(Topic ID: 183206)

American Pinball Houdini thread

By lllvjr

7 years ago


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#5251 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

[quoted image]
I thought it might be good to give some background on the stage. The first concept for the stage was that it would be a single element that would rotate, almost like a pie with a slice missing, where the ball would be, and as it did so a curtain would appear, and as the ball was rotated to the back it would drop through a hole and down to the subway.
I did not love this since it would be clear that it was rotating the ball away and that would not quite have the right impact. So, I told Joe what I wanted was for there to be a curtain that we could open and close, and when closed, then turn it and drop the ball, and that we could have a second section with a captive ball so we could make it seem like the ball disappeared an re-appeared. Which he thought might be possible, I then said in a perfect world be cool to make it disappear, re-appear and then be able to kick it back out. Joe’s first reaction was ‘not going to happen’
We then brought in the mechanical engineer who was going to design the mech. I described to him what I wanted and he figured out than rather then rotating it, we could have the floor drop out. He used a captive ball for that, since that was in the original concept. While there was no guarantee, he felt that it might work that it can push the ball out. In initial testing I was able to push it our with high reliability and started coding with that in mind.
At one point I said we can probably lose the captive ball and just have a ‘floor’ that we can raise and lower (since I can lower the ball and bring it back into view), but at that point making those kinds of changes were not feasible.
Although I have thought about having the captive ball up and having the player hit it, I decided that was not worth the risk of it potentially damaging the mech. So the captive ball really gets little use in that regard. Other then confusing people who think a ball is trapped in the stage.
Then a few hours before expo, when they had finished the first production samples the eject of the ball was not working. When I went to go see why I saw they had changed the floor of the stage, where it was now coined to create a softer lip in the back. Let just say I was extremely vocal in that a change was made without me being notified, to which I was told that was always the plan, to which I responded, news to me, and that is not what I had been working with for months. But at that point here was no way to change it, since all the parts had been made. The real problem is the coining created a lip that prevents the ball from smoothly moving around the captive ball and rolling out. Filing down the lip was not feasible since it could result in rusting. Some quick attempts, hours before expo, to get around that failed and I shelved it for expo and for quite some time. That is when the setting was added and defaulted to off.
Recently I decided to take another crack to get it to work, and while not 100%, on my machine it works probably 70% of the time, so that is why I indicated that you might want to try the feature. The main downside is while it will handle the failure and send it to the subway, if that happens, you can lose a couple of seconds off the timer.
It is certainly possible, I will make more of the illusions to go back to my original ideas on the ball disappearing, reappearing and then coming back out. I believe now in one mode I do that now, can’t remember.
So, now you know the rest of the story.

I suggest trying to calibrate again, and make sure the game is level side to side. If it still does not work, send me a video and I'll see if there is anything else I can suggest. Filing down the lip that the ball can catch on, on the right side could help, but that can create other issues, like rusting.

I'm confident that the stage eject can be made to work 100%.

Show us the area that to want reworked please.

I'm not concerned about rusting as parts can be plated after the fact easily enough, or coated.

I do think that all of the work you put in on this will pay off.

Please continue on coding this feature to perfection.

We as a group can certainly resolve any mech adjustments.

We have machinists, electrical engineers, metal platers and a whole group of professionals at our disposal on pinside.

I know we can make it work petfectly.

#5252 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

I suggest trying to calibrate again, and make sure the game is level side to side. If it still does not work, send me a video and I'll see if there is anything else I can suggest. Filing down the lip that the ball can catch on, on the right side could help, but that can create other issues, like rusting.

Any way to make it activate the stage front eject in test you can think of? Otherwise it happens so rarely I'll have a hard time capturing video of it trying to eject it. As it is it never even comes close as it seems the ball is back far enough that the captive ball just kind of picks it up and is pushing it backwards, not forwards at all.

#5253 5 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

You are ready for tech support. American Pinball should hire you.
LTG : )

That would not be advisable as I do love pinball and this company their are many individuals like yourself that Live pinball. Acknowledge or accept it as you wish but I will go on record and say in my mere 18 years in this hobby You LTG have been the most supportive, knowledgable, and respected resource (and friend) I have ever met or worked with in this hobby. Not only your knowledge but your willingness and drive to help Anyone of any skill or brand. I do hope as API grows they wisely consider bringing you in as a team resource also. Your skillset and drive fits perfectly with their business model in my view. (plus your on call 24/7 which is just crazy lol)

#5254 5 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

(plus your on call 24/7 which is just crazy lol)

Too funny. It's usually noon to midnight CST. But like today I was already going at 10am, and last night was still doing techy stuff at 1am. If someone has a problem, I like to keep on top of it.

