(Topic ID: 167576)

Batman 66 - Official Club Thread

By TigerLaw

7 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

You

Linked Games

Topic Gallery

View topic image gallery

PXL_20240216_230452234 (resized).jpg
IMG_3933 (resized).jpeg
IMG_0902 (resized).jpeg
IMG_0903 (resized).jpeg
IMG_6020 (resized).jpeg
IMG_6016 (resized).jpeg
IMG_6019 (resized).jpeg
IMG_6017 (resized).jpeg
IMG_0870 (resized).jpeg
PXL_20240119_215418966 (resized).jpg
2E157914-93A2-4C0A-B4AB-670DC4DD4E4C (resized).jpeg
PXL_20240123_184703380 (resized).jpg
IMG_0717 (resized).jpeg
IMG_0715 (resized).jpeg
IMG_0713 (resized).jpeg
PXL_20240114_203723710.MP~2 (resized).jpg

Topic index (key posts)

48 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items.

Display key post list sorted by: Post date | Keypost summary | User name

Post #366 Adding the Batsignal to LE Posted by docquest (7 years ago)

Post #402 Very detailed review Posted by MT45 (7 years ago)

Post #457 DocQuests Helicopter comparison. Posted by docquest (7 years ago)

Post #463 Docquest's vehicle comparison Posted by docquest (7 years ago)

Post #501 Version 0.65 Code released Posted by PiperPinball (7 years ago)

Post #564 Docquest's helicopter install. Posted by docquest (7 years ago)

Post #1159 Adjusting the Magnet Posted by PiperPinball (7 years ago)

Post #1234 Helicopter attachment. Posted by docquest (7 years ago)

Post #1314 Photos of Episode 111 Machine Posted by iceman44 (7 years ago)

Post #1322 Version 0.68 Code released Posted by ATLpb (7 years ago)


Topic indices are generated from key posts and maintained by Pinside Editors. For more information, or to become an editor yourself read this post!

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pinmonk.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

412 posts in this topic match your search for posts by pinmonk. You are on page 1 of 2.
#1843 7 years ago
Quoted from labnip:

Can't tell it's there & it is self healing when scratches, rings, bumps happen.

How do you get it off?

#1845 7 years ago
Quoted from labnip:

don't.
but if needed to, the guy that put it on can. he puts them on/off cars.

So this isn't a self-install and removal situation?

1 week later
#1875 7 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

I've been having problems with a sporadic weak right flipper. I posted in Vids thread and am hoping for the best. In the meantime I'm posting this here for BM66 owners. While running a switch test on my flippers I noticed something weird. Notice when I do a switch test on the right flipper. It says "right flipper eos" then when pushed it says "right flipper button". No problem. Now notice when I push the left flipper. It says "left flipper eos" then when pushed it keeps saying "right flipper eos" and NOT "left flipper button". Is this correct? My KISS does not test like this. Could it have something to do with the left flipper being used as a full orbit plunge option? Can any BM66 owners confirm if their machines are testing like this? Thanks!
» YouTube video

Not normal. Sounds like you have an EOS switch that needs adjustment or repair.

#1881 7 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

On the cabinet flipper button or on the flipper mech itself? Just thought it was weird that the working left flipper is testing flakey and not the right troublesome flipper.

Seems like on the flipper mech itself from the problems you describe.

#1882 7 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

A had a flipper spring break on my Batman66 this weekend. First time I've ever seen a spring break.

You must not own an early Hobbit. Before the upgrade the Hobbit drop targets were breaking springs left and right because they're in motion so much and the initial springs were too lightweight.

#1883 7 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

Guess we are due any day for the next code update.

Next week will be three months since release, and there's only been three code updates so far 0.65, 0.68, 0.69. Lyman is clearly not being allowed to work on this exclusively to get it to 1.00.

#1887 7 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

Or he wants to make sure the next code drop is epic. That's what I'm thinking.

Given that in the last two months, the code version has advanced .04, I would hope so, but I'm not counting on it.

#1914 7 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Joker targets are not registering. I tested every switch in the game and those 2 are the only ones not registering.
I checked the board they are plugged into and everything looked fine. I'm trying to avoid taking that beast apart.

What happens usually is one or both those targets get jammed on the inside edge against that metal post in the center. If just one is "closed" it will block the other one. Check that both the targets move freely. If they seem to, in switch test mode pull the targets forward and see if that registers a hit. That only happens IF the switch is stuck closed and by moving it forward, you're "triggering" the switch by unsticking it.

#1916 7 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

Be right back...let me go test.
Update: THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gold star to vireland! This is why I love this site.

It's a design flaw. I've seen it on 3 B'66 machines now, yours makes 4 - so I had a pretty good idea what the problem was. Stern should move the mounting of those targets like 2mm out, move that support post IN, or trim the target sizes.

Glad it worked for you!

#1928 7 years ago
Quoted from labnip:

any news on new code coming soon?
12 days to TPF

Next week is a month since the last very minor update from .68 to .69, so I would hope so.

#1945 7 years ago
Quoted from Cyrus:

My Joker target stopped registering last night, so I think this will become more widespread as time goes on. I unstuck the target and it's fine now, but for how long?

Depends on how much you play, but it will keep happening. Someone recommended putting a bit of rubber back there to keep it from jamming. I'm going to try that next.

#1987 7 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

If Lyman has been working on nothing but BM66 as George says then I wouldn't be surprised to see both implemented into code.
It's been just over a month since the last update and something tells me Lyman possibly had those previous couple of updates ready to go and tested prior to releasing them, so he could have been working on this next update longer than just the last four weeks since the last update, either way there is a good chance this next update could be pretty substaintial and a game changer.

Or, it could be Gomez, the originator of "every two weeks" Batman '66 code update statement that never once came to pass, talking out of his butt again.

I like your version better, but remain skeptical. We'll see next week, one way or the other. At least we have that.

#1998 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

I hate it when you're right.

In this case, I would MUCH rather have been wrong, but "Modern Stern" historical patterns are strong and growing stronger.

For the record, though, I DO believe there will be a drop before TPF later this week. I doubt they want to deal with the heat at TPF if there's no code and we'll be heading into 6 weeks since the last drop by then. Question is, how much will be in there? Given they've missed almost three "Gomez drops", I would hope it's substantially bigger than the 0.68 leap. We'll see.

#2000 6 years ago

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A

#2002 6 years ago
Quoted from Rolls-Royce:

A little help here fellas,
I bought my L.E. a few days ago, and I did the update, but I have a question please...In the "Villain Vision" screen I just see the green Batman logo all the time, the Bat-Phone and in the multiball the Ouch! Pow! Sock! And nothing else, should I be able to see villains too? Thanks.

Villain Vision is quite villain-free at the moment. I assume it will have them talking to you over the TV eventually. But we're only 2/3 or the way to release-level code, so tons of stuff just isn't there.

#2023 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

For reference MET took 3 years ( forgot it was that long LOL) to progress 0.60 in code progression
V1.1 - June 5, 2013
V1.11 - June 6, 2013
V1.13 - June 10, 2013
V1.16 - June 28, 2013
V1.2 - July 31, 2013
V1.22 - August 13, 2013
V1.5 - March 6, 2014
V1.51 - March 17, 2014
V1.6 - June 5, 2014
V1.63 - September 2, 2014
V1.64 - April 23, 2015
V1.7 - June 19, 2016

But post-release progression is a different animal than pre-release - it's always slower because there are other games to get out. Both of those games shipped with 1.0 or better code. Batman'66 shipped with essentially Alpha code and is working toward Beta, but it's happening at a post-release pace, when it should be a pre-release pace.

#2026 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

i honestly don't think I ever played either TWD or MET on intial/release code, just how much more complete where they compared to say where BM is now with this update?

TWD release software was boring, but I don't think anything on the playfield was *missing*. There are whole sections of Batman'66 referred to on the playfield that just aren't there or do nothing. Seasons aren't there. Batman insert not used (nor Batsignal insert). Gadgets do nothing unique. Villain Vision has no Villains. Villains essentially do nothing. Scoring still has placeholder DMD screens for some of the bonuses, etc. It's is WAY worse shape than TWD or any Stern I can think of in the last 10 years, but that's to be expected for Alpha code. It's just that Alpha code isn't supposed to be released to the public. This is at least 6-12 months ahead of when the public should have ever been able to buy it.

#2029 6 years ago
Quoted from zucot:

We get it dude. You think it was released too early.

That answer wasn't unsolicited. Someone asked for a comparison, I answered.

#2030 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

...but Lyman will once again save Sterns ass on this title again, its what he does

Good time to ask for a well-deserved raise. I have no idea what they're paying him, but whatever it is isn't enough.

#2051 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

I'm getting there but it is taking a real long time to un zip the file.

If you're unzipping to a USB 2.0 stick it will take FOREVER. Don't do that. Actually, don't unzip to a 3.0, either. Unzip to a hard drive, then drag and drop it to a USB 3.0 stick. I use the Sandisk Extreme ones. Very fast.

#2056 6 years ago

Seems like the scoring is lower again on this version compared to .69. Maybe even lower than .68. I had to work awfully hard for 640 million. Also, nice to see the batsignal flasher in the PF is now being used.

2 weeks later
#2163 6 years ago
Quoted from 82Trooper:

Anyone have any idea when the next code update is likely to be?

Well, today is 2 weeks since the last small update, but they've been as long as 5 weeks between updates. Someone said it was supposed to be today, but Stern is not exactly reliable with their pledge to update Batman every two weeks (hasn't happened once on the two week "Gomez Drops" mark since release). So probably some time between today and 3 weeks from today.

#2170 6 years ago
Quoted from twenty84:

I don't know that one has to be an owner to have an opinion on this but it looks like his is for sale:

Yeah, if someone wants to buy or trade for it, I'm all ears, which is why I put it up. Not super motivated to move it, but not really feeling the long-slog beta test, either.

#2172 6 years ago
Quoted from jfh:

For someone who has given up on the game, you sure bitch a lot about the code. Stern has pledged that Lyman will be given the time he believes he needs to complete the game. That is enough for me and almost everyone else who bought in to Batman 66.

I still have the machine. Covered. It now gets played for a day or so when the new code drops and is almost like the old code, then goes back into hibernation for 3-5 weeks until the next drop.

Anyone who believes that Lyman is being given full time to work on Batman '66 NOW is a rube. The code drops are way too sparse to account for 40 hours x the number of weeks it took since the last drop (in the case of .70 that was 5 weeks. The update was no way, no how 200 hours of work). And if they believe that he will be given time to polish it out into a masterpiece, I have a bridge to sell you. He's being pulled in too many directions, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was working on at least parts of one or two other pins currently besides Batman.

Nothing Gomez has said regarding Batman'66 code has come to pass. His two week promised "Gomez drop" schedule "until we getcha there" never materialized, and the space between drops is getting longer and longer, most recently 5 weeks.

In our case, this was supposed to be a cool "thank you" to players on a route, but the machine is so shallow with almost no content that we won't even put it on route. The operator I work with is not a happy camper about the whole situation. So the machine's up for sale, and if it sells, great. If it doesn't, at the current rate we should be able to put it out in late Summer with beta code for players to finally enjoy. Until then, it sits covered, waiting for the engine to make it fun.

#2173 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Do you own one of these? Seems you get ill about this alot...just didnt see it in your collection...curious, I might have missed it

Not my personal machine, I help an OP get his machines bulletproofed for route and then maintain them. Usually these new machines live at my house for a couple weeks only while I get them ready, but Batman'66 is stuck here because it's not suitable for the route with the alpha code. So it's living here, covered, waiting for non-alpha code.

#2176 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

Holy crap, is there an "off" button on all of this? We all know your point of view by heart so can you just stop beating the same drum? You have no way of knowing ANYTHING about where Lyman is and/or what he does so stop trying to convince everyone you do. It's the same dribble every time I come to the thread...

It's drivel, actually.

And if people stop posting stuff saying I don't have a BM'66 to play, or "is the code dropping today?" ad nauseum, etc, I won't always be posting in response. I don't post on this stuff anymore unless someone else posts first.

And if it's really too much for you, "ignore" works great. But there will still be other people's drivel around here to deal with.

#2177 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

Which is the last game Lyman worked on where the code was terrible or even just barely average?

Original Batman Dark Knight. Couldn't save it. Code was barely average, but he wasn't given much to work with (terrible calls, bad layout, etc).

#2191 6 years ago
Quoted from iceman44:

That's a pretty ignorant statement.

Time will tell.

In other news, another "Gomez Drop" reiterated just last week as coming today was missed. Surprise.

#2193 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

This is a Club thread, so generally, people that enjoy the machine post in them, or provide constructive ways to mod, fix, and further enhance things.

