Earth Defense

"The invasion begins...terror from outer space! We cannot stop it! We cannot even scratch it! Someone call in the Earth Defense!"

-Attract Mode

Earth Defense
Date available	September 21, 2009
Category	Zen Originals
Based on	Characters created by Zen Studios
Designed by	Mate Szeplaki
Plunger mechanism	Diagonal
Skill shot type	Plunger timing
Number of return lanes	5
Number of flippers	4
Outlane protection	1 subway-jump kickback and 1 subway kickback
Number of main missions	10 (progress is reversible)
Wizard mode type	Final multiball mission
Number of side modes	2
Number of multiball modes	3 (1 optional, 2 mandatory)

Earth Defense (stylized as EARTH DEFENSE!) is one of the early Zen Pinball original tables, first released in Pinball FX for the Xbox 360, and is also part of the 3-table Sci-Fi pack. It is inspired by 1950s science-fiction films, and follows the efforts of special forces around the world to repel an alien robot invasion that threatens all of Earth.

Table overview

The upper half of the table

The skyline of a major urban city dominates much of the back table wall, with scale models of tall buildings clustering towards its corners. A massive, long highway ramp wraps around most of the upper table, which eventually ends behind the right flipper. As this ramp rises while traveling along the left wall, a crosslane runs underneath it, forming the left side of an irregular orbit that forms the upper half of the table. To the right of this crosslane left orbit is another highway ramp that travels around and behind a scale model of a hospital, then goes to the other side of the table, spiraling and wrapping around a large figure of the Flip-Bot (an evil alien android leading the invasion) before rejoining the right part of the long highway ramp as it travels to its destination. A circular wire track is installed over the figure, where toy helicopters can fly around the villain at certain times, and there is also a overturned milk tank truck that the ball passes through while traveling down this spiral ramp. Hidden inside the truck is a diverter that sends the ball down a curving habitrail when the Rage Combo is activated.

A sinkhole is placed in front of the hospital building, and there is a small red target to the left of it. To the right of this sinkhole is a left mini-orbit that intersects the orbit, before branching back into it towards the right side of the table. Between this lane and the Flip-Bot figure is a central ramp representing a highway overpass. It goes around and behind the Flip-Bot figure, before bringing the ball near the right flipper. Along the way, it is joined by a short, winding incomplete habitrail that begins in front of the Flip-Bot figure. Besides the central overpass ramp is a bank of 5 drop targets placed directly in front of the Flip-Bot figure, representing the alien robot army. The center three targets and the two larger targets all have sinkholes behind them. To the right of this target bank is another highway ramp that transitions to a habitrail that brings the ball towards the main left flipper. To the right of this ramp is the right orbit that connects to the abovementioned left orbit, and an upper flipper is installed in front of it along the right side of the table. A scale model of another tall building is also placed along the right table wall, with a hanging electric sign indicating the current bonus multiplier.

An area farther from the left back corner of the table represents the underground subway that the human resistance uses to hide from the robot invaders. It is a large, trapezoidal platform (with the longer side on the left wall of the table and the shortest side facing right) inaccessible to the ball, but has portions cut out to form certain targets and the entrance of the long left highway ramp. An upper flipper is embedded at the back right corner of this platform, used to access the rescue sinkhole and the left mini-orbit. The shortest side of the subway platform features a side-facing target bank representing ammunition. There is also an incomplete habitrail starting from above the mini-flipper that eventually rejoins the exit habitrail of the right highway ramp.

The lower half of the table

A toy replica of an alien flying saucer hovers above the trapezoidal subway platform, where the corpse of a defeated robot lies. There are two cutouts in this platform that allow access to a sinkhole representing the subway, plus a target lane next to it where a captive ball is held and can be struck. Right next to the captive ball is the entrance of the abovementioned long left highway ramp. A slingshot is located in front of the exit of the plunger on the other side of the table. There is also another small red target to the left of the subway sinkhole, and a third one right in front of the upper right flipper.

