But auto-adjustment will usually be better since it will note when a shot is missed and adjust power accordingly if it keeps missing. This will account for wear over time when the game drifts from the initial "perfect" adjustment and require no interaction with a human. It wouldn't be that hard to program. I'd like to see it in the game.

We did pay around with this (and Joe keeps saying it) and I continue to look at it, however, the challenge with auto-adjustment, is there is no way to know with any level of certainty which way it missed, e.g. too low/short or too high, and making adjustments the wrong way in an automated fashion could do far more harm than good. For example, even if I look to see did it end up in the upper catapult when it should go to the subway, a common landing place on a short throw, that still does not mean it was a short throw, since I've seen a high throw end up there as well. It would have been nice to have a sensor on the front of the trunk to detect a short throw, but that was not feasible. In most environments, once you get the setting right it is quite reliable.

The trunk is a pretty heavy gauge metal and the outside covering is of a very strong, durable and expensive material (and we did look at ways to make it cheaper but the durability was not even remotely acceptable). We talked about having a purple felt inside covering to match the backglass, but that would never hold up since the ball tends to hit the same spot all the time. I suspect that if the ball is always hitting the front lip on the way into the trunk, than after tons of hits it will show some wear, but hey, it is an old steamer trunk, and Matt from Back Alley put in a lot of effort to make it look old and well traveled, so a little extra wear would be fine. We have done testing where we pounded the front of it for hours without it breaking (which was not the case with the cheaper versions). There are a dozen machines out on location, with thousands of plays, and I am not aware of any machines where missed catapult throws have caused any damage, but it is a steel ball moving at high velocity, so I'm not going to say it will never happen.

If it's reliable once you set it manually, then more than 2 misses in a row in the future would likely be short throws from age/wear, so you can +1 the baseline. That doesn't work, +2 the baseline to slightly increase the power of the throw. Still missing? Jump the other way to -1 baseline, then -2 baseline, then alternate +3, -3, +4, -4, etc until you get success. It wouldn't have to kick in often, and shouldn't unless two launches in a row are missed, but it could work.

If there are misses detected, you could also "ghost adjust" by rapidly repeating the shot automatically when a game is over.

Unfortunately there is no way to just automatically keep feeding the ball to the catapult.

Not sure the 'over time will be short' is a valid assumption, maybe the return spring has gotten weak over time, so now it is throwing too strong since there is less resistance. That may not be realistic, but you get my point that assuming it gets shorter over time may not be something you want to bet on.

You would never want to make a judgement based on a single throw, so you would always have to look at X throws before making any type of a decision. You then also have to be concerned with the owner/operator making a change to coil strength, that then makes the historical tracking to be invalid. Or maybe the machine gets moved and is now at a different pitch, etc. So, lots of moving variables that need to be account for and or warned about, so I'm not comfortable that at this point we can reliably make decisions without risking doing more harm then good.

As I said I will continue to look at it, and I can see at some point taking what we have and what we might enhance and exposing an 'experimental' auto-adjust feature. But before that I need to do a lot more testing and collect a lot more data, and right now finishing up magician modes and other things are the priority. But, it is an interesting intellectual exercise.

oooooh, look just what got here.

Houdini is here (resized).JPG

Right next to GOT.
Only played one game, made the trunk twice no problem.

Gorgeous machine all around. guess what i'm gonna do tonight and tomorrow and come back with a review.

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USB Extension cable likely fell to back of cabinet during shipping

This happened to me last night as well....only once

Pretty sure this is fixed in the code soon to be released.

Thanks for the photo. It makes sense the auto plunger would be fine. There are spotting holes to be sure the mech is properly positioned. Due to the way the shooter assembly mounts, not as precise. I've shared this with the production manager so they can review with the folks on the line that install these as well as the inspection team.

You should be able to just lift the playfield, and slightly loosen the three bolts that hold the shooter assembly and shift it over slightly and then tighten them backdown.

If you need further assistance, send me a PM.

Since magic shop not active during Multiball, it would quickly send to scoop to throw it out, if the ball came in right then, it would either double stack and not register or the scoop would think it was a fallback. So, likely just unfortunate timing.

Inverted will be 3X on next release, but starting through stage alley then double that. The other thing is to get milkcan playfield multiplier raised before/during this (easier said that done, but during seance the magnets will sometimes feed the loop for you, so good to focus on ramp shots off the left flipper during MB), and you can get that to be 24X on jackpots, which I believe is the highest scoring in the game, outside of mini-magician modes.

