Stuff I learned about Pinball at the TPF

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#1 11 years ago

OP

MAX

tcv

Inactive member

Houston, TX

11y 8,650 106 1

Before you read the below, please know that I am very new to pinball and even more new to physical pinball. 'twas two things was got me interested then hooked: 1. miner2049er on Retrogaming Roundup explaining how to play pinball. 2. The Pinball Arcade. I don't have a LOT of access to real pinball tables, but there's a dude in Hockley, TX that I visit when I can who has a large number of tables. I am in Houston, TX.

Here are some things I learned:

1. Pinball is much more physical than I thought. Even with the wonders of The Pinball Arcade, you miss so much: nudging, planting your feet on the ground, physical buttons, lights, sounds, vantage point.

2. And speaking of The Pinball Arcade, which I love, the word "clinical" comes to mind. In a way, it almost seems like a table in TPA is a test table. It works but it works the same every time. There's no nuance. There are no ball dimples in the playfield. There's no chance the ball will climb over a flipper. One flipper is not less powered than the other. All slingshots and bumpers work the same everytime. And there is NO english on the ball. I've seen many real pinballs now take weird turns and you know it's because there's an unusual spin on the ball that isn't simulated in TPA.

3. I suck badly at some games in person that I've done well on in TPA. Taxi kicked my ass. To be sure, Taxi kicked my ass for a long time in TPA, too. Bride of Pinbot destroyed me. I can reach billions on BOP on TPA. The physical bride left me at the altar.

4. Corollary to that, I must say that it has to be okay for me to take some comfort in the small victories. A successful nudge that stops an outlane drain. Getting BOP to speak but only getting one eye. Picking up Gorbie and multiple Joy Rides. Grabbing a single jewel in TOTAN. Reaching a jackpot in TZ.

5. Each TABLE has it's own unique characteristics that one needs to learn. While I mean is: there can be two BOP next to one another and they both can play very differently. I hadn't before seen such contrast before my visit to TPF.

6. I haven't changed my mind about TPA. I still love it! But I do wish I could play more on physical machines. This is more of a disappointment than I thought I would ever feel but I can't ever see myself buying any machines. I've no room. They're expensive. Plus... it's nice to have a variety of games. One physical table.. eh...

7. Pinball is a game of reaction and patience. Sometimes you have to flail, but more often you have to be patient and let the ball's momentum tell you what to do. Otherwise, I'll likely open up a bigger hole in which the ball will drain.

Just sharing. Pinball is the only game that gives me back the same exciting feeling that I got during the days I owned an Atari 2600 in my youth. That wanting to go home and play. That's not been there in decades.

_{Post edited by tcv : Added 7}

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#2 11 years ago

LAR

lrosent345

Starship Fantasy

Desert Hills, AZ

11y 77,900 812

OP
Quoted from tcv:
6. I haven't changed my mind about TPA. I still love it! But I do wish I could play more on physical machines. This is more of a disappointment than I thought I would ever feel but I can't ever see myself buying any machines. I've no room. They're expensive. Plus... it's nice to have a variety of games. One physical table.. eh...

Yeah, that's what I used to say and I now have 28 pins at home. You are in way more trouble than you realize.

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#3 11 years ago

TOM

tomdotcom

Pinside member

Kamloops, BC

15y 112K 6,198 2

We all know REAL pinball is better...you are preaching to the choir I do like virtual pinball as well, but it's really NOTHING like the real deal...

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#4 11 years ago

TRN

fattrain

Pinside member

15y 118K 5,140

We all love pinball and wish money / space was no object.... but it is (for most of us).

You might be the perfect candidate for a virtual pinball in a full stand up cabinet.

It will look like a real pinball, you can plant your feet on the ground and hands on the flipper buttons. If you have a real nice one it will even have a nudge/tilt sensor in it as well as flashers and lights but the best part is that you can have 100+ tables on it.

hyperpin.jpg

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#5 11 years ago

???

SuperTurbo

Pinside member

11y 22,150 89

OP
Quoted from tcv:
1. Pinball is much more physical than I thought. Even with the wonders of The Pinball Arcade, you miss so much: nudging, planting your feet on the ground, physical buttons, lights, sounds, vantage point.

It's no secret that The Pinball Arcade has insanely poor production values. They are on par with older PS2 games. They almost never even use dynamic lighting so you'll never get that incredible look of a real machine when the flashers and bulbs start going off in a lightshow. They also don't allow you to turn off the lights and simulate playing the games in the dark.

OP
Quoted from tcv:
2. And speaking of The Pinball Arcade, which I love, the word "clinical" comes to mind. In a way, it almost seems like a table in TPA is a test table. It works but it works the same every time. There's no nuance. There are no ball dimples in the playfield. There's no chance the ball will climb over a flipper. One flipper is not less powered than the other. All slingshots and bumpers work the same everytime. And there is NO english on the ball. I've seen many real pinballs now take weird turns and you know it's because there's an unusual spin on the ball that isn't simulated in TPA.

At one point that had a randomness feature in their budget but they didn't have the money. They were going to program the tables so that they simulated wear and tear and would play differently each time like a real table. So a flipper might be a little weaker after a few hundred plays. And you could adjust everything individually if you wanted. They also were going to have adjustments like how slick the playfield was or how steep the cabinet is pitched at. But they prefer to make the tables as low budget as they can.

OP
Quoted from tcv:
5. Each TABLE has it's own unique characteristics that one needs to learn. While I mean is: there can be two BOP next to one another and they both can play very differently. I hadn't before seen such contrast before my visit to TPF.

This is obvious on tables that have magnets. On Theatre of Magic the magnetic side of the trunk only catches the ball in one way. So for Midnight Madness on that table no matter what angle the ball travels to the trunk it hits the exact same way every single time. And returns off of the trunk at the exact same angle every single time. You can loop the shots on Midnight Madness for probably a few hundred million on TPA version of TOM extremely easily because the ball predictably travels.

Same thing with returns from Creature or the Swamp on Monster Bash. They are the same every single time. Creature returns the ball with a guaranteed dead pass with the same angle every single time. And the Swamp (scoop) returns the ball for free off of the left post for an automatic post transfer, just hold the left flipper and watch. Try that on a real cabinet and watch the ball get out of control in a microsecond.

Unfortunately there's no competition for TPA so we are stuck at PS2 graphics, no support for vertical monitors or cabinets, and static behavior on cabinets. Still a good game but I much rather prefer something like Pinball FX2 for digital pinball. You can tell they spend enormous piles of cash making high quality games and they play very casually with long ball times. I'm not a fan of Star Wars but the new Star Wars tables on PFX2 are incredibly well done.

By tcv

11 years ago

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