Update. I broke the damn robot when I was painting it. Dropped it and it exploded.
Back to the drawing board.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.
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Mike

Did you print the one from Thingiverse? I painted mine before I glued it together

Yes, I used that one. Shrunk it to 42% (random number) It was primed black after I glued everything together. I thought that would help keep it together. ha.
I printed it with .2 nozzle and .08 layer height to try to to get it detailed as possible. I'm going to increase the infill and also connect layers using the zig zag option. I printed the arms and legs vertically and those are the ones that broke when it fell. Maybe I'll print them horizontally for more structural strength. Or just be more careful I guess. Horizontal always sacrifices detail and overall look in my opinion.
It's no biggie as I'm just screwing around mainly because I hadn't used my printer in a long time. Gets me back in the math side of things with the slicer settings and what not.
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Mike

Like you mentioned, I think the horizontal printing will help a lot. Using Tree supports (in Cura) makes it pretty easy to remove the supports if you tweak the settings.

Along with infilling the arms and legs, the infill pattern itself can make a difference in strength too. Where did it break at? At the attachment to the body or someplace else? Increasing the outer layer count would help too.

It broke on the arms and legs. Both printed vertically so any left to right motion and being so small to begin with certainly didn't help. Not desirable from a structural standpoint but I was sacrificing for detail.
I'll take your advice and increase wall count, change the infill pattern and try once more before going horizontal.
Yes on trees supports as well.
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Mike

I just legitimately got to master magician. Really cool mode. The only bummer is at the end the game resets without letting you put your name in. Is that intentional?

I could have just upvoted your post, but I’ll intentionally give another shout for Dave. I had a cascade of isssues and I literally emailed Dave everyday for like 10 days straight. It’s nice to know that you will get an actionable response EVERY day without having to bug them with follow ups and pleas for help. Thank you Dave and American Pinball!

In the more recent download (from January 2021) that is a feature that can be adjusted so as to not end the game after the master magician mode. If you have an older version, I think you are stuck. But yes, it’s the default and it’s supposed to do that.

Cool! Just changed it. Thanks for the info!

So do you think the 42% scale would allow it to fit in the back right of the PF? Or does it need tweaked more? I hadn't seen this before, so I might give it a try. Good find!

I think it would fit. I haven't seen a houdini playfield but it was about 4 inches tall total. Maybe even go bigger. You can type in houdini robot in thingiverse and it will come up for sure. I redesigned the candelabra. I can upload it if you like. Simple design but easier to put together.

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Mike

Here is the link to the Robot on thingiverse and also the link to the remixed candelabra. I printed the candelabra at 45% I believe. I have no idea why I chose 45% over 42% for the candelabra but it worked out with regard to size. Regardless, you have to sand the hand thumb and index finger opening to slide the candelabra base in there.
I'm gonna print the next one at 50%. Ideally I would want the biggest one I could fit in there so the percentage is irrelevant to me right now because I don't have a reference(game).

Q Robot:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4595025

All credit goes to this designer on the robot: https://www.thingiverse.com/rebel_ace/designs

remixed candelabra:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4981581

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Mike

Did he game end or did it crash (reset an re-load the game)? Your game should end after the final test, but It should allow you to enter high scores. Please send me the logs if it was a crash.

It was definitely a crash then. The mode ended, the game shut off, and reloaded as if I just turned it on. How do I send you the logs?

insert a USB Stick, with no game code, into the USB extension cable that is inside the cabinet near the coin door. It will put a bunch of files on it, email those to me [email protected]

Will do. Thanks.

I had weird issues with my Oktoberfest and Dave fixed me right up. I have never had service as good as API and Dave. Because of that, I will support API and eagerly anticipate the next pinball release.

Come on api ,let’s see the new game!!

Anyone on here that's recovered their game from a boot loop after a failed code update?? I replaced the curtain servo today, made sure the game was working well then went to do a code update using a different than normal USB key. The game didn't see the key at first so I pushed it in a little more firmly which seemed to work as it went into the update countdown. However it only said updating for a few seconds and then went into a boot loop, never making it past the "welcome to pinix" login screen. I tried inserting a different USB key with the code loaded, power cycles, etc. but it's still in a boot loop. I already e-mailed Josh but thought I'd check to see if anyone else who ended up in this boot loop and recovered might be able to share the recovery process.

