(Topic ID: 183206)

American Pinball Houdini thread

By lllvjr

7 years ago


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41 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

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Post #145 Houdini Pinball initial flyer Posted by HighProtein (7 years ago)

Post #184 Initial reveal at TPF Posted by SilverballNut (7 years ago)

Post #190 Introductory Price of Houdini Posted by 1iblind (7 years ago)

Post #198 Initial Pictures of Machine Posted by lllvjr (7 years ago)

Post #229 Playfield Close-Up Pics Posted by bigd1979 (7 years ago)

Post #284 Machine feature details Posted by rosh (6 years ago)

Post #312 More feature details Posted by rosh (6 years ago)

Post #385 Double switch lane picture Posted by pinballrockstar (6 years ago)

Post #420 Pinball show appearance schedule for Houdini Posted by rosh (6 years ago)

Post #434 Houdini pics from Allentown show Posted by PinballSTAR (6 years ago)


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#4672 5 years ago
Quoted from thedarkknight77:

Got a chance to meet Joe and play Houdini at Pintastic New England and all I can say is wow!! What a great first machine for American Pinball. I could not believe the build quality of this game, Joe and the team did a fantastic job. The art is both beautiful and mystical in a pleasing way, when you stare at the backglass it almost appears to be 3D. Houdini’s eyes follow you no matter where you move. I had no issues making the shots so I was confused about some of the earlier feedback. Regardless, this game is truly a unique piece of playable artwork. Well done American Pinball!

I played these at Pintastic too and ended up buying the last one from counter. it wasn't one that Joe dialed in, though. I will need to tweak it myself.

3 weeks later
#5009 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

Magicians in this place were certainly not Houdini experts
[quoted image]

That chain is usually staffed by college kids. There is a decent Houdini museum and shop in Times Square next time you are in nyc.

#5011 5 years ago

Would someone please ID what this and what it is for? It was in the Houdini goody bag. Thanks!

20180728_133803 (resized).jpg20180728_133803 (resized).jpg
#5014 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

You can attach it to the LCD; it's for power on/off, brightness, the menu, etc. Just like a regular computer monitor

Quoted from rosh:

Just to be clear, for the mini-lcd on playfield, but you will likely never need it

Got it, thanks!

#5019 5 years ago

My trunk catapult shoots both far left and far right erratically. not sure how to adjust that. Coil strength is 27. Score was from 5 ball game set up easy peasy.

20180729_154136 (resized).jpg20180729_154136 (resized).jpg
#5023 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I'd also make sure that it is dropping all the way down, though I suspect the switch wouldn't register the ball being there if it didn't, just thinking maybe the ball doesn't always end up centered in the catapult arm.

Yes, that may be it, because i bent the switch arm up high because the ball wasnt always pushing it down far enough to activate the switch. I readjusted it lower and now arm seems to be firing centered most of the time. The arm linkage has a bit of wiggle, but all seems to be connected properly.

#5026 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:LOL
I have games where I brick almost every shot, and then I’ll play one more game, and suddenly it’s Grand Champion territory!
Finally got around to removing the washer on the plunger arm (the one inside the cab) and holy crap what a difference, totally smooth now.

Same here so far. Plunger seems smooth, but i can rarely hit the top skill shot target. I will try it without washer. BTW, anyone see the captive stage ball during play? I havent yet.

#5028 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

There is another, more involved adjustment for hitting the target - you have to slightly bend the metal ball guide a little (wider? I think?)
http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2018-5/Houdini-Skill-Shot-Fix.pdf

Thanks, I did see that procedure. I'll try it if I can't zero in on the right level of plunge. The autofire makes the top target sometimes, so I should be able to...

#5033 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Loosen the brass receiver bar screws and see if it is able to lock better

That works, but you have to find a happy medium. loosening the screws allows the yellow lever to be swung over to the far right, but it also seems to make the bar less secure/tight. Got to add beer foam to make it snug.

#5057 5 years ago
Quoted from pinghetto:

I just took apaprt my catapult and gave this a shot. It didn't make any difference and still shoots to the far left when the coil strength is turned up enough to make it the distance of the trunk. If I turn it down (and it short shoots the ball), it's straight as an arrow.
Brian

With the coil at 27, mine makes the trunk most of the time. But it can go on a streak of wide left shots, like 4 or 5 in a row. Then I test it and it works fine. I am trying it at 26 now. 25 is too weak to make it.

#5060 5 years ago
Quoted from MightyGrave:

So disassembled the whole Theater and the captiball servo. Was a 30min job. For the first time not bad.
Then I open the servo and found the problem why it's dead. Two solder joints burned and it smelled strogly scorched.
I think during transport the small pcb in the servo is slipped or it was not not properly soldered by the third party.

Did the behavior of the captive ball change after your fix? When does it show up for you? Mine raises during the milkcan escape, but i dont see it much overall. Not sure what it is supposed to do in the game.

#5072 5 years ago
Quoted from Strummy:

How do the owners who have had Houdini for a while like it? I see reviews all over the place. I have one coming but am curious.

I've played it for a week at home. I love the features such as return from the dead, where you save a drained ball. I like the orbit, ramp, catapult shots, stage mech and the toys and art very much. The "limited animation" video is not sophisticated, but it fits the era of the theme (early 1920s). The main concern before I bought it was that it would be too hard to be fun. I am a moderately poor player who doesn't use dead flips and flipper passes and slap saves, etc. So I set the game up with 5 balls and easy goals and I am having 15-20 minute games, scoring 500,000 to 2 million, and getting at least 2 Houdini letters and extra balls per game, a couple of games I got 5 letters. So it is well within my limited skill range and a lot of fun. Also, my aim and ball control moves are improving. So I will probably set the game to be harder in a month or two (shorter ball saves, harder extra balls, etc.).

#5201 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I know the patched code is available and I'm loading it in now but when I was testing to see if a two player game always reset I actually ended up with my highest score ever (~1.76M) on player two and thought great, now it's going to reset and I can't even put in on there. Nope, it let me enter my name and never reset.

Congrats!

#5202 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

18.8.5 is now available on the code update page.

Should we do the updates in order or can we skip 8.1 and go right to 8.5?

#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.

#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.

#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

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#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.

#5305 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!

I played it there too after Joe Balcer tweaked the settings, and had enough success that i took a chance and bought the last one in the box there. I've been racking up some good scores. Unfortunately, I
keep having to tweak the trunk catapult.

#5371 5 years ago

On the trunk catapult, I'm wondering if there is a way to adjust the throw left or right other than coil settings. Can the arm or whole mechanism be shifted slightly? Being plastic, you cant permanently bend the catapult arm.

#5376 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Last night I dreamed about playing Houdini and the trunk would automatically move left or right to catch the ball everytime.
Can the spoon part that fits under ball be rotated slightly on the arm and be held with a set screw? Wouldn't take much movement but it would enhance the chance to make the shot.
rosh Are you guys exploring notching the baseplate and offering those to customers? I'd like to see a pic of what others have tried that worked.

I tried a washer to shift the spoon arm, but it created too much pivot friction.

#5385 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

Trunk catapult shot varies greatly. The amount of tolerance is too great and I don't think power supply stabilization will fix it fully.
Sometimes the ball banks off back wall inside trunk. This is sweet spot and might work 5 x in row. Then it starts hitting back panel of game 3 inches to left for maybe x 10 times. Then it switches an inch to right but falling short of front trunk wall and hits the corner.
So throwing arm needs less movement and spoon should rotate slightly to be adjustable. Another option is mount a magnet behind trunk and tie into mode.

I see the same behavior. The trunk shot seems more likely to miss later in a game, and during chaotic periods such as multiball. Maybe its power gets sapped by all the coils firing its power or gets fatigued somehow. During tests, it is almost always accurate.

#5425 5 years ago

A question on the 3-ball lock under the ramp on the left: When a ball gets locked there, the trunk jackpot value is increased. But I never have more than one ball locked there at a time. When I send a second ball into the lock, the first ball is always immediately released. I've never had 2 balls stay locked, never mind a third. I don't think this is the way it is supposed to operate. Appreciate any details about this, thanks! BarryJ

#5431 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

When the first few machines went out we were seeing some issues with the left lock switches and I adjusted code to not keep more than one ball there, vs sometimes allowing two be held (there would never be three kept there). We quickly identified the issue with the switches and replaced them (including all machines that had shipped), and that resolved the issue. I've never adjusted the code back, since there is not a lot of need to keep more than one staged there, not to say that may not change in the future.

Got it. Thanks for clarifying, Josh. Glad to know my lock is working fine.

#5438 5 years ago

OK, Josh, rosh I collected all the Houdini letters, and then got a scrolling screen of instructions describing phase 1 and phase 2 of what I assume is the master or mini magician mode. The first part was a multiball with a special twist. After I was down to a single ball, I needed to make a flashing shot. But time ran out before I could make it, and the flippers died and the ball drained - the narrator said something like "Maybe Next Time." Then I got a blue screen and some tiny computer text I couldn't read, and the game rebooted. It did not save my score (about 2.8 million) or any reference to that last game. So I'm thinking this might be a bug associated with master magician mode. (This may have only been a mini-magician mode, because I did not complete the secret missions). Should I send in a log?

#5448 5 years ago

Anyone else get to a wizard mode yet? Mine didn't end well.

#5469 5 years ago
Quoted from MMP:

We really love the game so far, but have had a couple of issues. Tilt not working, not thrilled about that but hopefully I can fix. I've lowered some requirements for Houdini letters, had some good luck and entered wizard mode. Got the magician's final exam text for a second and then the game rebooted. That was a bummer.

Ooh, I know the feeling. I played the two phases of that mode, drained quickly, and then the game rebooted. Didn't save my score. Hopefully this is fixed in next update, tho it may be a year before I get to the mode again, even with a 5 ball game and a few extra balls.

#5477 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Yes, and I've also noticed that for many modes (Elephant, Haldane, etc.) when you need to hit a ramp it you hit it slowly and it takes a while to get all the way down the ramp, sometimes with a nice nudge to keep it from dropping through the hole, it won't award the shot at all. This doesn't only happen during MB or when the ramp is lit for a combo secret mission shot.

You are correct about that misleading ramp light. I find the ramp one of the toughest shots to make consistently in terms of completing it. I even raised the left flipper coil strength to improve completions, but it hasn't helped much.

#5507 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

I can’t nail the ramp on demand from the left, but if I have a dead stopped ball cradled, I can make the ramp most of the time. It barely has the juice to get up there though so if you’re not squarely in the middle, the left-to-right motion will rob it’s energy and it won’t make it all the way up

I have morr luck backhanding the ramp than I do the inner loop. I cant seem to find the right spot on the flipper when cradling the ball. Is the inner loop
shot made from a cradle position?

#5518 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

No, you have to get it just enough out of the cradle in order to clear the right sling. It’s easier if your game is set to a higher angle (although don’t do that because everything else gets out of alignment). The shot isn’t easy, but it’s fairly repeatable. I make it about as often as I make the ramp - maybe 50/50 or so

Will keep trying to zero-in the backhand shots.

#5561 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Ooooook team...
I just had an incredible game, 25 minutes - only 1.5 million but I cleared 5 Houdini letters, started all 4 FILM modes, started I think 7 stage tricks, cleared 4 escapes and cleared 4 secret missions. I thought I would AT LEAST get a mini-magician mode somehow, from the films maybe? What the hell do I have to do? And the trunk multiball is still way too short for how hard it is to achieve

Based on what I've experienced, master magician mode starts after 7 Houdini letters are earned, no matter how you earn them. I set mine up to award letters liberally, for now.

#5634 5 years ago

Broke my right flipper spring after 2 months of home use. No spares lying around either.

#5645 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Bend one of the coils out on the longest of the two pieces and make a new, shorter, tighter spring until you can get a full new one.

Smart idea. I was gonna rob one from Lord of the Rings.

#5650 5 years ago

7 CHAIN LINKS EARNED! I boosted the flipper coil strengths to 23 each (was at 21, 20). Suddenly I could make the full ramp and orbits and stage target shots more consistently, and wound up blowing away my old best link score of 2. Pitch remains 6 degrees. So nice to have such flexibility on all the coils...Though am getting more airballs now.

