I do the same. 1st ball for the 10 then I don't even try for it for the same reasons. The points are not big enough for the risk.

If you're trying to maximize your chances of getting to LITZ, just hard plunge, dead pass to the left flipper, backhand the left ramp, shoot the slot, dead pass, ramp, slot, ad nauseum. You'll get there in no time!

Nothing better than getting to LITZ working through the entire game...another mode I enjoy is Fast Lock with all the call outs and references to different games...

I have the Home rom (9.4H) and when looking to get my heart rate up, I just hold in the extra ball button for 3 seconds and the next shot to the Slot or Piano starts LITZ...makes for a great way to start the day...

LITZ is the only goal for me when I play TZ. No chance I'm passing on a "free" door on the skill shot. I'll shoot for it on the second and third balls if I don't already have the ten million door. A hitch hiker is another little bonus advancing you towards lighting "Battle the Power", which can give you another door. Once the "10 Mil" door is complete it isn't worth the risk of sending it into the bumpers, so I do a full plunge.

I am also all about hitting the slot off the left ramp feed in my desperate drive for LITZ. My strategy may have a few holes in it.

I always go for the skill shot, the +1 hitch hiker and getting to battle the power and completing it is huge!

off to play tz right now. my favorite

Woah wait a minute...

Disclaimer: I say this only because I had some guests over that "love" TZ, they have played it 20-30+ times, and they did not understand how the door panel and pop bumpers work. So if I am being captain obvious here, that is why.

From the first plunge there are more things to consider for risk vs. reward that could help you attain your goal of LITZ.
Pop bumpers move the flashing panel on the door, so if Camera is flashing, or Town Square Maddness (1 door panel away from lighting Extra Ball) it is better to forgoe the 10 million and get the ball immediately to your flippers to activate those modes. I haven't checked the rules lately, but it is about 1/7 chance Camera will give you 'Light Outlanes'. Also, the camera will progress multiple times (3?) each time you get it, so it is more like a 40-50% chance for outlanes to be lit plus big scoring potential.

Throughout the game there will always be interesting options. If you have already collected the 1st Extra Ball, then if Skill Shot is blinking, it is better to pass up $10M and go directly for Skill Shot to get an EB.

A bit off topic, but when I play vs. friends we play for $ and we have a side bet on Clock Chaos. So it is again important to look at the door first before plunging.

Full plunge, no question. There is a non-zero chance of draining off of the skill shot; if the kickout is reasonable (i.e. can be bounce passed or simply caught on the right flipper), there is zero chance of draining from a full plunge. If the kickout isn't reasonable, it's almost certainly not going to be worse than the risk you take from the skill shot. I'd much rather drain through a bad flip than a magical pop bumper outlane.

i disagree with going for the ten million skill shot, even on the first ball. you need what, 15 door panels to get to LITZ? it is not worth such a big drain risk (and those pops it shoots it into are absolutely notorious) just to get you one-fifteenth of the way there. retaining full control of the ball is far more valuable.

i mean the pace you need is to get a third of the way there per ball, right? that's five panels per ball on average. why throw the ball out of control into a high risk area on your very first panel? there are much less risky ways to get panels in my opinion.

it boils down to this: is getting that panel via the skillshot more risky or less risky than getting it "naturally" via the slot machine, piano, or power? i think it's obviously a lot more risky, and therefore strategically a mistake. granted this assumes you aren't a player who is constantly losing control of the ball.

i dunno, even then i still disagree. first, you are seriously risking losing your ball in order to gain one. second, the skillshot itself is not a sure thing, so you may be throwing the ball into those notorious pops for nothing. third, even if you survive them, you still have to get your ball up into the lock hole to collect the EB. i feel like TZ is a much easier and forgiving game if you avoid the pops as much as possible. a ball can last a long time if it never goes in there. just my opinion of course. but i always lean heavily against surrendering the fate of my game to luck. if i lose a ball, i'd much rather it be because i missed a shot, rather than because i intentionally threw it into a risky area.

For the record, I achieved 2 Lost in the Zones the other night in 1 game going with my strategy of getting Hitchhikers, I collected 40+ hitchikers and got 80+ million when I hit the Camera award for HH'ers.

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I have owned and played this game for a long long time. I understand passing up the skill shot but I also like getting 50 million or more for free. I don't usually have much issues with the pops draining the ball as I've grown pretty adept at nudging the ball to the in lanes. Anyway, we play for points and I don't want to give them up.

Also, I prefer to cradle the ball out of the slot and shoot the right ramp (or the left then right ramps if I need both) for the drop to the upper flipper and shoot the piano. It is so much safer than the slot shot. I have lost too many balls off a bad slot shot that went SDTM.

speaking of game play, I suck at battling the power...any suggestions on that?

Nothing worse then shooting the power ramp, loosing to the power, and into the pops you go...

This is what makes TZ such a great game. There are so many ways to attack it.

On some TZ's you make the skill shot and than give it a nudge as it drops to the rocket kicker so that it falls down to the flipper so that you can avoid the dangerous rocket shot into the pops. I used to be able to do this on mine until I installed the "anti-bounce" post that prevents you from doing this.