There are 5 return lanes, 2 slingshots with small turrets installed on each of them, and 2 main flippers. Each return lane has a symbol. The outlanes have a upside-down yellow person symbol, the leftmost inlane has a red bullseye icon and the remaining inlanes are marked with a blue down-pointing pentagon arrow marked with the word "subway". Within the dead space behind the flippers are lamps indicating progress to the wizard mode. Each outlane has a subway kickback mechanism installed to save balls from draining there. The left kickback feeds a cannon that shoots the ball back into play towards the drop targets, while the right kickback is a simple vertical upkicker that pops the ball above the right flipper.

The plunger

The plunger is an automatic plunger, with a diagonal shaft that sends the ball through the upper loop and to the upper left flipper. The goal of the skill shot is thus simple: the player must watch the scoring display and press the launch button right when a crosshair meets the head of an enemy robot on the display to earn a random reward as the ball is shot into play. These include lighting the right kickback, small points (usually 100,000), an increase to military intelligence, or a decrease to threat level.

Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to assist special forces in defeating an alien robot army and eventually vanquishing its leader, the Flip-Bot, through four main missions and six objectives. The four main missions can be started by clearing the three center drop targets and then locking a ball behind them to select a mission using the flippers and launch button, while the six objectives will be described below. Missions that have a dedicated start procedure must be completed without losing the ball. Completion of a mission or objective will award a medal for it, and it is possible to lose a random medal if the player fails the Invasion Multiball mode that starts periodically (see Side Modes below).

The following 10 missions or objectives must be completed successfully to unlock the wizard mode:

Main Missions
All four main missions must be completed without losing the ball and can be repeated as many times as desired.

• City Destroyer: Flip-Bot is assaulting the city streets and the human military resistance must concentrate their forces against it. To maintain focused fire on the Flip-Bot, the player must keep the ball near it for 10 seconds by repeatedly hitting any of the inner orbit shots, without letting the ball move away from the figure for more than 4 seconds. Completing this mission successfully decreases the threat level by 1.
• Data Bowl: The military has to defeat some of the Flip-Bot's robot minions to obtain their data. Two or three random drop targets in front of the Flip-Bot will raise in 5 second intervals, and the player must hit those drop targets 5 times without shooting the holes behind them the same number of times. There is no time limit for this mission and successful completion of it will increase the military intelligence level by 1.
• Salvation: The military loads up and evacuates citizens in trucks. The player must load two truckloads of citizens and evacuate them to safety. Each rescue truck can only hold five citizens, and can be loaded up and evacuated by hitting the rescue sinkhole up to 5 times followed by a shot to the central ramp to send the citizens to safety. There is a 50-second time limit to complete this mission; the timer resets to 50 seconds each time any ramp is made when no citizens are available.
• Artillery: The resistance military must man the guns and call the shots against the robot army. At the beginning of the mission, the ball will be sent to the plunger and the player must choose a lane to target, then hit that target lane once the ball is shot back into play within the next 20 seconds. Each time Artillery is selected and completed, the lane that was chosen will not be available again until all four have been collected.

Objectives
These six objectives can be collected at any time during normal play, excluding the two Multiball modes which must be started when nothing else is active. Three of the objectives are tied to the assignment cycle system. (See Assignment Cycle sub-section below for more details.)

• Threat Level: The threat level represents the current strength of the invasion, and must be lowered from 4 to 1. This objective is completed by lowering the threat level down 3 levels without losing the ball. It is possible to decrease the threat level by one at the start of the ball as a random skill shot award, by beating the City Destroyer mission, or reaching the seventh cycle of the Assignment Cycle. The latter two tasks may have to be done multiple times on a single ball to complete the objective successfully.
• Military Intelligence: The military plans to counter the robot forces with artificial intelligence of its own. This objective is completed by raising the intelligence level from 1 to 4 without losing the ball. It is possible to increase the intelligence level by one at the start of the ball as a random skill shot award, by beating the Data Bowl mission, or reaching the third cycle of the Assignment Cycle. The latter two tasks may have to be done multiple times on a single ball to complete the objective successfully.
• Airstrike Multiball: The military has limited airstrikes at its disposal to wipe out the alien invasion's ground forces. This objective is completed by simply starting the 3-ball airstrike multiball by reaching the fifth cycle of the Assignment Cycle and locking 3 balls into the rescue sinkhole. The player can then earn jackpots by hitting the center highway ramp; their values will increase slightly when sinkholes are hit, and double when either of the two side highway ramps are hit. (If the maximum jackpot value of 100 million is reached, these two ramps will also award jackpots.) At the end of Airstrike Multiball, the spiral ramp will light to restart the Multiball for about 15 seconds; this restart is available regardless of whether or not a jackpot was collected, and can be collected as many times as needed. The mode continues until all but one ball is lost, or the Invasion timer reaches 0 seconds, which will cancel Airstrike Multiball and start Invasion.

