Outlanes...

[Mark W**a]

Having played 16 of the corresponding real tables, I can say that on 15 of them the outlanes behave about as I'd expect them to on the real table. The one exception is Cirqus Voltaire, which even with the outlanes almost fully open seemed less hungry than TPA's version. On the 360 I can live with it, as the superior nudging control negates a lot of the viciousness, both in staying out of the outlane area in the first place and in saving a ball that does get in there. On iOS, on the other hand, I find the outlanes very annoying, as they are eating balls I know the real table would not and there is no way of executing the "diagonal" nudge needed to make a save.

What I'd really like to see is Pro Mode extended to cover physical settings, such as playfield pitch, outlane post position and maybe some flipper rubber options (fresh, soft, bouncy/squirrelly, etc.)...but I'm not sure how all of this would affect Bobby's tuning of the tables.

Came here to say this.

Seems alot better on iOS, though.

 

[Timelord]

Yep. Good on FS in duplicating this. I still don't like 'em. On the real machine, I shake the table like crazy. I don't really have that option on iOS.

I feel your pain, to a point.

I'm on Android and my nudge experience is adequate. My Android is a stop-gap measure until a better platform solidifies. I always credited Apple with covering the bases aggressively and always assumed Android would be behind the curve in all circumstances. I can save the drains on Android and had no idea that nudging wasn't working well on iPad.

No/improper nudge makes the experience significantly different.

My apologies!

Timelord ....

 

[spoonman]

Most wouldn't be an issue if there was a way to remove some of the props blocking the views. Such as in ST, CC, NGG, I think Taxi too. The ball gets over there and you don't know if you should nudge to try to save, or not nudge and allow the ball to continue.

Exactly this.

I also TILT way too often with the slightest nudge in some games. Gorgar and Big Shot come to mind.
It just seems sparatic. Sometimes I can nudge a bunch on purpose out of frustration to purposely TILT and nothing?!?
Then I start another ball and one nudge TILT the game.

 

[boy-oh-boy]

the outlanes on SS are a joke.....every hour the ball takes one of the outlines^^. this table needs to be made harder. theres no challenge....its only boring....no more playing the table and thats a shame...its a beauty with nice audio.i love sttng table and the speed of attack from mars.if you play afm and after that genie you think you have taken lots pills of valium^^

 

[neglectoid]

Tough outlanes have been a part of pinball since the beginning. They need to be at least slightly scary, or else pinball just wouldn't be the same without them.

i am affraid anytime the ball comes near the outlanes.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Most wouldn't be an issue if there was a way to remove some of the props blocking the views. Such as in ST, CC, NGG, I think Taxi too. The ball gets over there and you don't know if you should nudge to try to save, or not nudge and allow the ball to continue.

Yeah, but it just kind of adds to the thrill, for me anyway.

the outlanes on SS are a joke.....every hour the ball takes one of the outlines^^. this table needs to be made harder. theres no challenge....its only boring....no more playing the table and thats a shame...its a beauty with nice audio.i love sttng table and the speed of attack from mars.if you play afm and after that genie you think you have taken lots pills of valium^^

I've only played the TPA version a couple times total, just because it's so watered down.

 

[MontanaFrank]

But those awesome cannons are so worth it!

Yep Jeff, those cannons are pretty awesome and I still can't hit the broad side of a barn with them. I'd probably be less cranky about the cannons and the outlanes if I could play this table better.

ST:TNG was the first RT I could put $2.00 for five plays and not win a game on merit.

 

[pseudokings]

The outlanes are fine. The problem is how unrealistic the ball interactions with the top posts on the slingshots are. I was playing real pinball the other day and had the ball come to a rest on top of the right slingshot (want to say it was POTC... might have been Elvis). That could/would never happen in TPA, along with dozens of other possible interactions. In TPA it would most likely have just deflected into the outlane, which happens a completely unrealistic percentage of the time. The "slingshot top post = near auto outlane drain" is easily my #1 gripe with TPA (because it's not some table-specific glitch), other than it's still not being available on Wii U, and not knowing if PS3-to-PS4 will have an upgrade path (aka stuff keeping me from buying new tables, since I've decided to abandon the 360 version).

