TWILIGHT ZONE
Sigma's Guide to
Twilight Zone
Version as of 04/18/94
Notes and Disclaimers
This rule compilation and tips sheet is, to the extent possible (in light of the
subject matter being the property of Bally/Williams), freeware. It can be
modified, updated, or revised, provided only that credit to the original
author(s) remains intact. It can be published or otherwise distributed, provided
only that such distribution is effectively free. Another Rules Sheet for
Twilight Zone has been written by Bowen Kerins, who can be reached as bowen@cardinal.stanford.edu.
This sheet is written and maintained by Kevin Martin, sigma@mcs.com. If you have
any questions or comments or additions or corrections, send 'em along to me.
Twilight Zone the pinball machine is the property of Williams/Bally, and a
trademark of the licensor. The author(s) disclaim all interest in any trademarks
or other intellectual property referenced herein.
I use the abbreviations "K" for a thousand points, "M" for a million points, "B"
for a billion points, and "LITZ" for Lost In The Zone.
This version of the Guide should be considered final.
Important Things
This is a glossary of the shots and features that will be referred to during the
discussion of the game. Because Twilight Zone is a rather cluttered widebody
design, this section is quite lengthy. The features are, in general, described
starting from the lower right and proceeding counter-clockwise.
Flippers
There are four flippers - the usual two lower ones (full-length), a second
full-length right flipper less than halfway up the playfield, and a much shorter
flipper high on the left side of the playfield. Two-stage action is provided for
both sets of flippers. The computer has control of the flippers, but this is
only used for ball searches.
Manual Plunger
This is a normal plunger. Its lane is fairly short and leads to a gate, beyond
which there are three rollover switches for the Skill Shot.
Automatic Plunger
This kicker is beneath the ball trough eject and has its own plunger lane to the
left of the normal plunger lane. A small rotating diverter guides balls ejected
from the trough into either the manual plunger lane or the automatic plunger.
The automatic plunger lane fires the ball through a gate and onto the playfield
such that it should complete the Right Orbit.
Skill Shot Rollovers
These are three rollover switches at the end of the manual plunger lane, between
the gate and a scoop that feeds the ball to the Slot Machine kickout. The lowest
switch is the Red Zone, the middle is the Orange Zone, and the highest is the
Yellow Zone.
Right Orbit
This lane leads past the upper right flipper around the back of the playfield to
the upper left flipper, exiting down the Left Orbit. The automatic plunger fires
the ball around the Right Orbit (hopefully). When Gumball is lit, the Right
Orbit is used to load the Gumball Machine. When the Right Spiral is lit,
shooting the Right Orbit collects it. There is a Spiral Helper magnet on the
Right Orbit, near the back of the playfield. There is a red light on a sign
above the upper right flipper, indicating when Gumball is lit. The Orbit itself
has a large white triangle indicating when Powerball Loop is lit, and beyond
that there is a smaller orange triangle indicating when the Right Spiral is lit.
Slot Machine
This scoop is just above the upper right flipper and just to the left of the
Right Orbit. It is protected on the right by a rubber post, and on the left by a
narrow Greed Target. This is the most frequently used kickout in Twilight Zone,
and ejected balls should come directly to the middle of the lower right flipper,
if properly adjusted. A yellow light above and to the right of the scoop
indicates when the Slot Machine is available.
Hidden Lane
This is a narrow passageway behind the Slot Machine. Balls which pass through
here should feed neatly to the upper right flipper.
Power Payoff
These are two red round standup targets above the Hidden Lane and at the bottom
of the Player Piano entrance. No distinction is made between the two targets. A
lightning bolt light in front of these targets indicates when they are lit.
Player Piano
This is a sinkhole that faces left directly towards the upper left flipper.
There is a round Greed Target above it and a rubber post below it, just above
the Power Payoff targets. There is a yellow light above the sinkhole, indicating
when the Player Piano is available. There is also a red light which indicates
that a Jackpot is lit at the Player Piano.
Clock
This cube-shaped plastic Clock is mounted above the Player Piano. In Attract
Mode, it can indicate the current time. During gameplay, it counts down timers
for various rounds and modes, and is used in special ways in some rounds. On
older machines, the Clock is rather plain and white; newer machines have a much
more colorful Clock.
Lock Lane
This Lane is above the Player Piano and has a narrow line of sight to the lower
left flipper. The Lane turns tightly to feed to a stack of locked balls, and
unfortunately this causes balls to sometimes mysteriously bounce out of the Lock
and directly towards the center drain. There is a amber light here to indicate
when an Extra Ball is lit, and a orange light to indicate when a Lock is lit
(older machines have a green Lock light). Balls are kicked out of the Lock at
the Right Spiral Helper, such that they come down the Right Orbit to the upper
right flipper.
Right Ramp
This is a short metal ramp to the left of the Lock Lane. It leads steeply to a
tight turn behind the Clock, where it feeds a habitrail that leads to the Bridge
Diverter above the upper left flipper. Beyond the Bridge Diverter, the habitrail
feeds into the left side of the Powerfield. The Right Ramp uses an opto switch
behind the Clock; there is no sensor in the Bridge Diverter itself. There is an
orange light at the entrance to the Right Ramp, indicating when Battle The Power
is lit or the Powerfield is available for any other reason.
Clock Target
This is a small green standup target between the Left and Right Ramps. There is
a round white light in front of it, indicating when the Clock Target is lit for
any reason. There are several modes which make special use of the Clock Target.
Left Ramp
This is a shallow plastic ramp to the left of the Clock Target and to the right
of the Left Orbit. It has a swinging gate and sensor at its entrance, and uses a
roll-under switch in the back right corner of the machine to register a
completed Ramp shot. There is a diverter further along the Ramp which is
normally in an extended position. Normally, balls feed to a habitrail which
crosses the entire playfield and deposits them in the innermost Left Inlane.
When the diverter is retracted, balls are fed into the automatic plunger lane,
where they may fall into the automatic plunger or to the manual plunger,
depending on the situation. There are three lamps in front of the Left Ramp. The
lowest lamp is orange and indicates that the Super Skill Shot is available. The
middle lamp is white and indicates that the Left Ramp will start Multiball. The
highest lamp is white and indicates that the Left Ramp will award Bonus X and
two Robots rather than one.
Left Orbit
This is a narrow and short lane above the upper left flipper, leading around the
back of the playfield and down the Right Orbit to the upper right flipper. When
the Left Spiral is lit, shooting the Left Orbit collects it. There is a Spiral
Helper magnet on the Left Orbit, just above the Bridge Diverter. There is a
yellow light on the corner of the Powerfield next to the Bridge Diverter,
indicating when the Left Spiral is lit. The Orbit itself has a large white
triangle indicating when Powerball Loop is lit.
Bridge Diverter
This is a metal cage on the habitrail that is fed by the Right Ramp. When the
Powerfield is not available, balls are caught by the Bridge Diverter and dropped
onto the playfield above the upper left flipper.
Gumball Machine
The Gumball Machine is in the far upper left corner of the playfield. It should
normally hold three of the six balls installed in the machine. Balls are loaded
into the Gumball Machine by a vertical kicker (known as the Gumball Popper) that
is fed by the Right Orbit when the Gumball Diverter is active. Balls are fed out
of the Gumball Machine one at a time, where they roll over a switch and fall
into the Camera sinkhole.
Camera
This is a large sinkhole behind the upper left flipper. It is almost impossible
to reach without holding that flipper up. The Camera feeds into the Slot Machine
kickout.
Hitchhiker Lane
This lane is beneath the Camera shot and just above the Jet Bumpers. When
completed, it feeds the ball into the Jet Bumpers.
Powerfield
This is a raised mini-playfield to the left of the upper left flipper. When the
Powerfield is available, shoot the Right Ramp to reach it. Balls enter the
Powerfield from the upper left corner. There are four scoring switches on the
lower walls of the Powerfield, and an opto near the upper exit. In the lower
corners are player-controlled magnets, called Magna-Flip(TM). When a ball is on
the active Powerfield, use the flipper buttons to control Magna-Flip(TM). The
upper exit feeds into the Camera sinkhole, and the lower exit drops the ball
into the Jet Bumpers.
Dead End
This is a small sinkhole above and to the left of the Jet Bumpers, underneath
the Powerfield. It awards the Town Square or Dead End value, and feeds to the
Slot Machine kickout.
Jet Bumpers
These three Jet Bumpers are also known as Town Square. They are arranged in the
usual triangular fashion, but dangerously close to the Left Outlane. On early
machines, there is a rubber bar preventing balls from going towards the Left
Outlane directly from the Jet Bumpers, while encouraging balls towards the
center drain. This bar is not present on newer machines.
Left Outlane
The Left Outlane can be lit for Extra Ball. There is an adjustable post above
the left side of this Outlane. The rubber post on the right side is considerably
lower than the Inlane posts.
Far Left Inlane
This Inlane lights the Right Spiral during normal play.
Near Left Inlane
This Inlane temporarily lights the Slot Machine if it is unlit. The Left Ramp
deposits the ball in this Inlane, on the switch.
Slingshots
Normal configuration.
Right Inlane
This Inlane lights Dead End, the Left Spiral (during normal play), and the Left
Ramp. The right side of the Inlane is a low metal rail with no rubber.
Right Outlane
The Right Outlane can be lit for Special. There is an adjustable rubber post
above the right side of this Outlane.
Rocket
This is a catch area beneath the upper right flipper. A successful Skill Shot
deposits the ball here. Whenever a ball lands in the Rocket, it is fired at high
speed across the playfield, where it should go through the Hitchhiker and into
the Jet Bumpers.
Greed Targets
There are seven of these yellow standup targets scattered across the playfield.
A narrow one stands to the left of the Slot Machine. Two stand along the left
side of the Slot Machine, facing the upper left flipper. One stands above the
Player Piano, facing the upper left flipper. One stands at the bottom edge of
the Hitchhiker, facing the upper right flipper. Another stands just below this,
facing the center drain. The last stands above the Near Left Inlane, facing
along the left Slingshot towards the lower left flipper.
Balls
Six balls should be installed in Twilight Zone, with one of them being a white
ceramic Powerball. Early machines had seven balls installed, and newer machines
may still have seven indicated in their manuals. If the Powerball is missing, a
menu adjustment provides full compensation.
Skill Shot
The normal Skill Shot from the manual plunger lane is to plunge gently, such
that the ball trips one or more of the rollover switches, without landing in the
scoop at the end of the plunger lane. Hitting the scoop feeds the ball to the
Slot Machine kickout and scores 1M (plus 100K for the Slot Machine kickout
itself). Hitting the lowest rollover switch (Red) scores 2M and advances one Jet
Bumper (see "Town Square"). Hitting the middle rollover switch (Orange) scores
5M and advances two Jet Bumpers. Hitting the highest rollover switch (Yellow)
scores 10M and advances three Jet Bumpers. It is possible to hit the lowest
rollover switch and have the ball fall back to the manual plunger lane, in which
case it is best to plunge the ball into the scoop. Normal Skill Shots feed the
ball to the Rocket, which should fire it through the Hitchhiker lane and into
the Jet Bumpers.
The ball easily gets stuck under or in front of the gate at the bottom of the
rollover switches. A light tap on the side of the cabinet is the easiest way to
handle this.
Greed Targets
The seven Greed Targets in Twilight Zone are unlit at the beginning of each
ball. During normal play, hitting the unlit Clock Target will light one of the
Greed Targets (starting from the lower left and working upwards). These can also
be lit by a Camera Award or the Extra Ball Buy-In. Hitting a lit Greed Target
awards 5M and unlights that Target. However, due to a bug in the software, 10M
is actually awarded whenever you see this "5 Million" animation! This is true
through at least L-4 revisions, and applies regardless of how the target was
lit.
Once per ball and only during normal play, hitting the unlit Clock Target when
all seven Greed Targets are already lit will award a Clock Bonus of 10M, with an
excellent sound effect and animation.
During Multiball modes, or when the 10M Clock Bonus has already been collected
and all seven Greed Targets are lit, hitting the unlit Clock Target will
generate a cuckoo noise. This can be helpful by letting you know there is a ball
in that area of the playfield during Multiball modes.
The Greed Targets can all be lit automatically by the Camera: Lite Greed Targets
award, and are also used during the Door Panel Greed Round, during Multiball,
and when the Gumball Machine is lit for Powerball Mania (see "Powerball"). When
the Extra Ball Buy-In is used, all seven Greed Targets are automatically lit and
the 10M Clock Bonus is immediately available.
These Targets are also referred to as the 5 Million Targets.
Clock
The Clock, if working properly, is used to count down various rounds and modes
(this is handled by software if the Clock is believed to be malfunctioning). In
general, the most recently started round has control of the Clock. The most
common use of the Clock is to count forward from noon to midnight at a moderate
pace; the amount of time this requires represents the duration of a typical
round or mode. A distinctive sound is made at the end of any such round or mode;
there is a grace period during and briefly after this sound for almost every
such round or mode.
Note that the Clock can only move forward or backwards in a normal fashion; its
arms cannot be moved in any fashion other than the normal progression of time in
either direction.
