Heard that Cactus Jack's in OKC has one as well. I'm not driving up there to check it out though...I'll just wait until someone local gets theirs, or TPF.

Think they said it was shipping delays from their part vendor or somesuch. They already said any games sent without it on the game will be getting the stuff in the mail soon as they get them in.

Yeah let's hope that's not the case with later code, because that's me to a letter. Too easy/too shallow is the #1 killer of pinball machines in my house...

Possible leveling/mounting issue with the middle playfield? In all the streams I've watched, it doesn't go right from the drain all that much that I've seen?

*edit* They included a spare servo? And what's the box "they hope you never have to use"? LOL. That's a bit of a misnomer, or they expect that part to be hard to come by in the future...

*edit 2* Servos look to be about 4 bucks a piece online. That's pretty dang awesome considering what we're used to in terms of pinball parts. Using these instead of coils to do some of this stuff is pretty awesome. It'll be nice to be able to stock up a few extras without it costing an arm and a leg!

I never noticed that slide said "Bloods-cuker" before.

To more directly answer your question, yes, there are standard geometric shapes as well as "hotdog" (STTNG shields, Firepower). Custom shaped inserts are not really ever used, because it's too cost prohibitive to make a custom injection mold just for one game, even for Stern, when something else approximate will suffice.

No thank you, this layout will work just fine for Ultraman!

Signed, an actual Ultraman fan.

Oh man, if someone could figure out how to edit the assets, or even BETTER if Spooky could get permission from the license holders and Ronald Jenkees to use his version of the Halloween theme as an alternate music pick...holy crap. It definitely wouldn't be for everyone, as it's more or less an EDM version of the theme, but man that would be so friggin' sweet as a game over or attract mode theme...

http://www.ronaldjenkees.com/2007/10/26/halloween-theme-remix-2007/

Oh wow, that's super strange. Maybe it's just that all veined powdercoat we've seen before has had a thin clear on it as well? I didn't realize that was a thing with that type of powder. Wonder if any of the early UM's have had that as well.

Just found this on Prismatic's site on one of their vein powders......useful to know for anyone contemplating having some rando powder shop do their trim!

powder (resized).png

Yes, but that's a recent issue, not how Stern has generally operated. =\

That's fortunate for you (1749 new potential customers! ), and unfortunate for the rest of us. LOTR is the only game I ever have had a consistent issue with flipper fade, and that was long before anyone thought to put fans on a coil. I'm a flow player, not a trap and hold guy. Hopefully it won't bother me much, because I'll have to figure out how to rig up some other solution...I'm not spending 200 bucks on flipper fans... nothing personal, that just seems bonkers to me that's the lengths we have to go to these days.

Yeah, sorry if that came across as negative towards your product. I'm just a cheapskate. I don't know how to do 3D modeling (YET..), and no doubt you've done research and design work that I can't even scratch. I'd probably just put two small USB fans down in there or something and see if that's enough to keep it acceptable. LOL.

Right on. I find this stuff very interesting, so I do thank you for putting that out there! 220F is completely bonkers. For reference, the only thing in my PC that gets to 220F (104c) is graphics card DDR5X memory, and that's right at the edge or slightly OVER the thermal breakdown point.

They've explicitly said they're not going to support this.

AKA - Lethal Weapon 3. It's been brought up multiple times before, pretty sure they know that needs to go.

Sounds like they kind of reached a "crap or get off the pot" moment. They need to be able to design and code these games with their in-house guys, and not be reliant on external (possibly unpaid) members of the community. There's potential legal issues there as well, and it may have been a condition of one or both license holders not wanting someone not on the payroll being involved. This isn't necessarily the end of the world, or even a BAD decision necessarily, but like someone stated above, it does raise a few questions, especially given that some people feel that ACNC was left unfinished (and I don't keep up with ACNC stuff, I've just seen it mentioned here and there).