#5653 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

It's my opinion (and a few others)
That the game plays more excitingly at a slightly higher pitch and slightly higher flipper power.
I started at 5.9 to 6.0 and have since adjusted to 6.3 on pitch.
I raised the flipper power accordingly.
You might get an airball now and again but the game seems a lot more exciting and fun.

I had started it out low because I assumed that higher speed/power was more appropriate for flow games vs. aim-and-shoot games, which I think Houdini tends more to be. But the boost is upping the fun factor, as you point out.

#5727 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

After properly leveling the game at about 6.2 pitch, and raising my flipper power back to the defaults, I am finally kicking some butt on this game. My only complaint remains that I think it’s a bit too hard to get to the wizard modes. I can not start a SINGLE one, even on 2+ million games that are lasting 15/20 minutes

You can set the game up to award Houdini letters more liberally - you can get 2 letters for performing enough stage modes, and 2 letters for another set of modes (escapes, trunk jackpots or magic shop visits, I can't recall). The hardest letter to get is for the combo shots (mission). But you don't need it if you get two letters for other modes. No matter how you get the 7 Houdini letters, you will get master magician mode. I've had 5-7 letters and barely 2 million points. It's how I set it up for easier achievement.

Oh, and thought you might appreciate my Larry Talbot mask....

talbot (resized).jpgtalbot (resized).jpg
#5728 5 years ago

My trunk catapult shot was pretty consistently veering to the left, deflecting off the clear plastic ramp. I had a 72% success ratio. So I decided to move the ramp to the right, out of the way. The alternative was to shift the catapult, but that seemed risky because the playfield cutout for the catapult arm is so precise. I unscrewed the ramp at the two posts closest to its exit, and the ramp naturally shifted to the right without me pushing on it. I tested this location and the trunk shot immediately worked 100% fine. So I carefully drilled two new screw holes to the left of the originals and reinstalled the ramp. The trunk shots are now 90% accurate. A power modulation solution may make this drastic mod unnecessary, but I went ahead and am comfortable with it, though I dislike defacing playfield plastics. I will order a mint ramp to save for future use if needed.

ramp (resized).jpgramp (resized).jpg
#5735 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

that mask is outstanding!
I have absolutely gotten 7+ Houdini letters and not started the mode. how do you actually start it? scoop shot?
I think i've been playing Dialed in too much, where you have those pre-determined multiballs and the Chaos in Quantum City mode before Showdown/armageddon.

Thanks. It was made by former Don Post master painters a few years ago. I completed the 7 letters and got a scrolling screen of instructions for phase 1 and phase 2, which went by way too fast. I then got a multiball (6), so I must have made the triggering shot by luck. Perhaps it was the scoop, which seems logical. I hope someone posts a screen shot of the instructions.

#5736 5 years ago
Quoted from GSones:

I've been considering this modification as well. My catapult has been missing to the left and I believe part of the problem is the ball hitting the edge of the ramp when launched. There was also a post a while back about the catapult scoop hitting the edge of the playfield cutout (on the upper left edge of the scoop). The poster trimmed of a little bit of the scoop to allow more clearance between it and the cutout. I don't recall if this totally fixed his problem but this may also be a contributing factor.

In the post, he tried a number of changes that all helped a bit, but didn't get it to 100%. He saw some wear from the cat saucer hitting the edge of the cut-out, which I didn't see. If you can shoot a video clip and watch it in slow motion, you maybe able to see the ball hit the ramp or not. At higher coil strengths, the ball never goes left, it goes way off to the right consistently. So that led me to suspect ramp interference at the lower coil strength. So far, working ok. I hate having to put holes in things, though.

#5810 5 years ago

Had the privilege to quickly tour the API factory today and play a table with Josh. Thanks for taking the time!

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#5812 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Soooo, I reached what I -think- was the master magician mode. I’m playing a game, and I must have gotten my 7th Houdini letter - and all of a sudden the game starts rocketing balls at me, the Flippers are reversed and I had to hold them down to flip (like the hard strsightjacket mode) and a TON of text is scrolling by on the screen - I didn’t know what happened!
Then I tried to keep up for a bit and “prove I’m a master magician” and when I have lost a few balls I eventually notice the screen is black, nothing on it. And I lose my last ball, hit 3 million, and the game goes dead. Shuts off, monitor says “no signal” and I realize it’s rebooting.!!! And no it did not save my score.
All I was trying to do was get all 5 film modes and I think the last film mode finished and I got the 7th Houdini letter and master magician started. I think ? Never got the film wizard mode.

Same thing happened to me. Josh is fixing the ball handling in next code release. I had 2.8m racked up.

#5813 5 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Ask them at Expo. Maybe they can build two different games at the same time. Especially when they move to the new building.
LTG : )

Per Josh, they will build both in the new larger location they are moving into.

#5815 5 years ago
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

Just came across these "Back Stage GameBlades" offered by Tilt Graphics for Houdini:
https://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/product-page/houdini-steam-punk-gameblades
Attractive artwork and given the concerns regarding the durability of the artblade material offered by American Pinball, these look to be a nice option!

I like the backstage graphics. Since the theme brings you to a theater, the insider-theater API art makes logical sense, but so does the outside-theater/alley- way art. Steampunk doesn't seem to advance the core theme as much as the other options do, but corresponds to the cabinet well.

#5816 5 years ago
Quoted from BarryJ:

If you are having problems with the Lower Catapult making it into the Trunk.
Try this..
Should be on the web site shortly also.
[quoted image]

Is this cleaning to correct height of throws or left-right aim?

#5832 5 years ago
Quoted from MightyGrave:

Hey guys,
so my Houdini works now on the latest Code.
Also the whole theater works fine.
Thanks to Barry and the AP-Team for Support us!!!
During the game, I was able to observe three phenomena:
1: Catapult shot
Coilsetting is 27 ball goes strong right next to the trunk.
Coilsetting is 26 ball goes right in front of the trunk
I put on new washers to the coil and the arm of the catapult so there is now no movement to left or right.
Any idea how to fix this? - Or can some share a picture of this lower catapult and how it is adjusted?
2: Upper Vuk and Scoop Coil strengh varies during game
Coilsetting is UpperVuk is 8
Coilsetting is Scoop is 6
Sometimes it need 2-3 attempts to get the ball back to the game. Sometimes the first attempt works perfect.
It seems like the voltage is going down....
3: Trunkmultiball - left flipper spongy
During trunk multiball the left flipper lost the power for a a few milliseconds and dropped.
Then it worked normal till the next ball lands on it.
Enabeld "AutoBoost" but didn't solved my problem.
During the seance-multiball it worked flawless.
Hope you can help me to enjoy the game!
Thank you

On my catapult, 27 throws wide to the right every time. Lower the power till it just clears the trunk lip. If the ball then misses to the left, you may be deflecting off the ramp. I moved my ramp the the right -- see my post and photos on p 116. Also, there is a cleaning procedure that is supposed to help, posted on API site. Culprit for all your problems seems to be power fluctuation, something api still needs to address. search this thread for posts on power.

#5855 5 years ago
Quoted from BarryJ:

The left / right movement on the catapult arm doesn't effect the throw.. What effects the throw is a dirty fulcrum. Take it apart and clean it, your catapult problem will be gone. Here is the link http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2018-9/CATAPULT-THROW-ERROR.pdf
I will look into other issues you are experiencing.

BarryJ Should we clean the parts with alcohol or?

#5887 5 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

Sorry. I just reached 6 months with my machine. Ive been threw ( see the pun) this in detail. A second more expensive option is a different power driver board, or all new transformer design.

The API catapult cleaning procedure didnt work for me, sadly. It actually is missing the trunk more often now. My power reads between 121.0 and 121.8, so I don't think the juice supply is the problem either, in my case. The arm just wanders. Meanwhile, I cant make the ramp shot or any right-flipper backhands worth a damn.

#5897 5 years ago
Quoted from MightyGrave:

I only can backhand the scoop. But no ramp or Inlane...
Put a thicker washer to the catapult assembly. Then you have no movement. Had the same issue before cleaning. I clenead it and add a thicker washer.
Btw: can someone share a picture oft a "perfect" Flipper aligment for houdini?

Any thicker washer I try causes too much tension on the arm. Once the clip is forced on the post, the arm is too tight to move.

Quoted from pinballinreno:

What is your playfield pitch at?
What power levels are your flippers set at?
It would be a good starting place for comparisons.

Pitch is 6. left flip is 24, right is 23. I can complete the ramp shot, just cant find it consistently. Flipper angles are factory, but not equal. Left is centered on the hole, right is a little lower. Would backhand shots to the right right side of the playfield be more achievable if I decrease right flipper angle--raise it above the hole?

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#5898 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

What are your flipper power settings at? Have you tested the OUTPUT of the switching power supply? Maybe it's low.

Not sure how to test ouput. I plugged killawatt into the caninet power supply and checked it during game play. It hovered around 121.

#5901 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

You need a multimeter and have to lift the playfield.
What are your flipper coil settings in the setup?

flippers 24 left, 23 right.

#5921 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Exactly!
Small adjustment with a big payoff.
It's just not necessary to have the milkcan shot be impossible.
2mm drop was all it took.

Would this make backhand shots harder?

#5926 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I side cut the hole with a dremel, so only the width of the holes were altered. The target fits perfectly. The right target was also slightly moved.
I did not bend the deflector at the end of the lane guide on the right as it should naturally drain a low inertia ball to the right inlane. If not, adjust as necessary.
I actually chained shots across the orbit, inner loop and ramp last night.
What a RUSH! lol.
My Houdini has flow now, real flow!
[quoted image]

Did you drill the metal bracket holes wider, of the wood playfield holes wider? Bracket hole widening seems less risky.

#5939 5 years ago
Quoted from tatapolus:

I figured out that the table has a physical 3-balls lock on the left side as well as under the playfield. Is that being used in the code? Not that I am aware of. Would be great if these will be used in a future code update.
There could be a wizard mode where you have to lock balls in all of the physical locks (left side. upper catapult, scoop as well as the stage). Once you succeed all balls will be fired back at you at once and you start a multiball. Something like that...
I also saw that the stage can function as a captive ball. Same question here… is it being used?

I asked the same things. Josh posted an explanation of the stage captive ball, noting that he wanted yo do more cool things with it but couldnt because of a late design change to the stage saucer. It is only seen in a couple stage modes like milkcan escape, where it rises up beneath your real ball. A setting allows you to enable the real ball to roll off the captive ball and come down to your flippers. I think it is called "stage eject" on setting menu. The playfield lock below the ramp is only used to hold one or two balls at most. It is not s major freature of the game, and only raises the trunk jackpot totals when you lock a ball there.

#5951 5 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

It should be labeled. Stay away from the 110AC. Look for Ground, +5, +12, check ground to each + or - DC voltage.
LTG : )

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

#5952 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Only the metal bracket. Do not drill the wooden playfield its risky and totally not necessary.
Took less than 5 mins.

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.

#5983 5 years ago
Quoted from Audioenslaved:

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

Cool. Post some pictures of the arrivals.

#5985 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

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.

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.

#5986 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

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

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

Added over 6 years ago:

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

#5999 5 years ago

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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#6000 5 years ago
Quoted from circuscinema:

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

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.

#6006 5 years ago

FYI, a new coin-type custom shooter rod has been posted on the Cointaker website for $40.

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#6059 5 years ago
Quoted from mbelofsky:

I have not changed the flippers off the default settings. I can try to lower them
By one and try it. As the flippers are currently set, they sometimes feel spungy and listless on some shots. But I’ll try lowering.
I put all the leg levelers all the way down. I even bought a digital level which shows me 5.9 or 6.0 near the flippers and 6.1/6.2 near the top. So I assume this means I should be close to 6.

There is a scoop adjust procedure on api site. i used it to make the scoop deliver ball to right flipper instead of the left. It takes a combo of coil power adustment and bending the scoop hood. i didnt need to bend the ball guide. Stage saucer bounce outs happen from strong flipper settings. be sure to calibrate stage. that might have some effect too.

