TSPP drains too much! - where do you set your posts for the outlanes?

blkdog7

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TSPP drains too much! - where do you set your posts for the outlanes?

I really like my TSPP but the game is incredibly hard. Sometimes I have a great game but a lot of games end quickly with balls down the middle or balls going down those damn outlanes! I noticed that you can adjust the posts but I am not sure what the recommended setting is. I don't want to make it too easy. I see nothing in the manual about this and am wondering what the factory post setting is and what most of owners are using. TSPP owners, speak up!
 
That's odd because I thought TSPP was known as having long ball times. Not sure about the outlane post adjustment, maybe you just need more time on the game? Practice Practice Practice!! Maybe adjust the ball saver settings if it's giving you a hard time? I prefer my games on the harder side, makes it more enjoyable when you put up a good score :)
 
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That's odd because I thought TSPP was known as having long ball times. Not sure about the outlane post adjustment, maybe you just need more time on the game? Practice Practice Practice!! Maybe adjust the ball saver settings if it's giving you a hard time? I prefer my games on the harder side, makes it more enjoyable when you put up a good score :)

I have had the game for a few months now and I don't seem to be getting better! :) I lose the ball a lot because of bad luck and the ball just going right down the middle or going right for the outlanes. I have properly leveled my pin in all directions using an inclinometer too!
 
Post some average scores of yours maybe? That way others can compare scores to yours and you can judge how your machine compares.

Some machines can play ALOT differently than others even if they are the exact same game. I have a Bram Stoker's Dracula for example that is a notoriously hard game that drains alot, and they have one at PAPA13 right now and some of the guys I know said it plays like a dream compared to any other BSD they've played before.

I think adjusting your ball saver time could help you alot? Put the outlanes all the way up, put it on 5 ball? ( blasphemy :p )

Do you consider yourself an average or above average pin player? Have any above average players tried it and confirmed that it is a drain monster?

Most people that play my Fish Tales or Dracula get their asses handed to them, while I can play on both of them for quite awhile, especially Fish Tales. Mine are set steep, one has lightning flippers, and they are clean and fast. Once you get enough time on them you learn alot of the little nuances, when to nudge, what shots NOT to go for that cause instant death, etcetc. You also need to develop your flipper skills, like drop catching, flipper passing, dead/live catch, bounce pass (most important skill in pinball IMO), learning the angles and ruleset.

Bounce Pass - letting a ball hit the flipper and bounce over to the other one
(don't flip the flipper the ball is bouncing off of)
 
A good game for me is 30 million points. That's not my average, though. I think most games are less than 10 million.

I just seem to have better luck playing my Whirlwind and RFM, my TSPP games are mostly short or frustrating. :)

I am not sure what you mean by ball saver, do you mean if you drain with less than so many points than it recovers the ball?
 
Taken from RGP

"There is a ball saver when you drain. If you have factory settings installed, your ball
will be saved if you score 0. You can also adjust an auto ball save or a
timed one."

"There's only the one adjustable ball saver. The maximum time is 15 seconds,
and the machine will save the ball only once per round. There's also an
"auto" setting, which the manual says is default, but I'm not sure that's
actually the case. Multiball saves are hard coded and can't be adjusted (but
are pretty generous).

I believe the machine will *always* give you another chance as long as no
switch was tripped - and bumpers don't count as a switch."

The default ball saver or "FREEZE TIME" as our friends from Stern like to
call it is OFF. It only goes once per round, I sel all of the Stern't that
I operate at 9 seconds ball saver. That's 9 seconds from the time the ball
leaves the shooter lane switch. Not 10% sure if it re-sets in the event of
a "wimpy" (for lack of a better word) shooter shot...... It works well, I
just wish the default was ON and like 5 seconds.
 
I changed it to :09 and I think I like it more already. I do feel like I am cheating though! :)
 
If it gets too easy, just adjust it down a bit, most games have a timed ball save. I wish my old Addam's Family had one. The only ball saver it had was if you scored 0. Having a timed ball save also helps for kids and newer players, it sucks if you die and you didn't even get to push the flipper buttons!
 
Learn to nudge better, John. My TSPP kicked my ass the first few months. You just gotta know that when you see the ball heading to the left outlane, you need to nudge to keep it away. Sometimes, the right slingshot will slam dunk the ball right to the left outlane before you can blink and there's just no getting around that. BTW, my outlanes are on the factory position. I think that is the middle hole. I generally don't have issues with the right outlane. The left is a whore, though.
 
Learn to nudge better, John. My TSPP kicked my ass the first few months. You just gotta know that when you see the ball heading to the left outlane, you need to nudge to keep it away. Sometimes, the right slingshot will slam dunk the ball right to the left outlane before you can blink and there's just no getting around that. BTW, my outlanes are on the factory position. I think that is the middle hole. I generally don't have issues with the right outlane. The left is a whore, though.