Not much going on right now. Not like the early days with WOZ. So I get bored and find other ways to help.

Just trying to make my little corner of pinball a little bit better.

LTG : )

#5255 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Any way to make it activate the stage front eject in test you can think of? Otherwise it happens so rarely I'll have a hard time capturing video of it trying to eject it. As it is it never even comes close as it seems the ball is back far enough that the captive ball just kind of picks it up and is pushing it backwards, not forwards at all.

The stage mech test walks through each step, you need 'learn' the sequence to know when to put the ball in (e.g. you want to avoid the 'drop' step). After 'close' and 'open' curtain, it is then 'captive ball', then it is 'ready', then 'hold' and then 'eject', so put the ball into the stage when on 'ready'. Using the right flipper then move to hold, which should lower it out of view and then right flipper to eject which should bring it up and eject it.

The way it works is it will raise the ball up towards the back and then as the captive ball comes part way down, the ball will roll around it and out, typically to the right side, unless it catches not the lip. Since the ball is not moving fast, does not take much to stop it.

Not real clear in the photo is the lip, but if you run your finger on it in your machine you will feel/see it.

Cursor_and_IMG_3492_JPG (resized).pngCursor_and_IMG_3492_JPG (resized).png

Quoted from pinballinreno:

I'm confident that the stage eject can be made to work 100%.
Show us the area that to want reworked please.
I'm not concerned about rusting as parts can be plated after the fact easily enough, or coated.

Not sure 100% will ever be achieved, the fact it works at all is sort of serendipity, but is cool when it does.

Taking the stage out is not for the faint of art and I strongly recommend not doing it. Taking it apart after taking it it out is an even worse idea, it has to go together very precisely or you will have serious issues. It may be possible to Dremel down the lip and then coat that one little area without removing the stage.

#5256 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

The stage mech test walks through each step, you need 'learn' the sequence to know when to put the ball in (e.g. you want to avoid the 'drop' step). After 'close' and 'open' curtain, it is then 'captive ball', then it is 'ready', then 'hold' and then 'eject', so put the ball into the stage when on 'ready'. Using the right flipper then move to hold, which should lower it out of view and then right flipper to eject which should bring it up and eject it.
The way it works is it will raise the ball up towards the back and then as the captive ball comes part way down, the ball will roll around it and out, typically to the right side, unless it catches not the lip. Since the ball is not moving fast, does not take much to stop it.

Not real clear in the photo is the lip, but if you run your finger on it in your machine you will feel/see it.
[quoted image]

Not sure 100% will ever be achieved, the fact it works at all is sort of serendipity, but is cool when it does.
Taking the stage out is not for the faint of art and I strongly recommend not doing it. Taking it apart after taking it it out is an even worse idea, it has to go together very precisely or you will have serious issues. It may be possible to Dremel down the lip and then coat that one little area without removing the stage.

Wow, I thought it was more involved than that.

I think a lot of us can fix this.

Looks like an easy adjustmemt.

There is a tool for that (that I have):

https://www.walmart.com/ip/WEN-Variable-Speed-Detailing-File-Sander-with-1-2-by-18-Belt/55880290?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222228091195063&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=204335512770&wl4=pla-331627838085&wl5=9030872&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=117019096&wl11=online&wl12=55880290&wl13=&veh=sem

Debris will be collected with inverted duct tape and dust will be removed with mini vac and compressed air.

Raw edge after fine sanding will be coated with clearco 99% zinc coating (i have some)and a q-tip (welding supply)

Should be about a 30 min adjustment.

I will file that down as soon as I get my game.

I would use a dremel but I don't like the sideways torque of the tool in this case. Too much control needed. Too much risk of unneccessary damage.

(Yes I used to be a machinist)

Anyone else have ideas on how to ease down that lip?

Also thinking about a shaved down demel cutoff wheel and using it in a grinding motion I have some extended arbors.

