Installed the Cliffy shooter lane protector. Took about 30 minutes to get them in and positioned precisely so that the ball rolls along the metal edges and doesnt contact the wood of the shooter lane. Now to put it all back together .

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Let's not talk about Hobbit. Keep that batting average up.

Did you use clamps to hold the outside rail while you tightened the screws in?

Clearly you have not played it since the massive, massive update a month or so ago. Revolutionized the game. I am serious.

Yep. And nope. Lots more polish, but the basic playfield design cannot be overcome.

Agree to disagree I guess - I’ve come around on the PF. Since beast mode doesn’t happen every 2 seconds you get a much better appreciation for what you can now see as a constantly changing play field

Neither of these statements are accurate

This is my first game with joe and Jim was not yet at American pinball when the playfield was designed. But our names do start with J

Joe and Jesus?

Yeah, there's just not enough on the playfield and the massive overkill of individually controlled drop targets gets old fast and doesn't add much to the equation in the excitement category. The dragon is still massively under-used for being arguably the centerpiece of the game. Relying so heavily on the screens to differentiate the modes due to the lack of toys gives many of the modes a same-ness that despite some clever lighting, just don't quite reach escape velocity to "awesome."

I mean, it's no Vacation America, but it's definitely the weakest of the JJP machines so far. Pretty sure Black Arrow edition is the end of the line, while all other JJP machines are still being made, and there's supposed to be an all-new WoZ edition coming soon, too. That says the most - the market has spoken.

I hear ya, but what you just described does not match the game I’m playing. I’ll grant you that Smaug feels kind of like a waste. But the modes are really well done - and I was actually talking about how the “beast” mechs are so well integrated into the modes now. The whole experience is just perfect IMO. I suppose it’s the lesser of The JJP games, but what a club to be part of! I sold one a while back and got it back recently and do not regret it one bit. WOZ is an all-time amazing game, but it doesn’t have the smooth shots that TH and DI have. Haven’t played Pirates much but I’m sure that will be awesome too

It would help to use a clamp because there is a little spike of metal that needs to dig into the underside of the outside wood rail. I did apply a clamp to see if I could tighten it more than when pushing down with my left hand. It seemed to help. Cliff has tips on the installation here http://passionforpinball.com/twd/TWDProtectorGuide.html. I didn't remove the rail, just loosened it.

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The reason I asked is you MUST use a clamp when installing or the right side springloaded one will not stay put over time.

Josh and Jpop? Say it ain't so!

Hi,
Is there not any bug remaining?
I did not understand how to choose reversed/inverted flipper. Would like play just reversed but don’t know how to do.
There is also an animation on the screen that looks unfinished at the end of mode or don’t know what it represents. I will take a pic.
Thanks

At the beginning of the mode use one flipper to select which you want (left or right) and then hit BOTH flippers to select that one and start that mode.

I should be dumb or drunk as I did not notice that the choice changed on the screen!

Helped unbox an Australian Houdini tonight.

The small LCD displays vga wording upon power on but that is it. Nothing else during game play.

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Checked the vga extension cable and it's zip tied tight. Checked the connection inside the head and it's screwed in.

What else should be checked?

Haven't yet upgraded to the latest software. Machine was a July build.

Did you check that the usb cable in the cabinet is plugged to the board?

It's the power cable unplugged in head box to the monitor

Sorry small lcd, the pc inside has 2 monitor cables one for headbox and the other the backbox, probably unplugged

The answer to what's "under the apron" is explained in our podcast interview with Nirmal Vasani (Lead Sales and Marketing Strategist - American Pinball). He shares some very interesting info regarding API manufacturing, Houdini, and new info on Oktoberfest. If anyone cares to listen I've provided a link to the episode below. Disclaimer: not trying to plug our show but thought those here may appreciate the info!

http://specialwhenlitpinballpodcast.com/episode-16-nirmal-vasani-salesmarketing-american-pinball

I just installed my cliffys and there was no instructions, so I didn't see this anywhere. Do you think I should loosen the screws and redo with the rails clamped? I also didn't see any info on aligning the protectors under the ball lane. The ball isn't supposed to touch the wood?

Wow, lots of great stuff from Nirmal, thanks!

If you re-do with the rails clamped, you'll have a better chance of them not moving around. And yes, the metal is supposed to align with the point where the wood drops away from flat, so it essentially puts a metal edge on it.

Properly installed, the ball rides the metal edge and hovers just above the wood.

Clamping the rails makes for a tighter seal as the right cliffy is held in with friction on one end, pinned on the other.

Clamping is preferred as the wood screws might strip out when trying to apply this extra pressure.

However, if the wooden rails seem very tight and the screws are as tight as possible and not stripped, you should be ok.

If the right cliffy rotates out of position, it wasn't tight enough.

If it's still in place after many games its installed perfectly.

You're very welcome.

It was my first time on a podcast, glad to hear that people liked it!

Just to clarify, the J & J refers to different people across different games.

It's not an issue of stripping the wood without the clamp. The clamp causes it to set and grab properly, while screwing it back in without the clamp does not. The clamp is mandatory for a correct install as it was explained to me, so I always do it.

Clamping guarantees accuracy and sufficient pressure to imbed the little spike.

I've done it both ways and have had excellent results.

So I guess with care and attention to detail all should be good.