#6060 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I don't think you need the bee protectors, but you can certainly get the clear ones.
The cabinet comes with superior protection for the legs using the steel guards.
My slings have steel washers already, but you can trade them out for clear ones if you wish.
I added the scoop and shooter lane cliffys.

Tom, why do we need shooter lane cliffys? i dont see any wear on the black wood side rail or thr playfield there.

#6062 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

The playfield is plywood. The balls are 2.8 oz carbon steel being dropped on it.
Just wait for 250 to 300 plays. The clear will start lifting on the corner edges and get much worse.
Multiball games eat up the shooter lane near the ejector. Same as the scoops, but more traffic.
The black wood rail can be easily touched up or covered with a thin stainless piece if needed.
The clearcoat in the shooter lane will start wearing thin and chipping pretty early-on from all the ball traffic and bouncing around.
Then black dust will settle in and that is difficult to sand out and re-clear. So in the end it looks like crap on a new game.
Cliffy's are the cheapest easiest way to keep your new game looking new.
Also a great way to bring new life to worn out areas in older games.
Every game should have a full set if available.
If not, Cliff will make custom pieces for you at no additional charge.
Yes, he's that kinda guy.
I hope this helps.

Yes thanks. I didnt realize the piece protected the grooved wood floor of the shooter lane. I thought mylar was the only option for that.

#6081 5 years ago

Trunk accuracy quest update: I took the advice of helpful pinsiders and dremeled ovals in my catapult mounting bracket so I could pivot it slightly to the right to correct a very slight crookedness in the slot cutout. In pics you can see I only had to work on three holes. The 4th hole to the rear of the catapult mech can be left alone and acts as a pivot point. The dremel bit I used was perfect for this. The pic shows the alignment in the slot after adjustment. The saucer and arm ended up closer to the right side of the cutout, but parallel to the edge, and it doesnt rub. Since doing this, I have had 100% of about 18 trunks shots go dead-on straight into the middle of the trunk. So far so good. Maybe API should redesign the mountjng bracker with oval holes so owners and operators can adjust side to side aim?

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#6082 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

I still want to see Blue!

I put these in my Revenge from Mars and got very little diffused light at the edges of the plastics.Maybe because I still have incandescent bulbs in there?

#6105 5 years ago

I had 6 H letters, and was going for the 7th, which would come from my third escape mode. I started the 3rd escape, but didnt successfully complete it. And I didnt get my 7th letter! Do the escapes only count toward a letter if successfully completed? I assumed not because the stage modes dont need to be successful to award a letter. Whine whine whine...

#6111 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

You have to complete the escapes for bonuses and letters.
As in life (or the way it used to be...), you get little or nothing for trying.
I just had an amazing game with over 800k in bonuses on one ball.
To celebrate this, I quickly bricked every shot thereafter, drained all extra balls on dumb mistakes and any self respect I thought I was getting.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying. Wow, you must be getting a big bump from consecutive ramp and loop shots. Ever notice when you are TRYING to hit the seance letters, you magically make all the lanes and loops?

#6114 5 years ago
Quoted from CoPinfan:

I'm sorry, this is my first NIB game. How do we open a ticket for this? What information do we need to provide? Don't they already have a service bulletin to fix this? Also, does anyone know how we go about getting the speaker grill light blockers? Is that through API or the distributor?

If you dont see light coming through the perforated areas of the metal grill, then you dont need the foam. My game, #294, came with the foam already installed. If you have a later serial number, you probably have the foam too. Light coming thru at the far edges of the grill is normal.

#6140 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Maybe get a little plug in voltmeter to check the wall power if something changes dramatically.

Ugh, I just had five trunk catapult misses in a row (left side). My bracket pivot didnt fully solve this issue. No clue what this is now.

#6141 5 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

BarryJ,
The power supply upgrade: Will this also address the lower catapult inconsistencies related to line voltage?

Yes I need to know this too. I never have flipper issues. Just a wandering catapult shot, and a falling short shot also.

#6142 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Thanks vireland I'll be interested to see if this resolve the intermittent flipper weakness in Seance Multiballs. If it does I can use the $150 towards a shaker or/and knocker kit.

Wouldnt the shaker and knocker put more strain on the power? Will the upgrade compensate for that?

#6146 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Just upped my flipper coils by 1 from the stock (so I think they are at 23 now?). VERY different shooting game now, wow. The ball felt like it was rocketing all over the place! Definitely makes it more fun but I’d be concerned about breaking stuff in there!
Also confirmed that IMO the standard settings are far too hard for most players. You can have 20+ minute games and never hit one of the special miniwiz modes, which IMO seems long

I went to 23 as well, and it was an improvement.But I notice a lot of dimples on the playfield now...

#6147 5 years ago
Quoted from MT45:

I'm having the EXACT same issue - love to hear if anyone solves this.
My mech is perfectly centered but still having issues even running a dedicated Variac
Truly deflating cause I love this machine and am usually capable of fixing just about anything PB related ... this thing is a mystery

It's like there's a ghost in the machine...

#6164 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Shaker maybe, knocker not really unless they use it in ways we've never seen before. I wouldn't expect it to be firing when I'm in a multiball except maybe one time if I hit a replay. I haven't played a Houdini with the shaker in it so I don't know what triggers it. Since the offer is so good (it's like getting the power supply free if you buy the shaker and knocker kit) I'm going to order all three and see if it makes a difference for me. I don't have the fluctuating line voltage like some others do and my lower catapult accuracy is 98%. The upper one shows it's only at like 75% but I have NEVER seen it miss so I don't know what's causing that number to be so low.

I have 70s on the upper catapult too, but it almost always makes it, so I think the calculatuon is funky. Sadly, my lower catapult accuracy is mired at 76%.

#6190 5 years ago

Got 7 letters tonight, but game rebooted before I could start master mode. Then got 7 again, and played the master magi mode. A wild multiball with reversed and inverted flippers.I got what looked like a 20 million or 20,000 jackpot, and then time ran out and game reset without saving score. Looking forward to the fix. For me the key to getting 7 letters is mastering the first few combo missions and escapes. Meanwhile, that damn elephant still eludes me.

#6204 5 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

Ok, now you're just making stuff up!

(Good for you!)

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

#6245 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

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

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....

#6250 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

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

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

#6253 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Installed cliffy's tonight.
Wasn't too bad at all.
You dont have to remove a lot of stuff just loosen to get it out of the way.
Remove upper right edge plastic.
Remove nuts and screws from planchet plastic. Push aside.
Remove screws from metal lane guides. Remove 2 nuts from underneath.
Remove scoop.
Raise playfield remove 3 screws holding scoop VUK tie it up or let it hang. Or remove this first before starting everything...
Remove 4 of the wooden side rail screws.
I had to loosen the autolaunch 4 screws to access the first screw for the wooden siderail.
You can finagle the scoop protector into the hole now by lifting up on the metal lane guide and lifting up on the wooden siderail.
Slipping the scoop cliffy under the wooden siderail slightly really helped to get it in
I put a fender washer under the wooden rail to hold it up temporarily while working the metal guide.
After installing the scoop cliffy, install the right side of the shooter lane cliffy while the siderail is loose.
Reassemble everything working from the top.
Replace the siderail screws last.
This way you can get the shooter lane protector where you want it.
Installation of the left shooter lane protector is super easy.
Remove the 2 screws in the apron from the front playfield hangers.
You have to remove the 3 screws for the inner wooden siderail to make it easier to adjust.
Remove 2 of the 3 machine screws from the trough.
Install and adjust as neccesary.
That's it . It took me about 35 mins total and I took my time.
Next one will take 15 mins.

The scoop protector I received last week was already trimmed on the right to fit snug against wooden siderail. No need to lift side rail now for this installation. Yay!

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#6255 5 years ago
Quoted from mcbPalisade:

Lurch
[quoted image]

Pretty close!

#6257 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I had to loosen the side rail which only took 2 minutes. In order to get the metal Edge under it so that the scoop protector would lay flat.
Cliff if you're reading this maybe you should trim off that edge a little bit so that doesn't have to go under the wooden side rail

That is what he did apparently. I got mine this week.

#6259 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

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.

Oktoberfest should come with a custom Pin Gulp cup holder. Or two.

#6270 5 years ago
Quoted from colonel_caverne:

Thanks.
Is there a rules sheet?
And how to validate the 2X playfield? Just hitting the stage alley lane and the ball rolls over the switch behind or the ball needs also to go in the stage?
Thanks

When you have activated 2X stage scoring, those words will appear on the backbox screen while you are playing the mode. No words, no 2x scoring.

#6278 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

The stage bonus for playing all 10 acts is amazing ! All that plus multipliers !

Havent seen that wizard mode yet, or the movie binge. But I did get the elephant to vanish yesterday. Small victories keep us going...

#6295 5 years ago

Found this under the Houdini apron. I wonder what 11/16 signifies?

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#6301 5 years ago

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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#6311 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

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

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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#6334 5 years ago
Quoted from GSones:

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 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%.
.

#6336 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Got my power package!!
[quoted image]

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

#6341 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

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.

#6349 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

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!

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?

#6369 5 years ago

What are you folks going to use your 150 credit for? I'm thinking shaker and Houdini work shirt. Spare plastics set is a practical choice.

#6371 5 years ago
Quoted from drummermike:

You will love the shaker. I may get the knocker and a backglass. I have shaker, side art and magic glass.

That translite is gorgeous. Need to build a lightbox to display it.

#6397 5 years ago

Does the credit work on small items? I thought it was just something towards the next

Included in the kit is a $150.00 coupon for merchandise at our online store that can be used for such things as Magic Glass, shaker motors and knockers, this credit can also be used against the purchase of a new machine including Oktoberfest

#6398 5 years ago

Heading to Marvins Marvelous Museum tonight. Will check out Houdini there.

#6408 5 years ago

Location Houdini at Marvin's in farmington MI has a few wear and tear issues that we may expect on home machines eventually. Both flipper toppers are broken. Blue lens missing from one spotlight lamp, and planchette is twisted around. Trunk shot is aligned but misses short. There are red rubbers on the flippers instead of the purple silicones, which seems to make backhands easier. Software seems to be two versions old. Ball save is generous but other settings are standard hard. I also enjoyed Iron Maiden premium...great animations, callouts and tricky shots. JJP Pirates was stuck in perpetual ball search, sadly. Deadpool premium was interesting and funny.

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#6414 5 years ago
Quoted from tatapolus:

I really like the "Most efficient" Highscore. It's a new way to play a pinball machine. You have to get as many point as possible in a very short time as your points per second are counting here. It's like a Speedrun. Here's my best example with just one mode startet and combined with the multiballs and multipliers. Wish other machines would have that as well.[quoted image]

Wow, you have really mastered the stacking and multiplier strategy!

#6423 5 years ago

Anyone who has installed the power supply upgrade...do the brown and black wires go into the wall nuts through one of the black circular holes or do they go through an opening on the clear plastic side? I haven't worked with this kind of connector before. Thanks. Off to dig up some wood screws now...

#6426 5 years ago
Quoted from Wmsfan-GAP:

They go into the back of the connector that already has one brown or black wire going in. I want to say there are 6 openings on the correct side, with one colored wire already going in. They can go into any of the empty spots.
Just make sure to keep the black with black, and brown with brown.

That makes sense, thanks!

#6427 5 years ago

It seems like the existing ends of the disconnected wires can fit into the wall nut without having to be cut off and stripping the wire. I will try it that way.

#6429 5 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

It seems like the existing ends of the disconnected wires can fit into the wall nut without having to be cut off and stripping the wire. I will try it that way.

Not working - too thick and slip out of the nut too easily. Gotta cut the puppies off...

#6430 5 years ago

Found this loose nut in the back of the cabinet. It matches the 4 that hold the coin door to the cabinet, but thay are all in place. Couldnt find a bolt that is missing this. I think it is for the cabinet rather than playfield because it is so large.