Town Square
The three Jet Bumpers form Town Square. Town Square has a current value, which
is normally reset to 7.5M at the beginning of each ball. Unlit Jet Bumpers
advance the Town Square value by 100K. Lit Jet Bumpers advance the value by
200K. Flashing Jet Bumpers advance the value by 300K. The normal Skill Shot
awards advance one, two, or all three Jet Bumpers by one step, from unlit to lit
to flashing. Shooting the unlit Camera at any time will advance one Jet Bumper.
When all three Jet Bumpers are flashing, the next unlit Camera shot will display
"Jets At Max" and no further message will be displayed for the rest of the
current ball. At the beginning of each ball, all three Jet Bumpers are unlit.
To collect the current Town Square value, shoot the unlit Dead End sinkhole.
Doing this when Dead End is lit collects double the Town Square value (see "Dead
End"). The Camera: 3X Town Square award is worth three times the current Town
Square value.
The maximum Town Square value is 25M. The Town Square value can only be held
over to the next ball by the Camera: Hold Town Square award; otherwise it is
always reset to the starting value of 7.5M.
Every Jet Bumper hit rotates the currently flashing Door Panel clockwise. This
of course skips any Panels that are already lit.
See also "Town Square Madness".
Dead End
The Right Inlane (at any time) lights the Dead End sinkhole until it is
collected or the current ball ends. The lit Dead End is worth double the current
Town Square value. Lit Dead End shots are counted over the course of the game.
On normal settings, an Extra Ball is lit when you collect the third Dead End;
this value is operator adjustable between two to seven.
The Dead End Extra Ball is normally temporary. If you already have the maximum
number of Extra Balls stacked when you collect your third Dead End, no Extra
Ball is lit from Dead End, then or in the future. For details, see "Extra
Balls".
See also "Easter Eggs".
Robots
The number of Robots you collect is counted over the course of the game. You
begin the game with one Robot. The Left Ramp normally awards one Robot at any
time. The Lock Lane also always awards one Robot. While the Left Ramp is
temporarily lit by the Right Inlane, it will award two Robots.
On normal settings, a certain number of Robots will light an Extra Ball. This
value reflexes and is typically between 6 and 14 Robots. A second Extra Ball is
normally lit at 45 Robots, and this value does not reflex. See "Extra Balls".
After you collect the 98th Robot, Robots are no longer counted, and every Robot
is worth a Super Robot bonus of 5M. The Right Inlane has no effect on this
award.
At every multiple of 10 Robots (8 on Easy settings), the Camera is lit. Lit
Cameras are stacked. See "Camera".
See also "Easter Eggs"
Camera
The Camera is lit at every multiple of 10 Robots (8 on Easy settings), or by the
Camera Door Panel, which actually lights the Camera twice. There are eight
possible Camera awards. The next Camera award is determined randomly, except
that the entire set of eight must be completed before any of the awards can be
repeated. Also, the same award will never appear twice in a row. The next award
is randomly pre-determined and preserved between balls, players, games, and
power cycles. The next Camera award is part of the status report. Also, whenever
you collect a Camera award, the next Camera award is displayed.
The eight Camera awards are described in the following sections.
See also "Tournament Mode"
Camera: 20,000,000
This is the simplest Camera award - just 20M, no questions asked.
Camera: Hold Town Square
This award prevents the Town Square value from being reset at the beginning of
the next ball. This is the only way to do so. It does not, technically speaking,
hold the Town Square value to its current value.
Camera: 3X Town Square
This awards three times the current Town Square value, from a minimum of 22.5M
to a maximum of 75M.
Camera: Lite Greed Targets
This award lights all of the Greed Targets for 5M each, as if the unlit Clock
Target had been hit the appropriate number of times. If you have not collected
the 10M Clock Bonus on the current ball, this effectively lights the Clock
Target for that Bonus.
See also "Greed Targets"
Camera: Clock 10 Millions
This award starts a timed round of normal length, using the Clock as the timer
if possible. During this time, the Clock Target adds 10M to the Clock Millions
Total, regardless of other modes or rounds. Starting Clock 10 Millions credits a
base value of 10M to the Clock Millions Total.
Scoring at least six hits on the Clock Target during this round will award a
special 20M Clock Damage Bonus (and animation) when the round ends, unless the
sixth hit was scored during the ending grace period.
See also "Door Panel: Clock Millions".
Camera: 10 Hitchhikers
This award awards 10 Hitchhikers as if they had been collected normally, unless
you already have 100 Hitchhikers. Because Battle The Power is lit at every
multiple of 10 Hitchhikers, this will normally light Battle The Power as well.
If you have between 90 and 100 Hitchhikers, this award will set your total to
100 Hitchhikers, never any higher.
If the Hitchhiker Door Panel has been awarded on the current ball, this award is
worth an immediate 20M.
See also "Hitchhikers" and "Door Panel: Hitchhiker".
Camera: Lite Outlanes
This award lights the Outlanes (see "Lit Outlanes"). If the Outlanes are already
lit, this award has no effect. If they are partially lit, this award will reset
them to normally lit.
Camera: Collect Bonus
This award awards your current End-of-Ball Bonus exactly as if you had just
drained, except that there is no quote for a Bonus of 100M or more. It does not
change or reset any part of your Bonus, however. This is obviously the most
valuable award, if used properly.
See also "End-of-Ball Bonus".
Hitchhikers
The number of Hitchhikers you collect is counted over the course of the game.
You begin the game with one Hitchhiker. At all times except during Lost In The
Zone, the Hitchhiker Lane will award at least one Hitchhiker (Hitchhikers
awarded during Lost In The Zone do not count towards your normal total, although
Robots do). During normal play, hitting the Hitchhiker Lane switch twice in very
quick succession will only award one Hitchhiker, on the correct assumption that
the ball has tripped the switch once in each direction and not fallen into the
Jet Bumpers as it should. During Multiball modes, every trip of the switch
awards a Hitchhiker. Shooting the Left Orbit and then the Hitchhiker Lane within
the next second or two will award a Triple Pickup, which is three Hitchhikers.
This is true during all modes, including Lost In The Zone.
At the award of the third Hitchhiker and at every multiple of 10 Hitchhikers,
Battle The Power is lit on the Right Ramp. Lit Battle The Power's are stacked.
See "Battle The Power"
After the Hitchhiker Door Panel has been awarded, every Hitchhiker for the rest
of the current ball is worth 2M. The Triple Pickup is then worth 6M. The Camera
10 Hitchhikers award is then worth 20M.
During Lost In The Zone, Hitchhikers are worth 2M towards the Lost In The Zone
Total.
See also "Easter Eggs"
Battle The Power
There are many ways to light Battle The Power on the Right Ramp. Battle The
Power is lit at the third and every multiple of 10 Hitchhikers. It is also lit
by a Door Panel. It is also lit by every other Spiral award. It is also lit by
the Red award of the Super Skill Shot. It can also be automatically lit at the
beginning of the game if this option has been set in the menus.
When Battle The Power is lit, the Bridge Diverter will move aside to let the
ball onto the Powerfield. The Magna-Flip&tm; flippers are then active. You have
at least 10 seconds in which to attempt to defeat the Power, which is done by
magnetically propelling the ball through the upper exit from the Powerfield. The
Powerfield value starts at 5M, and is increased by all four scoring switches and
the opto at the top of the Powerfield. The value of these switches starts at
500K. After you first defeat the Power, the switch value is 750K for the rest of
the game. After the second defeat, the switch value is 1M. The switch value goes
no higher. The opto at the upper exit of the Powerfield counts as two switch
closures for this purpose.
Defeating the Power doubles the Powerfield value and awards the currently
flashing Door Panel (and advances the flashing light as if you had hit the
Player Piano), leaving the Player Piano in its current lit or unlit state (the
Slot Machine will always be lit, because you just hit the Right Ramp).
Defeating the Power also lights the Power Payoff targets for 10M. This is not
stacked.
The cumulative Powerfield values are part of your Bonus, to no known maximum.
Defeating the Power is detected by the combination of tripping the upper
playfield opto followed by the Camera sensor in the next few seconds. During
Powerball Mania and Lost In The Zone, this provides a way to "cheat" Mania
Jackpots by shooting the Camera while a ball is on the Powerfield.
Note that there is a grace period during which you can get a few more shots at
defeating the Power before Magna-Flip&tm; is truly disabled. However, it is
possible to defeat the Power so late that you will only be given credit for
shooting the Camera.
After any use of the Powerfield, a special ball search takes place to try to
make sure that all balls have exited the Powerfield. This special ball search
pulses Magna-Flip&tm; twice, and is of course only noticeable when a metal ball
has actually become stuck on the Powerfield.
If the Powerfield is not properly leveled, the ball will frequently become stuck
in either corner. The special ball search will then take effect. Regardless of
what dislodges the ball, you cannot defeat the Power at this point - a lucky
shot through the upper exit will behave as if you had simply shot the Camera.
Sometimes after a Multiball mode has ended, the Battle The Power light will not
be lit even if Battle The Power is available. I am not referring only to the
case in which the Powerball was involved in the previous Multiball and the
software is unsure where it now resides. I am also at a loss to explain why the
software sometimes stops balls on Spiral Helpers after a round such as Fast
Lock. Perhaps the Powerball was spuriously detected during the round and now the
software would like to make sure it's not on the playfield.
Gumball
Spell GUMBALL by hitting both ramps in normal play; the Left Ramp awards GUM and
the Right Ramp awards BALL. Spelling GUMBALL lights a Lock and the Gumball
Machine. Lit Gumball Machines are stacked, but you cannot spell GUMBALL again
until you have used the lit Lock or completed Multiball.
See also "Combo Shots"
Gumball Machine
The Gumball Machine can be lit by spelling GUMBALL or by the Lite Gumball Door
Panel. When it is lit, shoot the Right Orbit during normal play to load the
Gumball Machine. The Gumball Diverter will activate and the ball will be kicked
into the Gumball Machine. Another ball will then be fed from the bottom of the
Gumball Machine to the Slot Machine kickout by way of the Camera sinkhole. In
normal play, there should be three balls in the Gumball Machine, and typically
one of them is the Powerball, such that every third load of the Gumball Machine
will release the Powerball.
Loading the Gumball Machine the first time in a game (for each player) is worth
15M, the second time is worth 20M, and all subsequent loads are worth 25M. These
points are awarded immediately.
Note that on newer ROMs, an automatic plunge (as from a ball saver) will not
load the Gumball Machine (or start Powerball Mania).
Older machines lack a plastic piece in the Gumball Machine that keeps the balls
stacked vertically. In these machines, it is possible for the balls to rotate as
a ball is fed out, such that one ball is never let out of the Gumball Machine.
You should probably complain to your operator if you run into this problem.
Powerball
The Powerball is a ceramic ball much like a steel pinball. It is very slightly
lighter and very slightly larger. It plays very differently from a steel pinball
partly for these reasons and partly because it tends to spin and bounce
differently. The Powerball is, of course, completely immune to magnets.
There are two Powerball Sensors (called Proximity Sensors) in Twilight Zone; one
is in the trough at the next ball to be served, and the other is just above and
to the left of the Slot Machine kickout, such that the Sensor is crossed by
balls coming from the Player Piano, Camera, Gumball Machine, Powerfield upper
exit, and Dead End, but not by balls that enter the plunger lane scoop or the
Slot Machine itself.
When the Powerball is on the playfield during normal play and has been detected
by at least one of the Powerball Sensors, the Gumball Machine is lit for
Powerball Mania, and the Greed Targets are flashing. There is a Powerball Payoff
value which always starts at a base of 10M. The Greed Targets increase the
Powerball Payoff value (by 5M each) while the Powerball is known to be the only
ball on the playfield. All game features which do not involve the use of magnets
are still available at this time. Spiral Helper magnets are disabled and Battle
The Power is temporarily unavailable, but you may still collect Door Panels,
spell GUMBALL, light and use Locks, start Multiball, collect Combos, etc.
Whenever the Powerball completes an Orbit, a Powerball Loop is awarded, which is
worth an immediate 10M. This can be done with the left Orbit when Powerball
Mania is lit, or with either Orbit during any Multiball mode except Powerball
Mania itself.
Shooting the Right Orbit to the Gumball Diverter awards the current Powerball
Payoff value and starts Powerball Mania. See "Powerball Mania".
Note that on newer ROMs, an automatic plunge (as from a ball saver) will not
start Powerball Mania.
If the Powerball is missing from the machine, there is software compensation to
simulate it. When the Powerball is being simulated by software, the "Powerball"
display is in reverse video.
If the Powerball has not been detected after a certain number of consecutive
loads of the Gumball Machine (five or six?), it is simulated and Powerball Mania
begins immediately (there is no round in which to build up the Payoff value). It
is possible to encounter this form of compensation while the Powerball is
resting in the trough (rather than truly missing), by using stacked Gumball's
from previous spellings of GUMBALL. This form of compensation only happens when
the Trough Proximity Sensor is faulty.
This simulation of the Powerball may also be dictated by a menu adjustment,
which will cause the Powerball sensors to be ignored. In this case, the
Powerball is simulated for every second ball released from the Gumball Machine,
and a normal Powerball Payoff round is available while Powerball Mania is lit.
Note that if the powerball is being simulated (normally as the result of a menu
adjustment), every other ball dispensed by the Gumball Machine for each player
will be designated a Powerball.
The software attempts to deduce which ball is the Powerball by keeping track of
which balls are not the Powerball, although it is difficult to make good use of
this knowledge. The most helpful consequence of this is that the Powerball is
kept track of in the Lock Lane even though there is no Proximity Sensor there.
