Nudging

[Carl Spiby]

Which method do people use? Slap the side or the machine or shove it sideways? I haven't really found a method that works for me but the papa videos involve the slap method more often than not.

 

[Richard B]

They both have their pros and cons. Slapping the machine tends to give less movement, but it also decreases the chance of getting a tilt or warning. It can also hurt your hands. Shoving it sideways will give more movement, but it will almost always get you at least a warning. It doesn't hurt your hands, typically.
So, it depends on how much force you need to exert. If the ball is heading for the top of the lane divider, a slap will do. If it's heading straight for the outlane, only a shove will work.

 

[Carl Spiby]

I'm right in thinking that the ball will move to the slapped/shoved side right? Having an analogue stick to do the nudging makes it confusing as to what is actually happening.

 

[Fungi]

So, uh, while playing a real machine last weekend, I uh, caught myself tapping the area above the flipper when I tried to nudge. Only once! I only did it once. But I did do it.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

I'm right in thinking that the ball will move to the slapped/shoved side right? Having an analogue stick to do the nudging makes it confusing as to what is actually happening.

If you slap the right side of a physical machine, the machine will move left (and take the playfield with it), and therefore the ball will move right relative to the suddenly moving playfield underneath it.

NOTE: This is usually a much more subtle effect than what you get in TPA. Most real tables would double-danger or tilt outright if moved that much.

So, uh, while playing a real machine last weekend, I uh, caught myself tapping the area above the flipper when I tried to nudge. Only once! I only did it once. But I did do it.

I'm actually having the reverse problem; I tried once to nudge my iPad as I would a physical table and launched it halfway across the room. Not quite sure what I was thinking. Thankfully it was in its shock-absorbing case at the time. (And I still managed to save the ball, too!)

 

[MTH]

I usually use the shove, I have successfully prevented an outlane drain multiple times in just around 15 "real" games I played so far. I never got a "danger" yet. The resulting movement is much less than it always is on computer pinball; I tried preventing a SDTM drain and I barely noticed the ball moving like this (the table I play on has a really dirty playfield so there is more friction between the ball and the table than there should be which could factor into it).

 

[Carl Spiby]

I suppose it depends how much slack are in the legs too, if they're tight it's quite a mass to shove.

 

[Carl Spiby]

I suck so much at nudging, playing T2 last night and after a while, my brain just can't hack it.