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#6452 5 years ago

Somehow I can't navigate to this page from the API site. It is where all the good stuff is. If you are having trouble too, bookmark this https://store.american-pinball.com/products/

#6471 5 years ago
Quoted from MightyGrave:

Looks way better in persona. Will try to Make a picture with a better camera tomorrow

I can change the GI bulbs in the back, but not sure about the led strip. It seems tightly wired the the back wall of the playfield. Hard to see how to disconnect it.

#6488 5 years ago

After watching a magician recreate Houdini's upside down straightjacket escape, it occurs to me that when we cross our arms to work inverted flippers, we are mimicking Houdini's inverted arms-across-chest position in the escape. I thought this was just a cheat move. But Josh and Joe must have had this in mind, those wily geniuses.

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#6494 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

I’ve told this before, but when workingn on game rules I was thinking about what to do for straitjacket, and as crossed my arms like in a straitjacket it was pretty obvious that reversed flippers would be the way to go. But then I was thinking how he did the escape upside down, and I knew I could not hang the player upside down, so that is when I (with some assistance from José Cuervo) came up with inverting the flippers, figuring that is the closest I could get to upside down

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Um. Yes... how did it take this long to come up with this!

Ah, but the first version of the software did not seem to have the "Cross your arms now" callout, so I assumed that was a player cheat and I didn't make the connection to wearing the jacket. I'm slow....

#6506 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Much has been said about it in this thread.
Do you have the upgraded power supply?
I would get that first. Then adjust the mech by adjusting the power or tilting it with washers or slotting out the mounting holes to allow for sideways adjustments.

If the misses are consistent rather than intermittent, you might also try the cleaning procedure posted on the Api suport page. If the misses are intermittent, it is probably power related.

#6564 5 years ago

My trunk shots are dead center since installing power upgrade. But during our halloween party, with multiple pins running, ball started to clip the front trunk lip. I boosted coil 1 point to 28 and it cleared the lip fine and still stayed centered. That is the highest setting I've used, and it is a wicked fast shot that you miss if you blink slowly. Master magician mode still resets for me in the current beta. Josh says it will be fixed on next release. Finally played movie binge, but wasnt clear on what to do. I need to a screen capture so I can see what is going on.

#6600 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

After playing my game for a couple weeks with the power supply upgrade, and adjusting my settings for it, I cant believe how stable it is.
My catapult is basically flawless, once in awhile a ball will bounce off the lip of the trunk and still go in, but thats the extent of it. It hasnt failed to make the trunk.
All of the coils in the game are consistant other than the scoop.
The scoop is still 50% accurate but doesnt go SDTM. The ball just bounces off the top of the right sling instead of draining to the right flipper.
I would like to increase the time on the scoop eject ball save 5 seconds.
One last tweak Im making is to widen the stage alley entrance slightly. Im getting a lot of rattle/rejects here. It can be improved.
Moving the seance standup target 3/32" to the right, on the right side. This wont narrow the keylane shot as most people have already bent the deflection tab out 1/8" already to stop the dead drops from the keylane from going SDTM.

My scoop has been pesky in the same way since installing the upgrade. Wonder if it is work widening the hole on the steel ball guide to push the ball out more toward the flipper?

#6603 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

One other concern is bounce outs from a strong hit to the scoop.
The ball hits the rear ledge of the scoop and rebounds out instead of dropping inside.
This started when I lowered the playfield pitch to 6.15 degrees.
This is probably from adding the cliffy. It firms up the rear ledge and makes it springy instead of the plywood edge absorbing the shock.
I'll have to see if bending the scoop forward or adding washers to the rear helps.

Let me know what you find out. I have the cliffy and havent had many bounces, but the inconsistency seemed worse after installing it. At pintastic in june, Joe Balcer said that Api was going to provide a scoop modification, to deal with the inconsistency, which was an issue then. But I havent heard more about it.

#6671 5 years ago

Going to the theater to see Houdini in Terror Island tonight. It's not my favorite film mode, but it will be interesting to see on big screen with live music, followed by some magic acts. No booing allowed

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#6678 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

So which is your favorite and why? and which is number 2 and why (since I have pretty good guess at what most people would pick as number 1)

I like smashing the ice and knocking out Q, in that order. The reasons are that the images are interesting and the shots are fun. This is the second Houdini film they have shown at Halloween time, so TI was not their first chosen. Since I havent seen any, I am looking forward to it.

#6679 5 years ago

Oktoberfester plays Houdini!

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#6692 5 years ago

Shaker is installed and working. But during multiball, a catapult shot came up short...first time since power upgrade went in. Will have to watch it.

#6696 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I had that happen also.
I just increased it by 1 or 2 and it's been solid.

It is at 27 now. I can try 28, but dont want to dent the trunk.

#6698 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Mines at 27 also.
It missed once early on, but never again.
It's very stable now.
The code however...
I just had to reboot.
Curtain stuck closed.
2 ball multiballs.
5 ball multiballs etc.
Rebooted all is well in the world.
Sometimes it loses track of an opto or something and never figures it out until a reboot.
I dont thonk it's a hardware issue but I'll check for opto looseness or weirdness.

On multiplayer games I have noticed some ball count confusion like that, and what seems like short freezes of the software. Hasn't happened on single player. It is tough to document it.

#6717 5 years ago

Well, speaking of new product, here are some half-baked ideas that might make sense for API.
- Winter Olympics. Just license the logo. Include curling, hockey, snowboarding and that shooting/skiing thing.
- New Zealand. Yup, do the whole country, with all the extreme things to do there. Bunjee jumping, mountaineering, etc. Shoot a ball into a (unlicensed) Hobbit hole. Have a subterranean playfield represent underwater caving.
- A haunted game such as Amityville Horror, or The Conjuring series (if they want to try a license). Make it scary, not funny. The last really scary pinball was Bram Stokers Dracula.

#6719 5 years ago

I got the chimping penalty on straightjacket tonight. After a couple warnings, it was "Jackpot reduced." I was trying to cradle, with inverted flippers, by holding in the buttons.

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#6773 5 years ago
Quoted from GSones:

I checked my Houdini stats yesterday and since mid-May I've got 1480 games on my home-use Houdini. I got to wondering if this was more, less or about average with everyone else

On mine, 200 games since Aug. 1.

#6787 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Knocker question. Does it only engage for a match? Will it wack with an extra ball?

Great question.The fake knocker does not sound on extra balls now, so....

#6788 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Looks like they've made about 500 of them.

Joe Balcer said in late June at Pontastic NE that they were already at 400 games and he was confident they would make 1000.

#6797 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

.Personally, as a big sports fan, I would love to do an olympics themed game (I have actually done curling), but suspect licensing on that would be quite expensive.
k.

How about just calling it The API Winter Games, then? Joe can design an amazing luge track ramp.

#6827 5 years ago

I observed the dimpling, like on a golf ball, right away. this being my first new game, I assumed it was normal. Also much harder to see under nonglare glass than regular. But I dont see any dimpling on my other machines, so it is a little concerning. I would have considered getting a playfiled protector from Germany if I knew this would happen. See at edge of the reflected spot light. Houdini's hair looks pretty bad with all the contiguous dimples.

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#6835 5 years ago

Yes. I have never tried one of theae. I heard from one person that it slows down the ball. But sounds like it isnt necessary.

#6878 5 years ago
Quoted from BioBa:

My flipper coils are very hot after 20 min play. Much hotter than any of my other machines. Almost uncomfortable to touch. Flipper strength is as recommended. Flippers work fine but do seem to get slightly weaker after playing for a while. Has anybody else touched their flipper coils? Is this normal with Houdini?

No they dont get hot for me. Super hot flipper coils are a sign of trouble in the flipper mech.

#6921 5 years ago
Quoted from Nepi23:

Thank you for your answers and yes, I know, I know, I was avoiding some reading by asking the questions.
My game has a bit over 100 games on it, I did clean the catapult mech as instructed in the API guide, but as one would guess, it was not dirty at all.
I could try adjusting the throw arm, but as I remember, there was not much room for adjusting.
It would be good to know if the power supply is available for customers in the EU though.

I had the same issue you describe, and tried every suggested solution, plus my own (moved the ramp to the right). None of these solved the problem long term. Only the power upgrade has given me consistent positive results. Not sure whether it will work in EU, but you can ask Barry at AIP support.

#6932 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I tweaked the keylane slightly last night.
I was getting a lot of STDM off a dead drop from the pops through the keylane.
I thought nudging would be enough to prevent this from happening, but no.
So first I bent the tab on the lane guide a little but it wasnt enough.
So I took out the lane guide, side drilled the holes in it 1/6" to get it to narrow the lane slightly. I could, if needed, put it at a slight angle now to get a little inertia to help the ball onto the right flipper, But that might make it too difficult to hit the keylane target.
This has not noticeably narrowed the lane as it shoots properly and the ball hits the keylane target easily.
The 1/16" is enough now that I can nudge the ball away from a dead drop STDM with a little practice.
I still have the end tab bent out a little but, it doesnt stick out so much that the ball rattles in the lane.
SDTM's off of the keylane are now reduced 75%.
Its a small job the get at the keylane guide, but took only about 15 mins to do an adjustment.
The risk is still there, just not maddening as it was. I really like the change.

Great idea. Would a photo show the change? My key lane most often sends the ball on a curve down toward the right flipper, which I appreciate
But maybe 1 out of three it roles toward the drain, but I am usually able to bump it with the flipper tip and avoid the drain. Sometimes I choose the wrong flipper though, and lose it.

#6968 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

Houdini is not a game you will necessarily 'get' playing it one time on location, you need to understand the shots and the rules to enjoy it. This is true of many highly regarded games. TZ, WOZ, and TSPP are just a few of the games where my first impression were negative, but once I was able to learn the game and play it more, I was able to enjoy and appreciate it. TZ and TSPP are now both in my collection. I can easily name machines the other way as well, where playing it the first time was wowed, but then realized there was not much substance there. Of course there are games that just stay bad and some that stay great from that first impression.
No doubt the talk of 'tight shots' becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for those who get that in their head before playing. Pinball is a very mental game, very easy to psych yourself out.
Doing a review on a game that you have not spent some time with is doing a disservice to the community. There was one podcast that did that, reviewed it after playing it one time on location, and they were just flat out wrong with so many things they said. That too is a disservice to the community, their listeners and to the companies making machines.

I had that extreme reaction to TZ...too hard and frustrated that I couldnt make any of the cool shots and features. To this day, I wont invest any tokens in it when I come across one. That wasn't the case with Houdini. I made the inner loop multiple times on my first game. So it was, hey, I can do this! Now if anyone here wants to lend me a TZ for a month or two, I could try to warm up to it...

#6969 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

To re-visit the two Playfield supplier topic I thought I'd mention that mine is a Mirco, it is branded under the apron as is typical for them. I wonder if B&T made the others?

My dimpley playfield says Bader cabinets under the apron.

#7068 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinphila:

Guys,
Anyone have pics of this installed? Trying to find direction. I know if goes under the black rail but where?
Thanks.
[quoted image]

These are Cliff's photos of the install.

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#7078 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

And the playfield we have from a very early run (around #80) is a Mirco playfield. Number of layers look similar. So it looks like AP is using Bader cabinets (do they have any history in pinball prior to this??) for playfields now while originally using Mirco.

My machine was built in May 2018 with the Bader playfield.

#7085 5 years ago

Does anyone's bottom right pop bumper wiggle when they shake the machine? This is the only one of the 3 that does, so I wonder if it needs tightening. I has the biggest padlock on top, so maybe tnis just a factor of being top heavy.

#7127 5 years ago

So, 215 games played on Houdin :?i, and I only just now realized the significance of having the monkey deliver extra balls. Sigh...

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#7189 5 years ago

Has anyone seen an indicator of how many balls are locked in the trunk at any given time? There are 3 balls in the scoring display, but they don't change or light up--just part of the illustration. It would also be handy to know how many extra balls are stacked up. Finally, does anyone know is the rule for how much a secret mission scores? Mainly I get 50k, but sometimes 75k or 100k. It doesnt seem related to how long it takes me to finish the mission. Just wondering.

