I own a TFLE combo and i enjoy playing it quite a bit. Perhaps it was people playing with older code above... Ive only played/owned the game with the final 1.8 software. But i dont know what people are referring to as roadblock.

There are two mini wizard modes after completing the robots
All hail megatron
Rollout

Was rollout renamed from roadblock or something?

Rick

I think the flashers on both left and right slings should flash/pulse when in fast scoring. I know they do for bumblebe scoring mode.

I think there is some robotic voice that says fast score. And a timer on the dmd as well.

Hope that helps

Devastator kicks my butt most of the time too. But my last game i actually cleared that mode on first try (first time ever). I breezed through the rest of the purple side and then megatron mode (which i usually have no prob with) totally killed me. So frustrating. But makes me want to got back for more!

Using multiball to get through modes is hit or miss for me. Mostly because the game has no way to tell you what shots to hit for both the robot mode and the mb mode. So it does help but would be better if the yellow/orange shot indicators would flash at different rates or something. Maybe im missing something?

I will definitely work on you suggested backhand left ramp, right loop combo shot.

I also have luck holding the left flipper up when ball is coming off left ramp. Usually has enough speed to bounce over and give me a lob shot from right flipper to the left ramp again. One thing though is that right flipper to left ramp shots can be dangerous if you miss and hit the blue standup. It sends the ball screaming right back at ya.

It definitely could use some code polish.
Status screens are very basic
Being able to start robot modes during optimus or megatron mb.
Adjustmemts in menus to control number of shots Or timers for various robot modes
Etc.

I really like your ideas!

On my TFLE, i have special set to extra ball, and you can get a special in the ironhide mini playfield pretty easily. I usually go for that right ramp when im close to spelling ironhide and i need some insurance of an extraball.

Hopefully stern gives this game some extra love. I think its not probable, but you never know

I have had this happen to me enough times and its really frustrating so i thought id ask if it happens to anyone else.

Frequently when i complete all the robots (red or purple) and its time to start the mini-wizard modes "all hail Megatron" or "roll out", the all spark shot wont light to start the mode cause the timer is running for the "all targets" frenzy scoring mode.

So i am forced to time out the all targets mode just so the shot to start the mini-wizard mode will light. Which seems like it takes a long time cause i think the timer stops when you cradle up, and maybe even if the ball is in the pops (unconfirmed). Even more frustrating is that sometimes i wind up extending the timer or adding more time, while i dangerously fiddle around waiting for the timer to expire...

I guess i can see that they didnt want to stack the mini-wizard modes with bumblebee double scoring or the all targets fast scoring modes... But seems thered be a better way... Maybe just auto kill the modes when its mini wizard mode. Or maybe let them stack and give the wizard mode priority on the DMD.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks. I wasnt 100% on if timer stops when cradled. It just seems to drag on. Hehe.

The absolute worst is when you accidentally get the add more time in the all spark lane cause you shot it thinking it would be lit... When all you did was add more time to wait. Hehe.

I guess i should be more patient and just hold the ball cradled. But then I just get more time to look at the horribly implemented status screens. It just scrolls the high scores for both sides... No heres how many shots to get to optimus mb, heres how many balls are locked in megatron scoop, heres how many more shots you have to finish each robot mode... Heres how many shots to spell ironhide or starscream.

Sorry pet peeve of mine.

I still like the game, just needs some polish for these rough edges.

First battle for cybertron tonight. Cranked up the volume and it was awesome. I even got a 18m jackpot in there at one point.

So fun!

Very occasionally starscream will stay crooked for an extended period of time on my LE. Meaning you can't hit the target in the back and the ball falls off into the orbit lane on the left.

eventually the game code seems to detect this and give him the jiggle that he does after a failed shot up the left ramp that resets him back to place

Is that what u are seeing?

Thankfully ive never had him out of alignment permanently. It was more of a starscream mode ended without setting him back quite right. Eventually game recognized that and fixed it.

So you are saying he is always clocked off a bit? Does he turn left and right during his mode? Clocked off when in both positions?

Ive always wondered how to get him outta there, how did you get him out? I wanted to clean good under there and maybe replace the gi leds in the rollover lanes and couldnt get to them.

Hope you get some luck with him.

