Thanks! What would be the normal output I should be expecting?

I moved the c target and lowered the flippers and seem to be making more milkcan shots and inner loops. Set a new grand champion score right away. I still find the ramp shot to be the most frustrating to find. Never get the elephant where he needs to go.

The container headed to Australia should be landing in the next day or so! I’m SUPER pumped to be getting my game hopefully by weeks end

Congrats on the new highscore!

The ramp shot can be elusive as hell. Last night I made it 15 times in a row, this morning the ball cant seem to find it.

Its possible that rum and diet coke helped my game (maybe a spot of rum in my breakfast cereal?). Lol

Elephants can be hard to manage. Maybe there are some Thai elephant herders near you

If your flippers are weak set the settings higher like 27 or 28 and see if it's too much.
You can always go back down.

Mine are at 27,28 today.

Yes. It works. I am really loving the dropped flippers. Still making the shots no problem!

What is marked on the power supply.

LTG : )

I'm still waiting for my topper for my hobbit se from JJP.

Just had an awesome game:

I Chained milk can, ramp (for multiplier), inner loop for a bonus, and orbit.
Then did 5 high speed loops on the right orbit and then stuck the scoop!
All in the same chain !

Really there should be some kind of combo award for this lol.

Houdini is an AMAZING GAME !

Flow, flow, flow !

I dropped my flippers another 1mm. I'm keeping it there its perfect.

rosh keep those updates coming. This game is on fire!

(to follow)

Just figured i should report that after installing the shaker motor, the catapult starting missing regularly (low) . Was nearly flawless before that.

Not sure if that is the exact cause, but i could see it being enough of a power draw to affect the throw, if some of the issues being brought to light here are true (coil performance ).

There is a fix in the works.

Meanwhile check and monitor wall voltage.

Adjust catapult as necessary.

Really wanting to get back and move the blue target next to the inner loop...

-edit-

Well i forgot to push submit on this, and I just went ahead and did it! Trying out the game in a few minutes..

It takes 15 minutes to carve out the holes in the target bracket and drop the flippers.

Move the c target at least 1/8", more like 5/32".

I just moved mine a little bit more last night from where I had it in the pictures. I had to flatten out the curved part of the hole slightly with a small file.

The game play afterwards is astounding!

See my earlier post with a picture of where I like my flippers.

You got a picture of that fix? Thanks

Not a picture of carving the bracket holes sideways per se.

But I can tell you that I uncrewed the target, carefully noted the side I wanted to carve out since its upside down and backwards now.

Drew on it with a sharpie, carved it out sideways with a 1/8" carbide dremel bit.

Most of my adjustments are listed in posts:

Post #5917, #5916, #5860, #5889

If you want eos switches PM me.

Before I added the EOS switches, high speed loops were problematic as about the 3rd one the ball traveled so fast, if you batted it the flipper would collapse.

This has stopped for the most part.

My flippers are dropped about 3mm now.

How do we make this a Key post for years to come?

This thread has stopped me from buying this machine for now. I have a deposit and down payment in at Little Shop of Games, but I am not going to complete the transaction until this machine plays properly from the factory and the posts reflect that. This was to be my second NIB, first was LOTR which I no longer have. Not a Stern fan for any title. I have been waiting for another company and title I could get behind, JJP has good games, but not titles that interest me. This machine looked good and the AP has been working on making it better throughout, but I just cannot finish the purchase until it is completely right. This may still be my second NIB, but for now, I am on the sideline and looking forward to seeing other games that have been announced.

Lol, must say I see your point. A new reader reading the game is AMAZING as long as you file this, Dremel that, bend this, variak, continuously monitor voltage while playing, shim this, etc etc would seem like a tough way to build confidence as defined by Awesome and amazing..... The game is good but some tend to fine tune Overly to perfection so don't fear what you read.

I have never seen a NIB pin that is perfect in every way.

I have always had to tweak and adjust and assess performance and my local conditions.

That said, first offerings from new pinball companies can be a little shakey lol.

The title is amazing properly set up, as with all games. Setup is key. I think it's very much worth the small effort.

But everything will be sorted out fairly quickly API is just stellar on customer service.

Dont let small issues stop you. Or contact Barry directly about your concerns.

The team is incredibly approachable.

