I want to know how to handle the game from a TGP perspective. From my understanding of the rules it should only count for 1/3 of a game, since you can complete the game on one ball. How is this being handled? TNA exemption? Standing rule that defeating reactor 9 is a major malfunction and you get compensation balls on a new game added to your score?
This isn’t really a spoiler, Scott’s stated this was his plan pretty much from the get-go. Most people that are familiar with the game should know the world ends when you successfully blow up all the reactors. It’s kind of the point of the game.
Finishing the last reactor should be extremely difficult in a competitive seeing if the game is set up appropriately. How often do you see MET end of the line in competition? Awarding compensation balls to someone that’s probably already beaten everyone else seems inappropriate.
X-Men had a pretty bad end of game experience where you were locked out of everything completely after finishing the wizard mode, they only fixed it like five years after release. Doesn’t seem that different.
The point is letter of the law. “Any game where it’s possible for the player to finish on the first ball in play, will be calculated at 33% value for TGP purposes.”
Do I think it will happen. No. Do I want to maximise TGP? Yes.
We could also apply the pingolf rule of “tgp is based on the average balls played throughout the tournament”, which, unless someone actually does beat the game, would be 3.
Removing stupid pre-coffee Monday morning post because Scott and I are friends and have worked on a couple things together in the past and will hopefully collaborate more in the future.
Aside - If anyone’s interested in designing custom or commercial games I highly recommend getting in on the pindev slack (pindev.slack.com). Messaging Jimmy on pinside is usually the quickest way to get an invite.
If you want to go full letter of the law, you still have to plunge balls 2 and 3 regardless, with a chance to tilt away your TNA bonus, tilt through, play out of order, etc. All of those things seem impossibly unlikely (except maybe play out of order), but by the “letter of the law” they can still happen, and your remaining balls are “played.” You’re simply playing a mode where the flippers are disabled. Good luck!
After extensively evaluating audits with the help of Scott Danesi 99.97% of games played don’t reach destroying reactor 9. I’m considering this not material.
Cool that this doesn’t DQ TNA from normal competition. Still, if there ever were to be a reason to technically have “all” balls playable, I suggest that, if tournament mode is set, the game be allowed to carry on with flippers enabled in “aftermath” mode, where a few difficult-to-hit switches would score a point each, and everything else on the PF is dead. No music, just some background wind noise. Sure… play on… you won’t catch up before you die in the wasteland.
