(An attempt at) The top 40 TPA players from leaderboard scores

[Tarek Oberdieck]

Does the Android version support a Bluetooth gamepad or anything like that?

I don't know. Maybe we should try to run the Android Timeshock in the Bluestacks Player: http://www.bluestacks.com
Or still wait for the PC version in 2020...

 

[Crooker]

I think it's not the platform itself, but the input method that makes a huge difference. Touchscreens just can't give you the same accuracy of timing that a keyboard or gamepad can. Like Tarek, I've tried TPA and Timeshock on my iPad, and I'm so hilariously bad you wouldn't believe it. Like, can't even start multiball bad.

Does the Android version support a Bluetooth gamepad or anything like that?

I tried to play on my kids Playstation and sucked really really bad. The boy and his friends were laughing at me cause I told them I was pretty good at this game. I guess it's just what you are used to and comfortable with.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I don't know. Maybe we should try to run the Android Timeshock in the Bluestacks Player: http://www.bluestacks.com
Or still wait for the PC version in 2020...

Various BT controllers can be used with Android, and iOS, for that matter. I just don't get using a controller (which you need to hold in both hands) with a tablet (which you need to hold in both hands). Unless there are some serious genetic freaks out there playing pinball

As for Bluestacks... unless it's dramatically improved in performance and app compatibility in the last couple of years, well, yikes. Don't go there.

 

[invitro]

The boy and his friends were laughing at me cause I told them I was pretty good at this game. I guess it's just what you are used to and comfortable with.

I'm glad I became comfortable with people laughing at me at a young age...

 

[Crooker]

I'm glad I became comfortable with people laughing at me at a young age...

Nice. Well played sir.

 

[Slam23]

On PC vs. iOS
I had some prolonged discussions with VikingErik about the differences between PC and iOS and it seemed that nudging on PC is easier because there are multiple levels to it depending on the length of keypress (I do this from memory, can anyone on PC confirm this? Is the same true for PSN?), on iPad there's just one (hard) which leads to easier tilts. I've seen video of PC players who constantly nudge to control the ball on the flippers and that just is not possible to that extent on iOS in my experience. Even with the same nudge control, it's still different if you "just" have to press a keyboard button right next to the flipper key than when you have to shoot up with your index finger to touch the nudge area. I guess pressing the keyboard button would be faster/easier. Because ball control is key if you want to score big, anything that makes nudging easier is a major difference. I must say that the last few iOS tables are a bit more "nudge lenient" (F14 Tomcat, HSII Getaway), and I immediately could score big on those two, maybe those new physics also made it easier. I also have TPA on PC but haven't played it extensively, just wanted to see the tables in all their graphical glory. What I do recall is that it has a different input lag compared to my iPad which totally threw off my timing. Also, some physics "railroads" that I know are present in the iOS tables, were not there or were at least a bit different. In the end iPad for me will win because of portability/play anywhere, and I do like the Hall of Fame points system (here's to hoping Farsight gets that part of the leaderboard up and updated again).

Playing on an iPad
I play on my iPad Air 2 without any protective cover or other stuff that weighs it down more. It was a complete breath of fresh air to play it after upgrading from my "old" iPad 2. It was lighter, had better graphics which improved visibility and most importantly had seriously less (input) lag and better frame rate. Twilight Zone for example wasn't really playable on that old iPad, especially not when playing Lost in the Zone. I can remember that I immediately improved my scores on multiple tables. I prefer to play sitting down and letting my arms/elbows rest on something and then it's quite comfortable. I have yet to learn that pressing harder won't achieve better results, just fatigue my thumbs But I have the same problem with real tables, and get sore wrists after a couple of hours. I just can't help doing that though, especially when things get tight. I'm really looking forward how TPA will play on the iPad Pro, I'm thinking that it may actually be harder if they don't adjust for longer distances you'll have to travel to nudge. Playing on my iPhone 4s is actually worse than on my old iPad 2, even if the tables look better. My thumbs are too big and obscure the view or I tilt inadvertently. Hats of to the phone crowd in any case!

