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I'm crap at Pinball

Den - aka Wolfgang said:
Great post and I think the right attitude to have; enjoyment should be the main goal and like anything, will spur you on to practice.
I'd consider myself still new to the hobby, as only the past year or so I've had the opportunity to get semi-regular play on real machines after discovering Flipout and becoming a member.
I've only recently begun understanding a bit and practicing nudging and slap saves; currently fairly hopeless at nudging to avoid side drains, but better than before and as another poster suggested, will look to get better at reading a table to know when to nudge to avoid the ball entering danger areas.
I also found that getting used to drop catches(?) is a really useful tool to gain control of the ball.

Re: getting a virtual cab, I'd recommend keeping an eye out for a nice one someone has made and is selling due to upgrading, as I reckon you could get one much cheaper than a brand new one. The one I have was fairly basic when I picked it up cheap from Ebay, with a crap PF screen/pc inside/software, but I learned how to use Visual Pinball and the GameEx front end, swapped out the PF screen/pc and recently added a nudge sensor (which is huge for me as can now practice nudging, albeit in a relatively basic way). I've now got Visual Pinball and Pinball FX3 on my cab and love it - great for learning the rules of tables and very fun.
Also, as a stop-gap to forking out for a Vpin, if you learn how to set up visual pinball /install tables(fairly easy these days - there is an all in one installer), you could just rest a monitor vertically and use a keyboard/controller (or an X-arcade stick which has flipper buttons) to play.
There is also Pinball FX3 which has some williams tables now (most I'd say are better on Visual Pinball IMHO) which is great on the Nintendo switch, as you can play in tate mode.
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Thanks for the reply and advice mate.

I'm not too bothered about the virtual pin.

I meant the stand up arcade games like those capcom things.

As for the nudging.....

The fact that STTNG is a heavy wide body is probably not helping as some have suggested. I am enjoying playing though and even enjoy some of the shots regardless of whether they are high scoring or not.

Some shots are just damn satisfying.
 
Gonzo said:
Thanks for the reply and advice mate.

I'm not too bothered about the virtual pin.

I meant the stand up arcade games like those capcom things.

As for the nudging.....

The fact that STTNG is a heavy wide body is probably not helping as some have suggested. I am enjoying playing though and even enjoy some of the shots regardless of whether they are high scoring or not.

Some shots are just damn satisfying.
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Ah I see - Arcades:-) Those Arcade1UP cabs look nice; doesn't anyone here have any experience with them? ; are the buttons/sticks Sanwa?
I used to have a MAME cab a while back, but now I have everything set-up on a fairly low-spec pc in the spare room, with Madcatz tournament sticks (Excellent sticks) and a monitor which I can rotate easily for TATE games - I'd recommend that, but appreciate that you'd be missing out on the standing at a cab experience:-)
You might also want to consider finding a cab (or a table top machine?) where someone has just stuck an og xbox in it with Coinops loaded - excellent setup and pretty cheap.
 
Gonzo said:
Thanks Neil, I'll have a look at that.

I played AFM at Chief and can certainly see the appeal. I found that the central shot to attack the flying saucer more difficult than I imagined. It was almost too central to generate the necessary power from the flipper if that makes any sense? I did enjoy it though although I could do with 2 or 3 hours on freeplay to really explore it.
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@Gonzo @M4carp
I recently increased the pitch on AFMr and MM at Chief so they are playing pretty hard and fast. Will perhaps tone them both down a bit... the AFM saucer is a very early shot on both flippers to hit consistently ;)
 
Chief said:
@Gonzo @M4carp
I recently increased the pitch on AFMr and MM at Chief so they are playing pretty hard and fast. Will perhaps tone them both down a bit... the AFM saucer is a very early shot on both flippers to hit consistently ;)
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MM left flipper seemed weak to me, not the pitch. I will take it off your hands and give you a space for a new one😉
Also want to play your AFM now to compare to my original, should have played it when I was there.

When is Stranger Things available to play, thinking of coming down again👍
 
Chief said:
@Gonzo @M4carp
I recently increased the pitch on AFMr and MM at Chief so they are playing pretty hard and fast. Will perhaps tone them both down a bit... the AFM saucer is a very early shot on both flippers to hit consistently ;)
Click to expand...

Interesting @cheif I look forward to playing chief coffee another visit soon in the mean time see you at flip out on Thursday!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Chief said:
@Gonzo @M4carp
I recently increased the pitch on AFMr and MM at Chief so they are playing pretty hard and fast. Will perhaps tone them both down a bit... the AFM saucer is a very early shot on both flippers to hit consistently ;)
Click to expand...
The saucer shot was most definitely me mate, the machine was immaculate but as you say it's early off the flipper. AFM was so good it made me want to get one.

