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[nicoga3000]

At first I was thinking of Space Shuttle; Who made Space Station? I have a friend with a Space Station project cabinet (he is rebuilding most of it) but I don't remember what it looks like.

I finally got the World Poker Tour running and balanced. I did some work on the Top gate. I can get it to close properly but it's still opening whenever it wants to and not on the ball release.


We had a pingolf tournament this weekend in Fort Collins....I finally won my first annual event!!!!!!! I'm pretty damned pumped about it.

We played 9 holes (Evel Knievel, Tron, Adams Family, Avatar, Fish Tales, Wizard em, Congo, High Speed and Spiderman). I managed to hole out Fish Tales and tie the leader. We played a 2 out of 3 match and I won on the last ball. Depending on the points, I may finally break into the top 250 in the world. I got a bunch of money I needed as well : ) I think it's my new mustache.

Congrats on the win! Lot of awesome games in that lineup, too!

Check out Pinside for your WPT issues. I'm SURE someone will know what's up. There's a few guys who are magic makers there. johnwartjr helped me get my WCS94 to where it is now, so definitely keep an eye out for him. He's local, too - so if I ever need help, he can hook me up that way!

As for Space Station, it's an Oussler game, so A+ to that. Totally unique game. After playing it, I realized that the layout and lack of slings make it a SUPER different experience from anything else. I also love the drop target in front of the ramp and the green mode, haha. Really cool game.

 

[Shaneus]

Have you played High Speed IRL, nicoga? Dialled in right, it's such a great game. As far as relatively simplistic layouts go, I honestly think it's perfect. It's essentially a flow design distilled to the bare minimum, and that's what I love about it. No complicated rules, it's just goddamned awesome.

If I could do anything to it, I'd maybe add another kind of jackpot or bonus for locking balls during multi (you can only score the jackpot once during each MB session), but that's about it. I love it to bits.

Would kill for one of those repro playfields, though. The ball swirl and raised inserts on mine kill me


Nice work on Space Station too, BTW. I think I was getting it confused with Space Shuttle, but it looks like a pretty rad design. And it's a System 11, which you know I'm quite partial to


Edit: Did alright in the comp last night, managed to qualify 5th out of 24 with a surprisingly decent score of 17m on Avengers LE and an average 20m on Mustang LE, but went out in the first elimination with a 1.1m on Avengers Still, happy with my progress and playing progressively better with nerves becoming less of an issue. Woo!

 

[nicoga3000]

So I still have a few issues to sort out (switch and opto errors), but WCS94 is finally LEDd and rewired! I got the GI pin crimped a bit ago. Also have a few LEDs left to put in, but after that...<3

 

[Shaneus]

God damn, that is a pretty looking machine! If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it was a screenshot from the latest TPA.

Well done, dude! You must be proud. Hell of a score you got there.

 

[Velinos]

Looks good. I have heard good things about WCS. Hope to try that game out someday.

 

[nicoga3000]

God damn, that is a pretty looking machine! If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it was a screenshot from the latest TPA.

Well done, dude! You must be proud. Hell of a score you got there.

Thanks man - really excited to get it finished up and get some proper photos of it to share. This has been a CRAZY learning experience, ha. I would say that everyone should do this once, but for the love of god...Anyone's first machine should be a working pin, haha.

Looks good. I have heard good things about WCS. Hope to try that game out someday.

I didn't get why everyone loved it at first...After playing it, I was in love. It's just a fun game to shoot, and it's such a fun and friendly theme. The ramps are SO fun, the loops are great, and making goals is like, the easiest and most satisfying goal ever.

 

[Shaneus]

Seriously, just looking at that makes me think it's CGI or raytraced. I'm smitten.

Thanks man - really excited to get it finished up and get some proper photos of it to share. This has been a CRAZY learning experience, ha. I would say that everyone should do this once, but for the love of god...Anyone's first machine should be a working pin, haha.

I need to do it to my High Speed. Everything's working on it fine, but I need to flatten all the inserts and add this playfield protector thing. I'm still in two minds on whether I should look out for a repro/NOS playfield or not. I know I wouldn't get the money back on the game if I were to sell it, but I don't know if I would want to. Can't think of anyone who'd hold onto HS as a keeper.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Holy fuck... it's... so beautiful

 

[Gentleman Jack]

TPA does NOT like downsampling. 4-5 FPS in menus.

