Pinball Arcade too easy and unchallenging

[MonkeyGrass]

So there's really nothing they can do to fix this, save not letting you slap save without a controller.

There's actually an easy way to fix it. Add an adjustable nudge slider, that controls the strength of the "bump" when you use it. The amount of force generated by the stick is a quantifiable number, it's programmed into the game. Allow that to be adjusted up or down, and you satisfy everyone - better players who want a more realistic "nudge" and not a "slam", as well as casual players who like 45 minute ball times and knocking the ball all over the table like it is now.

Everyone wins.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Besides, IMO, Zen does have more realistic physics.

Perhaps if I added pinballs with depleted-uranium cores to my two real machines, this statement would be true. Zen does many things well that FarSight does not, but physics is not one of them.

 

[Zaphod77]

no, the issue is tap nudging on mobile, and with keyboard nudging on PC. every one of those is always full strength. And a single full strength nudge that gives a warning is useless. So the tilt bob is set loose enough to allow a keyboard slam nudge,which makes analog nudge wayyyyy too forgiving.

 

[Roo]

Perhaps if I added pinballs with depleted-uranium cores to my two real machines, this statement would be true. Zen does many things well that FarSight does not, but physics is not one of them.

I think their physics are actually quite good, but their tables are designed differently. They have weaker slingshots, smaller flipper gap, higher flipper angle when engaged, and "older" / deader rubbers (I've seen them talk about this one specifically). I think the idea is to make it easier to keep the ball in play and under control than on a real machine, but have longer and more complex missions/modes.

I think it works pretty well for their tables and they still have a wide variety of difficulty. Some tables are quite easy, and others are pretty difficult. There are some I've beat the wizard mode three times in one game, but others where I've never beat more than half the missions in one game.

The problem is people who have played a lot of real life pinball immediately tend to blame the physics and say they aren't realistic because it doesn't play quite like what they are used to. But the actual physics (shot angles, bounces, ball acceleration, ball spin, etc) all seem solid to me. Dead flipper passes and post passes work great; backhand shots feel natural (though the flippers are quite powerful). Not sure about the really advanced stuff like live catches as I'm not that good.

That said, one of their table designers in particular (nickname Deep on their forums) has been trending towards more "realistic" table settings and trying to encourage their other designers to do the same. Go play Return of the Jedi and you'll notice much more powerful slingshots and bouncier rubbers.

I like both games a lot, but I'll say that PBFX2 is so much more polished and bug-free. Stuff that happens on a very regular basis in TPA (balls flying out of the table, camera sticking to plunger during multiball, ball getting totally lost, other odd game-breaking bugs and interface issues, alt+tab crashes, etc) never happens in PBFX2. In 200+ hours I seriously only remember encountering 2 major bugs: one scoring bug that they fixed and patched the next day and one 1-in-10,000 type multiball issue that I've never heard anyone else report.

 

[JPelter]

The people who think zen has realistic physics are the same people who say TPA has floaty ball mechanics I guess, because the zen ball is clearly a lead ball coated with sandpaper and the playfield surfaces are velcro. I don't really mean to bash on zen too much. I got a good 50 hours of fun out of beating the heck out of the tables, but ultimately it's just terribly boring and easy even compared to TPA, and a lot of it is due to the leaden physics (the rest is due to uninspired table design for a majority of the tables).

 

[Tann]

In Zen... nudging is useless (no need for it though, as it's almost impossible to lose a ball). Even the slightest move with the stick (or D-Pad) occurs a warning then a tilt. Moreover, the ball barely reacts.

In TPA, nudging is literally a ball control (on consoles and PC), and you have to destroy the table to tilt.

I would like to see something between for TPA. A nudge still so effective... but only one time! Two times in a row (even if it's a very soft nudge) = tilt.

The only problem with modifying the nudge on consoles and PC, is that all the current highscores would become irrelevant.

 

[DrainoBraino]

The people who think zen has realistic physics are the same people who say TPA has floaty ball mechanics I guess,

Huh?? TPA does have floaty ball mechanics. I don't know how you could think otherwise. Zen is not realistic. I like the physics of Zen, but no, it's not realistic.

In Zen... nudging is useless (no need for it though, as it's almost impossible to lose a ball). Even the slightest move with the stick (or D-Pad) occurs a warning then a tilt. Moreover, the ball barely reacts.

On Zen, nudging is very slight when the ball is in the open, but when it's up against something, like the flipper, it is super powerful. This can be used for many situations, especially to nudge pass the ball from flipper to flipper. Very useful, also very not realistic.

Yes, you will get a tilt warning for a slight nudge, but unlike real pins (or TPA recreations), the nudge warnings will reset after a few seconds, maybe a minute I don't know exactly, and you can nudge again without tilting.

 

[Buzz1126]

The way I see it...there's TPA and IRL. In IRL, I'm nudging and bumping and swinging the end of the machine. It may take more than a few tokens, or quarters, to get it right. Once I get it right, I can do well. But that's the whole purpose. With TPA, I don't nudge, and that's by choice. Partly because I feel it makes the game a little harder and partly because I can't find the best place to put my fingers to do so (I play on an iPad). If you REALLY want to make it hard, play on a phone with a small screen. Getting all the necessary fingers on board, along with a small playing field to screw with your reaction time..if you're winning that way, you da man...(or woman...).

 

[Biff]

In IRL, I'm nudging and bumping and swinging the end of the machine.

But they never threw you out of the arcade for damaging the machine?

I can't imagine to play tpa without nudging...

 

[Zorgwon]

The people who think zen has realistic physics are the same people who say TPA has floaty ball mechanics I guess, because the zen ball is clearly a lead ball coated with sandpaper and the playfield surfaces are velcro. I don't really mean to bash on zen too much. I got a good 50 hours of fun .

That's it. Zen balls seem to stick on the flippers and bouncing may happen on the upper playfield but not near the drains. Slings sometimes sling. Haven't played it for a while. Pro Pinball should come soon and then let's see.