First impressions

[9u1d0]

I think it looks great. Plays very fast. I like it

 

[Chris Dunman]

Excellent table. Good and fast. Kicking my derrière at the mo so thinking about a can or two of red bull before the next bash.

Superb effort from FS. Very well done

 

[kinggo]

I never really liked this one back in the days. Let's see if thing will change.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

It plays great, and it's as deadly as the real thing (I have recorded a score of 73,000 as proof of this).

Doesn't mean it can't be "beaten" (see Oberdieck, Tarek) - but in real life, that's true also. Extra balls are plentiful, so scoring will be wild.

 

[daneman20]

I love this table! Played the real one many times back in the late 80s and early 90s. The Farsight recreation appears pretty accurate, particularly the speed of this table. What I noticed today was after playing this table for about 40 minutes, the other tables seem like they are on slow motion!

 

[Slam23]

Never played the real one, but seen footage: looks like the real deal to me. I like the feel that the table angle is steep, so the balls get a little acceleration when they go up a bit and then come down, feels authentic. That Yagov kicker scared me at first but can be controlled quite easily, probably less so in the real table. Would be nice to make a list of pins with similar kickers. Jurassic Park's Raptor lane comes to mind, and HD3 MB release from the Harley (probably not a real kicker, but sure looks like one)

 

[Locksley]

That Yagov kicker is a breeze One doesn't even have to be ready for it, just let it bounce - it never drains.

Now consider when we get ballspinn, that might make the ball go straight down the center drain instead; lets see what the future holds.

Very happy with this table, suits me allot better than the Getaway.

 

[DA5ID]

That Yagov kicker is a breeze One doesn't even have to be ready for it, just let it bounce - it never drains.

Now consider when we get ballspinn, that might make the ball go straight down the center drain instead; lets see what the future holds.

Very happy with this table, suits me allot better than the Getaway.

Got to play f-14 in real life for the first time last weekend - the tuning on this table made the first launch ball from the right loop around left and SDTM. I thought that you were required to divert this insta-drain using the top left flipper. Nice to see in TPA that the same shot will lit the left flipper.

The yagov kicker will sometimes drain the ball IRL so the insurance is appreciated.

The scariest kicker for me is the 2nd vengeance battle on the stern Star Trek (2013) - literally shoots the ball back at lighting speed SDTM. Not fun - wish that mode would have insurance.

 

[daneman20]

Never played the real one, but seen footage: looks like the real deal to me. I like the feel that the table angle is steep, so the balls get a little acceleration when they go up a bit and then come down, feels authentic. That Yagov kicker scared me at first but can be controlled quite easily, probably less so in the real table. Would be nice to make a list of pins with similar kickers. Jurassic Park's Raptor lane comes to mind, and HD3 MB release from the Harley (probably not a real kicker, but sure looks like one)

I was a technician for video, pinball, and ton of other miscellaneous games for a small amusement park back in the early 90s. I maintained two F-14 Tomcat tables among a few others tables. I can tell you from experience that this table had a steep angle compared to it's peers that I also maintained. Moreover, the solenoid coils for the bottom flippers and Yagov Kicker were absurdly large and very powerful. I read somewhere else on this forum somebody commented about ball actually hitting the glass and I can confirm this. This would happen every occasion and I always thought that I might be replacing a glass sooner or later. Fortunately, I never did. A very violent and fun table. Personally, this is one of my favorites!

 

[Zaphod77]

I've played a f-14 tomcat that did the same thing. if you didn't flip the upper left flipper it diverted SDTM.

a ball that strikes between the two center standups will nearly always shoot straight down the middle at warp nine. that's the big sucker shot of the table.

It's caused by a misalignment. but seems that this particular one is not uncommon.

If i were operating the table on location, I would tune it the same way for both upper flippers.

 

[pm1109]

Never seen a ball move so fast.Makes other tables seem like slow motion.Something different is always good.Really enjoying the table so far.Nice one Farsight!

 

[invitro]

Moreover, the solenoid coils for the bottom flippers and Yagov Kicker were absurdly large and very powerful. I read somewhere else on this forum somebody commented about ball actually hitting the glass and I can confirm this. This would happen every occasion and I always thought that I might be replacing a glass sooner or later.

