They aren't a good comparison because you are talking a big company versus a very small company. Stern gets things cheaper and overall costs are cheaper (comparatively). Money went elsewhere on this game.

For me, I'm not spending much time ever looking up away from the pf.

No complaints on the LCD from me (especially after making the tweaks vireland suggested). I'm more finicky about audio, and after dialing in Spooky's audio setup, I think it's awesome (10x better than Stern's stock audio on their Premiums).

This is my first Spooky game and I'm happy with the BOM and game in general.

My hope is Spooky sharpens it's build quality and continues to incorporate feedback from the trenches. Love my buttah cab, PF, and overall design...just too many build mistakes...diverter bound (shot not possible), scoop too high (leading to rejects), flippers too high (leading to flipper weakness), right upper flipper ball guide very poorly aligned with flipper (making a lot of shots more difficult than they should be)...just to mention 4 of the build snafus that made this game much harder to play than it should be.

Spooky definitely had a lot of room for improvement in the overall build, and they know that. They created a thread to solicit pinhead input on how they can improve. After working on TNA, ACNC, and R&M I can see they are continuing to improve. The ease of dissembly on R&M compared to Alice is huge, and the R&M code is more polished ACNC. As much as spooky has grown, they are still a fraction of what Stern is. It takes years to refine a product like stern has. Think of the teams of engineers working on stern games. Last thing I will say is the LCD doesn’t bother me at all.

Screen looks fine to me....fan isn't too loud to me....
I dunno, seems like every page lately is people making a big deal over non issues.

When I type in Spooky pinball on my phone, on the results, the spookey.com result is a bunch of Japanese or Chines writing.
And below this it says the site may have been hacked.

Does Spooky know of this situation?

Ruh-roh.

Out of date wordpress (5/2019 version) is not a secure platform, there's a number of known exploits and way too many hacks and holes. Wordpress in general is a poor platform for security, even if you are up to date.

5.2.1 published vulnerabilites:
https://www.cvedetails.com/vulnerability-list/vendor_id-2337/product_id-4096/version_id-335029/Wordpress-Wordpress-5.2.1.html

Hopefully it didn't corrupt their server and it's only the site that needs to be restored.

It's a two year old phone, I'm probobly getting Twilight Zone results.

RO!?

For the sake of posterity:

Screenshot_20210103-175635__01 (resized).jpg

I had this one as well as a couple of others from schwifty, including a double flipper intro scene cancel that immediately froze the entire game. Logs have been getting sent through.

Problem is it is noticeably poor quality vs the Sterns parked right beside it. So A) constant reminder to the owner and B) embarrassing to answer guests on why this one looks different, etc.

Spooky really should figure out a way to buy better screens in bulk to make that happen. These cruddy screens have been an issue since at least TNA.

Well, just $20 more would buy a much better panel if they decide to address the issue.

Thats $15k out of Spooky's profit for something that very few people would even care about or notice.

Raise the price $25. That's $3,750 more money left in Spooky's pocket and a much better screen.

All this talk about the lcd got me to go “fondle” my settings...

Anyway, I’ll be honest the picture was a tad washed out but really not a big deal at all IMO. And, my RM sits in between DP and GNR. I never looked at it and thought it looked really bad compared to them but there was a slight difference. So after a little fondling it looks much better now. I turned the brightness down to 40 and contrast down to 45 plus my gamma was off so I turned that on. Picture looks really good now. I think a new lcd would be a waste of cash. Just my two cents
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Did some mirror blades for R&M ever come out? If so, where? Do they hurt the light show due to the directional lights? Thanks!

Mine is brightness 20, contrast 80.

Unless you're 7feet tall, to me it looks great!

$20-$25 , there are a plethora of places that could have used that extra expense alot more urgently than the screen. I'd have much rathered a nice tidy TNA style launch ramp than an overkill screen.

The launch ramp would be about the biggest issue I've had with the game, that began just a couple of days in as I fitted the playfield protector (which they do not fit without trimming the protector, btw).

Screen, zero issues, same as TNA.