However, I have seen this lead to unusual behavior on some machines, where a
steel ball is released from the Lock and identified as the Powerball.
The software also keeps virtual track of where it thinks the Powerball is in the
Gumball Machine, as additional but not necessarily helpful verification that the
Machine and Proximity Sensors are working properly.
Powerball Mania
Powerball Mania can only be started by loading the Powerball into the Gumball
Machine when the game knows the Powerball is the only ball on the playfield, or
by every second load of the Gumball Machine when software compensation is active
as described under "Powerball".
Starting Powerball Mania immediately awards the current Powerball Payoff value,
which starts at 10M (5M on prototype ROMs) and is increased by the Greed Targets
before Powerball Mania. The Powerball is loaded back into the Gumball Machine,
one ball is fed from the Gumball Machine, and two other balls are put into play.
These other balls come from the Lock if possible, otherwise from the trough by
way of the automatic plunger.
The Clock counts down at the beginning of Powerball Mania. Until it reaches the
end of its cycle, all targets credit 250K to the Powerball Mania Total, which is
part of your End-of-Ball Bonus. The Powerball Mania Total begins at 5M. The
Clock never pauses when timing this initial Frenzy, even when all balls are out
of play (that is, locked or being launched).
There is a short grace period at the beginning of Powerball Mania, during which
balls that drain will be relaunched into play by the automatic plunger. It is
possible for all three balls to drain and be relaunched into play.
During Powerball Mania, the Right Ramp is flashing for a special version of
Battle The Power. You can shoot any number of balls up the Right Ramp to enter
the Powerfield, where Magna-Flip&tm; is active while the real flippers are also
active. Each ball that enters the Powerfield resets the timer for
Magna-Flip&tm;. The Powerfield switch value is always 750K during Powerball
Mania, and this is credited to your Powerball Mania Total. Therefore, during the
initial Frenzy, Powerfield switches credit a total of 1M each to the Powerball
Mania Total.
Defeating the Power during Powerball Mania awards a Mania Jackpot, which is
always 50M. This value is credited towards your Powerball Mania Total. After
defeating the Power, the timer continues for any balls remaining on the
Powerfield, but the Right Ramp no longer feeds the Powerfield. Hit the Left Ramp
to relight the Right Ramp to reach the Powerfield. After each Mania Jackpot, the
Powerfield timer becomes shorter, to a minimum of roughly four seconds. This
shorter timer applies to all subsequent Powerball Manias. It also seems that a
very quick drain from the Powerfield will make the next Powerfield timer more
generous.
You can collect "cheat" Mania Jackpots during Powerball Mania by shooting the
Camera after a ball has tripped the upper opto on the Powerfield. This can be
used to collect several Mania Jackpots with only one ball on the Powerfield.
It is possible to defeat the Power twice in very quick succession, such that
only one ball will be detected and only one Mania Jackpot awarded. This was
corrected in ROM revision L-4. The corrected version also makes it easier to
"cheat" multiple jackpots as a result.
As in all other Multiball modes, Door Panels, Combos, Spiral Values, and the
Camera are unavailable during Powerball Mania.
Powerball Mania ends when you drain at least two of the three balls in play.
The Low Line menu option applies to Powerball Mania. This option disables the
upper flippers during this mode, which provides more power to the Magna-Flip&tm;
magnets. These magnets invariably have less power while the flippers are active.
Locks
Locks are lit at the Lock Lane by spelling GUMBALL (see "Gumball"). Locks cannot
be stacked, as you cannot spell GUMBALL until you have used the currently lit
Lock.
On normal settings, only one Lock is needed to light the Left Ramp for the first
Multiball, and the second and third Locks are effectively lit for free. For the
second Multiball, locking the second ball will leave the Lock Lane lit for the
third Lock without spelling GUMBALL again. Menu adjustments can affect these
rules. Specifically, it is possible to allow Multiball to be started from the
Left Ramp after the first time, and to allow the third Lock to be lit for free
after the second time.
The Super Skill Shot on the Left Ramp takes precedence over starting Multiball.
See "Door Panel: Super Skill Shot".
Locking the third ball or hitting the Left Ramp when lit for Multiball
immediately starts Multiball. Multiball cannot be started during any other
Multiball mode or when the Fast Lock countdown is running. However, it is
compatible with all other rounds.
Multiball
When Multiball starts, the Jackpot is immediately lit at the Player Piano. Its
starting value is 15M if only one ball was locked before starting Multiball
(this is normally only possible for the first Multiball); otherwise it starts at
40M. On prototype ROMs, these values are each 5M less.
During Multiball, the Greed Targets are always flashing, lit to increase the
Jackpot value by 5M each. When a Greed Target is hit, it remains unlit until all
seven Targets have been hit or until a Jackpot has been collected, which resets
all seven Targets. When all seven Targets have been hit and the Jackpot has
still not been collected, one Target is lit at a time, proceeding in order from
the lower left set of three, to the far upper right, then from top to bottom in
the set of three at the Slot Machine. The Jackpot can be increased to a maximum
of 255M by hitting the Greed Targets.
Greed Targets which were lit by the unlit Clock Target during normal play before
Multiball remain lit during all Multiball modes but this is unrelated to the
Jackpot value.
Hit the Player Piano to collect the Jackpot. This resets the Jackpot to its
previous base value plus 10M. It also resets the Greed Targets and leaves the
Jackpot unlit. Relight the Jackpot by shooting the Camera. This sequence
proceeds as long as at least two balls are in play. There is a grace period for
shooting the Jackpot, during which a Door Panel will also be awarded from the
Player Piano after the Jackpot animation (if the Player Piano is in fact lit).
The base Jackpot value will only increase five times. This limits the base
Jackpot value to 65M or 90M, depending on how many balls were locked before
starting Multiball.
During the Jackpot animation, no balls are kicked out from the Slot Machine or
automatic plunger.
Spiral Helpers will help you with both the Jackpot and Camera shots as
appropriate, unless the Door Panel Spiral Round is running, in which case its
rules take precedence (see "Spiral Helpers"). When the Jackpot is lit, the left
Spiral Helper is active. When the Camera is lit to relight the Jackpot, the
right Spiral Helper is active. Note that during Multiball, both Spiral Helpers
will always be reachable from either Orbit. When the Spiral Helpers are active
(they can only be overridden by Spiral Breakthrus), a completed Orbit will be
credited as a Powerball Loop for 10M, on the assumption that the Powerball
completed an Orbit and was of course unaffected by the Spiral Helpers.
The Right Ramp will also neatly present the ball to the upper left flipper for a
shot at the Jackpot. When the Right Ramp is hit and the Jackpot is lit, other
kickouts will be delayed until you've been given a brief but clean shot at the
Jackpot. In fact, given a choice between dropping a ball from the Bridge
Diverter and activating other kickouts, the Bridge Diverter will take precedence
regardless of whether the Jackpot is lit or not. This is somewhat unfortunate.
However, when there is a ball in the Lock Lane or on the Right Spiral Helper and
the Camera is lit to relight the Jackpot, the Slot Machine kickout will be
delayed until you've been given a very brief but clean shot at the Camera.
Shooting the Jackpot with the Powerball (if properly detected) will award double
the Jackpot value. This value is displayed as doubled without regard to internal
8-bit overflow, such that a 255M Jackpot becomes 254M when doubled, 140M becomes
25M, etc. This is merely a display error, however; the correct value is still
added to your score.
Double Jackpots depend entirely on the Powerball Sensor at the Slot Machine;
they can be awarded even when the Powerball is obviously somewhere else. This
most commonly happens when a ball falls into the Slot Machine immediately after
a Jackpot registers; the software sees the ball at the Slot Machine before the
intervening Proximity Sensor detects a metal ball, so it assumes that the
Powerball passed from the Jackpot switch to the Slot Machine switch.
Double Jackpots are not available when menu adjustments indicate that the
Powerball is missing, because the Powerball Sensors are then categorically
ignored.
There is no grace period for relaunching balls during Multiball. If you drain
two of the three balls without collecting any Jackpots, the Lock Lane will be
lit for a Multiball Restart for 15 seconds. The Restart will resume Multiball as
it was before, with the Jackpot value as it was before, although subsequent
Jackpots will progress as if Multiball had been started with only one ball
locked; that is, the second Jackpot is 25M, and the maximum base value is 65M.
There is no grace period on the Multiball Restart, even though the music runs
for a second or two after the timer expires. There is, however, a lead-in grace
period. That is, if the last thing you shot was the Lock Lane when the other
balls drained, you may be given credit for the Restart immediately, even though
the ball has already been ejected from the Lock Lane. This is much appreciated.
In all Multiball modes (normal, Fast Lock, and Powerball Mania), Door Panels,
Combos, Spiral Values, and the Camera are unavailable. During the Multiball
Restart period, the only difference is that Combos are available.
Multiball ends when you drain at least two of the three balls in play, with the
exception of Multiball Restart as described above.
Spiral Values
Spiral Values are represented by a row of six lights directly above the lower
flippers. The Spiral Values are, in order:
2 Million
3 Million + Battle The Power
4 Million
5 Million + Battle The Power
10 Million
Lite Extra Ball + 10 Million + Battle The Power
After the last award, subsequent Spiral Values (until reset) alternate between
10 Million and 10 Million + Battle The Power. On normal settings, collecting the
last award will reset the Spiral Values at the beginning of the next ball, such
that only the first award is flashing.
On normal settings, the first two lights are lit at the beginning of the game,
and the third light is flashing. The flashing light represents the next Spiral
Value to be awarded. Collect a Spiral Value by shooting a lit Orbit. The Right
Orbit is lit by the Far Left Inlane, while the Left Orbit is lit by the Right
Inlane. Also, shooting either Orbit when unlit will light that Orbit. Orbits
only remain lit for a few seconds, and the timers do not ever pause. Shooting a
lit Orbit does not leave it lit for an additional Spiral Value.
Shooting an unlit Orbit does not light that Orbit for a Spiral Value if the
Spiral Helper on the near side was active, as this would make Spiral Values too
easy to collect under certain conditions (such as when the Camera is lit in
normal play). See "Spiral Helpers".
Normally, the Extra Ball lit by the last Spiral Value is a temporary Extra Ball.
See "Extra Balls".
On prototype machines, lighting Battle The Power was not part of the Spiral
Values.
Here's a truly bizarre case: If the Right Spiral is lit and you shoot the Lock
Lane but the ball jumps leftwards and over the divider that separates the Lock
Lane from the Gumball Diverter sinkhole, the Gumball Machine will be loaded
(with points awarded if the Gumball Machine was lit), and the next Spiral Value
will be awarded as compensation!
Spiral Helpers
The Spiral Helpers are magnets located on either Orbit. These magnets are
triggered by accompanying opto sensors and activated when appropriate. The exact
conditions for each Spiral Helper to be active are complex, and this section
attempts to describe all possible situations. Thanks go to Mark Phaedrus,
phaedrus@halcyon.com, for the format of this explanation. The conditions are
listed below, with precedence from top to bottom. If no information is presented
for one Orbit under a given condition, that condition does not affect Helpers on
that Orbit shot.
Powerball is known to be the only ball on the playfield (obvious case):
left Orbit: no Helper
right Orbit: no Helper
Spiral Round running, fourth and later Orbits for Spiral Breakthru:
left Orbit: no Helper
right Orbit: no Helper
Lost In The Zone running:
left Orbit: no Helper
right Orbit: no Helper
Gumball Machine lit for GUMBALL or Powerball Mania:
right Orbit: no Helper
Automatic plunger during Multiball:
right Orbit: no Helper (left Helper on slow balls if Jackpot lit)
Automatic plunger for ball saver:
right Orbit: left Helper active if Right Spiral is lit, but right Helper is
always disabled
Jackpot lit during Multiball:
left Orbit: left Helper
right Orbit: left Helper
Camera lit during Multiball:
left Orbit: right Helper
right Orbit: right Helper
Town Square Madness running:
left Orbit: right Helper
right Orbit: right Helper
Camera lit during normal play:
left Orbit: right Helper
right Orbit: right Helper
Spiral Round running, first Orbit:
left Orbit: left Helper
right Orbit: right Helper
Spiral Round running, second Orbit:
left Orbit: left Helper
right Orbit: right Helper if first Orbit was on left
right Orbit: left Helper if first Orbit was on right
Spiral Round running, third Orbit:
left Orbit: right Helper
right Orbit: right Helper if first two Orbits were on left left Helper if Orbit
has been made on right
Spiral Value lit on left Orbit:
left Orbit: right Helper
Spiral Value lit on right Orbit:
right Orbit: left Helper
Normal play:
left Orbit: no Helper
right Orbit: no Helper
Note that none of the Helper behaviors prevent the award of lit Spiral Values,
although some cases make it easier to collect a Spiral Value. Specifically, if a
Spiral Helper is active on the near side of a lit Spiral, credit is given for
the entire Spiral shot when the ball reaches the near Spiral Helper, provided
that the ball appears to reach that Spiral Helper before the opposite Helper.
For example, when the Camera is lit in normal play, a weak Right Orbit shot can
collect a lit Spiral Value by only reaching the right Spiral Helper, rather than
having to go all the way around to the left Spiral Helper.
Credit is given for the lit right Spiral whenever a ball is loaded into the
Gumball Machine.