Maybe this tool:

https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Make-MicroLux-Powered-Sander-Filer?gclid=CjwKCAjwqarbBRBtEiwArlfEIPATAs5DfCtWOQOyR2ykbcvdVAmBxD-W859ASmMEhN5DUqZ-5Wmn_xoC_UQQAvD_BwE

#5257 5 years ago

Looking at my logs of drains on right vs left, I closed up the left lane since it was 2 to 1 for left drains. I think that left divider wire should have been a rubber post.

#5258 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

The stage mech test walks through each step, you need 'learn' the sequence to know when to put the ball in (e.g. you want to avoid the 'drop' step). After 'close' and 'open' curtain, it is then 'captive ball', then it is 'ready', then 'hold' and then 'eject', so put the ball into the stage when on 'ready'. Using the right flipper then move to hold, which should lower it out of view and then right flipper to eject which should bring it up and eject it.
The way it works is it will raise the ball up towards the back and then as the captive ball comes part way down, the ball will roll around it and out, typically to the right side, unless it catches not the lip. Since the ball is not moving fast, does not take much to stop it.

Not real clear in the photo is the lip, but if you run your finger on it in your machine you will feel/see it.
[quoted image]

Not sure 100% will ever be achieved, the fact it works at all is sort of serendipity, but is cool when it does.
Taking the stage out is not for the faint of art and I strongly recommend not doing it. Taking it apart after taking it it out is an even worse idea, it has to go together very precisely or you will have serious issues. It may be possible to Dremel down the lip and then coat that one little area without removing the stage.

Thanks Josh, I'll run through the calibration again but I don't remember it ever raising the captive ball that high when I did it twice after the last firmware upgrade.

#5259 5 years ago

I've never seen the top ball drop into hole but have had the top ball eject about 80%.

Does it make sense to put a post or to stack 3 pads inside fixture to prevent top ball from rolling back inside so far? Maybe it would pinch the ball forward to give it a rolling start.

#5260 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

I've never seen the top ball drop into hole but have had the top ball eject about 80%.

well, it only disappears when the curtain is closed.

Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Does it make sense to put a post or to stack 3 pads inside fixture to prevent top ball from rolling back inside so far?

The rolling back to roll forward is how it works, if you do that you could end up damaging things by jamming the captive ball into the ball.

#5261 5 years ago

In regards to the ever annoying catapult deflection, I made some changes that may be worth having a look at depending on what you have going on. Yes the last suggestion by Barry is part of this. Mine has always had an issue deflecting left because of what Ive thought was the low power issue. I still think that is the case for some of it but basically whatever was causing this parasitic loss to the catapults action had many possible causes. Ive tried many things and the problem always returned after a few games. First I pulled the whole assembly back and rotated slightly to get away from the ramp. Then I dropped the ramp an 1/8 of an inch. I lubed the pivot points. All of these changes reduced the issue but my goal is to eliminate it. I found one last thing and only because the catapult has a few hundred pulls now. I found witness marks on the edge of the playfield and catapult. I found it has been intermittently touching just enough to take a little power away from the throw. ive now shaved the side of the catapult and so far so good after about 20 tosses. hopefully ill get away with having it work during peak power usage times.

IMG_0957 (resized).JPGIMG_0957 (resized).JPG
#5262 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Thanks Josh, I'll run through the calibration again but I don't remember it ever raising the captive ball that high when I did it twice after the last firmware upgrade.

I just ran the stage test, as Josh described above, adding a ball at the "ready" stage. On :hold" the ball sinks below the playfield and sits there atop the captive ball. On eject, the captive ball raises up and lets the live ball roll out of the stage as in Josh's video. This is after I updated the code. I believe the eject feature comes up in the milkcan escape mode. Not sure where else we would see the captive ball. I hope you can get yours working soon.

