What are your preferred physics settings?

[VALIS]

I do not like the way the ball spins in this game, a pinball rarely spins on its axis, like 99% of the time in real pinball the ball just rolls, it does not spin, especially if there's no playfield item making it spin (like the discs in Whirlwind). So to stop the ball from spinning I started playing with the physics in this game, which led me down a rabbit hole and I'm wondering what physics options you prefer and how that makes the game play.

To lessen the ball spinning, I had the most success with putting the ball friction down to 0%. However, obviously this makes the ball too fast, so I had to compensate by lowering most of the other settings as well (but upping the plunger strength to 100%). These are also older EM tables, in real life they don't play nearly as fast as they do in this game, so lessening the speed and elasticity of the ball is a good idea anyway.

Here's someone playing a Zaccaria Time Machine. See how much slower it plays than on here? Also notice the pinball almost never spins, it just rolls.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8kFrZs9dq8

Despite the spinning ball I'm really enjoying the game, and I love that you can tweak so much under the hood. Share your physics settings!

[Brock]

Also the video shows slingshots allow gentle contact without triggering. The sensitivity of these in ZP is a minor gripe of mine. Don't think that can be altered in user settings.

[Ecktown]

Yes, the spin is too much but I still enjoy playing very much. The one thing that I find annoying and not very realistic are those slingshots that love to play tennis. You just sit there and watch them play the ball to the outlanes. Nudging is critical here but the slingshots seem to be too sensitive.
(By the way, can you tilt? I have to nudge like crazy sometimes to keep the balls away from the outlanes and the tables seem to let me shake them however I want...)

[Chewable C++]

No, you can't tilt.

[Common Sense]

I haven't played around with them yet, i do agree that as cool as ball spin is, the implementation here is a bit over the top.

Main thing physicswise that irks me here and there is some unusual ball behaviour that seems to deprive it of it's weight and act like it's a bit rubbery itself, along with some really bizarre fully horizontal bounces from rather improbable surfaces and odd vertical acceleration.

On the whole though it's quite a good effort, i've seen some quirks that prior i've only known propinball to depict convincingly and some of it even better here where the ball slows down mid traction and i don't mind the slingshot sensitivity.

If you go look at some footage of a say a well maintained pinball champ or a farfalla you'll note that they are in fact rather sensitive and prone to both pingponging and tossing the ball in the outlane despite not having particularly strong coils.

[Brock]

Originally posted by Common Sense:

If you go look at some footage of a say a well maintained pinball champ or a farfalla you'll note that they are in fact rather sensitive and prone to both pingponging and tossing the ball in the outlane despite not having particularly strong coils.

Agreed the pingpong up and to the outlane seems true to form, and part of the brutality which I'm all for, however I still reckon even a well maintained machine would let a dead ball roll down the rubber without triggering.
Slightly tighter(?) rubbers on the slings would increase the possible feeds to flipper, and improve the overall feel I reckon.

As for preferred physics.. I'm sticking with 'arcade' for now. Partly because it seems the default style with most populated boards and mostly because the smaller flippers of 'simulation' are feckin tricky to aim with.

[Common Sense]

Originally posted by Brock:

Originally posted by Common Sense:

If you go look at some footage of a say a well maintained pinball champ or a farfalla you'll note that they are in fact rather sensitive and prone to both pingponging and tossing the ball in the outlane despite not having particularly strong coils.

Agreed the pingpong up and to the outlane seems true to form, and part of the brutality which I'm all for, however I still reckon even a well maintained machine would let a dead ball roll down the rubber without triggering.
Slightly tighter(?) rubbers on the slings would increase the possible feeds to flipper, and improve the overall feel I reckon.

As for preferred physics.. I'm sticking with 'arcade' for now. Partly because it seems the default style with most populated boards and mostly because the smaller flippers of 'simulation' are feckin tricky to aim with.

Same here, i'm sure it sounds crazy to a lot of folks but short ball times = fun to me :3

I actually only read the op when i posted but i agree, i've only seen a couple of dead balls slide and far more frequently the slings get triggered as if hit with force which kind of like the ball spin is a bit over the top i consider unusual behaviour. It's not like it couldn't do with a tweak here and there, i'll put it that way.

As for the standard settings, i prefer simulation. Not sure what else it does but the centre drain at least seems as wide as the actual machines and the closer to that the better i feel.

[Common Sense]

I just realised how contradictory that must sound ; i'm cool with the sling sensitivity yet not where it comes to slow/dead balls xD

Ah well you probably get what i'm saying.

[Brock]

yep.. basically we don't have much to moan about. Happy days!

[Ecktown]

I started to fiddle with the physics and I think this really improves the game even if the normal leaderboards no longer apply. But it is more fun that way.
I have a simulation gap and everything at 100% except for Flipper Force at 80%, Slingshot Force at 50%, Plunger Force at 50%, Ball Velocity at 50% and Ball Friction at 0% and Ball Elasticity at 0%.
I am not sure what the Elasticity does but at the moment I have the impression that the ball movement and general velocity feel more realistic. But I am still experimenting...
It would be interesting to know how the tap pass setting changes things. I am not sure about that one. I have at 100% now.
Does anyone know what the default settings are for Acarde and Simulation? It would be interesting to take this as a starting point.

Edit: Lower Elasticity makes the ball less bouncy and makes it feel heavier. If you go to 100% the ball goes crazy and bounces almost like a rubber ball at times. That can be fun, too. But I am sticking to 0% at the moment

[Drybonz]

Elasticity should effect how hard the rubber pieces are... like the posts on the slingshots, rubbers, flippers, etc... if they are low elasticity the ball will come off them harder.

[Ecktown]

That sounds logical but it is called "Ball Elasticity" and I had the impression that it is the other way around. High elasticity seemed to lead to more bouncy movements. But I could be wrong...

[Drybonz]

You may be right... I'm actually going by the term as it is used in some other programs. I apologize for the confusion.

So, I'm assuming, then, that you would want zero ball elasticity for the best realism?

[Drybonz]

Also... for others that are annoyed by the spinning ball effect. Try turning off the "light for dynamic object" option and turn on the "metal" ball skin. Those two things will reduce the spinning light on the ball, so that, while it is still spinning, it will be less noticeable. Hope this helps.

I'm hoping they will address that spinning ball effect... I think that they will as they have already been extremely responsive and interactive on the forums and with the updates.

[Zombie Tsunami]

Originally posted by Chewable C++:

No, you can't tilt.

did they tilt in real life?