 

[nicoga3000]

I passed on the Space Station. I wanted it, but after a more in depth review, I had to pass. It was good to play it, get excited, and start researching, though. The issues it was having helped me decide.

The ramp was cracked, the space station was wonky (wouldn't always reset to home), drop target was REALLY touchy in front of the ramp and didn't act like I think it should, no tilt bob, plunger didn't always make the ramp, and there was a switch error on the right pop that we couldn't clear (even though the pop worked). He wanted $1100 firm, no wiggle room. New ramp is ~$120 ($60 for an old black one from a Pinsider, $120 for the new clear one that's plug-and-play ready), new motor (if bad) would run me ~$50, and the random little issues would cost me more in sanity than cash. With me still working on my WCS, I don't want to deal with it. If he would have agreed to go ~$800, I would have taken it. But $1100 just ain't happening.

Instead!

A local guy has a NICE Demo Man with 3 different games installed on it (original, Demo Time, and one other that I don't remember). There's a scratch on the backbox and a chipped plastic, but he has the replacement (not installed yet). Full set of Cointaker LEDs. He wants $2000 for it. Seeing as that game goes for ~$2200-2400, $2000 seems like a fair price. I am going to look at it tomorrow...I may come home with a wide body, ha.

 

[twinturbo2]

New newsletter up.

Xbox One version passed cert, and it should be out before the end of the year with seasons 1, 2, and 3 available.

Season 3 pass should be up for PS3/Vita by now.

Season 2 pass for PS4 should be submitted next week.

Party Zone out now for Steam, mobile and Ouya.

And the table hint suggests that The Getaway: High Speed II is next. I'm throwing money at my computer screen, but nothing is happening. Speaking of, High Speed is the next free table of the month.

 

[bloodydrake]

sooner we get xbone cert out of the way the sooner we can get the dx11 for steam, that and a custom camera 5(i know they won't go back and fix all the camera 4 errors) I'll be in pinball nirvana
The party zone is fun..sound is fugly..but I'm sure its due to original samples being of a low quality..and the way the audio is used its just really aurally busy.But I find the gameplay is fun.

 

[Benedict]

I hope to God that there is a discount for season two for previous owners, or the little faith I have in Farsight is completely gone...

According to their tweet this is the reason why Season two has been taking so long:

@PinballArcade: @aaronub4t Should be pretty soon. We are almost done with the Xbox One version which is contractually holding up Season Two on PS4.

https://twitter.com/pinballarcade/status/532303531727147009

 

[AstroLad]

unfortunate. and the ps4 audio is still totally borked right? kinda over TPA tbh. playing more real pinball has put me off it. though i do have to give huge credit to that whole team for getting me back into the hobby. what they've done for pinball overall really can't be understated.

 

[nicoga3000]

Gonna check out the Party Zone demo. Never played it but kind of want to!

Also, heading to check out that Demo Man now!

 

[Plinko]

New newsletter up.

Xbox One version passed cert, and it should be out before the end of the year with seasons 1, 2, and 3 available.

Season 3 pass should be up for PS3/Vita by now.

Season 2 pass for PS4 should be submitted next week.

Party Zone out now for Steam, mobile and Ouya.

And the table hint suggests that The Getaway: High Speed II is next. I'm throwing money at my computer screen, but nothing is happening. Speaking of, High Speed is the next free table of the month.

Actually, the table hint ends a sentence with "Sunny drive" and begins the next sentence with "Time," making the hint "Sunny drive time."

Isn't that from Earthshaker?

 

[Vyse24]

Actually, the table hint ends a sentence with "Sunny drive" and begins the next sentence with "Time," making the hint "Sunny drive time."

Isn't that from Earthshaker?

Good point. Guess the high speed chase line was just to show that High Speed was the FTotM.

 

[nicoga3000]

Oh Earthshaker would be rad.

 

[twinturbo2]

Aw, I wanted The Getaway... :-(

 

[nicoga3000]

Holy shit...One burn from my soldering iron later, and my WCS94 is functioning 100%! HOLY SHIT I am so excited. I have 7 LEDs left to install (they should be here tomorrow). Once they're in, I will shoot a video!

