So many tables need to be fixed...

[SpongyTwinkies]

I am getting tired of playing many of the tables only to have the ball shot down an outlane or between the two bottom flippers. It makes for a frustrating experience. Yes, I do bump the tables to try and prevent this, but often it doesn't help.

For older tables, like Rocky and Bullwinkle, the tables just don't handle the new physics engine very well. Some of the newer tables designs for the outlanes and such just don't take into account that the slingshots shoot the balls into the outlanes or that the ball "rolls" over the inlane guards and drops into the outlane.

I am surprised Zen hasn't fixed this. Older pinball table designs by other companies have already figured this out - make the guard rails on the outlanes higher than the inlanes and put a bumper centered between the bottom flippers.

If you respond to this, please don't start praising how much you like Pinball FX2 and have no problems playing any table. Your response doesn't address my complaint and doesn't discount it. While there will be multiple people on this forum that have no problems, there are plenty of players on other forums who have a similar complaint about these tables as I do.

[Cloda]

I am getting tired of playing many of the tables only to have the ball shot down an outlane or between the two bottom flippers. It makes for a frustrating experience. Yes, I do bump the tables to try and prevent this, but often it doesn't help.

For older tables, like Rocky and Bullwinkle, the tables just don't handle the new physics engine very well. Some of the newer tables designs for the outlanes and such just don't take into account that the slingshots shoot the balls into the outlanes or that the ball "rolls" over the inlane guards and drops into the outlane.

I am surprised Zen hasn't fixed this. Older pinball table designs by other companies have already figured this out - make the guard rails on the outlanes higher than the inlanes and put a bumper centered between the bottom flippers.

If you respond to this, please don't start praising how much you like Pinball FX2 and have no problems playing any table. Your response doesn't address my complaint and doesn't discount it. While there will be multiple people on this forum that have no problems, there are plenty of players on other forums who have a similar complaint about these tables as I do.

Don't worry, I won't try to discount your opinion... I'll just give you my perspective. I am not a fan of pinball arcade at all but one thing that I quickly came to appreciate is that their flavour of pinball is aimed at short, high impact games. This is also the approach of the nicely done Revenge of the Rob-O-Bot table that recently came where you can play a full game through to wizard mode in 10min but it really requires a lot of blood and tears to get it right. Zen's tables in general, results in long games, so much so that I have not once finished a game on my android tablet as I can't save and always have to stop playing before I get a chance to complete the game without just draining the last balls. For that reason I actually do appreciate the couple of tables where it is not easy to activate the kickbacks, ball save and score extra balls as you then have a completely different challenge on your hands when playing the table. Excalibur is one of those tables that I can still go back to because I know that at any time I can lose a ball down the out lane as it is not possible to permanently activate the kickbacks. Paranormal I will never play again as I know to get anywhere near a decent score will require hours of play.

I am not a big fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle but at some point I wanted to get the achievements and was also part of a weekly tournament and after practising a lot, I learned which shots to avoid so that I don't always drain the ball down the left out lane. It still did happen from time to time but I did manage to beat all the missions on the table and put up a decent score. My point with this is basically that I see difficult tables as a different kind of challenge and that there is a real sense of achievement if you get to the point where you actually have enough control to avoid the silly drains.

Anyways... I have been playing this game now since it came out in 2010 and I'm definitely a much improved player with a whole lot more control. The first thing I always figure out on any table is how to play safe... long before I even try to figure out the missions. Fantastic 4 is a good example... if you can have the patience to go through the process to activate your kickbacks and also the negative zone ball saver active and keep it your priority to reactivate them as soon as you use them, then it is possible to have real long games. The same counts for tables such as Wolverine, Paranormal, and Ms. Splosion Man and as a matter of fact for most of Zen's tables. Their emphasis as far as I can tell is for you to make use of these tools rather than focussing on the table design additions as you suggested.

PS: You should have added an option in your poll going something along the lines of: Yes, but I accept that some tables have a steeper learning curve.

