American Pinball Houdini thread

Just got this game from a nice cop up north really good shape.Love the art play reminds me of bsd as it's hard but has that huge outer loop that's more focal than the ramps and falling in love with some shots will kill you.Can't believe all the stuff put in this game.Shoots better than expected right ramp isn't exactly clicking yet but I can tell it's getting better as I can pull a hat trick every now and again.surprised it didn't get more love because I like it more than my Elvira hoh as I think it's more addictive and has that one more game feel that's perfect.

Good for you! The game initially had a lot of naysayers, who as it turns out, had never played the game. Agree with all your points except about EHOH, that game is amazing too! Houdini has its share of really creative innovations. And some day we should get an update to clean up the last couple of bugs..

Early Black Friday Deals start NOW!

Up to 50% off on merchandise and parts!

Shop at https://store.american-pinball.com/

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Check out the Houdini Seance Coin shooter rod, can't remember who sells them but I have one and it is really, really nice and also a cool piece of limited edition Houdini swag. It is smoothed out on the back and really helps make the super skill shot.

Magic glass 30% off! $206 is a pretty good price.

I have this on mine. Pretty nice on this game.

Plastics set only $90.

some ap stuff for sale

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I bought a magic glass to go on my DW, and an Amy Pin t-shirt for pinballgoddess

I’m picking up Houdini this week
Low plays,like new,etc
All these power problems in these threads has me thinking should I order the cap kit now?allng with the knocker kit?
Thanks
Marshall

Yes, and Yes. The knocker is an awesome upgrade and very well integrated into mods and game play. Cap Kit is also a nice upgrade.
Plus, American Pinball is having a Black Friday sale this week.

On it now thank you

Cap kit needs the upgraded power supply — do you know if your new Houdini has that?

If not then ordering it from AP comes with a gift certificate for the $150 cost of the power supply. You could use the gc for the knocker, cap kit, etc.

Also, you might not even need the upgraded power supply. Maybe I’ve just been lucky but my flippers and coils have always been consistent, even during multiballs and magnet use.

That’s the thing I don’t know if it has it
Trying to find out won’t be able to confirm till pick up

Has anyone experienced all magnets not working during gameplay?

Still going to pick up a couple things like the knocker and art blades now since it’s on sale thanks for the feedback it’s helping was feeling a little confused jumping in on the game then reading all this stuff

Re the coil upgrade, the installation instructions say that you need either the power supply upgrade or the “metal box” power supply. So, if you are playing and find things a bit weak when stacking modes, especially when the magnets are used, you should identify where you are with your power supply. It’s pretty easy to tell. See posts 10158 and 10160 in this thread. If you have either, you can add the coil upgrade.

Hi Guys:

I think I read on here that the ideal pitch for this game is 6 degrees?

I have no idea where the pitch is at on my game. What tool do I need to buy that will help me adjust to 6 degrees?

Thanks, so much.

Roger

You need a torpedo level. I use a digital one. If you are on pretty level ground (i.e. not in a garage), the American Pinball FAQs say:

What is the intended playfield pitch for Houdini?

Designer Joe Balcer likes to see the playfield pitch at 6 degrees, that is obtained by having the leg levelers all the way up (no threads showing between the bottom of the leg and the foot)

I cant find the option to enable game restart by holding the start button. Can anyone help? Or do i need to hold something in addition to start?

Go into API Cockpit. Then into settings, then into standard, then scroll down to slow restart. Set to ON.

Start button has to be held longer than on some other pins.

Thx i had did that but didnt hold button long enough

Thank you.

Much appreciated.

Roger

So where in the manual does it mention 6.0-6.2? I thought it said 6.5 was standard. I only ask because at 6.2 the game is just so slow. If I go 6.5 will certain shots become unmakeable?

something might be off. The game shouldn’t be slow at 6.2. Are you sure on your measurements? Don’t use an app. Screw the legs all the way in on all 4 sides. Then check that the game is level, dont worry about pitch.

NOW unscrew the rear levellers 5 or 6 threads. That should be 6.2. Increase the flipper power if you like.

Look at the FAQs here:
https://www.american-pinball.com/support/

Are you measuring with the glass on or off?

Should be off.

Yes - You want to be at 6 degrees of pitch, plus maybe a hair. You don't want to set the game up too steep. Get it level side to side also. Use a good quality digital torpedo level on the playfield. You are getting good advice from the others.

If your floor isn't real level you can start with all the legs screwed out a little - an equal amount, so you can get 6 degrees while adjusting for differences in your floor.

I use pinguy app with glass off. I then use a level to measure side to side level. I setup at 6.2 but will check again. With carpet it tends to settle a bit. Im going to turn the flipper power up as well.

Man this game pisses me off so bad. I like games that are tough but the geometry on this just feels broken to me. I've tried playing with the pitch, dropped the flipper, tried adjusting the coil strength. At this point I think the shots are just poorly designed. The lock shot, milk can and stage alley feel impossible to make intentionally. It is upsetting because the game seems to be loaded with code but being unable to hit the shots consistently means I'll never be able to see it. What's weird is my ball times are fine it's just a series of bricked shots which just doesn't equate to fun.

I'm going to continue trying to tweak and give it a chance but I'm seeing now why this game gets so much hate and I'm starting to believe it's justified.