 

[Mark Miwurdz]

Are we giving credence to this Dizzer2012 wallah?

 

[invitro]

On PC vs. iOS
I had some prolonged discussions with VikingErik about the differences between PC and iOS and it seemed that nudging on PC is easier because there are multiple levels to it depending on the length of keypress (I do this from memory, can anyone on PC confirm this? Is the same true for PSN?), on iPad there's just one (hard) which leads to easier tilts. I've seen video of PC players who constantly nudge to control the ball on the flippers and that just is not possible to that extent on iOS in my experience.

Whoa whoa whoa. On my PC with keyboard, there are not multiple levels of nudge, just the one hard nudge, with a tilt on a second nudge within a few seconds on most older games. Unless I'm -really- mistaken. This is a core issue so we need to get on the same page here.

Now on a PC with gamepad, there -are- multiple levels of nudge. As there are on XBox or PSN or any gamepad system, I presume. The video you mention is certainly of PC players using a gamepad.

(I have a rough belief that certain tables like Big Shot and El Dorado might be easier for me if I used my XBox360 controller. I really need to test that. I did do a fair bit of testing a year ago and concluded that I did better with keyboard than gamepad in general on PC.)

 

[Mark Miwurdz]

It's what you're used to, I suppose. I just have a hard time time believing top scores are obtainable on mobiles unless they have way dumbed down the difficulty.

 

[invitro]

It's what you're used to, I suppose. I just have a hard time time believing top scores are obtainable on mobiles unless they have way dumbed down the difficulty.

Can you clarify? Clearly, scores that rank (at least) as high as #2 are obtainable on mobile, since they've been obtained.

 

[Slam23]

Thanks for clearing that up [MENTION=446]invitro[/MENTION], I did recall that there was some nuance to this issue but couldn't remember what it was. But we do agree on the fact that there are TPA videos out there of gameplay with unbelievable non-tilt nudging? To be clear: my position is not necessarily that iOS is harder, I really don't know because I haven't compared the two platforms exhaustively, it was more something that came up in conversations with VikingErik and also Tarek (I checked those and we talked about the precision of the controls, with the touchscreen being less precise). I do remember seeing infographs by Farsight in their newsletter in which mobile is by far the most used platform, surely in comparison with PC. If the leaderboard is dominated by PC and console, that could lead to the assumption that there are differences in difficulty, or just to the conclusion that the PC/console players are superior pinheads
[MENTION=311]Mark Miwurdz[/MENTION] : I don't have any fact/evidence to base any claim on (and I don't like to make them in general), but I do get a bit suspicious if somebody shoots up the charts like that in such a short time, primarily based upon my own experience how much time it takes to get from good (top 100) to great scores (top 10-20). I looked back and saw Dizzer (backwards from the last list) at 19, 38, 34, 33, 30, 29, 33, 45, 44, 43, 81 (july 2014), no ranking in june 2014. So I guess he joined the top #100 in 2014, quickly got around position 30-40, hovered there for more then a year and then last month really went to work to jump from 38 to 19.

Just for fun: this has been my position list
feb 2014 : 52
march 2014 : 62
april 2014 : 74
may 2014* : 95, 32, 66
june 2014 : no ranking
july 2014 : no ranking
august 2014 : 86
september 2014 : 73
october 2014 : 63
november 2014 : 61
december 2014 : 35
january 2015 : 31
february 2015 : 23
march 2015 : 23
april 2015 : 23
may 2015 : 24
june 2015 : 26
july 2015 : 24
august 2015 : 19
september 2015 : 17
october 2015 : 16

* changed formulas

I hit a plateau around 25, and when nearing the top 20, the going has been slow, it takes a lot of time to jump positions because you need very high scores that offcourse take more time.