I think if anyone is or was expecting Lyman level code where there's such ridiculously arcane things (such as knowing the release order of AC/DC's albums) to affect scoring....they were going to be disappointed no matter what it ends up being. Lyman is a freak of nature (in the best way possible!), plain and simple. Personally, for me, I'm cool with the more "basic" code archetypes of like AFM/MM/Stranger Things, but these games already look like they're trying to be more complicated than that. As long as the modes make you shoot varied shots and aren't too easy to complete (strict timers, wide shot variation making you shoot specific shots in a sequence, or create specific combos), I'll be happy. Let's be honest here...... it's pretty hard to innovate in pinball rules. Most games that aren't Lyman games follow some long-running patterns, and even on Lyman games the "exception to the rule" part is frequently limited to scoring for the wizard modes. Metallica was an awesome game, but very little there that I would say was "innovated" aside from Crank-it-Up modes and their contribution to scoring.

That updates keep bricking the games to the point that you have to go to support is far more concerning to me than the current state of the code.

Exactly, nobody knows and it's not really fair to assume that this happened under negative circumstances. If they want to tell the story, they will, but they shouldn't feel OBLIGATED to do so over a bunch of whinging.

.....

This is exactly how the entire industry has operated for over a decade at this point. ESPECIALLY with code. I don't recall Lyman coming on here and pumping up Tron, AC/DC, Metallica.....and those games all had extremely substantial updates well after release.

Not a single one of you has ever bought a NIB *at launch* and been told, or innately known, what the whole story would be as far as rules or code goes.

Which matters...how? People complained that the code was barebones when it came out. Hell, even the final product of Tron isn't particularly deep or interesting, but it fits the game. I've owned it twice, and played it so much on location that I'd gotten to Portal well before I owned it the first time.

We deal with the prices of the time. Do you think it's comfortable for me to spend 8000 on Ultraman? Trust me, it's not. At all. And I'd say there's about a 30% chance that I end up having to forfeit my game to someone else.

Having higher expectations because the prices have increased is a logical fallacy. It's already been demonstrated over the last few years that's simply NOT going to happen. There's nothing quantitatively "better" about Godzilla or Ultraman or Halloween because they're pushing 9k, it's entirely subjective. Mechs are still going to break, code is still going to be unfinished in a lot of people's opinions, and playfields are still going to wear and dimple. If someone chooses to not learn from history, I don't know what to say there......but again.....Pinside proved with JPOP and Deeproot that most people here have absolutely no intention of rubbing a few brain cells together to see the obvious.

Those are not new games. We might have something new in Cactus Canyon with Lyman doing new code, but yeah sure...you're TECHNICALLY correct.... just on an irrelevant point because they're remakes of existing games, not new product. The only real question mark there was "will it play the same" and "what's with this HD dots thing?" (Which, just let me say, they've done an amazing job with redoing the DMD graphics in a modern pixel style across the board.)

*edit* You guys can make your own decisions. We don't have to agree on it, but I personally feel it's way over the top knee-jerk to sell your place just because of this specific issue. You don't have to listen to me, and I'm sure most of you won't. My suggestion is this: If you're in these two games to potentially turn them later.....get out now, while you can. If you're in these games for the theme, or the unique layout.... I don't think there's much to worry about here. I have faith in Spooky to get this done to a satisfactory level. Is my faith misplaced as a first time buyer from them? I guess we'll see. Maybe you'll be the ones laughing at me in a year. Who knows.

I seriously doubt that anyone's going to be left holding the bag on either of these games at the end of the day.

I mean...people are still buying Barbed Wire and Lethal Weapon 3's for christ's sake.

Kinda how I feel about Halloween, which is why I generally haven't commented on the modes and clips in HW. I barely know anything about the property. Totally agree that HW is more "atmospheric", but Ultraman is a killer theme for me, and the bright flashy upbeat feel really fits it well. The surf rock type music is TOTALLY up my alley too.

Could be, but it's fine if he's not, also. Industry needs new blood or it will slowly wither and die. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Uh, sorry, but that one's a legit bitch. I played the JJPOTC with the triple discs, and that mech was FREAKIN' AWESOME. The ball movement was completely insane. It's a real shame they couldn't get it to be reliable enough for production.

Kaneda will be relieved. LOL.

Assuming you can make the perfect sets of shots, Iron Man is SUPER fast to complete almost all of the major objectives. The gatekeepers are Drones (eight freakin' sets of them, was it??) and completing Jericho (4 shots to everything on the playfield? Oh joy.).

As in.....you don't have a personal computer at all, or you only have Apple? It updates off a USB stick, like everything else in recent history.

