Is nudging an absolute necessary skill to master ?

[Ton]

Sorry for starting another thread with regards to nudging, but I would like to know your opinions and/or thoughts.
Is it, with enough practice, possible to reach the final goal of a table without nudging, for instance the Grand Finale in TOM or Monster Multiball in SS, which are the tables that I am now practicing on ? In other words, is nudging a skill you have to master or a skill which makes high scores a bit easier ?
Although I haven't succeeded on both tables, on SS I could come rather far already sometimes without nudging. On TOM however it seems far more difficult. I still lose the balls to the outlane or the drain too soon. Now I wonder if this is because I am still not able to nudge (I wrote about that already in another thread), or because of not enough practicing.
Btw, with the help and tips I already got here, I am enjoying TPA more and more and I am having a lot of fun with it. Particularly knowing the rules of a table and trying to apply them makes the fun much bigger. When I started playing pinball, I didn't pay much attention to the rules and only tried to keep the ball in game as long as possible.

 

[Jeff Strong]

No it's not absolutely necessary, but it makes things a hell of a lot easier.

When I first started playing TPA, I sucked at nudging because I don't really do it much in real life.

Well, now I'm to the point where I've gotten so good at nudging that I feel like I'm cheating (a lot of this has to do with the fact that nudging in TPA is much easier and you can get away with A LOT more of it because the tilt sensitivity is so generous compared to how much the ball moves...to the point that it is practically a built-in exploit).

As a result, my scores have gone way up because I'm preventing a lot more drains (the real key to nudging is to prevent scenarios that could lead to draining...for instance keep the ball from even getting close to the outlane...if wait to nudge until it's over there then it's often too late...Same goes for the center drain: start nudging before the ball even gets close to the flippers, that way you can nudge twice if you need to).

But yes, it's possible to get "good" scores without nudging...however, your scores will be even better once you get better at it...and you WILL get better at it....just takes time and practice.

 

[JPelter]

Sorry for starting another thread with regards to nudging, but I would like to know your opinions and/or thoughts.
Is it, with enough practice, possible to reach the final goal of a table without nudging, for instance the Grand Finale in TOM or Monster Multiball in SS, which are the tables that I am now practicing on ? In other words, is nudging a skill you have to master or a skill which makes high scores a bit easier ?
Although I haven't succeeded on both tables, on SS I could come rather far already sometimes without nudging. On TOM however it seems far more difficult. I still lose the balls to the outlane or the drain too soon. Now I wonder if this is because I am still not able to nudge (I wrote about that already in another thread), or because of not enough practicing.
Btw, with the help and tips I already got here, I am enjoying TPA more and more and I am having a lot of fun with it. Particularly knowing the rules of a table and trying to apply them makes the fun much bigger. When I started playing pinball, I didn't pay much attention to the rules and only tried to keep the ball in game as long as possible.

I would say that reaching the wizard mode in any TPA table currently in is definitely possible with 0 nudging, if you just want to "finish" the game as it were, but nudging will definitely help you a lot. I couldn't imagine playing the game without heavy use of it. With TPA it isn't in most cases as much about nudging stuff out of the outlane as it is nudging to prevent them getting there in the first place when possible, due to how the physics work esp. around the tops of slingshots.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

Nudging in this game is so broken that you need to do it if you want to get a decent to great score, well, in comparison to everyone else anyways.

 

[phreaker47]

The most useful nudges are when you know the ball is entering a high-drain situation, like the STDM one on MM when a ball rolls back down the peasant ramp. Soft nudge left or right prevents that almost always. The point is knowing all the situations where you can predict a drain and prevent it before the nudge becomes a desperate save attempt.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

nope. Its your quarter play blindfold.

 

[danivempire]

I'll make a short answer...
Yes...
^^

 

[Espy]

It's possible to get a great score in the same way that it's possible for a monkey to write the works of Shakespeare on a typewriter. Sure, it's possible, but you're leaving a lot down to luck.

 

[DrainoBraino]

It is necessary if you want to consistently get high scores and wizard modes. Without nudging, sure you can have a good game every once and a while, but not consistently.

The most useful nudges are when you know the ball is entering a high-drain situation, like the STDM one on MM when a ball rolls back down the peasant ramp. Soft nudge left or right prevents that almost always. The point is knowing all the situations where you can predict a drain and prevent it before the nudge becomes a desperate save attempt.