Can it be confirmed that the solenoids/coils are different on F-14 than same time period machines, by looking at the manual? (I have no experience doing anything mechanical with pinball machines that requires a key so if I'm saying something stupid please correct me.)

"Glassies" were fairly common on many machines when I played a lot in the 1990s / early 2000s.

F-14 was just about the 1st table I played regularly, in 1987-88 when I was in high school. It was my favorite, unless Victory or Escape from the Lost World was.

 

[EccentricFlower]

That Yagov kicker is a breeze One doesn't even have to be ready for it, just let it bounce - it never drains.

Tell me your secret, o guru. It ALWAYS drains. I don't have time to react, it's past the flipper before I can move, and it's always straight down the drain.

I think I'm gonna have to learn better to spot when it goes INTO the kicker so I can just hold my left flipper up as soon as it does.

(I posted my reaction to F-14, which was not positive, over in the "Most Overrated Tables" thread. I stand by my opinion despite the slings and arrows.)

EDIT: P.S. High score on it so far is a measly 680,250 - barely suitable to crack the high score table. If I crack a million on it I will take back everything nasty I said about it, but don't hold your breath.

 

[Locksley]

Tell me your secret, o guru. It ALWAYS drains. I don't have time to react, it's past the flipper before I can move, and it's always straight down the drain.
<snip>

This is very interesting! I played it a bit again and just let the return slap back at the left flipper - might need a nudge if it bounces of one of the side bumbers heading towards the outlanes.
Sometimes I just start to wonder if the camera angle affects ball trajectory.... ah, the slippery slope of insanity

But, what you stated is very interesting as I just can not get it down the middle - very odd.

 

[daneman20]

Can it be confirmed that the solenoids/coils are different on F-14 than same time period machines, by looking at the manual? (I have no experience doing anything mechanical with pinball machines that requires a key so if I'm saying something stupid please correct me.)

"Glassies" were fairly common on many machines when I played a lot in the 1990s / early 2000s.

F-14 was just about the 1st table I played regularly, in 1987-88 when I was in high school. It was my favorite, unless Victory or Escape from the Lost World was.

To clarify my previous post. Compared to the other pinball tables that I maintained at that time (around 13), I believe that F-14 had the largest solenoids. That is not to say that F-14 had the largest coils to all tables in it's class. The other 12 or so tables were a variety of which half were EM. Some were early solid state, and only two others could be said to be of the era of the F-14 table. In other words, I am only speaking from my own experience, which is limited and not one of an expert. I did repairs of all of these tables. That meant that I did replace weak or destroyed coils and such on the tables. The other thing to note here is that the F-14 tables were the newest table I maintained during my tenure at the amusement park. While I have played a number of newer tables, I have never had a look inside other than seeing some pictures on the Internet. I recall asking management at the time (around 1992) why we were not getting any newer tables. I was told, "Nobody wants pinball!" Instead, they were investing in Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and some racing games. They were getting a lot of plays while the pinball tables remained vacant of use. Working in that place was pretty noisy and among all of the video game noise, I would occasionally hear "And now you die comrade!!!!!" over everything else. Sweet!

 

[dave950lam]

Even faster than the real machine. Soundtrack is second, only to BK2000.........Always whistle along when getting safe-landing jackpots.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Right now I like the music and light show better than any other table. I want a real one in my basement....

 

[invitro]

Right now I like the music and light show better than any other table. I want a real one in my basement....

Yep. I loved this when I was a kid, but kind of ignored it since then as I moved on to DMD tables for serious pinball. I think it deserves to be one of the all-time greats. At least a lot higher than #114 IPDB / #94 Pinside.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Yep. I loved this when I was a kid, but kind of ignored it since then as I moved on to DMD tables for serious pinball. I think it deserves to be one of the all-time greats. At least a lot higher than #114 IPDB / #94 Pinside.

I am going to be extremely disappointed if there isn't one in York in a couple of weeks now. Last year it was next to a TAF so wasn't getting much attention. I got to play 10 or so games, which for a show is pretty good going.

 

[Kolchak357]

I am going to be extremely disappointed if there isn't one in York in a couple of weeks now. Last year it was next to a TAF so wasn't getting much attention. I got to play 10 or so games, which for a show is pretty good going.

My buddy and I played the one at York last year as well. My friend hated it. Who hates F-14? I still tease him about it and he still says he hates it. It is a quarter stealer though, can't deny that.