I'm so close to being in the club... I don't wanna jinx it and favorite this topic just yet but my BSE (1 of only maybe 20 in Australia) is supposedly in a truck and on its way here!

Wooooo hoooo! Finally I am in the club (so is my son who, like meseeks was roped into it).

I think my machine has an issue though because I've noticed the score increasing steadily while the ball is cradled on the flippers (it just keeps counting up in very small increments). I've done the obvious test (put machine into switch test and bang the playfield a bit) but nothing fires. Is there any sort of known issue, or is this normal for this machine ie some mode i'm unaware of? It certainly doesn't seem normal...

I have noticed that the previous owner installed 2 MRS switches on 2 of the orbits. They seem to operate as normal in switch test though...?

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Sooooo... Spent all day working on 2 weird issues on my newly delivered R&M. First off, huge huuuuge thanks to Sonic who helped me troubleshoot an issue with the magnetic switch which was triggering without being hit. We eventually pinpointed the problem to some interference from the rear diverter coil - just spun the switch around so it was pointing downwards, and therefore a little further away from the coil - and the problem was resolved! So grateful for the assistance - and if anyone was curious about going the MRS switch route, Matt is definitely your man.

After this, I realised that the rear diverter itself wasn't working - it would flick into position to divert around the inner loop, but then could not switch position to allow the portal shot from right orbit. After testing the coil it was clear one direction was ok, but then it would get stuck. Inspecting the action of the coil + plunger, I could feel it binding on something at the end of stroke, so took off the ramps and house and made sure the diverter itself wasn't getting hung up on anything (it wasn't). Then inspected the coil further and found it was the plunger getting bound inside the coil sleeve. Since I don't have a spare coil or sleeve right now, I checked inside and discovered a small burr inside the sleeve, which I gently sanded down (using a cobbled together device made from tools and Dremel accessories). Cleaned and replace everything and we are back to normal operation!

I will replace the coil + sleeve still I think - I have a feeling the malfunctioning orbit switch may have been doing something to the diverter coil making it overheat and warp the sleeve. For now though its all working smoothly, and have to say this is ONE HECK of a game - brilliant!

Edit: also this is the first butter cab I've owned - holy cow it's a thing of absolute beauty...

Ok, its been one whole week of ownership, and just have to pop in here and say this machine is absolutely incredible!

My favourite pins - the ones I really love, are those where you can literally feel the enthusiasm, heart and soul of everyone who designed and worked on it and this definitely seems to be one of them. It shoots great, so many nice little touches here and there, the theming has been done almost perfectly, the lights, and oh my gosh the SOUND on this thing, amazing! It's a joy to play it - excellent work Spooky and team!

This and ACNC have been the real standout 2 pins I've played the last year, and I'm 100% on board the Spooky train now.

Dimensions cause megaseeds to appear, but also change the game by either:

- changing appearance/sound only
- scoring on certain aspects
- disabling certain things (eg slings)

It's actually a really cool aspect to the game. Plus megaseeds seem to be the way to really boost your score - if you collect a lot, and then get a high scoring ball the bonus can be pretty huge.

They look like the blades from Wizard Mods:

https://wizardmod.com/collections/rick-and-morty-pinball-mods/products/rick-and-morty-pinball-wizblades

This may be a silly question, but I can't seem to find the answer for it. How does Pickle Rick mode get qualified? Is it just totally random ie, it qualifies itself randomly after hitting both ramps? So you hit both ramps, then either start an adventure at the scoop or if the inserts light up - Pickle Rick at the garage?

I realised last night that I have not seen Pickle Rick mode for what seems like about 100 games. I know it doesn't come up often but I'm sure I would have gotten it by now even by accident, because I have no trouble hitting the garage shot. Are people on the latest code still seeing this mode?

I wouldn't trade this game for an AIQ. I had a premium for about 8 months and quite honestly while the layout and shots on it really are out of this world (those tower and Captain Marvel shots wow), it's surprisingly quite dull to play due to the music/callouts/animations. Custom code helps a little bit, but it's a bit of a missed opportunity for me - it could have been so great, but it falls short. Quite odd because I do miss shooting it, but if I had one again I think it would only last a few weeks.

Yeah, looks to me like a dead CMOS battery. Should be an easy fix to replace it. If you connect a usb keyboard to the computer you may be able to get past that and still get the game to boot.

Yep that was me - thanks again! The onboard SSD interface actually broke in the PC so it couldn't see the SSD drive anymore (which itself was still ok), so I had to use the spare sata SSD bay instead (had to buy a sata SSD drive as its a different interface, but it wasn't expensive).

This looks a little different in that it's not just going straight into the computer's BIOS ie not finding a boot device - so it's probably just the battery in this case.

I totally agree though it's worth having a backup of your game image on a spare drive, it's an inexpensive and fairly easy thing to do.