 

[Mark Miwurdz]

How, if you cannot nudge easily and someone like viking is hopeless using one?

 

[Slam23]

It's what you're used to, I suppose. I just have a hard time time believing top scores are obtainable on mobiles unless they have way dumbed down the difficulty.

I would also like to know how that dumbing down would look like in specific terms?

 

[sneakynotsneaky]

On PC vs. iOS
Even with the same nudge control, it's still different if you "just" have to press a keyboard button right next to the flipper key than when you have to shoot up with your index finger to touch the nudge area. I guess pressing the keyboard button would be faster/easier. Because ball control is key if you want to score big, anything that makes nudging easier is a major difference.

See this is where I actually think being on the phone helps. Like I said I'm on the S5 only and a nudge on there is just a quick move up of the thumb, not too intrusive. I don't doubt that the keyboard is faster than that but I can't imagine it's as easy on a big tablet.

All this discussion makes me want to find a decent PC and do some experimenting...

 

[Slam23]

It took me a long time to become a serviceable nudger on my iPad, it's now second nature and I can perform a lot of saves that I couldn't in comparison with say two years back. If you just take up an iPad (or other mobile platform with touch nudge) without that built-up experience you will suck very hard on that aspect of the game So no disrespect to VikingErik, but that's how I see it.

 

[Slam23]

See this is where I actually think being on the phone helps. Like I said I'm on the S5 only and a nudge on there is just a quick move up of the thumb, not too intrusive. I don't doubt that the keyboard is faster than that but I can't imagine it's as easy on a big tablet.

All this discussion makes me want to find a decent PC and do some experimenting...

That's an interesting technique, I keep (/have to keep) my thumbs down on the flipper area and stretch out my index fingers to nudge (I use both the lateral nudge areas for 95% of the time, and up nudge the remaining 5 -with my thumb-, on specific tables, and often with those center pins). That's why I'm afraid that I'll need a new technique on the iPad Pro.

 

[invitro]

How, if you cannot nudge easily and someone like viking is hopeless using one?

Well, slam23 and Crooker have posted here recently, and Gus posts in the forum a lot, you could ask him.

 

[Slam23]

Well, slam23 and Crooker have posted here recently, and Gus posts in the forum a lot, you could ask him.

See post #795

 

[Crooker]

How, if you cannot nudge easily and someone like viking is hopeless using one?

I nudge a lot. Not that hard on an iPad. Just a little swipe of the thumb. I obviously don't have the scores like you or vikingeric or Tarek either. Probably you guys have way more talent than I do regardless of platform. Slam,Gus and Toolnit have some pretty high scores and are all mobile players. There must be some difference in platform playability though. Like slam said the majority of the top scores are dominated by PC and console players but there are a lot more mobile players out there. I'm not computer savy enough to have an intelligent opinion about the differences in platforms though.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I find playing on a mobile platform much more difficult than on a PC. I very rarely match my best scores on Android vs. PC. I think for a while my best Black Hole score was on Android, but that's about it.

I've never been comfortable nudging on Android, no matter what touch scheme I try (and shake or swipe nudging is even worse for me). I know some people use their index fingers to nudge, but I can't manage that, so I rely on my thumbs, and that means moving up from the flipper zones. As a result I only nudge when the ball is far from the flippers.

On the PC, I never got the hang of nudging using the keyboard. Again, I could never get keyboard mappings that I was comfortable with. Moving to an X360 controller, and the ability to analog nudge, provided the single biggest boost to my ability to get good scores. I also think having a monitor with 1ms latency helps a great deal when it comes to timing.

Having said all that... the one time I participated in a TotM using my tablet, when I was on vacation, I did okay. I don't remember what all the tables in that tournament were (I know two were Ripley's and Diner) and I did pretty well on Ripley's, so perhaps it's a matter of more practice. I tend to play very casually on my tablet, usually when I'm watching TV, or my kids are running around, so I'm not 100% focused on the game.