How does everyone think about them adding mini games to the code. The thing a like about America Pinball games are the screen mini games. Think Stern would add them to this game if they could.

My topper seems to be working fine. Of course I don’t know what all it’s supposed to do because Stern never publishes instructions or specs. It does make a loud constant humming electrical sound just a little bit quieter than the Spike 2 fan when it’s on. Can that be normal? It’s definitely annoying. My other toppers are silent. What is everyone’s experience? MK I’m going to change out the white light just like you did. It’s way too bright. I can’t really see Raven when it pops out.

Hmm...mine's silent. Can't think what would make a fan noise...none in there... the geared clock moves, so it might be that.

I really like the red for Raven, but @who-dey's thought of purple could be cool.

Mines been on for 9 hours, everything seems fine. What I've found consistently:
A) Raven pops out every hour "___ nevermore"
B) Raven does final five second countdown w grandpa multiball...Pops out each time.
C) Raven announces certain multipliers, and provides various taunts throughout the game.
D) Characters blink when the mode is lit. Multiple modes, multiple characters blink.
E) Topper goes dark when play field goes dark
F) Raven gives you crap when game over

Haven't made Munster Madness today, so maybe that's when the clock continually spins.

A lot of stuff going on up there....Really, really like it, and adds to the overall fun of the game.

There is zero doubt in my mind that a code update has to come...Even if just polish and topper, game specific tests.

A very aggressive topper....Will post if Stern addresses my questions.

Hope Stern posts functions, schematics, and a professional grade video of it in action.

I'll do my best w the video, but pita, as one of the modes he's coolest is end of grandpa multiball...Pulling the glass isn't going to help me here...

Spoke with Stern this morning, a bit rude to me as if I did something. Spoke then with Mark Sullivan, very nice. Looks as though they are going to have engineers re-evaluated before more or replacements go out. My lord.

Waiting on my second call tag now. This is beyond unacceptable. Usually companies offer incentives for beta testing products. Charging full price for a half baked product and expecting customers to simply deal with the issues is insane.

I spoke to Stern this morning as well. My topper is not working properly. We’ll see what they’re going to do

I don’t think stern cares No matter how many games you ve bought new. No matter how you voice your displeasure. Sad

So glad I cancelled my initial order.... will wait till this ALL gets hashed out...looks great...if and when it works...

Yes, that would be awesome! Like star wars minigame you fly with falcon and must avoid rocks in space! Would love to see mini games on munsters!!

This is a little harsh.

But it probably doesn’t matter how many games you bought because you bought them from Stern’s actual customer (the distributor), not Stern.

However it’s a shame to see such a cool topper be such a failure right out of the gate. Stern should be doing whatever MK6PIN did to every topper before it ships, especially given the price point of these things.

I know but if we don’t by them from distributors then distributors won’t need to buy from Stern. If enough of us are annoyed ,their sales WILL go down because I won’t buy, you won’t buy. The point is that they should care. I believed in them and this is a disgrace

Good luck in getting a reply mate
Tried over the years, and mainly fall on deaf ears.
tho Dennis N normally replies

From what I was told, Munsters is what it is. Code complete.
Tho I hope I'm incorrect as I also feel the code is way under sub par.
I own the game, Love the theme but will not last the way the code sits.

Note: Cannot wait to the the new code update for GB tho, only 2 days to go

You know, if you are replying to someone in particular it sure would help out if you would link the post you are replying to. Over in the lower right hand side of the post are a couple of quotation marks. Try giving those a click and see how it lets to make a direct reply.

Thanks

Sorry bud. I’m just so irritated over this mess. Allll the games alll the money we spend on this stuff I just feel as though we deserve better

What I received wasn’t just like they did test it it was like they threw all the parts inside the casing and shipped it it wasn’t a screw it wasn’t s washer It was a whole bunch of parts that were just rattling around inside the casing of the topper to me that’s really careless and inexcusable. You would’ve had to open up that box to believe it
Trust me it wasn’t dropped because nothing was cracked I still can’t believe something was shipped out like that

Pardon me it wasn’t as though they just didn’t test it
Have I hooked it up and it didn’t work properly that’s one thing

I truly hope not, but if that's the case as beautiful as it is it will not be staying. I guess Lyman with his BM66 coding and show integration spoiled me. However I'll hold out a little longer to watch and see.

Thanks for your concern mate, but I just received a reply from John Borg this morning. We will in fact receive more code and love for Munsters. Timeline only has yet to be revealed. So that is good news for such an awesome theme!

I see that people's hearts are in the right places with their game ideas, but mass-emailing developers is kind of not cool in general. Good to see you guys got some responses but try to take it easy on them

It is cool, as it helps show interest in their product. Any and all companies love interest in their product. That is very cool to them indeed. It results in more sales and that is the ultimate in making it easy on them.

