Starship Troopers Thread

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D-Bonus

New member
Feb 1, 2015
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This table seems to have a pretty wide gap between the flippers, and the entire field has just been one big kill-shot for me so far.

I can't score more 30 million on this one, no matter how much I practice. It's right up there with Medieval Madness for me, in terms of tables I can't seem to master. Every shot seems to bounce back and go right between the flippers, or sail right into the outlane. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "bug, bug, bug!" playing this one. XD

I've been playing pinball for years, and I never flip both flippers, but I've never figured out how to aim the ball, or trap it without it rolling off the flipper and down the middle. I can NEVER trap the ball on this table, period. When I do try to aim it towards something, the ball usually goes in a completely different direction from where I intended, or bounces on the railing of a ramp and rolls back to the flippers. I've watched and read a lot of material on the subject, but I still can't figure out how some of you do so well on tables like this.
 
Kolchak357

Kolchak357

Senior Pigeon
May 31, 2012
8,102
2
D-Bonus
Trapping on this one is pretty tough, so you are not alone on that one. If the ball is going side to side on you and you feel a drain coming on, give it a nudge to slow it down and get the ball back to your flippers. Also I think a good strategy is to keep shooting the ramps and orbits until you learn the dangerous shots to avoid. You'll hit plenty of green and yellow targets without even trying. So aim for the ramps until you get more comfortable.
 
Fungi

Fungi

Active member
Feb 20, 2012
4,888
2
Speaking of gaping center drain. I mentioned during testing that the right flipper should be moved a little bit to the left, as I've compared this to a screenshot of the real thing, but it seems FS doesn't want to move it. It would surely mess up the tuning for the "little flipper to the left hole" shot. I remember getting FS to adjust the right flipper in MM took months. It was like pulling teeth.

I guess the difference here is that everybody actually likes MM. I'm personally done with SST and couldn't care less now.
 
T

TomL

New member
Mar 12, 2013
648
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D-Bonus, here's a tip. Find a table you enjoy that also has a kickout that puts the ball near a flipper. The cash register kickout in TZ is one example. Use that to practice catching the ball. Experiment with letting the ball bounce off a dropped flipper. Practice cradling the ball, dropping the flipper to left the ball roll, and flipping.
 
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D-Bonus

New member
Feb 1, 2015
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TomL: I do most of that already, aside from the kickout suggestion. The trouble is, I can never seem to stop the ball correctly. I guess my timing's off most of the time, because it usually either rolls off the flipper, or I see it rolling to the tip, I have to flip it away before it rolls off the flipper, and that usually has the ball bouncing off the bottom corner of the adjacent bumper, which sends it right between the flippers.
 
T

TomL

New member
Mar 12, 2013
648
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D-Bonus: you'll get there, just need practice. Make sure to also experiment with tiny flips (trigger the flipper to go up and then immediately dropping the flipper) and tiny drops (cradling the ball, dropping the flipper and then immediately raising the flip again).

In my experience, if you spend 15 minutes solid doing nothing other than practicing trapping the ball, you'll learn faster than trying to practice during a game.
 
Last edited:
Kratos3

Kratos3

New member
Sep 22, 2013
2,352
1
D-Bonus said:
TomL: I do most of that already, aside from the kickout suggestion. The trouble is, I can never seem to stop the ball correctly. I guess my timing's off most of the time, because it usually either rolls off the flipper, or I see it rolling to the tip, I have to flip it away before it rolls off the flipper, and that usually has the ball bouncing off the bottom corner of the adjacent bumper, which sends it right between the flippers.
Click to expand...

When a ball is rolling towards the end of a flipper, nudge the table in the direction the ball is rolling to keep it on the flipper.
 
Gus

Gus

Member
Mar 5, 2014
432
0
Kratos3 said:
When a ball is rolling towards the end of a flipper, nudge the table in the direction the ball is rolling to keep it on the flipper.
Click to expand...
This IMO is the best way to keep the ball controlled in TPA. It makes many tables a whole lot easier. Also, learning to nudge early when the ball is heading towards a drain prevents it from draining most of the time. Nudging is overpowered.
 
Snorzel

Snorzel

New member
Apr 25, 2014
1,353
0
On a youtube walk through, the guy says you can get the double bug benefit of the stunted flipper by hitting the button for it at the same time as propelling the ball with a normal flipper.

 
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D

DA5ID

New member
Aug 27, 2014
916
0
Snorzel said:
On a youtube walk through, the guy says you can get the double bug benefit of the stunted flipper by hitting the button for it at the same time as propelling the ball with a normal flipper.
Click to expand...

the bug has to be the first switch hit and it helps to hold the mini flipper - i got it to work on TPA (being a faithful recreation and all!)
you may have to hit and hold the mini flipper a micro second after the main flipper.
 
Gorgar

Gorgar

Active member
Mar 31, 2012
1,332
8
It looks like the moderator created a sub-forum for Addams Family, but still didn't add Starship Troopers. Whacky.
 

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