I've had it happen on other devices.

Generally pull the power cord out of the wall push the power button on the game to remove any residual power and deplete any capacitors.

Turn the game off

Plug in back into the wall

Insert USB stick firmly turn game back on see what happens

Josh told me to check all the USB connections all the way to the backbox computer so I did, everything felt tight but the game did just get moved 900+ miles so.... I used the same stick and plugged it into the halfway point under the PF, powered the game on and it loaded code so I'm back in business. Thanks as always to the amazing support, even after-hours answering from his iPhone, Josh!!

I really like this game. It’s different. It’s fun. It’s hard. It makes me play better. I like it.

Its a great game to have at home, it kicks your ass... which is great in a home environment.. A game thats too easy at home gets old fast.

I was asked to "Fix" manual's address for AP's current location. I added a few more helpful things: http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2021-10/API-Houdini-Service-Manual-10-6-21.pdf

Nice!

Congrats! There is a setting in the latest software thst allows you to continue the game after MMm. Set it now for next time.

So I got this boot up failure. “P3-roc not powered”. I found four boards that I think are those boards, all have green lights. What else should I consider?

597F2098-D67F-4203-BBCB-4064FED943D7 (resized).jpeg

Check connectors? Fuses? It shouldnt be too bad.

Did you call Dave (@brenna98) at API?

Most likely a failed 5VDC power supply module, it's been discussed in this thread a few times, I should make it a key post I guess.

Edit:

Sure enough, I have no 5v off of the power supply, I do have 12v. I am wondering if it is repairable or I need a replacement. I have put in a service order.

A 5V switched mode power supply with 5 Amps or more will get you running again. However, contact API to ship you one ASAP.

If you look back through this thread some people have had luck with the overall power supply manufacturer sending them replacements at no cost, might be worth a shot. Do you have the original supply or the newer consolidated one?

Interesting, I didn't know these had a problem with the caps failing. Pretty sad for being less than 5 years old. What I and a few others had fail was the actual greenwell rectifier/regulator, might be nice to cover how to replace that part too.

Great video! Clear and concise and the special effects were a really mice touch.

In that case, just get the new unit. Link posted in the video description.

Is this happening with the new all in one power supply only or both new and old?

The Antek power supply used on early Houdini games.

As an early adopter that includes my game!

Thanks for the continued support of legacy games like mine! I really appreciate it.

Yes! my game from 2018 is an early one, with the Antek PS. I would not call it a legacy, not quite yet. None the less Brenna98 helped me address the issue in a few hours and on a weekend no less. American Pinball service and support is unparalleled.

That's a pretty good price compared to replacing just the 5V module like I did.

Any update on the new code? I’m looking forward to the co-op play…bedtime is much nicer when Mrs and I don’t have mini-tourneys immediately beforehand!

I have Houdini 1092. It has the knocker, shaker, additional power supply and capacitor kit added.

When I play single player, the trunk shot never misses. During two player games, the trunk shot is always short of the trunk.

In single player game the scoop has a hard time ejecting the ball during multiball. Giving the coil more power does not help. Has anyone solved this problem? Maybe put in a different coil. Thanks.

I don't see any difference in single versus multiplayer performance but I do occasionally still see a missed catapult throw during multiballs. For the scoop, have you tried reducing the coil power, that's more often effective than increasing it. You can also try bending the scoop hood down (seems counter-intuitive) slightly which has helped numerous people with the same issue.

I bent the scoop years ago. I reduced or increased the coil power to no avail.

Can you send me some pics of your scoop and coil settings? [email protected]

Will do. Thanks.

Info sent.

I have the same issue, I ended up giving up on it after much adjusting. The ball makes it out but dribbles back down the lane, it certainly doesn't fire with any real power. In slow motion I could see the ball hitting the top of the scoop, then slamming back down onto the playfield right at the edge of the scope hole (or directly onto the edge depending on how the scoop is bent and how much power is given) which kills all momentum. I got it as good as I was able to by bending the scoop forward and one or two other fine adjustments. Its acceptable but I never got it firing good. It does have some more trouble if two or more balls end up in there..

Agree. I cringe when the balls get stacked in there.

What else is running off that same circuit at your house?