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I started playing my TZ just to LITZ and bored quickly with it. Play the modes and LITZ will happen. Getting to LITZ on one ball is not difficult if you set out to do it.

I agree. The game is much more fun if you play for score rather than just focusing on LITZ. Some of the modes can be extremely lucrative, especially when they are stacked with other stuff.

I never even considered this, but it makes sense. The only other benefit to the skill shot is it lights the pops, which your goal is to keep the ball away from. I've had my machine for 10 months now, and somebody showed me a new light.

Some rapidly tap the flipper buttons, but I use a strategy of trying to straighten out the ball vertically. Then, when the ball is on it's way down and just above the center of the targets, a good hard flip propels the ball down off the rubber and back up, and swish. I make no promises though, as I am about a 35% make on average. And yes, I am estimating.

Normally players around here never shoot for the skill shot, unless we are just messing around. Once in a while we will cash in the 10 million, but on the norm, it just isn't worth the risk for a single door panel. This is on SS Billiard's sample TZ though that has a different pop bumper area.

I have found that a rapid tapping of just one flipper (I like the right one) and only tapping the left when neccessary shoots the ball to the top the best. Most of the time I never touch the right one.

Rapid tapping is a great technique for high scoring. The more switch triggers, the higher the score. This is a particularly effective strategy once you've beaten the power field a couple times, and every switch hit is worth 1M points.

I do not shoot the TZ skill shot, get the ball to the flippers instead of the pops.

Absolutely.

When TZ first came out, I used to go for the skill shot.
Several hundred skill shot -> bumpers -> left outlanes later, I just started full plunging.
It was hard to get a replay when a third or so of the balls plunged go in the L outlane.

On TZ, the last place that you want the ball is in the jets. Especially if the outlanes are wide open.

If you battle the power and get the ball through the drop at the top it awards you a panel and lights the scoop permanently, not temporary like the rollover switch in the left inlane gives you.

edit-hitting the Slot scoop from the left flipper can be tough as bounce offs from the target can often go SDTM, I find it rather safe/high percentage to use the right flipper to drill that scoop, mines really tight and needs a pretty direct shot.

Lighting the Slot scoop and hitting it awards a door panel

True. And LitZ is not necessarily where the big points are.
The two main multiballs and collect bonus can be much more lucrative.

Of course LitZ is always fun to play, especially if the spiral mode is started first.

Mastering the backhand to the scoop is one of the keys to becoming very good at the game.

That's what she said.

Apologies.

That's funny because when I play TZ I literally ignore the scoop completely. Maybe it is just the TZ I normally play, but it's not just a safe shot on that machine. I still don't have any problem putting up 2+ billion on it though even without any intentional scoop shots.

Think of the magnets as flippers. Best way to get a solid flip on the ball is when it is on the red circle around the magnet. Picture the circle like a clock. My goal is to "hit" the ball at about 12 or 6 to generate up and down momentum. I like to hit the ball at the top, 12 o'clock, if it is coming down. I like to flip at the bottom, 6 o'clock, just as the ball rebounds off the bottom rubber to send it back up. (I actually shoot a little skewered depending on which side. From the right I like to flip at about 11:30 and 5:30. Left is 12:30 and 6:30.)

I'm not a big believer in the flip like mad strategy. Mostly seems that the ball goes side to side, which can generate points, but isn't a great way to defeat the Power.

Yep...a slight miss and the ball is out of control in a bad location. Door panels; either defeat The Power, or left ramp, right ramp, piano.

Full plunge, every time. Not worth going into the pop bumpers.

<<<----learning a ton about gameplay and technique

thanks for all the posts!

When I am playing by myself, I almost always go for the skill shot. If I am playing against someone or in a tournament, I never do. The last thing you ever want to do in a competitive situation is purposely send the ball into the pops.

Make the game play harder

in that case i think you'd be crazy to intentionally throw the ball into the pops just for 1 out of 15 door panels, but what do i know.

Merry Xmas. Old thread here but was looking at my TZ and the skill shot. Was thinking why this was never lit up better. The average player that comes over doesn’t even see it on the playfield.

Was considering finding a way to light it up with some small LED’s. If someone has already done this, would love to see what it looks like.

I think it's just a product of the era it was made in. LED technology was nowhere near what it is these days and it'd be extra tough to put any kind of regular lighted inserts in that area due to the rollovers taking up so much room underneath. They could've put three overhead switches there, like they usually have on ramps, but then you'd never see the colored areas of the skill shot area. These days, it'd be way easier to light, put optos or other sensors in, or put smaller inserts in and use LEDs underneath as that's how the industry has moved, towards using higher precision CNC devices used in manufacturing.

On TZ, the average player doesn't even see the upper left flipper, the piano shot, shot under upper left flipper, upper playfield magnets, etc. Regardless, 10M plunge is the only thing going for. Then after that just full plunge it to keep it out of the pops and left outlane.