I like your bumblebee eye speaker grill leds!

Word of advice. If that is NIB or doesnt have any decal wrinkle around the corners, then id get some of the metal stern leg protectors

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=2711

I out them on my TFLE even though the decals were wrinkled when i got the machine.

Awesome! Then enjoy an underrated pin!

Both left and right ramps are different between pro and le.

LE adds a mode for starscream on left ramp.
After you spell starscream, a timed mode starts where you try to hit a target on the back wall by shooting up the left ramp through starscream.

Also a mini playfield on right ramp for ironhide. After spelling ironhide a timed mode starts where you rock the mini playfield back and forth and bounce a ball across sensors that give you points and light spinner, pops, and special etc.

Does the pro have a 4 ball Megatron trough mid center playfield?

So this happened....

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Last night I had something weird happen.

Playing as autobot. I had fast score mode running and bumblebee robot mode (not Double score)

I just had one shot for bumblebee to complete the mode.

I missed to the right and ball went up into ironhide playfield. The gate held the ball until both modes timed out and then a ball search kicked the gate open to let the ball out.

I've occasionally had a ball stick in the iron hide playfield. And a ball search will give ya the ball back.

But it was strange that a ball search didn't kick in until after the modes timed out.

It rewards a special, and i have special set to extra ball.

Those look really nice! Can you show a pic from players POV. Trying to tell how much light they give off.

Thanks! I might do something like this too. Did you just tie them into the GI?

I sometimes get a ball screaming from left to right around the back back there and it will catch the underside of the iron hide playfield.

I think it depends on the position the playfield is in when iron hide mode stops. Sometimes it can hang down a bit low.

Had a WTF moment today. Just drained out of roll out mini-wizard mode when trying to hit the left all spark shot for the super jackpot.

So I was frustrated with myself. My 4 yr old was wanting me to play with her and had been patiently watching me play. Since I drained she thought the game was over and turned off the machine....

Aaaahhhhh!

But it's only pinball, so I just went and played with her. I've been pretty consistently getting to roll-out. Yesterday I scored 42 million in that mode alone.

I'll get back there again

Normal stern trough switches i believe

I think that ball search is supposed to open that gate and let the ball out

Search for "transformers robo fighters"

ebay.com link: Transformers Starscream Decepticon Robo Fighters 6 action figure 2011 DOTM

There is a setting in the menus to bump up the coil power on the iron hide playfield. I had to do that on mine to get some good ball action.

But before you do that make sure that the playfield rocks back and forth freely. Make sure ironhide isnt dragging on the back wall of the playfield.

Had an interesting thing happen on my TFLE today. Shots to the bumblebee captive ball started sounding horrible dead thump. And the ball behind the matchbox car wasnt touching the captive ball anymore. Mid game i jiggled and jiggled. Nothing. So i stopped playing and looked. It looked like there was a bandaid stuck under the free bumblebee ball keeping it from rolling back...

How the hell would that get in there....

Grabbed a screwdriver loosened the plastics and the bandaid turned out to be the square metal roof of bumblebee himself. The roof of the matchbox car split off at all four corners i guess and lodged itself in between the captive and free ball.

Dab of gorilla super glue under the roof and i waited on it to dry.

Fun fact the game works just fine without bumblebee in there.

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/880-6141-00

Shout out to Cliffy! I purchased his set of protectors for TFLE/TFpro. There are pics in this thread already.

Top notch packaging. Both cliffys are packed into a piece of foam to protect them. Clear plastic still on them to prevent scratching. Also in the package is a custom mylar that exactly fits into the all spark shots bottom slot. Also a alcohol swab to clean before applying the mylar.

TFLE playfield is crowded so allocate some time to take things apart as needed. Cliffy provided a very helpful pic via email of another users list of which screws and nuts you need to remove etc.

Thanks cliffy!

I put dead foam in mine a while back and it got better. I didnt see and difference with the cliffy. There still is a bounce back every once in a while.

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I spent about 3 or 4 hours, but i am very cautious and took pics of every screw and bolt i took off and the order i did it in. Plus i was unfamiliar with the megatron scoop cause id never messed with it before.

If i did it again it would only be a 1.5 hour job

Cliffy emailed me a pretty detailed set of pics in a pdf that helped too.