Can officially say mine is working now!!!! Completely dismantled for a second time, and identified what I believe to be the trouble spots. Reported them all to the Stern group (5 of them cc'd in the ongoing thread).

This thing will need to be assembled and tested w TLC, but the design is actually very cool. Functionality:

a) Characters blink when the mode is lit. Multiple characters can be blinking at the same time
b) Raven announces the hour (pops out as well).
c) Clock follows regular time. Not quite as ocd as I'd like, but Raven is spot on at the top of the hour.
d) Clock spins approx. 3x when you've got a jackpot lit, then hit the shot.
e) Raven absolutely taunts the hell out of you the further you progress (yes, after you stack and collect all characters then hit Munster Madness, he says all kinds of crap). Don't know what half of it was, but alot dealt w lower playfield accuracy, and calling out random times when the balls are flying everywhere. Level of fun increases exponentially.

Summary:

This truly feels like an extension of the game, and if the QC can get right, you'll want this thing. I have to believe (strongly) and stated to them that a code update needs to happen to at least include diagnostics for this in "game" page. Really lends itself to adding to gameplay code improvement as well. If they tie this in with more integrated video, it could be a must-have for a lot of pinheads.

Will attempt a video this weekend, as I actually have a day job which is killing me right now.

I like to tinker, so glad the second batch had a finish line to it. Hopefully, more good ones get out the door.....mark

If you want to send them "good job" emails, that's great. I'm sure they love getting fan mail. It's kind of silly (delusional?) to send John Borg advice on designing games though. Two reasons why: (1) All public idea submissions are instantly destroyed/deleted for legal reasons. (2) He is John Borg, I think he's got this one

These are not just “good job” emails or fan mail. You might think you’re in a different thread? This is an owners thread, where we discuss how we can make our games better.

I had the same issue. Reinstalled the game code 1.00.0 and all is well now.

I have a couple of questions:

1) When Borg replied to you, was he under any kind of impression that his and your communication was any kind of confidential?

2) If Borg is saying "new Code" to you in an email, why wouldn't Stern make a proper announcement publicly instead of running under the cover of an email. It makes no sense for Stern to not shout it from the rooftops if it is going to be happening.

good to know! ill give that a try tonight. the topper is working just not 100% my issues are:

1. the clock doesnt always change with the hour.
2. when the clock spins it will not stop spinning until the machine is shut down fully.

As far as I can tell its functioning ok aside from those things. my point to Stern was that not all of us have the technical know how like MK6PIN to teardown and identify the problem ourselves. We are paying for a new, working, and finished product , not a $425 DIY project. Ill be super excited once all of this is behind us.

On a lighter note, I was fully excited to do this yesterday...

3DBE3F65-4918-46E7-9103-7F49076528AA (resized).jpeg

^^That is so dang cool!

Munster koach or anything Barris is beyond spectacular. Eddie signing is icing on the cake. Lucky man!

Look I don’t want to make a big deal of this. Nothing more was said than it will get more love. May we leave it at that? I’m sure until they have a timeline, they won’t have any official announcement. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it here, but tired of all the bashing Munsters code gets. I did not betray any confidences as you suggest. It’s not ready for an official announcement, so leave it to them. Just be happy that there is hope, not dissatisfied. There is nothing “undercover” of an email. I simply asked if we may get more Munsters code love. He was considerate enough to tell me yes.

Appreciate you sharing this info. Very believable, and I personally have zero doubts the code will be revisited. Having the glass off last night testing the topper I realized there was a lot to this machine I hadn't seen prior, both on the playfield and screen. Game is serious fun, and that mini playfield, now tied w Raven sticking his head out taunting you, makes this thing a beast.....

There are other threads specifically for suggesting code improvements and Stern has a public form for feedback (which you should be using IMO.) Discuss whatever you want though as long as it's about Munsters

Was trying to be nice and let you know what general etiquette is here. Stern happens to be small and more accessible, that doesn't mean they want your ideas and certainly not sent directly to Gary Stern. No different from how Blizzard does it: https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/legal-faq.html

Who is Blizzard and how does that relate to Munsters?

Clearly you're not a golfer...

My point was there is a good chance your game ideas are going directly into a cyber toilet when you send them to a game company. Doubly so when you send them to the head of the company. Triply so when the ideas aren't any good in the first place. It is kind of adorable though and of course Stern's mileage may vary

I think anyone at Stern should be grateful that the customers care about their product enough to email them concerns and suggestions on improvement. If not, I don't think the company is going to last in the long run.

Best way is to vote with your wallet. Example- Stern quickly updated their JP playfield after 1/2 million dollars in orders were cancelled at distributors in just a few short weeks.

