Best TPA Tables in Regards to Tuning

[Jeff Strong]

In your estimation, what are the best TPA tables when it comes to tuning, physics, etc. ? I'm not asking which tables are your favorite in general, but which are the most faithful to their real life coutnerparts, even if you don't personally care for the actual pin. Feel free to rank them if you'd like.

 

[Carl Spiby]

Wh20 is pretty darn close.

 

[fenderbendr]

Funhouse seems pretty good to me.

 

[Biff]

Prolly TOM & RBION. I think they spent a lot of time tuning these two tables.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

Nahh, TOM & RBION are too floaty.

 

[Kolchak357]

I'd say Taxi and Big Shot.

 

[TomL]

STTNG feels pretty accurate. They've captured the outlane and SDTM drainy-ness of the table exactly.

 

[Sumez]

I only have the X360 versions to go by, but both Funhouse and Taxi are way too lenient compared to the real deal. Especially Taxi can be really fast and evil IRL, while a real Funhouse will some times send your ball really nasty ways if you aren't very familiar with the table in question. TOM is WAY different, almost impossible to drain on TPA, but very difficult to control on a real table, especially once the ball goes out of control.
Ironically I like the TPA version of TOM _more_ - I'm having a real hard time enjoying the real one.

What I've played of the WH2O demo on Android however, feels really incredibly much like the real table (which I own, so I've played it tons), I was extremely impressed by that! First TPA table that really made me feel convinced that I was playing a true reproduction. I take that as a clue that they have gotten a lot better - I guess they upped their game since around STTNG?

 

[Pinballfan69]

I'd disagree with whitewater. The kickout is not random enough. You can hold the right flipper and it will go up the right inlane and back with no fear of losing the ball to the right oulane. Other than that it's pretty close.

I like what they did with Taxi, funhouse, BOP it's close to the real thing aside from the kickouts. I just wish tables that have dangerous kickouts on real tables should play the same in TPA. examples Whitewater, No Good Golfers, Funhouse, AFM

 

[Sumez]

The kickout on any table is ALWAYS gonna be different. I like that it's more predictable on TPA, and I know that it does indeed behave like that on some WH2O's, even if it doesn't on mine either. You shouldn't judge the tuning on the kickout, but the speed and flow of the ball, how it acts to the obstacles, falls to the flippers, and the timing and difficulty of the shots. On those aspects, it's my impression that their WH2O is really good. Never played it past the demo score though, I'm so bad at playing on a phone, and am waiting until it comes out for X360 or WiiU

While I can see more random and dangerous kickouts making a game more fun, some of them have a tendency to simply spit the ball directly into a STDM drain without much you can do about it (I remember this happening on RL versions of at least TOTAN, TZ and FH) - I DON'T want FS to replicate that EVER. It's not like it was an intentional fault from the game designer's side.

 

[pezpunk]

well, it depends on whether you mean level of difficulty or accuracy of physics. i think they're two very different things.

STTNG is very similar in DIFFICULTY to the real machine, but the physics are a little weird. i mean, it's pretty good, but the ball is a bit floaty and does near-impossible things -- the immediate left lane drain from the upper right pop bumpers never happens in real life, but happens all the time in TPA, for example, necessitating a nudge to save. also, the delta quadrant ramp shot is wayyyyyyyyyyyy too easy in TPA.

Black Hole is a VERY accurate recreation (except for the backbox, which looks like crap compared to the real thing*). the ball acts pretty much the same as the one in my basement. the one physics error is that in real life, the re-entry gate is actually soft -- if a ball in the main playfield goes up the flipper lane and hits it with any velocity, it WILL push that gate open and drain. it seems locked closed in TPA. that's a pretty minor thing, though.

Taxi is probably the most like its real life counterpart overall.

Funhouse is too easy. the kickout and dead passes are both WAY too predictable. same thing with BOP.

* Black Hole's backbox is gorgeous in real life. it's got a motor that spins the vortex and astronauts in the middle, there are chaser lights that go around the frame, and the inside is double-mirrored to create an infinity effect -- it gives the backglass an illusion of infinite depth, and the chaser lights form a sort of endless light tunnel. unfortunately, in TPA, the whole backbox is just a single static image sloppily pasted on to a flat surface.

 

[pezpunk]

While I can see more random and dangerous kickouts making a game more fun, some of them have a tendency to simply spit the ball directly into a STDM drain without much you can do about it (I remember this happening on RL versions of at least TOTAN, TZ and FH) - I DON'T want FS to replicate that EVER. It's not like it was an intentional fault from the game designer's side.

haha at the Fairfax Pinball Open, I played a Monster Bash where its kickout sent the ball directly STDM almost every time! i was very thankful that TPA did not reproduce THAT detail!

 

[clembo2021]

Surprised people are saying Taxi. The ramps are notoriously easy in Taxi compared to the real table. It makes the million shot wayyyy too easy to get.

 

[Mark W**a]

Nahh, TOM & RBION are too floaty.

Exactly. Throw in Monster Bash as well.

It's clear they haven't touched these tables in ages on iOS.

 

[Biff]

When you say "floaty", you mean that the ball moves slowly, doesn't bounce enough and the table is too easy?

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I'd vote for Star Trek: TNG, though, as stated above, not every detail is perfect.

They got Firepower a lot closer compared to the PHOF:TWC version, but it's still easier than the real thing.

I think Genie is not too far off, actually.

I don't have real-life experience with Black Hole. They've done a lot of work on the physics since the original release, though; it had better be in good shape by now. Some of the other early tables haven't been revisited as extensively.

 

[Mark W**a]

When you say "floaty", you mean that the ball moves slowly, doesn't bounce enough and the table is too easy?

Slow ball movement coupled with overly bouncy rubbers.

Ripley's, Cirqus Voltaire, Monster Bash, and Theatre all need updated in this dept. I'm not talking about anything radical, I'm just saying get the latest ball physics engine in there, and tune the machine a bit here and there. That's all that's needed to get them to the quality of all the other tables.

(oh and of course bug and collision problems on Cirqus Voiltare need addressed).

BTW I consider these 4 to be among the best Pinball Arcade machines in the game to this day.

Last I checked Funhouse and Bride of Pinbot still had some minor Alpha Numeric Display errors that still haven't been addressed. I'd also like to see the right ramp behave like it's supposed to: on a real Bride, the ball actually 'swirls' before it falls into that hole... exactly like what happens in Elvira and the Party Monsters. It's minor but it's the little details that really make the game special.

 

[brakel]

I would say that Taxi is the closest. I think Bride is a close second and Theater third.

I really like the look and feel of Taxi except for the plunger spin out. They didn't quite nail that but its close. I used to play Taxi all the time when it came out. One of the few machines that I could almost play as well in real life as on TPA.

 

[FurVid]

STTNG in TPA is nothing like the real machine. Well, I guess it would be if when playing the real machine I decided to lean over and stick my face a few inches above the plunger EVERY TIME I got TFF.

 

[Tabe]

Funhouse is easier than in real life but that's all because randomness is eliminated. The shots themselves and the overall behavior of the table are spot-on. The tricks for the real table all work in the digital version.

My experience with most of the TPA tables is pretty limited IRL but not when it comes to Funhouse. I'd say that one is the most accurate, at least as far as I can tell.