I nudge nearly all the time...edit. now that I took your poll, my real answer isn't there. Lotta nudging, rarely tilt

Carry Over!

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Nudge it 'till the break of dawn!
If that doesn't work spank it a little...
Then tickle it with a feather!

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Looks like she's a "Goer"...
Eh? Eh???

Nudging isn't just for saves it also allows you to vary the speed of the ball on the play-field. To get the best out of many older game's you have to nudge if you want to win!

Did not use to but notice all the good players do without question. So, I am trying to do it all the time. Nudging forwards and bouncing the ball seems to be effective but sideways nudges are not working for me? If the ball is about to fall down the right outlane you give a big nudge from the right?? Interested in techniques.......

I will try anything to save my balls, never tried a death save yet.

So YES I nudge lots, sometimes it works out well and sometimes not.

I think having a nudge is all part of the game, take a risk to save your balls IS taking the risk of losing points, last night I had my JM bonus multiplier maxed out and too many nudges led to tilt so all bonus points were lost.

I find nudging particularly effective when trying to prevent outlane drains. When you get a good feel for what posts and slingshot tops do when balls hit them from various angles, you can save MANY balls with well timed nudges. I don't slam the machine back and forth (though I have, sorry ) It's more of a finesse thing. It's actually fun to see how close you can get to tilting without actually doing it.

HOWEVER: For another poll, How many of you get all of your warnings and then tilt buy hitting the flippers too rambunctiously?

You've got to nudge. That's the conclusion I've come to after watching Bowen's tutorial videos and seeing several good players in person. Watch how Bowen bounces the ball on the flippers with nudges, how he keeps it away from the outlanes, and how he slap saves. There are some great slap saves in the competition videos that PAPA has posted.

Some games require a smack when the ball is in certain locations to keep you from getting in trouble. And you can take some of the speed off sling hits by nudging the machine upwards at impact, similar to what you do with a live catch.

I'll occasionally get a tilt warning or two, but I rarely tilt entirely.

I love nudging, that's what makes pinball special to me and sets it apart from video games. You can use your whole body when you play.

I find it funny as nowadays it's all the rage for video game console manufacturers to make games where you can use your whole body to play, like the Wii and Kinect, when we've been using our whole bodies to play pinball since what, the 40's??? We were ahead of the curve big time.

Re-think your technique.

If the ball is teetering on the right outlane, give the machine a whack (OK, gentle nudge) on the left side of the machine.

Seems counter-intuitive I know, but think of it this way - when you nudge, you aren't really changing the trajectory of the ball. You are briefly (during the actual moment of the nudge) changing the angle/orientation of the playfield.

So if the ball is hanging on a right outlane - and you nudge from the right side - you are moving the playfield to the left - which will cause your ball to seem to be moving more to the right - which will cause a drain down the outlane. Make sense?

Having said that, I don't nudge nearly as much as I should.

If the ball is about to fall down the right outlane you give a big nudge from the right??

No Simon... Think physics.
Think of it like pulling the rug from under someone's feet...
If you pull from the right side of the rug, they fall left.
Left- they fall right.
You are just adding/taking away the playfield underneath the balls path, which usually is about a split second when it is rolling! As it stalls on the out-lane post you usually have a full second. (Unless the ball has some extreme spin on it...)
It usually has to be a smooth swift/short motion so that you don't start moving the TILT weight needlessly. Shaking is a no-no...
Bang Backs are also a BIG NO-NO! Especially at my house... If you drained or out-laned even with the nudge, it was just meant to be... Death saves do work well on newer machines when done correctly. I see so many people using extreme violence when attempting this maneuver... It is swift like ninja! Timing is everything.
Anyway,
Just let it go- become a "Pinball Psychic" on the preventative "nudging" measures first.
You will amaze friends- make new ones and stay classy ALL at the same time!!!

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Stay classy Pinside!

If I saw somebody do a Bang Back on one of my machines, I'd be inclined to perform a Bang Back on their skull!

I'd be inclined to perform a Bang Back on their skull!

That is why these exist gweem!

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Hey, they were warned!

I saw nothing!

I nudge constantly, but gently. Especially on fast machines, mostly to control the speed of the ball, and the occasional slap save will earn me a warning or two, but I rarely tilt.

Well, thanks guys......off to try this right now! For some reason I get my left's mixed up with my right's

Depends on the game and the settings. With TZ for example, the bonus can be a heck of a lot of points so it's a pretty bad idea to be overly aggressive with it. DW on the other hand, I'll get that sucker on 1 leg if that's what it takes to keep a ball in play. If the outlane posts don't have any rubber the nudge the outlane away from the ball path works occasionally but if there's rubber inlane/outlane posts, then nudging the post into the ball is my preferred course of action.

