I don't get what you did - bend the U target or something else under the playfield?

I posted that pic elsewhere and nobody really took any notice Still haven't put it back to standard, it plays nicely the way it is.

I have made another small improvement though, I'll take a photo at some point, I noticed there's a vicious ball bounce which actually chipped the clear. Looking at videos online it's not just something my machine does.

On the right hand side where the FLYNNS plastic is, the ball can either enter the scoop or follow a tiny lane to the right. Sometimes the left slingshot fires the ball into the exit of that lane, resulting in a pretty fierce impact as it hits a metal guide at 45 degrees or less, then rebounds (so fast it's more like a vibration) between that and the FLYNNS plastic. End result I have a chip in my clear there now. Cut some stealth protector material to cover the exit of that lane, protruding out about half an inch. Job done.

I also tried cliffy switch slot protectors on the inlanes but they don't work for this game as the ball gets dropped in such a way that it lands on the folded inside edge of the protector. I sent him a suggested new design for games with this arrangement.

Bad use of words on my part - it doesn't airball off there - although the slingshot does sometimes airball it lightly into there - you can tell easily because dimples form in that area although it doesn't look airborne at the time. When it hits that metal rail the only place for that momentum to go, is straight down. I'm assuming that's how it happened, small bit of protector material is wise there.

I'm also shaping a piece to protect directly in front of the target bank, but also including up the Quora lane. Most of my shots to that fail and just rattle angrily around halfway up that lane. To be sure learning to aim better would help, but it's the least graceful failure shot on the entire table.

And as soon as I can break the laws of physics I'll make one as in your sketch, James

Am I the only one that doesn't mind the Gem shot? Sure it's tough, but it's not like it's impossible to hit.

thats a great innovation pinball slave. i think its how stern intended it as well. i've wanted to do something with mine, but wont. i find that from gameplay the 'U' target gets moved a few cm's to the right. so whenever i shop my machine out i just re-adjust it, and the game plays 100% better. lol. don't think i could ever dremel my playfield though. glad it worked out for you

I've been thinking about that, all you need to do is move the 'hinge' part to the other end, and have a slit near the thick end on one seide where it just lines up when fitted. I'll try to send another drawing, or even better make a tinfoil model.

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

TRON.jpg

Hey, let's put a post in between the flippers too- since we have our tools out!

Chris Murray attempted this on paper and although it's a jigsaw puzzle it did "work". BUT.... it wouldn't stay lined up together when in the game. Any variation between slots on even the same game would look weird at the joint. But I do plan on lasering Chris' template in my next batch. I just can't afford to drop a dime on a minimum 30 pieces which I'm not feeling the warm fuzzies about

I've played a few trons and the Gem shot always varied in difficulty from game to game. I *think* this was due to the flipper angle of the upper flipper. I think the higher the flipper goes, the easier the shot. That was just my half ass observation.

I do agree that when the shot is particularly difficult on the game it kind of spoils it. The rest of the game is quite flowly and stackable. Gem shot is just a PITA. There should be an alternate way to complete it, such as a combo or something like 3 ramps within the time period.

Even though it is more easily shootable on this game now (I bought pinballslave's machine), I still get more GEM hits from random rolls on bad shots elsewhere

The best mod is still sat under the machine waiting to be fitted - nice Babcock gas display and all the extra parts to replace the awful EU shipped pinled one.

I agree with you 1000%.
What are you waiting for?
Get to work!

Impossible? Nope. A bigger pain in the ass and clunkier than it should be? Absolutely.

I also wonder if people who seem to have a tougher time with that shot than others is because of the placement of the "U" target on their particular machine. I imagine that there is some slight variance there and that can make the shot harder or easier by comparison.

Way to ruin a perfectly good Tron.
Gem is the most rewarding shot in this game, it's hard for a reason.

imo

Couldn't have said it better myself.

This could very well be true. I've only ever played three different Tron machines (1 pro and 2 LE's), and the Gem shot seemed about the same on all of them. It entirely possible that the shot is much more difficult on some machines.