I had to loosen the upper starscream part of the left ramp too but not remove it completely. But it might be possible without doing that.

Any other TFLE owners out there have an annoying ball hang up on the left ramp? Frequently when starting starscream left ramp mode the ball goes up just as starscream turns and the ball somehow would go out the left and as starscream turned back the ball would come to rest against the end of the ramp and the left wall of the cab.

I found a easy fix.

There is a 1 inch post on the left rail already. I got some screws at hardware store and some spacers from PBL and made the post 2 inches. So it pokes up and keep the ball from coming out and getting stuck on the left ramp.

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I guess my IH playfield is rubbered wrong too... im second owner, but ive never had it apart. I dunno if it came from factory this way or not.

20170205_170959 (resized).jpg

Search for robo fighters heres a link to ebay for 3 figures.

ebay.com link: 3 Transformers Dark of the Moon Robo Fighters Optimus Prime Megatron Starscream

Can you take some pics of the way you have bumblebee mounted there on the sign. I bought the figure but havent worked on how to get him in there.

Thanks!

Yep i layered up the mylar in the back of the megatron scoop. Talked to cliffy and he said future runs hed include some or make the cliffy have a gap there.

Epic game yesterday. Got to battle for cybertron and about half way back around to roll out mode after that.

Battle for cybertron mode ended really soon. Ive been there once before but it was a while ago. Yesterday i think the shot to the cube lane was lit at same time i shot it to start battle for cybertron. It awarded me a add a ball. So i was in battle for cybertron with 2 ball multiball.

When the first of those two balls drained battle for cybertron ended.

Still posted up a good GC score of 395M

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Everything you need (including the page above) should be in here.

http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/games/transformers/le/427/Transformers%20Manual.pdf

Lermods, if you can disable the backbox (relay?) clicking when the optumus ramp is up before you start optimus MB that would be awesome. I think its part of the circuit thay makes the GI blink in time with the music.

Unfortunately i dont think stern is gonna put any effort into polish. This game is done and long gone.

I have been thinking that the TLS board and the things TimeBandit can do would do a lot to enhance the game.

My star scream stays sideways very rarely. Like you say it usually resets itself after something else makes star scream move. Since the tests work flawlessly and he recenters back in place I’ve always thought it was a code issue and was evidence that stern needs to put some polish on this game. (Unlikely but still needed)

I noticed something rule-wise on my TFLE while playing today. The two blue inserts on the right for mud flap and skids annoy me cause they just flash most of the time (like megatron). Anyways I knew they eventually start a “frenzy” mode where all switches score 10k or something like that. But today I noticed during the frenzy mode that they stopped flashing and were out, then one lit etc.
Turns out that during the mud flap/skids frenzy mode hitting both targets will add time to the mode timer.
So now ya know. Hehe

Speaking of the flashing inserts in TF I have been paying attention to them more. They annoy me cause it seems lazy programming and wondering if the total light show board and the insert control magic that TimeBandit is developing might be able to reprogram them so they only flash like that when there is only one hit to go to start the frenzy mode.

Likewise with the stupid megatron insert dead center of the play field that blinks 24x7

Good luck. I hope ya get him working. I sometimes get a ball stuck up there on the edge of his platform. The most annoying one I made a fix for. I can take a pic and send it to you if you are interested.

I would frequently get balls stuck in front of star scream against the outside wall of the cabinet. There is a plastic there that I think was supposed to keep that from happening. But it ends up just leaning there agains the end of the plastic, the star scream platform, and the outside wall. I made a tall post that I screwed into the left side rail. It’s tall enough to stick up a quarter inch or so right where that ball would sit. Makes the ball fall down on left side of starscream in the left orbit lane.

When i play my TFLE the games can get pretty long. Toward the end the flippers get kinda week. The coils are a bit warm to touch.

Is that normal or an indication that i need to do a flipper rebuild? Or at least clean the sleeves etc.

My TFLE combo has the orange DMD

Took my flippers apart today and replaced the coil sleeves, coil stops and the plunger assembly. Coil stops and plunger were kinda worn and plenty of black stuff everywhere. Probably not 100% necessary, but figured while I had it all apart might as well replace the worn stuff.