Also, shooting the Left Orbit to the right Spiral Helper when Town Square
Madness is running or the Camera is lit (in normal play) does not disallow
collecting the Triple Pickup by shooting the Hitchhiker Lane.
When Spiral Helpers are lit during any Multiball mode and a ball completes an
Orbit without being properly caught, a Powerball Loop will be awarded for 10M,
on the assumption that the Powerball has just rightfully ignored the Spiral
Helper magnets. Note that in order to detect legitimate Powerball Loops, the
Spiral Helpers are enabled when the Powerball is known to be the only ball in
play.
The Spiral Round can be very confusing. The basic idea is that the left Spiral
Helper is used no more than twice and the right Spiral Helper is used no more
than once. When shooting an Orbit, if the near Spiral Helper is still available
according to these specifications, it will be activated; otherwise, the far
Spiral Helper will be activated. After three Spirals have been collected,
Helpers are deactivated for the remainder of the Spiral round.
During the Spiral Round, loading the Gumball Machine behaves as if a normal
right Orbit was completed, counting as one use of the right Helper if it had not
been used previously, otherwise counting as a use of the left Helper. Also, a
ball ejected from the Lock Lane can trip the right Helper and give credit for a
Spiral award if the right Helper had not yet been used.
If fewer than two Spirals have been collected during the Spiral Round and a ball
is automatically plunged, two Spiral values are awarded, one for each Spiral
Helper.
Similarly, if the Powerball is used to complete an Orbit during the Spiral Round
(before two Spirals have been collected), two Spiral awards will be given, plus
the 10M Powerball Loop. This is usually only possible on the left loop when
Powerball Mania is lit, although it could also theoretically be done during
Multiball if the autoplunger failed to collect more than one Spiral award
automatically.
If the ball is launched from the automatic plunger when this is not expected
(due to some hardware failure), the overrides described above for the automatic
plunger do not apply. In particular, the ball can be launched directly onto the
active Right Spiral Helper, which does a very impressive job of decelerating it.
In general, the right Spiral Helper gets more use than the left one.
Lit Outlanes
The Outlanes can be lit by a Camera award or by the Orange award of the Super
Skill Shot. The Left Outlane lights for an Extra Ball (the only Extra Ball which
is not awarded from the Lock Lane), and the Right Outlane lights for Special. On
normal settings, Outlanes are "hard", which means that only one Outlane is lit
at a time (starting with the left for Extra Ball), and the lit Outlane is
steered by the slingshots. Hitting either slingshot moves the light to the
opposite Outlane. When one lit Outlane has been collected, the other will be lit
on every second slingshot hit.
Strangely, the light is also moved to the opposite Outlane when you collect an
Extra Ball, either at the Lock Lane or from the Left Outlane itself.
When the Outlanes are set to "easy", both Outlanes are lit at once and the
slingshots and Lock Lane have no effect on the Outlanes.
Lighting the Outlanes when they are already lit has no effect unless one Outlane
has already been collected, in which case the Outlanes are reset to normally
lit. You cannot have both Outlanes simultaneously lit on the default "hard"
settings.
The Door
The Door is arguably the most central feature of Twilight Zone. The Door is a
large collection of lights in the lower middle of the playfield, representing a
grid of awards and progress towards Multiball. The four large red lights
indicate progress in spelling GUMBALL and locking balls. The yellow lights on
the perimeter of the Door represent Door Panels, which are awards and rounds
described in later sections. The small white Door handle represents Lost In The
Zone, which also has its own section.
On normal settings, collecting the Yellow award from a normal skill shot will
spot the 10 Million Door Panel. Menu adjustments also allow the free spotting of
the Battle The Power and Lite Gumball Door Panels whenever that award has been
accomplished in some other fashion. These rather unusual settings are intended
to make it easier to reach Lost In The Zone by reducing the number of times one
must shoot the Player Piano or the Slot Machine or defeat the Power.
Collecting any Extra Ball disables the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel on the current
Door, regardless of settings. Also, if you have the maximum number of Extra
Balls stacked when you begin a new Door, the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel will be
spotted. See "Extra Balls".
Starting Multiball makes many noisy references to the Door. See "Quotes".
Player Piano
During normal play and when lit (yellow light), the Player Piano awards the
currently flashing Door Panel. The flashing light then advances clockwise to the
next available Door Panel (or to the Door Handle), and the Player Piano remains
unlit unless Lost In The Zone is the next award. The Player Piano is lit by the
Left Ramp. On normal settings, the Player Piano is automatically lit at the
beginning of each ball. This is not true on hard settings or for five ball play.
During Multiball, the lit Player Piano (red light) awards the Jackpot.
Odd Change
When the Player Piano is unlit or unavailable because of a running Multiball
mode, it awards Odd Change. This is a random value between 10 and 9,999,990,
inclusive. The distribution of these values is certainly not even. It seems most
likely that a random number of digits (two to seven) is selected and then the
digits are generated. During Lost In The Zone, however, Odd Change values are
always seven digits.
An Odd Change value of 10M is not possible.
Slot Machine
During normal play and when lit, the Slot Machine awards a random Door Panel. If
at all possible, this is not the currently flashing Door Panel or the Lite Extra
Ball Door Panel. Unless the currently flashing Door Panel was awarded, the
flashing light is not affected by this award. The Slot Machine remains unlit
until relit indefinitely by the Right Ramp or temporarily by the Near Left
Inlane. On normal settings, the Slot Machine is automatically lit at the
beginning of each ball. On hard settings or for five ball play, this is not the
case.
The unlit Slot Machine awards 100K.
Hitting the Slot Machine immediately after a kickout from the Slot Machine
awards nothing, on the assumption that the ball was not properly kicked out. The
timing for this is flawless and it should be impossible to hit the ball back in
quickly enough to have a problem with this.
The Slot Machine tends to favor the weaker awards, such as 10 Million, Lite
Gumball, Battle The Power, and Super Slot.
Door Panels
There are fifteen Door Panels, counting the Handle. During normal play, the
currently flashing Door Panel is awarded by the lit Player Piano or by defeating
the Power, and a random Door Panel is awarded by the lit Slot Machine. There is
no other way to collect Door Panels.
Lit Door Panels have already been collected or spotted, and cannot be collected
again until after Lost In The Zone has been completed. The flashing Door Panel
is rotated clockwise by the Jet Bumpers.
At the beginning of the game, one of four Door Panels will be the currently
flashing award: Town Square Madness, Clock Millions, Camera, or Clock Chaos.
This is not necessarily the same for each player in a multi-player game.
The Door Panels are described here in clockwise order, starting in the upper
left corner.
Door Panel: Town Square Madness
This is a timed round of normal length, during which all targets increase the
Town Square Madness Total, which is part of the End-of-Ball Bonus. Starting Town
Square Madness credits 3M to the Town Square Madness Total. Every switch in the
game increases that Total by 350K. Each hit of the Jet Bumpers credits the
current switch value and increases that switch value by 25K. The maximum switch
value during Town Square Madness is 1M.
When Town Square Madness is running, the right Spiral Helper will catch balls to
allow a shot at the Hitchhiker Lane, subject to various conditions. See "Spiral
Helpers".
Door Panel: Lite Extra Ball
This award immediately lights an Extra Ball, provided that you do not currently
have too many Extra Balls. Collecting any Extra Ball will disable this award on
the current Door. If Extra Balls have been completely disabled by menu
adjustments, this Door Panel will always be lit and does not need to be
collected in order to reach Lost In The Zone. If you begin a new Door and
already have the maximum number of Extra Balls stacked, this Door Panel will be
lit and unavailable.
See also "Extra Balls".
Door Panel: Super Slot
This is a timed round of normal length, during which the Slot Machine's yellow
light is rapidly flashing, and the Slot Machine is worth a random value of 10M
to 20M (by millions) in addition to its usual behavior. These points are awarded
immediately. In order to collect Door Panels from the Slot Machine during this
round, you must light it in the usual fashion.
Door Panel: Clock Millions
This is a timed round of normal length, during which the Clock Target is worth
the current position of the Clock's hour hand, in millions. Because the Clock
runs from noon to midnight, this means that there is a brief initial period
during which the Clock Target is worth 12M. Values awarded by the Clock Target
are credited to the Clock Millions Total, which is part of the End-of-Ball
Bonus. Starting Clock Millions credits 5M to this Total. During the brief grace
period, the Clock Target's value is 12M. This grace period is actually long
enough to hit the Clock Target twice.
Scoring at least six hits on the Clock Target during this round will award a
special 10M Clock Damage Bonus (and animation) when the round ends, unless the
sixth hit was scored during the ending grace period.
Door Panel: The Spiral
This is a timed round of normal length, during which all Orbit shots are worth a
special value in addition to normal behavior, and during which most typical
Spiral Helper behavior is overridden (for an exact description of behavior, see
"Spiral Helpers"). The first two Orbit shots are worth 10M each, the third is
worth 15M, and all subsequent Orbit shots during this round award a Spiral
Breakthru for 15M. These points are awarded immediately, in addition to other
awards, and there is no grace period for collecting these values.
Door Panel: Battle The Power
This Door Panel lights Battle The Power on the Right Ramp (these can be
stacked). If the Powerfield is currently unavailable (for example, the Powerball
is on the playfield), lit Battle The Power's are remembered.
This Door Panel can be spotted by lighting Battle The Power in any other
fashion, if the appropriate menu adjustment has been made.
Door Panel: 10 Million
This Door Panel immediately awards 10M. Big Points ;-)
This Door Panel is spotted by the Yellow award from the normal skill shot on
normal settings.
Door Panel: Greed
This is a timed round of normal length, during which all seven Greed Targets are
flashing. In addition to their normal behavior, these Targets credit 5M to the
Greed Total, which is part of the End-of-Ball Bonus. Starting the Greed round
credits 5M to this Total. Hitting a flashing Target unlights it. When all seven
Targets have been hit, all of the Targets will return to flashing status.
A Greed Total of 25M or more will earn a familiar quote from Rod: "There, see
what Greed will get you?"
Door Panel: Camera
This Door Panel lights the Camera twice. Lit Cameras are stacked, of course. See
"Camera".
Door Panel: Hitchhiker
This Door Panel awards an immediate 2M for each Hitchhiker that you currently
have, and makes every Hitchhiker collected for the rest of the current ball
worth an immediate 2M (Triple Pickup awards 6M, Camera: 10 Hitchhikers awards
20M). The points count down slowly at first but soon become gunfire. Collecting
this Door Panel twice on a single ball does not increase this value,
unfortunately.
Because the maximum number of Hitchhikers is 100, the maximum value of this
award is a pleasant 200M.
On L-4 ROMs, the volume is turned down considerably during this award.
Door Panel: Clock Chaos
This is a timed round of potentially unlimited length. A base of 5M is credited
to the Clock Chaos Total, which is part of your End-of-Ball Bonus. The Clock
winds itself to 6 o'clock and starts slowly winding backwards towards noon.
Hitting the Clock Target credits the current value of the Clock's hour hand in
millions to the Clock Chaos Total, and reverses the direction of the Clock's
winding. When this happens, the music ("Pop Goes The Weasel") and the winding
become faster.
Scoring at least six hits on the Clock Target during this round will get you a
special quote and adds 25M to the Clock Chaos Total; see "Easter Eggs".
Hitting the Clock Target during the grace period will credit 12M to the Clock
Chaos Total and resume the Clock Chaos round! At least once, however, I have
received a mysterious 63M towards my Clock Chaos Total for doing this.
Clock Chaos is undoubtedly the worst time for the physical Clock to be disabled
because the software believes it is malfunctioning. It is much, much easier to
read the current time and direction of time from the real Clock than it is from
the display, especially during Multiball modes.
The good news is that if the Clock is indeed working, Clock Chaos will always
take precedence over any other round that wants to use the Clock.
Door Panel: Super Skill Shot
This Door Panel lights the Left Ramp for the Super Skill Shot, which takes
precedence over Multiball on the Ramp. Hitting the Left Ramp during normal play
(including when the Powerball is on the playfield) will divert the ball into the
manual plunger lane, where the Skill Shot Rollovers are lit for very attractive
awards.
For the Super Skill Shot, all three awards and the scoop award 10M, regardless
of skill. The Red award lights Battle The Power (see "Battle The Power"). The
Orange award lights the Outlanes (see "Lit Outlanes"). The Yellow award lights a
temporary Extra Ball (see "Extra Balls"). Missing simply awards 10M and ejects
the ball from the Slot Machine Kickout.
Super Skill Shots cannot be stacked.
Door Panel: Fast Lock
This is a timed round of normal length, during which a radio tunes itself down
from 17.3M to 5.3M before the round ends. During this time, the Lock Lane is lit
to award the current value and start Fast Lock Multiball. The gimmick here is
that the sound effects, quotes, and music during this round and the (optional)
ensuing Multiball correspond to previous games of Pat Lawlor design. These
effects, quotes, and music are listed here in the order they are presented
during the round (with thanks and credit to Bowen Kerins,
bowen@cardinal.stanford.edu):
The Addams Family: Sounds of Cousin It mumbling. When hit, Cousin It yelps.
During Multiball, Jackpot lit music from The Addams Family.
Funhouse: Rudy says, "Hey, it's only pinball!" When hit, Rudy says, "Gulp...
bleaagggh!" During Multiball, Jackpot lit music from Funhouse.