I've done that too. People have a question about the machine, I answer and help them. I was first out of the gate with helping someone get their targets unstuck so the joker would register again. I helped another with the wiring for the batsignal. I'm happy to help anyone with a problem.

To say a club thread has to be unrealistically chipper when we're almost 5 months post-launch and there's literally almost no game there is a little crazy. People in the club that love it can love it, but when things get a little too kooky or people are gulping the Kool-Aid and repeating Stern's line that Lyman is on Batman'66 100% of his time, there needs to be some balance because the work put out so far demonstrates that's simply not true. It's been about 19 weeks since launch, that's 760 hours at full time. There's absolutely no way there's 760 hours of coding in version between version .57 and .70. 250, maybe, if I'm being really generous.

I hope it does turn out awesome. I love the theme, but we're all in for a long slog at this pace. Fall-Winter 2017 for 1.0, most likely.

#2197 6 years ago
Quoted from jfh:

...whose math shows zero comprehension of the software development process...

A hilarious statement since I do game software for a living. I have about 25 years of experience with the "software development process", so yeah, I know BS when I see it regarding coding output vs claimed time allocated. No way Lyman is spending 100% of his time on Batman '66 for the last 19 weeks as Gomez claimed (he's only 6 weeks from a half a YEAR working on this post-launch). Look at what's in the game - it tells that story clearly.

And again, to be 100% clear, I assign no blame at all - zero - to Lyman in this nonsense. He's in the unfortunate position of being too awesome and a proven clutch hitter. Stern is just stretching him too thin, IMO. This is a Stern/Management issue, not a Lyman issue.

Quoted from ronaldvg:

I feel the same frustration as vireland . Not so much that the machine is bad, but the fact that we are constantly being fooled (or lied to) by Stern about the progression of the software. No way that an experienced programmer as Lyman takes this many hours producing that little code.

I believe sincerely that the machine will get better and I will not sell it or anything, but I also dislike the fact that Stern is obviously always more interested in the next game that will bring in the money than taking care of the people that support and trust them to deliver on what they promised.

Heh! Were we separated at birth?

#2199 6 years ago
Quoted from jfh:

You and vireland miss the obvious. Batman 66 was pushed up at least 5 months in the development cycle. That means under normal circumstances there would have been work (e.g. code development) going on for 5 months we would not have seen. We are essentially seeing that now - the incremental steps toward an initial release. It's not reasonable to judge that until the initial cycle should have been done.

Well, we're now 1 week from 20 weeks, about 5 months, since release. And we're at .70, not .90 or .95 or, heaven forbid, 1.00. Nowhere close to what would be considered releasable code.

So there goes that excuse - the "5 months too soon" buffer is gone.

The point is, Batman '66 was released in unprecedented shape. No modern Stern ever shipped in such bad shape, so far from completion, and almost 5 months later is barely improved from the day it shipped in practical terms. There's a difference between rough shape and Zidware blinking light diorama. I expected rough. Batman '66 is WAY beyond that. Still. 5 months later.

But we'll just have to agree to disagree and keep watching this unfold. We can touch base in June since you think somehow it will be magically different. I'm sure the story will be about the same - small improvements. Like it or not, we're in the club together.

#2204 6 years ago
Quoted from jfh:

Then you of all people should know that being on a project full time does not equate to 40 hours a week of coding/development.
I know BS when I see it too. If you were to look in a mirror it would be obvious where it's coming from.

You're right. Full time in software development is often 60 and sometimes 80 hours a week in crunch time. But you're not helping your case.

#2205 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

100% agree with this statement.

I realized I was off by a month. It's been 4 months since release. Let's call it a 4am error. Still same point.

#2206 6 years ago
Quoted from jfh:

Then you of all people should know that being on a project full time does not equate to 40 hours a week of coding/development.
I know BS when I see it too. If you were to look in a mirror it would be obvious where it's coming from.

I have no reflection, so no, it's not obvious to a creature of the night. Thank you for mocking my pain.

#2228 6 years ago
Quoted from Oldgoat:

I am starting to get the itch for a new game. BM66 is on the list as I love the theme. I am tired with reading all of the histronic-filled threads and commentary. I'm probably opening myself up for more of the same; however, I'm feeling brave. My criteria for selection of a game (with commentary) includes (in no particular order):
1) Theme- Don't need any input on whether one likes it or not
2) Art - I have eyes, I have, like everyone, my own design aesthetic so no input needed
3) Cost - I can read my bank statement and look up the MSRP so, again, no input needed
4) Code - per my earlier post, I have run software development. We had a product roadmap that showed the sequencing of functionality. This was sometimes provided to customers (albeit with caveats). Does such a thing exist for this game?
5) Code - On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the enjoyment of the game when first released and right now? (0-unplayable , 10 -perfect)
6) Code - What is the reasonable upper limit for the code (1-10)
7) Playability/flow - out of the box (1-10) with minor adjustments (1-10) with new parts and pieces (that are readily available) 1-10
callouts - when first released (1-10) now (1-10) what you can see is in the code but not yet accessed (1-10)
9) Randomness/Brutality of the game for an average player (I believe there is only one magnet?) Is there a lot of luck and how badly are you punished for bricking a shot? (I understand some things like outlanes can be adjusted so just assume the default)
10) Ball times/game times? What are you finding is the length of a typical game?
11) Game speed? How fast is the game (1-10)
I apologize for all the questions but I really value the opinions of those that have the game
Thanks

4) Uh, no. You will never get that with Stern. This is actually a hilarious question for anyone that knows Stern.
5) Initial enjoyment 7. Once you realize you've done everything in the first few hours of learning it - 3.
6) I think Lyman can easily get this to a 7. Maybe an 8. Anything beyond will be hard because of the clunky playfield design.
7) Playability/flow - out of the box 6. with minor adjustments 7 (move bumper on left orbit).
callouts - when first released 1. callouts now (1-10) 3. What you can see is in the code but not yet accessed (1-10) 7.
9) Not super random or brutal.
10) Ball times are moderately long. Given the limited code, games go on too long.
11) Playfield clunkiness limits speed so this is not a fast game, and the penguin scoop drop-in has a LOT of randomness you can't control.

#2231 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

As I've said before, it's a pretty straightforward game to just plow through objectives and get to a wizard mode. It isn't particularly fun that way. Adding in all the different multipliers and earning layered scores that build into the wizard modes is fun for me. Having a shot at 2x, one at 3x and another at 4x adds a lot of pressure to not drain.

Yeah, we were playing it in "make your own fun" mode, trying to max multipliers or trying to get the highest batphone bonus (by spamming the commissioner Gordon while the phone rings), etc but even that got old after a few weeks. We basically only play it when new code drops long enough to see how little has been done, then shut it off again for 3-5 weeks until the next drop. KISS LE gets more play, which is really sad for a new pin.

#2235 6 years ago
Quoted from Oldgoat:

I wonder why they don't provide a basic roadmap? I understand the issues with establishing expectations for specific functionality and timing; however a basic sequence like villains, then minor villains, then gadgets, etc. without tying it to dates and with the general caveat of 'everything is subject to change' seems like a fairly low risk way of communicating to the user community. I mean with all due respect to Stern, this is not like selling a multi-million $ software solution with a multi-million $ legal exposure for non-delivery.

Just one more PR front to maintain. They don't want the hassle, nor to be locked into something initially on the roadmap that doesn't work out. They never have and never will never do this.

#2242 6 years ago

Someone screwed up on the Stern download page. Version 0.70 is listed as a Feb release when it actually was Mar 23rd. It's like they put the 0.70 release in the old 0.69 release slot. That's not the way it was when 0.70 was first put up, so it must have been changed in the past few weeks.

#2250 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

I've tried looking for the right ramp nuts under the the playfield and I swear they don't exist. They must be under a board.

The left ramp flap is secured right to the playfield. The right ramp flap is riveted and the actual post is another 1.5"-2" or so back on the right side. I don't think tightening it will help like it would on the left.

batflap (resized).JPGbatflap (resized).JPG

#2272 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

And topper integration. Not a big deal, but that's a lot of electronics and wire for a topper to only flash a bit during attract mode.
Question for SLE owners....is your top right bat signal toy only active during attract mode?

It's active right when the game starts, and also when you capture all the villains and it wants you to shoot the ball up to that saucer under the batsignal to start the multiball. Weirdly, it's never synced to the action of the batsignal on the plastic behind it.

#2276 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

it is also active when the red telephon rings.

I thought so, too, so I blew off the dust and fired up the machine to check. On 0.70 on an SLE it is not lighting when the phone rings. The batsignal on the TOPPER, however, is on when the phone rings. Another sync oversight.

#2279 6 years ago
Quoted from Rolls-Royce:

To be honest, I still have not been able to catch all four of them. Today, I even put five balls and I tried all day and I could only the same 2 that I could catch before with three balls ... very hard!

Turn on villain stacking in the options. That became optional after the first update. More fun and makes it easier to finish them all, IMO.

#2294 6 years ago
Quoted from Sethman:

We all certainly hope so! Better be a whopper of an update.

Expect a Whopper Jr to manage your expectations.

#2309 6 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

Well, at least we've been spared the misery of waiting for something that isn't showing up.

theresachance (resized).jpgtheresachance (resized).jpg

And three weeks of "a bug came up that prevents release" is grade "A" Gomez BS. There are plenty of recent Stern games with buggy firmware (GB still has a transient reboot bug, even). In the state BM'66 is in people EXPECT that, so there's no reason not to release the code and let people choose whether the improvements outweigh the "bug" downside. Unless that was made all up and Lyman's not been working on Batman 100% of his time as previously stated and Gomez is once again vamping for time.

4 weeks since the last Gomez Drop. A third of a year since the game shipped.

#2342 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

5 weeks since last update?

It'll be five weeks if another Gomez Drop hits on Thurs.

#2344 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

5 weeks weeks real time = 2 weeks Gomez time

2/5 Gomez time is still a distant second to dog years 1/7. Not that I'm sure that's a bragging point.

#2358 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Just to compare note, now that there is a new Bat Turn mode (which sounds fun), Gomez said he the spinner mech was re-designed to always return to centre. Mine doesn't always return to centre. Is everyone else the same?

Same here. Maybe actual self-centering hardware was too expensive, so they threw a magnet in there and called it a day.

#2376 6 years ago
Quoted from hawkmoon:

OK,Batfans,Something really Strange just happened on my pin:Was shooting the lit Batphone.ball went somewhere,and Alfred answered the Batphone and said"Commisioner,Batman isn't available today sir,sorry! And the pin went into ball search! Ball had already drained!! What??? Has any one else seen this???

Had that happen on .71, too, but not sure what happened to cause it.

Ball management is still borked. If it unleashes a locked ball while doing a ball search (or for any other reason that gives you two balls out but not in multiball mode), giving you two balls in play, it will go dead as soon as the first one drains.

#2377 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

I could only look at the display briefly, but something didn't seem right with the display during the multiball portion of the Villain Escape mode. Also, the sounds were like phase 1 with the glass-break sound. Anyone else?

It was weird, like the lights were off in the room in the video and there were just some Christmas lights on in the back. It got lighter toward the end. No idea what's up with that.

#2393 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Here's whats up with what you saw.
This mode has the 4 main villains escaping out of jail and you need to round them back up. The earlier code used the animated cartoon style clips but for this code they switched to video clips from the show to show the breakout from Gotham penitentiary. The only video clips that have all 4 villains together was from the second to last episode in season 3 called "The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra" starring Ida Lupino as Dr Cassandra Spellcraft. Interesting fact: Ida was not only a movie star from the golden age of Hollywood but also the only female in the 50's who also produced and directed major films. She was the forst woman to direct a film noir, "The Hitch-Hiker".
In this episode Dr Cassandra and he husband come up with some invisibility pills. Their plan is to release all the Gotham super villains and also give them the invisibility pills so they can wreck havoc on Gotham. There is a brief clip where 6 major villains are shown escaping. they are Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Penguin, Egghead and King Tut. By season 3 the ratings were dropping and the budgets were slashed so they cut as many corners as possible. In this case they saved money by having all the villains be played by stunt doubles not the actual actors. An interesting note is that Eartha Kitt was playing Catwoman in season 3 but for this episode the Catwoman double is someone picked to look like Julie Newmar instead.

Not only were they too cheap to use the real actors (or even have any henchmen in this episode) they also had no budget to do the actual choreography for the big the fight scene with all the villains. So they improvised and decided to have all the villains take the invisibility potion first. This way Batman, Robin, and Batgirl are fighting invisible people.

