Had a few friends over last night, and had all of the machines on. For the first time in a while, the trunk catapult missed. Normally, I just have one game on when I play and it makes the shot every time. This morning, with only one machine on, it makes the shot without a problem. I wonder if other draws on the circuit "could" effect the catapult? I did have the plastic out around that area (painted milk can to bring out the detail in the sculpt) but I don't think that would affect it. Anyone else notice anything like this? I am going to test further with the settings and having one or more machines on the same circuit. The trunk shot is such a neat feature, I would like to adjust it so it makes it when all the machines are on in the lineup.

That’s what we think - check a couple posts / pages ago when we were discussing the Variac and the Line Conditioner options. Happens to me too. Ironic we usually only turn on all games when its a party, which is exactly when you want to show ‘em off!

I believe that this cause and effect has already been corroborated in this thread. I'll leave it to you to do the search though.

Must have missed it , but why is AP sending out foam for the speakers?

+1

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For all your Houdini mods, thanks for looking!
The Mod Couple

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Did a little work on Houdini tonight, installed the Cliffy scoop protector as I could see it starting to show early signs of wear at the exit. This was not your typical 10-15 minute protector install, I should have taken pictures and documented it but I thought I'd just knock it out real quick - NOT! I also installed the shooter lane protector, not that I think it's really needed but since it was a packaged deal with the scoop protector, what the hell. This wasn't as bad as the scoop but still not super-simple as you have to loosen and light the wood side rail and part of the auto-launcher has to come off to do that. Looks nice installed but if you don't want to go to the effort I would still recommend a small piece of mylar to protect the scoop edge.

When I lifted the playfield I noticed a small piece of coil sleeve in the bottom, sure enough the bottom part of the one in the scoop was broken. I replaced it with one with a slightly shorter end behind the ring and hopefully that keeps it from breaking again. I didn't play enough yet to see if either of these improves scoop consistency but during testing it was pretty good.

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Looks great ! Nice job ....

There’s light bleed from the speaker grilles so this just buttons that all up

Got some real good time to play a Houdini today.

Have to say it's a fantastic game. Plays great and looks even better.

I had only ever played it at shows. A game here and there. So getting to play for a few hours today. And really investigate all the modes and rules. Impressed me even more.

For those going to CAX, I'll be doing a talk Saturday at 4PM in the Magnolia Room. You will also find me hanging out with Houdini in Don's Custom Service's booth.

I'm out of the office this week, I'll check when I get back next week.

That's pretty cool but I actually removed the Key Lane / Stage Ally plastic. I found the ball was hitting it and getting rejected about half of the time. Now It's a much more reliable shot. Will it work without the original plastic?

Any thought of making a mod in an arch design to give the ball more clearance? It''s Stage Ally that was the real problem because the plastic sags down on the left.

I need to jam some foam up in there! It's a little distracting.

Call your distro, I’m sure you can get a kit sent

Look forward to finally meeting you Sat Josh!

That’s interesting I have not heard anyone say that factory sign was low or hitting? It’s pretty high I wonder how that would be possible unless the flippers were really set to full power. It’s possible your plastic is slightly bent incorrect? Have you considered adding a washer or two to the single mounting right screw or slightly bending the little bracket that holds the sign? Just trying to help.

is the latest game code 5.4? I thought I heard there were some updates after that?

I have lost touch with this thread any all my other threads over the summer. Busy summer.

Yes that is the latest but new stuff in testing

newbie here but interested in a Houdini but have had no chance to play one ,it looks fantastic and has a lot of stuff to do but looking at gameplay videos I have seen modes started but not a lot completed, I assume these players are of average skill level ( similar to me or better? ) . For the owners how far are you progressing through the modes? Not familiar with all the rules but lighting HOUDINI is a big goal? how many letter's so far? I think I like hard but probably like to feel I could make progress

Inspired by some pro level (papa) videos of gameplay of some other machines i would love to have, anyone know of video of someone with pro skills on houdini? thanks

The game is hard. It is HAAAAAARD. I can barely complete 1 or 2 modes on a good game, and usually just am relieved when I don’t drain. But it is also really fun, and confounding in a good way. You really have to re-think how you play, and I like that a lot

I know new code is "coming" but it's really getting frustrating waiting for what I consider to be pretty major bug fixes. Playing games tonight and multiple times the FILM is lit but no matter how many times you hit the inner loop it won't start the mode.

Which version of the code do you have? It seems like the FILM modes start all the time for me. Maybe check the switches too? That is definitely not a code issue if you are up to date

It is definitely up to date and I've sent in logs of this happening, if I hit the shot once and it didn't start that would be one thing, hitting it three times in a row is a different story. I've also checked that all the switches in the left lock register with balls, not just my finger. I know they are busy but this one has plagued me from the beginning and I am hosting league soon, don't want to exclude Houdini but I may have to.

Think about all the people that buy Stern games... IMO think AP has been doing a great job so far,very transparent and listening to input from us very finicky buyers!
Rosh said he would release code up date after a well deserved holiday!
Can hardly wait to see what is coming but the small issues will be worked out I'm sure!

That I would have to agree 100% on. Granted they are only juggling one model but AP uses Every resource to improve, communicate, or solve issues faster than any company I have dealt with. Especially Josh, I sincerely think that man is imprisoned at AP to never leave his computer working on this game. lol Short of a skill shot and flashing lights Batman Boutique 66 was without Any code for close to a year and half. Not the case now but no comparison to the hours AP is putting into keeping this ship moving forward.