 

[bloodydrake]

can't wait! the preview pic you posted looked amazing!

 

[Shaneus]

Good point. Guess the high speed chase line was just to show that High Speed was the FTotM.

I didn't investigate the clue fully enough, but the reference would almost certainly be referring to said free table. Be great if we were getting HSII, but given that's all but confirmed, we'll see that fairly soon I'd imagine

In other pinball news, entered a tournament at the Australian Pinball Expo, which looked to have almost all the best players in Australia competing. Out of 100 or so I managed to qualify 22nd (out of 32) but didn't make it past the first round (was beaten by the eventual third-place getter). As a result, I now hate Captain Fantastic and Six-Million Dollar Man.
There were a stack of other great machines there as well, over 180 in total. Some fantastic looking ones, some average ones and the Aaron Spelling one which was... interesting.

 

[Dash Kappei]

So in the end I've finally played a few games of Stern's Playboy today.
Only spent 1€ (50c each game) for 5 games 'cause the special was I guess very low at 19M and I managed 13M with my first game (and immediately lucked out with a matching numbers special, lol).

I don't wanna waste too many words, 'cause the machine is terrible IMO.
Both audiovisually and gameplay.
Playfield is tiny and cramped, so the game is really fragmented with the lock mechanic putting a tiny stopper right in the middle of the table, which you have to hit and clear the lock lane. Problem is that after each lock you (obviously) need to hit some targets so to recreate the condition in which the stopper will go down when bumped, in the meantime you'll have that invincible fucker standing in the middle and your ball constantly getting stuck behind it until it slowly falls on the side, slowing down the game constantly. Multiball is one of the least fun I've ever played and super flat and boring, I mean you should get a rush of adrenaline matched by some frenzy/av spectacle when playing games so recent, but nada de nada. Same for the skill shot, most boring easy shit EVER.
I lit the extra ball in every game (even took pics, will post) but could never grab it despite all it appeared to need was to roll on an upper lane going into the multiplier lanes/ bumpers... meh.

Of course I've played it without any prior knowledge and the mechanics were obscure to me so that is far from ideal and can't give a final judgement, but I don't look forward ever learning them... And believe me I'm capable of enjoying and have a tad of fun with almost every table on earth, I mean it's freakin' pinball! I'd rate it as a 3 out of 10, for the time being.

 

[nicoga3000]

I didn't investigate the clue fully enough, but the reference would almost certainly be referring to said free table. Be great if we were getting HSII, but given that's all but confirmed, we'll see that fairly soon I'd imagine

In other pinball news, entered a tournament at the Australian Pinball Expo, which looked to have almost all the best players in Australia competing. Out of 100 or so I managed to qualify 22nd (out of 32) but didn't make it past the first round (was beaten by the eventual third-place getter). As a result, I now hate Captain Fantastic and Six-Million Dollar Man.
There were a stack of other great machines there as well, over 180 in total. Some fantastic looking ones, some average ones and the Aaron Spelling one which was... interesting.

Congrats! And 180 machines? <3 <3 <3 Consider me jelly.

So in the end I've finally played a few games of Stern's Playboy today.
Only spent 1€ (50c each game) for 5 games 'cause the special was I guess very low at 19M and I managed 13M with my first game (and immediately lucked out with a matching numbers special, lol).

I don't wanna waste too many words, 'cause the machine is terrible IMO.
Both audiovisually and gameplay.
Playfield is tiny and cramped, so the game is really fragmented with the lock mechanic putting a tiny stopper right in the middle of the table, which you have to hit and clear the lock lane. Problem is that after each lock you (obviously) need to hit some targets so to recreate the condition in which the stopper will go down when bumped, in the meantime you'll have that invincible fucker standing in the middle and your ball constantly getting stuck behind it until it slowly falls on the side, slowing down the game constantly. Multiball is one of the least fun I've ever played and super flat and boring, I mean you should get a rush of adrenaline matched by some frenzy/av spectacle when playing games so recent, but nada de nada. Same for the skill shot, most boring easy shit EVER.
I lit the extra ball in every game (even took pics, will post) but could never grab it despite all it appeared to need was to roll on an upper lane going into the multiplier lanes/ bumpers... meh.

