This looks good.

Is there currently a coordination with European distributors how to work it the way with the Meanwell RSP-750-48?
A solution for us european customers through the distributor and AP would be great.

Will also the Menwell RSP-500-48 work? It is much cheaper in europe.

Hi,
Is there a difference between the magic glass and the invisible glass?
Thanks

Similar but not the same product as I understand it. Stern HD, PDI and Invisiglass are all essentially the same chemical coating on glass product with slight differences.

Here's a comparison of those 3 - Magic Glass came later.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-hd-vs-invisiglass-vs-pdi

Well, it helps to have a 5 ball setting...

I have both and they are almost identical.

Maybe offer just the harness to EU customers if they can get the power supply faster and cheaper in Europe?

Sorry to ask, but why a power supply? Does anyone need it, even in Europe?
Thanks

I have problems with the voltage. (See posts before)
So I'll need a fix. Shipping is expensive from US. And i bought the houdini at an European Distributor. So i will contact him. But if there is no solution like all Distributors in Europe get powersupplys from AP and send Them to the customers (what might be possible) or any other Chance to get one.
i'll have to find a solution for myself.
And so i have 2 options buy a variac or a powersupply both are about 145€ here in Europe.

So our european law say that i have 6 month time to mark a problem and the Distributor have 2-3 trys to fix a problem. AS a customer the Distributor has to find a solution for me.
And then the distri has to find a solution with the producer (about costs and stuff)

Have you emailed your distributor?

I would get the power supply.
The variac does not boost amperage or current into the system like the new power supply does.
The new power supply regulates the 48v power and works similarly to the variac but better.

The added current is especially nice for games that have shaker motors. The extra power will be awesome.

I cant wait to get mine!

You get issues too? How many get this?

I have zero issues with the game as far as power. It works as designed.

I do have issues with my wall power. It rarely works as advertised.

Since power, food, transportation and housing are considered luxuries in the state of Nevada, they can be sketchy.

My power can range from 114v to 123v in a single 4 hour period. Up down and all around...

This affects all my games. I have them on variacs now and its been wonderful.

Houdini could use a little more internal power especially during seance multiball with the magnets firing all the time.

This power supply upgrade looks like it is perfect for my needs.

Do this (and someone basically posted this): See if they can simply send you the wiring/connector harness in a small envelope (it's not big) from the US. Buy the power supply (Meanwell RSP-750-48) from Amazon EU or another third party. The wires simply attach to the power supply w/terminals. Easy peasy and you're good to go. At some point, it's just a matter of making things easier rather than going thru a distributor that might take awhile. I would verify w/AP that this is an exception and wouldn't void the warranty. Just my 2 cents tho.

Tisk, tisk, tisk...oh thee of little faith. Plenty of Houdini supporters here (and a couple of whiners). It was a fair deal w/the credit.

This was as about a "do the right thing" as you can get. You guys are defining a great business in the way you're dealing with the inevitable stuff that comes up.

I want to Thank Barry and the AP team for continued research, support, and working this all out.
The $150 is icing on the cake for Great Customer Support.
I emailed Barry the other day and he got back to me within a couple hours. In general AP returns all emails within 24 hours unless its the weekend. Of all the current companies they lead the industry for addressing issues and response time.

Finally was able to play Houdini today. Drove about 7 hours today to do so (well Houdini and other new stuff they had there).

First off, I'm astonished how different people can view one and the same thing.

Playfield looks incredibly rich, meaning it is full and kinda looks like jewelery-ish... with it's gold tones reflecting everywhere. If Houdinis Playfield was a clock, I would wear it, it's so sparkling. I had (and have) an issue with the used Photoshop effects and partial Clipartyness, but that is about non existant in person. Houdini was Set up next to a Star Trek and Game of Thrones, and compared to that games it looks like pure gold.
Only thing looking cheap (plastic) was that chain hanging on the right ramp,... and *cough* the LCD animations at times.
(Personally I'd prefer good stills over mediocre animation. Magic Girl did that if I remember correctly.)

