Got my options sheet today. The end is in sight.

He’s Mr. Bulldog, take a shit on your thread...

I would but it seems like way more steps than is currently needed on a Windows machine. Here in Windows 10, I can right click on a USB drive is File Explorer and format to Fat32. As long as your drive is smaller than 32GB, you're golden. The previous poster's steps seem overly complicated to me.

Let me know why I'm wrong and I'll keypost it up.

Excellent protector design! This should be a key post for sure.

I hope these instructions are helpful to somebody, but I assure you that I fully understand disk formatting (and partitioning) and that all of the drives that failed to install the update for me were formatted as FAT32.

They were originally formatted by a Mac but of course I also tried reformatting them using Windows.

I can confidently say that the filesystem format is not the only factor that can cause an update from a particular drive to fail.

520 received options list for game for anyone who’s tracking.

#458 (Butter) was scheduled to go on the line, today. For those keeping score.

Holy crap, that means I'm like a week behind you :-0
Looks like they're ahead of schedule. Time to figure out which game has to move to the basement.

Are you gonna sell these? Or is Kerry going to make some up?

I want one.

Why does this brand new game - need so many tweaks, protectors and mods to just play?

It doesn't NEED anything, people just enjoy customizing their pin and having fun with it

Let me take this one guys.

- "Stop whining"
- "All new games do"
- "It doesn't but if you want it to play well..."
- "It's pinball!"

Any others?

Don't question the pinball gods or be smited here. Apparently, suffer in silence.

It most definitely NEEDS tweaks and adjustments. Spooky even posted them.

So, it absolutely NEEDS something to make it playable out of the box? Custom tuning a machine isn't a necessity in order to play it

Not trying to offend - I want the game, too rich for me to buy site unseen in the rush to sell out, I love RM theme, and I like Spooky games more than many games and I think Alice Cooper was an amazing game - just a game that seems to need a lot of tweaks to play right.

Yes - most games need tweaks - agreed.

Just a lot for $9K game - you would think Spooky could have fixed this on the later games to make it play right. With COVID I have not even seen this game to play it.

I favorited this forum and see a lot of posts of things you all have done.

The game looks amazing and has a great theme integration, RM is a great theme for pinball.

...i would like to have one too.

I had all those same issues and I work in IT. Took me awhile to find this and although I do not know the origin of the program the link is from a website of a developer modding retro game systems and customers had issues getting their microsd and sd cards to register in the everdrive devices because of the fat32 issue.

Not saying its the end all solution but it certainly cant hurt in giving it a try! Maybe its doing something low level that the other systems are not?

If you're lucky enough to get one that doesn't need tweaks, bully for you. All 5 people in my family have played ours when it arrived versus after the fixes. Then we all just went and played one on location last week and it was night and day. Each person confirmed this. Then we got to go home and play ours. Huge difference. Not being able to make the garage shot or the loop really takes... a LOT... out of the game. The flipper fix is a must, as well. Unless you like smacking yourself in the nuts with a ball-peen hammer (peen, heh).

Maybe I was lucky but my game didn't need any tweaks when I got it. The only thing I did tweak on my game the first month I had it was that I put washers under the scoop (mine was in the first 100 games and Spooky does this from the factory now).

Here's a gameplay video from the first week that I had my game back in June. I've made some very minor tweaks since then, but I wouldn't say that any of them were necessary. I just don't want anyone to get the impression that every game is going to require 40 hours of tweaking to get it to play right. I've spent maybe an hour total tweaking my game since I got it.

Speaking of the flipper issue. Is it possible rather than cut the bushings down to put washers under the flipper assembly (underside of pf)? This wouldn't require you to take apart the flippers to adjust. Doesn't sound like the factory fix for this is going to be any time soon.

I suppose if you got longer screws for the 4 flipper assembly mounting bracket then added washers. Seems like that would risk the screw poking through the topside of the pf. I can't think of another way washers could be used to solve the issue given the way the bushing mounts to that bracket.