Of course I've played it without any prior knowledge and the mechanics were obscure to me so that is far from ideal and can't give a final judgement, but I don't look forward ever learning them... And believe me I'm capable of enjoying and have a tad of fun with almost every table on earth, I mean it's freakin' pinball! I'd rate it as a 3 out of 10, for the time being.

You basically nailed what makes a good table good and a bad table bad - you should be able to walk up to a table knowing NOTHING about it and still have fun. Sucks that you didn't enjoy it, but at least you got to play pinball!

I ended up not snagging the Demo Man this weekend. The weather was shitty and I honestly didn't want to drive an hour to check it out. No biggie. I've got my WCS94 now, so I should be content for a while!

 

[Shaneus]

Congrats! And 180 machines? <3 <3 <3 Consider me jelly.

Thanks! And yeah, it was a nice selection, too. About half were EMs, which I didn't mind because most were in amazing shape. Still surprised at the rarity of some of the machines compared to the ones that went to Texas, but I guess that comes with the machines being sourced from only three or four guys vs. 300-400 individuals at Texas.

Going from memory, I'll note some of my favourites, with a brief summary maybe later on in the week:

Centaur (duh)
Embryon
Fathom (oh god, so much!)
Eclipse (basically Black Hole but without the lower playfield)
Breakshot (has a bit of an EM/early-SS feel to it which I loved!)
Sopranos (got GC score on there for the weekend... theme is integrated badly but it does play nice)
Blackwater 100
Revenge from Mars (I think now I'm on the lookout for great-condition ones. A fast-playing one is a LOT of fun)
Iron Maiden
Spectrum
Spirit
That Rock one from Gottlieb with the horrible backglass
Q-Bert

Probably heaps of others that will come to mind as well.


Here's an exclusive for you all: Played an MM remake (presumably one that was built in the Stern factory) and the flippers felt like fucking Stern flippers! After having played a proto in Texas 6 months ago, I'm confident in saying they're not using Williams flipper mechs and gone to Stern ones. Even played an original MM to compare and there was a world of difference. Even the WoZ next to it felt more Williams-y than MMR.

 

[Baron_Calamity]

New newsletter up.

Xbox One version passed cert, and it should be out before the end of the year with seasons 1, 2, and 3 available.

About time. Feels like its been forever. I plan on just getting a few tables to start. I'm a little worried about the Xbox One version being broken, just because of their track record. Not going to since a lot of money until I feel safe.

 

[nicoga3000]

Thanks! And yeah, it was a nice selection, too. About half were EMs, which I didn't mind because most were in amazing shape. Still surprised at the rarity of some of the machines compared to the ones that went to Texas, but I guess that comes with the machines being sourced from only three or four guys vs. 300-400 individuals at Texas.

Going from memory, I'll note some of my favourites, with a brief summary maybe later on in the week:

Centaur (duh)
Embryon
Fathom (oh god, so much!)
Eclipse (basically Black Hole but without the lower playfield)
Breakshot (has a bit of an EM/early-SS feel to it which I loved!)
Sopranos (got GC score on there for the weekend... theme is integrated badly but it does play nice)
Blackwater 100
Revenge from Mars (I think now I'm on the lookout for great-condition ones. A fast-playing one is a LOT of fun)
Iron Maiden
Spectrum
Spirit
That Rock one from Gottlieb with the horrible backglass
Q-Bert

Probably heaps of others that will come to mind as well.


Here's an exclusive for you all: Played an MM remake (presumably one that was built in the Stern factory) and the flippers felt like fucking Stern flippers! After having played a proto in Texas 6 months ago, I'm confident in saying they're not using Williams flipper mechs and gone to Stern ones. Even played an original MM to compare and there was a world of difference. Even the WoZ next to it felt more Williams-y than MMR.

Shit like this is why I'm still considering a virtual build. I know I'll NEVER get to play or own a lot of those tables in the flesh, but it'd be fun to be able to experience them and share that era with folks in some way.

Also I'm jealous you got to play RFM. I have wanted to try that table for going on a year now. I've only ever seen one in the wild ~10ish years ago at a bowling alley. I remember it very clearly because I thought it was stupid at the time - pinball + video/screen? Turns out, after watching the PAPA Live broadcast on it, the game is significantly more awesome than I thought. Prior to that, I simply wanted to play it because it was the "sequel" to AFM.

