130 replies to this topic

[T-800]

Pinball is a lot like chess in my world. You can dominate your local circuit; but take one step up and you end up losing to a grand master shortly after the opening...

With that said, I've got a few dozen number one scores around the twin cities area but they all look like chump change compared to the videos I see of the top contenders at some of these PAPA tournaments.

I've noticed the biggest improvements happening in basic ball control and learning to nudge early and often at the right time... That and the death save. Oh what can I say about the death save. I think I've almost got it down to decent odds of implementing. Some of Stern's newest games are particularly easy to get a death save due to how easy they are to man handle. It's especially satisfying when the pin has the stupid little bars to prevent the bang back - something that I think is far more difficult than the death save (unfortunately the death save can only be done on one side....). Side note - to those trying to implement the death save by kicking the right leg of the pin, good luck (and shame on you), it's way more effective with a properly timed two handed vertical nudge while the ball is draining (and it's not as hard on the machine).

Anyway, here's a couple of screen shots of a few noteworthy (or maybe not) local games:

High Score on Looney Tunes at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas:
 IMAG0419.jpg   15.03KB   29 downloads
Oakdale Theatre:
 IMAG0594.jpg   39.26KB   24 downloads
Obb's Bar:
 IMAG0670.jpg   22.38KB   22 downloads
Mortimer's Bar:
 IMAG0713.jpg   19.18KB   24 downloads
Home Bar:
 IMAG0444.jpg   18.1KB   24 downloads

[Bob Creepy]

I'll man up, I gave myself a maximum. I can get replays on even poorly maintained route machines. I just found my first TOM and managed to get the HS on the first game. The first machine I bought was a Bally Cybernaught, 3 days after setting it up I rolled the scoreboard, I now routinely can roll it twice in a game, as well as several of the EM's that I own. I wish there was a local league in which I could compete.

And no I do not have an ego... I am just sincerely answering the question.

Been playing since the 60's I own 13 machines, have my own business and my tables are at my shop so every day for me starts with at least 2 games of pinball. I work 7 days a week so I get quite a bit of practice in. Mind you if I did my work instead of playing pinball I could probably work a normal 5 day week lol.

[TheMcD]

Still going up - I'd class myself in High now. Just came back from a monster game on the local TAF.

4 Mansion Tours
10 Extra Balls
7 Free Games (2 Replays, 2 Specials, 3 from Grand Champion)

1.16 Billion. Game went on for about 30-45 minutes.

The McD

[T-800]

Still going up - I'd class myself in High now. Just came back from a monster game on the local TAF.

4 Mansion Tours
10 Extra Balls
7 Free Games (2 Replays, 2 Specials, 3 from Grand Champion)

1.16 Billion. Game went on for about 30-45 minutes.

The McD

Well done McD. My best on TAF is 650M... Have yet to find a TAF in good working order though... Seems like they always have some glitch with the bearkick ramp or one of the flippers is weak.

[jib]

Hadn't played for years, but I just moved to London and have been taking lunch at The Pipeline where they have TAF, TZ, AFM and ST:TNG, all in impeccable maintenance. These are definitely my era of machines. I was born in '78 and I first discovered pinball when TAF and TZ were released, they're still my top 2 games. I used to shovel the sidewalk for free games from the arcade operator (Thompson's Arcade in Minneapolis, if anyone remembers it). It's been six years since I last played (There was a Simpsons Pinball Party I used to play in Santa Fe, NM when I lived there). It's probably been 15 years since I played a well maintained TAF or TZ since all the public ones seem to have gone to shit. Coming back to it now, I'm better than I was when I was a kid.

Today I walked in and layed down high scores on all 4 machines, 9,000,000,000 ST:TNG, 1,200,000,000 TZ, 600,000,000 TAF, and 24,000,000,000 AFM. I walked out of there with a grin on my face, 4 flashing lights with 12 credits spread across the lot.

Two of those are better than anything I ever did in the past, so I'd say I'm getting better. I know these scores pale in comparison to the real masters, but I'm certainly dominating the locals. There are some decent players around, but they tend to get angry and tilt a lot. I've adopted a more relaxed stance and it's done wonders for my play. Of course, individual machine setups tend to suit individual players, so maybe I'm just in tune with the operator

[TheMcD]

STILL going up. Scored 1.4 Bil on the local TAF just a while ago. Got less extra balls and mansion tours, but scored big on Million Plus ramps and bonuses (5x 60 Bear Kicks + 5x 24 Mansion Rooms = tons and tons of points), so I got much more points.

The McD

[Zeether]

The rare times I am able to play a pinball machine for real my skill ranges from horrible to semi-horrible. Too afraid to nudge and usually I don't line my shots up right. Most of the machines I've played are from the mid-90's to the 2000's.

My college's student union has a couple of machines, so I might try to get some in when I have break from class one day.

Edited by Zeether, 11 April 2012 - 04:52 PM.