Let's be honest here....even if you give Steve the correct part number for the item you want, if he thinks it's the wrong item for the specific game, he's going to send you what he wants to send you. I once ordered a non-standard rubber color for a game, and he sent me the factory standard color anyways. I just laugh about it, not that big a deal. I always enjoy ordering from PBR....Steve is a hoot to deal with. I wish more guys were like him in the parts business.

lol...I guarantee you I paid for my Ultraman before 99% of the people on this board paid for either HW or Ultraman, but I'll still be getting mine in like....June or July, because I ordered a BSE. Where are you, making the argument that Standards/BSE should get shipped first if they paid first? Oh, that's right, nowhere.

See above.

Who said anything about "in full"? I paid a deposit, like 99.9% of other people? Did anyone pay in full upfront on day 1 that wasn't one of their Sooper Special Early Games Because we Like You people? Feel free to speak up if you (or anyone else did). If you want to claim that you paid in full while the vast majority of people put in deposits.....then....yeah, okay, maybe there's a somewhat valid complaint...but still gotta answer to that "first comes first" mentality when it comes to CE/BSE/Standards. Just assume that everyone followed the "standard" procedure that Spooky uses, which is deposit paid to hold your game. My point was that my deposit was put in way way earlier than my UM 42-whatever number would seem to indicate. I just didn't pay the 1000 buck Rush Delivery. Doesn't mean I get to bitch about my slot.

You'll get the rod. Take a deep breath, relax, and realize there's better things to stress out about in life than 3 1/4 inches of some plastic or wood sheets screwed together and attached to a metal pole that's barely visible in the game. Your non-pinhead friends that you want to impress don't care, and aren't going to ask you why it looks like a POS without the knife handle rod. I promise you.

Meh. A Stern is a Stern. It's a known quantity. I ordered UM because this layout is ridiculously unique. Godzilla...even with the moving building and whatnot...not so much. I'd like to own both eventually, but I'm not bailing on UM to get Godzilla, even though arguably Godzilla was THE dream theme for me (aside from Tron). They're gonna sell 5000+ Godzillas without even trying. They'll be around. Do not regret choosing Ultraman when it was announced. The real issue is the "gotta have it NOW" and flipper mentality that's become completely ubiquitous in this hobby. *edit* Oh, and also the fact that people are so easily manipulated into buying into other people's narratives.... that's a huge one.

Hey, it's me! Mr. 428 or whatever, checking in here LOL. There's a good chance I'm going to buy an already produced game or an earlier slot. That said, my only real holdup is: 1. Haven't played the game yet, but hoping to rectify that this week.... and 2. Wife is afraid we will end up with a CE and then have to pay for a BSE or eat the loss on the BSE slot. Not real concerned about #1. #2 is giving me some pause, but like I told the guy I'm talking to about his CE, I do think it would be real fun to show up at TPF 2023 with a NIB UM BSE and see what it would go for.

This entire outlook is entirely predicated on the concept of being able to drop 6000-12000 on games when they launch....which is anything but "cheap." I don't agree with the general mindset that seems to be going around with UM/HW, but this is a silly take.

Pinball is expensive, always has been. 13 years ago, I could buy 10+ console games...... or one project beater Space Shuttle for 500 bucks. And I guarantee you I put more hours into a 50 buck RPG than I have on just about any pinball machine I've ever owned aside from Tron or Metallica. There's also zero maintenance cost on video games, movies, etc. The cost for an hour of pinball entertainment in your home is *ludicrously high* compared to just about anything else other than cars, boats, and luxury watch collecting. ~_~

I've had a cat for 7 years. With claws. Not once has this ever happened.

She will scratch the scratching post, the cardboard things, the pad on top of the cedar chest, bite the crap out of my hand and arm.....no pinball damage at all. Neither did the prior cat for that matter. This is literally just either *extremely* poor training, abused animals, or people just making shit up.

I'm curious... the loops don't look super tight to me, but I've yet to play UM/HW... is it because they actually are like "Ghostbusters left orbit" tight where it's barely the width of the ball, or is it just awkward non-standard positioning of where the orbit entries are. The left one reminds me a lot of...well...Ghostbusters, the right one seems not all that far over when you consider games like AC/DC or Family Guy (both games I'm notoriously bad at shooting the right orbit on).