Snappier and stronger after the rebuild. I'll keep ya posted on if they get weak on a long game.
.

Welcome. Did your TFLE come with a red dmd? Mine has the orange one.

Did you modify the cliffy for Megatron on the back side? Mine still gets hangup every now and again.

I have layers and layers of Mylar there and ball still get hung up. I need to take it back apart and clip the fluffy off at that point. And add Mylar on the edge.

When i pit my cliffs on I put some Mylar on the front entrance of the Megatron scoop too.

I got some parts from pinball life and made basically a really long post that is screwed into the wood side rail. It sticks up in the corner where the ball got stuck on starscreams far front left platform. 100% keeps the ball from getting stuck there.

Also have some pinball foam on the rail itself so when the ball falls off the left side it will roll off into the left orbit lane 100%

I can take some pics and get a part list together if anyone is interested.

Found a post in this thread where I had pics and what I did already.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/transformers-club/page/11#post-3580806

Ever since I installed my cliffy for the megatron scoop, I’ve had ball hang ups when the ball comes down the super skill shot lane into the back of Megatron. Lived with it for a while now. Tried putting layers of Mylar back there to make a ramp up over the edge of the cliffy. Sorta worked.

Finally took the time to tear all that topside apart and I modified the cliffy by cutting out the right hand side of it. I put a layer of Mylar over the edge of the scoop hole directly on the play field.

Haven’t had a ball hang up since.

First game after getting the machine back in place I completed roll out and collected the jackpot on ball 1. Unfortunately I had doublers on all shots but the damn all spark shot where you collect the jackpot... By the end of the game I had completed all the modes but my nemesis mode devastator . For some reason in that mode I just can’t hit shots anymore. It’s a mental block.

Still come back to this game and have fun with it. Underrated for sure.

Sounds good. Gimme a shout next time you are in the area.

All 3 of my games have color did support that people rave about. So my problem is that I can't just get it for one... id have to get 3. So 1200 is not trivial.

Only time I had a prob was when the roof of Bumblebee had come off and was under the car.

My Megatron scoop cliffy caused ball hangups on the back side super skill shot. I got an early run of the TFLE cliffy. I emailed with cliffy several years ago and I think he might have changed the design for future runs? Anyways after fiddling with adding layers of Mylar as a “ramp” I couldn’t keep the ball from hanging up on the cliffy before falling into the megatron scoop from the back side. I eventually cut that part of the cliffy away and reinstalled it.

Take some pics and show us the area and we might be able to help diagnose the issue. I’d be happy to send some pics of the corresponding area of my game.

Intrigued. Hope to see your results and ill probably make it a project for my TFLE too!

Sold my TFLE this week. Been a good run, but i was ready to make a lineup change. Still think its an under appreciated title.

Small metal piece on side of cabinet is to center the play field when you lower it into playing position I believe.

I got one here that i included when i sold the game. Unfortunately it looks like they are sold out
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/880-6141-00

Mine the roof of the car came off and wedged itself to keep from being able to hit the shot. But yes the back number was also dented and the yellow paint rubbed off where the Newton ball hit it.

I’d check to see if it’s rubbing the backboard if you haven’t already. The iron hide toy could be rubbing when the miniplayfield goes left? But yeah also could be coil stop or plunger or sleeve.

Agree. The cliffy for the megatron scoop caused ball hangups on the back side where the ball falls in from the backside. The ball just doesnt have the momentum to make it over the cliffy.
I tried layers of mylar to ramp up over it. But nothing worked. I just cut that part out and solved the problem. The backside will not have protection. But trade off for no ball hangups is worth it.

I had some extra decals i got from someone on the interwebs but i was chicken shit to install them. I probably should have just done it. But i ended up just including them when i sold the game

I hated it too

Reseat the connectors on either side of BOTH troughs. I reseat those connectors on all my sterns when I have them open. When I had a TFLE this ghost draining would happen more often than on a normal pin. But that’s cause it has two troughs.

I believe those detect the ball rolling over them. Thats why the holes in the shield are there. Should line up above each detector. The holes in plastic allow you to test them in switch test mode.

In fact switch test mode is where is go next.

Good luck. Yeah parts might be hard to come by.

http://www.speakerlightkits.com/Acrylic-Designs.html

That’s amazing.