The vast majority of people that are not having any issues or needing to make tweaks are not going to be posting about them on pinside just to say, 'hey all is well', so you are mostly going to be seeing people that may be trying to make tweaks/fixes to improve their game. Nothing wrong with that but don't judge the game too harshly from it. Its like going to a forum for a Toyota Camry, it may be the most reliable car in the world but you wouldn't know it just reading comments people post about it online.

#338 in the house and dialed in!

I originally received it in early December, but it had some damage and I didn't sign for it. Nice to get back and in great condition.

Thanks Spooky, and Chris at Kingpin!

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I have an odd issue with fuses blowing randomly after about 60 games. What usually happens is the right flippers become unresponsive. I usually check all the fuses just in case, but that one is always blown and the other fuse that is on the right side usually has a bubble on the strand. I've lifted the playfield a bunch of times and checked and rechecked nothing is touching anything else when any flippers are fired or buttons pushed. Any ideas? Spooky support suggested i check to make sure the flipper button switch wasn't touching the ball launch coil, but everything looks good. It's just odd it happens so many games in between. I would think if there was an issue, I would see it every couple of games the minimum. My flipper power settings are only 2 above the default.

Thanks all!

From memory it's not a 9k game?

Purple was around 7-7.5k?

Depends on options, but when you get to those price points, it doesn't matter. I expect to fix/tweak/spend money on a routed game I bought for 2k. A 7k+ NIB machine should be pretty flawless out of the box, with maybe a few tweaks here or there on various owners machines given factory variance.

The "it's pinball" does not apply to a brand new game no matter how much the apologists want to pretend it does.

Spooky has shown they have the balls to stick in a thread that could easily turn toxic and listen to their customers. As mentioned, the bulk of people you hear from repeatedly are the ones with issues, as well as those of us eagerly awaiting our games. They've already fixed many early tweaks in factory.

The flipper issue, which in my opinion is a HUGE issue, was only recently discovered/discussed/addressed. I think this is one of the main reasons everyone thinks this game is hard. The flippers make shots unreliable. Fortunately they plan on remediating this as well.

My first and only NiB machine was MBr, and it has been flawless. I've not had to do anything to it (knock on wood), but others did have to tweak things. Eithe way, the bar was set pretty high.

All in all, most of us understand that pinball design/manufacturing isn't exactly easy. And 2020 wasn't an ideal scenario for it either. Spooky continues to take notes and improve, and well, clearly they knocked the theme out of the park and it seems their playfields are better than most competitors. I think what you run into is when you are paying a premium for a premium product, people expect quality if not near perfection. You can really tell the people who have way more money than they need when they act like these are throwaway items and no one can criticize anything about them.

None of this is a knock on Spooky, the opposite really. They've shown they care, and that is a huge thing to me.

I agree completely. I'm happy with how my game came out of the box (considering other NIB pinball experiences). I had more serious fundamental problems within the first two weeks of owning a NIB ACDC VE. I don't own that anymore.

Delivery of RaM for me was early on a Saturday evening, unboxing, and 4 of us playing for the first 2 hours. The game could be played, and worked, out of the box.

The main issues we were having, that were barriers to fair gameplay, I corrected during about 20 minutes of intermission while everyone watched/waited on the night. That was, I checked or adjusted basically every leaf switch in the game. The complaints being, switches not registering when you hit them, and flippers being knocked down. It was just that all of the switches were installed "virgin" and dead straight with huge gaps. Some of the switches needed to be hit Impossibly hard in order for them to register. The EOS switch closed at about 2/3 sweep as well, which was affecting flipper performance considerably.

The biggest thing Spooky can do to improve the experience out of the box, in my opinion, is adjust up all of the leaf switches. Also the shorter flipper bushes, which they seem to be onto.

About another hour spent on the diverter, and adjusting flipper positions as well, as I was installing the playfield protector that week. The game did work in all regards out of the box, but needed some basic adjustment to work consistently and effectively, that was the switches basically.

