Newbie question about flipper techniques

[Ton]

I really enjoy TPA very much, but I never have played a real, physical, pinball machine and still have to master some basic techniques. Meanwhile I found a few nice tutorials on Papa.org here:
http://papa.org/play/techniques/
Every now and then I try to practice the techniques described there, but now I wonder if ALL these techniques are applicable on TPA, because it is of course not a physical machine. If not all techniques are usable, which are ?

 

[brakel]

I really enjoy TPA very much, but I never have played a real, physical, pinball machine and still have to master some basic techniques. Meanwhile I found a few nice tutorials on Papa.org here:
http://papa.org/play/techniques/
Every now and then I try to practice the techniques described there, but now I wonder if ALL these techniques are applicable on TPA, because it is of course not a physical machine. If not all techniques are usable, which are ?

You can do dead bounces and post passes. Most other techniques don't work because the flippers in TPA don't act like their real life counterparts. I've seen drop catches and live catches rarely but they just happened by accident. Some of these aren't possible because the flipper return in TPA is too fast. The flipper physics in the PS4 version are improved based on my experience but I don't know if they are improved enough to allow for these more advanced techniques.

 

[Espy]

One of the main differences with real machines is if you tap the flipper button very briefly, the flipper will move very slightly. Same with letting go briefly from upright. With TPA, flippers ALWAYS go from 0% to 100% despite how lightly or quickly you press the button. So skills that rely on that kind of thing (like cradle separation and the impressive looking tap pass) don't work. Zen Pinball allows this kind of thing, at least it doesn't have binary flippers - I haven't tested the actual techniques.

Posting the tap pass video just because it's so cool...

 

[superballs]

One of the main differences with real machines is if you tap the flipper button very briefly, the flipper will move very slightly. Same with letting go briefly from upright. With TPA, flippers ALWAYS go from 0% to 100% despite how lightly or quickly you press the button. So skills that rely on that kind of thing (like cradle separation and the impressive looking tap pass) don't work. Zen Pinball allows this kind of thing, at least it doesn't have binary flippers - I haven't tested the actual techniques.

Posting the tap pass video just because it's so cool...

Your description of the flipper behavior isn't quite accurate

You can feather the flippers in tpa, it's just that it doesn't have the desired effect. The flippers in tpa have no acceleration so on a real machine if you only return from end of stroke say 5 or 10% and flip again, the flipper will only accelerate to a fraction of it's full speed by the time it returns to its end of stroke; where in tpa the flippers will flip full strength regardless of how little they've returned.

Honestly, this is the aspect of tpa that annoys me the most. And it's the one aspect that keeps the game from being a true and serious pinball sim instead of just a game.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to dump on the game and I truly love it and have boatloads of fun with it but I've said this all before

 

[Clawhammer]

If you are new to TPA, practice post passes and dead bounces. Because live/drop catches are iffy in TPA, I pretty much dead bounce at every possible opportunity, then post pass if the ball is on wrong flipper for my next shot.

 

[Espy]

Your description of the flipper behavior isn't quite accurate

You can feather the flippers in tpa, it's just that it doesn't have the desired effect. The flippers in tpa have no acceleration so on a real machine if you only return from end of stroke say 5 or 10% and flip again, the flipper will only accelerate to a fraction of it's full speed by the time it returns to its end of stroke; where in tpa the flippers will flip full strength regardless of how little they've returned.

Honestly, this is the aspect of tpa that annoys me the most. And it's the one aspect that keeps the game from being a true and serious pinball sim instead of just a game.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to dump on the game and I truly love it and have boatloads of fun with it but I've said this all before

I'm wrong? I must experiment more!

 

[superballs]

I'm wrong? I must experiment more!

Sorry I forgot my conclusion before hitting send.

For all intents and purposes. The results are pretty well the same. In the end it doesn't really matter that you can feather the flippers as it results in a full force shot.