The heroic trio don't do so well fighting invisible villains so they decide to even the odd by turning all the lights out. So half the fight is in the dark and all you see are some random lights in the background. That's what you are seeing in the video clip on the LCD during this mode. Here's a you tube clip where you can see it as it appeared in the show.
» YouTube video
Here's what the writer, Stanley Ralph Ross, said about the episode:
“The producers ran over budget on this episode, and they could not afford to take the two days necessary to block and shoot the fight scenes. So, I wrote this episode in such a way that the fight was in the dark; therefore, the episode was shot in less time."
Here's a link to watch the whole fight from the beginning.
» YouTube video
Looks like we definitely have batgirl in the game now, at least a little bit. Maybe in a future code update the video for this mode can be fixed. They could just get better close up shots of the villains from other episode fights and splice them together. Or maybe use clips from the movie (might not happen if they don't have rights to movie though). If Stern doesn't do it, someone could fix it with better clips via pinball browser.

Thanks for the very detailed explanation. This is like the Riddler end mode where the smoke comes out of the pit and you have no idea what just happened. If it requires a detailed explanation to even GET what is going on, it's the wrong scenario for the pin.

#2443 6 years ago
Quoted from Sutol:

Just noticed on my LE that the left and the right ramps are both chrome. I was under the impression that the left ramp was red.
Do I have a premium dressed in an Le dress??

Ask them for the left ramp kit and lower deflector kit while you're at it. Keeps the ball on the left ramp when it's going fast and stops airballs from getting stuck above the "G" on the Gadget plastic. Kit's free for the asking.

#2448 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

We have only just got our games in the UK, watching neilmcrae stream for an hour and a half I didn't see a single airball off the ramp, maybe because it took so long to get our games they come with the fix already installed? or does sutol photo above show his ramp without it??

Not in the picture. If the PF is freshly waxed the ball tends to fly off the ramp if you hit it hard. The fix takes care of that and stops the floppy plastic there now from bouncing all the time when you hit the ramp.

#2449 6 years ago

Here's what you're looking for. The ramp fix goes UNDER the floppy plastic (eventually I will drill out the rivets and remove the floppy plastic so it doesn't look so dumb). The deflector goes near the exit of the left ramp return. You get both parts in the free-for-the-asking service kit.

batplastic (resized).JPGbatplastic (resized).JPG
bat-protector (resized).JPGbat-protector (resized).JPG

#2451 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

You should also ask for a different strength plunger spring (I think Green is the one you want - ill check tonight) as the one installed is way too soft (unless yours are already installed).
And if your Bat Car is only screwed to the spinning disc using Phillips head screws, you should ask for the upgraded one where the car is riveted to the disc. The screwed one will fall off.

I dunno, the spring that's on there is pretty good for hitting the rollover you want at the top, and if you're going for the super skill shot, just hold the left flipper and hit the gadget button to launch. Works fine.

#2474 6 years ago
Quoted from Phbooms:

Im really looking at buying a BM66. Im wondering how deep the code actually is right now? Is there any wizard modes coded yet? How long does it take to play through the entire game, basicly dont want to see the entire game in the first few days like Hobbit.

No wizard mode per se. I guess you could generously call Villain Escape a mini-wizard mode. Basically this is what's in there now:

1. 4 Villain modes. Light them up, hit the batphone, hit some shots, put them in jail.
2. Load balls in the lazy susan for multiball via the right orbit when locks are lit. When you get 3 loaded you get a bat-melee multiball.
3. When all 4 Villains are lit (you've already put each in jail by completing their modes), hit the saucer via the left orbit for Villain Escape mode, which is a Multiball and kind of retard mini-wizard-y. Not hard to get to.
4. Bat turn mode was added, where you can hit the spinning batmobile to build points, and hit the white shots to collect the leftover parachutes. This is pretty fun with great video integration.

There are some multiplier rules and mystery awards other minor things, but that's everything in the game, mode-wise. Not much there yet. You can see everything in about 15 minutes if you're a half-decent player.

#2484 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

If anyone could lend Cliff a game that would be awesome a BDK or BM66 should both get the job done both share identical scoops and shooters.
Although I never found the original Cliffy for the BDK crane scoop made the shot anymore difficult.

It doesn't lay perfectly flat on the front side, but there's some tension to make the holes line up, so it lifts the front slightly (at least on the one I installed). I think that's what's being referred to. The difference in mounting holes is probably only 1-2mm, but it does make a difference.

1 week later
-3
#2519 6 years ago
Quoted from frg:

Well - I am also in. Going to trade my Aerosmith next week to get a Batman 66. Aerosmith is a solid machine, fun but also a bit boring since there are no "killer" shots.

Keep your Aerosmith for another six months. BM'66 makes Aerosmith look like the most exciting, feature-packed pin ever made. There's just not much there at all currently. So enjoy your AS for six months, and then check out BM'66 when it has 2/3 or 3/4 the features of Aerosmith in 6 months.

I'm not kidding. If you think AS is boring, you will be shocked at how little is done in BM'66.

1 week later
#2533 6 years ago
Quoted from melumga:

Just wanted to share this shot of my premium with a 3D-printed Batsignal. It's being powered off the USB port on the mainboard in the backbox. Can someone confirm if this setup could cause any issues?

Needs to be focused (nitpicking that it's the wrong bat logo for the era, too - look at the cabinet sides and head).

1 week later
#2556 6 years ago

New code dropped.

V0.75.0 - May 25, 2017
======================

- Tightened up the lock post closing time after a ball is locked or
multiball is started. The lock post and the diverter should both be
fully closed before a new ball is served.
- Added batphone hurry-up award when restarting VILLAIN ESCAPE via
add-a-ball as there is a possibility that the hurry-up can be started
during the VILLAIN ESCAPE grace period.
- Skill shot award was not stopping the super skill shot or the penguin
skill shot. This has been corrected.
- Reworked the Joker mode:
- At the start, the Gordon target, the Penguin hole, and the Atomic
Pile target are lit.
- Shooting the Atomic Pile target starts the main part of the mode
and cancels the Gordon target and the Penguin hole. Shooting the
Penguin hole starts the Batcave sequence, lights the left loop to
finish the sequence, and cancels the Gordon target.
- The timers for the Gordon target and the Batcave sequence are set
via adjustment (default: OFF).
- The player may play and see as much or as little of the story as they
want. Playing more of the story results in bigger scores during VILLAIN
ESCAPE.
- Added sounds, clips, and speech.
- Reworked the Riddler mode:
- At the start, the Gordon target, the Penguin hole, and both Riddler
loop shots are lit.
- Shooting either Riddler loop shot starts the main part of the mode
and cancels the Gordon target and the Penguin hole. Shooting the
Penguin hole starts the Batcave sequence, lights the left loop to
finish the sequence, and cancels the Gordon target.
- The timers for the Gordon target and the Batcave sequence are set
via adjustment (default: OFF).
- The player may play and see as much or as little of the story as they
want. Playing more of the story results in bigger scores during VILLAIN
ESCAPE.
- Added sounds, clips, and speech.
- Added SLE tables. Reworked some custom speech to use data from the
micro-SD card for custom speech in attract mode.
- Fixed a bug with applying gadgets during VILLAIN ESCAPE that would
award shots that had already been completed.
- Main multiball lock display effect was not being queued when awarded
from the turntable lock. Certain higher priority effects (super skill
shot) were preventing the lock display from running. This has been
corrected.
- Super skill shot and short plunge skill shot were not scoring points
multiplied by the shot multiplier. This has been corrected.
- Added super skill shot display effect. Fixed a bug with the penguin
skill shot where it would not display the correct number of points
scored.
- Fixed a bug in the villain vision effect request code that was
preventing certain background effects from running.
- Added a setting (default: ON) to disable super jackpot collect during
multiball.
- Added villain vision effects for ball save, tilt warning, extra ball
lit, extra ball, and tilt.
- Replaced main multiball villain vision effect with jackpot.
- Extra ball lit effect is killed in some cases where extra ball is
awarded and extra ball lit is running or pending.
- Major villain wizard mode multiball autofire timer increased by 5
seconds. Super jackpot gives add-a-ball, adjustable: settings are
NONE, 1-4, UNLIMITED. Default = 3.
- Fixed a bug in bat turn where the villain vision and batphone targets
would not score a shot in the mode.
- Fixed bat turn mania champion text. When entering initials, the text
would not fit on the display.
- Added lockout for applying gadgets immediately after a ball is served.
- Added check and recording of major villain (Catwoman, Joker, Penguin,
Riddler) HSTD.
- Fixed hurry-up re-initialize of hits left to start the hurry up again.
The villain should only be harder to start the next time if the hurry-up
was made and the villain mode was started.
- A new ball in the turntable lock now kills the skill shot.
- Extra ball award display effect kills the extra ball fanfare when the
display effect goes away. The fanfare was running past the end of the
display effect, and since it ducked the music, it was causing some
mode music (primarily Riddler 1/2) to be very quiet.
- Removed some bad extra ball speech.
- Changed MORE TIME for VILLAIN ESCAPE, PLAYFIELD MULTIPLIER, and BATTURN
such that the time is added without a cap.
- Removed more time from batturn batmobile spinner hit.
- Added playfield multiplier to timed modes group so MORE TIME will work.
- Increased initial time for the playfield multiplier from 20 seconds to
30 seconds. MORE TIME value is 20 seconds.
- Turntable lock post was not being raised during ball search when lock
was lit for a physical lock. This caused the locked balls to empty out
of the lock during ball search. The lock post is now raised during
ball search.
- Player score now updated during bonus when "TOTAL BONUS" page is
displayed.
- Implemented different newspaper headlines for instant info.
- Worked in the newspaper zoom to the first frame of the instant info.
- Reworked instant info so the newspaper animation loops, which eliminates
occasional glitches between pages.
- Changed batturn mania RGB lamps from WHITE/CYAN to CYAN/BLUE so they
stand out more from other modes.

#2558 6 years ago
Quoted from Sethman:

Meaty!!
Going to download now. I do have a question about those new timer settings : defaulted to off. Are they unlimited by default and you can set a timer or completely disabled right now unless you put a timer to them?

Dunno. This line could be the most impressive:

- Added sounds, clips, and speech.

Interested to get this installed and see how MUCH this encompasses. Seems like still no minor villain implementation though.

EDIT: There's actually quite a bit of new video. Got rid of Joker turn video. There's a new one when you make Joker shots. There's a new clip of activating the batpoles by sliding the bookcase aside. Quite a few new Riddler videos keyed to making shots in his mode. New Super Skill shot mode.

Batsignal on top is more coordinated with the two in the game (the physical one and the one on the plastic behind it). All three often turn on together, which is a nice change.

New mystery awards.

Seems to be more liberal scoring. Had a meh game to check this out (made it to Villain Escape, didn't complete) and scored 304 million.

Saw nothing added to Minor Villains, so that's a push.

#2562 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

If anyone at Stern is reading this...let Lyman know that he is the man!
This game is going to turn into one of Stern's best games...most of the Batman 66 owners know that.

What, no credit for KaPow? It's technically their game in partnership with Stern.

#2566 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

Kapow was used to get the license.
Lyman is coding it.

Right. No KaPow, no Batman'66.

#2568 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

When you say "batsignal on top" are you regerring to the batsignal prohector that comes with the SLE topper?
And "the physical one" thats the mini bat signal that SLE owners also got that goes in the upper right corner of the playfield?
Does the mini one on the playfield now go on/off more than it did with the previous code?

Yeah, the projector on top of the SLE, the mini one, and the one on the plastic behind the mini one are now finally all synced.

#2571 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Hmmmmmmmmm! I didn't expect code today, figuring it would be a few more weeks and minor villains would arrive with it. Big read me with .75, though it seems like more polish than substance. I guess I'll have to do the unthinkable and play the game with the new code in order to judge and rate it. So cool to see this develop.

Doesn't seem to be a lot more game added, but there's a LOT more video and callouts synced to gameplay events, and general polish, which is nice.

#2584 6 years ago

Now you're hallucinating replies from me that aren't there. Nice.

#2585 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Well, .71 to .75 is definitely progress, I won't dispute that and I'm sure there's stuff in it that I didn't notice. But I'll stick to my previous assessment, there's just not much to see game play wise in this update. The long code read me can be deceiving. That's okay though, it's a journey in software evolution and administrative changes are also necessary. I certainly didn't mean to degrade the game, but rather temper expectations for those who might rush out to change their code after work instead of tending to other responsibilities. I like the game and own an LE and love the theme, regardless of progress. But I'm also honest about it. This release didn't seem to elevate game play substantially and it would be disingenuous to claim that it did. Hopefully, the next one will.

It's still worth updating to get rid of the repetitive Joker turning video and get Riddler and Joker videos keyed to making shots in their modes. That and the "to the batcave" video. There's enough new video tied to game shots that it's worth updating, but like I said in the initial assessment that Manimal somehow thought was "complaining" this update didn't really add any gameplay. It's definitely better than .71, though.