Everything else ... is down to my OCD of wanting my games to play "Perfect"! ... It can be tough to track exactly, but I spent maybe about 10-15 hours total over the following period (month), doing my own, stuff and things, tweaks and adjustments (alot of tinkering about). But really the game was still very playable without those, perhaps just tougher and less forgiving, I made it relatively "easy". Still I mess about with it here or there, to improve things I think I can make better, mostly for benefit of new players. But, I am a tech and operator, so I do that with all my games.

Of course, in pinball there is always going to be the odd game that has an anomoly or larger issue, and when that happens people naturally come to the owners thread... and seek help with it. Everyone else is busy playing RaM! ... 5 word post by someone that most stuck in my head as a positive review ... "Start button is like crack"

Rick and Morty, I can't think of a pinball I have enjoyed playing more, for myself anyway. I like tough challenging games that tend to force you play on the fly. Heck that's why I have a Space Station! Lol

Jerry Edition 231 checking back in. I've had this game for over 2 months now. I really do enjoy this game, from a pin experience to an entertainment experience.

One huge downside for me is that this is the only R&M pin I've played. Just mine. During these California quarantine times, neither me or my friends that have played mine have been able to play on any other R&Ms, so we have no comparisons. So for me, the biggest bummer it that I have no other R&M to compare mine to so that I can even tell if my game is "off" and "needs" some tweaking.

Either my game seems to be flipping well out of the box, or I'm just naïve and don't know if there's something that needs a fixin'. Either way, I'll keep flippin for fun, and worry about tweaking once I have a chance to play on other R&Ms.

Take the glass off. Go into switch tests and press on all the stand up targets, see how the respond, or bounce a ball off them, see if they register, may have to tighten up that gap as mine were "virgin straight" also and they did not register very well. Roll the ball around the orbits, make sure they (switches) register there also. things like that will at least help you know if your getting a fair shake during gameplay

I have always been a little bothered by the rattling that happens when Rick's ship operates. The u-turn ball stop plunger also operates the ship via a secondary metal linkage plate that pushes a small rod to hit the ship and deflects it up. This plate is loosely fit and rides up against the sides and the plunger and its all metal-to-metal contact between the coil rod and the sides of the coil mount bracket. My fix was to put the same anti-rattle tape on the sides of the coil bracket that I used on the glass and add rubber washers on either side of the coil rod along with a plastic washer on the coil spring side to keep it from eating into the rubber. This will limit the plunger travel a wee bit.

It's now pretty silent and doesn't sound like it's falling apart!

I also found the plunger was a tad higher than the playfield and added a washer under the coil assembly plate. I'll see how these tweaks affect the ball stop in the u-turn when I play it tonight.

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ship noise fix 2 (resized).jpg

Interesting.
I wonder if Rick will notice that rattle under the hood is gone?

Due to covid. Game 43 and 44 butters picked up. Tried 5 different usb sticks and redown loaded code like 4 times.
After talking with spooky. Sounds like early build,and encription. Due to battery.
Magicchiz
Spooky's great! Sending fix asap.

NICE idea.. I have my R&M so tightened up that the only thing that rattles now from sub and shaker is that metal ship mech under PF, ha! I'll toss a little tape on it, thx

Great idea! I never liked that noise either!

Same here on my RM because I ordered the tape you suggested! So I’ll be hittin up those tape rolls again for this too! Good thing we have 5 rolls of it!

And on this anti rattle tape from Amazon; I’m gonna be using that little old ladies saying from Frank’s Red Hot sauce commercials... “I put that shit on everything”

So your bar is a re-release of a game over 2 decades old. Got it. Its not being an apologist its reality, not all games have 20+ years of lead time to get it perfect on the re-release. Go check out any owners club thread for any recent game released by the big names, extra points if its Stranger Things, you will see everyone has problems and adjustments constantly being posted. They call it a hobby for a reason.

Adjusting the height of the up post is provided for by the screw and butterfly nut at the base of the plunger underneath. You don't need to be using washers.

My up post was too high as well, but I had to adjust the screws on all 3 coils around the horseshoe as the playfield protector was being installed anyway. So glad washers wasn't the required method, it would have been a nightmare!