Yeah, a boost to the BOM could probably spare a lot of the ongoing grief folks here have repeatedly had with more important things like...

- shoddy connectors
- thin habitrails
- wonky flipper switches
- breakable ship hinges
- speaker gaskets / risers and/or antirattle tape

...and I daresay all of those combined would probably cost less than $25. As for the screen, as everyone's environment and personal preferences are different, Spooky could (should?) simply provide a quick guide to adjusting the existing panel... and the net cost for that would be $0 !

...and just adjust the monitors with gamma on and brightness a little lower and contrast a little higher from the factory for the remaining machines.

Also, there are a few items that would go well being added to the "add-ons" list. Of course upgrade screen would be one of those since most people see the stock one as perfectly fine once adjusted, but a few obviously just want it real bad, $30 add on!. As well, it would take them what, 30 seconds a unit tops to actually adjust the standard settings to something reasonable, instead of putting in instructions. Other items for the "add-on" list may be Flipper coil cooling kit, Sub Speaker enclosure, playfield protector, mylar protectors. Something else but I forget ...

I actually think deleting all add ons to make the manufacturing process simpler would be a good thing for Spooky. Just include the no-brainer ones and raise the price of the game. No one is ordering the "base model" anyways. Just put things like target decals on the game instead of charging $10 for them. Having a sheet of paper taped to each game with the specific options has to prolong and distract the production process. Focus on important things like proper wiring harness tension and not if this buyer opted for plastic protectors.

Butter would be the exception (I guess).

Also did this, the viewing angle is real. If I was a foot shorter it looks amazing. Still looks better than the em reels next to it and the alpha numeric displays farther down. Might have to see if I could come up with a way to tip the screen, If I get really bored, but as Zablon said I also don't spend a lot of time looking up from the playfield.

Think there might be a solution for that in the TNA Thread, iirc.

Was that the spacing at top mounts?

I think it started that way and someone maybe made a frame based on it...honestly, I don't recall specifics other than an angle change (mounting) resulted in improvements.

I modded my TNA to tilt the monitor back into the head to improve the viewing angle. It was extremely successful in terms of improving the contrast and saturation of the monitor from the players position.

Spooky took a step in the right direction by slanting the monitor on R&M, but it's no where near enough to fix the monitor PQ issues.
Might still be possible to tilt it further not sure if there is enough room behind it though.

Here is my post on that mod to TNA, note the overly optimistic outlook for R&M at the bottom. lol.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/total-nuclear-annihilation-cluball-welcome/page/125#post-5451935

I agree. Streamlining manufacturing would help add time/focus on the important things.

I'm hoping they keep the butter option as long as they are making money on it. I believe 25% of the Blood Sucker Editions are being ordered with the butter option. That's much higher than I would have expected, and proof it's sought after. Never thought it was a good use of 1k, but after owning one, I'm converted...well worth it (unless you have it in a really tight lineup and can't enjoy it). Even then, I would argue the butter cabinet makes the game more exclusive and it makes the game more desirable to the LE crowd. I never plan on selling mine, so I just like the eye candy aspect (and durability).

I also exchanged my display for an LG. It is definitely worth it. Contrast, color and viewing angle are significantly better. Still, I would never hold that against Spooky. 80,- $ for an upgrade is no big deal. Maybe the next title will have a better display.

Game sold out in four hours. Saved more than $15,000 not having to go to pinball shows in 2020.

But all that's crazy town workarounds for the root problem which is a poor TN panel that has bad off-angle viewing. An IPS or PVA panel that looks great from even extreme off-angle viewing solves that issue for like $20 at manufacture or about triple that if you do it later aftermarket.

Totally agree.

Did it look better thsn this setting?
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aw-jeez-official-rick-and-morty-club/page/151#post-5958744

In retrospect I'm sure Spooky could have gotten away with a higher BOM and selling price on R&M but at the time these went up for sale the MSRP and BOM were already significantly higher than any game they had done in the past. They went from $5995 on TNA, $6450 on Alice Cooper, and then jumped up to $7520 for the Blood Sucker Edition before options. Yes, you could go with the standard, but then you'd have to wait close to 1.5 years for your game. At the time these came out I remember thinking that paying close to $8K for a Spooky game before tax/shipping seemed expensive. Maybe on their next game they can add a bit more to the BOM and put in a higher quality display but if the game theme/design isn't as much of a hit that becomes a big risk for them if their game MSRP continues to climb.