#2592 6 years ago

I had a callout I've never heard before and may be new. In multiball, the announcer said "Super Jackpot is lit" then the atomic pile turned away and the announcer said "Or is it?!" - that cracked me up.

Quoted from iceman44:

Still not ready for route yet. You need to hold it back a while longer!

See, I knew you would start seeing it my way eventually.

#2641 6 years ago
Quoted from applejuice:

Have any owners messed with game settings yet? I like the 'allow major villains stacking' option to be turned on so you can have multiple modes running at the same time, but currently its difficult to get joker going more than once and you really need to get that one going first as the joker targets to start are blocked once the table turns.
Come across a few other issues in that coin door ball saver doesn't work (drained ball ends ball) and if you have extra ball for replays turned on it doesn't alert you to the award threshold and i've had ball locks be ejected a few times when a bat phone hurry up award is started and you lock a ball instead.

I turned off Villain repeats so it won't accidentally activate completed Riddler or Penguin when you're trying to get Joker or Catwoman going.

#2643 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Thats a good idea. Does anyone know if you complete a villain twice before getting to Villain Escape mini wizard, does the next round of villains begin with the twice beaten villain already completed? (if that makes sense )

I don't believe so, which is another reason I turned it off.

#2645 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

In that case it should be off by default.

FYI, it's setting 49 in the Batman specific adjustments, Lock out Completed Major Villains. Default is No, I set this one to Yes.

#2651 6 years ago
Quoted from ATLpb:

Safe to assume he left it on "don't lock out" by default to force more care and planning in your shots. Nerdy as it sounds I like to imagine that if I accidentally start a major villain a second time after already completing/capturing that it's like they escaped from prison so I have to capture them again before any further progress.

That would be a great idea if it wasn't designed so Penguin essentially randomly activates by dropping in from the pop bumpers almost completely out of player control. THAT sucks. So yeah, Villain lock on.

#2664 6 years ago
Quoted from applejuice:

I have tried this out to but I think on 0.71 once you've gone passed villain escape it won't reset and allow you to fight them again. Maybe fixed on 0.75?

If you get them all rounded up in Villain escape, there's some flashing white lights (Gordon target, atomic pile, and I don't remember where else), but I haven't figured out what you're supposed to do at that point to advance (nothing? not finished?). However, when that ball is over, the villains DO reset in 0.75 with the Villain completion lock on in the settings.

1 week later
#2695 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

I know it's all Star Wars, Star Wars, Star Wars at the moment on Pinside but has anyone heard when the next BM66 code update is, after the Bat-Turn update I am more excited for the next update than I am for Star Wars. Quick to the Batpoles!

The next update will probably b 6/29/17. That's 35 days, which is right in the range for the last few updates of 31-34 days. There's an off-chance that we get it on 6/22/17, but that's an abnormally quick 28 day Gomez drop. There hasn't been a "two week" Gomez drop below 30 days apart since February.

#2699 6 years ago
Quoted from cadmium:

I wanted to share with y'all some mods I put on my premium. I was inspired by what others have shown in this thread and their guidance.
The batcopter is mounted on some bendable craft wire I picked up at Home Depot. When the shaker motor kicks it's titled just so that the vibrations make the blades spin. I mounted the batmobile+batboat on a piece of cut plexiglass. The LED drain, purple flipper rubbers, and flat purple LEDs under the slings add so much to the theme.
Thanks again pinsiders!

Looks like you have installed the kit from stern to cover more of your left wireform and keep balls from flying off. Do you have the deflector that goes on the plastic at the bottom of the "GADGET" bank to keep the ball from getting stuck. They don't advertise, you have to ask for it.

1 week later
#2819 6 years ago
Quoted from TRAMD:

I played BM66 for the first time tonight. I played about 4 games on a Premium, scoring around 100 mil each time (I am a mediocre player). I enjoyed it but I was really disappointed by the lack of audio/speech to go with the videos. I expected extensive video clips with audio but they just weren't there. One of the best things about the show was the campy dialogue and it seems very scant on this game. There was some Joker mode where he just repeatedly makes weird faces at the camera and mouths something but he doesn't actually say anything. Is it possible that something was turned off on the game I played? Sorry if this isn't the right place to post this; I didn't figure it warranted a new thread. Thanks.

I think that was one version behind current. But yeah, there aren't a lot of callouts in the game currently. We're still probably 6 months from version 1.00, so it's nowhere near even feature complete though.

#2856 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Interesting....code news = good news

That would be the shortest gap between Gomez drops since February. Next Tue/Wed/Thurs the 27th-29th is more likely.

#2864 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

If I ever find oblivion, I know there will be a big pile of my lost pinball parts there waiting for me. Doooooh
rd

Father Guido Sarducci has a whole routine on this.

#2935 6 years ago
Quoted from hawkmoon:

What dealer is selling the Beacon???

Front page of the Stern Store
http://costore.com/sternpinball/welcome.asp

#3034 6 years ago

So we're inside the usual range for a Gomez Drop on Batman '66 this week. Could have code any day (we've had B'66 code drops on every day of the week, but only once on Friday), and given that Wednesday and Thursday are most popular, it will probably be 6/28/17 (34 days) or 6/29/17 (35 days). It is likely to be 0.76-0.79.

Fingers crossed.

EDIT: Using actual available dates (when the ROM was posted to download) vs the dates listed in the readme file, code was ALWAYS posted on Thursday, except one Tuesday and one Friday, early on. So it will likely be 6/29/17 this week if we get code.

#3038 6 years ago
Quoted from sepins:

Holiday weekend coming !!!
Time for a huge code update!!!

Don't go too crazy. Probably only 0.76-0.79, but maybe a nice, round 0.80.

#3040 6 years ago
Quoted from marksf123:

So what would be the significance if it was .80 and not .76. Does anyone really know what an increase by .01 means? Not really sure how they choose the numbering system. Maybe a software person can chime in.

I have been involved with commercial game software for over 25 years and I can't figure out the version numbering vs the actual changelog on Batman'66. Gave up. All I know is we're a LONG way from anything close to basically complete.

#3046 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

I'm hoping for 1.0, l know its a longshot but you never know.

Zero chance.

#3048 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Lyman is going to make this next update v1.0 now just to mess with you Vire

All credibility would be lost unless this was 4/1. Won't happen.

#3059 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Any news on a code update?
I'm at work all next week so I would be happy if Lyman added another 2 weeks of content and code to BM66 before a drop, just hope the next update adds minor Villians of villain vision literally having the joker, toddler, penguin and co. taunting me and hearing their iconic laughs will be game changing for me.

I somehow missed The Toddler watching the show as a kid. Sounds like the most dangerous of all the villains. Only cares about himself and freaks out at the drop of a hat...

#3065 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

So for those that have the game controlled mini bat-signal in the back right corner of the playfield, does the topper projector come on/off the same time that one does?

Didn't before, but mostly does now.

#3069 6 years ago

Nope what? Before it wasn't synced to the batsignal in the back at all, and only was on in attract mode. It DOES come on during the game, but nowhere near as much as it should.

#3074 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

It does look cool!! However I'm gonna have to send this one back for another. There's a scratch on the inner lens. Small but very noticeable on the wall. See second pic. I can't seem to win with this thing.

I wish they hadn't mixed modern and original batman logos through the machine. It's jarring to see the newer style on the topper and the original style on the wall projection.

#3089 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

They are all classic 66 logos, for some reason in the tv show they didn't use a single logo like the burton films did.
Adam wests Bat suit chest emblem
66 Batmobile used on the doors and alloy centre caps
Batsignall

I guess I didn't notice the variance in the original show. Looking online, the utility belt has ANOTHER completely different bat-logo.

#3091 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

Definitely. I'm just so glad that at least Stern got the Batsignal image correct on the beacon.

It is wrong on the mini-beacon in the back corner of the game, I had to swap it out.

-1
#3094 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

So what's the over/under for a code drop today? It's about 3:30 central right now, so I figure we've got maybe a 3 hour window left if it's coming today. Fingers crossed.......

Today seems certain, unless they've just given up all pretense of caring about getting Batman '66 to 1.00. If they miss today, next week will put then into the 40 day range since a Gomez Drop, which will be the most ever, by far.

#3096 6 years ago
Quoted from Bamatami:

I just wanted to get some fellow "pinsider's" opinions....When and/or if do you think Stern will make a Pro model of BM66?

That's likely never. This is a joint production with Kapow, so there are extra costs, which is why they basically called a Pro a premium already and raised the price. Gotta pay Kapow.

#3103 6 years ago

Looks like we're into "don't care anymore" mode with Gomez Batman code drops. This miss plus the holiday will push the time since the last Gomez drop into the 40 day zone, the most ever. There has been ONE Gomez Drop on a Friday, so there's still a SMALL, TINY chance of code tomorrow, but it's a longshot.

#3165 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

More hopeful than thinking.
But it seems Lyman likes to drop code before shows, whether that's for mass feedback on the update or maybe so he doesn't get jumped on by a bunch of Pinsiders asking about code

If we do get new code on the first day of the show, this Gomez Drop gap will still be the longest ever at 42 days. Not a good sign for a machine nowhere near 1.00.

#3169 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

I'd rather wait for code that's good than two week upgrades that would obviously suck.

This rationalization is wearing pretty thin almost 7 months after release and still only 3/4 of the way to 1.00. Especially since the gap between Gomez Drops is getting LONGER not the same or shorter. I guarantee Lyman is not on Batman solely anymore, and it's likely he hasn't been since probably February.

Bat Turn gave me hope, but that goodwill is fading while the game remains very unfinished and not close to being done.

#3171 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

I don't recall it being so different for Walking Dead.

Having software that sucks initially (Walking Dead) but is complete, then waiting for it to get good is COMPLETELY different than having software that's nowhere close to complete 7 months after release. Walking dead shipped with 1.11 software. Batman '66 shipped with 0.57. Big difference.

7 months after release Walking dead was on version 1.25. As we approach the 7 month marker, Batman'66 is on 0.75 - not even at 1.00. So no, not the same, or even close.

#3175 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

oh and TWD shipped with 1.04.
Neil.

Okay, but 0.57 < 1.04. At the beginning or 7 months later, the point is the same.

#3205 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

A bit disappointing not having code today.

Today marks 42 days since the last Gomez Drop. In the beginning when they were "only" missing his 2 weeks goal by 2-13 days, they would have had two code drops in this timeframe. The gaps are getting longer. It may literally be the end of the year before there's a version 1.00.

#3209 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

If it makes you feel any better, Batman is still the most recent Stern to receive a code update.

But the only one nowhere near 1.00.

MAYBE Star Wars, but the video looked substantially more complete than BM'66, so it's probably around 1.00.

#3221 6 years ago
Quoted from davidSpumpkins:

I need some help in fixing a problem with the ball lock post. I am running 0.75. It is releasing any locked balls whenever a villain is completed. It was working ok before I started experimenting with the game settings. I have restored the parameters back to their factory defaults, but the problem persists.
I am thinking of reloading the 0.75 code from scratch, as probably something in the code image been corrupted, or there is a bug in the parameter handling. Has anyone else experienced problems with either ball locks not being recognized, or false multiballs?

Haven't seen that. The only issue I've seen with the ball lock is if there's a ball search, it will dump everything that's in the ball lock and then not know there are multiple balls out, so the game goes dead when the first one drains. But that's a ball management issue.

I'd just try loading the factory defaults in the menu before reflashing 0.75 completely. I had something weird like this happen with Metallica where a coin-up would reset the machine. Loading factory defaults solved it when nothing else seemed to. Some kind of memory corruption happened. Might be similar in your case.

#3246 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

How much longer can Lyman dedicate significant resources to BM66 with Lonnie and Dwight having coded new games since he has?

Gomez comments aside, "significant resources" clearly haven't been allocated to BM'66 since like Feb/Mar. We're now at 45 days since the last Gomez Drop, and they're only getting longer. It's been 7 months since release. The features, by and large, aren't close to being filled in in the alpha code. No seasons, no sub-villains, no new multiballs. It's clearly a low priority at Stern, probably because it's boutique with Kapow, and the sales were crappy because of the alpha code.

#3263 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

hello clubbers,
i have an issue with a bm66 premium.
when the pinball is in attract mode all inserts in the middle of the playfield are flickering. also the gi next to the outlanes are not working in the attract mode.
when you start a game, everything is working correctly for a few seconds. the ball comes out is ready for start the game. but after a few seconds all lights do the same as in the attract mode.
also the flipper fingers, both slingshots and the penguin vuk aren't working.
after the ball drains, the ball save is activated but no ball shots out.
so you can do nothing more at this point.
i tried two different node 8 boards. everytime the same issues.
what can i do now?

I'd reload factory settings and see if something got corrupted.