#5263 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

[quoted image]
I thought it might be good to give some background on the stage. The first concept for the stage was that it would be a single element that would rotate, almost like a pie with a slice missing, where the ball would be, and as it did so a curtain would appear, and as the ball was rotated to the back it would drop through a hole and down to the subway.
I did not love this since it would be clear that it was rotating the ball away and that would not quite have the right impact. So, I told Joe what I wanted was for there to be a curtain that we could open and close, and when closed, then turn it and drop the ball, and that we could have a second section with a captive ball so we could make it seem like the ball disappeared an re-appeared. Which he thought might be possible, I then said in a perfect world be cool to make it disappear, re-appear and then be able to kick it back out. Joe’s first reaction was ‘not going to happen’
We then brought in the mechanical engineer who was going to design the mech. I described to him what I wanted and he figured out than rather then rotating it, we could have the floor drop out. He used a captive ball for that, since that was in the original concept. While there was no guarantee, he felt that it might work that it can push the ball out. In initial testing I was able to push it our with high reliability and started coding with that in mind.
At one point I said we can probably lose the captive ball and just have a ‘floor’ that we can raise and lower (since I can lower the ball and bring it back into view), but at that point making those kinds of changes were not feasible.
Although I have thought about having the captive ball up and having the player hit it, I decided that was not worth the risk of it potentially damaging the mech. So the captive ball really gets little use in that regard. Other then confusing people who think a ball is trapped in the stage.
Then a few hours before expo, when they had finished the first production samples the eject of the ball was not working. When I went to go see why I saw they had changed the floor of the stage, where it was now coined to create a softer lip in the back. Let just say I was extremely vocal in that a change was made without me being notified, to which I was told that was always the plan, to which I responded, news to me, and that is not what I had been working with for months. But at that point here was no way to change it, since all the parts had been made. The real problem is the coining created a lip that prevents the ball from smoothly moving around the captive ball and rolling out. Filing down the lip was not feasible since it could result in rusting. Some quick attempts, hours before expo, to get around that failed and I shelved it for expo and for quite some time. That is when the setting was added and defaulted to off.
Recently I decided to take another crack to get it to work, and while not 100%, on my machine it works probably 70% of the time, so that is why I indicated that you might want to try the feature. The main downside is while it will handle the failure and send it to the subway, if that happens, you can lose a couple of seconds off the timer.
It is certainly possible, I will make more of the illusions to go back to my original ideas on the ball disappearing, reappearing and then coming back out. I believe now in one mode I do that now, can’t remember.
So, now you know the rest of the story.

I suggest trying to calibrate again, and make sure the game is level side to side. If it still does not work, send me a video and I'll see if there is anything else I can suggest. Filing down the lip that the ball can catch on, on the right side could help, but that can create other issues, like rusting.

Josh, thanks for explaining the newton/captive ball history. I appreciate your trying to develop a now-you-see-it, now-you-don't illusion with the pinball, which is a great idea. Sorry it didn't turn out like you wanted. I ran the stage test, adding the live ball in the READY stage, and got a perfect ejection. It wasn't clear in the menu/manual when or whether to add a live ball to the test, so I wasn't doing it right earlier. The ball ejects during the milkcan escape stage mode.

#5264 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

I suggest turning on the Tournament Setting, which will remove extra balls, and also remove randomness from the game, e.g. the magic shop awards will go in a set sequence as will the cops. I think magic points will also be the same for each player.
I would then consider lowering the ball saves that are adjustable. Maybe not the start of ball, but the others.
Opening the outlanes can be done, but that is a little more work and not sure it buys you enough.

EB should be there own setting not tied to Tournament mode and EB off or maxed out = EB scores points.

#5265 5 years ago
Quoted from Joe_Blasi:

EB should be there own setting not tied to Tournament mode and EB off or maxed out = EB scores points.

any extra ball earned above 'max extra balls' scores points

looking at code, tournament does not currently disable extra balls, so setting max to 0 would have the desired affect.

#5266 5 years ago

Question for Barry or Rosh:

What gauge wire is used in the power cord that ships with Houdini?

Do you think a heavier gauge power cord would handle the wall voltage drops better for the catapult?

I know I had reset issues with my WCS94. I used a heavier gauge power cord and the issues went away for a year, well at least before the reset issue got worse due to the bridge rectifiers failing.
I installed a Kahr power fix daughter board to the CPU board and never had to fix the rectifiers after that.

#5267 5 years ago

If there was a contest for the most ingenious (new) pinball engineered gadget, the Houdini Stage would be right up there near the top, if not the winner!

#5268 5 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

Question for Barry or Rosh:
What gauge wire is used in the power cord that ships with Houdini?
Do you think a heavier gauge power cord would handle the wall voltage drops better for the catapult?
I know I had reset issues with my WCS94. I used a heavier gauge power cord and the issues went away for a year, well at least before the reset issue got worse due to the bridge rectifiers failing.
I installed a Kahr power fix daughter board to the CPU board and never had to fix the rectifiers after that.

Today was my day off.
It was 102 degrees outside.
My power was 115 all day.
Pinball sucked.

Please someone tell me I can get the daughterboard for my Houdini

Then at least I could play it on these troubling days...

