Portrait vs Landscape - pros and cons

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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(This topic mostly applies to the iOS and Android ports, but the concept of low vs high angles is universal, so I posted it in the general section. Move if necessary :))

I play TPA on my iPad. Up until now I´ve been playing in portrait almost exclusively - I mean, it just makes sense, right? Pinball tables are vertical, so playing them vertical is just logical.

That is, until I tried playing MM in landscape today. Usually I play top-down, no scrolling, but this time I tried the first camera setting a shot. And I almost DOUBLED my old personal best (from 51mil to 94.5mil - hey, I didn´t say I was perfect :rolleyes:). Probably just blind luck, but anyways...

Here´s what I noticed:

- I thought it would be much harder to judge my aiming, but somehow I feel I did even a bit better than usual. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the flippers are much bigger in this "crouching in front of the machine" mode than the usual "levitating over the playfield" birds-eye view. I usually try to kinda memorize where the ball is on the flipper to move where I want it to go, which obviously is easier the bigger the flippers and the balls are on the screen.

- The game felt somewhat slower. On MM the ball moves with a terrifying speed most of the time, but in this view it seemed to move in a more relaxed pace towards me.

- Since the playfield is visually "crunched" - more width, less height than in portrait - I didn´t need to move my eyes up and down as much: Something happening in the upper half didn´t distract me as much from the lower half (I tend to hold my iPad pretty close to my face to soak in all the details). It also is kinda cool to look into the pinball instead of looking at it from the birdseye view - makes it feel more alive and threedimensional, and much bigger!

I´m still experimenting and find it really nice to have both options (with all the finer steps in between due to the many camera angles).

What do you prefer? Do you like to switch, or do you have a "dedicated" camera angle? I used to think that having a "main" view would make the game much more predictable, however you move around in front of an actual pinball too, so maybe switching it up once in a while adds to the learning process. Do you think that certain angles are objectively better than others?

(And on a sidenote, using the iPad in landscape is much more comfortable - the weight distributes better between the two hands, and I have the smartcover folded in the lower end, which acts as a nice sort of soft grip.)
 
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Heretic

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Jun 4, 2012
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I tend to prefer lower angles and portrait mode....about the size i was when i last seen a real machine then. Lol

But like you i play tom in wide mode because i find it easier....the same cant be said for bop
 

Vercingetorix

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Mar 12, 2012
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I prefer portrait mode and as close to the "right" angle that a table looks like from when I stand at it. I played a lot of landscape, low-angle mode when playing Visual Pinball (because that's all you get on a lot of tables) and it just feels wrong to me.

I definitely think that perspective makes it feel like the ball is much slower though. My son, who still sees real tables from that super-low angle, hates the higher camera angles because he says it's too fast.
 

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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I definitely think that perspective makes it feel like the ball is much slower though. My son, who still sees real tables from that super-low angle, hates the higher camera angles because he says it's too fast.

That's cute :) And an interesting insight!
 

Matt McIrvin

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Jun 5, 2012
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I play the Android version on a pretty small screen, and visually I prefer portrait, but it's uncomfortable for me to hold the phone that way and flip with my thumbs for too long; sometimes I actually miss the screen entirely and drain the ball because I was trying to press the bezel. Landscape is mechanically better.
 
N

Nik Barbour

Guest
Portrait view 2 for me on Android phone.
Landscape looks awful and has no detail!

I use that same technique of ball position on flipper for a specific shot though!
 

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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Yeah, I'm 100% back on portrait again, top-down is just much more playable that way, and much easier to judge the balls trajectory. Oh, and I can actually see all the indicator lights, which is important as well ;)
 

Jeff Strong

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Staff member
Feb 19, 2012
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Landscape is easier for me to use the touchscreen nudging. I keep my thumbs just under the middle of the screen so I don't have to move them very far to nudge.

I like the lower viewing angles too because I play real pinball sitting down (I use a wheelchair because I have a spinal cord injury)....so the higher angles just do not feel right to me, even though I can see more of the table that way.
 
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Nik Barbour

Guest
Yeah, I'm 100% back on portrait again, top-down is just much more playable that way, and much easier to judge the balls trajectory. Oh, and I can actually see all the indicator lights, which is important as well ;)

Tried landscape again because of this thread post.
Android got a graphics texture upgrade last week - and I've got to say it looks detailed enough to play in landscape since the update (never tried it - went to portrait on auto pilot).
Tried a few tables out and matched my PB on Monster Bash!

I always find if i'm learning a new tables layout, I like to have a top down view, but as soon as I get comfortable with the table I crank it down to 'view 2' if I need to see the outlane lights CV & BOP, or view 4 by preference.

Might give landscape more of a go now!
 
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Freelance

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Feb 28, 2012
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Although tables are more suited to a portrait view, I always use Landscape. I am more comfortable using the trigger buttons for the flippers and I can't do that at all in Portrait view and it just feels weird. As long as you can remember the table layout, it's not that hard to aim shots.
 

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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I like the lower viewing angles too because I play real pinball sitting down (I use a wheelchair because I have a spinal cord injury)....so the higher angles just do not feel right to me, even though I can see more of the table that way.

I never thought about that! Cool to hear you're still able to play like that :)
 

Dogfaced

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Jul 19, 2012
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Landscape or portrait?

Which do you prefer? I've been playing Bride of Pinbot a lot over the last couple of days but still can't get a decent score. Are there any advantages to using one particular orientation. At present, I prefer Portrait but only because the table seems to look better.
 

mmmagnetic

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May 29, 2012
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You can check out some opinions on this topic here:

http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/946-Portrait-vs-Landscape-pros-and-cons

I'm usually playing portrait 90% of the time on my iPad nowadays, and only occasionally use landscape just as a little diversion - sometimes it's more comfortable, or more fun to have look inside the table.

On a sidenote, I wish every table in TPA had a true top-down view - especially on Funhouse the highest setting isn't high enough for me. And on some tables the view is oddly zoomed out, with a lot of wasted space to the sides...
 
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Dogfaced

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Jul 19, 2012
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You can check out some opinions on this topic here:

http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php/946-Portrait-vs-Landscape-pros-and-cons

I'm usually playing portrait 90% of the time on my iPad nowadays, and only occasionally use landscape just as a little diversion - sometimes it's more comfortable, or more fun to have look inside the table.

On a sidenote, I wish every table in TPA had a true top-down view - especially on Funhouse the highest setting isn't high enough for me. And on some tables the view is oddly zoomed out, with a lot of wasted space to the sides...

Cheers for that. I did have a quick look through older posts but must have missed this.
 

spoonman

New member
Apr 20, 2012
1,435
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I play the iOS version on landscape mainly because it's nearly impossible for me to hold the iPod Touch and use my thumbs to press the flippers.
I really don't know how anyone does this with the iPod Touch/iPhone, or any other small device.

I used to play the PSP in portrait mode, but it required me to use the wrist strap and my thumbs weren't as close together as they are on the iPod Touch.

I'm still hoping for this option on the PS3. I have a 24" LCD monitor on a stand that can rotate. I've been asking Farsight for this option for about 4 years now and they
never give me an answer so I'm not hopeful.
 

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