Whirlwind: "Return to your homes." When hit, "Do not panic." During Multiball,
post-Jackpot music from Whirlwind.
Earthshaker: "It's sunny drive time!" When hit, "Ooh, gimme shelter!" During
Multiball, normal Earthshaker theme music.
Banzai Run: "Welcome race fans!" When hit, "Go for the hill!" During Multiball,
normal Banzai Run theme music.
Sometimes you will hear a spurious quote from a previous machine just as
FasDuring Fast Lock Multiball, the Lock Lane is lit for the same value that was
collected at the beginning of the Multiball. As in all other Multiball modes,
Door Panels, Combos, Spiral Values, the Camera, and other Multiball modes are
unavailable during Fast Lock Multiball. Strangely enough, however, the Lock Lane
will no longer award Robots during this round.
Fast Lock Multiball ends when you drain at least two of the three balls in play.
There is no grace period at all for relaunching balls. However, there is a brief
grace period for collecting one last Fast Lock value.
Door Panel: Lite Gumball
This Door Panel lights the Gumball Machine on the Right Orbit (these can be
stacked).
This Door Panel can be spotted by lighting the Gumball Machine in the usual
fashion (by spelling GUMBALL), if the appropriate menu adjustment has been made.
Lost In The Zone
The last Door Panel is the Handle. When the Handle is flashing, the Player Piano
and Slot Machine should automatically be lit (although there are some strange
cases on machines that do not automatically relight both at the beginning of
each ball). The Handle can also be awarded by defeating the Power during Battle
The Power.
The Door Handle awards Lost In The Zone. This is a slow timed round (total
duration is 45 seconds) during which almost every playfield feature is active
and all six balls are kept in play by the automatic plunger (the Gumball Machine
is emptied at the beginning of the round). During this round:
Clock Millions is running, adding to the current Clock Millions Total.
Town Square Madness is running, adding to the current Town Square Madness Total.
However, only the Jet Bumpers appear to award the current switch value, as
typical Town Square Madness values are impossibly low.
Powerball Mania is running, adding to the current Powerball Mania Total. This
means that the Powerfield is lit and defeating the Power is worth 50M. The Left
Ramp relights the Right Ramp to reach the Powerfield. The detection of Mania
Jackpots seems to be extremely forgiving during Lost In The Zone, and shooting
the Camera while a ball is on the Powerfield almost guarantees that you will
receive credit for a Mania Jackpot.
The Greed round is running, with all seven Greed Targets flashing all of the
time. This adds to the current Greed Total.
Odd Change is always lit at the Player Piano and is always a seven digit value.
An Odd Change Total is tracked, with an initial value of 10M.
Super Slot is always lit at the Slot Machine. A Super Slot Total is tracked,
which has an initial value of 20M.
Hitchhikers are worth 2M, but are not remembered after Lost In The Zone ends
(that is to say, they are not added to your running total). You are given credit
for 5 Hitchhikers at the start of LITZ, guaranteeing a total of at least 10M.
Dead End behaves normally, although the screen indicates that it "is lit". You
must still light and relight Dead End as in normal play.
The Left Ramp is worth 10M (and Extra Balls can be lit by Robots).
When the round ends, the flippers go dead and your Lost In The Zone Total is
computed:
2M per Hitchhiker collected during LITZ
Odd Change Total
Super Slot Total
Town Square Madness Total (includes total from current ball)
Greed Total (includes total from current ball)
Clock Millions Total (includes total from current ball)
Powerball Mania (includes total from current ball)
10M per Left Ramp collected during this round
All values which are part of the Lost In The Zone Total are reset to zero. The
only values which will remain for your current End-Of-Ball Bonus (other than the
base) are Clock Chaos and Powerfield.
While this total is being computed, the automatic plunger attempts to reload the
Gumball Machine.
With the exception of Fast Lock, rounds that are running at the beginning of
Lost In The Zone continue to run throughout the round. This is especially nice
in certain cases:
Camera: Clock 10 Millions will greatly improve your Clock Millions Total, as
many balls will be hitting the Clock Target.
Door Panel: Spiral will award numerous Spiral Breakthrus at 15M each, although
these do not count towards the Lost In The Zone Total.
Clock Chaos is also handy but does not count towards the Total.
However, rounds which are automatically started as part of Lost In The Zone do
not run twice, so to speak, if they are running when Lost In The Zone is
started. It is better to maximize the points from that round before starting
Lost In The Zone, as those points will then go towards your Lost In The Zone
Total.
Combos, Spiral Values, the Camera, and of course Door Panels are unavailable
during Lost In The Zone. Lit Outlanes can be collected, however, as can lit
Extra Balls from the Lock Lane.
The Town Square value is increased normally during Lost In The Zone (to its
usual maximum of 25M), and the unlit Camera will advance a Jet Bumper if the
Jets are not at maximum.
Collecting a Special from the lit Right Outlane during Lost In The Zone will
delay its animation until Lost In The Zone has ended. Strangely, the animation
will display REPLAY rather than SPECIAL.
Extra Balls
There are many ways to get Extra Balls in Twilight Zone, and there are some
unusual interactions to be noted. Almost all Extra Balls are lit at the Lock
Lane, and almost the only way to collect an Extra Ball is to shoot the Lock
Lane. There are only two exceptions - see "Extra Ball Buy-In" and "Lit
Outlanes".
The most obvious Extra Ball is lit by a Door Panel award. However, collecting
any Extra Ball will disable this Panel on the current Door, robbing you of one
potential Extra Ball. This cannot be prevented by any menu adjustment. Also, the
Slot Machine will not give out the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel unless it has no
choice (which is an unlikely situation, to say the least).
An Extra Ball is lit by Robots; typically between 6 and 14 Robots are required
(this value reflexes). Another Extra Ball is lit at 45 Robots.
All other Extra Balls are temporary; that is, if they are not collected on the
current ball, they will no longer be lit. This also applies with the Extra Ball
Buy-In; any temporary Extra Balls that are lit will disappear when you use the
Buy-In.
The sixth Spiral Value lights an Extra Ball. This can only be achieved once per
ball, and the Spiral Value is fully reset to the first award at the beginning of
every ball after lighting the Extra Ball in this fashion.
The left Outlane awards an Extra Ball when lit. See "Lit Outlanes".
A temporary Extra Ball is lit at a certain number of Dead Ends, typically 3, but
menu adjustable between 2 and 7, inclusive.
The Yellow award of the Super Skill Shot lights a temporary Extra Ball. This is
the only temporary Extra Ball which cannot be made permanent by any menu
adjustments.
There is normally a limit on the number of Extra Balls you can collect at any
one time. When you have reached this limit, no more Extra Balls will be lit;
instead, they are simply skipped. This is particularly rude when you consider
that most such Extra Balls cannot then be lit at some later time. The normal
limit is to allow no more than four Extra Balls to be collected at any one time.
If you do manage to light Extra Balls such that you can collect more than four
at once, you will still only have four Extra Balls, although the only way to
verify this is by examining the Status Report (that is, the animations proceed
normally).
If you have the maximum number of Extra Balls stacked when you complete Lost In
The Zone, the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel will be lit and therefore unavailable
on the new Door. If you have the maximum number of Extra Balls stacked when you
hit the Super Skill Shot, the Yellow award will be only 10M. Lighting Outlanes
when you have the maximum number of Extra Balls stacked will only light the
right Outlane (on the default "hard" settings, this means it is lit only for
every second slingshot hit).
During Multiball modes, including Lost In The Zone, lighting an Extra Ball while
a ball is being briefly held in the Lock Lane will award the Extra Ball
immediately. Collecting an Extra Ball during Lost In The Zone does not
necessarily (but see above) spot the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel on the next
Door.
Combo Shots
Most of this information comes from Bowen Kerins and other netters, as I have
personally made limited use of Combo Shots in Twilight Zone. There are plenty of
these shots, however.
The only 2-way Combo is the Gum-Ball Combo, which is Left Ramp followed by Right
Ramp, when neither GUM nor BALL has been spelled for the next Lock. This is
worth 5M and if Battle The Power is not lit, you can proceed to 3-way or 4-way
Combos. It is possible (but extremely rare) to collect this Combo by shooting
both ramps just as a Multiball mode ends, and find that only BALL has been
spelled. This is very strange, of course.
These are the 3-way Combos, each worth 10M:
Left Ramp -> Right Ramp -> Player Piano (regardless of GUMBALL)
Left Ramp -> Lock Lane (unlit) -> Camera
Left Ramp -> Lock Lane (unlit) -> Hitchhiker Lane
These are the 4-way Combos, each worth 20M:
Left Ramp -> Right Ramp -> Hidden Lane -> Camera
Left Ramp -> Right Ramp -> Hidden Lane -> Hitchhiker Lane
Left Ramp -> Right Spiral (without Spiral Helpers) -> Hidden Lane -> Hitchhiker
Lane
Left Ramp -> Right Spiral (without Spiral Helpers) -> Hidden Lane -> Camera
These Combos do not actually exist, but have been listed here previously in
error:
Right Ramp -> Hidden Lane -> Camera
Right Ramp -> Hidden Lane -> Hitchhiker Lane
Left Ramp -> Right Spiral (with right Spiral Helper) -> Camera
Left Ramp -> Right Spiral (with right Spiral Helper) -> Hitchhiker Lane
Note that in non-prototype machines, there is no opto sensor in the Hidden Lane
(and even when present, such a sensor is ignored by newer software); Combos
which involve the Hidden Lane can actually be scored without passing through it,
usually through a very strange bounce. However, a certain delay seems to be
necessary in order to receive credit. Also, Combos are sometimes mysteriously
not awarded, for no apparent reason. For the most part, hitting miscellaneous
targets while completing a Combo does not interfere with collecting that Combo.
Combo Shots are unavailable during all Multiball modes. However, they are
available during the 15 second Multiball restart (except the Gumball Combo, of
course).
Collecting a Replay while the ball is sitting in the Bridge Diverter will
prevent you from completing any Combos you were working on.
Bonus Multiplier
The Bonus Multiplier is increased by the Left Ramp when briefly lit by the Right
Inlane. It progresses to 2X, 3X, 4X, and a maximum of 5X. This is available at
all times. The Bonus Multiplier is never held over between balls.
Whenever the Bonus Multiplier is increased, the Left Ramp also awards two Robots
rather than one (unless, of course, you have reached Super Robots). After
reaching 5X, the Left Ramp will only award one Robot.
End-of-Ball Bonus
End-of-Ball Bonus is the sum of many different things. Some of these subtotals
are also part of the Lost In The Zone total, which resets such subtotals to
zero. Your entire current End-of-Ball Bonus is awarded (but not reset) by the
Camera: Collect Bonus award.
The base upon which End-of-Ball Bonus is built is:
((500K * Hitchhikers) + (500K * Door Panels)) * Bonus Multiplier
The subtotals from all appropriate rounds are then added to this base. A grand
total of 100M or more earns a quote from Rod: "Big risk, big reward... in the
Twilight Zone". You can speed up the Bonus countdown by holding both flippers;
doing so will also eliminate the quote.
Other elements of the End-of-Ball Bonus are:
Town Square Madness
Clock Millions (includes Camera: Clock 10 Millions)
Clock Chaos
Greed
Powerfield (normal Battle The Power play)
Powerball Mania
See also "Easter Eggs".
Ball Savers
By default, there is no ball saver during the course of a normal game of
Twilight Zone. A ten second ball saver is enabled after the Extra Ball Buy-In,
and a ball saver can be operator selected for up to fifteen seconds, but only on
the first ball of the game! Both of these ball savers have timers which run
regardless of other activity, once the ball has been put into play. This is most
unfortunate.
There is at least one ball saver as compensation for what the software believes
to be failed hardware. If a successful Skill Shot is made (this includes the
Super Skill Shot) and the ball does not land properly in the Rocket Kicker and
drains shortly thereafter, the ball will be autoplunged. This can be relied upon
if you're being tricky.
Normally, a ball which is kicked out of the Slot Machine and drains without
hitting anything is considered a true drain. However, very rarely, the ball will
quietly be returned to the manual plunger lane, even though points have been
scored. I have also seen this happen at the end of Powerball Mania, for no
apparent reason.
Tips, Tricks, Strategies
My tips, tricks, and strategies are presented in an order that roughly
corresponds to the order of analogous sections in the rest of the Rules Sheet.
Think of this section as wholesale undiluted opinion and advice that builds upon
the mechanics and semantics described in other sections.
In my opinion, the foundation of Twilight Zone is its ramps, particularly the
Left Ramp. The ramps are used to spell GUMBALL to light Locks and the Gumball
Machine, to light Extra Balls and the Camera, and to relight the Player Piano
and Slot Machine. They are also used to active special features such as Battle
The Power and the Super Skill Shot. Therefore, the second most important shots
to master in Twilight Zone are the two ramps, either of which you should be able
to hit from either lower flipper.
However, the most important "shot" to master is gaining control of a ball coming
from the Slot Machine kickout. Unfortunately, this kickout is generally very
inconsistent from machine to machine and, in fact, from minute to minute. Your
options include a drop catch, holding the right flipper up (which may also lead
to a perfect bounce for a catch on the left on some machines), or just letting
the ball bounce over. A particularly tricky option is to attempt to live catch
the ball. If the kickout is reasonable and reliable, I prefer to simply attack
the ejected ball, shooting for either ramp or the Left Orbit, whichever is
appropriate at the time.
