Question for Pinball Wizards, aka people really good at pinball; is Star Trek TNG considered one of the hardest tables?

[Conan]

I'm like one rung above amatuer. I don't just smash flippers crazily like I used to, and like most people who play pinball at first do. I have learned a degree of ball control decent techniques. But I'm still bad at pinball. I like it and I'm way better than I used to be, but I doubt I'll ever be good enough to complete the wizard modes in tables, for instance.

Now I know that with Pinball, difficulty comes in two flavors. How hard the table is to play generally, and how hard it is to achieve wizard mode ie; complete everything in the table.

Now since I can never get to that part to be able to assess that, can someone who is good tell me where Star Trek TNG ranks in terms of difficulty in the pinball community?

To me it seems like it's got to be considered one of the top ten hardest tables.

I'm having a blast on it, but not only is it complicated with lots going on, it also has a huge gap between the flippers and really big sinkholes on the side.

If 5 is most difficult, and 1 is least difficult where would expert level players rank the general play of Star Trek TNG table as well as the wizard mode?

What tables are considered the most difficult and why?

[Yakass]

I guess you could call me a Pinball Wizard because I have a bunch of leaderboard poll positions on the FX Williams tables, included STNG. I use to own the actual machine back when it was released (day one purchase) and I played the hell out of it. To answer your question, yes STNG is considered to be one of the hardest pinballs ever made. Using your scale I'd give it a 5, That's kinda why I like it so much. It's brutally challenging, but because of that it's really rewarding.

I'm actually working on a guide on how to for big scores, so keep an eye out for that.

[Conan]

Originally posted by Yakass:

I guess you could call me a Pinball Wizard because I have a bunch of leaderboard poll positions on the FX Williams tables, included STNG. I use to own the actual machine back when it was released (day one purchase) and I played the hell out of it. To answer your question, yes STNG is considered to be one of the hardest pinballs ever made. Using your scale I'd give it a 5, That's kinda why I like it so much. It's brutally challenging, but because of that it's really rewarding.

I'm actually working on a guide on how to for big scores, so keep an eye out for that.

Interesting, thank you!

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

Well that explains why I'm even more atrocious at it even than usual in other tables lol. My favorite bit is when Data trolls you for it, too, by literally explaining the entire mechanical premise of pinball. "If you had propelled the ball from a proper trajectory, you would have been rewarded." 😂

[Avoulee]

Originally posted by Aikido:

Well that explains why I'm even more atrocious at it even than usual in other tables lol. My favorite bit is when Data trolls you for it, too, by literally explaining the entire mechanical premise of pinball. "If you had propelled the ball from a proper trajectory, you would have been rewarded." 😂

Hit both flippers for a "Thank you Mr. Data" to silence him and get 10mil, lol.

[Defective Dopamine Pez Dispenser]

Originally posted by Avoulee:

Originally posted by Aikido:

Well that explains why I'm even more atrocious at it even than usual in other tables lol. My favorite bit is when Data trolls you for it, too, by literally explaining the entire mechanical premise of pinball. "If you had propelled the ball from a proper trajectory, you would have been rewarded." 😂

Hit both flippers for a "Thank you Mr. Data" to silence him and get 10mil, lol.

Omg lol. 😂

Edit: I also just realized if you tilt, the Borg will say, "Pinball is irrelevant." I don't care how bad I am, this is just amazing lol.

[MrNuts70]

Have you or anyone else that reads this played A Samurais Vengeance?
That table is pretty tough and not fun at all.
Guess I gotta get over it and git gud right? hahaha

[Les daltons]

For me hardest tables are Samurai Revenge, Dr dude, Safecracker (Especialy the trophy) because of small flips...

[Jeneki]

I suspect TNG difficulty is mostly related to the outlanes. The border between outlane and inlane is a bit low, and there's no post at the top of the lane to assist with nudging the ball. The shape of the slingshot is also a bit wide, so there's more room to build up speed as the ball rolls towards the lanes.

So if the ball is heading over the slingshot it'll usually have enough velocity to pass over the inlane and drain. This also means that if the ball bounces back and forth across slingshots it'll often go to the lanes with enough speed to drain.

As far as I can tell, if you want to nudge save a ball you have to predict the speed ahead of time and nudge off a surface before it reaches the lanes; I've had a bit more luck this way at least. And of course getting more consistent at the shots so the ball isn't bouncing around as much. Let me know if this analysis is incorrect.