For what it's worth, the monitor on mine looks great.

What are your brightness/contrast/gamma settings?

And which one do you have? Spooky seems to have used at least two models, and one TN panel has better specs than the other. Basically, the NT156 is the one you want if you had to choose a stock panel. It's better for the up/down off angle viewing, which is the important one for a pinball machine (player height) and it has a 10% brighter panel, and a backlight that's rated to last 50% longer:

NT156WHM-N50
viewing angle 45/45/20/40
Luminance 220 cd/m²
Color Depth 45% NTSC
15k hour backlight

B156XW02 V2
Viewing Angle 45/45/15/35 <-- 5 degrees less on up/down off-angle rating
Luminance 200 cd/m²
Color Depth 60% NTSC
10k hour backlight

These may not be the only two panels Spooky uses, but they're the two I have pictures of, so we know they use at least two different ones in R&M, and both are mediocre to varying degrees. But one is definitely better suited to pinball.

LOL. I thought for sure when ppl started chiming in that their displays were fine, people were going to ask them if they were a manlet

Well I'm 6' and I can barely get to the very distinct and sudden washout angle by standing on tippy toes and stretching my neck, and standing on an inch of standing cushioning for the concrete which the machine is not on... hardly manlet Pmsl

I simply don't get this display thing, unless a player is like 6'8" or more.... I suppose maybe that's getting more common these days?. Or maybe everyone's running like 9 degree playfield pitch or something ?

Anyway, each to their own I spose.

Or you have the "better" TN panel in yours. One way to know for sure...

Indeed I will look at that later tonight when I knock off work. Colour me interested!

Did the panel bother Jack Danger when he played it ?

Very well could be a combination of playfield angle and player height. (and maybe panel model)

Is there an easy way to tell which display you have?

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And OCD...

On the ones I have pictures of it's a white sticker on the actual LCD panel itself (not the controller board). If that black thing is a paper or plastic cover, it's underneath that.

EDIT: Using your connector as the guide, the sticker with the model number should be underneath the black paper or cover thing where the arrow is pointing here...

model-location (resized).jpg

Was thinking the same thing. Looks like one needs to remove the display to see which model it is?

I thought mine was a little washed out straight out of the box. I changed my settings to what was suggested in a key post here. We think the display looks fantastic now. I'm 6' tall if that matters.

Can't imagine switching it out. I do totally understand people who want to go nuts/want the best they can get.

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I am. I want it as cheap as possible!

I buy the thing to play! Not to look at.

I do admit I ordered the plastic protectors on all my Spookys.

I like to have the option to add (or not) options if I want them.

Keep the base price as low as possible.

rd

I'm renting a R&M. It's a blast to play and my mouth is usually as foul as grandpa. Finally set the GC on this thing yesterday.

I've been avoiding watching videos regarding this pin, but I watched a few minutes of yours. I tell you, this game has what most these days are missing. Good authentic sounding callouts. An actual voice actor. Granted these are his characters, but you can tell he at least understood what he was doing. So many of them these days are just flat with zero delivery....nothing like the old days of MM, MB, CV, AFM etc where they had actual characters.

I suppose part of that could be the multitude of band games, but even AIQ and JP callouts are very meh. Steve Richie's callouts are better than most others.

Wait, there’s parts from China in this game? I’m e-mailing Spooky, will report back.

I'm 6'3" and it looks fine if I look at it straight on or in my playing position. If I stand on my tip toes it does look washed out.

I made the recommended changes to the settings and I think it looks pretty good. On some of the screens with a black background you can see that the black levels aren't great but it looks great in the color scenes. Id be curious to see how this compares with the upgraded display. Pics are taken straight on with the lights off in the room.

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I’ll have to check.