Tables getting too fast?

[sedated]

Not sure if it's just me, anyone else find the last two tables like really fast? Bram Stoker's Dracula and Phantom of the Opera.

It's really hard to slow down BSD for me, it feels constantly warp speed. Phantom of the Opera has a choppy feel to it too and also very fast. I have a bunch of tables and these are two that stand out most.

 

[jaredmorgs]

What platform do you use?

 

[smbhax]

Fast? Like...*lightning* fast? : D

 

[canuck]

IMO fishtales and Dracula are about the same, that is to say, fast. On the other hand, older tables from season 1 are markedly slower. So has FS tweaked the physics? Is it a hardware issue? Or what?
It would be nice to have an advanced physics setting menu...like some of those OTHER pinball apps have.

 

[soundwave106]

Some tables play faster than others, and from what I remember hearing, BSD was a fast machine in real life (though I don't remember playing it enough to comment one way or another). Many machines do actually play super fast if they are very clean and have strong flippers!

Speed wise of tables I've played IRL, I only remember thinking Twilight Zone was tuned a bit too slow in TPA and I can't remember thinking any of them were too fast. Though I've heard that the EM / early SS tables are tuned to play faster than they really were, probably to bring it up to the speed of the 90s tables.

 

[Espy]

Some tables play faster than others, and from what I remember hearing, BSD was a fast machine in real life (though I don't remember playing it enough to comment one way or another). Many machines do actually play super fast if they are very clean and have strong flippers!

Speed wise of tables I've played IRL, I only remember thinking Twilight Zone was tuned a bit too slow in TPA and I can't remember thinking any of them were too fast. Though I've heard that the EM / early SS tables are tuned to play faster than they really were, probably to bring it up to the speed of the 90s tables.

EMs generally have much shallower playfield angles and weaker flippers. That can be said for machines running into the mid-80s as well. TPA gives them a bit of an "upgrade".

 

[David T. Melnick]

EMs generally have much shallower playfield angles and weaker flippers. That can be said for machines running into the mid-80s as well. TPA gives them a bit of an "upgrade".

--------------
there was a good deal of people asking for "tweaks", etc. for tables. That obviously was asking for: changes. AKA: new challenges.

 

[Kolchak357]

The only two where it really stands out for me are Whirlwind and Haunted House. Other than those two, the rest are close enough for me to live with.

Playing on an ipad 4

 

[kinggo]

I wouldn't say that table are getting faster. Some are just like that IRL. The thing is that FS somehow forgot that at the and of the ramp/habitral after the ball drops to inline it does not continue to go with the same speed. The inlines are to fast on last few tables IMO. Add to that that flippers are a lot slower than IRL and using the first 1/3 of the flipper is now very difficult.

 

[Tann]

The only two where it really stands out for me are Whirlwind and Haunted House. Other than those two, the rest are close enough for me to live with.

+1. I would only add F2K to the list.

 

[SydyneBall]

I play a IRL Whirlwind and BSD in league. Both are well maintained and near mint. Except for the ball physicals (spin, loft) the RL tables play just as fast. Whirlwind in RL is brutal when the disks add spin to the ball. BSD is just a drain monster either way with those lightning flippers. I like the latest tables, I think they play way more like IRL.

I have to agree with TZ, it is way to easy is TPA. I've played two RL tables and it's nothing like TPA. Much quicker and easy to drain. Powerball in RL is brutal.

 

[shoemakesmusic]

I tend to agree a little with the original post. I'd also add that NGG seems remarkably slow compared to other season one tables. Maybe it's just me. I play mostly on the iPhone. I don't find the speed differences to be as noticeable on PS4. Whirlwind on the iPhone is insanely fast. It is also a table I own IRL. I find it almost unplayable on the iPhone. IRL I can score consistently 30 million points which isn't great but in TPA I can barely get 10 mil.

 

[IGoFirstIndy]

after playing so much zen over the past few months, i've changed how I play TPA. I do camera three and shut off camera moves. this actually slows the ball appreciably because you have a fixed view of the table and can focus on ball trajectory better. my scores have vastly improved.

 

[MontanaFrank]

+1. I would only add F2K to the list.

I am happy that F2K is a fast wide body table. I love how fast the pinball rolls around the table. Even though I haven't played it IRL, it's the only wide body that I really like to play in TPA. I've never been a wide body fan, but that is my opinion.

 

[Dedpop]

I am happy that F2K is a fast wide body table. I love how fast the pinball rolls around the table. Even though I haven't played it IRL, it's the only wide body that I really like to play in TPA. I've never been a wide body fan, but that is my opinion.

Talking about pinball...
Is that your real beard ?

 

[Kratos3]

IMO, the faster tables seem more realistic. Taxi, Firepower, Fish Tales, etc.

The question to me is, where should the balance lie?
Towards fast and difficult to appease to pinball enthusiasts, or a little slower and easier than IRL to make it more accessible?

The more I play, the more I would like to see absolute realism.

 

[Slam23]

If TPA's claim is to do faithful recreations, than the TPA table should play like it's IRL counterpart. However, no 2 IRL tables play the same. I recently played 3 different BSD's in one weekend (Dutch Pinball Open) and all three had their own quirks and small differences in gameplay and speed, mostly due to play wear and specific setup (for example slope). I have played probably around half of the TPA tables in real life (just counted them: 27), and I must say that gameplay and speed are often comparable, especially so for tables in seasons 2 & 3, some tables in season 1 can be a bit off. Another difference being maybe that TPA tables often play like mint tables with fresh rubber, clean playfield, new coils etc. I recently played Gorgar for the first time in real life, and those slingshots were less reactive and fast/strong because of play wear and simply old age. Maybe TPA's Gorgar was in a far better shape when they digitized the table, or TPA's Gorgar is outfitted with "standard" TPA elements. I do believe they do a whole lot of tweaking to get the gameflow and gameplay as precise as they can, otherwise every TPA table would play exactly the same, just look differently. On iOS this is definitely not the case.

 

[smbhax]

I do camera three and shut off camera moves.

I've used those settings for so long that I hadn't really thought of it, but yeah I can see how it would *feel* way too fast if you were using a zoomed in scrolling camera...which is probably why most people don't play pinball by moving their head over the glass above the ball! : o

 

[canuck]

I've used those settings for so long that I hadn't really thought of it, but yeah I can see how it would *feel* way too fast if you were using a zoomed in scrolling camera...which is probably why most people don't play pinball by moving their head over the glass above the ball! : o

LOL good point! Scrolling does make some tables much more challenging though (or frustrating!)

 

[soundwave106]

Another difference being maybe that TPA tables often play like mint tables with fresh rubber, clean playfield, new coils etc.

This is a definite factor in real life tables... I would say that you are more likely to encounter a poorly maintained table in real life than a really well maintained one. Dirt and grime on the playfield will definitely slow the ball down, however a poorly maintained table will also have much weaker pops / slingshots and flippers.

Now that it is mentioned, I do think TPA Whirlwind is a bit faster than RL examples I've played. They probably wanted to tweak the difficulty as in Pinball Hall of Fame Whirlwind was too easy, from what I remember. They may have gone too far in the opposite direction, unfortunately (Whirlwind is not the most difficult pin in the world in real life...)