Also, I don't mind Stern flippers, haha. You hate them?

 

[Gillian Seed]

About time. Feels like its been forever. I plan on just getting a few tables to start. I'm a little worried about the Xbox One version being broken, just because of their track record. Not going to since a lot of money until I feel safe.

The Xbox versions of PHOF and PA ran great. It was the Playstation versions that had big problems.

 

[Shaneus]

Shit like this is why I'm still considering a virtual build. I know I'll NEVER get to play or own a lot of those tables in the flesh, but it'd be fun to be able to experience them and share that era with folks in some way.

Also I'm jealous you got to play RFM. I have wanted to try that table for going on a year now. I've only ever seen one in the wild ~10ish years ago at a bowling alley. I remember it very clearly because I thought it was stupid at the time - pinball + video/screen? Turns out, after watching the PAPA Live broadcast on it, the game is significantly more awesome than I thought. Prior to that, I simply wanted to play it because it was the "sequel" to AFM.

Also, I don't mind Stern flippers, haha. You hate them?

On RfM: It doesn't appear to be that hard to find around here. The one I spent the most time on had an LCD screen replacement which looks WAY better and played fast as hell, but wasn't for sale. There was another which was stock AND for sale, only for $2750. Honestly, I would seriously consider getting one as a second pin if it was that price *and* in as good a condition. I think it's a lot more family friendly, too.

Stern flippers: They have a distinctly different feel from 90s WMS, 80s WMS and 80s Bally (and all the others, like Gottlieb and such). I was expecting the MMR to have the same exact feel as Williams flippers (ergo, same feel as WOZ) but they feel far too snappy for that game. As a result the game plays a lot faster which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does *not* feel like the same game that was released in 1997.

Curious to see if anyone has photos of under the playfield of this new build, I think I got photos of the one in Texas, should easily be able to compare between them.

And on the virtual build... not sure I could ever agree with you there. The unpredictability of a real machine could never be replicated on a virtual pin, I just think they'd be a waste of space. If they release a small form factor version (like a desktop one or similar, or even just a good, cheap controller) then I'd consider it. But with the Rift not far away, it'll be infinitely cheaper and better feeling to play it via that than a virtual cab.

Besides, I don't know how tall you are but the angles on tables are setup for very specific heights. Me being a tall bastard, they never ever look right.

 

[BobTheFork]

Great looking WC94 Nicoga!

 

[sefskillz]

Rollers of the Realm, the RPG/Pinball mashup game that was mentioned here a few months back, hits steam, ps4 and vita tomorrow

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262470/

 

[Shaneus]

Rollers of the Realm, the RPG/Pinball mashup game that was mentioned here a few months back, hits steam, ps4 and vita tomorrow

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262470/

Oh shit! Is that the one by... um... Cave or Atlus or something? I can't see that link from work

 

[nicoga3000]

One error with my WCS94, but it has zero impact on gameplay. I'm considering just ignoring it. :3

Rollers of the Realm, the RPG/Pinball mashup game that was mentioned here a few months back, hits steam, ps4 and vita tomorrow

http://store.steampowered.com/app/262470/

And I will be buying this immediately.

 

[Shaneus]

One error with my WCS94, but it has zero impact on gameplay. I'm considering just ignoring it. :3

What is it?

 

[nicoga3000]

What is it?

From my Pinside thread:

When I boot the game, I still have a credit dot. I'm assuming it's because of a test report message that says, "Check switch F8 U.L. Flipper But." According to the manual, it looks like F8 isn't used? Any idea what this is about?

Response:

For the Upper Left flipper button error, you may have a bad or dirty flipper opto. You can get this message even if there is no upper flipper in the game, as the opto is used for lane change at the top. I had this same problem on a BSD and replacing the small flipper opto board fixed it.

I cleaned the optos, but no luck. Flippers still work, top lanes change fine (better now that the optos are cleaned), and the game plays 100%. So...

 

[kramer]

I lurk here and keep up daily with the thread, and your individual pinball projects, but I don't have anything to offer as electronics etc is totally alien to me.

I'd love a pinball table, but I just would not understand the maintenance aspect.