That will get their attention to change - before that they ignored emails.

I like that people did that. Those with bad toppers don’t accept it, return them for a credit.

Got my Munsters today. All setup. Having a few issues hopefully all something I can get sorted when I call tomorrow.

Still managed to have some fun with it.

First issue is my topper clock seems to get stuck once it hits 5 o’clock through 7 o’clock. It makes a loud buzzing noise on those hours and won’t advance on its own. All other hours are fine.

I took a video:

I’m also getting 3 node board errors every time I start the machine even though all features seem to be working.

I took another video:

Lastly, I had a weird issue while playing where all the lights in the back playfield went out and the grandpas trap door would not eject the ball and I got a trap door error. I had to power of and power back on to get that half of the playfield working again. Yup. Took a video:

Also, how would I verify my table has HD glass? I expected it to have a lot less glare.

Blizzard Entertainment. Big computer games maker.

Just like Blizzard, Stern has to be concerned with copy write issues. As a matter of policy, some song writers and authors will not even look at an email from Joe Suburb. The risk is the author will write something and then the emailer will cry out how it was an idea that he/she sent to the author and that the author is stealing someone else's work.

Witness Led Zeppelin vs. Spirit.

Screen Shot 2019-09-17 at 10.46.53 PM (resized).png

Do you have any idea how many emails some corporate people have to wade through in their email box? What would you, or anybody, do to make your email standout from the flood of daily emails? In my busy, corporate, meeting filled day, what could anybody say to make me open an email from a complete stranger when I have 150 new emails flooding my email box?

Stern has an email support address. I have used it and have gotten positive help from the contact person.

Gary Stern has already been around for more than half a century. My opinion is Stern will weather most any storm that comes its way. Even Toppergate.

I never have seen any thing like that in my LE. You won't find anything in the manual. Call your distributor. And you might as well go to Stern's support page and introduce yourself. Advise Support if the issues you are having and hit the send button. You might have to wait a coupler of days for a reply. Or you might make immediate contact.

Just make your problems official with those nice videos to made.

Do you think you’re a moderator here? You’re becoming quite annoying at your condescending manner. I believe we all know here what etiquette is all about and don’t need the likes of you trolling our thread telling us who we can or can’t talk too, nor how small or big Stern is or isn’t. I run a worldwide company in 40 countries and far bigger than what you’re bringing up here, yet till now I’ve never mentioned it. But you’re getting on my nerves now and I’ve noticed you do this frequently, with others as well. Stop you’re nonsensical trolling. You’re not an owner, so not sure why you troll this thread. Don’t consider you being nice at all with your constant BS.

Read this again and just aggravated me. So people bash code, designers, developers, and companies endlessly on here....then someone posts a kind, general interaction w a game designer and needs etiquette lessons? Give me a break. Robin clearly states the rules of this forum.

I, too, own a fairly large company who has a multibillion-dollar client (healthcare). Though I receive hundreds of e-mails a day, there are ways to get to me, and I (or my team) return quite a few if they are constructive and relative to our company.

Stern has always been very easy to communicate with. I e-mail, and yes, even talk to them when problems or thoughts/ ideas come up involving a game. I don't tell them how to do anything, just give my perspective as being an owner. Many of the bug fixes, mods, etc. come from feedback such as this.

Glad @thunderbird had some interesting info to share on something that would make the game better. Glad there was a team @ Stern that I was able to work with to identify some topper issues, which will now make the thing better for the rest.

Good grief. There was no foul in what he conveyed here......and I admire Sharon for starting Blizzard, but despise golf (whatever that has to do with anything).

Not to rain on anyone's parade especially mine, but Dwight just said there is no plans to do a code update on Munster's. Here is a link to the video go to 1:09:10 it starts there.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/483271018

Well that sucks

At what point in video?

He was also done with GB!

Ok his exact words were "there is no plans to do a code update on Munsters." It was at 1:09:10

fixed my original post.

Has anyone got a topper that worked correctly straight up?

Interesting contrast to Borg’s apparent recent email response indicating otherwise. If Dwight is correct, I think that’s an unfortunate and shortsighted decision by Stern. It wouldn’t take much to elevate Munsters game play from very good to great.

I m giving it one last chance. Waiting on my third/ along with return shipping labels so I can send this piece of shit they sent me back to them

I didn’t want to add any further drama to this...I also received a few email responses from Borg indicating that The Munsters would get some further love.
There was no time-line provided.
I guess it’s best to take this with a grain of salt as there seems to be a different message from others (as above) at the company.
My fam are all enjoying this pin but I would still like to see further code and theme integration enhancements. So much potential with this game.
I guess time will tell but I’m trying to stay positive regardless.