Nudging - advice needed

[phattslagg]

Hello there!

I've been playing TPA for about 2 years now, mostly on iPad.

In all this time, it seems I have completely failed to learn how to nudge instinctively. Instead, I seem to be forever cursed to watch the ball drain SDTM, in an almost trance-like state, and only once it has reached the pixel below the point of no return will I think "Nudge".

Any advice as to how I might overcome this terrible affliction?

 

[sotie]

You have to ask yourself if I had just nudged would the ball have not drained? Then when the ball is going the same way in the future anticipate it with a nudge. At first, it's mental olympics then after you're used to it it will become instinctive and you won't even need to think about it. When you get better at it you'll want to start nudging to manipulate the ball more (not just to stop ball drains).

On the iPad I prefer touch nudging with 'Invert Nudge' set to Off. Invert nudge off feels more natural to me.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[TomL]

If you want nudging practice, play tables like Big Shot, Genie, Central Park. You have more opportunities to practice, without other distractions.

 

[DrainoBraino]

Play a few games where all you do is nudge. don't worry about draining or tilting, just nudge and see how the ball reacts. When the ball is in the middle of the playfield, nudge to steer it toward either flipper. Utilize the ball's left or right momentum and nudge it in that direction, don't try to nudge against it's momentum unless it's heading toward an outlane. Again, DONT WORRY ABOUT DRAINING, just do it.

Nudge early. WAY EARLY. and practice.

 

[DeeEff]

+2/3 to TomL.

In order to get good at something (nudging) ya gotta practice. So nudge when you don't need to, and observe the results. Keep at it until you can predict what will happen when you nudge in any direction.

The reason Tom only got 2/3 in the above post is that (IMO, of course) Central Park isn't the best table to practice with, as there are no "long shots" where the ball travels uninterrupted for the length of the table, which minimizes practice opportunities. Central Park is definitely a must-nudge table, but you've got to have your skills down before tackling it. OTOH, Genie and Big Shot are perfect practice tables as the ball (usually) moves relatively slowly and it spends a lot of time "in the air", so you can nudge and see the result.

Also, concentrate on left and right nudge practice at first, as these give the most obvious results. After mastering left/right, practice up nudges (especially in the slings).

I'm a touch nudger with Invert Nudge on. This is contrary to real-world pinball (as sotie noted above, it's not "natural") because you're pushing the ball and not the table, but I find it necessary in order to do faster saves. e.g., the ball's coming SDTM but it'll pass closer to the left flipper. A quick tap with the right thumb on the "nudge right" area pushes the ball LEFT, and a quick tap of the left thumb on the left flipper saves the ball. This "right tap (nudge) left tap (flip)" can be done much faster than "left tap (nudge) left tap (flip)" necessary for the same save with Invert Nudge off. It took a lot of time for this to become "natural" to me, but the training time was well worth it.

But try all available options until you find what works for you, and practice practice practice!

 

[TomL]

Agreed that Central Park isn't ideal, but it has sooo many inlanes and outlanes, you'll get a lot of lane bounce nudge practice.

 

[superballs]

I know and understand that this might seem like a very asinine statement, especially with TPA on a single device starting to become a very large investment. But I'd recommend grabbing a Nexus 7 and switching to shake nudging, invert off.

I'm NOT trying to start a ios vs android debate here. And I'm really hoping that this doesn't decend into that.

Now, first, i'm talking about the old Nexus 7, even a 16GB version, dedicated to TPA. Grab a couple tables.

The issue with TPA on ios...and it's a TPA issue not an IOS issue is that shake nudging is terribly delayed. Otherwise the game plays like a dream. When I was playing on iOS, i found this horribly frustrating. I also got a friend of mine to download it on her ipad mini and even though the game played amazingly, the shake nudge was still horrible.

See, shaking a table is an intuitive way to nudge.

I've played on several Android devices and they have similar problems. S3 = Shake nudge delay, Note2 = Shake Nudge delay. Nexus 7? It's perfect. I don't know what they did. I don't know if that particular tablet has less lag in it's accelerometers vs the other devices. I honestly just don't know. But getting one has been the best move I've made in regards to TPA.

Now, when I made the switch, I already had everything up to Scared Stiff, plus Star Trek and TZ. And at that point I wasn't keen on having to buy all the tables again.

I'm assuming you have bought most of the tables for IOS and i know that we're a lot further in at this point. This isn't an ideal suggestion convenience-wise. But from a purely "what's best for nudging" perspective, it's the only advice I can give.

 

[Fungi]

Damn, makes me wanna get one.

 

[DrainoBraino]

I want one too! Superballs, if I get a new nexus 7 (this for example), can I still have access to all the tables I have on my android phone? and do I need a contract or plan or something? sorry I'm tech-challenged when it comes to phones and tablets. Also if need be we can take this to pm since i'm getting off topic.

 

[Baron Rubik]

Yeah - one purchase in the Google Play store can be used on all Androids using the same account Login.
I purchase once, but play on 2 Androids.

If you buy WIFI only model you won't need a contract.

Don't know if the new N7's shake nudge is as responsive, as the old N7's though.
Might want to ask someone first who has one before ordering - there are several users on here now.

Superballs - I don't think invert nudge does anything for shake nudge though.
I hardly use shake, but just tried it with tilt=off in BH and invert doesn't change nudge direction.
I think it's touch only.

 

[brakel]

Hello there!

I've been playing TPA for about 2 years now, mostly on iPad.

In all this time, it seems I have completely failed to learn how to nudge instinctively. Instead, I seem to be forever cursed to watch the ball drain SDTM, in an almost trance-like state, and only once it has reached the pixel below the point of no return will I think "Nudge".

Any advice as to how I might overcome this terrible affliction?

I got started nudging in TPA by only nudging in one direction. I had to learn to react first before I could learn to react, evaluate and decide on a nudge direction. It was easier for me to break it down to learn to react and nudge first. Later I was able to start to evaluate the direction. Now I see it before I need to nudge. But that's the way I learn anything. Break it down to smaller steps first.

 

[TomL]

I'm going to put another idea out there. If you have pro mode on any table, go into the operator menu, set the number of balls to maximum, set tilt warnings to max, and use it was a nudging training arena. Also great practice for catching and transfering.

 

[phattslagg]

Some great advice so far - thanks

 

[superballs]

Yeah - one purchase in the Google Play store can be used on all Androids using the same account Login.
I purchase once, but play on 2 Androids.

If you buy WIFI only model you won't need a contract.

Don't know if the new N7's shake nudge is as responsive, as the old N7's though.
Might want to ask someone first who has one before ordering - there are several users on here now.

Superballs - I don't think invert nudge does anything for shake nudge though.
I hardly use shake, but just tried it with tilt=off in BH and invert doesn't change nudge direction.
I think it's touch only.

I don't know if it does have an effect. What I do know is that from table pack 1 up it was always in reverse. When they introduced the option to invert on/off, it was default to off and nudged the right way and I never changed it.

 

[Samandor]

Re shaken nudge - some things that might be true for both IOS and Android devices:

Doing a hard quit on all other apps may help performance. On the iPad, double-click the button; recent apps pop up at the bottom. Touch and hold an icon; when they start twitching with a "-" in the corner, you can turn them off one by one. Turn all off, then launch TPA. Alerts are also a source of random interference, so turn those off, too.

Then, try all the previously mentioned ideas for exploring the shake nudge.