I agree, some sort of metal protection here would be helpful, it won't be obvious but I think most Rick and Morty's have clear chipping here... You have to look closely and maybe even run your fingers across, but there will very likely be clear flaking off in the future if it hasn't started already. Not a complaint, just a caution for those who want to take pre-emptive protection.

Garage (resized).jpg

Short answer is no.

I'm more than happy for anyone to copy or develop the idea for manufacturing. That is why I posted what I did. Any basic fabrication business should be capable.

Here are some finer details of my "prototype"...

I parted off 2.1/2" milk tube (SS 63.5mm O.D.), which fits in the hole nicely (portal diameter 64mm). I parted off 11.5mm length in the lathe. Using 1mm plate for the mounting, this leaves the top edge of the protector about 1.6mm below the playfield surface, about 1mm higher than the bottom bevel edge.

For the mounts, i just used a postit-pad sheet stuck to the bottom of the playfield to mark the portal hole and the two screw holes. I also marked appropriate spots for 2 new screws, and checked this against the subway for ball clearance etc.

I also drilled the holes extra larger than really needed, to make up for in case of my shoddy template making Lol

Ball falls in the hole no different. I also added a piece of sticky back foam to the left side ball guide to hopefully prevent the portal jump "jumps".

That's about the long and short of it.

I don't know what other hobbies you are involved in, but poor QA and fixing what should have been fixed in house is not what qualifies a 'hobby'. Many of those issues are simply because of cutting corners and rushing while at the same time jacking the prices up. The 'hobby' of pinball was when pinballs were barely being made any longer and people were coming up with new ways to keep them running. That should not and does not apply to brand new games.

While CGC does have the advantage of less R&D and coding for what they've released so far, it doesn't negate the production quality.

Yes, we know people have issues with new games, that is really the discussion, comparing. I'm stating that someone blowing off anyone who is complaining about the quality of something they just dropped thousands on with 'it's pinball' is wrong. A big difference is Spooky is listening. Which is good.

I guess if your game comes with a big hole in the cabinet it must be fine because it doesn't impact gameplay? It's just pinball.

EDIT: the sad part is, it sounds like I'm bitching, but I'm not. I just empathize with those with issues. Any other product if it has issues, you send it back. It's hard to do that with a pinball machine

LOL, maybe someone should get this to Cliffy??

Thanks! I had backed that all the way out and it was still sticking up so I added one washer, lined it up perfectly. Will test it out when I finish another project on it and close 'er back up

So this is in regards to the my own post above...

I went ahead and changed out the pop bumper skirt and pop bumper housing to the blue ones available from PBL. Reached out to Scott to get the exact part numbers (thanks Scott!

It took me about an hour. And I took my time with it.

Looks really nice (I think) and I threw in some blue flipper rubbers to compliment the blue pop bumper parts too.

Here’s the pics of my machine now and I’m adding the part numbers from PBL if anyone is interested to do the same.
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I'll email him now.

Couldn't have said it better.

Looks great, I ordered one earlier this week. They are so cheap, I got one of each color so I can color match to see which works best. I suspect it will be blue.

Look we can all argue about how a 6k, 7k, or 8k game is supposed to come...

I have a NIB Elvira that needing a WHOLE F-ING MECH MOVED, among others fixed, I have a AIQ that needed a subway mech redesign...

Let's be real, no one makes a perfect game.

We are here to share fixes, engage with spooky, and hopefully help them also.

They absolutely want to make the best game possible.

I've moved pieces, bent a scoop, fixed a pop bumper, lost a good game or two to crashes... It's not a perfect game.

But I called them three days ago. Said my legs were the bum kind and my spinner topper needed help. New legs, new cab decal, and fix for my spinner are on the way... With one call and email.

Let's keep it positive and helpful.

It's so subtle, and I doubt many would notice, but yes, it looks good especially with the blue flipper rubbers.

Thanks.

Yep I agree 100% it’s very subtle but I just remember really liking it when I saw it on the promo video.

Not really concerned about anyone else noticing it... I just did it more for me because I think it looks cool.

Looks great, the light blue Titan Flippers match the playfield blues perfectly. Not sure how it works with the blue housing but will report back.