[shogun00]

Older pinball table designs by other companies have already figured this out - make the guard rails on the outlanes higher than the inlanes and put a bumper centered between the bottom flippers.

Can you please list a couple of examples?

I have yet to encounter a pinball table where the ball doesn't whiz down the outlanes or go SDTM (even with the center post between the flippers), especially with real machines where they are designed to be hard so you keep on pumping in the coins.

[SpongyTwinkies]

Don't worry, I won't try to discount your opinion... I'll just give you my perspective. I am not a fan of pinball arcade at all but one thing that I quickly came to appreciate is that their flavour of pinball is aimed at short, high impact games. This is also the approach of the nicely done Revenge of the Rob-O-Bot table that recently came where you can play a full game through to wizard mode in 10min but it really requires a lot of blood and tears to get it right. Zen's tables in general, results in long games, so much so that I have not once finished a game on my android tablet as I can't save and always have to stop playing before I get a chance to complete the game without just draining the last balls. For that reason I actually do appreciate the couple of tables where it is not easy to activate the kickbacks, ball save and score extra balls as you then have a completely different challenge on your hands when playing the table. Excalibur is one of those tables that I can still go back to because I know that at any time I can lose a ball down the out lane as it is not possible to permanently activate the kickbacks. Paranormal I will never play again as I know to get anywhere near a decent score will require hours of play.

I am not a big fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle but at some point I wanted to get the achievements and was also part of a weekly tournament and after practising a lot, I learned which shots to avoid so that I don't always drain the ball down the left out lane. It still did happen from time to time but I did manage to beat all the missions on the table and put up a decent score. My point with this is basically that I see difficult tables as a different kind of challenge and that there is a real sense of achievement if you get to the point where you actually have enough control to avoid the silly drains.

Anyways... I have been playing this game now since it came out in 2010 and I'm definitely a much improved player with a whole lot more control. The first thing I always figure out on any table is how to play safe... long before I even try to figure out the missions. Fantastic 4 is a good example... if you can have the patience to go through the process to activate your kickbacks and also the negative zone ball saver active and keep it your priority to reactivate them as soon as you use them, then it is possible to have real long games. The same counts for tables such as Wolverine, Paranormal, and Ms. Splosion Man and as a matter of fact for most of Zen's tables. Their emphasis as far as I can tell is for you to make use of these tools rather than focussing on the table design additions as you suggested.

PS: You should have added an option in your poll going something along the lines of: Yes, but I accept that some tables have a steeper learning curve.

Nice response and good input.

I agree with what you say, but I have practiced the tables, read the table guides, learned to setup a table safely and have practiced my shots. The table Mars is one example where I feel that with practice a player will get better at it. Still, there are tables that just seem to want to suck down the ball, such as Wolverine, and despite learning how to set up the table safely it just seems like it is determined to end the game as soon as possible.

I'll continue to practice but there comes a point where it just may seem pointless to play many of the tables.

[SpongyTwinkies]

Can you please list a couple of examples?

I have yet to encounter a pinball table where the ball doesn't whiz down the outlanes or go SDTM (even with the center post between the flippers), especially with real machines where they are designed to be hard so you keep on pumping in the coins.

Yup, I've played tables that lost the ball with a center post or whatever, but I've also had times on those same tables where I could bump the ball with the center post.

I wouldn't be sounding off on this forum if I wasn't frustrated with something about the Pinball FX2 game, so I'm not even going to address your question. Your leading this to the "I have no problem with Pinball FX2 so..." response and not bothering to address my issue.

[shogun00]

I wouldn't be sounding off on this forum if I wasn't frustrated with something about the Pinball FX2 game, so I'm not even going to address your question. Your leading this to the "I have no problem with Pinball FX2 so..." response and not bothering to address my issue.

I just want a couple of examples, so I can check them out myself. I'm trying to grasp what you are talking about. I find all tables (across multiple games and real machines) equally frustrating in their own way when it comes to draining.

I'm not going to bother to comment that there is nothing wrong, because I do have issue with the whizzing balls myself (always have and always will). You should see how many times I reset my games on Zen Pinball 2, because ball 1 only lasted for no more than a minute.

