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<blockquote data-quote="Stormchild" data-source="post: 12574" data-attributes="member: 704"><p>(Edit: I see I've repeated some of the answers already given. Should have read the whole thread before replying.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Depends on the complexity of the table, but any two tables could play quite differently depending on their state of repair. It can also be affected by something as simple as getting the table angle right. Newer tables have built-in levels with marks that indicate the table is at exactly the intended angle (it's around 6 or 7° on the handful of tables whose manuals I've skimmed through).</p><p></p><p>A lot of modern tables (built after 1990 or so) are extremely complex beasts, and there's a ton of stuff that can go wrong with them. For example, I've played on Medieval Madness tables where the drawbridge is broken and won't open, or the ball keeps getting stuck in the Merlin's Magic saucer. That particular table actually even has special settings that can be used to make the game playable when some part like the drawbridge is broken (so you can still "destroy the castle" even when the castle is completely hosed — this actually makes the game easier, as it's quite a bit easier to hit the drawbridge when it's closed than strike the gate or enter the castle when open.)</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Farsight has a guy whose full time job it is just to maintain their collection of real tables. I'm sure the simulations are based on well-maintained tables where everything works properly. That's really only a small part of getting the simulation right, though. Aside from the machine itself (and the rules that govern the table), it seems incredibly complicated to get all the physics right. Generally speaking, it gets progressively more expensive (CPU-wise) to get a physics simulation closer and closer to reality. You have to impose some constraints to keep the resource usage under control, which means trying to find the sweet spot between absolute accuracy and reasonable performance. It's a hard job, and I'm glad I don't have to do it.</p><p></p><p>I do notice there are a few expert techniques that don't seem to be possible at all in Pinball Arcade, such as drop stops or flip stops. I also have a lot of trouble doing a rapid release-and-retrigger as the ball rolls toward the top of a raised flipper in order to give it the tiniest little pop and bump it over to the other flipper. The flipper response seems a little different on each table, though I can't be exactly sure.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think this is just your imagination. Flipper buttons are just on/off switches that supply voltage to the flipper mechanisms. The buttons have no way of sensing how hard you're hitting them. The force with which the ball is propelled is entirely a matter of timing. There might have been some early, purely-mechanical flippers before the advent of electrically-controlled flippers, but then you're talking about games produced before the 1940s, which you've probably never seen in any arcade.</p><p></p><p>That said, if you really whack the buttons hard, you're also bumping the table a bit too, and that can affect play (though it won't affect how hard the ball is being hit). There are expert techniques that involve hitting a button really hard to perform a simultaneous nudge & flip. With Pinball Arcade, you'll just have to practise triggering the flipper and doing a nudge at the same time (easiest if you switch to "shake" for nudge).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Stormchild, post: 12574, member: 704"] (Edit: I see I've repeated some of the answers already given. Should have read the whole thread before replying.) Depends on the complexity of the table, but any two tables could play quite differently depending on their state of repair. It can also be affected by something as simple as getting the table angle right. Newer tables have built-in levels with marks that indicate the table is at exactly the intended angle (it's around 6 or 7° on the handful of tables whose manuals I've skimmed through). A lot of modern tables (built after 1990 or so) are extremely complex beasts, and there's a ton of stuff that can go wrong with them. For example, I've played on Medieval Madness tables where the drawbridge is broken and won't open, or the ball keeps getting stuck in the Merlin's Magic saucer. That particular table actually even has special settings that can be used to make the game playable when some part like the drawbridge is broken (so you can still "destroy the castle" even when the castle is completely hosed — this actually makes the game easier, as it's quite a bit easier to hit the drawbridge when it's closed than strike the gate or enter the castle when open.) Farsight has a guy whose full time job it is just to maintain their collection of real tables. I'm sure the simulations are based on well-maintained tables where everything works properly. That's really only a small part of getting the simulation right, though. Aside from the machine itself (and the rules that govern the table), it seems incredibly complicated to get all the physics right. Generally speaking, it gets progressively more expensive (CPU-wise) to get a physics simulation closer and closer to reality. You have to impose some constraints to keep the resource usage under control, which means trying to find the sweet spot between absolute accuracy and reasonable performance. It's a hard job, and I'm glad I don't have to do it. I do notice there are a few expert techniques that don't seem to be possible at all in Pinball Arcade, such as drop stops or flip stops. I also have a lot of trouble doing a rapid release-and-retrigger as the ball rolls toward the top of a raised flipper in order to give it the tiniest little pop and bump it over to the other flipper. The flipper response seems a little different on each table, though I can't be exactly sure. I think this is just your imagination. Flipper buttons are just on/off switches that supply voltage to the flipper mechanisms. The buttons have no way of sensing how hard you're hitting them. The force with which the ball is propelled is entirely a matter of timing. There might have been some early, purely-mechanical flippers before the advent of electrically-controlled flippers, but then you're talking about games produced before the 1940s, which you've probably never seen in any arcade. That said, if you really whack the buttons hard, you're also bumping the table a bit too, and that can affect play (though it won't affect how hard the ball is being hit). There are expert techniques that involve hitting a button really hard to perform a simultaneous nudge & flip. With Pinball Arcade, you'll just have to practise triggering the flipper and doing a nudge at the same time (easiest if you switch to "shake" for nudge). [/QUOTE]
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