Ok, tonight I played with authority and am having much better games. Not super amazing games but I am getting better average scores since I am nudging and moving that machine more! Maybe I just suck. :)

That 9 second rule really helps too! I LOVE THIS GAME!
 
Learn to nudge better, John. My TSPP kicked my ass the first few months. You just gotta know that when you see the ball heading to the left outlane, you need to nudge to keep it away. Sometimes, the right slingshot will slam dunk the ball right to the left outlane before you can blink and there's just no getting around that. BTW, my outlanes are on the factory position. I think that is the middle hole. I generally don't have issues with the right outlane. The left is a whore, though.

Exactly... that left lane is brutal.... Especially if you ball trap a lot. I ball trap often, and I can't count the number of times that bastard has gone from the left flipper backwards up the left lane and out the left outlane..... I have all settings factory, but did add a 3 sec ball save, makes a difference. My average game is around 40 million, plenty of shitty 10 million games in there, and then every once in awhile I will clip 100 million (haven't clipped 200 million yet)...... Stack, stack, stack.... Keep the clock running....Good luck, this will be the last game that will leave my collection.
 
Those outlanes have a fricken vaccum behind them, the suck everything down! I really hate trapping to the left and having it roll up and out. I tightened my left one up and opened the right so it's easier to nudge to the shooter lane. It is weird that even with the open lanes the ball times can be long. Overall a tough game, I found I got much better on all my games after getting better at tspp.

Jerry
 
Exactly... that left lane is brutal.... Especially if you ball trap a lot. I ball trap often, and I can't count the number of times that bastard has gone from the left flipper backwards up the left lane and out the left outlane..... I have all settings factory, but did add a 3 sec ball save, makes a difference. My average game is around 40 million, plenty of shitty 10 million games in there, and then every once in awhile I will clip 100 million (haven't clipped 200 million yet)...... Stack, stack, stack.... Keep the clock running....Good luck, this will be the last game that will leave my collection.

My high score is 34 million right now. I am assuming I suck at pinball compared to you so your scores make me feel better - I can live with being bad, just not TOO BAD! :)
 
My high score is 34 million right now. I am assuming I suck at pinball compared to you so your scores make me feel better - I can live with being bad, just not TOO BAD! :)

Stack a couch multiball with an Itchy & Scratchy multiball with a Homer D'Oh frenzy and you will be at 20 million on one decent ball. This is a tough game to get good scores on, but once you learn the modes and how they score, the stacking in this game is silly awesome.....

My TSPP made me better on other pins, but my WoF made me even better than TSPP.... talk about learning the art of nudge,.... WoF is freaking awesome and so different than most modern era DMDs...
 
Since I started this thread, and since I have heard you guys talking about this game, I have been playing this game like a very motivated mad man. Thank you!!! I had a couple of 20+ million games tonight which is better than usual. I am really starting to get the hang of stacking the modes, etc.

BTW - that left loop shot is IMPOSSIBLE!!

Any more tips?!?
 
My best so far...

4903289060_6171ff0de4_z.jpg
 
Left loop kills me still. I have reached Pretzel multiball ONCE in almost 6 years of owning this game.

Since I started this thread, and since I have heard you guys talking about this game, I have been playing this game like a very motivated mad man. Thank you!!! I had a couple of 20+ million games tonight which is better than usual. I am really starting to get the hang of stacking the modes, etc.

BTW - that left loop shot is IMPOSSIBLE!!

Any more tips?!?
 
I think pretzel is very very tough. However, it's easier on machines that reject a lot of garage shots. If you make it into the garage far enough, but are rejected by the ramp that takes the ball to the vuk you are awarded a pretzel shot. Getting 5 or 6 of those can certainly help the pretzel changes.

I just shopped my machine, and when I took the mini off the ramp that carries the balls to the vuk was very cracked. It was about 1/8" shorter than it should have been because the end was broken off. I'm not sure if there are lots of TSPP's out there with the issue, but mine had it. Luckily, that was the cheapest ramp in the game to buy. Honestly though, most of my garage shots made it to the VUK.
 
PRETZEL MULTIBALL!?!??! What is that?!?

Pretzel MB is obtained after making 26 Left Orbit shots. Really tough, for me anyway. I started it while in the middle of Springfield Mystery Spot (which I've only completed once. Been there many times)

I've actually had to replace the ramp that goes from the garage to the VUK. I was playing a game once and mad a really fast and hard garage shot. The ball went into the garage, the door shut, then a piece of translucent orange plastic came shooting back out the door. Freaked me out. Got a new ramp from pinball life and all was good.

Robert
 
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