Will Nudging/Tilt Sensitivity Ever Be More Realistic?

[Jeff Strong]

Do you guys think Farsight is ever going to make the nudging and/or tilt sensitivity more realistic? (and Farsight, if you're reading, please chime in)

NOTE: this discussion relates to non-touchscreen controls.

As good as TPA is, this is one of its biggest flaws, IMO. Now as I've said many times, I'm not a pro-level player by any means, but as it is now, if you have even decent nudging skills and you play with a controller, you can essentially steer the ball around at will with little fear of tilting. Almost any center drain can be prevented since you can nudge multiple times in a row in the same direction without tilting, which allows you to move the ball by an unrealistically large margin. Since the tables are already tuned to be easier than real pinball machines, why does the nudging need to be so exaggerated in relation to the tilt sensitivity? The game times already run longer than real life, and with nudging the way it is, they become even longer, to the point where it's kind of crazy on some tables.

As we've discussed before, the ideal solution would be to have a separate single-player "tournament" mode, with more realistic nudging and tilt sensitivity (as well as other tournament settings, such as extra balls being disabled). I know I would play TPA a lot more if that were the case, without a doubt.

Another possible solution would be for Farsight to have options for nudge power and/or tilt sensitivity in the options or perhaps a Pro Menu. That would make the price of the Pro Modes worth it, IMO (however, the only problem there though is that not all of the tables have Pro Modes).

Anyway, I wonder if we'll ever see a solution. It doesn't seem very high on their priority list, unfortunately.

 

[Baron Rubik]

Farsights development priority list seems strangely skewed to me personally, and un-guess able.

Only today, after years of asking for Android cloud save (which would take very little development time) and which has been asked for by hundreds of users just on this forum alone, and would surely benefit all mobile players, we find that 'Head to Head' has been prioritised in development.

I'll not go into the Rom emu'd BK issue, which was actually promised by Farsight 14 months ago.

But.... Yes, I too would like a 'Single player - tournament settings mode' though.

 

[DrainoBraino]

As I mentioned in the other thread where this came up, I don't think FS ever addressed the nudging in this game. I agree a tournament mode with nerfed nudging would work, but I'd rather it be done across the board. My vote is for wiping the leader board and lower nudging power. I know that probably wont happen, but it would make the game more realistic.

 

[superballs]

I would like to see nudging like visual pinball 8, even vp has superhuman nudging now. To have such an effect on the ball as we can exert now should definitely incur a tilt warning.

 

[Terminator]

I never nudge, that is why i never score big. I just can't get into the habit of doing it.

 

[soundwave106]

NOTE: this discussion relates to non-touchscreen controls.

A few issues I can see right off the bat:

A) Touchscreen controls (mobile / Android / iPad) I believe are their biggest markets, so it's natural that nudging is not a high priority. The PC version is certainly better than it was in the early releases when the nudge was really digital-like, super strong for everything (for the early versions, it was easy to tilt, but also there was zilch subtle control, it was all or nothing).

B) Even now, in my opinion, the degrees of nudging is not terribly realistic, at least for those of us with motion controls. This would need to be addressed first. Although it's more "analog" than the early releases, it still feels like subtle nudging at the moment is not possible.

C) Perhaps there is less priority on the subtle nudging due to the wide variety of controllers out there, many of them not motion sensitive. I assume that the PC version is "scaled" for playability with a standard Xbox controller where you "nudge" with the joystick.

So I can see why the default nudge is what it is, in other words. As far as realism, well, I have played real pinball machines with literally *zero* tilt sensitivity (you could pick it up and throw it around and it would not tilt). So it matches what you can do on some machines. Tilt sensitivity is set by the operator.

Nudge sensitivity would be a very welcome option on the pro menus (particularly for those with cabinets or motion sensitive controllers), if the pinball engine can handle subtle nudging better, that is. That's the part where I don't know if this request turns into "major physics engine rewrite"...

 

[Crawley]

I like the "tournament mode" idea for changing the nudging. I think it would be a mistake to revamp the nudging without an option to switch between them.

Personally I like the nudging as it currently is as it does make the tables more enjoyable and easier to approach initially while you learn them. But it would be a nice feature to have the option to ratchet up the difficulty. There would need to be a separate "tournament" scoring leader boards with that mode on or hardly anyone will use it.

 

[Baron Rubik]

Touchscreen controls (mobile / Android / iPad) I believe are their biggest markets, so it's natural that nudging is not a high priority.

Android has native controller support now which gives you full analogue nudging.

 

[Zaphod77]

The main issue here is that many platforms don't provide analog nudging to all players, and only let you have digital nudging. SO they have to calibrate the heavy digital nudge to not give you a warning or it's totally useless.

If they make it not powerful enough, and have analog be able to give you a warning with a full nudge, then analog has the advantage. If digital gives warning every time it's useless. If digital remains powerful but analog gives warnings with a full nudge, then digital has the advantage.

So the current system (digital is huge and ALMOST gives a warning) is really their only option. And i can abuse the heck out of digital nudge on modern pins. EMs and other early stuff really NEEDS analog nudging, which is what makes them so hard.

I agree that digital nudging that always stops JUST short of the tilt warning when used from rest is way too abusable, but there's really no other choice.

 

[netizen]

Android has native controller support now which gives you full analogue nudging.

as does iOS.

I don't think there's a remaining platform that doesn't have analogue nudging any more.

 

[Shaneus]

Touchscreen nudging could be done via a hotspot or gradiated type button, though... where a tap right in the centre would barely move the table but not give you a warning, where one closer to the outside would move the machine more, but be more likely to include a warning.

Perhaps we could also have an option to slide from one side of the screen to the other to try and pull off a death save?

I think controller nudging could be better pulled off, too. Reduce the maximum amount the joypad can move the playfield so it's a lot smaller, but holding down a button while doing it increases the size of the nudge which would also be more likely to give you a warning. Ideally, I think the current level of nudging should be applied to a mode like this. It'd reflect real-life closer that way... to hold a button and use the joystick requires more effort than just using the joystick, just like a nudge that generates a warning requires more effort than not.