#3266 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

hello clubbers,
i have an issue with a bm66 premium.
when the pinball is in attract mode all inserts in the middle of the playfield are flickering. also the gi next to the outlanes are not working in the attract mode.
when you start a game, everything is working correctly for a few seconds. the ball comes out is ready for start the game. but after a few seconds all lights do the same as in the attract mode.
also the flipper fingers, both slingshots and the penguin vuk aren't working.
after the ball drains, the ball save is activated but no ball shots out.
so you can do nothing more at this point.
i tried two different node 8 boards. everytime the same issues.
what can i do now?

Did this machine ever work right since you received it?

#3268 6 years ago

Slide the playfield out and examine the wire harness carefully for damaged or cut individual wires. On one recent Stern, I had a situation where a few strands got looped over the guide for the playfield and eventually the activity of opening and closing the playfield frayed some wires and cut a couple by mashing them against the stop on the guide. Made it act really weird until I figured out what was going on.

#3270 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

i think the wire harness are alright because when you start the game everything works correct for a few seconds.

Probably something node-related, then. The slings and Penguin VUK are on Node 8, but that doesn't explain the lighting issues. Maybe a power supply issue? Have you measured the current coming out of the power supply?

#3272 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

yes, this is also correct.

Have you done a switch test AND a coil test on the slings and Penguin VUK to see if the switches or coils are what isn't responding?

#3274 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

yes, slings & vuk don't work in the test.

But the switches for them work fine?

#3285 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Alright.....how did a Star Wars Pro get a code update if was supposedly much further ahead than BM66? REALLY wanting an update tomorrow!!!

Kapow boutique release vs Stern cornerstone release.

#3317 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Can anyone work out the time it took games like ACDC/Metallica/Star Trek/TWD to get to "complete" game status. I'm thinking it was at least a year on those, but could be wrong. We're still only at 9 month's for B66, just seems like longer for some reason.

But we're not talking complete. We're talking shipping state, 1.00. 7 months after shipping, still not even CLOSE to 1.00. That's unprecedented in modern Stern history.

#3354 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

I can say for a fact that is not the case yet. I can't say what tomorrow will bring, but unless I was lied to on multiple levels in face-to-face discussions and visually deceived as well, he is still very much dedicated to BM66 code.

52 days since the last sad Gomez Drop (that took 31 days, so really 83 days, or almost THREE MONTHS since an update of any substance) speaks more of the current state of BM'66 support.

And "dedicated" is probably too strong a word. "Still working on" is probably about the strongest truthful state of development. Notice how the Lyman is "exclusively on BM'66" language has disappeared because the length of time between updates has made that conceit laughable since 1Q this year.

#3423 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

Yep, I would like to update for group pinball night............fingers crossed.

New code dropped today!

.



You're in luck....if you have Star Wars.

Gomez-drops (resized).jpgGomez-drops (resized).jpg

#3427 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Sucks there is no new code but didn't Stern say they wont release code again on Fridays in case of bugs?
Has anyone else been getting intermittent problems with their backbox LCD?

No LCD issues here. Hopefully it stays that way.

I don't think the no code Friday thing was officially stated, but if you look at Batman'66 history, code was never on a Friday, so maybe true.

If that holds and there's no chance for code tomorrow (although I think one was dated Thurs and dropped on a Fri if I remember right), that means Monday is the next opportunity which would be 60 days since the last Gomez Drop - more than 4x longer than the initially stated interval that was never met. Shameful.

#3435 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

That's just a bare bone essential bug fix update.

I'd take a Batman'66 bugfix every 7 days over nothing for 56 days. No problem.

#3439 6 years ago
Quoted from Pinball_Freak:

Agree but my experience with Met was similar. Waiting for the code sucked especially when it seems to be taking longer between drops, but when they came wow.

The difference is that 7 months later, you weren't waiting for just 1.00 basic shipping code, and nowhere close to seeing it. Metallica day one had code much more finished than Batman'66. It's no contest.

#3511 6 years ago

Anyone else had "TILT" frozen on the Villain Vision screen that doesn't clear? I had to go into the system menu and then out again to clear it.

#3519 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

TILT and WARNING won't clear from the VV on ball 3 drain for me until I start a new game.

Definitely a bug then. Thanks for the confirmation. The RGB arrows were locked, too. Same for you?

#3545 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

No one saw the Bat turn mode coming. I'm sure Lyman has more goodies up his sleeve. The wait is painful though.

The wait is RIDICULOUS. This is not Lyman's problem, but management, purely. This Thursday will be 63 days since the last drop, which is a bigger gap than the time between .65, .68. and .69 COMBINED. But that was right before they likely took Lyman off the project full time and the time between code drops doubled. Now, they've doubled again. We were originally told 2 weeks until they get us "there." The gap is now 8 weeks and counting heading into the 8th month since release and still nowhere close to 1.00 with a large amount of features just not coded at all or with placeholders.

#3573 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

Hi My name is Brewin' and it's been 63 days since my last code update and 8 seconds since I last refreshed the page.

Use check4change. It will tell you when it's updated automatically.

-2
#3574 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Unless he already passed it to the firmware test group for their evaluation.
Star Wars code came out so maybe some BM66 will come out today as well.

Unlikely. The Gomez email was to buy more time, probably at least 2 weeks from that letter, so likely 8/3-8/8.

Also, it's interesting that the letter says, "We are very close to doing the next releases which contains many of the features that the community has been asking for..."

That sentence was clearly edited and then not proofed. He probably initially said "the next release which contains" then decided that he was promising too much for one release (with Lyman on it only part time), so he changed it to "next releases" without editing "contains" making the sentence read "the next releases which contains" which no one would write in one pass since it's an obvious error.

#3648 6 years ago
Quoted from BrewinBombers:

I was about 3 shots from a Billion on the batphone tonight. I had 129M value and was ready for 6x shot multiplier on the Batphone. So. Freaking. Close.

Keep abusing that Gordon standup and you can get some crazy batphone scores.

#3652 6 years ago
Quoted from pauloz:

I don't think he's made one single positive comment on the game. It's a great pin and one of my favourites.

Then you have a very short memory. I'm not going to fawn over a game that is clearly nowhere near done, but I've given plenty of help with it and pointed out things that were cool (Bat turn was a great surprise).

#3658 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Hey, as we patiently await the next BM66 code drop, does anyone have any idea who is coding GotG, if that is indeed the next Stern game as often rumored? Since AS and SW came out recently and after BM66, I'm guessing that Lonnie and Dwight have been too busy with those games. I know Stern has other programs such as the guy who did X-Men, but I was hoping Lyman would get involved in GotG which I was "previously" interested in buying at some point. Now that BM66 code progress seems to have slowed down a little bit, I'm stuck in a bit of a paradox because I have to hope that Lyman isn't working on GotG if he's really dedicated to BM66, however, now I'm worried that we might get a GotG without Lyman or Dwight being involved. Anybody in the know got any hopeful prognostications on this?

Isn't Lyman on Elvira 3? Pretty sure that's the deal.

#3663 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Well, that would make sense, if Elvira is a 2018 game and I guess preserve our concerns about him tightening up BM66 before jumping to a new game. Still, who is coding GotG if it's coming out around Expo timeframe? I won't buy another Lonnie game.

Lyman has already jumped (or, technically, been re-assigned). Some time ago. If the 70+ days since the last Gomez Drop hasn't given you that clue, I don't know what can. Once the next game with his name on it ships it will be clear that the development timeframe overlapped with the B'66 "full time" period, hopefully that will finally be enough for people to accept what happened.

#3781 6 years ago

It's slang. Texting shorthand for giving it your all, all the way, 100%, etc.

#3797 6 years ago
Quoted from Zdoor:

I've been playing around with a premium and enjoying it. It's getting a bad rap IMO.
If I was still pumping out Refinery games, this would have been a fun one to trick out... the code will get there at some point,

So are you employed by Cointaker now and no pinball refinery stuff anymore? Not sure where the lines of your agreement are...

#3817 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Holy copycat Batman!
Don't blame you man, the SLE pinstriping does look great, so I thought why not trick out my BM66 a little more, plus I like the idea of the powdercoated armour looking like its part of the Batmobile, it was one of the things that drew your eye to the SLE.

The crazy thing is, the SLE isn't even real pinstriping, but just cheap vinyl roll sticker. Pinstriping will be way more durable.

#3829 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Really I didnt realize anyone actually had a "pinstripe" guy.
So what is real pinstriping? A paint process?

Pinstriping to me has always meant paint. It's an art.

#3836 6 years ago
Quoted from hawkmoon:

Sigh,another Friday gone with no new code!

Monday and Friday have little and no chance of new code respectively. Almost all of the Gomez Drops have been on Wed or Thurs.

#3838 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

Will it be before summer ends?

I have a graph...

#3845 6 years ago
Quoted from JimB:

Just got a Premium. Having an issue with the ball stuck in the batmobile spinner and goes into ball search. What is the fix for that? Seems like ball search would at least move that spinner:

What's your PF angle? I don't think there's a motor on the spinner to turn it in a ball search.

#3854 6 years ago
Quoted from JimB:

The bubble is almost dead center closer to to bottom line. Does it need to be pitched higher.?

Download the bubble level app for your phone. Take off the glass and put your phone on the playfield. Set the PF to at least 6.5-7.0 degrees.

#3857 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Hmmm, maybe too many labels. I think I like the "Bat-Plunger" one but others might be too busy.

I think it's just to cluttered in the middle. Moving "Coin Insert Slots" above and the return chutes to the right of the returns should make it look a little better.

#3876 6 years ago
Quoted from Sethman:

manimal I think you should drop in the office and give some people a swift kick in the ass. Code soon, where
I think I'm on team Vireland now.

Literally EVERY owner should be yelling Stern's ear off. I have no idea why there are still people defending the FACT that we're almost 3/4 of a YEAR since release and it's STILL nowhere close to even a 1.00 releasable version. Crazy. We're are 81 days since the last Gomez drop. Also Crazy, when "every two weeks until we getcha there" was originally stated pre-release.

Like I said a while ago when people were just calling me essentially a "Debbie downer" - I'm one of the only ones calling out the truth, just most people didn't seem ready to hear it. That's changing - FINALLY. To let this slide silently is to give Stern license to do this nonsense AGAIN, and that should NEVER happen.

8-14 gomes drop (resized).jpg8-14 gomes drop (resized).jpg

#3885 6 years ago
Quoted from Sethman:

I added a small piece of foam onto bracket that's between / behind both targets. Helps to keep the inner edge of the target from getting caught in the bracket edge.

The foam is the better long-term solution. Re-adjusting the targets is temporary, they will shift again.

#3887 6 years ago
Quoted from TimeWellSpent:

Do you have a picture of what you did? I'm not sure I'm up to the task of removing that whole turntable and causing more problems.

I don't have any pics, sorry, but you can add the dense foam from the topside, no problem.

#3896 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Oh yeah, this too. I saw a bunch of posts and immediately opened up Stern's code site before I starting to reading posts. Dang it!!!

Just throw check4change on it and it will tell you when there's an update.

-2
#3904 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

And if the truth be known, your constant "calling of the truth" as you put it, is likely the biggest reason we don't have any incremental code drops. We all know Stern pays attention to what is posted...they may not comment, but don't kid yourself into thinking they don't follow these threads.

Yeah, sure. Don't blame Gomez and Stern for shipping a woefully unfinished game and repeatedly making commitments they didn't keep and literally lying to the owners with things like "Lyman is on Batman full time" long after it was clear he was splitting his time with other projects. Blame the customers. Somehow twist it into Gomez was butt-hurt because *I* was calling him out on his BS. Yeah, that's good. And that doesn't hold water because I didn't really start complaining until many, MANY "Gomez Drops" had been missed. So what's the excuse for those missed commitments? Regardless of what that is, we're over 8 months since the game was released and nowhere near a shippable 1.00 version with even MOST of the stuff coded, not all. That has never happened in Modern Stern history, but it's my fault.

Give me a break.

-1
#3997 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Did exactly the same with my distributor about a 6 weeks ago. He called Gary who assured him 2 weeks for the next drop (I know, sounds like a 2 week joke) and game finished by end of year.
So, the first goal has been well and truly missed. Let's hope the end of year one works out.

Gary's clearly been talking to Gomez. Oops.

#4022 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

I wonder if Stern actually sold all 80 of the SLE's?

Supposedly ~30 went outside the US, so only 50 in the US.

#4030 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

"year 1973" is in a small village in austria!
...after the "#boom-bash-pow-sock-unbelievable-greatest-code-drop-of-all--times" it stays till the end.

I picture it on a mountaintop next to a ski lift now...

#4036 6 years ago

But it's supposed to be with art by Chris Franchi. Seems like that would be a mismatch with Deadpool.

#4043 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

yellow submarine would be a terrible theme for a pin.