I'm in the camp that says you have bad or badly adjusted switches (switches that work with a slow hit, but not a fast ball, or switch arms that don't register when a ball is rolled over them). Does the diverter to the trunk work okay?

I’ve reached out to bobukcat to resend me logs. Sounds like a switch issue vs software. Hopefully logs shed light on it.

I had to adjust my switch in the catapult for it to register consistently, and I had also tested it a ton of times with a real ball. I just pulled it up a tiny bit and it works 100% now

I've noticed during multiball when cradling and another ball hits the flipper it will drop. Is this normal behavior?

So far 1 week with Houdini and very glad that we picked this game. I tend to get bored quickly when I can beat a game within a handful of plays.

What's a decent score with factory defaults?

For me, so far 1.4M - 1.6M.

But I've seen others pushing 3M.

I've ball-tested the switches in the left lock multiple times and they always register perfectly, the ball is also immediately released from the lock so I know the switch is registering. Of course it doesn't happen all the time so duplicating it is a matter of just playing games and waiting for it to happen. I thought I had sent the logs from this but I don't see them in my sent mail so I'll have to find and send them.

I agree code support has been fantastic, just a bit frustrated by this one as I really don't want to leave Houdini out of the league lineup in a couple weeks.

It is because there are no EOS switches in the game, there is a post or two in this thread about someone adding them to their game but I've not found it to be necessary. Try enabling the flipper hold boost and see if that helps.

Should the yellow latch be able to go horizontal to lock in the lock bar? Mine does not. (maybe it did once or twice but I can't remember) It's been like this since I got the game. The lock bar seems to always wiggle around at some point during play. Very frustrating.

bobukcat, that is good info thank you. I will definitely try that.

pinden007, one of the "mods" I put on my game is some extra beer seal at the ends of the lockdown bar to prevent sliding. My latch does not click or go fully over to the right.

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

Since a setting was added to give more time per mode I can get one or two modes (Illusion) completed and maybe the first combo and if I’m on fire perhaps a movie. I’m an average player.

I think I’m really going to have to dial down the difficulty level to have hope of reaching any mini wizard mode.

I gave in about a month ago and lowered the posts on left and right out lanes. To my surprise, not much help for extended game or ball save in those out lanes. The ball on left still can just miss post and drain. On the right, it's actually going to shooter lane, say 5% of the time. Helping on right but auto kicker will just kick it out as it should during those multiballs.

The game is just hard - the outlanes are tough AND a lot of brick shots just go SDTM. I have mine set to 5 balls which -Also- hasn’t helped much. And I’ve set the modes to 60 seconds. IMO that should be the default - just getting control of the ball sometimes takes 20 seconds, then if you don’t nail the shot immediately you are sunk.

I’m not THAT bad of a player but getting to any of the mini modes just feels impossible right now. It’s so hard to be precise.

That said, people are clamoring for a harder game, and it seems like a lot of them got scared off, so I don’t know what to think about that

But what about the trunk diverter? Does that work or do balls always go to the left lock?

Trunk diverter works as it should when lock is lit. When this happens they always go to the left lock and then release from there. I guess it's possible that lock is lit at the same time this happens and it should get diverted but I don't believe that's the case. Something to check though, makes me wonder why it wouldn't go ahead and start the film mode and award the lock but it's possible it's not coded for that error condition.

It has to be something mechanical on your machine because it works fine here, and if this was a thing where FILM modes couldn't be started as a result of a code problem there would be a lot more people complaining.

I have a valuable machine for trade and have an offer to trade for a Houdini.
I have done zero research as of right now.
My wife is my pinball buddy and I've seen her get so frustrated with some games, she stops playing them completely.
Is Houdini SO hard that a casual player won't have fun?

It only happens randomly, so it is possible it's happening to others and they either don't know it or are not on Pinside. I've tried replicating it with the glass off many times with no luck.

I don't think so. The location we have it at is mostly casuals and it's earning right at the same as AfMr and has pulled ahead of Iron Maiden again. It's a slower more strategic pace of play like a Twilight Zone. Casuals seem to like it. My young adult kids love it.

On Pinside? I guarantee people would be complaining if FILM modes randomly didn't start when they were expecting it. But if it's like 1 in 20 Maybe it would be subtle enough that it wouldn't be mentioned? But I doubt it...

Sounds like a slightly out of adjustment or going bad switch. Also, the ball lock on the left has some slop in it, so depending on where the ball rests, it may not activate the switch arm if it's slightly too far up. Did you try bending them all down a smidge more anyway, just in case?

It's less than 1 in 20 but very frustrating when it does. It may only occur after the random multiballs I experience intermittently (usually after I complete either Metamorphosis or Water Torture), not sure. If the lock wasn't detecting the ball I don't think it would immediately release it, that's why I think it's code related somehow. Will just have to keep on playing and try to capture the logs.

I guess It could actually be code-related if it’s under very specific conditions, like you’re saying - only after a particular mode and only if such-and-such has happened before. We need more detail to try and replicate it

Wait...you're getting random multiballs? Check the 3 opto queue leading up to the scoop on the right. If that's not tight to the playfield, you will get what we called "surprise multiballs" quite a lot. Ours actually fell off eventually from the weight of it, and when I fixed that I realized those optos mis-registering from hanging too low had been the cause of our "surprise multiballs".

I'll have another look but I just examined it pretty thoroughly (again) while replacing the scoop coil sleeve and installing the protector on Monday. Thanks for the suggestions!