Pinball Arcade is easily in my top 5 games of all time, I have all available tables, I love it.

I've always been intrigued by the 3DS version (Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams), but considering it got poor reviews and wasn't released here in the UK, I haven't bought it, particularly as it's been £35 to get the Euro version. Anyway, managed to snag it for a tenner from France and I've just been playing it.

Er, I quite like it. The 3D looks good, it feels like a pinball table in your hand, okay so the physics are the older floaty style, but it plays nice. I'm glad I bought it. Farsight should pursue a download PA version with the older tables that are possible and newer physics.

Anyone else got it? Never seen a good word about it really.

 

[nicoga3000]

You'd be surprised on how easy it is to maintain a table. I went into a full blown project with ZERO knowledge. Now, I feel like I could grab another project and bring it back to life. A lot of it boils down to patience.

As for TPA on 3DS, I honestly didn't know it existed! I own S1 and S2 on Vita, but I've moved to Android for S3 (and eventually S1, 2, and 4). The updates come a LOT faster, I always have it with me, and I have a Note 4, so my screen is huge and crisp!

 

[kramer]

You'd be surprised on how easy it is to maintain a table. I went into a full blown project with ZERO knowledge. Now, I feel like I could grab another project and bring it back to life. A lot of it boils down to patience.

As for TPA on 3DS, I honestly didn't know it existed! I own S1 and S2 on Vita, but I've moved to Android for S3 (and eventually S1, 2, and 4). The updates come a LOT faster, I always have it with me, and I have a Note 4, so my screen is huge and crisp!

It's really Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams, I've edited my post for clarity. Has 7 tables.

You had zero knowledge about pinball tables or electronics? I've never even used a solder iron.

 

[nicoga3000]

It's really Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams, I've edited my post for clarity. Has 7 tables.

You had zero knowledge about pinball tables or electronics? I've never even used a solder iron.

I knew VERY little about pinball machines. That's why I bought a new Stern first - I figured it wasn't going to break like, ever. Or at least not anytime soon.

As for electronics, I didn't know how to solder, how to use a multimeter, how to read a switch matrix, or how to read a circuit diagram. ZERO about any of this. I decided to just dig in and learn. Replaced coils, built new flippers, soldered wires to optos/switchs, desoldered bad pins on a PCB, resoldered new pins on a PCB, learned how to diagnose electronic issues via a multimeter, and a bunch of other little things that are wrapped into a tear down.

It's not easy, but it's not impossible. There are a ton of amazing resources and people out there to help you through something like this. My very first soldering job was on the main driver board for my machine - if I would have fucked it up, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars, haha. But I decided to go for it.

I would say if you are super serious about getting a machine, come up with a budget and a few of us here will help you decide on some options (and maybe even help you locate one). There's really nothing else like having your own pinball machine. Virtual is fun (I mean, I play TPA on my phone daily), but sometimes, you NEED that rush of the silver ball knocking around under the glass.

 

[kramer]

I would say if you are super serious about getting a machine, come up with a budget and a few of us here will help you decide on some options (and maybe even help you locate one). There's really nothing else like having your own pinball machine. Virtual is fun (I mean, I play TPA on my phone daily), but sometimes, you NEED that rush of the silver ball knocking around under the glass.

Money is as issue for a little while. If I could have anything I'd want Twilight Zone or Medieval Madness. However, that's unrealistic for me.

However, I think if I was owning a table, I'd want a Steve Ritchie - T2 or more my price range - High Speed.

 

[Shaneus]

You'd be surprised on how easy it is to maintain a table. I went into a full blown project with ZERO knowledge. Now, I feel like I could grab another project and bring it back to life. A lot of it boils down to patience.

Very much this. I'll give a quick rundown of why one shouldn't be intimidated by pinball machine maintenance:

1) Amazing community, both on Pinside and other forums. Basically any question you can think of has already been answered, or will be answered damn quickly.

2) Resources up the wazoo. I can't count how many different websites have articles detailing things like cleaning, repairing, replacing, touching-up, rebuilding... you name it.

3) Any changes you make to a machine can be felt almost immediately. If you change a rubber on a flipper, clean the playfield, fix a faulty whatever, change a globe to an LED, upgrade speakers, even getting new balls, you'll feel the difference. Once you know what affects what, you can get a machine playing exactly how you want.