Haven't ever played ACNC either. No way was I wasting an hour waiting in that line at TPF.... heh.

I mean...that works. I've played RZ. I'm pretty sure I never hit whatever is on the right side under the mini playfield a single time!

Careful there, you just called out like 90% of Pinside...

There was literally a picture posted on here a few days ago of this happening. Not in the sense like "ermagerd half my playfield is gone anywhere there's a post" like some JJPs and Sterns, but....a piece of art chipped off at a ball impact point. Post # 3018 and #3021 on this thread. Small, and an isolated example, but it is what it is.

Did anyone ever answer what the caster wheels on the playfield are for? Saw that pic and just kinda scratching my head as well.

Exactly, and that's what really matters. I just don't like statements made in absolute terms like "Spooky pins don't chip." Well....they do....just very rarely, and unlike Stern or JJP, you're a HELL of a lot likely to get a replacement *if* it happens. You damn sure aren't going to see Bug or Charlie on here saying it's the customer's fault.

Awesome. I was thinking it was to keep the PF from hitting the bottom of the cab in certain situations, but couldn't see anywhere for the caster to roll in the pics, so I wasn't -too- far off the mark there. I'm sure with a lot of us being prior and current Stern owners....we're pretty used to just slamming that playfield back to get it over the hump, so the casters preventing idiots like me from doing so is probably a good idea.

My wife did the same shit with Lord of the Rings and the Frodo "But I do not know the way" line, because it plays every time you light Frodo....which is the center ramp shot. So it comes up, a LOT at the beginning of every game. It really stopped being funny after about the first week, and it was so damn irritating eventually that I feel like it contributed not-insignificantly to me selling the game. Which was a stupid, STUPID mistake. It was a 4k HUO LOTR we bought from the original owner, documented. I guess my point is that we all find certain callouts to be annoying, regardless of the game.......but how you choose to deal with it makes a huge difference. My wife heard all the other callouts for lighting characters just as much, but chose to single out that one stupid call and mock it ad-infinitum knowing full well that it was an effortless way to tick me off.....

Bad crimps and poor contact increase resistance. More resistance, more heat.

Wha? They're already through all the HW CE's, or are you just referring to it as that because the "CE" was previously the "Bloodsucker"? Heh.

I second this. It's really hard to change out tiny springs with meaty fingers LOL.

FAT32 is a filesystem that Windows uses. FAT stands for File Allocation Table. It's old. Real old. Dates back to Windows 95. Picked up with 98 and later. It's just the nomenclature for that specific method of allocating how files are written to a drive. There's also NTFS (NT File System), and APFS (Apple File System).

When you format a drive in Windows, you'll probably get options for FAT32 and NTFS at a minimum. Maybe FAT16, but I haven't formatted a drive in about a year and a half so a bit hazy on that.

Mohs hardness scale. Plastic cannot scratch a steel ball. So no, it won't mess up the ball. What is far more likely is that if it's sticking above the playfield it will cause an airball to smash into something it normally wouldn't, or wear at the edge of the slot for the drops as the ball no longer has a flat surface to cleanly roll over. So in that regard, yes, I would recommend to not play it with the target broken like that, as it is very possible it would cause damage.....just not in the way you asked about.

If I said something incorrect, then just say so, and explain, so that I know better. I know PLASTIC generally isn't described with the Mohs scale, but in the interest of 'Keep it Simple, Stupid' it's a frame of reference that most people will understand without getting into overly complicated shit. =Þ

They showed it in the stream they did before the code was released, briefly. Sound levels were kinda poopy, but it'll probably keep them from getting a copyright strike on Youtube lol.

I dunno. I suspect anyone serious about trying to get those boxes of junk will be waiting until the last second.

Personally, I'm tempted to just go slap a 4k bid on the AMH because we all know it will end up over that anyways. I'd love to have an AMH, but not going to kid myself that this one will be any cheaper than any other one, especially with that 18% buyer's premium.

Just post the price here and it'll be gone quick. Like, I'd PM you to ask but I'm probably just kicking the tires because I'm curious lol.

You lose the argument (or at very least the high ground) the second you say shit like this. Stop sinking to other people's level to make a point. Nobody is afraid of it, it just weakens your position and makes you sound like a buffoon.

It's black, but with a very heavy holographic flake throughout.