As a kid playing for the first time I watched a guy nudge the machine, when I played I nudged and tilted the machine. The bar owner came over and yelled at me and from there on out I thought tilting was doing damage to the machine and I never nudged again until recently learning the game properly
Me too and I tried it recently and I couldn't budge the ball ..seems tiring to keep doing it. The machine is heavy. I like a nudge button better unless I can change the sensitivity
Thank you! This was the single clearest explanation I've ever seen on when to nudge and what nudging actually does. Hopefully, I can nudge in the future and actually save the ball, unlike my past attempts to nudge where nothing changes.
I would love to see a new version of this with your camera on a tripod so that we can see the effects of the nudge and the movement of the machine. Handheld, this is very difficult to see. Well done video series, thanks a lot. You have helped me learn to love pinball.
The thing comes up. This is called the tilt sensor. When you move the machine, the tilt bob swings around, and if it strikes the ring, it triggers the tilt warning. After a certain number of times, the tilt switch closes, putting the machine into tilt mode.
Question: are Dangers cumulative? Do multiple Dangers of the same force result in a TILT? Or is there just a minimum force threshold you need to reach for a TILT?
It depends on the machine and how it is set up. Most pinballs will warn you once or twice and then Tilt. Some operators/bars will set their tilt bob as harshly as possible to preserve their machine, but it ruins playability if you naturally "move" the machine when you're playing to then find it always tilts.
i find it very difficult to nudge the table side to side (slide save). it often gives me a sore wrist and sometimes my hands even slip right off because they're covered in sweat after about 10 minutes. one time I nudged the metallica table so hard upward that I actually lifted the table an inch off the ground! still didn't tilt though, which made me happy! I think that's a pretty light table.
i find that the earlier you nudge, the less hard has to be. On one table I play it's more like I 'lean' on the table at certain times. Also, the big slide saves are only possible on slick floors.
First video I've seen from you, and what are the odds that you are using exact same machine that i have access to at my mall (the only machine in the area)? Crazy! Lol. Thanks for the tips!
I've always played virtual pinball or seen the cartoons and other media display Tilt and I never new what that meant (I assumed the machine had to get tilted or pushed and I was right). I've always came across real pinball machines as a kid back in the 90's but never got a chance to play it. I never new tilting the machine was a legitimate method.
Most top rated players consider nudging the machine to be an essential skill to master in order to maintain proper control over the game and make saves. It's a fine balance between moving the game enough to save your ball when needed and not triggering a tilt which will cost your ball.
Concerning the ball tends to go into the middle out between the flippers: With a tighter tilt you often can't slide the machine like shown but (usually only if it doesn't go exactly straight down the middle) you still can do the double bitchslap save. So when the ball tends to go near the tip of the right flipper, you bitchslap the right flipper knob with a short but powerful stroke and AFTER that you do the same with the left knob. You don't hit the knobs simultaneously because it can happen that you hit the ball with the right tip from where it bounces off straight to the left or even a bit left and down, what would mean that the ball hits the underside of the left flipper and drains. Timing of the bichslap save is everything. I'd estimate that the flippers have to hit the ball with a difference of a 20th of a second.
Do you replace the plastic/glass shield after these demonstrations? I could imagine the dust would effect some of the components and possible gameplay.
A couple of things prevent us from doing this, namely that it's the one move in pinball that's actively dangerous to both the player as well as the machine. Examples from other players can be found on RU-vid if you're curious however.
In the 1980's Embryon pinball game, I had been guilty of nudging the ball too much, and I had nudged the machine 100 times, and 15 of those times, I nudged too much and all of the display lights go off and I knew at that point that I got that dreaded "tilt penalty". For a pinball fanatic, it hurts that person - because a tilt penalty means your ball is immediately dead, and you are disqualified automatically from getting any bonuses you got in that ball in play. So if you want to nudge, I am guessing that the tilt sensor is in the bottom of most pinball machines, so the best nudging shakes should be on the top of the machine where the most energy would be delivered. Forcing the shake from the bottom upward on the machine is dangerous, in my opinion - and you will get a tilt penalty almost every time!!!!
Your hand speed is too slow. I had hand speed that could rival the late Bruce Lee himself as well as power. The machine won't tilt or slamtilt if your hand speed is fast enough.
That's why operators have control over how much the machine can be moved, with the internal tilt bob. They can make it as sensitive or unsensitive as they want to. :)
It’s not cheating, it’s a legitimate skill used in by all major pinball tournament players. Some tables are specifically designed to reward proper nudging.