The most disagreeable shot is certainly the Lock Lane, because of its narrow
sweet spot and its tendency to bounce back out towards the center drain even
when hit fair and square. Shooting the Slot Machine is tricky for similar
reasons. Most other shots in the game are, to varying degrees, easily mastered.
My first bit of advice for playing Twilight Zone is that in most cases the Skill
Shot should be avoided. The payoff is relatively slim, and because the ball is
automatically delivered into the Jet Bumpers afterwards, there is a significant
risk of a quick left drain. In fact, Pat Lawlor has been known to describe this
design as "not one of my shining moments as a designer". If a ball saver is
active, it is quite reasonable to go for the Skill Shot. In particular,
collecting the Yellow Award has the benefit of spotting the 10M Door Panel.
Also, it is important to master the manual plunger in order to reap the benefits
of the Super Skill Shot.
One trick which is helpful with the Skill Shot and especially the Super Skill
Shot (because if you have collected the Super Yellow Award, it is essential to
collect the lit Extra Ball as soon as possible) is shaking the ball out of the
Rocket Kicker. If a nudge is given as the ball first lands in the Kicker, a good
bounce and a few additional nudges will encourage the ball to fall out of the
Kicker and come to the lower right flipper. This can be done even with fairly
sensitive Tilt on the machine. Doing this after a Skill Shot has the added
advantage of enabling a "secret" ball saver. In fact, you may want to purposely
let the ball drain in order to have it autoplunged.
You can generally ignore the unlit Clock Target unless you see that all or
nearly all of the Greed Targets are lit and you just can't resist going for the
10M Clock Bonus. Note that the 10M Clock Bonus is also lit for free when you
collect Camera: Lite Greed Targets or use the Extra Ball Buy-In.
I generally ignore the Town Square value. In the course of a good ball, it will
reach a high enough value to make Dead Ends and the Camera: 3X Town Square award
attractive, but it is too dangerous to shoot for Town Square specifically. The
best exception to this is various Multiball modes, particularly Fast Lock.
During these modes, it is slightly less dangerous to put the ball in the Jet
Bumpers, simply because one quick drain won't necessarily end the current ball.
Dead Ends are a lot of fun to shoot for, or at least some people think so. The
Dead End can become a very important shot towards the end of a very long game,
when Extra Balls are becoming very scarce. Lost In The Zone can also be a very
good time to pick up Dead Ends, because it is always lit. Note that if you are
playing on a fairly shallow but fast machine, the Jet Bumpers will tend to knock
the ball up into the Dead End sinkhole automatically, which is very pleasant, as
it also provides a safe exit from the Jet Bumpers. Actually, the Jet Bumpers can
also knock the ball around the Dead End sinkhole and backwards down the
Hitchhiker Lane!
The Dead End Bonus of 100M isn't necessarily worthwhile in terms of points,
unless you find yourself very close to it, but it's awfully cool and worth
seeing at least once if you get the chance.
The first Extra Ball lit by Robots reflexes (I've never seen it higher than 14,
but this proves nothing). A high value for this can actually be a good thing, as
it provides more time for you to try to collect the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel
before collecting (or better yet, lighting) any other Extra Balls. Of course, it
also makes it harder to collect any Extra Ball other than the one from the Door
- that's the entire idea of reflexing, after all.
I do not feel that Super Robots are especially worthwhile. The 5M award was
noteworthy on The Addams Family (for Super Bear Bonus, which is clearly the
origin of Super Robots), but not really in line with the scoring on Twilight
Zone. But the real problem is that once you have reached Super Robots, the only
way to light the Camera is the Door Panel, which will usually only be collected
a very few times during the course of the game. In a long game, the Camera will
eventually become unavailable and gameplay is at least slightly weakened as a
result.
With a few exceptions, I try to collect all lit Camera awards as soon as
possible. If the award is fairly uninteresting (20M, Hold Town Square, 3X Town
Square, for example), collect it in order to get it out of the way and see what
the next award is. You may want to hold off a bit on the other awards, however.
Lite Greed Targets is sometimes almost completely unhelpful (for example, most
or all of the Targets are already lit). Clock 10 Millions is best when used in
conjunction with Door Panel Clock Millions or any Multiball mode. 10 Hitchhikers
will light Battle The Power; if it is currently unlit and you have a useful Door
Panel lit at the Player Piano, you may prefer to have the clean shot from the
upper left flipper instead of having to defeat the Power. Lite Outlanes is best
for Multiball modes; in fact, lit Outlanes are sometimes the best reason for
starting Multiball modes, especially Fast Lock.
And last and most notably, the Collect Bonus award from the Camera should not be
wasted. Your End-Of-Ball Bonus can be well into the hundreds of millions.
Battling the Power a few times or having a good Powerball Mania or a few more
Door Panels or even a better Bonus Multiplier will provide double rewards when
you use the Collect Bonus award, and there's nothing as disappointing as picking
up the Collect Bonus award at the beginning of a ball.
Hitchhikers are generally dangerous to shoot for, just because the Jet Bumpers
are dangerous. The best time to pick up Hitchhikers is during Multiball modes,
especially Fast Lock. Triple Pickups are the most efficient way to pick up
Hitchhikers, of course. On many machines, a Triple Pickup can be automatically
collected by simply holding the upper right flipper up after a fast Left Orbit
shot. Be careful, though - if this misses, you may find the ball in the Right
Outlane. Whether or not this works is almost entirely dependent on the speed of
the table, and to a lesser degree to its angle of steepness.
I highly recommend trying to pick up 100 Hitchhikers, just to say you've done
it. Collecting the Hitchhiker Door Panel with 100 Hitchhikers is particularly
thrilling.
There are many strategies for battling the Power. The most important thing is to
get the hang of flipping for just long enough to maximize the effect on the
ball. Flipping too briefly will not impart enough velocity, while flipping for
too long will slow the ball down on its path away from the magnet. The best way
to practice this is to battle gently - flipping once and watching where the ball
goes, then flipping again, and so on. You may wish to adopt this "gentle" style
for real battling, but its disadvantage is that it does not build a very large
Powerfield value at all.
Another strategy is to flip repeatedly with the Magna-Flip&tm; that the ball is
nearest, bouncing the ball off of the two nearest walls many times until it is
eventually thrown free, hopefully finding its way to the upper exit. This is not
quite as haphazard as it sounds, once you learn when to recognize an escaping
ball and stop flipping to give it a chance, and once you find the right
frequency at which to flip. This correct frequency varies according to machine,
Powerfield angle, and the speed (cleanliness) of the Powerfield surface. It
seems to me that a faster surface requires a slower frequency, although I am at
a loss to convincingly explain why. It does certainly seem, however, that the
worst thing to do when you're having trouble with the Powerfield is to flip as
quickly as possible. And you should never use both flippers at once! Also, a
small nudge with one solid shot will encourage the ball towards the upper exit
quite reliably. You can, of course, Tilt while the ball is on the Powerfield,
though, so be careful.
One useful trick for battling the Power, which is dependent on how quickly the
ball is moving when it enters the Powerfield more than anything else, is to flip
once with the right Magna-Flip&tm; as the ball enters the Powerfield and drops
past the right magnet. With the appropriate timing, this can quite often throw
the ball directly through the upper exit.
Often when the ball goes through the upper exit of the Powerfield quickly, it
will roll up the Gumball exit lane and trip the Gumball Geneva switch. This is
harmless, as the software wisely ignores it.
Over the course of the game, you can stack an amazing number of lit Gumball
Machine shots if you concentrate on starting Multiball. Be sure to cash in on
these shots at some point before the game ends. At 25M each, this can add up
nicely, and it's relatively easy points. This is particularly tempting if the
Powerball is in the trough. In fact, if you can safely let the ball from the
Slot Machine kickout bounce over to the left flipper for a quick shot at the
Right Orbit, every second load of the Gumball Machine will also collect a Spiral
Value.
Don't forget that you can also make good use of these lit Gumball Machine shots
when you want a Powerball Mania - for example, to run up your Bonus before
starting Lost In The Zone, in order to get a better total, or to get better use
of the Collect Bonus award from the Camera.
In my opinion, there is usually only one reasonable thing to do with the
Powerball, and that's to get rid of it as soon as possible. If you're lucky, you
can let the Powerball bounce over after the Slot Machine kickout and you'll get
a nice easy shot at the Right Orbit from the lower left flipper. Otherwise,
you'll have to make a trap or running shot from the lower right flipper
(preferably at the Left Ramp) in order to get the Powerball to the lower left
flipper.
I avoid doing anything else with the Powerball because, on most machines, it is
quite uncooperative, especially in the Bridge Diverter and the Lock Lane. There
are also problems arising from airballs, the worst of which send the ball from
the upper playfield directly to the Left Outlane, below the sensor.
The only other reasonable thing to do with the Powerball would be to lock it (if
the Powerball has any chance of staying in the Lock Lane on your machine; it may
be too fast to avoid bouncing out) or shoot the Left Ramp to start Multiball.
This is only useful because collecting a Multiball Jackpot with the Powerball
doubles its value. Otherwise, the Powerball is still difficult to control and of
course immune to the Spiral Helper magnets.
Some have suggested that when you have the Powerball on the table, you can just
shoot for Powerball Loops instead of starting Powerball Mania. Needless to say,
I don't recommend this. In fact, I recommend ignoring Powerball Loops except for
one case - if you have the Powerball on the lower left flipper during Multiball
with the Jackpot lit, a Right Orbit shot isn't a bad idea at all.
Powerball Mania can be quite lucrative with a little luck and a reasonable
amount of skill. The most important thing is being able to shoot the Right Ramp
from either lower flipper at almost any time. Keep as many balls on the
Powerfield as possible, and never try to hold other balls on the flippers while
you are trying to use Magna-Flip&tm;.
Your strategy for defeating the Power during Powerball Mania should be the same
as during a normal battle, except that Magna-Flip&tm; will be at least slightly
weaker and this makes the battle more difficult (but hopefully not impossible).
The only other thing to watch out for, other than keeping the other balls in
play of course, is the opportunity to collect a "cheat" Mania Jackpot. This is
done by shooting the Camera during a few seconds after a ball on the Powerfield
has tripped the opto by the upper exit. Such a "cheat" Mania Jackpot can be
collected even after all balls have drained from the Powerfield. This trick also
works with the Dead End sinkhole. The strangest case of all is when you fail to
defeat the Power, but the Jet Bumpers immediately knock the ball into the Dead
End sinkhole and you are given the Mania Jackpot!
I always try to lock two balls for the first Multiball. It makes quite a
difference in the Jackpot values you will be collecting, especially if you only
get a couple of Jackpots. But of course it's better to go ahead and have a
Multiball with low-value Jackpots than to drain while trying to lock the second
ball, so use your best judgment.
Multiball is a lot of fun on Twilight Zone. Obviously you want to pick up as
many Jackpots as possible, as quickly as possible. This is actually easier with
only two balls in play, and as there is no real penalty for losing just one
ball, don't try too desperately to keep all three in play.
If any balls are being autoplunged at the start of Multiball, it's a very good
thing to collect the first Jackpot from one of those balls. Since the Spiral
Helper magnets will be disabled for the autoplunge, you'll have to get the hang
of a running shot at the Player Piano from the upper left flipper. The most
common problem with this shot is flipping too late.
If all of the balls are coming from the Lock or the autoplunge is not making it
all the way around, you can either shoot the balls into the Camera (they should
then be ejected from the Slot Machine kickout one at a time), go for the
Hitchhiker Lane, or attempt a bounce shot into the Player Piano. Such a bounce
shot has the advantage that the next ball from the Lock can be put into the
Camera to relight the Jackpot immediately.
The easiest way to relight the Jackpot is to shoot the Right Orbit for the Right
Spiral Helper to line up a shot at the Camera. Shots at the Left Orbit or the
Lock Lane are not unreasonable but are usually trickier. You can also backhand
the Right Orbit from the lower right flipper, or even from the upper right
flipper.
When the Jackpot is lit and balls are being ejected from the Slot Machine
(hopefully one at a time), you have three options for going after the Jackpot.
One is a quick shot at the Left Orbit, where the ball will be caught and the
other kickouts delayed to allow a brief but clean shot at the Jackpot. You can
also shoot for the Right Ramp with similar consequences. I happen to prefer the
Left Orbit shot, although it's a bit tricky. Your third option is any of a
number of trick shots, bouncing the ball off of posts or Greed Targets or the
Clock Target and into the Player Piano.
You can also, of course, shoot balls up the Left Ramp, which may be easier and
more reliable. From the lower left flipper, you can shoot the Right Ramp, the
Right Orbit, or go for a bounce shot into the Player Piano.
If the Spiral Round is running, you cannot rely on the Spiral Helper magnets. To
safely reach the Camera, use the Lock Lane. To safely shoot the Jackpot, use the
Right Ramp.
In general, there are many options in Multiball, even though it is a relatively
simple mode. I generally ignore the Greed Targets, as they are hit often enough
by wandering balls (and tend to be quick drain shots besides). The only possible
exception is the Greed Target directly above the Player Piano - you can hit this
on your way into the Player Piano when collecting the Jackpot.