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#7217 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

Not sure I'd go that far. Was lamenting one day that there was no way to know how many balls were locked, and looked down and said, hey, I can use those locks, they are easy to see, and are not lit very often, and even if they are, I can just alternate colors.
Obviously knowing how many are locked can factor in your strategy.

Good to know. I figured the padlock lights were telling us what the next shots should be. Will pay more attention to them now.

#7251 5 years ago
Quoted from pinden007:

How do you test the shaker motor after installed? And when is it used?
Thanks.

After install, the Shaker must be turned on with an option under Standard settings in the menu. You can also adjust activity level there. The medium setting activates shaker during pop bumper action. The low setting eliminates this action. There are several situations in which the shaker fires, and it is fun to discover those on your own. My fav is when the jail doors slam shut.

#7294 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Just had a great game with version 18.11.24T, but it’s still a bit glitchy. Before the report on the glitch, I wanted to note that I received an “encore bonus,” which I’ve have never seen before but was pretty cool. The Houdini chant was neat.
Following that, I managed to get into master magician mode. That was going relatively fine until I got to the point of having 60 seconds to complete the mode with the last ball. I looked up at that point, and noted that the screen was fundamentally blank. Occasional items would show up, like scoring, and the letters associated with the bullet catch mode. I was happy to see that when I finished the magician mode the game did not reset.
It didn’t work quite right either.
I was on ball 4 and it was simultaneously prompting me to enter my initials for the high score, with the associated Ouija Board graphics, and it was also prompting me to launch the next ball, also with the skill shot graphics up on the screen. The result was having the two graphics overlap each other. I was bound and determined not to let that 5,000,000+ score disappear into the either and so I manage to enter my initials. The high score entry graphics disappeared, and I launched the ball.
While the ball was in play, the monkey with the symbols “match” graphics popped up, overlapping the regular gameplay graphics. At that point the flippers went dead, the balls drained, and the game ended on ball 4. I did manage to retain the score. The score shows up as grand champion.
I also noticed that the bottom third of the game went completely dark at some point. That would be Houdini’s eyes, the chains and locks. I think this happened as I was in master magician mode also.
Otherwise, the game performed perfectly up to that point. I was absolutely pleased it didn’t reset after master magician, but I just wanted to report this. Hope it helps.

After finishing MM mode (not successfully), I had the initials screen interrupted by a new ball being served to the plunger (also my 4th) and the skill shot screen came up. But it ultimately went back to the initials and concluded the game. I didn't have any of the other issues. I have the match feature turned of. The MM screen awarded me 5 letters and was pretty stable. I sent Josh the logs for the game. I think we're very close to resolution on this....

#7310 5 years ago
Quoted from MMP:

odd things I saw with the last beta code
- odd 2 ball multiball
- ball drain at magic shop
- missing extra ball when stacked 2 deep (both wife and I saw this)
- scoop not ejecting ball on first try
- flipper drop during multiball

I had one end of ball sequence after the ball went into the hat hole. That could be a cool feature -- the ball disappears in the hat and you lose it (maybe 1 in 20 shots). Adds an element of danger and mystery to the hat shot.

#7311 5 years ago

rosh "can't say I did a lot of testing on a five ball game, I'll look into it."

Thanks! Some of us Houdiniphiles need two extra balls...just ask the monkey....

#7364 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Ohhh, I see. I actually like that. The one time I "Conquered the Universe" in AFM, I thought things got kind of boring after that - no longer any point.

Exactly! Just like in Revenge from Mars. You destroy the Giant Brain and blow up the red planet, and then you have to go back to earth and squish martians in the bar again. Dull and illogical.

#7384 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Right? For home use I’ve got to have goals, and being a master magician is noble and lofty enough. For me this is all rather hypothetical since I kind of cheat. If not for setting everything to ludicrously easy levels and getting God only knows how many free balls, I would never get there.
My plan is to experience as many levels of the game as possible now and eventually dial it all back to intermediate player level. I’ve already vastly improved on hitting all the lanes and oddly have the hardest time hitting the easiest thing on the play field- the ramp. Makes no sense...
I get the idea that the game is ripping the player off for the remainder of unplayed balls, and that just comes down to a philosophical question that’s going to vary from owner to owner, so no wrong answer - just different answers.
Love this game. For me it’s a keeper.

I've got the same plan as you, and same pain with that ramp.

#7385 5 years ago
Quoted from Jgaltr56:

It should be borderline impossible but some people set the game up too easy. Everyone is different but if I beat a game I lose interest because that's how humans evolved. Our brain rewards us with happiness when we accomplish something difficult. Short circuit that process by cheating or drugs and that euphoria goes away. I learned my lesson when I beat RFM and quickly sold it.

I hear you about RFM But TOTAN does the same thing after you free Princess and take a long carpet ride with her. Most people wont part with that machine...

#7396 5 years ago
Quoted from Jgaltr56:

Agreed, TOTAN is a work of art. I have a Paragon that I'll be buried with. Not a deep game but so compelling in every way.

Paragon is gorgeous. Check out this Paul Faris poster...

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#7406 5 years ago

On my last ball, I got 7 Houdini letters and heard the new stadium chant "Hoo-dee-nee!!" But before I could start the mode, my movie binge started. I heard the chant all through that mode, and then lost the ball and game over. Apparently you can't start MM mode while in MB mode, which makes sense. Anyway, it was fun and I got high score 2.

#7408 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

I had the chant thing once. It finished up with the delivery of an encore bonus. It seemed it was separate from any other mode. As I recall, it was chanting, the computation of a bonus, and that was it. Had some graphic associated with it, thinking it might’ve been Houdini standing next to a breakdown of the bonus, but I’m not sure. Never happened before, never happened since. I meant to look it up in the manual, but never got to it. Liked it because the bonus was huge.

Hmmm. I just seemed to get the audio over normal game play. Still a lot of mysteries in this machine.

#7421 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Is there a newer beta than 181124T that fixes the 5 ball issues?

I've been watching for it but haven't seen anything newer yet. PinMonk

#7422 5 years ago

I haven't seen a poll on this yet, so what the heck... What are your top 3 favorite Houdini stage modes to play. Not the easiest, or most challenging or highest scoring, but the ones you are most psyched to play and enjoy playing. They are so different, this should be interesting...
Just to refresh memories, alphabetically, the list is...

Bullet Catch
Card Scaling video mode
Chinese Water Torture Cell
Handcuff Escape
Indian Needle Swallow
Metamorphosis
Milkcan't Escape (sorry... couldn't resist)
Straight Jacket Escape
Vanishing Elephant
Walk Through Walls
11th secret stage mode (just kidding about that...or am I?)

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#7434 5 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

I haven't seen a poll on this yet, so what the heck... What are your top 3 favorite Houdini stage modes to play. Not the easiest, or most challenging or highest scoring, but the ones you are most psyched to play and enjoy playing. They are so different, this should be interesting...
Just to refresh memories, alphabetically, the list is...
Bullet Catch
Card Scaling video mode
Chinese Water Torture Cell
Handcuff Escape
Indian Needle Swallow
Metamorphosis
Milkcan't Escape (sorry... couldn't resist)
Straight Jacket Escape
Vanishing Elephant
Walk Through Walls
11th secret stage mode (just kidding about that...or am I?)[quoted image]

If we add in my favs - Bullet catch, Needles and Metamorphosis (for its precision and because Bess gets to participate), we have Bullet, Needles and Straightjacket as the top 3 so far.

#7443 5 years ago
Quoted from kdecgp:

My main opener is to always get the damn scoop asap so I don't hit the first secret combo without opening it up. Then, milkcan into 1st combo attempts so I can get an easy 100k. Backhanding the scoop and milkcan are must-know tricks. Scoop is nearer to the inlane and milkcan is nearer to the tip. Backhanding inner loop is there but I don't have it dialed in. It's more near the middle. I'm also one of those dudes that goes for the 2x stage scoring every time I've got stage open from right flipper trap. Remembering to relight the lock and not just letting it sit is important. I'll hit it from left flipper straight up. You just have to get through to relight.
I wish there was a more pronounce ice clinking sound when you hit the stage at the beginning of man from beyond.

I always go for the scoop first also. I notice on stage alley shots that the opto doesn't always read the ball and relight the lock. Maybe 1 in 4 shots fails to register. Not sure if that is happening to anyone else...

#7445 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

When MB is lit and ready to stack:
Needles
Handcuff King
straitjacket
bullet catch

I hadn't thought of bullet catch as a good mode to stack multiball on because I really have to concentrate to make the shots, and 3-4 balls flying around seems to just get in my way. But I can see where it would help you catch one of the traveling shots early. I always save needles and handcuffs for the multiball opportunity, where they can do a lot of the work for you.

But strategy aside, I have a lot of fun with bullet catch (once I make the inner loop). On the opposite end of the spectrum, I want to murder that elephant. I can play a 3 million point game and only accumulate 6 ramp shots.

#7467 5 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

I think I'm going to give it a go and install my Cliffy's today, and the plastic protectors set from Little Shop!
http://www.passionforpinball.com/WIP/API-Houdini-complete-001.jpg
So aside from the catapults, these are just simple screw in installations? Do the Switch slots just pop in? I watched a Cliffy installation on a pin, and they used a vice to tighten down the shooter lane piece. Is that necessary?
Thanks again everyone for all the help!

For the shooter lane protector, you do have to loosen the wood rails on too on both sides, and below you need to move or remove the plunger vuk bracket to access the screws you need. Do the scoop and shoootsr lane at the same time and save effort on the wood raiks, which must be loosened for both jobs. A Cliffy tip is to keep the screwss just barely still in the playfield. That way, you dont have to gouge new spirals in the wood when screwing them back in.

#7468 5 years ago
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:

FAVORITE
King of Cards
Chinese Water Torture Cell
Indian Needle Swallow
LEAST FAVORITE
Milkcan't Escape
Vanishing Elephant
Handcuff Escape

You and I are in synch on the least favorites, for sure.

#7469 5 years ago
Quoted from wolftownjeff:

Since the download of the latest code the game dies during play.
Completely dies, lights out etc., then restarts. Has done it 3 times.
Will pull logs tomorrow.

Havent had this happen with the latest test version. The buggy game reset during Master mode seem to have been fixed, at least for me. Just needs tweaking for 5 ball games.

#7481 5 years ago
Quoted from HOOKED:

You mean these? Yes 90% there waiting on my blue led lights. Been a slow process but everything paint wise is done and jackets are boxed ready to go.
Will be announced officially to those on the wait list and site newsletter first then forums.
Thanks to all waiting it will be worth it.[quoted image][quoted image]

Looks great. But I think the straightjacket covers up the nude in the window....

#7497 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

while I get the challenge of Milkcan escape makes it less popular, it is the highest scoring mode, by itself, but is also then jacking up the playfield multiplier.
I will say my preference is to do it when I can stack it with Seance. The seance magnet action will help get balls through the milkcan loop, and since you don't have to hit the ramp to increase the multiplier, it can quickly become quite valuable to be getting that playfield multiplier up while in multiball. Since you only need to hit a magic stand-up to get one, pretty much guaranteed you will have at least 2X playfield scoring at some point during the multiball.

That isa good point and great strategy to stack with seance, if the magnets actually help rather than divert my shots to the mc loop. I can usually get one or 2 mc shots, but not all of them to complete the mode

#7529 5 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

Would this work?
https://m.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/clamps/6-in-quick-release-bar-clamp-62239.html
So does the clamp allow it to be pressed into the wood of the shooter rail more firmly? Does not clamping it allow it to jostle?
And I assume the Cliffy protects from the ball chipping away at the wood over time?

As was explained to me, the Cliffy shooter lane protector protects the wood channel from being eroded and widened out by the friction of the ball over time, and also blackening of the wood. The ball rides on the Cliffy metal edges on both sides of the channel instead of ridong on wood and wearing it down. It is a long term damage preventer. I put them on more machines even though I already had channel erosion on those. the scoop protector avoids the ball damaging the playfield lip as it is propelled out of the hole. Thise two are the most important to install on houdini.