 

[Ton]

Thanks for the replies. Great help !
Will keep practicing dead bounce and post pass and now I know that I don't have to try the other techniques.

One more question though: When Drop Catch and Live Catch are not very usable, what is the best way then to cradle the ball to get it under control for better aiming ?

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

dead pass then post pass but the post pass doesnt work the same on all tables and some tables not at all. When doing a dead pass there is a brief moment the ball bounces up off the passed to flipper that is when you flip to cradle or youll get a funky post shot resulting in loss of control.

 

[Deltaechoe]

The best way to get the ball under control in tpa is to use a post trap which is where you trap the ball in such a way that it bounces between the flipper and the bottom post of the sling shot

 

[Kratos3]

I just started using the dead pass. Love it! Mastering flipper techniques has really put my scores and accuracy into another category. Not to mention Wizard goals.

 

[ER777]

Dead flipper bounce pass in TPA all day long. Use the strong open field nudging to aim the ball to the correct angle and position on the flipper so it bounces under control to the opposite side. I don't bother with live catches or drop catches in TPA at all since they're not reliable enough. In the end I play TPA much differently than I play real machines because of that.

 

[Fungi]

Make sure to commit to the dead bounce only if you're sure the ball is headed towards the center of the flipper. If it hits the spot where flipper and inlane meet, that ball makes a beeline to the drain. For that situation, hold the flipper up. It'll carry over to the other flipper just fine.

 

[brakel]

dead pass then post pass but the post pass doesnt work the same on all tables and some tables not at all. When doing a dead pass there is a brief moment the ball bounces up off the passed to flipper that is when you flip to cradle or youll get a funky post shot resulting in loss of control.

Post passes don't work on every machine in real life also.

 

[Ton]

Sorry for my exhaustive asking, but what do you do after launching the ball and when the ball comes down the inner lane to the flipper ?
Sometimes I can get it under control by holding the flipper up and cradle the ball, but often the speed of the ball is to high and it rolls off the flipper to the drain.
Is it better to flip the ball then and then do a dead bounce and/or a post pass ?

 

[Fungi]

Sorry for my exhaustive asking, but what do you do after launching the ball and when the ball comes down the inner lane to the flipper ?
Sometimes I can get it under control by holding the flipper up and cradle the ball, but often the speed of the ball is to high and it rolls off the flipper to the drain.
Is it better to flip the ball then and then do a dead bounce and/or a post pass ?

You seem to be under the impression that one can control the ball at all times. This is by no means true. Most of the time, the ball will be coming down at a speed that will require another skill. Timing. Hitting the ball on the fly will be something that you'll need to do most of the time. But, if you happen to be able to get control of the ball, that's when the said skills come into play.

 

[Espy]

Sorry for my exhaustive asking, but what do you do after launching the ball and when the ball comes down the inner lane to the flipper ?
Sometimes I can get it under control by holding the flipper up and cradle the ball, but often the speed of the ball is to high and it rolls off the flipper to the drain.
Is it better to flip the ball then and then do a dead bounce and/or a post pass ?

It depends on the table. Very few tables allow you to cradle the ball to a stop after coming down an inlane. If the speed is great enough you can hold the flipper up, so it rolls over it and onto the other flipper (hold pass). Other times you're just going to have to redirect it (flip away with the original flipper). A well-timed nudge might adjust the speed of the ball to let it rest, but I don't often have much success with that..

 

[Ton]

You seem to be under the impression that one can control the ball at all times.

Indeed !
When I started with playing pinball all I did was hitting the ball on the fly and trying to time and aim. Then I began to read about the flipper skills and got the impression that I indeed had to be able to control the ball at all times.
Thanks for all the advice. It really helps me with better playing pinball.

 

[superballs]

Pinball is largely a game of dynamic decision making. Sometimes you just need to send it back in. I good nudge sideways when it's in the inlane a good side nudge can sometimes slow it down.