My best score is around 500M. I’m far from highest scores.
I’ve only played 3-4 times the Horde. Never seen other Wizard mode.
I think i’m not doing completely what is required during modes.
I need to read again rules!

video on increased scoring with doing cdc after barn and combining some barnshots, hit the last cdc with 2x playfield and the x going . ( have never pulled this off myself)

Can I ask what was changed? Interested...

What was the final score of that game?

I’ve been trying to replicate it and whilst I haven’t managed to time it just right, I did manage to increase my highest score to 900 million+ from around 550 million.

I Dream of "X."

I flub my "X" pretty much every time. I read about this feature of the code before I ever bought my game and I was excited to really exploit it for big payouts. I haven't...at all! I piss it away 'cause I can't possibly manage the "X" on the inlanes during multiballs - precisely the time when I must! I don't toggle the "X" away first to preserve it when a ball comes to the end of a return ramp. Sometimes I score huge "X" shots by accident. You should see my high scores. They're pretty crazy. My "X" high score is more than 200M. You can read how it was accomplished in the scrolling high scores and it might surprise you by just how busy/layered it is. You can stack a fork-ton of stuff in your "X" shot rather easily when things really get going.

Also remember too. If you can roll through the X and get the ball on a trap without hitting a major switch, you can take you time and lineup the shot. It’s not timed.

Is it only multiplied on the next major shot or if you miss and hit the slings for zero points does that reset your X to zero?

Not in my experience. If I remember right you have like three slings pops or stand ups before it resets.

I dearly wish I could trap balls as they roll through the flipper lane after dropping from a return ramp. My game, for whatever reason, will impart just enough velocity to the ball to *not* allow a trap on that flipper and too little velocity to roll to the opposite flipper in a roll pass. If I raise the flipper as the ball rolls though, it will dribble off the tip of the flipper and drain. The only option is the much-harder tap catch, where you flip oh-so gently as a slow-moving ball reaches the apex of the flipper, allowing you to then catch and trap on that same flipper. I succeed at this maneuver perhaps once in twenty tries. Ditto: the tap pass.

Tip pass or rolling post pass is what I would recommend. Practice those. Or an alley pass.

Guys, I need some explanations of what you are saying with this X.
In fact, I don’t know what the X is using for in the game. How to use it?

There is an X insert on each inlane.
One of them will be lit after you kill a couple walkers (just hitting shots)

Once its lit you control which one is lit by flipping either flipper. It will swap back and forth.

Basically it acts as a shot multiplier. That grows as you hit more walkers from 2x to 3x to 4x etc.

You control whether you cash it in or not by controlling if you roll over the lit insert.

Roll over the lit X insert and then the next shot you hit will score 2x 3x 4x what that shot would have scored otherwise.

For ex: if you are in barn mode and X is up to 2x. You roll over the lit X insert and then nail the barn shot. You will get 2x the barn jackpot you would have normally gotten.

Hope that helps

Ok so the value of X depends on how many walkers you have shot. Can’t remember right now if it is well mentioned on the DMD.
Then you can cash in until 200m or more in total as Jason said before. Sounds incredible!

A "rolling post pass"? Oh, man! A post pass from a trap is hard enough! I'll never get that one!

What improves roll passing on any table? More- or less PF pitch? My game is set to 6.5-degrees of pitch. Would roll passing become more reliable with *less* pitch? Perhaps it's a wash. I mean, less pitch means less velocity rolling to the flipper but also less resistance from the raised flipper. Still, less pitch means less eagerness for the ball to drain off the flipper tip, mid-pass. A roll pass with less pitch is a bit like doing an Evel Knievel Super Jump with a bike with fewer horses in a stadium with less gravity, I guess. (Who doesn't like a simile!)

Could reduce the flipper travel by getting longer flipper plungers or coil stops. That would make ski jumps easier.

Oops.

You can also try wiggling the game as the ball runs down the inlane to slow it down so that a trap off a ramp shot is more possible.

"Ski jumps"! Funny.

Interesting idea: longer plungers would mean less flipper travel and less flipper angle - harder for trapping but easier for ski jumps. Got it. I've never seen a longer Stern plunger.

Neither have I. I think WPC ones are longer though.

Wow.
Great tutorial.
Thanks!
It reminds me of how little I know my own game!
You make it look easy - surviving, hitting shots, etc.
Nice play!
(Oh, but get some light on that PF for your next video! I can't see anything!)

yah that's not me just a link to a video I came across.

myself I started paying more attention to using the x but it is messing with my mind flow --- scores going down!!

So true. I like that I take the time to know all these rulesets inside and out, but it leads to a lot more bonehead moves because I know I’m close to something big and blow it almost every single time. Haha

Renting a Premium. Very fun, especially with the added strategy from the walker bomb mechanic.
Screenshot_20200409-182923 (resized).png

Game looks great!
I don't really use Walker Bombs all that strategically. I find them less useful than you might assume. For example, if I'm about to be killed by an advancing Walker in Horde, a Walker Bomb at that instant will more than likely kill a *different* Walker, allowing me to be "bit" just the same. Not helpful!

I need some "mind flow" myself. I think I generally have "mind stop-and-go."

That’s not all they’re used for. The main thing is using them to keep you ball alive by keeping them in your back pocket to spot a well Walker or prison hit to start MB as you drain, or collect a JP. Also I’m pretty sure you can use a walker bomb after an inlane X and it will count.