Next up was playing it of course an altough I'm not a good player I didn't have any problems with bricked shots.
It played perfectly well, so I put some games on it.

Did like the idea for the card trick video mode, didn't like the contextless 'first shoot here then here' type of missions.

Lighting is kinda awesome, like when you hit the stage all the GI turns off, except the one sourrounding the stage.
(Adds to that world under glass feel.)

One big bummer:
Catapult shot was not working. Ball was shot a bit diagonally and hit the left cabinet wall, ricocheting one time in the trunk by accident.
Trunk not fully closing as well, the lid kinda set loosely on the assembly.

So my first impressions compressed is that I absolutely like what I'm seeing but am not 100% sold yet.
Have to play it again with all mechs working and with sound (didn't really hear a thing, wich is sad because I like the sound package).
But seeing it I'm really happy with that spot that AP is setting themselfes in, between Stern and JJP, with a game that is rich but not overly convoluted and expensive. Compared to what's in there Houdini feels like a bargain.

Great review! Hard to dispute any of this

Really it is, but so much more !

It's an awesome game in it's own right, with nothing to compare it to.

What sold me was:

1- a fresh new company.
2- a fresh new programmer.
3- a fresh approach to pinball.
4- meeting Barry and team at TPF and how approachable they are.

I didnt want the same old feel as hundreds of other titles.

Plus the game is stunning and just plain FUN!

API has really delivered on this one.

Programming is nice, especially for a first effort, but I don't think anyone would argue against getting better artists and art direction for the animations. They are overall very amateurish. Gets the job done, but that's about it. They need staff from a professional video game background to handle the animation art and art direction.

OK - time to report back on some simple changes I made to make my catapult (now) 100%!
BACKGROUND: Catapult was missing wide left often (83% hit rate lifetime) - more power I gave it, the worse it missed

Full disclosure, I am using a Variac but not sure it is helping with this issue because I had it before and was not getting 100% on my catapult.
Variac is set to 122.4 volts and my standard wall power is 124 volts

so .. here is what I did:

1) Straightened the catapult within the play field by elongating the mechanism frame holes as in previous posts (it's now straight)
2) Added a small piece of adhesive backed Velcro (fuzzy side) to the left side of the physical catapult (see pics)
3) Set lower catapult setting to #27
4) With glass off, I then tested the catapult OVER 40 times and was PERFECT each time (theory is that velcro is pushing/aiming ball to the right)
5) Not only did I test it BUT i tossed balls into the seance VUK at the same time the catapult was firing (did that many times)

The catapult still hit on target every single time!

Got quite a score doing this

The velcro is oval shaped and I cut about 1/3rd of it off the full length and about 20% off each end to fit the catapult (note I used the fuzzy side of the 2 pieces). Link below

https://www.amazon.com/VELCRO-Brand-Wafer-Ovals-Pkg-Black/dp/B003SBYKEA/ref=sr_1_7
IMG_2453 (resized).JPGIMG_2454 (resized).JPGIMG_2455_LI (resized).jpgIMG_2456 (resized).JPGIMG_2457 (resized).JPGIMG_2459 (resized).JPG

Great job!

I was thinking maybe a more permanent solution would be to install a couple washers under the right side of the catapult frame 1/16" maybe.

Maybe your catapult is slightly tilted/misaligned compared to others?

Either way its working !

Try the washers maybe and report back?

This would be good to know as an adjustment.

So glad to see this come out. Just ordered mine. Love my Houdini, but it drives me nuts when the lower catapult doesn't make the shot if I have another couple games turned on. I've had people over to play various games recently and usually explain to them that the Houdini lower catapult will come up short if other games are played so they don't think it's a design flaw (as one mentioned to me)...When people are coming over I have adjusted the lower catapult power up a point or two but then it sporadically throws the ball wildly to the right. This looks like the perfect solution...looking forward to installing it...thanks entire AP team!!