#7530 5 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

I've been noticing the ball hopping in front of the left sling the last few games.
On close inspection of that playfield area, I found this tiny plastic piece adhered to the playfield just to the right of the left sling (by the playfield lock graphic).
It was stuck there by some type of glue on the backside and needed to be pulled off the playfield with care.
I've looked in the high impact areas and haven't found where this broke off from yet.
Any ideas?
[quoted image]

API sells replacement toppers in their store if your warranty is over. I bought a set as a backup, though mine haven't broken in 300 games.

#7545 5 years ago

Using the latest code on first game, I noticed the mini screen goes black for a couple of seconds before a stage mode starts. I didnt notice this before. It only happened on first game, not any subsequent.

#7557 5 years ago
Quoted from kdecgp:

Sunday December 16 had my best game of Houdini yet. 3 trunk multiballs and 3 extra balls. Was at almost 1.5 million then got into movie binge mode and somehow hit all the shots. Thought the game froze when it went into that search engine thing at the start of binge. Got hairy (Harry?) with only 2 ramps to go when I drained two balls but it didn't end then had an agonizing wait for the ball search and got those last two ramps. Bonus on ball 4 was 159K with an 8x multiplier. last two balls weren't instant drainos but nothing exceptional happened. final score was 3.5 million. 32 minute game. 1.345 million on binge. It was also one of those "OK this is the last game and then I'm going to have dinner" type deals where the food was getting cold. Ridiculous game. The night before I was thinking of a 2 million point game as my next goal.

Fantastic game! 8X is tough to get. You had the milkcan loop shot nailed.

#7584 5 years ago

Looking for clarification on Master Magician mode...Do the Houdini letters present in the rings indicate that I have successfully completed those MM mode tasks? Meaning, I only have seance and trunk left to finish to win the MM mode? Or am I misinterpreting this? Thanks for any help. @rosh.

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#7609 5 years ago
Quoted from mbelofsky:

I tried to catch up on over 400 posts, so I apologize if this has been reported.
I just updated to the new version today. I have not broke 1 million yet.
We invited friends for dinner and pinball. My friend gets over 1 million, then over 1.5 million, then gets all Houdini letters.
He gets the ball into the right hole and gets the master magician multi ball. The screen shows a lot of text.
Multiball starts.
It appears that the flippers get reversed like in the straight jacket right side multi ball. I was trying to explain to him how to flip. He finally started getting the hang of how the flippers were inverted.
I looked up at the screen below the scores was blank. The score scores and shows at the very top. Green writing shows up when things are awarded. But the screen stays blank during this mode.
When he lost the ball, the ball was over and the ball ending screen appeared as normal. Then it let him enter his initials for high score.
I assume this will be fixed in a new version. I have a small video of this if needed. I thought I pressed the record button but didn't until he almost lost the ball. I can post the video if needed.
His final score was over 1.8 million.
Thanks

This is what is supposed to be on screen while scoring in MM mode. The green scoring appears in the circles until you earn a letter. Yours must be not rendering the static parts of the image. I'd send a service request to Barry at API.

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#7654 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Mine does the same.

I just got the same black screen. during MM mode. It doesn't happen every time. This one was on my third ball of a 5 ball game. The final H letter earned was a second stage mode letter (red).

#7669 5 years ago

I am using 18.12.12, and have gotten the black screen during MM mode, but at other times (once), it has worked perfectly, showing me all the challenges in a screen similar to the progress screen, updating the status of each real time as I complete certain shots. The fast-scrolling instructions is normal and hasnt changed over the several software updates. I shot a video of it, which I can post on YouTube. To start MM, you have to have earned the 7 letters, then shoot the ball in the scoop or the stage. You then get a straightjacket-style multiball. This is when the screen may go black, except for your score. Shoot all the lit shots, and when down to one ball, you get 60 secs to hit all the shots remaining. At end of 60 seconds, you should get a "Failed" screenn if you didnt hit every shot, and then a final score and the initials entry screen. Then the game ends even if you have more balls available. That is normal. Josh is aware of the black screen bug.

#7672 5 years ago

Here is a link to the Master Magician mode scrolling instructions. At the end, you can also see the status screen as it is supposed to appear while you are playing the mode.

#7674 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Holy crap, that is a WALL of text. Definitely looks like the mode needs quite a bit more polish. That wall of text should be broken up into narration you activate as you finish each requirement, and it probably needs some specific prompts to remind you while in each step of the list.

I get the concern, and appreciate the daunting look of all those instructions, but the mode boils down to shooting everything that is lighted in the various color codes before you get down to one ball left. It's more a challenge of keeping the balls in play (mastering the inverted and reversed flippers) than hitting specific targets in specific order. I completed 5 of 7 challenges in this mode without really aiming at anything in particular. We need the black screen bug fixed foremost.

#7676 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Yeah but has anyone seen the All Jail Escape Multi-Mode [or whatever it's called] where the challenge is to do all of the escapes at once during a limited time? First time for me. Just curious if that is what shows up in the High Score roll as "Jail Escape." If so, it would answer why ROSH had 125K score listed on my machine - which was played at a show. I wondered how I could beat such a high score on a single escape, and this might be answer...???? The other less attractive option is that the pin is correct when it tells me, "You Stink."

I reached that mode once and immediately lost the ball. Sigh.

#7679 5 years ago
Quoted from hollywood:

Aaahhhh....thanks for showing me that clip....I know I’ll never get there on my game!! lol

5 balls and long save times will get you there!

#7681 5 years ago
Quoted from zahner:

Don't forget plenty of extra balls.

True, but I sent a limit of 5 extra balls. So I never get more than 10 total. That's nuff.

#7706 5 years ago

I made Master Magician Mode tonight on the 5th ball, but the screen went black on me shortly after the multiball started.Not sure how many goals I completed, but pink and blue lights were still lit when I drained, indicating combo and movie goals were still pending. One of the coolest things is the MM mode starts when you sink the ball into the stage, trap-door style. This is the only time the newton ball is out of the way, and allows your ball to plummet into the depths of the machine in a single motion. Pretty fun.

#7708 5 years ago
Quoted from kdecgp:

I swear there was a manual stage calibration where you could set the curtain with the flippers in the service menu but I can't find it anymore. Also what exactly is front eject from stage? Will it shoot the ball out when you start a mode? Is it just for certain modes?

I dont recall a manual calibration. The stage eject is a feature on a few stage modes - milkcan and elephant, I think. What happens is the ball you put in the stage to start the mode will be ejected back to you when the newton ball rises and pushes your ball out of the stage saucer. Sometimes this fails and the stage will swallow the ball and eject it from the scoop. By setting this feature to ON, you get a little more variety of ball handling.

#7731 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Totally agree - it is REALLY well integrated into the game, and so is the knocker

Jail-door slams!

#7732 5 years ago

Wasn't there a setting for magnet strength? I can't find it. My magnets have suddenly gotten very aggressive on me. Weeeirrddd.......

#7733 5 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

Wasn't there a setting for magnet strength? I can't find it. My magnets have suddenly gotten very aggressive on me. Weeeirrddd.......

Found it. Still set at mediim, but seem more energized somehow.

#7740 5 years ago
Quoted from GSones:

That would be nice. I've found that some of the coil strength adjustments could use a bit more incremental fine-tuning (especially on the trunk catapult, up-kickers etc.)

For me, the scoop could use some finer-tuning coil adjustment. Instead, I've been trying to bend the metal hood up a bit to get the ball to the right flipper more consistently.

#7765 5 years ago

The default coil setting (green on the dashboard) for pops on my machine is 12. Sounds like default is higher on others' machines?

#7767 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Which version are you on?

I have the latest December update. At least one of the pop bumpers has a green 12 in the settings, denoting that it is factory default.

#7768 5 years ago

This is a docu-series exposing Houdini's illusion methods. Bullet catch is included.
https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/houdinis-last-secrets/

#7770 5 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

'The Man From Beyond' is now on Amazon Prime. After watching it for ~40 min...no clue what it is about. I thought I did going in, but not sure afterwards. But it was interesting nonetheless to see the real Houdini 'alive' in a movie. Hard to believe it was almost 100 years ago since that movie was made...
The Houdini movie (staring Adrien Brody) on Netflix is much more entertaining. A LOT of the pin music is borrowed from that flick - very fun to watch and to tie it back into the game. Every time I start to watch it, I have to go play another game.

Terror Island is interesting, if you get a chance to see it. I like the Brody movie too. It shows how he "walked" through the wall. But the elephant vanish is unexplainable. And it buys into the spy rumors 100%.

#7778 5 years ago
Quoted from konjurer:

It was a movie mode called Man From Beyond. I have no idea what’s going on but it is a helluva rush!

In Man from Beyond, you have to hit the stage door a few times to break Houdini out of an ice cocoon, where he's been trapped for decades. Then you have to hit a couple orbit shots to break him out of the asylum (he's strapped to an operating table). This is when you get a second ball, I think. When that happens, you get the spotlight effect, and you have to hit the orbits or stage to find him in the dark, so to speak. The video screen shows where he is, which tells you which shot to hit. But he moves around. And if you have Seance going too, it covers up this vital info. I don't know if I have ever "found" houdini in the mode, or if you can find him multiple times, because I lose the second ball and the mode ends without any sort of finale.

#7788 5 years ago
Quoted from WW2GURU:

It’s not a game for people that suck at pinball and quit easily. It’s a game for players that have patience and want to improve. It’s not a game you play casually a dozen times and then say this is crap. It’s super tough and I love that it is.

Maybe, but I suck at pinball, and I liked Houdini immediately. I knew it would be deeply engaging, and I took it home with a lot of hope that I would get some decent play time and hit most features with 5 ball games. And that has certainly come true. This is my only NIB machine ever. And, coincidentally, I am a much better aimer after 300 games on this table.

#7814 5 years ago
Quoted from CoPinfan:

Thank you for the laugh!
Has anyone deciphered the Morse code on the start button yet?

Yes, it is a secret message from Houdini to his wife, to be communicated after his death.

#7836 5 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

After dragging my feet, I'm finally going to apply my Cliffy Protectors and my plastic protectors set. I've noticed after watching videos, and looking at the pin itself, that I'll need to take out a good mount of nuts. Is there a preferred tool for this? I know I asked before, but I was wondering if there's a specific brand of tool, or magnetic even, that I should grab from Harbor Freight or Amazon.
Thanks as always for recommendations!

I have had good success with socket screw drivers, which reach the narrow areas under the table easier than ratchet wrenches. When undoing wood screws, dont unscrew them completely from the playfield. That way, you can use the same groove when screwing them back in, which keeps things tighter. That is a Cliffy tip from his site. Just unscrew enough to release the wood rail, but leave the screw embedded in the playfield wood.

#7844 5 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

Thanks everyone for the quick and informative replies!
Those hilmors look sooooo nice, but are maybe a bit pricy for me currently. Thank you though, and I'll definitely note them for a future purchase!
Would these work okay?
https://m.harborfreight.com/7-Pc-Professional-SAE-Nut-Driver-Set-69239.html
And is this the notch on the right of the scoop protector you guys are referring to? [quoted image]

When putting in the shooter lane protectors, you will need to raise wood rail. Search this forum for CLAMP to read an important tip o. that installation.

1 week later
#7946 5 years ago

After reading discussion of skill shots, I'm not clear on what constitutes the SUPER skill shot. Is it something other than E-S-C?

#8004 5 years ago

Are any Houdiniphiles attending the Texas Pinball Festival next month? I got tickets today. Never been...

#8011 5 years ago

I haven't noticed this before, but when all seance targets have been hit and seance multiball is waitong to start, I dont hear any bricking sounds when I hit the seance targets. It comes back after activating mutli all. Can anyone confirm this is normal? I have tje latest release.

#8013 5 years ago

Does anything work to remove black ball tracks on steel rails/ball guides? I tried mineral spirits without success?

#8017 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Is it actually black ON the steel guide, or is the the wear line from the ball grinding on it?