Until you learn it comes with monthly LSD hits for the authentic Beatles experience.

#4061 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

He tells me about his nealry HUO haunted house he got for $250. Seems every pinhead I meet has a story like that except me. LOL.

Stay in it long enough and you'll have one of those stories for your very own. My best was a nonfunctional Spiderman Red for $1000 a location called me to unload. Turns out its only problem was a blown transistor. An hour after it was home, it was working fully. Looked factory fresh. Great deal.

#4067 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Man, great get!!!....I still love mine....

I loved it enough to make a custom web plastic for the Doc Ock VUK. Eventually traded the machine, but I would not be opposed to having another one in the future. Love the game.

spiderman-web-installed-small (resized).jpgspiderman-web-installed-small (resized).jpg

#4080 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

i thought code would drop today as I'm away from home!

Not on a Monday!

#4102 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

3 months without an update is in two days.

Today is 90 days since the last Gomez Drop.

gomez drop 8-23 (resized).jpggomez drop 8-23 (resized).jpg

#4128 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Once it does history has shown us if Lyman is coding demand/price jump up when that big update hits. It happened with SM, AC/DC, MET, TWD, BM66 is already expensive enough

It did not happen with Batman The Dark Knight. Lyman on a project is a great sign, but not a guarantee.

#4200 6 years ago
Quoted from Trekkie1978:

How would the powdercoat hold up with the VUK ?

The biggest danger is the nuts chewing up the powdercoat when you tighten them. Use nylon washers to eliminate this problem.

#4203 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

As the case w powdercoat, period. The ball firing from the VUK into the ramp would not harm the powdercoat. Tough stuff, generally, especially in this application. Many threads on it...

I did a shadow with powdercoated ramps like 15 years ago and they still look perfect.

#4217 6 years ago
Quoted from JimB:

where is this at? Manual isn't clear:

False error. Just look under the PF with the coin door open and you'll see the upkicker coil for the ball trough. Manually raise that to put the ball in the shooter lane. Do that three more times and the "error" will clear.

#4252 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

I will go over there later today and ask.........

Exactly 0.00% of what your Stern sources told you so far about Gomez drops came to pass, but knock yourself out.

#4297 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

Only when it comes to the release date, and that I will admit was changed to something completely different from what I was told. I believe it was the correct thinking at the time, but somewhere along the line they decided there were not going to be any more incremental drops. Other than that, I think time will tell if what I was told and saw is correct. I was over there today, but everyone is pretty tight lipped and tense over there these days, so I decided not to push the issue. I did not learn anything new as far as BM66 is concerned.

They lied to you or just told you what you wanted to hear. You can get more truthful information from their facebook page. These are the Stern whoppers you bought into in the last 6 weeks:

47 days ago
"unless I was lied to on multiple levels in face-to-face discussions and visually deceived as well, he is still very much dedicated to BM66 code. "
(you were lied to, but this one is slippery because "dedicated" can mean different things)

45 days ago
"I am sensing good vibes this week......... "
(nothing happened)

28 days ago
"I know he is close on a drop"
(nothing happened)

26 days ago
"Lyman has not been reassigned"
(common knowledge by that point Lyman hadn't been working on Batman 66 full time for months)

Why defend the indefensible at this point? I mean we're weeks away from a YEAR since BM'66, their premium model anniversary pin, was first shown, and still running alpha code. That is a failure on EVERY level by Stern.

#4334 6 years ago
Quoted from Hasi:

No code drop so I decided to add on more mod.
I hope the code drops soon, because I'm running out of mods.

I like that scoop light quite a bit!

#4335 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Even in Pacific time.

Never a legit Gomez drop on Friday (there's one with a Thursday readme and a Friday early release, though), so that was probably never in the cards. Don't make me post the graph again that proves it!

#4358 6 years ago
Quoted from Bond_Gadget_007:

I saw a recent YouTube video with BM66 used in a tournament. If this game is already tournament ready, why is everone expecting more code? And claiming because 'Gomez promised us' doesn't count!

Joke entry in the tournament? BM'66 is not in any way, shape, or form tournament ready.

-2
#4390 6 years ago
Quoted from chet218:

Just curious, when was that response written?

That Gomez BS was about a month and a half ago. So much for "very close to next releases" I guess. But I guess "very close" could be relative, in which case we're screwed.

-1
#4401 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

If Lyman is on it full time. I'd like confirmation of this.

Lyman is not on Batman '66 code exclusively. Hasn't been for months.

#4406 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

How do you know this? I heard rumblings, but nothing for sure.

A> Gomez said he was and he can't tell the truth about Batman '66 to save his life.
B> The (lack of) output. 105 days is PLENTY of time to make a pretty giant update if you're working full-time, uninterrupted on a project.
C> It's pretty widely known he's been working on other projects. What percentage? I dunno, but all it means is Batman'66 is not being worked on full time by him.

#4409 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

One of you guys needs to change your avatar.

I get those confused frequently, too, even though it's obvious they're different if I spend a second longer looking at them.

#4434 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Not to mention that BOM is only a fraction of the true, weighted cost of any of these machines. Suggesting a 10k net profit on a BM66SLE is just insane.......
All about margins...Sterns overhead (including the people that actually hand assemble these things) is quite substantial, I would believe.
I think if there was a 20% NET profit per any machine sold, they would be sitting on gold bricks...personally, I doubt it's that much.
Hence the need to keep the gears grinding.......

Okay, if Batman '66 premium is $8k retail, then give $700 to the distributor, that's $7300. Giving Stern 20% GROSS profit puts their cost at $5840. Assuming Batman'66 topper and the few upgrades over the premium are worth $500 COST (again very generous estimate to Stern side), that's about $9k profit in each of those SLEs, which is over $700k profit. The only thing this doesn't really account for is if the KaPow cut is a percentage or a flat rate. Overhead, etc are already baked in from the LEs and Premiums that were on the line. Bottom line, there was a LOT of profit in those SLEs, and Stern still screwed up handling it so the well is poisoned for any future ones.

#4436 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Stern is probably doing very, very well right now compared to 10 years ago, but if they're making such huge profits and their BOMs are so low, I wonder why everyone else has found it so difficult to legitimately compete against them.

Starting the engine from scratch is hard. Once it's running, expanding or making changes is easier. That initial bump is the moat that keeps most competitors at bay. It's no coincidence that JJP and AP both have billionaires behind them.

#4451 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Did it cover his payroll for the month or clear his debt service? Highly doubt it...

It didn't have to, all that was taken care of with the base level machines sold that month. The SLEs were just almost 10k of "free" money each.

And no one would be complaining at all if they delivered a complete machine (1.00) where all the features worked. We're almost a YEAR later and it's still an alpha release. That's never happened to my knowledge. A HUGE failure for the most expensive machine ever, and it ruins their chances to return to the well.

You'd not be supporting Jager long if every full price, expensive bottle came a little over half full.

#4562 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Whats the rush with everyone wanting code? JUST KIDDING!!! I got my machine Yesterday even after following this thread! I feel for you early adopters truly. Especially if you have a smaller selection of games. Odd question since it appears we have Lots of time to analyze this game.... On the far left side of the playfield toward the top just past the entrance to the ramp is a Long playfield plastic strip that just kind of floats there without a fastener? Is that correct or am I missing a piece of tape or something? Not an issue just seemed like a Long plastic barely fastened. Thanks, still new to me.

There's a kit to make that not flop. It also has a stainless piece you install to divert airballs that get on top of the plastic near the "G" in "Gadget" off the plastic. Ask your distributor for it.

#4564 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

OK sorry clearly my description was not accurate enough. I already have the ramp upgrade (not installed yet since I have yet to have a single ball issue one day! lol) I am talking about the Long plastic that runs up the Side wood rail of the machine Left side almost touching the cabinet.

Are you talking about the batgirl plastic that starts over the gadget targets and then ends by the start of the left orbit? If so, the plastic tapers and is too thin for fasteners at the end. It's not going anywhere unless a piece breaks off.

#4580 6 years ago
Quoted from Macca101010:

Just received this response on Facebook on any word on new code:
Marketing team checked in with Production this week and confirmed that the team is working at a top priority on updates for this machine. A new update is planned for release as soon as possible. ❤️

So basically a more wordy version of the usual "Stay tuned!"

#4587 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

I don't play my Batman 66 anymore. I enjoyed my time with the last code update, but I don't want to get sick of the machine before it's fully realized.
Why does Thursday mark the end of the week for the code to drop?

Because they've never done am official drop on Friday. They had ONE Batman'66 Gomez Drop that was done on Thursday, according to the readme, but actually hit Friday morning, but only one (and it was dated Thursday).
So Friday and Monday are generally Stern no drop zones.

#4612 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Thanks for the info and the pics! I decided to get off my butt and install mine this morning. Here's how I installed it and my mini-review of it.

You didn't use the dome utility light for the top?

#4697 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

Another Thursday bites the dust.....

I have a feeling if they are preparing one or sitting on one, they will drop it right before Expo, like on the 4th, 5th or the 10th.

#4707 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

I am not saying I agree or disagree with any approach....I am just saying that is how things usually work. And because of that trend (Vireland surely has a graph somewhere that will show it....lol (Just busting your chops)) Stern will not loose any sleep about the BM66 code. It will either be done and ready, or it will not....but expo will have very little to do with the actual timing.

Don't feed the bear.

Gomez_Drop_9-22-17 (resized).jpgGomez_Drop_9-22-17 (resized).jpg

#4760 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

Every so often, I sit down at my computer and refresh the Stern game code website. I think I'm going to literally fall out of my chair when the Batman update drops.
It's honestly going to feel like I ordered a new pinball machine and got the message that it's going to be delivered on that day.

Download check4change for firefox. Open a firefox window. Load the Stern code page. Highlight the date of the most-recent code and set check4change to every 5 minutes. Minimize the window. It will tell you when something is added automatically.

13
#4806 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

Queue the graph!!!!!! lol

You rang?

Gomez_Drop_9-28-17 (resized).jpgGomez_Drop_9-28-17 (resized).jpg

Good news is there's a drop coming for Batman'66, and some other pins are getting code updates pretty soon as well, likely within the next week. So this ridiculous Batman '66 slog is maybe (?) coming to an end. I hope so. I have no idea what the Stern management internal situation is, but Gomez's name is mud where production promises are concerned after this. You can't believe a word he says anymore.

#4809 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

The best part (in terms of the comedy) with this chart is that, going as high as 120-140 days is completely unnecessary until this last update. I really hope you don't have to extend that graph past the 140-days mark.

Pretty sure I won't have to since a Gomez Drop is FINALLY imminent, likely within the next week, and some other pin code updates, too. I hope we NEVER again see a premium level game with alpha code for almost a year - there's just no excuse for it.

#4813 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

I heard Star Wars and BM66. No Aerosmith update is coming.

There's more than that, but timing is the Q.

#4835 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Sorry I may just be to lazy to read all 97 pages again but what was the fix for the stuck (sticking) joker target switch? Pulling the glass to pop it out every 10 plays seems counterproductive. Any advice would be appreciated I'm certain I seen this asked before just couldn't find it. Thanks.

The two switches are at an angle and the edge catches the post at the back. If you put some foam back there it will keep the target from getting hung up on the post.

#4900 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

You can see the new star wars video modes here via a link in this thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-star-wars-video-mode-navigate-the-asteroid-field
Apparently they got some early beta code to evaluate it.
So who here has an early release of the new Batman66 code and can tell us whats in it?
If there was new minor villain stuff you would think they would have mentioned it in their teaser post. I really hope this isnt just an incremental update with just one new feature added.

Exactly. For almost 5 months with Lyman "full time" on it like Gomez was fond of saying, it should be a huge update putting it at or over 1.00 with way more than just cliffhangers coded.

#4901 6 years ago
Quoted from TimeWellSpent:

Vireland are you saying to put foam on the center post or on the back of the -54 target? And where do I get the foam you are suggesting? I sent a message to Stern for help and they are asking if I can bend the piece it is getting stuck on. Not sure I want to try bending something I could end up doing more damage. I see some got new L brackets, but Stern didn't offer this up.

I used thin black weatherstripping foam, which is pretty dense, and cut to fit behind the targets so they didn't compress so much and get stuck on that metal post at their edges. Bending the post away from the targets may work, too, but I didn't try that.

#4906 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

My understanding is Lyman quickly made it clear to George that fortnightly updates just wasn't realistic and his desire to get a v1.00 release that is top 5 Stern worthy is the reason for the year long wait - he is personally and financially invested in this game.
Although the fact only major villain cliffhangers are mentioned is a little worrying, but trying to look at it positively, that might just be highlighting a particular feature Lyman is personally proud of? If the cliffhangers work like the shows cliffhangers and it makes you feel like your playing through episodes of the show to track down the villain, escape their trap and finally capture them then that is theme integration at best!

