Played some real pinball on the weekend

[caper_26]

So I haven't played a real pinball machine since I was younger. And when I did, I didn't know "how" to actually play. I just basically banged the ball around uncontrollably. Yesterday I took my kids to a play palace at the mall. There are 2 pinball machines there. First, I played Elvira. The plunger wouldn't launch the ball hard enough to reach bumper rollovers. The ball almost always rolled STDM, even after launch. I had 3 launches in a row where I lost the ball without a successful flipper hit. After several games, I realized that on this machine, there was no "bounce pass". the flippers seemed dead. The ball would come down, and instead of bouncing off a flipper, just stick to it and roll down it. The ball would not hit off them with any sort of speed at all. Slap save was useless since the flippers were so dead in that, if you were able to get a small piece of the ball with the first flipper, it wouldn't deflect the ball enough to get a piece of it with the second. After many games, I was however able to put a measly 6M, and current #1 high score on it. No such thing as a bang-back (death save) on this machine. however, shaking the table when the ball was in the outlane or other danger areas worked ok I guess.
Slingshots: Holy crap these make the ball go HAYWIRE on this table. Almost always, the ball would fling up the the center-sides of the table, and then down the outlane. Also, I don't think the machine was level either, trying to trap the ball was nearly impossible.

Next I played The Simpsons. I put 3 credits in ($1). After first ball was played, this table "felt" better than the first, but after the first ball lost, the machine wouldn't eject ball #2 into the launch lane. This machine was "out of order". Too bad since it seemed like it was going to be more fun than the first.

All in all, there was no fun had, since I couldn't even hit the ball after launch a lot of the time...

[shogun00]

It sounds like the machines need some much needed maintenance.

The plunger wouldn't launch the ball hard enough to reach bumper rollovers.

The pull rod springs need to be replaced. A little work around is to launch the ball with a slap/push to the rod instead of a pull. Most of the time that short spring doesn't get used and has more strength than the worn out long spring at the end.

After several games, I realized that on this machine, there was no "bounce pass".

The elastics/rubbers need to be replaced. If the elastics are rotting, then you are not going to get any bouncing, so bounce passing (aka dead flipper passing) is out of the question.

Slingshots: Holy crap these make the ball go HAYWIRE on this table.

They always do! In real pinball machines, the slingshots are designed make the ball unpredictable.

No such thing as a bang-back (death save) on this machine.

That's probably because of the adjustable feet. Bang Backs can only be preformed when the machine's feet are risen up near to the max. This makes it easier to nudge the table. When the feet are low to the ground, it makes it harder to nudge. This is an operator's decision, since the feet can also adjust the table's slop.

[IndyRC_Racer]

The local R/C track that I race at has an X-Files pinball machine. The table is so far off level that it is torture to play - so bad you cannot trap a ball on the left flipper at all. Also the top ramp is too low, which randomly causes a ball to get stuck on the ramp below it.

At first I was excited to see a real pinball table, but now I'm just sad because it is a waste of money. It is a shame because it looks like this table could be fun to play.

[shogun00]

The local R/C track that I race at has an X-Files pinball machine. The table is so far off level that it is torture to play - so bad you cannot trap a ball on the left flipper at all. Also the top ramp is too low, which randomly causes a ball to get stuck on the ramp below it.

At first I was excited to see a real pinball table, but now I'm just sad because it is a waste of money. It is a shame because it looks like this table could be fun to play.

Try talking to one of the employees and see if they can fix the incline. It should be very easy for them to adjust the machine's feet.

[chiralfox]

Those machines are just in bad shape. It can be hard to find well maintained machines, but when one does, there's just no comparison between real and digital pinball. Maybe check some of the online resources to see if there's a league or a dedicated place to play pinball run by people that actually care for the machines. I used to play at the movie theater, but after some searching, have located something around 100 well-maintained machines less than an hour away from me.

One thing about pinball is that being a mechanical game, no two tables play alike. I know of three Twilight Zones and three Addam's Family pins in my area, have played all three, and can say that certain decision made depend on the table. Sometimes a bounce pass from a kickout is a great option, other times the rubber on the flipper is old and a catch is viable instead.

Also, to get a good slap save, you do actually have to slap the machine in order to push the flipper into the ball. Ideally, you'll cradle the ball on the other flipper. This is one area where I feel no pinball simulation has really got it right, as nudging and pushing the table requires a lot of nuance. Zen 2 and PBFX 2 at least have soft and hard nudging, whereas Pinball Arcade has only some crazy nudge strength, but it is still somewhat lacking.