I agree,
I have played six different TRON's (3 pro 3 LE's) and the shot feels relatively the same. Sure, some may not be AS level or have a slight incline variance compared to others, but that is just a temporary bump. You learn the machines quirks, adapt- and play through...
I'd have to agree with RawleyD on this one.

As I said in a previous post. Once you get the angle down it is not a difficult shot. And here is how you do it. With the lower right flipper hit ball at rubber just to the left of the T on the TRON target bank and carrom it (like a bank shot on a pool table) to the Gem inner loop. Each machine might have a slightly different carrom point near that "T" target. It is a very rewarding shot. I find it works best when the ball is shooting out of the arcade to the right flipper.

no , that's just another way to do it. I do it like that too when it suits me, and boy is it ever satisfying to hit that shot.

I dont think so. it looks more to me like you jumped the gun on the "gem shot too hard" bandwagon, and violated that Tron b/c of it. for shame

nothing is exactly the same on 2 different games with more than a decade between them.

Mine does this, occassionally. It's not common on my machine.
I've played Addams Family's where some never did this on the left double-inlane, and some did it all the time. it's all the way the game is setup. Even games of the exact same make can play quite different from each other. that's just the way pinball is, so many factors when that ball is moving around.

I hope the new owner has a great time never losing their ball SDTM from hitting the 'U'. It's one of the most common ways I lose a ball, and sadly the current owner of your Tron will never experience that.
Might as well permanently close up those outlanes, those can be quite a drain sometimes.

I am the new owner. I do very much enjoy not getting SDTM because I suck enough already and am quite capable of losing the ball in other ways. I had to reset the high scores as I will never be able to put up ones as high as PS already had.

I find the Flynn lane feed fails about 50/50, it is a pretty hopeless bit of design there, made worse by the slingshot being able to fire the ball directly into the metal rail (see earlier post plus non invasive solution).

Honestly PS did tell me about the modification before I bought it, and it nearly put me off buying the machine as I don't really like invasive modifications. I had to think hard about that one. At the end of the day though, I've known him for years so knew that I wasn't going to get screwed over, the target can be put back in about 2 minutes, and LE Tron machines are rare in Europe - I think it's less than 100 of them spread across the entire continent.

Didn't want a Pro - no point having a Tron if you haven't got the ramp lights, IMO.

you got that right.

as far as the 'U' mod goes.. it's your machine and you can do what you will with it.
You're cheating nobody but yourself.

I'm happy with the way it plays atm so I haven't put it back to standard. If I ever improve at the game I'll probably move it - but despite owning and restoring/repairing many machines over the years, I'm a really terrible pinball player. I think the only machines I ever got good at were Swords Of Fury and No Fear, played the hell out of them - both underrated.

The Quorra shot seems much harder - at least 75% of my attempted shots there stop halfway up, clatter and fall out. I do wonder if the spinner is out of position and the ball is crashing into the corner to be honest - does anyone have a nearly ball view photo of that lane?

Haven't cleaned & waxed the playfield or ramps yet so I'm holding off on playing it too much. You know what I'm like about worrying about wear etc - I still refuse to nudge a machine unless the ball really is just sitting on the outlane post. Picked up a Sopranos, played a few games with the girlfriend and ever since then the fuse has been out - pulled it to stop me playing the game because there's a tiny paint chip that needs sorting out (and an astonishing amount of dirt).

Wow, that many (25% of production).

Wonder how many went to places like Canada, Australia, South America, and elsewhere: 100, more, less?

If so, might only be about 200 (+/-) of them here in the U.S.

The problem of the Gem shot takes care of itself like this after some heavy play - the U target gets bent back a bit, making it a little easier to hit the gem shot.

Lately I have not been having trouble with the Gem shot. Get her lit solid almost every game lately, even when the rest of the game is crap. Often I get it through crazy bounces, rather than from the upper left flipper. You can bank it off the upper flipper (from the lower right flipper), off the top tron target, or off the edge of the U target (have done this twice, back to back), and sometimes I've even had the disk fling the ball up there. Now my problem is completing Clu (that timer makes it really hard...), Lightcycle and Disk War...

the new super rubbers on the flippers changes their grip a bit and makes the gem shot about 20% easier than with the original stern rubbers on the flippers.