Tips for hitting the Hole-In-One...

[The-Noid]

After playing a lot more, it seems there's a very specific angle you need to hit the lift at which would careen the ball towards the hole, over the little ridge and then roll down it into the hole. A little one way or the other flings the ball down the right habitrail or around the back (hitting the cart, maybe) and down the left habitrail. But get it right and and you see the ball go up, then roll into the hole.

Middle of the flipper up the right side of the slam ramp. Otherwise inside of the flipper up the left side of the slam ramp off the cart.

Off the cart is more random and will create more balls that roll off the mini playfield, down the ramp and down the middle. The advantage of going to the right is that it doesn't create a lot of SDTM.

 

[David Smith]

I got twelve Holes in One the other day (including two Hole in One Challenge specials), but that was an extraordinary game. Most games I can only manage 2 or 3.

 

[McGuirk]

It's a hard shot to make in TPA and on the PHoF collection. In TPA, I'll have the ball go right, heading for the Hole in One, only to shoot up that ramp that's off to the side of the hole, and land on the right ramp. Guess my shot is a little too powerful.

NGG is one of those tables I would love to play in real life. It is a lot of fun. Silverball in NJ doesn't have it; I'm hoping when I go to Vegas next year, they do.

 

[Jutter]

There is one easier to obtain hole-in-one you can score at the very start. It's pretty much a super-skill shot.
Soft-plunge your first ball, and jog the ball into the putting-hole with the upper flipper. This will count as a hole-in-one.

 

[Kolchak357]

There is one easier to obtain hole-in-one you can score at the very start. It's pretty much a super-skill shot.
Soft-plunge your first ball, and jog the ball into the putting-hole with the upper flipper. This will count as a hole-in-one.

Played this table a bunch, but never noticed that. Thanks

 

[monty22001]

I just can't get it on my Vita! I got it on my PS3 several times, but the Vita version is great. Once on the Vita the ball literally flew off the right side of the screen! Crazy bug! Something weird with this version is making it very, very hard.

 

[phreaker47]

I just can't get it on my Vita! I got it on my PS3 several times, but the Vita version is great. Once on the Vita the ball literally flew off the right side of the screen! Crazy bug! Something weird with this version is making it very, very hard.

I'm doing it on the Vita. I had 9 hole in ones in a game the other day... so it's doable.

 

[angrytilter]

It's funny... on Tuesday I had no problem making the shot... Since then I think I've scored maybe 3 hole-in-ones. I'd say my table was rigged if I didn't know it was digital.

 

[Vyrastas]

I'm doing it on the Vita. I had 9 hole in ones in a game the other day... so it's doable.

Yeah I can get it on Vita at least once every couple of games, usually when I'm not really trying for it. Last night I had one of those games where it all clicked and got it 4 times... one of which was the Super Jackpot, thank the Gods, Old and New. It's a pain trying to hit it during Multi-Ball. Finally completed the Wizard Goals.

 

[Annorax]

Most of these were lucky banks off the golf cart; I've been trying to figure out how to reliably hit the tip of the ramp & have it drop right in...

 

[Captain B. Zarre]

More importantly, your high score text better be your initials!

 

[gooche77]

I nailed 6 holes in ones on the first 6 holes. (2 of them were wheel awards...ahem).

My trick is to time the shot just past the middle of the flipper.

 

[Zaphod77]

Yes, it's really supposed to be that hard. And yes it's really supposed to be that inconsistent. you can have a great game full of hole in ones, and you can then not hit it once for ten.

TPA absolutely got this right. It's probably more "luck oriented" than in real life, to make up for the chaos effect that makes the shot so darn hard in the real world.

Pro-Tip. do NOT hit the center ramp three times in a row, unless the third shot is to raise gopher. That angers the gophers, who will then dog you for the rest of the ball with popping up at very inconvenient times. instead hit the right ramp for your third shot.

 

[darkrage6]

I was lucky enough to play this in real life while I was on vacation with my family in Wisconsin, seems like almost every restaurant we went to had at least one pinball table or arcade game. It was a very memorable experience, but I couldn't make the Hole-In-One then and I still have not yet been able to make one on PBA.

 

[switch3flip]

When I play on my phone I find it easier in landscape mode than in portrait. I aim to hit the ramp a little to the right, but the hard thing is that the ramp is raised until you are just about to shoot, so I don't get much time to focus on the spot I aim for, which makes it harder.
It's easy to practice the hole-in-one shot if you want to as you get a shot at it every time you plunge the ball, so just restart the game, plunge and shoot, and you can do this over and over. However, I think the power of the plunge also affects how hard or easy the shot is. I find it harder if I plunge full force and the ball goes faster up the side ramp. If I plunge so that the ball just barely makes it up the ramp the hole-in-one shot seems to happen much more often, at least for me.

 

[vikingerik]

I suspect the program really is randomly determining this shot, as in it deliberately decides a certain small percentage of the time to redirect the ball to the hole-in-one. When it goes in, it usually follows the exact same path, just skimming over the front of the red barrier and plopping right into the hole. It's so straight and consistent that the path looks pre-programmed. I can't perceive any difference at all in aiming or timing between these shots and the usual path around the back of the golf cart. (Steam/Windows version.)

That said, it can also be hit for real. You know it's a real unpredestined shot if the ball rolls around a bit on the back of the red barrier. But this never works on a ramp feed to the left flipper. I've found the most success with a slightly slower ball that began by rolling about one flipper-length up the inlane while another ball tripped the inlane switch. Another possibility is a ball coming in faster than usual after finding the inlane from somewhere above.

I've not managed a bank shot off the golf cart into the hole-in-one at all in several hours of playing.

 

[superballs]

I had this one game where i hit this shot like 5 times, including for the super jackpot in multiball.

Besides that, i usually hit it maybe once ever 10 or 15 games.

 

[TMOverbeck]

I've managed to hit that hole-in-one shot every once in a while, without having to bank it.

There have been a couple times when, during multiball, I managed to shoot two balls at the same time into Bud's hole, and it awarded me a Super Jackpot.

 

[Punisher]

I've hit it a couple of times, but I forgot how I did it. Ironically, the hole-in-one goal wasn't my final standard goal to get. However, getting the Super Jackpot IS my final wizard goal, and I can never get one! I tried every angle, and it just won't get in.

 

[Dascoyne]

I think the game was glitching on my PC one day when the ball actually flew off the table a couple of times. I'm glad I didn't restart/reinstall because soon I shot 6 Hole-in-Ones in a game ... entirely unintended.