 

[Clawhammer]

I think TPA has found a fairly good balance on the outlanes, with a few exceptions (SS being too tame, for example). It's important that new players are not alienated by the games difficulty, while better players aren't always having 2 hours long games. I personally like the direction FS is taking with the outlanes on FP/STTNG/DD, but recognize that some may be frustrated by it. It makes sense to have different tables have varying levels of difficulty, particularly in accordance with the general difficulty of the original machine. This way players from an array of skill levels can enjoy certain tables that fit their experience level over others. This seems to be how FS is handling the situation. Like others, I also think having the option to change difficulty and create ineligibility for the leaderboards (or seperate leaderboards) is a good idea; options make more people happy.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

If the outlanes aren't very difficult then the game is pointless. Lets not turn this into ZEN where you can go on forever

 

[pinballchris]

I agree but again. Object to the toys that block the view in certain camera angles. Usually the angles I feel comfortable using. This isn't a real table where one can position the body in a way to see when to nudge or not.

 

[Fungi]

I agree but again. Object to the toys that block the view in certain camera angles. Usually the angles I feel comfortable using. This isn't a real table where one can position the body in a way to see when to nudge or not.

Totally agree. FS needs to come up with a "videogamey" way to allow us to see thru those objects. Like a ball outline or something. Yes, real machines don't do that. But real machines allow me to move my head around. There's gotta be some kind of allowance due to the limits of the 2d representation.

 

[Mark W**a]

the outlanes on SS are a joke.....every hour the ball takes one of the outlines^^. this table needs to be made harder. theres no challenge....its only boring....no more playing the table and thats a shame...its a beauty with nice audio.i love sttng table and the speed of attack from mars.if you play afm and after that genie you think you have taken lots pills of valium^^

It's easy in real life.

Pro Menu is actually worth it for Elvira because you can turn off the extra balls, set to hard, and you get the better dialog.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

Totally agree. FS needs to come up with a "videogamey" way to allow us to see thru those objects. Like a ball outline or something. Yes, real machines don't do that. But real machines allow me to move my head around. There's gotta be some kind of allowance due to the limits of the 2d representation.

Maybe use the right stick to pan the camera?

 

[Fungi]

Maybe use the right stick to pan the camera?

Oooh. I like that. Also, on tablets, use the tilt sensor to do the same. Shake to nudge on iOS is useless anyway.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I also TILT way too often with the slightest nudge in some games. Gorgar and Big Shot come to mind.
It just seems sparatic. Sometimes I can nudge a bunch on purpose out of frustration to purposely TILT and nothing?!?
Then I start another ball and one nudge TILT the game.

The TPA table that I notice as having an incredibly sensitive tilt is Genie. I've only played a real Genie once or twice, and I'm not a skilled nudger in real life, so I can't say how realistic this is.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

As for outlanes, I think most of the recent complaints about them have focused on Star Trek: TNG and Firepower, which really do have brutal outlanes by design (I suspect ST:TNG's were intentionally designed as remakes of the left outlane from Firepower). If I were unfamiliar with these tables in real life, I might well think it was a simulation problem.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

...then, of course, there are the complaints that Twlight Zone's left outlane is not bad enough in the simulation, and the complaints in both directions about Cirqus Voltaire at various points in its history.

 

[DarkAkatosh]

Lol give me a friggin' break. Tell the whiners to play VP and mod the table to their hearts content

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Lol give me a friggin' break. Tell the whiners to play VP and mod the table to their hearts content

That would be great...except VP doesn't run on an iPad.

Common theme with most of the "whiny" complaints: a lack of options. Dark tables vs. bright tables? It wouldn't matter if we had a lighting slider. Easy tables vs. hard tables? Doesn't matter if you have multiple difficulty levels. And so on.

I hope FarSight addresses at least some of this by the time the PC cabinet version rolls around, because cabinet owners have gotten very used to VP's customization abilities and will be quite upset if similar features aren't present on TPA.