• Survivor: Humanity is well-known for resilience. Complete this objective by using both the left and right kickbacks on the same ball.
• Rage Combo: One tactic to defeat the Flip-Bot is to fly around the robot faster than it can handle, encouraging it to destroy its surroundings. This objective is completed successfully when the player makes 2 consecutive cross-shots up the left orbit with the upper right flipper, then hits the spiral ramp before the end of the ball. If the spiral ramp shot is collected during a main mission, the timer for the mission will reset and the spiral ramp will be lit to collect the rage combo when the mission is over.
• Panic Multiball: The terror of the Flip-Bot has defenseless civilians panicking and running for their lives. This is a 2-ball multiball mission that begins once two balls are captured by the Flip-Bot; this is done by shooting the spiral ramp to make the Flip-Bot dizzy and lower it’s arm, then shooting the central overpass ramp to lock the ball. Once the multiball begins, the player must complete the objective by locking both balls again. The first ball can be locked into any sinkhole, but the second ball must be locked into whatever sinkhole is flashing after the first shot is made; if the wrong shot is made, both balls will be sent into play again. The mode ends once either both balls are locked, one ball drains while two balls are in play, or Invasion starts. If the second ball drains while the first ball is locked, the ball will automatically end along with the mode. (The Flip-Bot will launch the locked balls into play through its arm cannon to start the mission, and can also fire laser bolts to influence the balls' trajectory, leading to unwanted drains.)

Once all 10 missions are completed successfully, the player can access the final mission, No More Robots!, through the same starting procedure as the main missions. This is a 2-ball multiball mission in which the player destroys the Flip-Bot once and for all with two shots of the left kickback cannon. To activate the cannon, the player must shoot either the central overpass ramp, the rescue sink hole or the spiral ramp, then hit the subway sinkhole to fire the cannon at the Flip-Bot. The score for each hit will increase by 1 million every time a lane or target is hit, and there is no time limit. If the player drains either ball, the mission fails. The player is only allowed one attempt at this mission. Regardless of whether or not the mission is completed, the missions and objectives will reset after No More Robots! has been played; if it is completed, a cutscene will show another Flip-Bot being summoned for the cycle to start again.

Assignment Cycle

The military deals with the alien robot forces quickly, improving their ranks and saving citizens in the process. During normal play, shooting both side highway ramps once will collect the next assignment cycle award. Collecting all 12 cycles will reset the cycles back to cycle 1. There are 6 potential awards from the assignment cycle, given in a specific order:

• Cycles 1, 6, 10 - Evade the Flip-Bot: Military forces may occasionally have to sneak past the giant Flip-Bot and evade its lasers for a tactical advantage. This is a 20-second hurry up mode that requires one shot to a randomly lit ramp, and must be completed to advance to the next step of the Assignment Cycle. (The Flip-Bot will fire laser bolts during this mode to influence the balls' trajectory, leading to unwanted drains.)
• Cycles 2, 11 - Invasion Prevention: Resets the timer for Invasion Multiball (the equivalent of one shot to the captive ball).
• Cycle 3 - Intelligence Level: Instantly increases the intelligence level by 1.
• Cycles 4, 8, 12 - Points: Points dependent on the current cycle number. Starts at 3 million, with cycle 8 awarding 6 million and cycle 12 awarding 10 million.
• Cycle 5 - Airstrike Lock: The lock for Airstrike Multiball will be lit until the ball drains or Airstrike Multiball begins.
• Cycle 7 - Threat Level: Instantly decreases the threat level by 1.