[CaptainNeo]

I have say tho, playing VP to much might actually hurt your real playing. Shots are not the same on VP as they are in real life. If you get too used to the VP format, your real game is going to go down hill drastically. I bought my VP machine just to know the rules of games, I don't like or play much because they are less than average games. This helps me for tournament play, but if I play to much, I can't hit anything on my real machines. Same thing with Orbitor 1. Don't want to spend to much time on it and get too used to it.

[RipleYYY]

tomorrow, its the Belgian Championship, lets see if i have the luck to do better than last year ... was runner up !
and this time, my son will compete with adults

succeed or not, no matter, as we will play pinball all the day, and thats the more fun & important for us

[ced]

Good luck Ripleyyy !!

@++
ced.

[RipleYYY]

merci Ced

[RipleYYY]

well, was a real mess...
with 16 guys going further, out of 100 (or more i think), no place for so-so scores...

it began just perfect, with a 1st game on AC/DC (i never played before), with a score of 55M, was the high of the day on qualification for a long time, not sure if it remain as it, must check the table score

and than, all goes wrong

magnotron : 12.XXX
star trek bally : 63.XXX
torpedo alley : 270.XXX
iron man : 12M
austin powers : 72M
cirqus voltaire : 4M (oh dear)

final place must be round 35th, my son got the same way, finishing round 32

that gave us some more time to play all the others pinballs set for free
and also give a try to the second tournament of the day, a "pay per play - winner takes it all"

4 pinballs, 4 rules, resulting in 4 guys for a place in final
playing on, and for winning the Magnotron pin...

- 4M BC : flippers inverted, must be played without crossed hands
- TAF : got the score as clos as, was 69M and few
- Freddy : the 1/4 of the back panel (including flippers of course) was covered and than it was a "blind play"
- TRON LE : set the high score

my son was exciting, with the oppurtunity to play on TRON... i deal with him : keep calm, watch & wait, and fix a limit to avoid spending money for nothing (know what i mean)

i directly made the high to 36M, later beaten by my friend Scarface with 66M (also owning that pin, salut Anto)
than trying just few more games and got 87M (and just later 85M)
was enough to go thrue...

and than, my day finished with a battle on that "old timer", and as it : a "new" pinball to bring back home (player 1, 115.600 pts)

http://ti1ca.com/mn7...notron.JPG.html

cool ! i even have new glasses, right from the pin theme
and "hello" to all my friends

++

[ballbreaker]

I'm not too bad but not in the same league as many on here.

My highlight was having the grand champ score on Demolition Man in my local pub not long after it was released (the score was ~3.7bn, certainly between 3-4bn). I don't know how good/bad that is, but the table saw a lot of use and my score was unbeaten for months until they swapped the cab for another. (And no, the people in the town didn't only have one arm! )

[FlipperManiac66]

The last pinball I played in my town was Who Dunnit, and I was really on a roll there... Everything was going like clockwork, saw an enormous high score coming up, had already received 3 replays, and then it happened... The game just closed down, and then started up again. All my score was lost of course. That has never happened for me before or after that time. I was really upset.

[chadtower]

Wow. Relative to some of the guys in this thread I'm a pinball baby. Only been playing a few years. I practice a lot, though, and play in both tournaments and a league. I play against some of the very best players in the world at times. Last night at League Play I had a former world champion in my group of four. He smoked everybody on two games but I won one and was second in another in the four game series. So I guess my skill level is pretty decent and I'm getting better fast.

[T-800]

 AFM_ball1.JPG   160.05KB   28 downloads
13,219,511,480 billion points any good for ball 1? Outlane posts were moved as wide open as possible too...

[EalaDubhSidhe]

I'd say I was better at older bonus-count games, but on a good day I can zone out to a flow game and play it by instinct with the best of them. I'm also more of a tictacal and strategy player.

 

Also, contrary to what's been said earlier in the thread, I think VP, if utilised properly, is *excellent* for getting acqutainted with certain types of games. Any game that relies on shot timing is always going to be easier on a digital cab, but up the rubber count, make it really springy in a random-according-to-the-laws-of-physics way, and you have an excellent simulation of how an old solid-state actually plays.

Edited by EalaDubhSidhe, 06 May 2013 - 12:04 PM.

[Anton]

I understand the rules of nudging, but CAN NEVER nugde in time!

[RipleYYY]

this old topic...

 

some news than, continuing with the passed 2013 belgian championship (did i already posted here on it !?)

again, a real mess in qualification, when you have absolutly no luck, the skill didnt help as quite evbd is a good player...

in the other hand, my son did the job, while finishing 7 ! he misses the final 4 for quite nothing... congrats boy, even more for your age !

 

and than, again, i try my luck with the second tournament of the day, the "pay per play - winner takes it all", as last year, and believe me or not (lol), qualified & win again on the final (STERN IM), and than got my price with a CAPTAIN FANTASTIC to bring back home !

 

[GSGregg]

...the passed 2013 belgian championship (did i already posted here on it !?)

Yes, you did (but it took me a while to find it)---around April 12th in the High score Topic! You were conversing with ced---in French. Anyway, congratulations again on the Captain Fantastic!

 

GSG