I think Matt Kern is the composer and I hope he gets some more work from API.

I’ve been contemplating buying a Houdini, and even have a buddy who is a distributor who has one for me. But I had never really been able to play one for more than a few minutes at the Pin-A-Go-Go.

I live in Sacramento and had to take a business trip to Salt Lake this week. On a lark, I checked the map, and west of the Rockies there are only 7 machines in locations. Turns out one of them was walking distance from my hotel. Also turns out another of the 7 is two blocks from where I work in Sacramento. Destiny speaking to me, I took the walk and played about 10 games.

Not so sure why people are saying it’s such a difficult game. It’s demanding, but I didn’t find it that daunting to make a lot of the shots – and I’m not a great player. DS-NADINE‘s review was pretty much my experience with both play and quality. The catapult was basically working, made all but two out of several dozen tosses. The box was stuck open, which was better than the opposite. No doubt something that I could deal with at home. No problem with the flippers and multi-ball. I even got dialed into the milk can shot.

The only shot that was weird was the Stage Alley. The ball kept impacting the bottom of the sign and about every third shot didn’t make it through. Not sure what that was about.

It was flanked by Deadpool and Game of Thrones. Played both -eh… Same old. I thought Deadpool was okay, but kind of clunky and obnoxious [but it is Deadpool]. Houdini was a much better game from my perspective.

The one my buddy has comes with the blades, shaker, and upgraded glass, so that’s kind of fun. The game is beautiful Definitely jazzed about it - now I have to off my TZ starting this week.

The music in Houdini is great. Really listenable and doesn't get old.

In the menu settings I see "Attract Music"...
Wonder if that will be added in next update...Rosh?

Exactly. Most of the new offerings are "Meh... "

Buy Houdini, the gameplay is familiar yet unique.

It's a great game.

I’m going to be a little disappointed if I’ve got to spend another $250 AUD after spending 12k to make the game play properly. It’s not the end of the world but I’ll never be buying direct from AP being in Australia so hopefully they sort us out through the distributor. I just feel it’s $250 I shouldn’t have to be forking out l. But we’ll see how our distributor figure it out.

Have you ever seen a magician bum a $20 for a trick, destroy it, then give it back inside an orange? This is kind of like that. You have to admit that AP's dedication to the theme is pervasive...

Its also quite possible that you won't even need the power supply upgrade.

Here’s hoping.

Selling my Houdini

Low Plays under 200
Side Blades
Shaker Motor
Theatre Decal

$6350.00

I'm in York PA

Games is listed in the Marketplace ads.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/69038

Hard to believe there could be a better deal in Pinball than that out there, someone is getting a whole lot of pinball fun for your dollar.

Seriously - compare that to a Stern pro or ANY JJP price. The game is tough, no doubt about it. I keep coming back, even when it pisses me off though. Like Twilight zone

What are some of the high scores you guys have seen?

Can you post a link when they come out?

Thanks!

My highest game was 2M something, but that was with a number of “OMG that went in?!” Shots

Thanks for the response! A buddy and I put up 2 crazy scores today so was looking for something to compare them too! Prior to today I was around the 1.8mill mark.

2.9 million here.

I agree the music is great. But has anyone noticed the incredibly low bass note that happens late in the Vanishing Elephant mode? It only happens once. It sounds like its coming from deep down in the Earth's mantle, like the ground is about to open up and swallow me because I can't hit consecutive ramp shots....

I haven't noticed it with the stock speakers. Do you have a sub?

Do you have the Shaker motor?
Elephant mod even better with it.

Next release ready for some owner beta testing, PM me if interested in being a guinea pig. Bug fixes and improvements, not much new.

Matt also doing music for Oktoberfest -- quite different and suspect it will be very well received, the team here is really enjoying what we have gotten so far.

I’d love to my games sitting a hour from my home and I’ve gone away for the week next week I’ll get to play my first game on it

No, just stock sound. It is a deep bass groan that lasts about 3 seconds.