#5269 5 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

Question for Barry or Rosh:
What gauge wire is used in the power cord that ships with Houdini?
Do you think a heavier gauge power cord would handle the wall voltage drops better for the catapult?
I know I had reset issues with my WCS94. I used a heavier gauge power cord and the issues went away for a year, well at least before the reset issue got worse due to the bridge rectifiers failing.
I installed a Kahr power fix daughter board to the CPU board and never had to fix the rectifiers after that.

A larger diameter power cord wire would not help the low power issue, low power is low power.

But on the bright side... We will be releasing some information about this in the near future.

#5270 5 years ago

We had a great fotoshoot in our museum with a oscar winning role for the Houdini

www.facebook.com/dutchpinballmuseum

D7A8CCF2-1471-4EC9-AC01-BDA625BD85BC (resized).jpegD7A8CCF2-1471-4EC9-AC01-BDA625BD85BC (resized).jpeg
#5271 5 years ago
Quoted from BarryJ:

A larger diameter power cord wire would not help the low power issue, low power is low power.
But on the bright side... We will be releasing some information about this in the near future.

I like the sound of this!

#5272 5 years ago
Quoted from BarryJ:

A larger diameter power cord wire would not help the low power issue, low power is low power.
But on the bright side... We will be releasing some information about this in the near future.

Very cool! Hopefully it addresses the (less important but still noticeable) flipper drain when the magnets fire

#5273 5 years ago
Quoted from Peer:

We had a great fotoshoot in our museum with a oscar winning role for the Houdini

would love to see someone play that way

#5274 5 years ago
Quoted from Peer:

We had a great fotoshoot in our museum with a oscar winning role for the Houdini
www.facebook.com/dutchpinballmuseum[quoted image]

That there is a Great marketing photo! Thanks for sharing and creating that. Also an Awesome looking place wow!

#5275 5 years ago

I re-calibrated my stage again and it still doesn't come close to ejecting it. Game is level side to side and about 6.5 degree incline. I took a video and tried to upload to YouTube but it keeps rejecting it for some reason so maybe this link to it in my Google Photos will work. Not a big deal but may see if there is some other adjustment I can make to get it working.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WPJ7Uwm8jyo9Pv468

Super exclusive ad from the Pinside Marketplace!
#5276 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I re-calibrated my stage again and it still doesn't come close to ejecting it. Game is level side to side and about 6.5 degree incline. I took a video and tried to upload to YouTube but it keeps rejecting it for some reason so maybe this link to it in my Google Photos will work. Not a big deal but may see if there is some other adjustment I can make to get it working.

what is the pitch of your game?

#5277 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

what is the pitch of your game?

About 6.5 still, I would think a steeper game would make the eject work better, but maybe not.

#5278 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I re-calibrated my stage again and it still doesn't come close to ejecting it. Game is level side to side and about 6.5 degree incline. I took a video and tried to upload to YouTube but it keeps rejecting it for some reason so maybe this link to it in my Google Photos will work. Not a big deal but may see if there is some other adjustment I can make to get it working.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WPJ7Uwm8jyo9Pv468

I added the ball when the test was at the "ready" position, which comes before the Hold position. Don't know that this would make a diff, though.

#5279 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

About 6.5 still, I would think a steeper game would make the eject work better, but maybe not.

Set the pitch to 6 degrees and see if it works.

One would have be on par with the test game to make an accurate comparison. Or at least to have a starting place.

Your captive ball is not dropping as low as on the test game.

#5280 5 years ago

Wow -- played some intensive games on Houdini today -- my birthday present on my actual birthday! I started the day installing the factory blade graphics -- not for the faint of heart. I wet the backsides and managed to get them on without removing the playfield. But it was a nail-biter. Start with the back ends. Later, played a personal best game, 1.9M, completing secret mission combos for the first time. Wound up with 6 Houdini letters (two for stage modes). Also recognized the reference to Bullwinkle Moose in the magic shop...Fun time

1 (resized).jpg1 (resized).jpg3 (resized).jpg3 (resized).jpg4 (resized).jpg4 (resized).jpg
#5281 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

About 6.5 still, I would think a steeper game would make the eject work better, but maybe not.

You would think, but the way it 'works' is the captive ball pushes the ball towards the back, so that when it lowers part way, the ball rolls forward and around. On your video, it seems the ball is moving right and forward, and looks like it is wedging, then as it comes down, it then rolls back and then forward and hits the 'lip'. So the higher pitch could be a factor.