I am glad I got my Houdini. I am only hoping for two things to make the game "perfect" in my eyes.
1. The catapult shot works almost 95% of the time, esp. if I have my other pins off in that room. So a definite voltage picky game
for that too work right. I too think they should address that in future games. No one should have to buy a variac to get it to work right.
2. The coding of the game. I think the animations are tremendous but the code, although fun, is still needing a lot of tweaking/cleanup. I'm sure it's coming but I wish it was a little faster. Rosh did mention he had a bug patch release coming soon last week. I feel although the game itself is awesome and a ton of fun to play all the modes etc, you'll notice some lag times in the code in certain situations. Not sure if it's the type of programming language the game uses as it certainly is different than JJP or STERN...Not a bad thing, just different.

I agree it's taken awhile to refine my game to see what was needed.

But I have it down to about 15 minutes of adjustments.

Easy to do.

Not as bad at the Hobbit or WOZ or AFMr. Early games were a bit buggy, as with all games. Take a look at the IMDN threads. That one is tough to sort out.

All games have bugs or need refinement.

Back in the William's years, you were lucky if it even turned on.

My advice would be to not let it worry you, mine has been great with very minor tweaks and I've done similar stuff to just about every game I've ever bought even used. Unless you have line voltage variations (I don't think I do because the game plays consistently) I think you'll be absolutely fine. My catapult accuracy is 98% and other than a few code things that I know rosh is working on it it fantastic, I hardly play anything else in my collection right now. Here are the things I did tweak (other than the adjusting the catapults and VUK settings per the initial setup instructions, adjusting game settings, etc.):

1) Slightly bent the left ball guide on the Keylane shot to push slow-moving balls to the right sling or flipper, I was getting too many cheap SDTMs. I did this without having to remove anything from the game.
2) Slightly pushed the targets bracketing the right inner loop outwards as far as they will move without loosening any screws or re-drilling anything.
3) Installed the scoop and shooter lane Cliffys.
4) Installed the plastic protector set.
5) Increased pitch to 6.5 degrees.
6) Adjusted / bent some of the loop and lane switches to ensure they register more consistently with fast shots.
7) Cleaned and adjusted the Pop Bumper switches for better action.

I'm going to install the EOS switches because it should be easy, it's cheap, I like to tinker and I'm curious if I'll be able to tell the difference or not.

Sorry, couldn't disagree more with virtually everything you said?? Easy or not if you are still adjusting your game for 15 minutes that is Not the norm of Any game and I have had hundreds and some real basket case used ones. An average Houdini buyer should not review your posts as the norm. The game could use some minor OEM edits
(fact) but nothing to the extent you have been doing. Buy the game (Houdini) with confidence and overlook these posts as an individual specific situation. It's not a watch, its a game of chance and fun. Try to have fun with it!

If you have the game tweaked and running fast, the EOS switches are really nice.

I had my c target bent sideways.
It was ok, but not as dramatic as getting the switch moved to the left. Plus I'm kinda OCD about my games. It looked crooked, so I moved it, lol.

Try dropping the flippers a little, really nice game play.

I think this is the game I’ve had to tweak the LEAST of any game I’ve ever bought. If the catapult doesn’t work, it doesn’t affect the game in any way whatsoever, other than maybe just being a bummer. For example, another favorite game, Dialed In has a from-the-factory issue with the trap door which directly affects the game itself. You can get a ball trapped, or lose entire shots because it won’t close.

Every single game has AN example of something not working. How could they not? The effect of this thread makes it seem like the game has a fatal design flaw which makes it impossible to play. The catapult is annoying if it doesn’t throw consistently but that is not a fatal design flaw. The game flips. And Flips fun!

For anyone who wants to go back to the original female voice. You will find the adjustment under Setting>Features>Movie Voice

IMG_20180917_135723390[1] (resized).jpg

Your luck is obviously better than mine! LOL

I have always had to adjust and tweak all of my NIB games.

Some a lot, some not too much, but they all still needed attention.

I’d love to hear how the EOS switches affect the game. -

I’m gonna record some alternative call outs for you guys and send them along free of charge! Use ‘em, don’t use ‘em. I used to do this for a living full time

Not everyone has issues. It plays perfectly here in CA on location.

I agree with josh.

It depends on ones style of play.
Faster more aggressive play you may see flippers collapse during high activity modes, especially if you have the shaker go off during seance.

If you are a more catch and shoot player you might never need them.

I tend to power through multiballs and like to chain ramps and lanes. EOS switches really helped me a lot.

Cool. Post some pictures of the arrivals.

Houdini has imperfections and its challenging gameplay is certainly not for everyone, but I still find it to be very fun to play as well as beautiful to look at! As such, I have no regrets in purchasing it and I wouldn't let this thread dissuade you from doing so if you really like its many positive attributes.

