Tesla

"Experiment underway!"

- Nikolai Tesla

Tesla
Date available	May 14, 2009
Category	Zen Originals
Based on	The inventions and work of Nikolai Tesla
Designed by	Zoltan Vari
Plunger mechanism	Straight shot, jump then drop into play from side
Skill shot type	Plunger strength
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	3
Outlane protection	1 spring-loaded kickback, magna saver
Number of main missions	5
Wizard mode type	Final mission
Number of side modes	1
Number of multiball modes	2

Tesla was one of the first four pinball tables available in Zen Pinball when it first released for the PlayStation 3, ported to all current releases of the Pinball FX series. It is based on the inventions and works of Nikolai Tesla.

Table Overview

The table and cabinet are designed with a wooden casing to reflect the antique time setting of Tesla's works, and contains many metal moving parts and intricate electrical systems.

The upper half of the table

At the back end of the table, there is a clock that operates when a main mission ("experiment") is in progress, counting down before it ends in failure. Next to that clock is a Tesla coil, and to the back right corner of the table, there is an elevated mini-playfield with five targets. Once those targets are knocked down with the ball, propelled with electromagnetic force instead of the flippers, the ball can travel up to one of two habitrails: a left habitrail leading to a scoop that dumps the ball back down the left orbit, or a right habitrail leading all the way down back to the right inlane.

The table is framed by a large orbit that the ball needs to travel en route to reaching the mini-playfield; the mini-playfield itself can only be accessed using the upper flipper positioned in front of the left orbit, via a kicker that pops the ball into the mini-playfield. Above that flipper is a spinner, and if the ball is shot through it with sufficient force, it is magnetically trapped beside a wheel that rotates clockwise briefly, before either releasing it back down the left orbit or dropping it into a sinkhole for the cannon to launch it back into play. To the right of the spinner is the left ramp, with a diverter that alternates between feeding the upper flipper or the right inlane.

Behind the kicker leading into the mini-playfield is a coil-shaped side ramp that feeds the left inlane. Located below the coil part of the ramp is a bumper area, with four bumpers each shaped like an electric light bulb. The bottommost bumper has two standup targets facing the player that, when struck, will cause that bumper to lower, allowing a clear shot at a sinkhole behind the bumper area. Besides this retractable bumper is another sinkhole, which can be shot from either lower flipper and ejects balls slowly to the right flipper. The right ramp is located in front of the kicker, alternating between feeding either inlane.

The lower half of the table

A steam-powered cannon is installed on the left side of the table that can launch the ball back into play at certain times; the ball can be locked inside the cannon once the two drop targets blocking the way in are hit. On the opposite side of the table are two similar drop targets that, when knocked down, will send the ball back inside the landing area of the plunger. In between the two sets of drop targets is a ring-shaped magnetic field, and an analog gauge that determines which experiment is currently lit and which one(s) have already been completed. Two slingshots wrapped in copper wire are also present, as well as a total of four return lanes with inserts spelling the word "FUSE", and two lower flippers. The left outlane has a diverter mechanism that sends the ball into the left inlane when ejected from the cannon, while the right outlane is guarded by the table's lone kickback. A magna-save system is present directly above the lower flippers that can protect the ball from draining, and is activated using the launch button.

The plunger

The plunger is a straight shaft with a brief ramp that will send the ball into any one of three holes, depending on the strength of the plunge. All three holes lead down a ramp that drops the ball into play, with the middle hole awarding a skill shot that scores 50,000 points and increases the bonus multiplier to 2x.

Objective and Missions

The goal of the table is to help Nikolai Tesla complete several experiments. To start an experiment, the player must:

1. Bring the ball into the mini-playfield by shooting the kicker from the upper flipper
2. Use electromagnetic force to push the ball up the mini-playfield and knock down five drop targets in 10 flips
3. Shoot the left habitrail behind the collapsed targets; if the ball is launched into the opposite habitrail instead, the currently qualified mission will change.

The following five experiment missions must be completed to access Teleforce, and can be played in any order:

• Induction: Tesla discovers that electricity can be generated through induction. The player must shoot the spinner to power a 10,000-volt generator, with a 40-second time limit that resets every time 2,000 volts of power are generated. Every spinner spin adds 100 volts of power. If time expires, the generator's power drops down by 2,000 volts. The experiment fails if the player drains or fails to power the generator up beyond 2,000 volts before time runs out. Finishing this experiment scores 5 million.
• Transmission: Help Tesla set up electrodes so that electricity can flow through them. In 40 seconds, the player must shoot the left and right ramp the indicated number of times to correctly set up the diverters, then shoot the side ramp once to initiate the transmission sequence. Finishing this experiment scores 5 million.
• Chain Reaction: Generate the chain reactions in electrons that make electricity possible. The player must hit three magnetized balls that slowly and erratically move across the playfield over 10 seconds, one by one, then gather all four balls at the centralized magnetic point in the playfield above the "TESLA" insert. Once this experiment is completed, all balls will drain and the flippers will be disabled as a new ball will be shot into play. Finishing this experiment scores 5 million.
• Lightning: Tesla can generate lightning from his signature coil invention. Within 60 seconds, the player must shoot the upper ramp three times, with no more than 10 seconds allotted in between ramp shots. Finishing this experiment scores 10 million, and lights the upper ramp for 15 seconds to score 1 million points per shot until time runs out.
• Telautomaton: Restore the automatic flow of electricity by shooting all four possible diverting paths of the two diverter ramps within 60 seconds. Each ramp will only be able to be shot for about 2 seconds, as the diverters will rapidly activate and will block the ramp from being shot for 5 seconds every time they change position. Finishing this experiment scores 10 million.

