Plants vs Zombies or Flight Control HD

[ted]

Anybody else play these ? Having gone a long way in both I now appear stalled as far as certain strategies go.

[ramseytheii]

I happen to love Plants v Zombies and have gotten very far...

Walter Ramsey

[ted]

I have gone a long way too but I am having a struggle getting beyond 14 flags in Survival Endless. So far, the best strategy I have come up with is to initially plant a big cluster of pumpkin protected starfruit more or less in the centre of the screen, and establish two or three vertical columns of sunflowers - gradually upgrading them to double ones - over successive flags, together with at least two columns of tallnuts, three in the water rows, except the extreme right spaces which I keep free for cherry bombs and chillies. Trouble is, I seem to be obliged to plant potato mines down the left column ready for the digger zombies. Squashes can be used, but using them depletes resources from dealing with the increasingly variegated hordes which appear on the right eating my tallnuts. Once they're gone I'm stuffed. Initially I use my duplicate plant on starfruit but in later flags it seems necessary to have two of either cherry bombs or chillies - and the whole thing turns into frantic ad hoc expediency mouse clicking and explosions. I haven't realised something yet.

The tree of wisdom is useless. It has told me nothing I hadn't worked out for myself so far.

Strategies involving melons, or kernel pults and cob cannons just don't seem to hold on enough to get beyond a few flags.

Also, how on earth do you win a night level without shrooms ? There is a prize for doing that but every time I attempt it it's completely hopeless. Again, I'm missing a trick of some sort.

I'm trying to make the garden more challenging by collecting only bright red and bright blue flowers (they seem rarer than the others) facing in certain directions. That should take a few weeks !

[ongaku_oniko]

wow.

You guys play a game that my highschool english teacher's 5 year old son plays, but haven't watched nodame cantabile?!!!!

[Bob]

What is it?

[countrymath]

I played Zombies ate my Neighbours.

[ted]

I discovered a better strategy for Survival Endless and reached 22 flags, but I think I could do better next time. One trick is to protect the right end of the pool with double tall nuts protected by pumpkins. Then fill the pool with weaponry, either kernel pults or melons towards the left, building up to cob cannons or winter melons respectively. Fill most of the pool with pumpkin protected star fruit. Make sure to keep the pool invulnerable by replacing the protected tall nuts if they are eaten. Keep a solid bank of sunflowers down the left hand side, gradually increased to double sunflowers. Choose plants depending on which zombies are presented at the beginning of each session. In general, duplicate cherry bombs and have a chili and a squash on all levels.

Actually, I think I would have done better had I planted one or two cob cannons in the pool instead of blue melons because cob cannons fire anywhere and can do duty for cherry bombs. In general I found the cactus to be disappointing and just chose the blower for the balloon zombies. Umbrella leaves, I find, are not worth sacrificing weapon space for in Survival Endless.

I am interested to hear about other strategies for Survival Endless.

[ted]

Since starting this thread I have found that the whole trick of survival endless is to go flat out during the first few flags and establish a strong pattern of gloom shrooms, cob cannons and winter melons. Once this is done right it seems possible to continue almost indefinitely and many people have devised patterns which persist through hundreds of flags. I haven't that much time to waste.

Vasebreaker endless is, for me, much more entertaining and less dependent on quick reactions. I can easily get to streak fifty with it, but once six gargies appear it makes it difficult not to waste a cherry bomb. If the gargies are towards the right it isn't quite as bad. The lamp is only good for obstructing a zombie for a few extra seconds, as you already know where everything is anyway after a few failed attempts. Once I know the layout, my general strategy is:

Let the sun out
Break the blue peas, triple peas and single pea and position them on the far left according to the layout and the whereabouts of the gargies and bucketheads.
Release ordinary zombies not close to the left
Release bucketheads not close to the left.
Release gargies towards the right.

Reserve squashes as long as possible.
Action as many simultaneous knock-offs of zombies as is possible with the potato mine.
Use the walnut to delay the row with the most zombies close to the left.
Try to leave the Pennywise zombie until last. He's just a nuisance.

It still gets difficult after level fifty though. But if you fail you don't go back to the start as you do in survival. To my way of thinking that is a better game design; no point in repeating a lot of tedious easy levels.
 

[ted]

Got it at last, but I doubt I can be bothered trying to go any further.