You can shoot the lit Jackpot and the Camera at the same time, such that the
Jackpot is awarded but its red light never even flickers off.
Sometimes, if you shoot a ball into the Slot Machine right after shooting the
Jackpot, the machine will decide that you used the Powerball and will double the
Jackpot value accordingly, even though the Powerball is not even on the table.
Don't forget the grace period at the end of Multiball. There is no better time
to go for a wild bounce shot into the Player Piano if the Jackpot was lit. Also,
if you see the other ball(s) draining and the Jackpot is lit, shoot for the
Right Ramp immediately if at all possible.
Keep an eye on the Spiral Values. Usually, if you haven't yet collected an Extra
Ball from the Spiral Values, you should shoot for any lit Orbits that present
themselves, especially the Right Orbit. After the Spiral Values have reset,
however, it's difficult to get interested in trying to collect all six of them
in the course of one ball, although it's by no means impossible.
Learn most of the cases for Spiral Helper behavior so that you'll never be
caught by surprise. Unfortunately, there are some cases that are completely
inexplicable. For example, I have found one or both Spiral Helper magnets fully
active throughout a Powerball Mania or Fast Lock mode, for no reason at all.
When this happens (it is thankfully rare), you cannot help but be surprised.
When the Outlanes are lit (assuming they are on the default "hard" settings), I
prefer to keep the left Outlane lit whenever possible. Also, when the left
Outlane is indeed lit, shots to the Hitchhiker Lane are much safer, as is the
Skill Shot.
If you can do Bang Backs and/or Death Saves, you may want to go ahead and pick
up lit Outlanes as soon as possible (fearing a center drain). Otherwise, the
best thing to do is start a Multiball mode. This is the best use of Fast Lock,
for example. The best case is Powerball Mania, during which you can quickly side
drain a couple of balls and actually get them back at no penalty whatsoever.
The most reliable way to collect Door Panels, in my opinion, is by shooting the
Player Piano from the upper left flipper. Mastery of this shot is extremely
helpful for progressing towards Lost In The Zone and for controlling the flow of
your game in general. If you are having trouble with this shot, try leaning over
the machine and watching the ball very carefully. The ball should travel along
the bright yellow path drawn from the upper left flipper into the Player Piano.
Remember, if the ball is going above the Player Piano, you're flipping too
early, and if it is going below, you're flipping too late. Simply adjust your
timing accordingly. Also, the timing is dependent on the speed of the ball. This
is obvious for autoplunged balls such as you will encounter in Multiball, but
the trickier case is a ball which rolls up in front of the upper left flipper
and is moving more slowly than normal.
If the Player Piano switch is flaky on your machine, you can sometimes receive
credit for shooting the Slot Machine by hitting the Player Piano. The
disadvantages of this are obvious, but it can sometimes be helpful - if, for
example, the Player Piano is currently unlit.
The Slot Machine may be a relatively easy shot on your machine, or more likely
it's quite tricky. You'll fare better if you aim very slightly to the right of
the scoop, where the post can help guide the ball in. On the left side, the
narrow Greed Target is less helpful, and, as it is slowly bent backwards by
repeated attacks from fast moving balls, it tends to form a small ramp that
encourages airballs from missed Slot Machine shots.
Don't forget that defeating the Power awards Door Panels as well, and if you
battle the Power when something especially attractive is lit on the Door, such
as Lite Extra Ball, there's the added pressure that failing to defeat the Power
will drop the ball into the Jet Bumpers, changing the lit value to something
less attractive.
You can ignore Odd Change. However, don't forget that you can also shoot for the
Greed Target or the Power Payoff targets right next to the Player Piano if it is
unlit.
Town Square Madness never seems to pay off like it should, especially when you
consider that it's dangerous to shoot for the Jet Bumpers to increase the switch
value. The best Town Square Madness Totals I've seen (70M or so) have come
during Multiball modes.
If you have a good opportunity, try to pick up the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel
before you collect any Extra Balls. In particular, if you start the game with
Town Square Madness as your flashing Door Panel, collect it, relight the Player
Piano, and collect that as quickly as possible. Note that the Lite Extra Ball
Door Panel comes immediately after the Town Square Madness Door Panel, tempting
you to shoot for the Jet Bumpers for a better Town Square Madness, thereby
unselecting the Lite Extra Ball Door Panel. This is exactly the same reasoning
behind the layout of The Addams Family Mansion, in which Raise The Dead is
followed immediately by Light Extra Ball.
If you want to do anything with Super Slot, try to get in a rhythm of shooting
the Left Ramp followed by the Slot Machine and repeating. This will collect Door
Panels along with Super Slot values.
When Clock Millions starts, try to hit the Clock Target once right away, unless
you have something more interesting to shoot for (such as Multiball on the Left
Ramp). If you don't hit the Clock Target during the brief initial period for
12M, it's not a worthwhile shot for a while. Ignore it until it's worth more; a
3M shot at the Clock isn't worth losing control of the ball.
I have become very fond of the Spiral round, although I cannot really explain
why. I particularly enjoy having a Multiball mode in conjunction with the Spiral
round, and I try to collect as many Spiral Breakthrus as possible. These are
quick and relatively easy points, especially since they are awarded for shots
that you might be making normally, such as the Right Orbit for the lit Gumball
Machine.
One particularly useful trick is to start the Spiral round right before Lost In
The Zone. Almost every autoplunged ball will count as a Spiral Breakthru for an
immediate 15M!
Note that the 10M Door Panel comes immediately after the Battle The Power Door
Panel, such that proceeding to defeat the Power immediately will only net you
10M.
I usually ignore the Greed round, much as I ignore the Greed Targets during
Multiball. Ball action will generally collect a few Targets for you with no
additional effort. It's not too unreasonable to shoot at a few Targets in the
upper half of the playfield, though, if you get the chance. Also, having Greed
running during Multiball will make the Greed Targets even more attractive than
usual.
Don't worry about collecting the Hitchhiker Door Panel even when you have few
Hitchhikers. It takes a while to build up a significant number of Hitchhikers,
and any you collect on the current ball will still be worth the 2M bonus after
you collect this Door Panel. Of course, if you're towards the end of a long game
and have quite a few Hitchhikers, this Door Panel is very tempting - go for it!
Clock Chaos is another of my favorite rounds in Twilight Zone. Since the Clock
first winds in reverse, it's best to shoot for the Clock Target as soon as
possible. Early in this round, you'll want to hit the Clock Target while it's on
the later (ie, more valuable) times, but eventually you'll have very little time
in either direction, so you'll want to hit the Clock Target while the Clock is
close to finishing on the side it's headed towards. In any case, don't forget
about the grace period - not only does it provide you with 12M, it restarts the
round!
One other useful thing to remember about Clock Chaos is that the Clock pauses
while certain things are happening, such as collecting a Jackpot during
Multiball. During this time, you can pick up several Clock Target values safely.
Of course, you should try to remember which way the Clock will resume winding
after you score these "free" hits.
The Super Skill Shot can be quite frustrating. You can hardly avoid having to
eventually use it once it's lit - only Multiball modes prevent the Left Ramp
from diverting the ball for the Super Skill Shot, and therefore that is your
only chance to relight the Player Piano before using it.
If Outlanes are set to "easy" on your machine, the Orange award from the Super
Skill Shot is likely your best choice, especially if you can perform Death Saves
or Bang Backs. Otherwise, try for the Yellow award. The problem is that the ball
will be automatically delivered into the Jet Bumpers for any of the three
awards, and you may never even get a shot at the temporarily lit Extra Ball.
This can be avoided by nudging the ball out of the Rocket Kicker immediately
after the Skill Shot. This is most easily done with a good nudge as the ball
first lands there, followed by several back-and-forth nudges to rattle the ball
out. With practice, this can be done even on fairly Tilt sensitive machines, and
is often quite worthwhile, as it also enables a brief, "invisible" ball saver.
If you choose not to shoot for the big awards from the Super Skill Shot (for
example, you have already stacked the maximum number of Extra Balls), you can
still safely collect the Red award by plunging the ball just hard enough to
reach under the gate, trip the Red rollover sensor, and fall back to the
plunger, from where you can plunge into the scoop.
I do not feel that Fast Lock is worth shooting for in and of itself, as it
delays progress towards other Multiball modes and Lost In The Zone, and because
of the generally difficult nature of the Lock Lane, it is hard to make this
Multiball pay off. However, Fast Lock is a perfect opportunity for collecting
lit Outlanes or maximizing the payoff from Door Panel awards such as the Spiral
Round, Town Square Madness, and various Clock rounds. You can also collect
Hitchhikers "safely" during Fast Lock, although I try to avoid having all of the
balls in the Jet Bumpers at any one time.
Lost In The Zone is a thrilling and almost overwhelming round, especially the
first time you get to it. There are several strategies for maximizing the points
collected during Lost In The Zone, but the single best strategy for having a
high Lost In The Zone total is very simple - maximize your Bonus before you
start Lost In The Zone. The easiest way to do this is to have a good Powerball
Mania or two on the same ball first. Even Clock Millions or Town Square Madness
can be very helpful. Regardless of how well you play during the actual Lost In
The Zone round, the Lost In The Zone Champion will almost always be held by
someone who had at least 200M in Powerball Mania when they started Lost In The
Zone.
During Lost In The Zone, I like to shoot for the Right Ramp early. This gives
you a good chance at one or more "cheat" Mania Jackpots from shooting the
Camera, along with the credit towards your Powerball Mania total for each wall
hit, and the usual chance of a real Mania Jackpot. Towards the end of the round,
the Clock Target becomes quite valuable. At all times, the three Greed Targets
in the lower left corner of the playfield are worthwhile shots, as they are very
quick and if you miss, the ball will likely go into the Jet Bumpers to increase
your Town Square Madness Total.
I recommend mostly ignoring everything else during Lost In The Zone. Balls
wandering around and being hit by the upper flippers (unless the Low Line option
is set) will pick up a reasonable amount of everything else with no attention or
effort on your part.
If you start a game with Town Square Madness lit, I recommend shooting for the
Lite Extra Ball Door Panel as soon as possible. Otherwise, don't worry about it
too much unless it happens to come up. My worst games have been those where I
worried too much about collecting this Door Panel and failed to do anything else
useful at all. My only other advice about Extra Balls is that you become
familiar with the various ways of lighting them, and always keep an eye on how
many you have (on default settings, having four at a time prevents lighting or
collecting any more).
Most of the Combo Shots in Twilight Zone can safely be ignored. You will most
likely run into the Gumball Combo and the ensuing 3-way Combo (to the Player
Piano) most often. If the Player Piano is not lit, you may wish to shoot for the
4-way Combo by aiming for the Hidden Lane. After a fast Right Orbit shot, you
may be able to put the ball through the Hidden Lane by simply holding the upper
left flipper up.
Bonus Multiplier becomes very valuable later in a long game, if, for example,
you have 50 Hitchhikers and 30 Door Panels, in which case the Bonus Multiplier
is worth 40M.
Don't forget the Flipper Bonus. Everything counts.
Miscellaneous Scoring
These are some of the miscellaneous scoring values in Twilight Zone:
Any kickout from the Slot Machine = 100K
Spiral Helper opto sensors = 50K
Inlanes = 100K
Outlanes = 250K
Right Ramp = 500K
Left Ramp = 250K for gate, 250K for completion
Lock Lane = 250K
Unlit Camera = 500K
Unlit Greed = 500K
Unlit Power Payoff = 250K
Rocket Kicker = 100K
Slingshots = 2570
Trick Shots
There are plenty of trick shots in Twilight Zone, and some of them are even
reproducible. Examples include:
From either lower flipper into the Player Piano, bounced off of any post in the
upper playfield area. The most reliable case is a shot from the lower left
flipper to the post to the right of the Right Ramp.
From the upper left flipper into the Camera, bounced off of the Greed Targets
alongside the Slot Machine.
From the upper right flipper into the Player Piano, bounced off of the lowered
upper left flipper.
From the upper right flipper up the Left Ramp, flipped off of the upper left
flipper.
From the upper right flipper backhanded up the Right Orbit. This is especially
good when starting Powerball Mania.
From the upper left flipper into the Lock Lane, bounced off of the post below
the Player Piano. This only seems to happen by accident.
From the lower right flipper into the Lock Lane, bounced off of the Greed Target
that faces the upper right flipper.
From the upper right flipper into the Slot Machine. This requires a moving ball,
of course.
There are plenty more, but some of them are too unusual to be described or even
believed.
Cheats
There are a few techniques that can be used when Twilight Zone that might be
considered cheats. All such cheats that I know of are described in this section.
As has already been described elsewhere, you can collect "cheat" Mania Jackpots
during Powerball Mania and Lost In The Zone by shooting the Camera shortly after
tripping the upper exit opto on the Powerfield. This is probably the most
reliable and helpful of the cheats listed here.
If the Extra Ball Buy-In is enabled on your machine, you can use it in a
multi-player game as a cheat. When the Buy-In is offered to Player One, wait for
the ball to be delivered to the plunger lane (this happens long before the
Buy-In expires). Plunge the ball while the Buy-In is still being offered and,
before the ball reaches the gate in the plunger lane, press Start or flip both
flippers to abort the Buy-In. The software will not notice that you tripped the
Skill Shot Rollovers. Instead, it will see the ball in the Slot Machine and
award a random Door Panel as if you had hit the Slot Machine fairly. This will
not work, of course, if your machine does not relight the Slot Machine
automatically and it was previously unlit. This trick works even on L-4 ROMs.