#5282 5 years ago

Anyone else having problems with the ball getting stuck under the planchet? I think some sort of fence to keep the ball out here would be a good idea.

#5283 5 years ago
Quoted from CoPinfan:

Anyone else having problems with the ball getting stuck under the planchet? I think some sort of fence to keep the ball out here would be a good idea.

It's a common problem. If you zip-tie the wires to the base of the support bracket and also at the top of the bracket (two places) and rotate the bracket a little, the ball gets stuck there a LOT less.

#5284 5 years ago
Quoted from WW2GURU:

In regards to the ever annoying catapult deflection, I made some changes that may be worth having a look at depending on what you have going on. Yes the last suggestion by Barry is part of this. Mine has always had an issue deflecting left because of what Ive thought was the low power issue. I still think that is the case for some of it but basically whatever was causing this parasitic loss to the catapults action had many possible causes. Ive tried many things and the problem always returned after a few games. First I pulled the whole assembly back and rotated slightly to get away from the ramp. Then I dropped the ramp an 1/8 of an inch. I lubed the pivot points. All of these changes reduced the issue but my goal is to eliminate it. I found one last thing and only because the catapult has a few hundred pulls now. I found witness marks on the edge of the playfield and catapult. I found it has been intermittently touching just enough to take a little power away from the throw. ive now shaved the side of the catapult and so far so good after about 20 tosses. hopefully ill get away with having it work during peak power usage times.
[quoted image]

Good suggestions. I find mine sometimes deflects off ramp at 26 coil strength, but at 27, it throws the ball to the right of the trunk. I took apart the linkages, and tried to add a washer to shift the cat arm left, but it added too much friction to the arm. I don't see a way to shift the steel bracket over because the attaching screws don't seem to have any play. How did you rotate the assembly? I think a shift to the left would solve my problem.

#5285 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I re-calibrated my stage again and it still doesn't come close to ejecting it. Game is level side to side and about 6.5 degree incline. I took a video and tried to upload to YouTube but it keeps rejecting it for some reason so maybe this link to it in my Google Photos will work. Not a big deal but may see if there is some other adjustment I can make to get it working.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WPJ7Uwm8jyo9Pv468

Fyi, the stage ball eject feature also occurs at end of King of Cards mode.

#5286 5 years ago

Question for rosh - I understand Houdini is implemented with Mission Pinball Framework.

Could you share with us approximately how many lines of source code it takes to implement Houdini?

I ask because I'm wondering what kind of effort it takes to make a real pinball machine (at least this portion of it).

You can make flippers work on a single page but that is very simple.

Thanks

#5287 5 years ago

Houdini is so very not mission pinball framework.

#5288 5 years ago
Quoted from mcbPalisade:

Question for rosh - I understand Houdini is implemented with Mission Pinball Framework.
Could you share with us approximately how many lines of source code it takes to implement Houdini?
I ask because I'm wondering what kind of effort it takes to make a real pinball machine (at least this portion of it).
You can make flippers work on a single page but that is very simple.
Thanks

Quoted from epthegeek:

Houdini is so very not mission pinball framework.

epthegeek is correct, it is not MPF, Houdini is on a framework that was originally based on pyprocgameHD, with a lot of skeletongame ported into it

pyprocgameHD was developed by MOcean and me to add LCD support and other improvements to pyprocgame written by Adam Preble for the multimoprhic P-roc system.

MOcean then added skeletongame to it, to make moving through game states easier and also created a new 'starter game' to help custom game builders getting going quicker.

TNA is based on pyprocgameHD/skeletongame

Epthegeeks' CCC is based the original pyprocgame, with his own expansion to handle color dots on an LCD.

TBL, is built on DPs framework, which like HD/SG is an expansion of the original pyprocgame framework adding things like LCD support.

There are no commercial games that I know if that are using MPF.

Houdini's is around 30,000 lines of code beyond what is in the framework. A portion of that is being refactored and moved into the API framework.

Some of the things we add to our framework we do share back to pyprocgameHD/Skeletongame community.

#5289 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

epthegeek is correct, it is not MPF, Houdini is on a framework that was originally based on pyprocgameHD, with a lot of skeletongame ported into it

Thanks, didn't know. Learn every day. 30K lines is a fair amount.

