Many TPA tables seem to have them, and i'm pretty sure most did NOT in real life...
a droopy flipper is one that does not have the rubber run parallel to the ball guides, and has the lowered angle set lower than them.
One that IS supposed ot have the droopier angle is theater of magic, and the setups that look "normal" are in fact incorrect.
To tell what the tables are supposed to have.
Look for the two holes drilled in the playfield near the flippers. place a wire inside it, and remove the rubber from the flippers. rest the flippers against the wire guide, and tighten it. then remove the guides and re-add the flipper rubber.
On Theater of magic, this will create the droopy angle seen in TPA. But i believe on most games this does NOT result in one.
Funhouse is correct in it's flipper angles, for example.
I do believe that many Gottlieb Premiere games are supposed to have droopy flippers, because when they don't, catches are wayyyy too easy, but i'm not familiar with the proper aligning method for those.
If TPA's table flippers start and stop in the same positions as a properly aligned table, done with the wire guides, they are correct. If not, they aren't.
Tables that i believe suffer from having droopy flippers.
1) Twilight Zone. the slot machine is supposed to be nearly impossible from a trap on the lower left flipper, and the right orbit ti supposed to be almost as difficult from the same situation. the droopy setup makes both shots easier. Both ramps are supposed to be backhandable on the fly! but it is supposed to be a HARD shot, especially the left ramp backhand.
2) elvira. they make the lock shot too easy, and the up the middle bbq shot too hard.
3) scared stiff. crate too hard, ramps and orbits too easy.
If i'm wrong and all these flipper angles were in fact verified against a real table with properly aligned flippers using wire guides, feel free tell me to shut up.
But i'm going by experience.
PS: for when you do finally get around to doing TAF...
The vault shot is insanely difficult from a trap on the left flipper. it's easier to flail it in off the electric chair kickout. It is backhandable, with pretty much the same difficulty level from a trap on the RIGHT! A shot on the run from an inlane feed has a much better chance of going into the vault from the lower left flipper. There is also a trick shot bounce off of the it standup area into the vault.
Other common trick shots.
ball hits left edge of "A" target from lower right flipper, and deflects into train wreck.
upper right flipper to closed vault optos is possible, but a serious drain hazard. There are really only two shots you should ever take from upper right flipper. the side ramp, and the trick shot into the vault.
mini flipper, bank off GR standups into swamp. On some tables THING flips actually learns this shot! When thing flips has learned to make it this way, it's success rate is damn near 100%!
The bear kick ramp is an EASY SHOT from lower left flipper. (sweet spot is center of flipper). it's supposed to be very HARD to backhand from the right flipper unless you have it trapped, with the ball barely making it around on a clean shot on the fly. failed backhand attempts are often hazardous to your health, and should drain at least 33% of the time down the center.
A shot at the thing ramp is supposed to be very easy after shooting the bear kick ramp. it should always be possible from the lower right flipper, but after a bear kick is easiest. from a trap the proper thing to do is shoot bear kick, THEN shoot the thing ramp.
The train wreck is a drain shot. it tends to drain on the left outlane. If your table does this, it's not a flaw. That's why it's called the train wreck.
If you plated a TAF where the open vault was an easy shot, it was set up WRONG. people just don't know how to dial in the older pins properly nowadays. back when the game was sorta new, more TAFs were properly dialed in this way than now. now it's nearly impossible to find one on location that plays right. Oh and i've played real machines where thing almost never missed.
The vault shot is supposed to be hard, to make it hard to get the second multiball.
The chair is of course a very dangerous shot from the lower right flipper. the swamp kickout is a very hard shot from the lower left one, and impossible from lower right. Smart money is on chair from lower right trap.
a droopy flipper is one that does not have the rubber run parallel to the ball guides, and has the lowered angle set lower than them.
One that IS supposed ot have the droopier angle is theater of magic, and the setups that look "normal" are in fact incorrect.
To tell what the tables are supposed to have.
Look for the two holes drilled in the playfield near the flippers. place a wire inside it, and remove the rubber from the flippers. rest the flippers against the wire guide, and tighten it. then remove the guides and re-add the flipper rubber.
On Theater of magic, this will create the droopy angle seen in TPA. But i believe on most games this does NOT result in one.
Funhouse is correct in it's flipper angles, for example.
I do believe that many Gottlieb Premiere games are supposed to have droopy flippers, because when they don't, catches are wayyyy too easy, but i'm not familiar with the proper aligning method for those.
If TPA's table flippers start and stop in the same positions as a properly aligned table, done with the wire guides, they are correct. If not, they aren't.
Tables that i believe suffer from having droopy flippers.
1) Twilight Zone. the slot machine is supposed to be nearly impossible from a trap on the lower left flipper, and the right orbit ti supposed to be almost as difficult from the same situation. the droopy setup makes both shots easier. Both ramps are supposed to be backhandable on the fly! but it is supposed to be a HARD shot, especially the left ramp backhand.
2) elvira. they make the lock shot too easy, and the up the middle bbq shot too hard.
3) scared stiff. crate too hard, ramps and orbits too easy.
If i'm wrong and all these flipper angles were in fact verified against a real table with properly aligned flippers using wire guides, feel free tell me to shut up.
But i'm going by experience.PS: for when you do finally get around to doing TAF...
The vault shot is insanely difficult from a trap on the left flipper. it's easier to flail it in off the electric chair kickout. It is backhandable, with pretty much the same difficulty level from a trap on the RIGHT! A shot on the run from an inlane feed has a much better chance of going into the vault from the lower left flipper. There is also a trick shot bounce off of the it standup area into the vault.
Other common trick shots.
ball hits left edge of "A" target from lower right flipper, and deflects into train wreck.
upper right flipper to closed vault optos is possible, but a serious drain hazard. There are really only two shots you should ever take from upper right flipper. the side ramp, and the trick shot into the vault.
mini flipper, bank off GR standups into swamp. On some tables THING flips actually learns this shot! When thing flips has learned to make it this way, it's success rate is damn near 100%!
The bear kick ramp is an EASY SHOT from lower left flipper. (sweet spot is center of flipper). it's supposed to be very HARD to backhand from the right flipper unless you have it trapped, with the ball barely making it around on a clean shot on the fly. failed backhand attempts are often hazardous to your health, and should drain at least 33% of the time down the center.
A shot at the thing ramp is supposed to be very easy after shooting the bear kick ramp. it should always be possible from the lower right flipper, but after a bear kick is easiest. from a trap the proper thing to do is shoot bear kick, THEN shoot the thing ramp.
The train wreck is a drain shot. it tends to drain on the left outlane. If your table does this, it's not a flaw. That's why it's called the train wreck.
If you plated a TAF where the open vault was an easy shot, it was set up WRONG. people just don't know how to dial in the older pins properly nowadays. back when the game was sorta new, more TAFs were properly dialed in this way than now. now it's nearly impossible to find one on location that plays right. Oh and i've played real machines where thing almost never missed.
The vault shot is supposed to be hard, to make it hard to get the second multiball.
The chair is of course a very dangerous shot from the lower right flipper. the swamp kickout is a very hard shot from the lower left one, and impossible from lower right. Smart money is on chair from lower right trap.