It does sound like a cool feature, I'm just hoping that they don't think that will atone for almost 5 months of nothing on a game that isn't even to beta-level code.

#4918 6 years ago
Quoted from Manimal:

I think we need a reverse graph that counts down to Expo.......lol But I'm still not convinced it is going to happen in the next week....I think they would have said something to that effect.

Time vs content would be an interesting graph. Don't give me any ideas.

#4922 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

What's a good score on this thing?
1.1b?
rd

About double that. The last update 4+ months ago increased scoring overall, IMO.

#4924 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Cool. I did everything in that game, Villain Escape, bat turns, 3 multiballs, multipliers, 100m + bonuses ..
And there'll be more to do in the new update. Noice!!
rd

Abusing Commissioner Gordon before answering the phone can net 50 million+ each time just for answering the phone, and the multipliers from the rollovers and mystery awards are valuable.

#4932 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

How does one do that?
rd

When the phone starts ringing, ignore it and keep hitting the thin standup target next to the scoop on the right (the one where you send the villains to jail when complete). Every time you hit it the jackpot for the phone increases. Answer the phone to collect. With just a little practice 50m per phone answer is not unusual.

#4935 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Goodness!! It keeps going up ....
rd

Once you master making that shot to pump the phone score, it becomes addictive.

#4953 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

Shouldn't we get one more look at that graph before we proclaim anybody a hero?

I feel like it will make one more appearance, and hopefully only one more.

#4988 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Hmmm maybe a chart comparing the two could be used to create a trendline to extrapolate when 1.0 will be reached for each code base. Who could create such a chart?

Star Wars doesn't have enough data points to exact a meaningful comparison and projection.

#4993 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

Perhaps releasing Batman at .65 was their way of letting us no it was no where near complete. And might be a while before it would be.

It shipped with 0.57. 0.65 came almost a month later.

#4997 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

I just checked and WOF is at version 5.0. I guess that one must be finished.

Compared to Batman'66? WoF is positively baroque.

-1
#5003 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Hoping for you and us but unless I missed that post/writing from Stern the only ones saying it Will be v1.0 and dropping next week is this forum. lol So many hopes and speculations over the past many months has proven disheartening. I do Believe this Will be a great finished product but not until the OEM actually makes these statements and claims. Managing Expectations so to speak.

If each gomez drop was moving the code forward .02 version, there's been enough weeks since the last drop for 10 gomez drops, which would be .20 difference. We're at 0.75 now. 0.75 + 0.20 = 0.95 so expecting 1.00 next isn't too far to reach. I can make a graph if you want to see it visually...

#5013 6 years ago

Neither of those is helping Stern much lately.

#5020 6 years ago
Quoted from luvthatapex2:

And then Waison turned it around and made it super fun game. If you haven't played it since the last update, you haven't played xmen.

Pretty much have to do the Wolverine Newton ball mod to really make it great, though.

#5026 6 years ago
Quoted from pauloz:

I prefer the way it was made. Not a fan of the mod at all.

What don't you like a bout the Newton ball mod? Plays WAY better with it. You're literally the first person I've heard from that likes the saggy, break-prone Wolverine bump switch setup.

Quoted from Cheese_WizardPQ:

We should establish clearly and for the last time what we expect in the imminent next drop. Like an easy check list to be sure that nobody will cry again if everything (or 95%) is in the drop.
I dream of a real BM66 Club without the whining.
Maybe in 5-6 points?
Thsnks

We expect more than they are likely to deliver, but less than they should have delivered at launch. The End.

#5037 6 years ago
Quoted from pauloz:

I like the Wolverine toy that comes with the game and have not seen a replacement toy that I like better and the mod looks so sloppy on most I have seen. Also can’t se why anyone bothered to do it. It makes an easy shot harder but another hard shot easier. I never had a problem with the beast shot anyway, sure it a tight shot but nowhere near impossible. Never had the problem some had with their original Wolverine either. I have played a game with the mod on and I just prefer the way it came.

You can use the newton ball mod with the existing Wolverine figure. I don't like the tiny wolverines some have, either.

#5065 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Doubtful it's coming today guys.
Other than "this week" it's like trying to get blood out of a stone

It's about time for this

never-again-shirt-small (resized).jpgnever-again-shirt-small (resized).jpg

#5117 6 years ago

I'll add a data point. Batman'66 SLE has pulled ahead of Dialed In earnings on route over the past couple weeks. I guess most people get 3-5 minute games, so it doesn't matter there's little content and Dialed In's a better game.

#5146 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

So here's a good one. After taking my coin door/ shooter rod assembly back to the powder guys this afternoon (just couldn't look at that much sparkle, it will be recoated correctly by the weekend):
I was in kind of a pissy mood, and decided to call Mike @ Automated and bitch about the code.
He stated "what are you talking about, it's been out for 2 days now"!!!!
I said "WTF, not on the site it's not". He reiterated it had been released,acted like he was stating fact, and had April take my e-mail so they could send it to me!!!
This only happened about an hour ago...no e-mail yet, but tells me the new code is somewhere.........geesh

What did he say the version was?

#5151 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

I hope someone at Expo hits Stern hard for playing games with game owners' BM66 code. I suspect the code has been ready for weeks, but purposefully held back and teased.

Maybe they just wanted a nice, round 140 days (which is tomorrow) since the last Gomez Drop.

#5349 6 years ago
Quoted from frolic:

George is speaking about B66 now. He says contrary to rumors Lyman has worked on nothing else but B66, but working out ideas takes time and if they're not happy they'll drop it and try another idea.

Wow, he can't help himself from lying.

Quoted from dzoomer:

So could this have been a 31st anniversary pin and it would still be pre 1.0 code? Crazy and embarrassing for Stern if that's the case.

You have to care to be embarrassed. Stern does not care, or this would already be done. It's been a YEAR and we're still on alpha code.

#5350 6 years ago
Quoted from marksf123:

This does worry me - I feel they can only sink so much time into the game before they have to move on. I think it will come down to how much code they can reuse for other games.

They already have moved on. Back in about Feb/Mar, despite what Gomez says. You don't move .10 in 140 days if you're on it full time. I feel bad for Lyman, I really do. He's in a no-win situation Gomez made.

#5352 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

Wow - from version .75 to .8-something in, what? 150 days? Where's the graph showing how long it'll take to get to 1.0 given 150 days for a 0.05 update?

Giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying it will be 0.85 (although I can't believe the PRODUCER doesn't know off the top of his head what the version is - he probably doesn't want to start a riot by saying it), that would mean at the current rate Batman '66 will be at 1.00 on literally April Fools 2018. Appropriate.

#5432 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

I'm hoping the release that they said is coming soon is at least 0.80. Someone who saw one of the expo games boot up earlier today said the version was 76.1. Later this afternoon someone did a code update on the game and I saw the version after that was 76.2.

In the Stern panel (at about 33:40), Gomez said "We will do a release probably this coming week, and that new build is on the floor [at Expo]. It should be on every game except the tournament games...the release is probably going to be labeled .8..."

So it's taken 141 days to get from 0.75 to 0.76.2 (what's ACTUALLY on the machines on the floor), but we'll get from 0.76.2 to 0.80 in less than 7 days when it's on Stern's site. Interesting. It would be nice to have 0.76.2 to compare to what they release as 0.80. I bet they're the same or almost the same.

It was hilarious in the panel at 39:30 when Gary was freestyling and saying "What more universal title than Star Wars, it is the title of all titles...put a little Williams music on/in it...y'know could have an empty box...(catches the irony, little flustered sound)...but it's NOT! Steve did a lot of game with it....(mumbles and moves on).

#5475 6 years ago
Quoted from Rasavage:

These aren't bad guys, but I feel like I've heard something about code in two weeks time before from them and that didn't work out so well.

The crazy part is literally JUST BEFORE this expo party, Gomez said on Stern's PANEL, to everyone there, it was coming NEXT week. Next week, two weeks, which is it? Totally making it up as he goes.

#5560 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

What's wrong with KISS?
Don't say "the cities don't do anything .." ... they are doing what they were designed to do (change the callouts) That's all they were supposed to do.
Don't believe the hype. KISS is a solid game and is pretty much done.
rd

It's more solid and full-featured than Aerosmith, code-wise. So if people want to complain about KISS, Aerosmith should be ahead of it.

#5565 6 years ago
Quoted from rotordave:

Dunno about that. Both games are very similar. So similar, I sold the KISS and bought Aerosmith. I liked KISS, but the LCD puts AS over the top. Plus the toy box is f**king cool. rd

The toybox is awesome and the second-best thing about AS. But KISS has more multiball modes and more balanced scoring.

#5569 6 years ago
Quoted from chet218:

Are we expecting a code update this week?

Depends on which Gomez you believe. On expo stage Gomez said this week (one week after expo). Off expo stage Gomez said next week (two weeks after expo). Your choice.

#5591 6 years ago
Quoted from Rolls-Royce:

Off course that a 1.20.0 is better, but this 0.76.1 or .2 is better than nothing or an abandoned game.....

0.01.1 progress in over 5 months? Big picture, that's pretty much as close to nothing as you can get without actually being nothing. Shocking that they can put that BS out there about audits and balancing and hope people buy it.

#5617 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

I thought the SLEs had 50. Each one is numbered by year, from 1966 to 2016. I just looked at my certificate that came with the game and it also states there are 50.
Did they make more? I'm honestly just curious.

30 for years of Stern. 50 for years of Batman. 80 total. Supposedly about 30 went overseas, leaving about 50 in North America.

Quoted from luvthatapex2:

I'm curious what kind of certificate SLE #51-80 got?

50 was added after the 30. So it's 31-80.

#5662 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

I was just thinking. How the Hell is JJP's POTC so far along in code and BM66 is STILL no where near 1.00 in a year's time for both? I love Lyman and all but at this pace what Spike 2 game will ever have finished code? If it takes this long to code a damn Spike 2 game Stern has a HUGE problem.

JPotC is supposedly only 20% coded and already far beyond Batman'66 0.75.

#5666 6 years ago
Quoted from o-din:

Isn't Aerosmith Spike 2 as well? They seem to have got that one near finished didn't they?
I'll be the first to say if you have writer's block then go ahead and take break, but a year is a long time to have your main guy accomplish so very little, with still miles to go.

A large part of that was already laid out when they used KISS as the base, plus they had more time with the Batman/Aerosmith release date switch.

#5695 6 years ago
Quoted from TheFamilyArcade:

I hope Lyman kills it, and he probably will. But nothing lasts, and there’s gonna come a day when Lyman under delivers. That’s just life.

He already did...on Batman TDK. So, hopefully this is the redemption.

#5698 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

The final BDK update Lyman did was pretty good, no way near as bad as people make out, the code suffered due to the lacklustre layout specifically the single ramp leading to the tedious upper playfield and flow stopper teeter totter ramp, I actually enjoy the drop target and lock under the joker can, the fact the drop didn't make it onto BM66 in some way was a shame.

It made it *better* that it was, but still nowhere near what people expect from a Lyman creation. That's fine with me, though. He can't be PERFECT, and honestly calling the misses is just as important as fawning over the masterpieces.

#5707 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Well this Club is awful quiet?? How about a "Atomic Pile" Mod Couple style to wake things up!

Looks awesome. Price and delivery timeframe are all we're waiting for...

#5737 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Was just about to make a suggestion about that- looks too baby blue. the photo above its more of a green grey.
I could probably do without the bat sticker on the top of the light, but assuming I could just peel that off.

I agree. Definitely more green than blue.

#5750 6 years ago

So the batmobile flew off the turntable today. Is the Stern fix to send you a new batmobile riveted to the platform? Has anyone done it?

#5753 6 years ago
Quoted from wcbu64:

Yes, that's the fix. That happened after only a few games for me, but Stern replaced it under warranty. Still never found one of the screws though.

Haha! That's funny. Found both washers and only one screw, too. Looked in all the usual places screws like to hide and...nothing.

So did they send you a new platform with a batmobile already riveted to it?

#5764 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

I'll take a disc without a Batmobile will screw with locktight, haven't had any need to use my riveted replacement since using new screws and locktight.
Maybe offer both versions?

Locktite did not work for me. I tried using it after the first fly-off, and hours later it was off again.

#5767 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Did you use the original screws Vire? I found they where too short and the thread was only just getting into the bottom of the car.

Nope. Went with slightly longer ones (since I couldn't find one of the originals in the machine anyway).

#5789 6 years ago
Quoted from chet218:

Anyone think an update is coming this week?
It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since Stern said "very soon" on Star Wars and batman updates. Star Wars has received 2.

Expo Gomez said two different things, one onstage (now shown to be false since last week has passed), and one off-stage, which would put the pitiful 0.01.2 improvement release at this week. Time will tell if that's a tall tale, too.