Wow, so with one computer type you have to manually jumper 2 pins to get the PC restarted, and with the other type you actually have to re-image the software? That's pretty full on for simply replacing a CMOS battery.

Wow - pretty amazing how opinions can differ, I thought the layout of this machine was totally amazing!

Agreed it's still a hard shooter for sure though, especially compared to pretty much any Stern - it does take a lot of practise and dialling in your shots to generate any kind of flow on this game, but once you can, it really REALLY takes off!

Congrats on the purchase - you've just acquired one of the best pins ever made!

When I first got my machine (used) it had an MRS switch in the loop. When the loops diverter coil fired it would basically send that switch into a frenzy and award millions of points. Eventually I had to re-install the MRS switch with the end facing away from the coil and the problem went away. Sounds like you have a roll over switch though so I guess it won't be that...

I did have help from Sonic who basically told me magnets are like black magic and you really can't predict how they will react with each other it doesn't seem to be exact or totally consistent. With his help all I had to do was turn the MRS switch 180 degrees. It's literally less than a cm or two difference with regard to actual distance from the coil but maybe its also how the alignment is too, and it certainly did the trick.

There doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule about which way around it should be - as Sonic said to me there's a degree of total randomness to the way magnetic fields work. However if its the MRS switch getting affected by the coil, you'll see your score constantly going up as the switch repeatedly activates. If you were instantly awarded 20 million points, then it's perhaps not an issue with your switch.

On my machine, I would hear the diverter coil fire, then I'd see my score just constantly going up even with the ball cradled/stationary on the flipper. Also I should add that I only have one MRS switch and it's on the other side of the inner loop, ie not in the same position as yours - I actually still have a rollover switch there.

Yeah who knows - I mean, I bought my R&M from someone else - who installed the MRS, and when I asked them about it they had never seen that issue before.

Pretty easy to check the spinner though.

I find it absolutely amazing that you are still working on this - the last updates with the added dimensions and challenge modes were brilliant. Thanks for continuing to improve this already stellar game!

Absolutely agree - on the surface it look really simple but I think it's possibly one of the best coded games I've ever played - the fact that Eric has still been updating it with new dimensions just speaks volumes to its great design, he could just keep adding dimensions forever (lol I know he won't he deserves to put this game to rest).

Had a killer game on this last night - just hitting loop and garage and visiting dimensions and collecting megaseeds it was absolutely EPIC and I didn't even do more than 2 or 3 modes!

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I think this is game is slowly nudging it's way into "Iron Maiden territory" for me (ie stone cold classic). All the games in my collection I love, but just one or two seem to lift themselves to even greater heights and in my opinion, IMDN is one of the most perfect pins ever made. It's just so satisfying to shoot, the play length is pretty much spot on (ball times are never too long, never too short) the code is so versatile for both new and expert players, and the ball just rips around the playfield, it's really something. Quite honestly, when I have a great game on R&M, it's right up there with it. Comboing left ramp, upper, loop garage, right ramp and repeat... when you are zoned in it's just amazing. Fully appreciate the difficulty of doing so, but when you are totally tuned in on this game there's really not much that comes close.

I mentioned it recently, but I had the best game ever on this just comboing everything, I was ripping the upper loop spinner off left ramp, nailing the garage shot over and over, jumping to so many dimensions, collecting megaseeds everywhere I absolutely obliterated my GC score and only started a couple of modes. The multiball on this is usually over in 5 seconds, but I was hitting jackpot after jackpot, getting the supers etc.

I do think this game really is somewhat of a hidden masterpiece - it's still rated pretty highly in the top 100 I know, but I could certainly see that new players on a machine that hasn't been dialled in might walk away from it. Yes, it does require a few tweaks to get it shooting so well - however, once it's done it's verging on pin-perfection.

I can't see myself ever selling this one - but I say that about all my games.

All of my best games on this machine have actually involved none of the modes - just blasting through dimensions and getting megaseeds. I think that's why this game for me is in my top #5 of all time. You can just shoot and combo it, enjoy the shots and still crack a massive score. Personally I think this game's code is pure genius. It really doesn't need a tonne of modes, and if they had the time and resources, they could just keep adding/changing dimensions. Just brilliantly simple - whoever designed this code (was it Eric?) needs some sort of pinball medal.

Ha ha - we can always dream.

BUT... maybe we'll get some more dimensions...? Depends if Eric is feeling extra-generous, I think the last update was a massive enough gift it was incredible. The beauty of this code though is there's no end to the dimensions he could add (not saying he has to work on this game forever, but still).

Hmmmm anyone know why my R&M suddenly just keeps looping on the loading screen? It loads up until the progress bar gets to the end - then screen goes black for a second and goes back to the loading screen again (and just keeps doing it continuously).