Side mode

The following side mode can be activated:

• Save Me Hurry Up: Many civilians are scattered throughout the city, willing to help you as long as you save them first. If the player hits any of the 3 red targets placed throughout the table, the next shot to a lit lane within 20 seconds to rescue someone. The location of the target determines the lane that has to be made; it will always be either of the side highway ramps or the spiral ramp. A successful completion of this side mode will activate the right kickback the first time, double the current bonus multipliers the second, and light an extra ball the third. Each hurry up can only be collected once until all three of the hurry-ups are collected. (The Flip-Bot will fire laser bolts to influence the balls' trajectory during this mode, leading to unwanted drains.)

Invasion Multiball

The alien robots have a tendency to stage all-out assaults and interrupt the military’s plans. After the timer seen on the upper right corner of the display reaches 0, the flippers will be disabled and any balls in play will drain, cancelling any missions that were in progress. Then, a new ball will be shot into play, with up to two more balls launching every 10 seconds, and the player must lock all balls in play into the rescue sinkhole without draining any of them. If the player fails this side mode, the ball will end and progress for one random mission or objective will be lost, indicated by one medal for a successful mission being removed. The threat level will also increase by 1 if it isn’t at maximum already, impeding progress towards the Threat Level objective listed above.

(When there is only one minute left on the timer, a red lamp marked "danger" will flash behind the flippers, and will flash rapidly when just 20 seconds left. The invasion can be reduced to 100 seconds, 50 seconds, and then back to 500 seconds by hitting the captive ball or through cycles 2 or 6 of the Assignment Cycle.)

Perks

The following perks can be activated during play:

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball and multiball, there will be a 30-second ball saver. Once it expires, it can be reactivated again by collecting the Rage Combo at the spiral ramp during normal play.
• Kickbacks: There are two subway kickbacks that can be activated to save the ball from draining. The left kickback, operated with a scale model cannon on the left apron, will capture the next ball that drains down the left outlane; it can be activated by rolling over the leftmost return lane marked with a red bullseye, then immediately shooting the right orbit. The right kickback, which is a simple VUK in the right apron that will pop the ball near the right flipper, is activated by the first successful completion of the Save Me side mode or as a random award from the skill shot.
• Bonus Multiplier: The bonus multiplier can be advanced by 2x by hitting the 3 targets in the side-facing ammo target bank, and is only good for the current ball. The bonus multiplier can reach up to 10x, and collecting the second Save Me hurry up will double the current multiplier - up to a maximum of 20x.
• Civilian Rescue: Hitting the rescue sinkhole when it is not lit will rescue a civilian that contributes 10,000 to the end-of-ball bonus.
• Subway: Resistance forces can use the subway to hide from alien robots and get to different places without having to deal with the Flip-Bot's terror. If the player drops the ball down the two inlanes marked with "subway", a new location will be added to the subway sinkhole; doing this process five times will open up five different locations throughout the table that the sinkhole can send the ball to for the rest of the session. Once the ball is locked in the subway sinkhole after the subway is activated, the player can choose which location to move the ball to from the following list of locations below:
  • 18th Street: Brings the ball down the right inlane
  • Lexington Avenue: Returns the ball out of the subway sinkhole itself.
  • Prince Street: Sends the ball to the left mini-flipper, in front of the rescue sinkhole.
  • Lenox Hill Hospital: Instantly transports the ball to the rescue sinkhole.
  • Central Park: Takes the ball to the right mini-flipper.
• Extra Ball: An extra ball can be lit at the subway sinkhole by completing the Save Me side mode 3 times successfully, with one successful completion from each of the 3 red targets throughout the table. Extra balls can be claimed by shooting the subway sinkhole.

Tips

• Given that a number of missions are difficult and it is possible to lose progress towards the wizard mode by failing a round of Invasion Multiball, try to prevent invasions by hitting the captive ball 3 times or completing enough Assignment Cycles.
• Draining the ball will result in failure of most missions in progress, so you are advised to get the kickbacks turned on to increase ball survivability. Remember that Panic Multiball and Invasion Multiball will automatically end the ball in progress if a ball is drained while the other balls aren’t in play.
• No More Robots! isn’t worth the effort of playing for if you’re going for a high score, as the points scored from the mode aren’t as big as they’re made out to be. If you’re playing for the highest score possible, focus on playing Airstrike Multiball while preventing invasions and focusing on the bonus multiplier targets, as the end of ball bonus can be large after a long ball.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin (PDF)
• Official table theme on Bandcamp