Uk Pinball Party - UKVAC has a TEAM!!!

[d-type]

Hmm, that's interesting.

The tournament sign-up allows you to sign up for one tournament and then "view your cart" and then go back and sign up for another tournament and again "view your cart, which then has two things in it, which you pay for in one go.

The venue ticket/accommodation/dinner site I think was put together my Andy's web man, who didn't do the tournaments, so it might not be quite the same.

I'll forward your comments on, which'll hopefully get it improved!

Thanks for the feedback.

D-T

 

[guddler]

Hopefully I wasn't just being blonde

I was admittedly in a bit of a rush but as soon as I clicked 'Buy' it took me to PayPal login so I did that three times. Like I say, had there been an option for the whole package but minus the meal I'd have done that...

 

[Macro]

I found the same thing, so I just emailed Andrew, told him what I wanted and asked him to send me a paypal request for the lot in one go. (which he did)

 

[d-type]

OK, I did some tests with Andy and we confirmed what Guddler reported. It should allow you to use a cart, but it doesn't. Ah well, if your exact combo isn't there, I guess you're going to have to make more than one individual purchases.

I'm not sure anyone would ever accuse Guddler of being blonde!

 

[guddler]

I'm not sure anyone would ever accuse Guddler of being blonde!

One final point. I hit Paypal three times in quick succession. Once for the weekend hotel deal and then once for a weekend ticket for me, a final time for the weekend ticket for the Mrs. By the time I got to the third time PayPal was giving me weird errors telling me that they couldn't process my request at that time. I don't know if this was random or some kind of protection scheme?

Just thought I'd mention that. Not a big deal at this stage but if the event ever gets to the point of only having a few tickets left and that happened, that could be a problem.

Oh, and yeah, saw the "mail Andy with requirements thing" but Rav was hurriedly trying to put a team together. I had no idea of the status of the ticket sales or availability of the hotel rooms (having only heard of the event about 10 minutes prior) so as far as I was concerned, in this instance, time was of the essence as I didn't want to say yes to Rav and then find I couldn't get in. I had no idea how long it might take for a response.

As it turns out, looks like we could fill the team twice over (well, we have!) so there would have been no letting anyone down anyway but obviously at the time...

Anyway, nice to see the feedback being passed on and looked into - not often that happens at all, let alone that quick

And I suppose I should let the thread get back to more relevant matters...

 

[d-type]

Eheh, P*A*N*I*C you have to register NOW, it fills up SUPER QUICKLY!!!

For the Open, that's right, but the team tournament is a little slower

 

[guddler]

I notice "For Amusement Only" have fielded a team containing Martin Ayub. Along with the Special When Lit team (and likely your team too) that's us all done for then

Is there a prize for the most drunk you can possibly get by 10pm on the Friday? I'm sure we'd walk away with that prize!!

[EDIT] Sorry, "Special When Lit" team = "South West" teamguddler2011-06-02 12:55:54

 

[d-type]

Not necessarily...in the team tournament qualifiers, each player only gets one ball in each game, and that doesn't let a top player get into the groove. It's all to play for!

Regarding my team, I'm not that great, my flashes of brilliance are unfortunately only flashes. (Although the last flash won me the Gäuggli Classics side tournament in Chur, CH, where I beat the as-then world number 4 and European Champion plus two others in the final

)

Zoltan's pretty good, but he's only just in the World Top 100, and he doesn't think he'll ever top his 7th place in the IFPA7 last year.

His daughter's only 14 (I think) and still learning.

So we've got no chance...or have we?

 

[DanP]

Forgive a non owner of Pinball (would like to change that one day) but what does it take to actually be a good Pinball player? They always just seemed like random things that just spat out a score at the end according to how many times you hit the ball with the flipper thingy. I realise this would probably get me hung/drawn/quartered on the Pins list

Dan

 

[karlcdoe]

Forgive a non owner of Pinball (would like to change that one day) but what does it take to actually be a good Pinball player?
Dan

I had a load of pinballs I was refurbishing once. The obvious strategy is massive number of tilts but I presume that's largely unacceptable in this instance. The other ways seem to be to know the ruleset of the game inside out and which 'features' score highest or whatever, also things like three and four way combos on addams for example which is basically just hitting the right ramps/shots in the right order or knowing that if you miss the skillshot but don't score you can let
the ball 'drain' and you get another go. Risky flipper transfers by bouncing the flipper just enough so it pings over to the other flipper so you can make a shot that kind of shennanigans.

