05/01/2020

Press Release: American Pinball Hires Dave Brennan as Technical Services Manager

American Pinball is pleased to announce the hiring of Dave Brennan as Technical Services Manager. With over 7 years troubleshooting, fixing and restoring pinball machines of all eras, Dave brings his wealth of experience to ensure that all customer and distributor needs will be met when it comes to hands-on technical support and guidance.

One of Dave's immediate initiatives is to generate an ongoing series of instructional videos covering topics such as new game set-up, how to update code, maintenance tips and more. "I’m really looking forward to starting conversations with American Pinball owners and distributors to determine how I can best serve the pinball community," Dave offers. "I am extremely excited about this opportunity with American Pinball."

Dave’s passion for pinball repair and restoration, in addition to his skill set, will make him an asset to the American Pinball team and our customers. Dave has repaired over 100 games and fully restored over 25 pinball machines in the past several years in addition to assisting many collectors with troubleshooting technical issues with their games at home.

One of Dave's most recent and notable projects is livestreaming his progress in real time as he repairs and restores a Gottlieb Alien Star on Twitch and Facebook, while interacting with his viewers on his Twitch channel Twitch.tv/Turbografx7 and Turbografx7 Facebook Group as an affiliate of The Pinball Network. You can also find Dave on Pinside.com as brenna98.

We welcome him to American Pinball.

Contact info:
Dave Brennan
Technical Services Manager
[email protected]
Phone: (833) API-HELP / (833) 274-4357

Brenna98 is AP's technical service manager. We are happy to help. Thank you for your continued support, wolftownjeff and happy flipping

My understanding is that the process of making the balls shiny is what makes the balls more likely to become magnetized.

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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People recommend dropping the flippers 1/8" closer to the player.

✨It's MAGIC!✨ The wizards at American Pinball have conjured up a significant CODE UPDATE for Houdini "Master of Mystery" Pinball.✨

NEW CODE Version 21.01.21 can be downloaded here with Release Notes & Change Log: https://www.american-pinball.com/support/updates/

Version 21.01.21 includes the following Feature Updates:

Rules, Scoring Enhancements, NEW Light Shows & Sounds, Improved Choreography & Game Flow, and Bug Fixes.

Change Log:

Houdini
Latest Version: 21.01.21
Release Notes
Updating your Houdini machine is a simple process. During the update
process, none of your current settings will be changed.
To install the update . . .
1) Download the update code and copy it onto a USB stick (FAT32,
minimum 4 GB). Make sure the USB Stick does NOT have a space in the
name.
2) Turn on your Houdini machine.
3) Open the coin door and find the USB extension cable. It should be
anchored to the side wall of the cabinet.
4) Insert the USB stick into the extension cable.
5) After a few seconds, the display should indicate that code is being
updated. The code update process takes approximately 10 minutes.
6) An on-screen message will advise when the update process is
complete. Shut down the game, remove the USB stick, and power the
game back up.
7) Make some magic!

CHANGE LOG
21.01.21

New — Magic Spinner Bonus — after the magic shop is opened,
additional spins would collect towards a magic spinner bonus that is
collected at the magic shop. Bonus is 400 * spins * visits to the shop.
Accumulated bonus spins are zeroed out at end of ball.
New — King of Cards accuracy bonus — based on how many successful
throw are made, an accuracy scoring bonus is added to the total.