That said, everyone has their own comfort level for purchases; good luck with your next NIB game whatever it ends up being!

Hey thanks, and I appreciate your tips. I look forward to more chaining shots and spy combos. I did ride a thai tourist elephant last summer and feel guilty now knowing what treatment they get from the handlers.

Would be fun to have some Bess callouts, or tips from the female assistants (no giggles, please).

Oh, and squeaks from the monkey would be fun as he pushes the extra ball across the screen.

I put mine on random. I like hearing both voices, male and female.
Whomever that raspy male voice is, he did an amazing job. Gives it that old time feel.

Hi my name is Ylva and me and my wife Linda just bought our Houdini pinball game. Yesterday night we just put in on legs. We haven’t done any adjustments, and we have only time to play 2 games each.
I would love to get a tips of the settings you do in the beginning.
We have other pinball games to buy it’s AP first game and I’m don’t know the menu.
Can some one point me in the settings so start whit.
In my collection we have a Dialed in LE, The Hobbit Black Arrow, Wizard of oz, Game of Thrones, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ghostbusters.
I wounding of anyone knows about some mods for the game?

Best regards Ylva from Sweden

Welcome to the magic friend!
I love your post. A Houdini in Sweden. That along is magic.
I have a planchette mod.
I'd like to mail you one for Free. Please PM/message me.
Eric

Great job.

I didnt remove the apron however.

I removed the EOS switch brackets from the flipper assemblies.

Removing the EOS switch brackets from the flipper base plates made it easier to assemble everything on my bench.

Then just bolt them back in.

The return springs somehow always give me few minutes of trouble though.

Then solder the ground, and then plug in the molex connectors.

Either way it works!

This just happened to me also.

It was the right flipper. It didnt collapse per se, it just went dead for exactly one flip.

It didn't happen again for the rest of the game and I had 3 seance mb sessions.

Is it a software glitch?
It happened during seance.

rosh has said he has seen a flipper collapse during seance.

The EOS switches have substantially improved the game.

My flippers dont collapse any more on a hard hit.

I agree it's not perfect yet.

Have the magnet settings
Moved? I can’t find them anymore

Congratulations on your purchase! If you haven't already be sure to download the new full-color manual from american-pinball.com and follow the instructions for coil setup in 3-20. Beyond that I would tweak your flipper settings to your liking but don't immediately think that higher is better as it's definitely not in some cases with Houdini. Next I would suggest you use a ball and roll it through all the lanes where there are roll-over switches and ensure they all trigger at both low and high speeds, sometimes a high speed shot will be far enough to the side of the lane that it won't trigger a switch reliably. Adjust the switch arm heights and position as required. If you don't have cliffy protectors I suggest a piece of my mylar for the front of the scoop, the shooter lane and the outhole under the apron.

Enjoy your game!

Can someone remind me the story of these EOS switches?
Thanks

In theory with the current P-roc setup, the computer controls the coil so that it's in a low voltage state and the coils dont burn up when the flipper is held in the up position. .

However if you knock down the flippers from an exceptionally hard hit, or multiple strikes from fast moving balls, the flipper will stay down until you release and press the button again.

Without EOS switches the computer doesn't know that the flipper was knocked down.

Adding them allows the knocked down flipper to stay up as long as the flipper button is pressed.

The EOS switch forces the flipper back up.

Thanks for the excellent explanation. Sounds like EOS switches are a lot like viagra.

Since Houdini uses the 48 volt flipper system it's a little bit easier to knock down the flippers compared to the newer 70 volt systems.

This is especially true if you set the game up to higher than the recommended pitch with higher flipper power settings.

In these cases a 70 volt power supply or a supplemental 20 volt serial add on supply might be able to be added into the flipper circuit.

I imagine that this is part of the fix that is coming.

Open a ticket if you have any problems at all.

In case you haven't read the 208 page manual all the way thru, here are some stacking tips from page 8-173:
"All modes benefit from stacking, with Indian Needle Trick being the one with the most upside from stacking.
A recommended strategy is to lock two balls in the trunk, then light a Movie Mode by spelling FILM at the lower lanes. Then shoot the right inner loop, which starts the Movie Mode and Trunk Multiball at the same time."

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Hello Ylva and Linda, and welcome to the magic. You can find a rules list in the manual, and on this thread at post ##272. Some suggested home settings are in post #4987. My advice is to use easy play settings at first so you can get to know the game. In particular, maximum ball save time and maximum times for stage and movie modes. You can also set it to 5-ball games. Good luck and enjoy.