 

[d-type]

They always just seemed like random things that just spat out a score at the end according to how many times you hit the ball with the flipper thingy.

Things are not always what they seem.

Learning the machine rules allow you to know what to shoot for and when. Some machines you can only get a good score by knowing what/when to hit, e.g. stacking multiballs (Medieval Madness) or getting 5x Playfield and starting Multiball for massive jackpots (Whitewater). Some machines have more linear scoring, so you just have to be a strong basic player (Congo).

Practice will improve your overall ball control and you have to know when to give the machine the correct shove to save your ball going out. This is super important, because every ball you save is like an extra ball. If you don't get at least an occasional tilt, you're not trying hard enough!

Watching top players will show you how to do things you wouldn't have thought of yourself, but when you do, they seems so obvious.

Interestingly, I've noticed 2 types of players, those who react to the ball by hitting it immediately with the flippers, they're all action and watching a good one is fantastic. There are some very highly ranked people like this.

The other type of player is methodical and strives for ball control at all times. They make it look easy and they are the top top players. When you try to switch to this type of play, your scores plummet for ages, because you can't do it, but as you get better at it, it can pay off. (I'm not sure it has for me yet, though!)

Here are some links that speak a 1000 words... (more actually as there're videos too)
Bowen Kerin's (Multiple Ex-IFPA World Champ) tutorial of how to play Medieval Madness.
Pinball News How to Play Pinball Section
How Did You Make That Save (45 seconds onwards)
BTW, the first of these videos shows the "Live Catch", it's super-difficult to do in real life, but Bowen makes it so easy...

Look at the tournament results from around the world, and you'll see that whilst the ball is wild, over anything but a short time, random it ain't.
d-type2011-06-02 16:09:13

 

[guddler]

I would def. agree with knowing the rules inside out! (I'm not suggesting I don't agree on the rest - far from it) where it's relevant to the game. I decided a few weeks back after going to a league meet that after nearly 10 years it was high time I learnt the rules for the pins I own. For Black Knight 2000 it's far less relevant, I guess like Congo. BK2K is far more about fast paced, keep the ball in play and roughly in the right places. Though timing and multi balls certainly play a big part. I guess that pins about 50-50.

It's a bit poorly at the moment so I'm not able to rally hammer that one yet.

I started to pay attention to the rules on StarWars (data east) though and within a few games I got the highest score I'd ever had. It's amazing what a difference it makes. I'll get even better scores when I can actually make the shots it tells me too - yes, C3PO tells you where to shoot the ball. Annoying as the little twonk is!

I've never been able to grasp the whole nudging bit though. I'll have to nose at the links for that after work I guess.

Interesting thread for a video games forum

IMO everyone should try owning one pin once. I hate maintaining them, I think they're dirty annoying mechanical pieces of crap but playing them (again, IMO) is a whole different ball game (hur, hur!). What a lot of fun to be had. Downside, like a cocktail cab they take up the space of 3 uprights. And weigh a lot too.

 

[Macro]

beware, they breed.

I tried owning one, and it seems to have increased to 3½ now.

(the ½ is a hyperpin style thing thats currently being built)

and if you really want fun maintaining one, get an electro-mechanical, no electronics at all, just coils, magnets, motors and wipers ... oh, and a ball! - Baz will know all about it, the one I have used to be in his shed.

 

[Guests]

And weigh a lot too.

the old, on all fours using your back to lift the pin and shuffle it along, dance.

 

[guddler]

I've got tri-dollies under each leg for moving them about when assembled but they're still a bugger to transport

 

[Bazfish]

So, come on then, who's going to this? I'm all booked and paid up for the Friday and Saturday night / full weekend ticket.... who else is confirmed and coming?

Bazfish2011-07-23 07:03:56

 

[d-type]

Me! Actually, the Swiss Team, which I'm captain of, is still looking for 4th member for the Team Tournament.

Send me your CV if you're interested!

Team Tournament starts at 7PM on Friday evening.

D-T

 

[Dave2084]

Me and Sal will be there ...

 

[DanP]

Are tickets still available for this or can you just turn up on the day? I'd like to make it up during one of the days but I can't commit to which day yet. Any recommendations as to which day is best?

Dan

 

[JohnBud]

i wont know until after the 31st, im a half point behind second place in the league.

if it helps, i have always liked toblerone, and as a youth i had 1 of your armies knives. i am also just over 18 years of age.