Accuracy is based on cards available to throw, not the number thrown. It
is possible to exceed 100% by making ‘doubleʼ shots. Example, making
5 of 10, will award an additional 50% of the points earned
New — Magic Stand-up targets can now help secret missions, missions
completed without magic target help score double.
New — During a jail escape, hitting an escape letter will add the original
hurry up value to the current hurry up value
New — During the Great Jail Escape hitting an unlit escape letter will
reset the hurry up value back to the start value and add 5 seconds.
New — Setting to allow play to continue after Master Magician, if you
have additional balls. The default setting is game ends after Master
Magician, which is the current behavior.
New — Second Houdini letters for escapes and secret missions (note
default settings around Houdini letters have been adjusted as part of
this release for escapes, missions, stage acts and magic shop visits, you
may want to change you Houdini letters in adjustments).
New — pricing plan. 4 units for 1 credit, 20 for 6, support for ‘Tokensʼ currency type
New — Sound effects on lower lanes and inner loop
New — Upper Catapult switch compensation
New — More ‘today in historyʼ added
Modified — Lots of new and improved light shows
Modified — Ball save adjustments on Trunk MB
Modified — Film Modes that start with Trunk Multiball will start even if catapult misses
Modified — Magic Shop hole ball handling and choreography
Modified — Catapult/Trunk lock and movie start processing
Modified — Can no longer start Trunk MB or Seance during Movie Binge
Modified — A missed catapult throw that drains while Movie is starting, will not end ball.
Modified — Start Button attract
Modified — Magnet behavior during Multiball
Modified — Can no longer start a mode once the Great Jail Escape has started
Modified — Movie Binge can no longer start if MB or a stage mode are running
Modified — Movie Binge now has a wrap-up screen, and more sound calls
Modified — Card detection at higher speeds in card king
Modified — Timer behavior during catapult sequences.
Modified — Main score screen to better show scores of 10,000,000 and up
Fixed — issue where an extra ball could be put in play on a catapult miss when Trunk MB or a movie was starting
Fixed — Movies will still start on a catapult miss
Fixed — Master Magician was requiring three hits per Seance letter not two, as the rules stated.
Fixed — Clearing balls could result in a game reset
Fixed — collecting the last Houdini letter will no longer say “collect Houdini letters . . . “
Fixed — Issue where the HOUDINI encore chat would not end even after collecting the Encore Bonus
Fixed — black screen that appears between high score entry and match
Fixed — display info when pricing is for 20 Kroner, it was incorrectly showing 15
Fixed — reset audits sometimes crashing the game and not resetting properly
Fixed — Tilt during film mode preventing future film modes from being started
Fixed — left and right lock releasing more than one ball when certain magnet or dimming activity was occurring
Fixed — Elephant shaker action playing during outlane modes
Fixed — Stage monitor not showing proper image when Master Magician is ready
Fixed — display issue on progress ribbon if 10 or more illusions performed
Fixed — position of commas on main screen when score is 10,000,000 or more
Fixed — left and right lock releasing more than one ball when certain magnet or dimming activity was occurring
Fixed — Tilt during film mode preventing future film modes from being started
Fixed — Incorrect game tip wording

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I just checked the ticket, and it appears that brenna98 emailed you links to the stand-up targets and black foam on the API web store. Maybe the emails went to spam? Please check.

Where can I acquire one of these? They're not selling them on the website. The only PS I see there is the 48V upgrade that I already have... If anybody can give me the manufacturer and part number of the new single unit PS I'd appreciate it.

brenna98 ?

Houdini Playfield Prints are Now Available!

The beautiful artwork of the Houdini playfield is printed on Premium Luster Photo Paper and makes a wonderful decoration for your game room or living space.

Playfield Art by Jeff Busch. (18” x 24”)

Take home some magic today at: https://tinyurl.com/kuph4ska

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For any American Pinball owners of Houdini, Oktoberfest or Hot Wheels that have a moment, we’re looking to analyze the gameplay audits from the collective players base out there to see the frequency of how often various features are started. If you’re interested in helping, please shoot an email of the audits from your game to [email protected]

If you happen to be an IFPA ranked player, please send your player ID number as well in the email.

To copy game logs and audits (Requires: a FAT 32 formatted USB 2.0 drive):

- Open the coin door and locate the provided USB extension cable on the right-hand side of the coin door below the flipper switch.
- Insert the USB drive into the USB extension cable.
- If power is turned off, turn on.
- Wait for the completion screen on the monitor and remove the USB drive.
- Power cycle the game.

These should be back in stock on our web store by approxmately the end of next week.

https://store.american-pinball.com/products/kit0006-00?_pos=1&_sid=174cb77f7&_ss=r

brenna98 is the best!

.

Backhand the lock shot with your right flipper.

Here is a helpful chart: http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2021-6/Houdini--Quick-Reference-Guide.pdf

Here is an AP Tech Tips video that instructs how to calibrate the stage:

As rosh mentioned, Houdini is on our production line now. While this run is mostly sold out on paper, I'm fairly certain some dealers are stocking inventory. So feel free to call around, or PM me if you need any help securing a game through a dealer.

So yes, we are still building new Houdini in addition to new Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels to keep up with the demand. Our production lines continue to be very busy. I can share on behalf of all of us at AP, that we are extremely grateful that more and more folks are discovering American Pinball games.

Michael

✨Tonight!✨

Josh Kugler ( rosh ) and Michael Grant ( Vegas9 ) of American Pinball will be showcasing NEW Beta Code for Houdini on Dead Flip Pinball Streaming at 6:00pm Central!

This code introduces a new game feature which will also be coming to Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels.

Join us and see what the ‘team’ has up its sleeve!

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