I tried reapplying the last update - which completed, but didn't fix the problem. Yes I have contacted Spooky but its always nice when someone here has fixed your problem before.

Me too - I'm really not one to change how a game plays/shoots, and one of the things I love about this game is nailing that super tough garage shot it's so satisfying. However, I would love it if Spooky/Eric coded in a "loser" Jerry shot, that would just be unbelievable (even though I'd never see it).

My game is still down - it's been 2 weeks now and I'm sad.

I certainly don't begrudge anyone changing their game - and admittedly it does look cool, so by all means go for it and let us know how you find the mod!

I just wonder if being able to hit it from another (possibly easier) shot will take away some of the satisfaction of hitting it from the upper right flipper. Won't know until you try.

Regardless - this game is just phenomenal. I've always liked it due to being a fan of the show - but it's simplicity hides a quite ingenious depth, and the geometry being so different just adds to the fun. That garage shot, as I've mentioned, is just so great and hitting the orbit 3 times in a row, then hitting the garage is just perfection. Add to that you get the staged portal ball and can keep the game flowing afterwards, is just insane. I think I actually like this game more now than when I first got it.

Edit: getting my lefts/rights mixed up again!

Ha ha oops! It must have been in another dimension.

Bah - my R&M has been down for 3 weeks now and it's getting pretty depressing. It just sits there taunting me...

When I've got 8 other machines, but all I wanna do is play R&M speaks volumes about how great the game is. Man, do I miss that music blasting out in the game room...

So my R&M is back up and running after Spooky sent me a new CPU + hard drive (thanks as always to AJ).

However - I have to say it's not the best situation for future repairs. As far as I can tell from what AJ said (and because I had to be sent a new CPU + drive pair), there is some sort of encryption between the CPU board and the disk. This means that if your SSD fails (which isn't beyond the realms of impossibility), you cannot just buy a new one, get a software image and DIY fix it. You will most likely always need a new CPU to go with it and it will always need to be built by Spooky themselves?

I was able to quickly fix my Halloween when the SSD failed just by buying a new drive and re-imaging it - i don't think you'll ever be able to do this with R&M.

It's a minor complaint, and I still think this game is incredible and almost certainly in my top 3 games of all time. However future "repairability" is always lurking in the back of my mind when I get a new machine, and given that I've had several SSD failures (across various devices) in the last couple of years this is something that should be easily fixable in my eyes.

Interesting - because I tried swapping just the MB/CPU over first (with the same SSD), and it seemed like the drive wasn't even recognised. It wouldn't work until I'd replaced both the board and the drive together.

Also AJ stated that he was unable to provide a software image for that very reason.

It would be awesome to use any mini-pc to keep it going (as is definitely the case with Halloween), but I'm not sure it's quite so straightforward here.

So I'm now having this same problem - if i switch on the machine I get nothing but a blank screen and the playfield lights come on but remain static.

If I remove the CMOS battery I will get the bios screen which I can get past using the keyboard, and the game will start successfully. If I put the battery back in, we go back to the blank screen.

Not sure what the problem is - I suppose it's some setting in the bios? So do I need to remove the battery to get to the bios, then re-do all the settings and put the battery back in?

Such a strange problem, and i've literally just replaced the CPU a few days ago.

I just got the new board - but yeah i did try replacing the battery. I just don't get how I can actually boot the machine ok with *no* battery in the board (using a keyboard)?

I'm guessing when the battery is in there - somehow its using different BIOS settings and not able to boot? It's just really bizarre...

Edit: Well I went ahead and replaced the battery AGAIN, and went through all the bios settings and it's now ok. However, it's still very weird behaviour. Maybe fitting for this pin?

I thought Rick Potion itself was the wizard mode? You can't do it until you've completed the adventure card, so it kinda qualifies as one. I would rather see something on the dimension path - eg, if you visit 20 dimensions you get a super-wizardy one! Again, wouldn't require any assets, and I'm sure Eric could come up with something really cool.

I think R&M just might be my all time #1 game right now, perhaps just narrowly beating IMDN. I love the simplicity of the code, the shots (once dialled in) are super satisfying and its a fast, brutal, one with (usually) short game times. It sounds amazing, the light shows are terrific and the assets from the show are there plus some great callouts by the real voice actor, and even the coder dropped an update with some new dimensions recently - you can't really ask for more (ok, you COULD ask for some later season stuff, but that's never gonna happen).

This game comes with a HUGE disclaimer though: it absolutely has to be tweaked and dialled in. I have played another R&M where it was an awful experience. Left ramp couldnt be hit, the garage shot was next to impossible etc. Mine also required some tinkering. You really do have to either find a good example or spend a bit of time making some adjustments. A perfect shooting R&M though, is about as good as it gets for me.