After all five experiments are completed successfully, the sixth experiment, Teleforce, will be able to start with a shot to the lab sinkhole behind the bumpers. The ball will be sent into the magnetic ring at the start of the experiment. The player is given 60 seconds to shoot either orbit shot a total of ten times, while the ball in the large magnetic ring constantly flies around it and affects the trajectory of the ball on the main playfield. Finishing the mission scores 20 million and resets all mission progress, allowing them to be played through again.

Side Modes

Funding Hurry-Up

The Funding Hurry-Up is the only side mode on this table. Hitting the two drop targets marked with a "$" symbol at the right wall of the table will open up a path back into the plunger landing area. Shooting the ball there will start a hurry-up mode where the player must shoot the center sinkhole to set a hurry-up value starting at 1 million points. The player must then collect the points and finish the mode by executing a skill shot.

Multiball

There are two multiball modes that can be activated when no experiments are running.

• Steam Frenzy: This 2-ball multiball starts when all four ramp diverter exits are hit within 10 seconds of each other. A second ball will automatically launch into play, and all switches will be lit to score 10,000 points. The player can also score 200,000 points by unblocking the lab sinkhole behind the bumpers with two standup target hits, and then shooting a ball there.
• Secret Lab Multiball: Lock 3 balls in the secret lab by hitting the two standup targets in front of the collapsible bumper, so that the lab sinkhole behind the bumpers is unblocked. The multiball will begin after 3 balls are locked this way, and the player can shoot all three ramps on the table for jackpots worth 200,000 points. The jackpot value can be raised by 50,000 if the kicker onto the mini-playfield is shot. Once all three ramps are shot, the secret lab will light to score a super jackpot worth double the jackpot value. Collecting the super jackpot will relight the ramp shots.

Perks

The following perks can be activated during gameplay:

• Kickback: Spelling FUSE on the return rollovers activates the spring-loaded kickback at the right outlane. Once activated, this kickback remains available until it is used; kickbacks can't be stacked.
• Ball Saver: If the dynamo spinner spins 15 times in a single shot, a ball saver will activate for 10 seconds, which also activates at the start of either multiball mode and immediately after the ball is plunged into play. If the ball drains while the ball saver is activated, the steam cannon will shoot the ball back into play.
• Magna-Save: Shooting the coil ramp three times will activate the magna-save, which can be used to save the ball from draining with a press of the launch button. Magna-saves can't be stacked, and unused magna-saves will be removed when the ball drains.
• Cannon Shot: Hitting the two drop targets at the left wall of the table will open up a path to the steam cannon, which will shoot the ball back into play towards the upper flipper and score 10,000 points. 5 cannon shots will light an extra ball.
• Bonus Multiplier: Hitting the bumpers 20 times in a single shot will score a resonance bonus of at least 100,000 points and increase the bonus multiplier by +2x up to 10x. The bonus multiplier is only good for the current ball.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be lit at the center sinkhole by raising the multiplier past 10x, making 5 total cannon shots or by successfully completing 12 total experiments (any experiment can be repeated more than once to light this extra ball).

Tips

• The ball protection mechanisms are very easy to activate and shouldn't be ignored unless they are already lit. The magna-save is arguably the toughest to activate due to the difficulty of shooting the side ramp from the upper flipper, but also the most effective. A ball that is about to drain down the left outlane can be saved by a small nudge.
• There are only a few ways to get the ball to the upper flipper: shooting the diverted left ramp, shooting the spinner, or shooting the right orbit. The shot that works best for you will depend on your play style, but the right orbit has the highest probability of setting up a shot to the mini-playfield kicker.
• Remember that you don't have to complete all the experiments to light an extra ball. If you aren't pleased with the currently selected experiment, shoot the right habitrail in hopes of getting an experiment you can more consistently complete. Chain Reaction is arguably the easiest experiment, scoring 10 million for a minimum of four shots - all of which are much easier than the shots required in the other experiments.

Changes from original release

• In the original Zen Pinball, all experiments scored 5 million points for completion, with the exception of Teleforce which scored 20 million. This was changed with the release of Zen Pinball 2 to award 10 million points for some of the more difficult experiments.
• Originally, Induction would always be the first qualified experiment at the start of a game, which could then be changed to the experiment directly to the left of it by shooting the right habitrail. This was changed in Pinball FX3 so that the experiment selected at the start of a game would be random.

External links

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