Inherent problem with games that have safe returns and are nothing but shots that feed flippers. Time to Belsito some ramp feeds like Party Zone 
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then you need an game time keeper and need to add time for things like
last player did an big move and you have your tilt bob wait time
waiting for an ruling
game hardware issues that may slow play
stuck balls
when does the clock start and stop?
am I allowed to use intentional tilting under this setup to max my time?
etc
Time to build machines that have ātournament settingā feeds. Normal play, feed ball to flipper. Set to competition play, a diverter drops the ball into the slingshot instead :).
players can manage the clock.
I wonder if itās worth running an experimental tournament where you limit each ball to a max of twenty minutes.
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Or calculate score as (game score * (1 / minutes played))
This would be really interesting. Do you go for a quick multiball, get a super, and drain, or risk a fraction of a giant score?
Strategy would be heavily dependent on the scoring ācurveā of the game. Fairly linear games would want short balls
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Not a fan of this at all. Note there are some games with non-obvious tilt penalties beyond loss of ball (DE Time Machine comes to mind; tilting wipes out all multiball progress). It also brings 5 ball rules into play, which were intended to make longer games more difficult and not intended for 3 ball play (and may also affect scoring). On some older games it might be workable, but a lot of older SS games require you to take off the backglass and mess with DIP switches to get into 5 ball play, and then repeat the process to go back.
Bringing back this topic after Zahlerās semi-finals ball 3 last night. While we can probably count on one hand the number of people on the planet who are willing and able to play like this, it is my opinion that an overall game/player timer would still be beneficial for competitive play; especially in an event like the SPC Finals that has the intention of being broadcast to outsiders of the hobby.
https://multiplayerchessclock.com/
This is just a random program I found online that could probably suit some needs. 4 player games and a pause button for tech issues.
Having said all this, Iām probably not willing to test this out in a tournament myself so the point is probably moot Echoing @neilmcraeās sentiment though, has anyone tested this?
as for tech issue you have times where you need an tech to work the game and other things may need timekeeper TO for each game
things that seem like cpu slow down
long animations that canāt be skipped
times where you have 3-4 animations stacked up in row on what seems to be an delay (and seem to happen at random)
coils that some times take 3-4 trys to get the ball out.
slow ball searches
maybe some day loading screens for some modes
when does the clock stop and start for each player?
who is on the clock when watting for the tilt bob?
how to time comp balls?
should stuck balls also get added time (if even just 3-4 sec for an to cover the coin door ball saver ball launch time)
when does the clock stop for stuck balls? and do you need to rewind time to the stuck point? (but with an time keeper for each game that may happen fast)
what happens at time 0 that may very based on rules but even then you need rules like the varying plunge EB rules that some times need an rule that just covers game X.
other per game stuff that is not an tech issue but just poor game scoring balance but may change how you go about your play style in an fixed time per player setup
like where itās better to just hold the ball and timeout modes
games where you want to hold the ball to time in an mode
games where you can say ramp out for small points in an safe way for an long time.
I donāt disagree, but good luck with that! Vast majority of the whopper community seems to relish playing as long as humanly possible. Long hours are incentivized. If anyone was bold enough to restrict time to the point of force-draining a ball in play, Iām sure theyād find their format nerfed out of existence faster than you can say flip frenzy.
Not for regular gameplayā¦ but for tiebreakers, the last monthly tourney I ran, I used a 2-minute drill for settling tiebreaks for first in the finals group play. It was a big hit ā the players and spectators all enjoyed it.
5 Likes
and that may also formally force games with an end game mode down to an TPG of 1
right now time play games have that but format controlling max time or an max amount on how deep you can go into an game may just lead to more rules.
and the new rules will end nerfing any games that donāt yet you keep going till you drain all balls on your own.
love this idea!