Aggressive nudging to the point of being sexually explicit

[brad808]

What's the deal nudgers? The other day I was playing a game (avatar.. to set the mood) and someone pulls up beside me to play a rolling stones machine. Within a matter of seconds this guy is smashing his pelvis into the front of the machine and aggressively shaking it from side to side, nudging? I'll admit that I'm fairly new to pinball and don't do much nudging aside from a slight jolt to grasp at straws trying to save my ball from draining or the obviously stuck ball scenario, but there is no way this could be considered "normal". He reminded me of the guys at the gym that moan and groan way too loud and often.

On my home machine I have the tilt bob set basically to the lowest point it can go without the bob physically falling off the rod. I understand the whole idea of some games incorporating nudging into gameplay and that slight nudges should be aloud although I'm yet to see the point in having my tilt higher and setting off every time I get a stuck ball. I know anyone that plays the machine including myself won't be picking it up "cheating" trying to save the ball or rack up some points.   

So how about you guys? What are your thoughts on tilt and where do you set yours? Do you finesse your machine like a gentleman or rape it like a hillbilly?

[drventure]

Do you finesse your machine like a gentleman or rape it like a hillbilly?

 

I've never really got the hang of nudging, but I've seen guys in the tournament at the tx pinball fest really bashing the machines

[ChadTower]

I'd still like to see a real death save.  Not that blurry video of the Twilight Zone on the wobbly legs.  I've gotten close before on a couple of location games, but it's usually sliding back a good 6 inches after I attempt it.

Some games do it fairly well.  I have even seen a ball death save itself.  Came back down the middle at warp speed perpendicular to where it hit the apron.  Hit the apron so hard it came right back up and landed on the opposite flipper.  Games with some flex in the apron metal at that spot are easier to deathsave than others.  Still, it takes a shot that would tilt any game with a reasonable bob setting.

Whenever I go to some collector's house that's got way too much time and money invested, I'll always hunker down and grunt a few times just to watch them have a heart attack.   

Heh.  I learned to play for the first couple of years almost exclusively at the houses of local collectors.  Restored stuff, private collections, etc.  I was so paranoid about nudging their babies preventing further invitations that I didn't learn to nudge for years and am still not that good at it.


My son and I played in 125 person pinball tournament this past weekend.  Some of those guys were nudging the games around to the absolute max a bob would allow.  It's worth noting that in a deep field of top players none of the top finishers were big showy nudge guys.

[TopJimmyCooks]

You're never going to be the best player you can be if you don't move it around.  I slap and nudge a decent amount but nothing I wouldn't want somebody else doing to my own game.  The only death saves I've seen happened without me trying to do them, balls just bounced back in at exactly the right angle off the apron.  I have liberal tilt settings and i still sometimes tilt if its going out the side anyway.  I don't attempt to slide or bang back.  or rage tilt. 

To get started try some slap saves- just moving the flipper over a 1/4" to get a ball in the middle but near the flipper.  Another easy technique is to push forward to get the ball away the side drains.  That may have been why the guy you saw was humping the machine, using pelvic thrusts rather than his hands.   On Mystic, where the side lane openings are huge, I nudge almost every time I hit a sling so the ball will sling with more power, higher, away from the side lanes towards the drop targets.  If you use this technique it doubles your ball times.  If you watch Papa videos and stuff you see all these techniques.  Those guys often tap the sides as the balls come around the orbits to make sure they miss the slings and get to the flippers.  I guess the tournament games are set to a steep pitch and the balls curl down towards the tops of the slings.

A while back X2 posted a video of a guy working the ball over from one lane divider to the next to get the ball down the lit lane - that was inspiring - would love to see it again. 

[capsule]

I'd still like to see a real death save.  Not that blurry video of the Twilight Zone on the wobbly legs.  I've gotten close before on a couple of location games, but it's usually sliding back a good 6 inches after I attempt it.

This video shows a nice one (2 in fact!)

[tony.silveira]

you gotta thrust!

[ChadTower]

Ah, yeah, that save in the ID4 video is not the same as what I was talking about.

[TopJimmyCooks]

Lazarus ball - good term for it. 

[ChadTower]

What killed me most in that tournament was not knowing how to deal with games that have a post between the flippers.  I would forget it's there 75% of the time and then 24% of the time actually help the ball drain faster instead of saving the ball.   

[brad808]

I just watched the two videos and the Independence Day one is pretty sweet. That's the type of stuff I'd like to learn how to pull off. The billy bob one is more like what the guy beside me was doing... except by himself... and a lot of groaning (I'm sure he's just one of those "look at me" kind of guys). If he had the hot 18 year old in front of him I would have given him the  for sure!

I think for the time being I'm going to leave tilt bob down low and try some basic stuff. I'm thinking it'll come in handy in this spot,


Basically left side of that rail will drain the ball 95% of the time and the right side will save so it'll be a good spot to try something

[ChadTower]

Yep, the idea in that spot is to nudge it before it gets into that area.  Keep it away entirely.

[amendonz]

that id4 vid was sweet

[brad808]

Do any of you guys adjust the ring portion or the tilt Bob mechanism? The reason i ask is because mine appears to be fixed and non adjustable. The manual recommends a playfield slope between 5 and 7 degrees. I have mine at 6.5 degrees and when i was looking at it last night my Bob is bias to the front of the ring. It seems as though the manufacturer set the ring at one specific angle and anything slightly off of that will make the machine tilt easier in one direction. Seems like bad design, unless I'm missing something?

Sent from my Desire HD

[TopJimmyCooks]

I agree, unless there's evidence that it's way off due to someone bending it or relocating it, I can't see any benefit of moving it forward.  having the center of the rod a little forward of the center of the ring makes sense.  6.5 is well within the pitch range the manufacturer anticipated. 

[MaineEvent]

We call the ID4 video move a bang back up here in Canadia
It is a very tough and impressive move to pull off consistently and on various machines. Obviously the exact same games can be set up differently and the aprons can "tight" or "loose" so even if you can bang back on your home TAF, you may not be able to at the pub.
Some people are highly against the bang back, obviously in a tournament its a no-no. But then also if you put up a GC score, it is expected that you didn't scam the ball back 6 times.
I have had many bruises on the meaty part of my palm trying to perfect the skill, still no good at it. I think the pinball 101 video sums it up best "pinball should be fun, not painfull".......but it is fun to pull off!

[TOK]

Do any of you guys adjust the ring portion or the tilt Bob mechanism? The reason i ask is because mine appears to be fixed and non adjustable. The manual recommends a playfield slope between 5 and 7 degrees. I have mine at 6.5 degrees and when i was looking at it last night my Bob is bias to the front of the ring. It seems as though the manufacturer set the ring at one specific angle and anything slightly off of that will make the machine tilt easier in one direction. Seems like bad design, unless I'm missing something?

Sent from my Desire HD

You should be able to move the bob up and down. If there is not enough range of adjustment, you can sometimes flip the ring to give you more clearance.