Well, if not black, it is at least grimey colored, not a polished wear track

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#8020 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Looks normal.
Just clean it with teflon rated green scrubby or a rough cloth and a little naptha.
Go all over the game and clean off black dust.
Check and clean flippers and coil sleeves they are responsible for pumping in most of the dust.
Change balls every 350-500 plays etc...

Will do, thanks!

#8021 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Looks like ball wear. Stamped stainless rails have a grain that the ball grinds off where it makes rolling contact with the rail. You can re-grain it, but when it comes time, I usually just polish them out to give the rail a mirror finish, which lasts a lot longer before more ball trails show up. But re-graining or polishing them out is a hassle. Just enjoy the game.
For reference, here's a polished guide from a ToM I did:
[quoted image]

That mirror finish is sweet!

#8026 5 years ago

Defeating stage bounce-out is an interesting experiment. I tried felt on the milkcan shot, but it didnt help much. But I wouldnt want every stage shot to stay in. Part of the fun is when you get the shot just right. In my POTO machine, there is a 4 inch gobble hole, and the ball bounces back off a deflector more often than it goes in, which is part of the game challenge.

#8036 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

I'll be there. Be sure to come check out our seminar.

Definitely. Looking forward to shooting the beer barrel and corkscrew!

#8038 5 years ago

Received my straightjacket and torture cell mods from Hooked on Pinball today. The jacket is very detailed and the colors have a great period look. It is shiny like leather rather than dull like canvas. The cell has maybe 100 rivets, each one raised and painted. It gleams like an expensive jewel case, even without lighting. The only thing it lacks is water, but maybe that would cause problems?

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#8039 5 years ago
Quoted from FtrMech:

Heck yeah!!...third year in a row...you won't be disappointed. Lots of Pinball, Vendors, and people to meet...outstanding venue.

Cool. I will wear my Houdini work shirt Friday. Maybe Saturday too.

#8042 5 years ago
Quoted from hollywood:

I received an email that these were back in stock and you could combine the two for a discount? Is that true?
Also....forgive me but, why is the mod couple water tank mod so much cheaper?? Just asking.

Yes they are in stock as of last week, and you save $10 buy getting both. I dont know the details on the mod couple tank, but it shows out of stock.

#8067 5 years ago

According to my brother in law, who runs a ball bearing company, sorbothane is our best bet for dampening pinball energies. Amazon has adhesive pads from Isolate It that are 1/8th inch thick.

#8068 5 years ago

After 300 games, the whole playfield is saturated with these golf ball type dimples. This is supposed to be normal? I have not noticed this on older machines.

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#8079 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Hoping for a couple updates soon to iron out those few last
Missing animations ...

Which are missing? We still need the MM mode black screen fix also.

#8080 5 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Those are nothing compared to most of the new Sterns. They'd be much deeper.

OK. I cant say I noticed any on IM and Deadpool, etc.

#8089 5 years ago

Here is the tank installed. The big opto obscures his face, unfortunately. You can still see the shadow of Nosferatu on the blade art. The lights work with GI and also flash when the stage light flashes. During Chinese water torture mode, the figure twists and squirms in the tank. Or maybe I am just sleep deprived and imagining that.

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#8125 5 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

It seems to go up about half of the time on the wireform one in the back, and the seance one. It often kicks, fails, then kicks once more effectively.
I figure my next project, after drilling in the side rail protector, will be that.

I put in the scoop cliffy and since then the exit is even more inconsistent. Mine hits the top of the right sling more often than not at 6 and 7 power. 8 sometimes lands on the flipper, sometimes shoots down the middle. I yanked around the scoop hood and the steel rail, but nothing has lasting impact. So I just learned to play it where it lands.

#8126 5 years ago
Quoted from GCS2000:

So I know I am in the "honeymoon phase" but all the people bitching about this game ... gimme a break.
I know its hard, the shots are tight, I get a lot of bounce outs, I get a lot of rattles trying to make the tight shots but damn I still like the game. I do keep coming back for more as I keep saying I know I can make that shot, that combo etc. And this is all coming from someone who is not a good player. Will this last permanently ... nope. Will it last for a while til something else comes out we want yep. It's a beautiful game (I like the look) the BG is awesome wish MFRs still did this but I get it - its expensive.
Anyway just wanted to add something positive about the game because of all the bashing its getting in the other Houdini thread.
What would I give this game up for, not sure - WOZ probably if I didn't have to add too much $$. Maybe a Dialed In, GOG Premium perhaps. Who knows but for now this is a good solid game that is fun (FOR ME) and I firmly believe it can help me become a better player. If I can make shots on this game well ....

Give yourself some 5 ball games for a while to get used to the shots and reduce frustration. The game makes you better, period.

#8201 5 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

Hello all fellow Houdini owners!
Been over two months since the last "offical" code release.
Was curious if there was any new BETA code to test or if there are any new releases coming out soon?
I actually know this pin will get better with time but it feels the newer code is doing more conditional checking of variables during game play, I see 3-4 seconds of pause time before game will respond at times. I feel sometimes this delay causes the game to maybe loose ball count track too.
I played a Houdini at FreePlay Florida last year and it reminded me on how "snappier" and responsive the code was back in the early releases.
Anyone else notice this behavior on the newer code or is it possible my Houdini having other issues?

I havent heard of any new beta yet. The 12 12 18 release has given me more false drains, where I am playing the last ball of a multiball, but the game thinks I drained it and kills the flippers. I also sometimes get served a second ball for no reason.That may be a symptom of what you describe. I'd like to see that straightened out or curtailed in a new release.

1 week later
#8265 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Yes, wet method 10000% - they are pretty thin, not like the vinyl (or whatever that stuff is) that some of the other pinblade companies produce

These were very nerve wracking to install, and I used wet. These were much thinner than blades from tilt and pingraffix. I got some Middle Earth blades from a source in UK, and they were even limper than API's, and I ripped one.
By the way, it would be great to ID all the characters in the API blades. Some are mysteries to me. I like Lon Chaney's Phantom Red Death, obviously, and Nosferatu's shadow. And there are some famous magicians in there, including Mac King.

#8388 5 years ago
Quoted from kdecgp:

This is what happened to my mini monitor, the ribbon cable came loose. It's not like it's just visually hanging out, it still looks plugged in. I had to reseat it a couple of times and eventually used a tiny piece of gorilla tape on it. Be careful with the tiny black clamp thing. I broke mine off. I think it's like a zero insertion force deal. Make sure to remember how you took the thing apart. You have to take the whole thing out to get at it. It can be as subtle as just barely pushing it in. The left most screw on the shroud is a real bastard to get back in.

This just happened to mine. I was getting screen black out when the ball went into the stage saucer. Not sure if the ribbon was rhe issue, but I busted the connector bar and the ribbon came out. Mailed the whole unit to Barry today. I dont recommend trying that fix at home I hate messing with board electronics. Much happier working on mechanical parts.

#8396 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Got a short black screen session on the stage screen, for about 2 seconds on an epic game last night.
But it came back fairly quickly.
It's probably a loose ribbon cable inside.
I wonder if a little hot glue from the factory would solve it?
JJP started hot gluing the cables near the SD card into the crystal ball assembly for this reason.
Can someone post an official more permanent fix for this?

I'd like to know what the most likely cause for this is. Then we can use preventive measures.

#8408 5 years ago
Quoted from rosh:

I would need to know more about when this is happening, can't say I have ever seen it. What mode were you in?

I noticed this happening for first time after the late summer software release, and It has increased in frequency ever since. When the ball is hit into the open stage and lands in the saucer, whatever image is in the mini screen at that moment immediately blacks out for about 1 second, then reappears. It happens at the moment of impact, maybe 1 in 3 times I make that shot. I dont recall for certain if it happens on bounce outs from the stage, but it definitely happens when the ball lands and stays in the saucer. I think it happens when starting any stage mode, but I havent tried to see if it is specific to any mode. I sent my miniscreen to Barry for a ribbon fix, should arrive today.

#8440 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

That's a shame, he's a great guy!
Probably gone to Austria to pick up custom API lederhosen for the team...

Barry mentioned he went to 11 shows last year, but this year he's not traveling. Still good to see other API wizards at TPF. Maybe I'll lug the Houdini apron down for them to sign.

#8467 5 years ago
Quoted from Osro:

At the risk of being "that guy", I was curious if any consideration had been put into saving the top three or four high scores of the day? Getting to put your initials on a machine is always a fun novelty for new comers and it helps keep track of how well people are doing over the course of an evening get together or party. Alternately would that end up just being annoying when you most play by yourself?
I figure there's probably way more important work to be done, but wanted to throw that idea out there as it'd be transferable across different games.
Despite a few quirks I'm still loving Houdini! I've had mine since July and just put the 1510th game on it. I was also curious as to how many games other people's machines have on them if anyone is willing to divulge that info

I have 315 total games in the same time period. So you have 5x as many.

#8469 5 years ago

Here's a new Houdini mystery. I was on ball 3 and had earned a Séance H letter and Trunk H letter. Suddenly, all the Houdini letter lights were lit as follows: Blue, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, White, Yellow, Yellow. They stayed this way after I drained and started the next ball. Then I started a stage mode (which earned me a stage Houdini letter), and the lights converted to what they should have been - blue, turquoise, and red. Is this a secret message or a wacky bug? Never happened before.

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#8507 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinstein:

I did replace the strip with 2 comet 8in red LED strips plugging each one into a gi lamp. I did have to dbl sticky the black bracket back on. You could probably just stick on some red tail light tap from an auto store. But the red LED will probably be deeper red. I really looks sharp in person.

That does look good. Id have thought cool colors would work better, so the red is surprising. I am afraid to touch thr black strip hood because I dont know if it will stick back up there.

#8518 5 years ago
Quoted from Platypus:

personally I dislike the monkey in the game and have turned off the match play. I think it is his distressed look that bothers me.
The vintage monkey you found at least looks pleasant, at least he is dressed nice. depending on the voltage you might be able to integrate into the game.

I think the monkey has migrated to Octoberfest.

#8522 5 years ago

At API panel today, Josh announced that Houdini code update is available for beta on March 24, Houdini's birthday. The published update will be April 6, I believe. Send note to to Josh if you want to test.

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#8524 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Any more AP news?

Sure. Any new Houdinis that get produced will ship with the new Oktoberfest power system. Oktoberfest ships in april. Joe took a poll of the seminar audience on enthusiasm for the 4 titles they trademarked. Sherlock Holmes was tops by far, with Poker run a mild second. But then Josh joked that they wouldnt develop the title we like most because they wouldnt live up to our inflated expectations. Ha!. Oktoberfest had longest consistent lines at the show except for Spooky's Nightmare Castle, and the two Safecrackers on the floor. CGC should remake safecracker, looks like. BTW, API fed us brats and beer for their seminar, and gave out prizes for quiz winners. Very classy and fun!

#8525 5 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

Sure. Any new Houdinis that get produced will ship with the new Oktoberfest power system. Oktoberfest ships in april. Joe took a poll of the seminar audience on enthusiasm for the 4 titles they trademarked. Sherlock Holmes was tops by far, with Poker run a mild second. But then Josh joked that they wouldnt develop the title we like most because they wouldnt live up to our inflated expectations. Ha!. Oktoberfest had longest consistent lines at the show except for Spooky's Nightmare Castle, and the two Safecrackers on the floor. CGC should remake safecracker, looks like. BTW, API fed us brats and beer for their seminar, and gave out prizes for quiz winners. Very classy and fun!

Also, API hasnt fully moved into the new 35K foot facility, but when they do they will have 3 assembly lines, and suggested that they could produce other people's machines. And they are looking at other coin-op besides pinball. Joe said that some of the team were back at the office working on games 3, 4, and 5. And the company CEO told me he hoped for a third machine to launch this year!

#8540 5 years ago

Here is a video of master magician mode instructions.

#8542 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Definitely update the code - there is a new update coming the first week of April
You may or may not need the power upgrade - it’s $150, but the team gives you a coupon to use in their store. Aaaaand that reminds me I havent used mine!
You may have to set up your game a bit - align the scoop and set the catapult strength .. but that’s the case with every single NIB game, so no big deal. If something seems weird just ask right here!