The game doesn’t shoot like a B/W game. You have to accept that. Why are so many owners able to make shots consistently and get so far in the game? They adapted to it. Give it time, you’ll dig it

You've got me. I don't know. All I know is for 2 hours last night I tried consistently hitting the lock shot with no improvement. I'd hit it on the fly though unintentionally. It def makes my other games much easier though after trying to dial in so hard on one machine. It does feel amazing when I hit it. I'm not giving up yet. Just venting in the club thread here.

The lock shot is way easier when cradled from the right flipper. Once you get the timing correct you will make it 80%+ or better.

What is your flipper power set at?

I found that by setting it at 6 degrees, tweaking my flippers back just a tiny bit (like 1/8 inch) getting your flipper strength right, and really making sure the playfield is level, it absolutely makes a difference in making all the shots. If the game is not level, or too steep, you’ll have a hard time with hitting the Stage Alley shot, which should be hitting the stage much of the time. If things are set up properly, you should be making Stage Alley, the ramp, and Milk Can shots consistently enough so that it’s not too frustrating. I’m a very average player, but after making these adjustments and dialing in the game and playing for a while, this is one of the best games I’ve owned.

One suggestion is turning the flipper power down until you can JUST make the ramp shot from the left flipper. Like Rshack said, You should also be able to backhand the inner right orbit.

It’s HARD at first, because the gap is tiny, but after practice you’ll get it dialed in. I can make it repeatedly after coming off the ramp too, or just cradled on the left flipper. Just means working it for a while.

These are the key suggestions. How can we sticky this post?

I'm going to try and make sure everything is prefectly level tonight. If this is the case then maybe it's why I'm having trouble with all shots. Maybe the game isn't level.

Look at post 11089. There is a photo of how I set the angle of my flippers.

For strength, my flippers are set at:

Left - 23
Right - 21

BUT, I have the coil upgrade kit installed (which means I have the power supply upgrade). After I installed the coil upgrade kit, I had to dial my flipper settings back. Shoots like a bazooka now.
I think for me the key was getting the left strong enough to make the ramp and the right just right to hit the Stage Alley and Milk Can shots with out bouncing back out.

Yep, if you can't find it from the left flipper post-pass to the right and backhand it, that's what I often do. The most frustrating part of this game (in a good way to me) is trying to hit the ramp after the milkcan shot, the ball is going much faster down the inlane than you anticipate and I'm almost always late and miss the ramp to the right. The stage alley shot is tough but oh-so-satisfying when you nail it for 2x mode scoring especially on the higher-scoring ones.

Totally agree. Nothing better than hitting Stage Alley and doubling your Houdini Bonus after going through all of the stage performances.
And you gotta love crossing your arms with reverse flippers in straight jacket. I totally sucked when I first tried that one, but now I’m pretty good.

I got this game as a trade from someone. They told me it has second power supply, but whats the upgraded coil kit? I just had a crazy multiball and did notice the right flipper lose a tad of power. Also, how do I check if the machine has these things?

I moved the seance targets a sideways little to widen the lock loop entrance.
Just side drill their mounting bracket holes and push them 1/8" or so away from the entrance.

Its a world of difference. See my posts on this.

Take a photo of the rear of the inside cabinet and we’ll tell you which one you have.

Original looks like a big fat engine block with a plastic cover on it. It may or may not be accompanied by the upgrade, which is a smaller, rectangular silver box.

The newer design is just a single smaller rectangular unit. If you just have a single long rectangular unit, you have the newest design.

The kit is here:
https://store.american-pinball.com/products/kit0006-00

Look under your playfield and find the magnets. It will be a 2” or so capacitor mounted between the two, but closest to the magnet to the left.

I too notice a rare loss of power to right flipper when I have trunk multiball, seance, and Bullet mode going all at once. I figure you’ve got the magnets firing like crazy, the knocker thwacking away and on occasion the catapults firing. I think it just gets a bit overloaded, but it rarely happens and I just go with it. Seems way better with the coil upgrade, but I did notice it the other night for a second or two. First time since I installed the kit, and that’s probably over 25-35 games.

Ill post a pic later but its a long rectangular metal box.

I also cant figure out how to open the area behind the backglass! I turn the key but nothing! Im used to stern

After reading a bunch of new posts I played a few games and just had my best score. Twenty plus minutes what a rush. Gets wild when you stack multiple multi balls and modes together.

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You have a newer game and power supply. No need for an upgrade to the power supply if you decide to add a coil upgrade kit.
I have to use a lot of finger muscle to get my glass out. Just grip and lift. It’s not a smooth pull.
The only things there are some LED strips, the monitor and amp for the sound. So, unless you need to access one of those things, no real need to dig in. It’s very Spartan once you do get the back glass off.

where do you pull from? The bottom of the translite?

Here is the pick of my power supply. new one right?

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One thing I had to do when I first got my Houdini was to cradle the ball (a lot) and really focus on the shot. After awhile, it started to come more natural. I'm still not much of a player, highest score is maybe 2.2M (3 ball) and I've gotten to Master Magician once but didn't complete it. At first, hitting 500K was a reason to celebrate. Now, I hit close to a million fairly often (but seem to run out of steam near 1.5M). Set the game to easy. There's actually a number of things in the pin to help a player out (i.e. the center post, the Magic targets, generous ball saves, an extra ball in the throwing the card challenge, etc.). But boy, it can turn into a high energy pin if you can hit the right shots.

But I do admit, when we (wife, me) start playing for the night, it's definitely not the first pin I pick - I really need some warm up games (and a glass of wine) before I try to tackle Houdini.

Two years later, still the wife's fav pin.