable doing that, then make the left ramp shot again and make another attempt. If you suck at staging flippers, either practice it, or just accept that when you try to make the second ramp shot, the trapped ball will go wild, which is usually fine....if you get the SJP, who cares if you drain one.

Glad you found your mistake in measuring the pitch. You should know it is impossible, even with front adjusters all the way in and rear adjusters all the way out, to achieve 15 degrees pitch.

So you want to get better at Tron? Quit trying for Disk MB. That should be like your 3rd goal or so. Get light cycle started. Try to trap a ball on the left. Now hit Left ramp, Quorra, then Right ramp to complete the mode. I know it is not easy, but practice this 3 way combo. Then work on Quorra. Of course, it is easier to hit the Quorra shot with the 3-bank down. Use your instant info to see what you are closer to starting(Disk, Quorra, Extra Ball, Etc) and go for that. Even in a tournament where extra balls are turned off, the extra is worth 3M so it is still worth going for.

If you get Quorra started, make sure and get your 2 add a balls off the recognizer. Then, during Quorra, if you notice there is only one light cycle insert lit, go for that to stack Light Cycle with Quorra.

Most important is End Of Line shots. And you pretty much need to start that with a shot to Quorra, so yes, Quorra is the most important shot in the game.

welcome to the club, Tron is brutal unless you either are a Pro player, or retired and can do nothing but practice all day. I've gotten better over time but it's the one game that really keeps me coming back, that's what makes it great.

Just had a rare great game…117 Million…nailed GEM often. The Light Cycle insert was the only one I didn't fully light…very close to Portal

Points don't equate to advancement for jack in Tron...

Case in point, the Portal I got to the movie theatre day before yesterday... was like 94 million? And that was AFTER a ~15 million bonus from nailing Gem like 6 times!

Good point, but unlike you, I've been struggling with this game, so I'll take whatever I can get!

It's the first time I've had all but one insert lit, so I'll focus on that accomplishment if you'd prefer

Pretty cool that you've mastered it…I haven't played or met many folks who have!

I was thinking the same thing, but then the OP did say his floors were unlevel... Time to call a contractor!

I noticed my upper flipper was set back pretty far to the left of the PF alignment hole.

Just adjusted it toward the right by about 1/16" (slightly to the right of the PF alignment).

Starting flipper angle seems more GEM friendly…shot seems easier to nail now

IMG_2338.jpg

I will pay a game daily get in a grove then spen day after day of drains

Check out this article…pretty detailed:

http://www.pinballnews.com/games/tron/index6b.html

I never play for points on Tron of my own accord anymore. It's all about the inserts, LOL. Tron was a massive success in that regard, it's definitely a game where getting to the modes and goals is a lot more fun than playing for score.

Quorra: 4 times (might be 5?) to light Quorra multiball. Can stack with Lightcycle. Starting it lights insert "blinking". Regular jackpot at the Quorra shot, the SUPER JACKPOT is actually at the *GEM* shot....and making the super jackpot lights the insert solid.

Gem: 3 times (IIRC) to start Gem Hurry-up mode, then you have to shoot Gem while it's active to get the solid insert. Spinner has absolutely nothing to do with it at all.

It's a really good habit to get into to check your instant info while in game. Just trap a ball on either flipper and wait. When the instant info screen comes up, now use the other flipper to scroll through the info screens. It will tell you exactly how many shots are left toward starting each mode.

Go into switch test and spin the spinner. If it doesn't go off it's not working. Quickest way to test it.

It should take 5 shots to light Quorra MB.

Spinner does extend the Gem timer. Love trying to keep that mode running as long as possible.

This thread is everything that's good about Pinside.

Never put, "Lasted about 7 minutes." and "Just couldn't perform." so close to the word "wife". It can cause issues

Seriously, I'm glad you got it working. That would explain a whole lot. Without that switch working you stood zero chance at the game. While you are at it go back into switch test and test out ever switch just to make sure they are all working. Could be you don't just suck and your game is just not registering the shots you hit.

Quorra is a funny shot.
Some games I can nail that spinner shot after shot... other games, brick after brick.