Like nicoga, I had zero knowledge as well. Hell, I didn't even know how to remove the lock bar (the thing you rest your hands on when playing a game) to take off the glass! Now I feel I could tackle almost anything. The biggest problems to fix which I am (and many others are) nervous about are CPU-type things, but the diagnosis itself is simple and can be as easy as replacing a CPU board.

Soldering isn't a difficult skill to pick up, either If you won't be soldering on mainboards and stuff, then you don't need to be especially great at it, just moderately competent.

I knew VERY little about pinball machines. That's why I bought a new Stern first - I figured it wasn't going to break like, ever. Or at least not anytime soon.

As for electronics, I didn't know how to solder, how to use a multimeter, how to read a switch matrix, or how to read a circuit diagram. ZERO about any of this. I decided to just dig in and learn. Replaced coils, built new flippers, soldered wires to optos/switchs, desoldered bad pins on a PCB, resoldered new pins on a PCB, learned how to diagnose electronic issues via a multimeter, and a bunch of other little things that are wrapped into a tear down.

It's not easy, but it's not impossible. There are a ton of amazing resources and people out there to help you through something like this. My very first soldering job was on the main driver board for my machine - if I would have fucked it up, it would have cost me hundreds of dollars, haha. But I decided to go for it.

I would say if you are super serious about getting a machine, come up with a budget and a few of us here will help you decide on some options (and maybe even help you locate one). There's really nothing else like having your own pinball machine. Virtual is fun (I mean, I play TPA on my phone daily), but sometimes, you NEED that rush of the silver ball knocking around under the glass.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself

Only thing is, if you don't have any of the tools you might need, it can be a little bit daunting having to buy all these things needed to work on machines (socket sets, soldering iron, multimeter etc.) but once you have it, you have it.

But yeah, if you can give us a ballpark figure of what you might be in for, we'll be glad to assist! More people in the hobby the better.

 

[nicoga3000]

Video coming soon (with the colored LEDs on the ramp signs). You'll notice that there's no more credit dot. :3

 

[Velinos]

Looks like Party Zone has been released for TPA. Also, the free game of the month now has an ad window to click through before each play.

 

[Shaneus]

Video coming soon (with the colored LEDs on the ramp signs). You'll notice that there's no more credit dot. :3

Jesus, that looks pretty! What did you do to fix it?

On a side note, I think my next machine will be a Revenge From Mars. Prices seem damn good and I know what a dialled-in one plays like (fucking amazingly). No idea if I can LCD-mod it without upgrading to Nucore or Pinbox, but if I could, the weight should drop dramatically.

 

[twinturbo2]

Played through Party Zone just now. It's okay, but man, that sound is the weak point. Managed to get a high score and all the standard goals in about ten minutes, though.

Bring on Earthshaker, and hopefully The Getaway follows in January.

 

[Shaneus]

Played through Party Zone just now. It's okay, but man, that sound is the weak point. Managed to get a high score and all the standard goals in about ten minutes, though.

Bring on Earthshaker, and hopefully The Getaway follows in January.

Aren't we getting TAF in Jan?

Oh, and so it looks like Earthshaker is the next table?

BTW Turns out a dude I hitched a ride at the Aussie Expo from the airport with has an RFM and might look at getting rid of it, has a lot of LEDs and apparently the PF is perfect. Said he bought it for $2700AU a year ago but I don't know what he'd sell it for. I'm not sure I like the thrill of the chase of getting a new machine when it's this easy!

 

[twinturbo2]

The Kickstarter says that TAF is February, and I doubt we'll see two Lawlor games back to back.

No confirmation on Earthshaker yet, but it looks that way.

 

[Shaneus]

Earthshaker and TAF are different enough that it wouldn't make a difference who designed them. We had BK2K and High Speed fairly close to each other and they're both Steve Ritchie titles.

 

[Lettuce]

Finally!!!!!!......

http://news.xbox.com/2014/11/games-five-new-id-xbox-games-coming-this-week

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Finally!!!!!!......

http://news.xbox.com/2014/11/games-five-new-id-xbox-games-coming-this-week

Oh man, i'm tempted to double-dip....