I typically try to start stage modes via stage alley to get the double value on the mode, can also be extremely value with Milkcan Escape (if you make the shots), since that will give you the playfield multiplier without having to hit the ramp shot after the loop. That is the most valuable stage mode and if you are good at it, it maxs the playfield multiplier.

The next release has playing tips during attract mode.

Hmm, Magic shop won't be active during Multiball, so not sure how that could happen, be curious to see the log. At the same time a lot of stuff has been changed/fixed since that code, so, we will see if it happens after the code update. If you pull the logs, just zip and email to [email protected]

Thank-you,Rosh,For us still waiting for our pins,your comments on progress is greatly appreciated!!

Update on Add-ons.

Interior Side Art is now in stock and distributors are being notified about their availability. Priced at $99. Sometime in the next couple of days they will be up on our website for purchase.

Changes have been made to the magic glass, and sounds like the price will be higher than originally projected. They have now added a "hard coat" that I am being told will make it more durable, scratch resistant and easier to clean (I assume these are all issues with current offerings, I'm not that familiar with them). I have not yet seen one installed. Sounds like it will a few weeks before these will be in stock.

Shaker Motors -- these are not yet available, not sure of when it will be, but suspect sooner rather than later. Installing these will be four bolts to T-nuts already in the cabinet, a couple of screws for the cover and then plugging it into a nearby board. So easily installed by pretty much anyone.

Houdini Side Art (resized).jpg

houdini side art left side (resized).jpgHoudini side art right side (resized).jpg

Is this just a stick and peel thing, or the side art is on some form of panel that you install in the game?

Been very reliable on a location machine here in Dallas. The whole game has actually. Good job API.

And good for you guys for coming on this board and facing and responding to questions and issues directly. Makes me want one even more.

dup. sorry

So when I order a Houdini through mt distributor will these be installed at the factory or shipped separately with the game?

Agreed. I need to know whether to go ahead and have my distributor ship my Houdini or if the Side Art and Magic Glass will be added at the factory.

I love the side art. Let's see if we can identify all of the people in the art.

The guy with the swami hat looks like Carter the Great.

The Chinese guy looks looks like Chung Ling Soo (aka William Robinson) who died performing the Bullet Catch when the "fake" gun misfired. Robinson pretended to be Chinese in public to build his brand as "Marvelous Chinese Conjurer" and was a long time friend of Houdini.

The one photo shows Mac King in the water with the gold fish; one of is signature tricks. King is a very successful magician with a long running show at Harrah's in Las Vegas.

There is a shadow of Nosferatu haunting the wall.

Anyone else recognize anyone else?

My distributor had contacted me with option to have them added at factory

Setup and on Location at On Tilt @ AYCE Gogi in Van Nuys, CA. Game playing great and everyone loving it!

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Went back to play 10,15 games at VUK today. This time I DID feel like the game was set up very floaty - I am not sure if they are changing the game setup or what. The scoop kickout was really unpredictable too. (Not as unpredictable as my IJ mode hole kickout, but noticeable. Took me a few games to adjust)

Still very fun game, I’m still in, I think I’ve played enough on it I’m starting to really look for the game’s personality and consistency. Hoping when I get it home I can get it set up a little tiny bit faster.

Compared to the DI on location there, Houdini was excellent. dI was fun as hell, but it felt like that game was under water - floaty floaty floaty. Also, the shooter Rod is broken so that was pretty frustrating. Houdini still looks absolutely incredible in the lineup

Its a shame they dont take 3 min and set them up better

Awesome. Was wondering when you were getting it. Will have to make a trip up there in the next few days.

How do you activate the upper catapult? I couldn’t figure that out

A mil always feels good on this machine.

Where in Dallas?

Place called The Cidercade

Went this am thanks! Incredible lineup. Had Houdini and bm66 pretty much to myself alllll morning.

Can’t wait to try Houdini!

Played about 6 games at Ayci Gogi on Sat night. What an amazing game, all aspects. Display, theme, video clips and animations, cabinet, playfield, shots, call outs, that trunk shot is just damn fun.
So happy ive ordered one!

You got me, brother!

We got ours today!

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Damn Houdini, GOTLE, and DI is a nice three pin combo

We have 24 total! You guys should come up sometime.

I’d take that trio in a flash! Jealous haha.

with side art

You mean best game of the year.

Anybody have ideas on how many are going out? Still haven't heard from any east coast distros on shipping

Noticed that in the pic right away. Looks great - even from a few feet back!