I agree with Carps assessment of the MM though... it was clearly struggling to reach target off the flipper.

I also found that and CC really dimly lit in that corner which would definitely benefit from a light.

It was an excellent experience though and it was great to have a go on WW and I must say that Guardians is an excellent pin to play if you're a bit crap like me. Very forgiving and easy to get multiball which is excellent considering my son kept asking for money 😂
 
Gonzo said:
The saucer shot was most definitely me mate, the machine was immaculate but as you say it's early off the flipper. AFM was so good it made me want to get one.

I agree with Carps assessment of the MM though... it was clearly struggling to reach target off the flipper.

I also found that and CC really dimly lit in that corner which would definitely benefit from a light.

It was an excellent experience though and it was great to have a go on WW and I must say that Guardians is an excellent pin to play if you're a bit crap like me. Very forgiving and easy to get multiball which is excellent considering my son kept asking for money 😂
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Great to hear you enjoyed your visit. Have lowered the pitch on MM this morning so easier to make the steep right ramp now. Flipper power seems fine to me but it could probably do with a rebuild.

CC now resides on our top floor at Chief (my office) to make room for Stranger Things which is due to arrive tomorrow 💥( @M4carp )
First on location in the UK to my knowledge
 
Chief said:
Great to hear you enjoyed your visit. Have lowered the pitch on MM this morning so easier to make the steep right ramp now. Flipper power seems fine to me but it could probably do with a rebuild.

CC now resides on our top floor at Chief (my office) to make room for Stranger Things which is due to arrive tomorrow 💥( @M4carp )
First on location in the UK to my knowledge
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I will come down Wednesday if it’s available to play, worth the 220 mile drive☺️ Plus I need to see a mate your way.
 
Yeah it’s not bad, give franco manca around the corner a go too for pizza ;)
 
I also have a big heavy wide body (JD) and everytime I try to nudge it it’s like slapping a brick wall! Nudging forwards and back when it’s near outlanes is a bit easier than side to side for slap saves. I think it’s worth when you have free play seeing the quickest way to settle the ball from a range of common returns (ramps/lanes) the pinball arcade games is pretty good for this (I used to play quite a bit on PS4) eg on MM could always just hold the left flipper up to catch from a kickout at the castle to left outlane. That also usually works on a real machine, or with a reasonably timed live catch to settle it down a bit quicker). Pete’s spot on about dead flipping. A bounce off the rubber settles it right down and means you can make a more targeted shot.

fwiw I’m a bit sick of hearing ‘that’s cheating!’ when I tell others who’ve not played before to try a little nudge!
 
Moonraker said:
The top tip I normally give to people to help improve their pinball skillz is for them to know or recognise when to NOT flip, instead let the ball bounce over to the other flipper...
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Funnily enough it's my only trick. Neil Fellender (who I believe is known to the community) showed me when he delivered a pin to me.

My daughter seems to have adopted a very different approach of pushing both buttons repeatedly regardless of which side the ball is on.
 
GezTheHealer said:
I also have a big heavy wide body (JD) and everytime I try to nudge it it’s like slapping a brick wall! Nudging forwards and back when it’s near outlanes is a bit easier than side to side for slap saves. I think it’s worth when you have free play seeing the quickest way to settle the ball from a range of common returns (ramps/lanes) the pinball arcade games is pretty good for this (I used to play quite a bit on PS4) eg on MM could always just hold the left flipper up to catch from a kickout at the castle to left outlane. That also usually works on a real machine, or with a reasonably timed live catch to settle it down a bit quicker). Pete’s spot on about dead flipping. A bounce off the rubber settles it right down and means you can make a more targeted shot.

fwiw I’m a bit sick of hearing ‘that’s cheating!’ when I tell others who’ve not played before to try a little nudge!
Click to expand...


I'd forgotten that JD was a wide body (despite @J.C.Rox sending me a list recently 😬)

Never played one but it's a good looking machine.
 
Skills are one thing - but at the top competitions - you have to learn how to adapt your skills - at INDISC for example it was almost impossible to drop catch and even if you did the speed of the ball was then likely to go up the inlane and roll out the outlane - The INDISC games required super shot accuracy and if you missed you where in danger. Having a wide set of skills and a lot of experience in using them in different situations is needed! Check out the video of the finals.

Cheers,
Neil.


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