The one thing that has helped me with Zen's tables is the strong nudge physics. I'm able to preform bang backs (death saves) pretty easily and that has help me out half of the time, but there are times that I wish I can still divert the ball from going down the middle or outlanes with a simple nudge (something that I usually can't).

[Everly]

You should see how many times I reseted my game on Zen because ball 1 only lasted for no more than a minute.

Oh wow, I thought that was just me! But I am playing SL on my phone which is the size of an index card.

[Cloda]

Nice response and good input.

I agree with what you say, but I have practiced the tables, read the table guides, learned to setup a table safely and have practiced my shots. The table Mars is one example where I feel that with practice a player will get better at it. Still, there are tables that just seem to want to suck down the ball, such as Wolverine, and despite learning how to set up the table safely it just seems like it is determined to end the game as soon as possible.

I'll continue to practice but there comes a point where it just may seem pointless to play many of the tables.

At the moment I am playing Shaman and I'm having a real tough time. I was just able to break a 100mil and have been able to beat all the main missions but not yet in one game. I have figured out a bunch of things that lead to drains and the main one is to not take a hasty shot at the ramp when it lowers because it can lead to a very quick drain. The right out lane is also a monster so I am now first reactivating my kickbacks before trying anything else. Anyway... this has always been the way with all the new tables. Initially you feel like you are not getting anywhere but slowly things come together, sometimes without you seeing any progress in your scoring, and then finally things just come together in that one game where you blast your previous score out of the water.

My approach is always to pick one table until I have beaten it rather than switching between tables. I has always worked the best for me. With Star Wars coming out I will probably start with the Clone Wars, then the Empire Strikes back and then Bobba Fetta (or whatever it is called!) as that seems to be the order of difficulty.

I wrote a couple of strategy guides for some of the tables and also have tips for newer players... just follow my signature.

[SpongyTwinkies]

At the moment I am playing Shaman and I'm having a real tough time. I was just able to break a 100mil and have been able to beat all the main missions but not yet in one game. I have figured out a bunch of things that lead to drains and the main one is to not take a hasty shot at the ramp when it lowers because it can lead to a very quick drain. The right out lane is also a monster so I am now first reactivating my kickbacks before trying anything else. Anyway... this has always been the way with all the new tables. Initially you feel like you are not getting anywhere but slowly things come together, sometimes without you seeing any progress in your scoring, and then finally things just come together in that one game where you blast your previous score out of the water.

My approach is always to pick one table until I have beaten it rather than switching between tables. I has always worked the best for me. With Star Wars coming out I will probably start with the Clone Wars, then the Empire Strikes back and then Bobba Fetta (or whatever it is called!) as that seems to be the order of difficulty.

I wrote a couple of strategy guides for some of the tables and also have tips for newer players... just follow my signature.

Thanks! Looking forward to reading them.

[SpongyTwinkies]

I've been reading through Cloda's guides and they help

Cloda, you've given me a fresh perspective on the tables and I'm encouraged. Played around on Civil War and had immediate results. I like your recommendations for skillfully setting up the tables - requires some patience but the end results are solid. When I feel I really know that one, might take a look at Blade and see if I can improve there.

Well, perhaps I'm beginning to like most tables better than I thought. Too bad about Rocky and Bullwinkle, though.

[Cloda]

Cloda, you've given me a fresh perspective on the tables and I'm encouraged. Played around on Civil War and had immediate results. I like your recommendations for skillfully setting up the tables - requires some patience but the end results are solid. When I feel I really know that one, might take a look at Blade and see if I can improve there.

Well, perhaps I'm beginning to like most tables better than I thought. Too bad about Rocky and Bullwinkle, though.

Great! Glad it is helping. I'm a meticulous and somewhat pedantic kind of person so my approach is not for everyone. Its worked for me and I trust it will help other people also to make some progress in their game.

The Fantastic 4 guide might be a better one to start with than Civil War, as Civil War focuses on a high scoring strategy while the F4 guide focussed on beating the wizard mode.