My catapult went from 100 % success rate during the first couple days to a "not making the shot at all" fail rate. I am trying everything. Cleaning, bending, adjusting… it's weird. I don't see any pattern so far.

Check out post #5727. At first my catapult shot was making the trunk shot 95% of the time. Then, seemingly for no reason, it started becoming more inconsistent and shooting to the left. I tried moving the catapult assembly around, cleaning etc but it didn't help for more than a game or two. I downloaded a "slow motion" app for my phone and noticed that the ball seemed to be deflecting off the side of the ramp. I drilled new holes in the ramp (per post #5727) and the ramp easily moved 1/8" - 3/16" to the right. As a matter of fact, when the ramp was in its original location it was under load and when unscrewed it sprung over to its new location.

It took 10-15 minutes to correct after I diagnosed the problem and since moving the ramp (aprox 150 games ago) I don't think it has missed more than once or twice.

I assume you guys tried just adjusting the coil strength and making sure game is level?

I did the same thing, moving my ramp to the right. After several games, the shot would consistentlyiss left. But I would advise before you drill considering whether the api power upgrade would be a better solution. I have moved my ramp back to its original position with no ill effects. The ramp may only be an issue when the power is low or erratic. I also notice that when I lower the coil strength, the ball still flies straight with no ramp deflection. It hits the trunk too low to go in, but it is straight. My trunk accuracy was 70% before moving the ramp, and 76% after pivoting the whole mechanism. So my hope is the power upgrade will get it to 90%.
.

Got my power package!!

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Good! Mine is enroute. Let us know how it goes.

Lloyd,

I've put one in my back pack for you, remind me at expo to give it to you.

rosh

Why thank you. Much appreciated !

LTG : )
Disclaimer : I'm looking forward to seeing my American Pinball friends !

Prob tomorrow morning, but I will have a report! I have a test scenario that I can consistently make the catapult miss, and then not miss by turning off a dehumidifier on that circuit.

Literally JUST used that for the first time tonight. I had not needed to adjust the flippers before, but i tried out dropping them 1/8” and .. yeah not for me. Way more SDTM, felt like a Trudeau game. You guys might want to consider cutting them with a TINY bit more tolerance - I used mine on the flipper and it it so tight (maybe it has to be?) it ripped off the steampunk gear thing on the right flipper. I was sad.

They are tight and trick to get on. I hope you can fix the flipper topper. If not, they are available at the API shop now.

Cliffy's in the house! And the blade protectors. Next up, the new regulated power supply. Might be a productive weekend!

little tiny spot of glue was all it needed, thank goodness!

Just got my power supply upgrade. I'll try to install it tomorrow night.
My power tonight is 116.5v.

This will be a literal game changer

It couldn't have arrived at a better time !

Of course we are going to want a complete review, with pics.

All right -

Got the power supply installed (Sorry, no pics yet). It installed very easily - took me about 20 minutes, tops. Most of that time was figuring out how to strip the wires without bashing my hands into the cabinet walls. there's not a ton of slack on the wires that need to be connected.

The power supply slides right in along the main one, and screws down right next to it. One ground wire that goes to the power box, and you're in business. Seriously, it was easy.

I am also now a fan of the "Wall Nuts" which I have seen before but never actually used. Those are simple! Almost as good as the "SharkBite" connectors (shout out to plumbers in the house!)

Anyway - the game definitely needs a set up again. I am going to reset to factory default actually, but my lower catapult worked great on factory settings - now however it needs a big boost. It is falling short consistently on every throw, and that's without my additional load on the outlet. I.e. it is throwing with less power out of the gate. But it is consistent, so that's an easy fix.

The upper catapult is going to the wireform just fine, no problems there. I also needed to dial my scoop coil up a bit. I forgot to check whether that was at factory, but I seem to remember that I had dialed that back down.

I will report back once I do a factory reset.

Oh, also took off the factory rubbers (Superbands I think?) and put on good 'ol red rubber ones. IMMEDIATE improvement. Huh. Whodathunk.

Ok I reset things to stock coil settings and it is playing perfectly!! This is an unusual mod, to be sure, but it is worth every single penny. Absolutely awesome. Catapult never missed a single time, even with a dehumidifier, and 5 others pins running on the same
Circuit. That’s stable.

Had to fool with the scoop a little, but I had never adjusted the angle of the scoop itself, so i bent it up a tiny bit and that solved that. No issues with coil.

I also went through the latest beta code, and although after I cheated my way to and through the Master Magician mode (unfortunately it still resets) but I think I otherwise tested every other scenario possible. Very cool game this Houdini!

I had a Houdini and sold it. I miss it this thread is the most consistently bumped to the top, reminds me of the good old times. Really well done machine for sure.

Thanks for the quick report. The fact that it is playing great on factory default settings and under a high-power load sounds very encouraging. I too got a MM reset error after losing the final ball with the new beta software. I let Josh know and sent my logs to him. Hope he can figure out the culprit. I guess the old power transformer is disconnected and nonfunctional now?

No, it looks like the new power supply is supplemental - I think Barry confirmed this in the thread somewhere. There are still some connects to the old transformer (not sure what exactly), and you bridge between it and the new PS. Then the main power to the power box itself is connected with a spliced connection ending in 2 molex cubes.