Big Nudger!!

I have found quite a few games in pubs and arcades recently that have either had the tilt disabled, or else you can give the machine a hearty shove to keep a ball in play without tilting. As far as I am concerned this is a licence to throw the machine around a bit if it means saving the ball from draining. Often though I'm not quick enough, or accurate enough to prevent the ball draining.

I was playing a Family Guy in a pub recently with a easy tilt setting. After several games and a few pints, I noticed there were deep scratch marks on the polished stone floor where I'd had the machine sliding around which weren't there before. Time to leave before anyone noticed.

My pins at home are sitting on carpet. I have put plastic cup carpet protectors under all the feet to prevent damage to the carpet, and it allows the pins to slide around a bit too. Tilt settings are set fairly easy on my machines (except the TZ which is wickedly tight), but I still end up tilting a lot. Bang Backs or Death Saves are taboo on my machines, and I won't attempt to do them on anyone else's. Gentle nudging doesn't damage a machine, Bang Backs & Death Saves will!

Great question Wes. I am all for finesse nudging to prevent lane drains to prolong ball times. But overdoing it especially if a machine is on carpet is not the greatest idea as it could do some damage if done repetitively. I prefer to give respect to the machines by not overdoing it but a nudge here and there when needed is fair game.

I find that when I am at someone else's house, I am often hesitant to nudge the machine as much as I would if it was my own game or one on location. Some people I know have games in such prisitine condition (that's right, I'm talking about you tatman), that I'm almost afraid to get too aggressive with them. I just respect the machines so much that I don't want to risk damaging them.

I need some of those signs NP

The photo traced back to Ebay scooter.
It looked like they were on sale too.
I saw a guy driving around with one on the back window of his pickup truck.
I waved at him giving him the thumbs up...
He thought I was just crazy-
which I am...
I guess he forgot all about his cool sticker.
Oh well.

if its someone elses i try to keep it to a minimum but mine i nudge quite a bit.

Great quotes should not go to waste

I am very polite on other people's games. However, on my games at home the first thing I do is take off the plumb bob. If it's bouncing around the outlane, I'll nudge it proper to get the ball going where I want it to go

No bang backs needed (never have done that), but a good nudge, or 2, or 5.

Bill

Surely though the tilt mechanism is integral to the whole game? Taking off the plumb bob is like making the hole bigger on a golf course

I Don't Nudge or Move the Pin @ All... I've seen Player's Shake and Hump a Pin while Play-n , the ball is gonna go where it's gonna go.. Humping a Pin,, Check out Billy bob,, excuse the munchkin's language ...

If you don't nudge, you will lose to a good player..again and again and again...

If you take out the plumb bob, your cheatin haha....a decent player can play all friggin day if you can slide the machine 3 feet without tilting

What a great way to play HS2

On a location game, I will nudge and slide as much as it will let me get away with. There's an operator around here who deliberately takes the bob out. You almost feel sorry for the machine when we're done with them.

There is a very good player around here. If the ball is heading for the sling he will slide the game in the direction of the sling (i.e. away from the ball) so the ball doesn't activate the sling and drops down to the flipper for a catch. I saw him roll an Indy 500 on his first credit. When he started the game it was perpendicular to the wall. When he finished it was almost parallel!!

Why on Earth would an op deliberately take out the tilt bob? You're just asking for your machines to get abused.

I actually had a chance to ask him.

He said it's because players would whine to the venue that the tilt was too sensitive. Typically, the venue doesn't know anything about pinball, only that their customer appears unhappy. So the venue calls the Op and says, "my customer isn't happy and says the tilt thing is too tight." So the op kept coming out and making it looser and looser until it was as loose as he could make it. But the players kept complaining. So the op removed it altogether.

Really, what is going on is that a small number of prolific players want games they can easily earn replays on, so they just complain until the tilts are taken out. The venue doesn't know enough about pinball to tell them to suck it up and play better. The Op is not going to get in a pissing match with the venue over how it should deal with its customers. Voila no tilt bob.

lol,
i have a buddy that can death save almost anytime he wants. i see more death saves as his beer intake increases. lol

Remind me BoS to never invite that "buddy" over anytime soon..!

Mastering BB's/DS' is like learning Klingon-
Sure it is cool to know...
But to bust it out fluently in a public setting, for a long period of time...
Might just get you THROWN OUT of the party. (Unless you are at a 'Star Trek' convention... Which would then be O.K. )

"Live Long and Prosper..."
Unless you are BB'n my machines!
Then- "Dirt-Nap and Decay..."
...will be your new farewell!