#5290 5 years ago

Anybody know of a good pyprocgameHD/Skeletongame? I know Houdini fits the bill, i just wanted to sound smart.

#5291 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Anybody know of a good pyprocgameHD/Skeletongame? I know Houdini fits the bill,

American Pinball's next game.

LTG : )

#5292 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Anybody know of a good pyprocgameHD/Skeletongame?

if you ever get the chance to play them, be sure to check out . . .

Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-pinball#post-1057302

Doom
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/doom-custom-pinball-machine#post-3349165

#5293 5 years ago

I played Houdini at Pintastic and thought it was great. I actually got to play it with Joe Balcer which was really cool. While looking for one I was reading the reviews that are all over the place, negative and positive. After finding one and having it on the way somebody startd a topic about Houdini being too difficult. So of course I started to wonder if I made the right decision. I got my game today and hell yeah I made the right decision! I love to have diversity in my collection and this game is awesome. I am a mediocre player at best and this game is not that hard. I will have to chime in on the Houdini being too difficult threat now. This game rocks!

#5294 5 years ago

Houdini is in the house! Well, actually the garage for now. Glad to have joined the club! Absolutely a stunning game.

20180811_184133 (resized).jpg20180811_184133 (resized).jpg
#5295 5 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

Houdini is in the house! Well, actually the garage for now. Glad to have joined the club! Absolutely a stunning game.[quoted image]

Enjoy
Pincades
Jesse T

#5296 5 years ago

Got to movie Binge last night at bobukcat ‘s house. Fun mode! Wish I had done better in the movie modes leading into it as I understand the scoring of that mode is determined by how well you do in the movie modes.

Might need to go back and stream the new code. We had some issues where the game is losing track of the balls. Very odd and inconsistent. We saw the game get confused in multiple, very different situations.

Really liking this game a lot.

#5297 5 years ago
Quoted from Strummy:

I played Houdini at Pintastic and thought it was great. I actually got to play it with Joe Balcer which was really cool. While looking for one I was reading the reviews that are all over the place, negative and positive. After finding one and having it on the way somebody startd a topic about Houdini being too difficult. So of course I started to wonder if I made the right decision. I got my game today and hell yeah I made the right decision! I love to have diversity in my collection and this game is awesome. I am a mediocre player at best and this game is not that hard. I will have to chime in on the Houdini being too difficult threat now. This game rocks!

A lot of the people who don’t like it don’t seem to have put a lot of time on the game. And of course not every game is for every player

#5298 5 years ago
Quoted from chuckwurt:

Got to movie Binge last night at bobukcat ‘s house. Fun mode! Wish I had done better in the movie modes leading into it as I understand the scoring of that mode is determined by how well you do in the movie modes.
Might need to go back and stream the new code. We had some issues where the game is losing track of the balls. Very odd and inconsistent. We saw the game get confused in multiple, very different situations.
Really liking this game a lot.

Yeah, now I have to dedicate all my free time to knocking your Binge Champ and Brazy #2 score off my game. Great time and I've sent rosh an email about some of the random MBs and other stuff we saw. This evening I'm going to lower the pitch down and see if anything changes but I don't expect it will because all the switches and trough optos register properly the way it is but perhaps something else is going on. I do love Houdini and I think the general consensus in our league was the same, well maybe not Hobbs because he lost a couple dollars on it.

#5299 5 years ago

My only dig at the game now that I have plenty of time on it are the jail escape modes. I like the idea of them, but just relies on too many shots that are “shoot and pray type shots”. Other than that, Pretty awesome game.

#5300 5 years ago
Quoted from chuckwurt:

My only dig at the game now that I have plenty of time on it are the jail escape modes. I like the idea of them, but just relies on too many shots that are “shoot and pray type shots”. Other than that, Pretty awesome game.

I'm not sure I follow you on this one, the escape shots are just hurry ups and with mine being set to always have them in the same order AND to easy mode the first one is always the ramp, which only requires you to make it about 1/4 of the way to register the first opto, fairly easy shot from either flipper. Then the right spinner, which is entirely makeable then the keylane (or maybe right inner loop, can't remember for sure, may be the bourbon left over from last night) which is also makeable from either flipper. Unless you get to the last one which is the Milkcan loop I think these are all pretty easy shots in comparison to some of the gymnastics required for some of the illusions and Film modes. Granted you have a limited time to get them but that's why they are called hurry ups.

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