This is good advice. Work on nudging to eliminate the SDTM drains. Nudge waaay early, the instant you see that the ball is looking like it MIGHT go SDTM, nudge to steer it toward the flipper. Don't wait until the ball is near the flippers and try to save it as it's already going in between them. Use the balls momentum to decide which way to nudge. Like I said in your last thread, practice on throwaway games.

 

[chadderack]

nope. Its your quarter play blindfold.

 

[Deltaechoe]

nudging is an advanced skill in pinball, you don't need to do it but if you want to look like a pinball badass you might as well. It's really not all that bad and you will start to develop a feel for it if you practice a bit too. Nudging is most useful for protecting yourself from drains, but if you get really good at it you can start to utilize it to also make shots that you would have otherwise missed or make trapping easier among other things. So while the skill is not a necessity, it is a pretty darn useful trick to have in your repertoire.

 

[Shaneus]

I need to get used to nudging, both IRL and in TPA. Obviously it's more exaggerated in TPA but playing IRL I forget which way to nudge. With more practice virtually I should be able to apply that to my real game. But yeah, to answer the question: yes. And I don't do it as often as I should.

 

[Zaphod77]

many games are very playable on tpa without it. it's more important in real life.

for example i can get a bakdoor billion on BoP without nudging at all.

elvira and the party monsters is very playable without any nudging too.

 

[PoSTedUP]

Sorry for starting another thread with regards to nudging, but I would like to know your opinions and/or thoughts.
Is it, with enough practice, possible to reach the final goal of a table without nudging, for instance the Grand Finale in TOM or Monster Multiball in SS, which are the tables that I am now practicing on ? In other words, is nudging a skill you have to master or a skill which makes high scores a bit easier ?
Although I haven't succeeded on both tables, on SS I could come rather far already sometimes without nudging. On TOM however it seems far more difficult. I still lose the balls to the outlane or the drain too soon. Now I wonder if this is because I am still not able to nudge (I wrote about that already in another thread), or because of not enough practicing.
Btw, with the help and tips I already got here, I am enjoying TPA more and more and I am having a lot of fun with it. Particularly knowing the rules of a table and trying to apply them makes the fun much bigger. When I started playing pinball, I didn't pay much attention to the rules and only tried to keep the ball in game as long as possible.

totally necessary. youll lose a lot less balls. if you dont nudge you better be a professional player and i bet even some of them nudge. hell, i nudge even when im not preventing a ball drain, just to line up a better shot on the fly. and for me personally i like learning and observing the rules as i play. like, after i read through the long tables rules i totally dont ever wanna play the table at all anymore, haha.

 

[ER777]

nope. Its your quarter play blindfold.

That blindfold might just make you better.. cuz ..that deaf, dumb, and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball.

 

[Espy]

I need to get used to nudging, both IRL and in TPA. Obviously it's more exaggerated in TPA but playing IRL I forget which way to nudge. With more practice virtually I should be able to apply that to my real game. But yeah, to answer the question: yes. And I don't do it as often as I should.

Took me a while to learn which way to nudge, too. You don't have enough time to make a conscious calculation when you need to nudge, it becomes second nature though. Essentially, nudge in the opposite direction you want the ball to go. With some practice you'll stop thinking about it.

 

[Zorgwon]

At least SS can be played without nudging. On Android there are the saved balls (and then autolaunched) which are dangerous and any nudging helps here. On Steam no situation where you need it.
TOM is more difficult. The trunk is dangerous but nudging will not save you always.

Dangerous shots are to be avoided. Multiball is a strategy to make them.

 

[Espy]

Dangerous shots are to be avoided. Multiball is a strategy to make them.

Not sure I agree with your whole post, but this is a good point. This is a very important strategy to realise. For example, in AFM starting multiball takes less shots than some of the later saucers, and is a much safer shot to make. When multiball starts, shoot like mad for the saucer. I focus on the jackpots after the saucer is down. And White Water - that extra ball target is lethal. But you might find that the randomness of the multiball deals with it. Or you can use the shatz strategy to get it, though I doubt this would work on the real table.

Also, tables with special on the outlanes are basically a crummy ball save. But with multiball, deliberately or otherwise send a ball down there to get the extra ball while leaving your current ball in play.