I was mostly kidding on that last one... Death saves are "okay" when used in moderation.
The TILT will take care of the rest!

Thanks to this thread I have incorporated the "nudge" into my game. Already been seeing positive gains in ball times, scoring, etc. as a result. Only been a few days and to already see improvement is pretty pimp. Only going to get better (or so I hope).

"Surely though the tilt mechanism is integral to the whole game? Taking off the plumb bob is like making the hole bigger on a golf course "

Ha, probably true. I could set the plumb bob at medium and probably be fine. It's not like I beat the crap out of my games. Sometimes the ball gets stuck and I would rahter shake it out than pull the glass off.

Bill

Someone on CL is currently selling one of NP's signs. They are $15/ea or 2 for $25 ...

minneapolis.craigslist.org link

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Gweem, actually a death save really doesn't hurt a pinball machine if done right. It's the n00bs who "overdo it" who are dangerous to the machine. Especially on newer STERNs, death saves are quite easy. You just give the game a careful "pop" at the right time. It's far less "violent" than many slide saves. Although, if the ball is rolling very slow down the drain, it does require more force.

Bang backs are likewise. Some guys smack the lockdown bar to do them, which over the long term will make the lockbar housing loosen and hurt the game, but if done right, it doesn't hurt the machine.

I read this whole LOOOOONG thread getting more & more steamed about people getting worked up by death saves/bang backs and was ready to vent when jonnyo beat me to it! It is all a matter of timing more than brute force and no more violent than a slap save. It is a beautiful thing to behold- but alas is verbotten in most tournament play.

Excited to see this topic was being discussed! Nudging is a MUST! As is learning to play within the 'Tilt Zone'! Older games actually reward you for body english skills. Do you think people stood quietly by in the 40's and let balls fall where they may in the era of flipperless pins?

Nudging is helpful on other areas of the playfield as well- I never let a ball go thru a Super Jets type mode without a little nudging.

Now. Who's going to PAPA???? Only 2 weeks to go!

I wasn't doin' it in the forties but I damn sure played my fair share of flipperless pins in the late 60's and early seventies!!!! Gambling on the old bingo dime machines was very very popular and you had best learn to nudge, bangback, and slide if you intended on getting paid! Heck I'd even been accused of wearing steel toed boots so I could rest the front legs on them and float the ball where I wanted it to go....will deny if repeated...he he

I have rarely nudged and almost never effectively, but watching Bowen's tutorials has made me a firm believer. I just wish he would spend more time explaining what exactly he is doing. Much of it happens very fast. It's pure Wizardy I tell ya!!

Shawn

I'm definitely on the high end of the nudging scale. However, I never take off the plumb bob because there are times when I want to tilt the machine, usually when I'm frustrated because I'm playing horribly and I'd rather get the next ball started quicker than wait for a measly 12K or so of bonus to be added to my score. That said, I'd never do to anyone else's machines what I do to my own. On my machines, I'd estimate over 95 percent of my tilts are deliberate.

Look at this Moron ,, If that was my JM , his AZZ would have been Stomped !!!!!

Early pins didn't even have flippers. You were expected to nudge. Nudging without tilting is part of the skill of playing. One of the best pinball game names ever is Nudgy.

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Every good player nudges. I nudge often on my own machines but usually take it easy on people's home use machines.

I have noticed that there are alot more tight tilt plombs around now. Back in my youth, i could never slap save my way into a tilt but i've done it more than i care to admit in the last few years.

Has anyone done what I do when the ball heads towards the Outland? I've noticed if its headed for the outline, with proper timing, if I hit the corresponding flipper, it'll go towards the inside lane, and not the outlane, I'd say 80% plus of the time. I figure the flipper coil puts out a magnetic field when energized, and affects ball movement. I've had it balance on the fence (rail?), and hit the flipper, and have it drop to the inside. I love doing that.

I have these on the wall by my machine. Question do you find that you have to adjust the levelers more if you nudge alot? Thought maybe it would throw the level off if the machine's leg levelers moved about the floor, etc.

Which was a game of chance, and led to the prohibition back then! Kordek said it best "with 2 flippers at the bottom of the PF it became a game of skill."

I am actually forced to set all the sensors on my machines at VERY sensitive because once my idiot roommate learned to nudge, and started working out, the nudges turned into shoves...

Not OK!

(in fact he's not even allowed to play my Tron LE anymore)