I have been told that if there is at least one ball sitting in the Lock Lane and
you have an Extra Ball lit, you can pick the machine up and trip the Lock Lane
sensor with that ball to collect the Extra Ball. Supposedly, this will work even
when the machine has Tilted or when the Extra Ball Buy-In is being offered, but
I have not verified this. I have, however, had the machine mysteriously award
the lit Extra Ball after a Death Save - this is likely the same effect.
When Lost In The Zone starts, any balls in the Lock Lane are ejected, of course.
However, these balls are ejected early in the opening animation, before other
balls are put into play. If you are careful, you can get this ball up the Right
Ramp right away, and if you trip the upper exit opto, the balls coming out of
the Gumball Machine will be counted as Mania Jackpots!
Death Saves and Bang Backs
Death Saves are possible from the right drain on Twilight Zone, and are only
moderately difficult. However, due to the distance from the trough to the
flippers, it is difficult (but not impossible) to get a Death Save on a machine
with sensitive Tilt.
Bang Backs are extremely easy on most Twilight Zone machines, from either side
drain. The left drain requires a harder hit because the lower lane is much wider
than on the right side. I think that Twilight Zone is definitely the best
machine on which to learn how to do Bang Backs.
Tournament Mode
In Tournament Mode, Camera awards are parallelized; this means that the same
award is offered to each player even after another player has collected it,
although Camera awards are still selected in the usual restricted but random
fashion.
When Extra Balls are disabled (as is common in tournament play), the Lite Extra
Ball Door Panel is automatically lit.
At the beginning of the game, Clock Millions is the currently flashing Door
Panel, and the Slot Machine will always award the next available Door Panel
starting with Lite Gumball and proceeding counter-clockwise (that is to say, the
Slot Machine is no longer random).
Another reasonable modification for tournament play is to remove one ball from
the machine, such that only two balls reside in the Gumball Machine. This makes
it easier to get a fair chance at playing the Powerball. Even better is to
remove the Powerball and have it simulated by software (use the menu adjustment
to indicate that no Powerball is present), although this arguably detracts from
the game a bit.
Extra Ball Buy-In
This option, enabled by default, allows the player to purchase an Extra Ball for
one credit. The game proceeds as if an Extra Ball had been collected in some
other fashion. Temporary Extra Balls become unlit. There is normally a
ten-second ball saver for the purchased Extra Ball. Also, all seven Greed
Targets are automatically lit, just as if the Camera: Lite Greed Targets award
had been collected. And of course there's a quote: "Greeeeeeed".
The Buy-In is especially useful when you're very close to some useful goal, such
as Lost In The Zone, one or more Extra Balls, or the Grand Champion score. I
would never recommend using real money to purchase the Extra Ball; you should
instead be able to use a credit from a Replay or a Special.
Easter Eggs
This section includes semi-secret information, not all of which is really an
Easter Egg.
In the first Extra Ball animation, the Extra Ball blows up. In the second, it
grows legs and a hat and walks away. In the third, it turns into a deflating
balloon which lands on Talking Tina's face. All subsequent Extra Ball animations
are the same as the first.
Once per ball and only during normal play, hitting the unlit Clock Target when
all seven Greed Targets are already lit will award a Clock Bonus of 10M, with a
nifty sound effect and animation.
Scoring at least six hits on the Clock Target during a Clock Chaos round gets a
special quote from Rudy of Funhouse fame: "Quit playin' with the clock!" This
also adds 25M to the Clock Chaos Total.
After the 98th Robot, Robots are no longer counted. Subsequent shots to the Left
Ramp or Lock Lane awards a Super Robot, which is an immediate 5M. The Camera can
no longer be lit by Robots once Super Robot is reached. The Right Inlane has no
effect on the Super Robot on the Left Ramp.
The maximum number of Hitchhikers is 100. When the 100th Hitchhiker is awarded,
the display is slightly messed up. There is no display for any further
Hitchhikers collected, only a sound effect. The 100th Hitchhiker lights Battle
The Power for the last time by this method.
There is a secret award at the 8th and 20th Dead Ends, in P-3 and newer ROMs.
When these Dead Ends are collected, the animation changes - the car suddenly
drives through the Dead End wall, with a twinkling effect and sound, and a Dead
End Bonus of 100M is awarded. Very cool.
There is a cow in the Replay animation. Watch the center reel of the Slot
Machine.
If a Replay is awarded by collecting your End-Of-Ball Bonus at the end of a
ball, flipping both flippers simultaneously will award a Flipper Bonus of 5M. If
you wait until the first reel of the Slot Machine has come to rest, this will be
accompanied by a pleasant sound effect.
There is a mysterious joystick on the backglass.
There is a miniature T-Rex on the backglass, being towered over by Rod Serling.
There are also some brontosaurs, but they seem irrelevant.
There is at least one attract mode sequence to display an Easter Egg: an
extended version of the credits. This sequence "has not yet been published".
Feel free to pass any such sequences along to me, though :)
There are persistent rumours and reported sightings of the Super Stunt Cow in
Twilight Zone. It has always been reported in a particular context: collecting a
replay by loading the Gumball Machine. Variations specify a lit right Spiral, a
Powerball in play, lighting Extra Ball from the lit right Spiral, etc. I have
not seen this or been able to reproduce it, so if it exists, the conditions are
likely very picky.
Prototype Machines
There have been many changes from the rules of prototype Twilight Zone machines.
These are mostly trivial and pointless to remember, but sometimes it's
interesting to know. The changes of which I am aware include the following:
Camera awards were at the Player Piano instead. The Camera was the Jackpot
during Multiball. There was no Super Slot round. There was a Quick Multiball
round (other than Fast Lock). There was a Door Panel for 5M instead of Lite
Gumball. Spiral Values did not include lighting Battle The Power. The Clock
Target was where the Power Payoff target is now. Seven balls were installed in
the machine, with four residing in the Gumball Machine. There was an opto in the
Hidden Lane. There were two optos and Spiral Helper magnets on the Right Orbit.
Cosmetic changes include the following:
The Powerfield lacked point value labels and the FLIP HERE message. The sign
above the upper right flipper did not indicate anything about the Gumball
Machine (apparently this was handled by a small light where the Spiral lamp is
now). There was a sign above the upper left flipper indicating the purpose of
the yellow lamp there (lit Spiral). There was no Bonus X lamp on the Left Ramp.
The flasher above the central Clock Target was red. The Dead End lamp was red.
Why are you reading this paragraph? A pair of glasses appears in the artwork
atop the Slot Machine. The Lock light was green.
Music
The main theme music of the Twilight Zone machine is derived, strangely enough,
from the song "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring. Hey, why not? There is also
some use of the original Twilight Zone theme music, of course, and the other
musical pieces are original compositions.
Quotes
A listing of Twilight Zone quotes ("Quotes/tzone.quotes") has been compiled by
Brian Dominy, gt6139a@prism.gatech.edu, and thanks go to him and everyone who
helped him out. This section has, of course, benefited greatly from his
compilation.
Quotes from Rod Serling (impersonated by Fred Young):
"An opportunity awaits you in the form... of an extra ball." (lighting an Extra
Ball at the Lock Lane)
"Be careful." (starting Super Skill Shot)
"Beyond this door is a dimension of mind." (random)
"Beyond this door is a dimension of sight." (locking first ball)
"Beyond this door is a dimension of sound." (locking second ball)
"Beyond this door is a dimension of time." (random)
"Big risk, big reward... in the Twilight Zone." (100M or more End-of-Ball Bonus)
"Deal with the devil at your own risk... in the Twilight Zone." (Tilt)
"It seems that one of life's payoffs is ahead." (starting Super Slot)
"It's time to tune in to... the Twilight Zone." (lighting Fast Lock)
"Never underestimate the Power... in the Twilight Zone." (failing to defeat the
Power)
"Not an ordinary day." (early, random)
"Not an ordinary day or an ordinary place." (early, random)
"Note the hitchhiker... there, by the side of the road." (collecting Hitchhiker
Door Panel)
"Picture... the future." (Camera lit by Robots)
"Player ___" (adding players to a game)
"Player ___: Not an ordinary game... or an ordinary player." (entering your
initials)
"Ten million points." (collecting 10M Door Panel)
"The spiral awaits you." (start of Spiral Round)
"The stakes are higher... in the Twilight Zone." (starting Greed)
"There is madness in town square." (starting Town Square Madness)
"There, see what greed will get you?" (total of 25M or more from Greed)
"Things are not as they first appear." (ball saver used, also random)
"This clock... is worth millions." (starting Clock Millions or Clock 10
Millions)
"This is a most unusual camera." (lighting Camera)
"This shot requires skill... Super Skill." (lighting Super Skill Shot)
"Time is a one-way street... except in the Twilight Zone." (starting Clock
Chaos)
"You have come to the end of your journey. Survival is everything." (starting
Lost in the Zone)
"You have just crossed over... into the Twilight Zone." (start of Multiball)
"You have just taken a detour... through the Twilight Zone." (end of Multiball
Restart)
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination." (start of game)
Quotes from the Robot:
"Breakthrough!" (collecting Spiral Breakthrough)
"Don't touch the door." (locking first ball)
"Don't touch the door, don't touch the door." (locking second ball)
"Don't touch the door, don't touch the door, don't touch the door, don't touch
the door, don't touch the door!" (starting Multiball)
"Don't miss!" (Multiball Jackpot relit by Camera)
"Enter the spiral." (early in Spiral Round)
"Faster!" (Multiball Restart lit)
"Get the extra ball." (Extra Ball lit at Lock Lane)
"Look to the future." (Camera is lit)
"More..." (second and subsequent Greed Targets in Greed Round)
"Oh no!" (Multiball Restart ends)
"One." (collecting first Spiral in Spiral Round)
"The robots can help." (one more robot to light Extra Ball or Camera)
"Three." (collecting third Spiral in Spiral Round)
"Two." (collecting second Spiral in Spiral Round)
"Webba wobba wubba." (Shoot Again)
"You can do it!" (Multiball Restart lit)
"You want more?" (first Greed Target in Greed Round)
Quotes from the Power:
"Agggggggghh!" (defeating Power in Battle The Power)
"Are you ready to battle?" (lighting Battle The Power)
"Feel lucky?" (first time lighting Battle The Power)
"Five, four, three, two, one..." (end of Lost In The Zone)
"Give it back!" (Powerball Mania lit)
"Heh heh heh heh!" (first time on Powerfield)
"It's not yours!" (Powerball Mania lit)
"Jackpot!" (Multiball Jackpot or Mania Jackpot)
"Lucky!" (second time on Powerfield)
"Noooooooo..." (entering Powerfield in Powerball Mania or Lost In The Zone)
"Picture the future." (while Camera is lit)
"Powerball!" (when Powerball detected, Powerball Loop scored, Powerball Mania
started, or Multiball Jackpot doubled by Powerball)
"Put it back!" (Powerball Mania lit)
"Stop it!" (third time on Powerfield)
"Three, two, one..." (end of Battle The Power)
"Too hot to handle?" (Powerball Mania lit)
Quotes from Tina:
"Here's your extra ball! Tee hee huh!" (collecting any Extra Ball)
"Hi, I'm talking Tina!" (collecting first Extra Ball at Lock Lane)
Quotes from the Hitchhiker:
"Going my way?" (collecting Triple Pickup or the Camera: Hitchhiker award,
unless doing so lights Battle The Power when it was not already lit)
Miscellaneous quotes:
"(mumble)" (first segment of Fast Lock - from Cousin It)
"Aieeee! Oh no!" (Town Square Madness - crowd members)
"BWAAAAAAAAHH!" (Fast Lock started - from Cousin It)
"Do not panic." (Fast Lock started - from Whirlwind)
"Go for the hill!" (Fast Lock started - from Banzai Run)
"Greeeeeeeed..." (using Extra Ball Buy-In - sounds suspiciously like Gomez from
The Addams Family)
"(GULP)... Bleeeeeeeeahh!" (Fast Lock started - from Rudy)
"Long-legged woman, where have you been all my life--life--life?" (just kidding)
"Hey, it's only pinball!" (second segment of Fast Lock - from Rudy)
"It's sunny drive time!" (fourth segment of Fast Lock - from Earthshaker)
"Ooh, gimme shelter!" (Fast Lock started - from Earthshaker)
"Quit playing with the Clock!" (sixth hit in Clock Chaos - from Rudy)
"Return to your homes." (third segment of Fast Lock - from Whirlwind)
"Welcome, race fans!" (fifth segment of Fast Lock - from Banzai Run)
Bragging
I don't brag anymore. I just don't enjoy it like I used to. But yeah, I've
rolled the game over, and even got over 7B once with the Tilt installed. Ah, in
my heyday... ;-)
With Bang Backs, scoring is potentially unlimited...
Credits
Credit must be given to Bowen Kerins bowen@cardinal.stanford.edu, who first
wrote a Twilight Zone Rules Sheet and Spoiler file. Mark Phaedrus
phaedrus@halcyon.com posted a very helpful article on the behavior of Spiral
Helpers. Thanks go in general to all other netters who have contributed directly
and indirectly...
And don't forget the Pinball Archive, the Fount of All That is Good:
http://www.pinball.org/