Well, I don't doubt you know their utility far more than I do, but the Walker during Horde was a good example - to me, anyhow - of how using a Walker Bomb does *not* keep my ball alive. I use it, the wrong advancing Walker is killed, the Bomb is gone/wasted, and I still get bit. Brilliant!

Yeah you’d think it would kill the walker most close to you.

That's how I primarily use them. But yeah, sometimes it seems the walker bombs don't kill the closest ones in Horde. I just try to build a large number of bombs, so if I drain or am about to get bit, I can spam the button and hope I get that add a ball.

Same.

Ok so I’ve been working on getting better at this game. Understanding the ruleset And scoring strategies are definitely important and i’ve got a decent handle on those. But i think setup and dialing in are also a key here. I have read a bunch of posts but i certainly haven’t gone through the 8k plus in the club thread. So my questions here have likely been discussed at some point but I havent found what im looking for based on my search words. So bear with me.

I am aware of the ball guide mod (adding thin felt to avoid the pops on a left orbit shot). But is there any recommendations for reducing the amount of cheap drains from the pops when you are up there otherwise? Seems to be a popular thing on my machine. The ball kinda falls out of the tunnel opening and SDTM. Love getting an extra ball just to lose it right away lol. I think i saw someone suggest setting the game slightly off level which i havent done (i’m kinda anal about leveling games lol). I will have to check but i think i have the pitch closer to 7 deg now.

Prison magnet SDTM with authority (Happens less often than the other cheap drains) - i have heard of the double flip to stop animation and change ball path, but i assume this is just chance still.

I’ve learned to appreciate this game a lot more than when i played it at a friends many years ago. So any tips that owners recommend on “dialing in” the game would be welcome.

Cheers

For the prison magnet turn the magnet core a tiny bit (like 12 o’clock to 1 o’clock) see if that helps.

If your game is leveled right, the ball most times should ride the rail from the pops and fee d the left flipper to allow for a dead bounce to the right flipper. Play with the level of your game until it’s been fixed.

Thanks! i’ll double check my level again. If its coming down the right side of the Tunnel opening i will get a slight redirection off the bottom post to the left flipper. I’ll take that all day. Its when it doesnt touch anything i can’t nudge or smack the side of the cab ala Bowen playing Creach to affect the ball path..

I’ll play with the orientation of the prison magnet. Sounds like an easy adjustment.

you also want that bottom pop to be pretty lively.

Yes. Make sure the pops are good and sensitive.

I found that what helped me with the prison just dropping the ball SDTM is taking the magnet ring and flipping it 180. Not rotating it, flipping it. I found that turning the metal core didnt do anything. YYMV. I couldn't tell you why mine works after flipping it but it flings the ball much more than it ever did before.

I recently found that my prison magnet was flush at the front but a tad low at the back so there was a small lip and the ball would catch that lip occasionally and jump over the prison optos and they would not register.

There was no way to get the magnet flush to the back without there being a lip at the front. Not sure why I cant level the magnet flush to the front AND the back. (very annoying).

So I reversed the magnet 180 degrees like you did so now the back of the magnet is nice and flush but the magnet is a tad low at the front which is fine because now there is no lip for the ball to catch and I resolved the ball jumping the opto.

Unfortunately I had the opposite effect as you regarding the magnet dropping balls STDM. I never had the magnet dropping balls STDM before but since I turned the magnet 180 degrees now I do!!!!

Solved one issue and created another

I may try this out and see if that helps!

Cores are cheap too. Keep some extras on hand and maybe replacing it will help as well.

They are $50usd!

https://www.pinballlife.com/magnet-core-with-stainless-steel-protector.html

$12. Buy 5 of them and be set for life.

https://www.pinballlife.com/magnet-core-plug.html

Ok cool thanks. I did not realize that the stainless steel protector was removable from the core. I assumed it was one solid piece (core and protector).

Now come to think of it I really should clarify that when I was referring to leveling the edges of the core I actually meant leveling the edges of the stainless steel protector. If the protector is removable from the core then I should actually be able to level the steel protector at the front and back edges afterall!

And if I am able to do that then I can turn my magnet 180 back to where it originally was and the STDM problem may go away!

Yeah and when I was talking about turning the core I meant the core only. So the inner circle if you will. Protector stays put.

OK cool. I may try just turning the core for starters and see what happens. I'm happy with the orientation of my protector now as there are no ball jumps.

Hmm. This sounds promising. I'm trying to visualize quite what you mean by "flipping it 180." I will have to investigate. My solution to this point has simply been to disable the magnet. Thanks for the tip.

How many TWD owners are doing this? I would love a true orbit from Barn, but there's a reason why the ball snags a pop as it goes by after a shot to Barn. It's a bit of a marvel, really. Every time I witness it, I'm impressed and I imagine that Borg gave it a lot of thought. The pop fires at just the right instant to redirect the ball into the last segment of the plunge lane, before finally stopping at the Tower target. It's quite a ride! Still, I would rather have the ball sail through to my left flipper!

If one face of the magnet is "heads" and the other face is "tails", you're going to flip it so that the tails side and heads side are opposite. Does that help?

Very very few is my guess. People can do whatever they want to their games, but this thread has some silly shit people have done with felt strips and Velcro.