Josh says the power problem affected people in the Northeast primarily, where the juice consistency sucks.

#8578 5 years ago
Quoted from imagamejunky:

News flash..
The key-lane is a dirty little bitch!
That is all...
sdtm, SDTM!.. GRRRRRRRRR

All Fear the Key Lane!

#8579 5 years ago
Quoted from Ericpinballfan:

So much for me getting the Leather bound Embossed Emblem manual.
It was my idea to make these a year ago...
After research and pricing at min would cost me 250+ a shot to make, no profit item.
And dont Pm me please. NOT MAKING THEM.

Printed manuals for JJ POTC were priced at $100 at TPF. No binding at all.

#8586 5 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Houdini is such a rush when your in the zone.
I'm still tired from TPF!
3 non-stop days of pinball!
I didnt care about waiting in line, it gave me time to rest and drink ziegenbock!!!!!

I've used Vistaprint for cheap printing and they do a good job.
The TPF lines weren't too bad except for Alice Cooper and Safecracker. That should be CGC's next remake, I guess. I didn't even get to touch it once. I did notice some tools who put on 4-player games for one player. Just so lame, and with no shame...

#8587 5 years ago
Quoted from imagamejunky:

Wow. I just had my best game yet. Holy crap that was a blast
[quoted image][quoted image]

Excellent! It takes me 5 balls and several tries to crack 3 million.

#8599 4 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Noticed an interesting behavior tonite.
During return from the dead my catapult seems to have way too much power compared to regular play.
During regular play the catapult works petfectly.
During back from the dead the catapult seems to be un managed and full power, bouncing balls off the backboard.
Again, this is only during return from the dead. NOT during regular play.
When play is resumed after the mode ends catapult is back to normal perfect function.

I havent seen that. Will look for it.

#8602 4 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Yep, Man From Beyond - my favorite mode in the game! You have to hit the stage three times and then loops, after that Houdini moves around on the screen and you have to hit the corresponding shot (right or left loop or stage) to get the points for "finding" him. This is basically impossible if you start Seance because the floating ghost Seance screen covers up the MFB screen that shows where Houdini is, you just have to keep hitting loops and the stage and hope you hit the one that is currently lit.

I have been wondering if there is an end sequence for this, or if it just continues indefinitely till you lose one of the two balls? Seems like if you hit the shot where ue is hiding, he just moves again.

#8643 4 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Not at American Pinball. Look at the current factory. Spotless.
LTG : )

Yes it is so clean and colorful, it reminds me of one of those lego building stores in the mall, or a build-a-bear workshop.

#8668 4 years ago
Quoted from Platypus:

I got my second highest game on the new code! 19 minutes long

Hey, friend, that's encouraging! Can't wait to try it. Am away for a few days, so cant download it. Conincidentally, am at this barcade in louisville that used to have a houdini. They have all JJ and Stern limited editions.

20190406_171702 (resized).jpg20190406_171702 (resized).jpg
#8706 4 years ago
Quoted from imagamejunky:

With that backglass and the batcopter on the left side of the playfield that's not an LE. It's actually a $15000 SLE! Only 30 made. And it's on location? Crazy! Totally awesome, but crazy

Right! This had Adam West's autograph on a card. I think it was #13. They also have the JJ POTC with barnacles glued on.

#8707 4 years ago

Josh @rosh, does the new code eliminate the blank screen on the monitor that sometimes onscures the progress screen during MM mode? I didn't see that on the change list.

Houdini Release Notes Verison 19.4.7.pdfHoudini Release Notes Verison 19.4.7.pdf
#8737 4 years ago
Quoted from sgorsuch:

I am really enjoying this game. My best so far is 1.9 mil, a long way to go to get to the magician mode, but great fun trying. I will have to do some reading on the rule set. I am not sure what I did to get 2 Houdini letters, but I think I heard a call out about spelling Houdini while playing Seance and got a jackpot. I have some reading to do. The chain link awards are welcome- as they really help out in the bonus round, but I have no clue what the chain link is. More reading.
I keep encountering an issue with the small API Grand display.It goes blank during a game and I am not sure what brings it back on. Yesterday it went off and I turned the game off and checked every connection and still no display, as I was scrolling through the settings I think I turned on attract mode sounds and it came back on.
However today after 1 game it went blank again and I was unsuccessful it getting it back on. The code is 18.5.4, but I will have to wait till the weekend to use a better laptop to download the newest code. I did a search but did not find any similar posts, any thought about the display issue? Thanks

If the mini screen goes black for a second and comes back on, dont sweat it. That is happening to me and others once or twice in a game. You can check that wire connections are tight under playfield or under theater cover, but that hasn't had much effect for me. If the screen goes out and stays out, or if it blinks off and on several times in a game, file a service ticket with Barry at API

#8738 4 years ago
Quoted from CUJO:

Possible Bug on 4.7.19 code:
Stage marquee LCD said one More Hit to open stage but it was already open.
Ball went in stage and Metamorphis started just fine.
Observation: I did notice the Stage door will open and shut at odd times, showing a locked ball inside on top of the captive ball arm. Just as it starts to lower the stage door will shut and the stage mode will start. Is this normal behavior for the new code?
All in all, I'd say this release is the most stable yet. Played about 8 games so far and no "wackiness"

I have seen stage-door "reveal" you describe happen on the previous code. I assume it is part of the quirkiness of "now you see it, now you dont." There is also a setting where the stage will eject your ball at the start or end of some modes, like the milkcan. It works most of the time, and the ball will roll down to your flipper.

#8764 4 years ago
Quoted from sgorsuch:

I spoke with Barry this morning and he immediately sent me a couple attachment with things to look at. I tried the oblivious connection points and reseated , but to no avail. I will look at the ribbon attachment to the scaler board.
I will update the code this weekend. Will use a newer laptop that my wife has. This jalopy of a laptop I have now is too old to trust.

Be real careful with that ribbon. I destroyed mine.

#8766 4 years ago
Quoted from sgorsuch:

This is looking to be a good game for me- i have some shoulder issues and there are times when my shoulder is killing me from the constant pressure of either nudging or probably more like poor posture as I lean on the machine. With Houdini there are a lot of breaks in the action.
I am improving -got 9 out 10 stage acts, and now understand how the color of the Houdini letter reflects which task that was completed. I read a few pages of the rule set this morning. I like the overview of your status in the game by holding both flipper with a ball in the shooter lane. This game took 34 minutes and got 2.4 mil.
I was on the fence for a long time about this game, but I am happy to say that I absolutely enjoying the whole experience. Kudos to API.

Sounds like you are doing great! This is a game with a lot of pauses, but 30 minutes of play can still tire a person out. The lights are a great help. The padlock lights near the flippers provide info as well, like how many balls are locked in the trunk. I hope you get your screen issue solved. I am just watching to see if mine worsens.

#8768 4 years ago

I tried the new code tonight and noticed that the magic standup targets will now help you achieve a secret mission combo, whereas before, they did not. This makes it super easy to solve the first two missions, because they are only two steps -- make the first, then hit a standup on your next shot, and get a pink chainlink and you are on your way to a letter. I also dimmed my spotlights and back panel to half power, which evens out the overall playfield brightness. Looking forward to interactive water tank.

#8769 4 years ago
Quoted from finnflash:

Really? I haven't noticed any of my chain links unlit. I will need to look closer at that next time.

There are inserts in three padlock images below houdini's chin and left hand. One is a film reel, one is a morse code button with a finger, and one is jail bars.They illuminate left to right when you lock balls in the trunk.

#8770 4 years ago

I had a weird game on the new code.
First, the ball lock under the ramp released two balls instead of one - it did that 3 times in the game, and it has never done that before. Has this just started with anyone else?
This caused the game a lot of ball logic confusion, and it went through the skill shot sequence multiple times while I was still playing two or more balls.
Then I made it to Master Magician mode, and the backbox screen stayed on the whole time (yay!), but it didn't seem to register any progress in some categories - escapes and secret missions particularly, even though I was hitting those colored shots. There used to be numbers in the circles too, but I didn't see those this time.

#8772 4 years ago

I isolated the ramp lock multi-ball release problem. It happens when starting a film mode. Upon the start of the mode, the lock post drops and releases all the balls that are locked there. So the film mode becomes a multiball mode. I will try to reload the code.

#8777 4 years ago

Update on my multi ball release from the left ramp lock during movie mode. This has also happened when not starting movie mode, and the lock release post's timing is erratic and nonconsistent. It stays down too long or pops up too fast and kicks the ball in the ass on its way out. The coil is running hot also. Anyway, I reloaded the new code, but the problem persisted. Then I loaded the old 12.12 code, and the post now acts normally. Josh has all the info and is on it.

#8784 4 years ago
Quoted from meSz:

So are the chain links always illuminated? Do they signify anything as mine just stay on? Thanks for the info!

they look like they are on, but they get brighter when you get a movie mode, completw a jail escape or complete a mission combo. Takes a while to tell whenbt if ey are lit or not. But you should see tue blie movie links light up first since they light whether you finish the movie shots or not.

#8785 4 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I had some weird coil/power stuff after the update also.
Reload the newest code.
Revisit the related coil problem.
Adjust coil in the settings menu til it works better.
Reboot the game.
Check coil again.
If the setting still isn't right, or if it didnt hold:
Readjust the coil.
Reboot.
On my game the settings stabilised on the second adjustment after power cycling the game twice.
Kinda weird but finally stabilised.

I dont know that I can adjust the timing of the lock post coil.

#8790 4 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

Its in the coils settings menu
the lock post number settings on the coil menu can be confusing.
Its a matter of time intervals.
lower numbers make it stay down for a shorter time.
Higher numbers make it stay down for a longer time.

Thanks for the clarification. The post timing is inconsistent under the new code, sometimes coming up too fast, sometimes staying down for several seconds. Not sure a single timing adjustment will correct all that, but I can give it a try after I Josh or Barry cant help me.

#8792 4 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I'm not having this issue on my game with the new code.
Try yo see if there are any mechanical issues with it.
You might have to pull it apart to see if its binding on something, loose or mis-aligned.

It works fine with code 12.12, so not sure it is mechanical.

#8798 4 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

Update on my multi ball release from the left ramp lock during movie mode. This has also happened when not starting movie mode, and the lock release post's timing is erratic and nonconsistent. It stays down too long or pops up too fast and kicks the ball in the ass on its way out. The coil is running hot also. Anyway, I reloaded the new code, but the problem persisted. Then I loaded the old 12.12 code, and the post now acts normally. Josh has all the info and is on it.

Update: I reloaded the new code a third time, and the left lock post problem resolved itself. Weird.

#8799 4 years ago
Quoted from billsfanmd:

Thx. What do you mean by. The catapult must be parallel to the slot ?

The arm of catapult should look parallel to the slot in the wood in which it sits. If it looks to be at an angle, that can be part of the cause of left or right misses. Widening the mount holes with a dremel is your most effective approach to adjusting this. Other than adding the power supply upgrade, which eliminates inconsistent shots. If you are having inconsistent shots during play, then seriously consider getting that. If your shoys are consistent but wide, then grab your dremel.

#8801 4 years ago
Quoted from billsfanmd:

That’s what I thought. Here is a pic. It is def off to one side [quoted image]

yes, and a little crooked. Mine is straighter and more centered, tho not exactly.

20190414_123824 (resized).jpg20190414_123824 (resized).jpg
#8803 4 years ago
Quoted from acaciolo:

Need a quick favor. I am making a topper for my Oktoberfest machine (that I'll have in about 3 weeks) out of some old beer signs from my dad's beer distributor. Since I don't have the machine yet, I need the dimension on the top of the back box on an American Pinball machine. (left to right, the space in between the 2 side panels that stick up a little). I think it is around 27", but I don't want to guess. Since there are way more Houdini's than Oktoberfest, figured I'd ask here.
Here are few other toppers (or in some cases, junk I put on top of the machines.) thanks in advance.

The top of the box, not including the side panels, is 27 and a quarter. the thickness to the wall is a hair under 11 inches. The boxes for octoberfest may not be the same. They dont have the rounded side panels.

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