#5793 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

If something doesn't drop this week I hope Gomez addresses it, although at this point he's almost become a compulsive liar when it comes to BM66 and it's code.

Almost?

12
#5810 6 years ago

For the record, this is the only time I've made a pinball-related graph. But the lies, mis-directions, and delays were so egregious on this one, I felt a graph told the story best. Today is 152 days since the last Batman'66 alpha code (we're not even to BETA yet, one year on) update, and if what was said at Expo is right, they spent almost FIVE MONTHS moving the software forward 0.01.2, which is ridiculous.
Gomez_Drop_10-24-17 (resized).jpgGomez_Drop_10-24-17 (resized).jpg

#5820 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Super quiet here. I guess everyone is holding their breath hoping for a code drop this week.
Lots of people complaining about length of code development time and insisting Lyman is being put on other projects. So from a historical perspective, I wanted to see what the time frame was from the initial code release to last release for the most recent Lyman coded Stern games.
I looked at: Batman Dark Knight, Tron, ACDC, Metallica, and Walking Dead. Here's what I learned looking at the readme files from his previous games.
BDK: 647 days
Tron: 630 days
ACDC: 854 days
Metallica: 1146 days
Walking Dead: 435 days
Batman66: 314 and counting
Average duration is 742 days or about 2 years.
From a code quality perspective Lyman games are prety.much universally acclaimed.but he is not know for quick development time as shown by the numbers above.
His quickest game was Walking Dead at about 1 year and 2.5 months. Metallic was longest at about 3 years.Plus keep in mind that some of those games had feagure complete code becore the last release.
Some have been complaining about length of time since the last BM66 code drop (153 days so far). If we look at other games it can be even longer.
Longest stretch between code drops:
BDK: 402 days
Tron: 458 days
ACDC: 384 days
Met: 423 days
Walking Dead: 178
Batman: 153 days so far
Metallica was the worst as it had several long stretches between releases:
Vers 1.22 to 1.50 - 205 days
Vers 1.63 to 1.64 - 233 days
Vers 1.64 to 1.70 - 423 days
So based on this data, the length of time on the Batman66 code isn't out of line with development time on Lyman's previous games Plus factor in that the added video assests for a Spike2 game will make it a little more complicated than the older DMD games.
Lets hope Batman66 ends up being on the shorter end of the spectrum like Walking Dead.

That doesn't mean anything. You need to measure length of time from release until there was a basic 1.00 or greater "mostly complete version". I haven't done it, but if it was more than 3-4 months to at least 1.00, I'd be surprised. We're just shy of a YEAR and nowhere CLOSE to 1.00, still on alpha code. There is no precedent in modern pin history I'm aware of.

#5824 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

I think it gives more perspective on how long it takes Lyman to create a great game. I mentioned that some of the games had "feature complete" code prior to their final release. I'm not familiar enough with all his games to know which release for each game was just a polish release vs a feature complete release.
I agree that Stern released Batman sooner than it should have but that doesnt affect the time it takes to develop the code.
Some interesting data would be how long does Lyman work on code before the inital release comes out. I suspect that for Batman66 he was given a lot less time prior to first release than in his previous games.

At this point, I don't need a GREAT game, I'll take a just a mostly-complete GAME, then it can be perfected later. I only quickly went back almost 7 years, but here's the graph that says it all. Launch code version is listed at the bottom, and the graph is length of time for a Stern pin to have AT LEAST 1.00 code. 18 games represented in this timeframe and only TWO did not ship with 1.00 code. And that's a little misleading because one of those two (Star Wars) was and is in WAY better shape than Batman'66, even now. 314 days for Batman and we're still on Alpha code 0.75. We're deep into unprecedented territory. It's well past time to entertain any more excuses.

days-to-version-1-10-24 (resized).jpgdays-to-version-1-10-24 (resized).jpg

#5827 6 years ago
Quoted from zucot:

So, how bout that atomic pile?

Even I'm not to the point of calling BM'66 names yet.

#5830 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Glad you asked! Actually, with the complexity of this assembly I wanted to make Certain it was Perfect or as close as I could make it in every way including appearance, function, installation, and even service! This week I redesigned the LED illumination setup since (as shown) the Stern setup was fixed meaning you could not remove, replace, or change the LED color. I redesigned this with a removable LED cap so the owner can replace if ever a problem, change the color to something more personal or exotic (except Purple!!), and also changed the assembly to a Plug in mod so not only is it plug and play, but you also don't have to dig into the Crazy lazy suzan of mechs and boards should you wish to service or remove the mod! (Now setup with Quad LED!) Makes installation WAY easier!! I found what I believe to be the Perfect color of Slate grey to replace the prototype baby blue I displayed in the first images. Looks Spot on to the original and No shiny Barbie Doll looking plastic texture! I think everyone will like the attention to detail. Along with professional laser printing the Atomic Core cylinder for better clarity. I should have the FINAL result and images displayed Tonight along with pricing and availability. We appreciate all the interest and Very hopeful everyone likes the end result!!!
The Mod Couple

Looking really good!

#5834 6 years ago
Quoted from Zdoor:

I’m hoping the new code includes a graph in the video...

I'd be down for a properly labeled bat-graph. Maybe keeping track of villain defeats.

Quoted from cooked71:

Im just proud to be a member of a club that uses so many graphs.

I think it speaks to the level of boredom since there's no code to talk about. But thank god for Excel 2010. The newer Office 2013, 2016, and Office 365 versions all suck. They'll have to pry Office 2010 from my cold, dead hands.

#5843 6 years ago
Quoted from cooked71:

Are we talking Office 2010 code or B66 code? Dishwasher code? I'm confused.

Without Office 2010 there would be no Batman'66 graphs of shame and humiliation.

#5845 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

As promised.....The "Batman 66 Atomic Pile Custom" is officially DONE! As previously mentioned, we took a few days to review the prototype from top to bottom, consider feedback, adjust specs, fitment, lighting, color appearance, end user installation, and we feel confident the time was well spent! The biggest change was the hunt for the Exact slate blue accent color to make the mod(el) a perfect match. I think we found it and it looks WAY better then the original test part! Many improvements especially in the wiring and installation documents which I noted earlier. I present now the Finished Atomic Pile!!!! We are collecting orders now in the order received from this point for the first batch of 12 units which will ship Monday AM! This kit is 100% plug and play to the Stern connection. Also, the original Stern Pile is Not effected or harmed so it can be replaced should you decide to reverse (WHY) your decision or sell the game. There really is a Lot of components, art, fabricating, hardware, & time that goes into each of these hand crafted Atomic mods so please understand we did what we could with the price. Complete kits are $163 + $7.25 shipping US. We Sincerely appreciate Everyones input and support!! We love this hobby and we are Batty for the Batman 66!! PM for interest and availability and Thank You!
The Mod Couple

A MILLION times better than the half-assed effort on the machine now. Where do I pay, and how long before I get it?!

#5885 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

I probably check it 30 times....a day. I work from home so I always have that window open and I'm constantly hitting refresh. Work for 30 minutes. Refresh. Go to the bathroom. Refresh. Make phone call. Refresh. Eat lunch. Refresh like 10 times. Etc.

You need check4change. Automates that.

#5898 6 years ago
Quoted from chet218:

Is there a chance they would release it on a Friday?

Unlikely, but never say never.

#5902 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

We must look like a bunch of hapless buffoons to Stern. They've got our pre-order BM66 money and we're strutting around complaining like Peacocks making honking noises every Thursday like we have some clout in the matter. Stern couldn't give a rat's ass about us and that's crystal clear right now, even us big spender $10K plus regular LE buyer folks. Four hundred LE-buying idiots will jump on GotG sight unseen in a few weeks and we'll be forgotten. I feel like a sack of sh@t being a part of this mess, but what can we do? Keep our wallets in our pockets when GotG is announced and that's the only game we got.

I'm done with new Stern until this is worked out, which looks like it may be a long time. My original estimate based on the progress so far was April 1, 2018 (really, great coincidence), but maybe it will be even later than that.

Houdini and JJP#4 are plenty for the next 6 months. In my book JJP has earned the trust Stern seems to not care about.

#6001 6 years ago
Quoted from marksf123:

I always forget - do I just take the whole file I downloaded from the Stern site and load it on the machine or do I have to unzip it or pull out the files from the folder?

"Installation notice: This code release is in zip format. The code download will need to be unzipped before installing on a USB stick."

Update instructions:
Download the zip file
Unzip the file, this will create a folder that contains two files
Open folder, copy only the two files to the root level of a USB stick. Do not copy the folder.
Power game off
Insert USB stick
Turn on game
After game boots up it will give the option for software update
Volume buttons change options for full or quick update. Enter selects the option and starts the update.
Once update is completed game will prompt user to power game off and remove USB stick.

#6009 6 years ago
Quoted from taz:

I just can't yet tell if it's a hot mess or if there's a method to the madness of the modes. I'm leaning towards hot mess at this point, given that it's hard for me to figure out what to do in so many places.

Yeah, hot mess, for sure.

There's no way this was around and tested for the last 5 months. A lot of it seems very, VERY thrown-together. Case in point, the episode continue screen breaks the "style guide" for the display. It should have the comic-book style notes for the choices, but it's just text overlaid on the screen in hard-to-read fashion. Also a TON of the sound clips need to be normalized as the volumes are all over the place. That one clip that plays a lot now when it shows batman climbing vertically should have been faded in and out at the beginning and end as it sounds weird and abrupt as it is now (this needs to be done on a LOT of the new clips, in fact). I also had a situation where the super skill shot didn't light the yellow arrows a couple times - that's new. Seems like a lot of bugs were introduced with this version, but I haven't played enough to know if it's bugs or poor understanding of rules/modes that were added.

I'm happy that we got SOMETHING, but it's pretty depressing that this isn't anywhere near as polished an update as it should have been for 5 months of full-time work. We'll see if Thanksgiving and Christmas updates happen, and what year. Did Gomez say that, or someone else? I didn't read it...

#6014 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

I think we are now past beta code

A number of inserts not implemented into play, no minor villains functioning, lots of new bugs, we're definitely still in an alpha state. A BETTER alpha state, but alpha.

#6017 6 years ago
Quoted from MK6PIN:

Can’t figure out what to do when it says “ shoot to light the bat beacon”? I’ve tried hitting the orange arrow, scoop, etc. with no apparent result. Maybe a placeholder of sorts? Any one else? Yeah, I’m in the “ hot mess” camp, but lots, lots more actually in the game now, so polishing should bring it together.....

Commissioner Gordon standup would make sense, but I haven't tried it.

#6032 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Question for LE or SLE owners. On the old code the bat logo in the center of the topper would flash during attract mode then in gameplay it would be off. With the new code mine stays on during gameplay. I ask because I was using that lamp to signal my beacon mod to turn on so now its on all the time.

Yeah, the bat logo stays on solid now, as much as I could tell looking up when I had the chances.

Quoted from MK6PIN:

Great guess vireland....haven’t tried that yet....that would be cool if it did. I run into it most games...shall attempt now...

I tried it and don't think it did anything. It might be a hurryup. Seems to finish if you hit the left orbit the few times I tried it.

#6033 6 years ago
Quoted from docquest:

Does your red rotating beacon light stay on as well during gameplay?

I couldn't pay close attention, but it was definitely OFF quite a bit. Came to life during bat turn, though. That was nice to finally see.

#6158 6 years ago
Quoted from jsa:

Thanks for the tips! What's the most efficient way to get Stern's repair kits? Nothing like that came with the game (I presume because it had an early manufacture date). Also... Tell me more about mylaring the shooter lane. Where precisely do I do that (and why?)

Ask your distributor or call 1-800-KICKERS and ask for the wireform kit and the riveted batmobile.

You can just buy bulk mylar and just cut it to fit in the shooter lane to protect it somewhat, but I'd recommend getting a cliffy for the shooter lane an the rollovers in the return lanes, at least. One cliffy protector for the scoop by the commissioner Gordon standup, too.

#6193 6 years ago
Quoted from legionsoup:

I know we ask a lot of the graph people, but would it be possible to have a graph that shows how far apart the code drops are compared to how often the Mod Couple come up with a new mod?

Probably best to give the graphs a rest for a little bit. We have an update. Granted, it's a hot mess update, but it added a lot that can be tuned now. Better than nothing.

#6231 6 years ago
Quoted from KirboTurbo:

My Right Joker target kept getting stuck also. I emailed Stern this week about a replacement bracket. They told me that there was no replacement bracket. Their suggestion was to wedge a screwdriver in there and move the target to the right, which I did. Played the game a little last night and the target did not get stuck at all.

It will move again over time and stick again. More/denser foam to keep the target pushed out is the longer term solution.

#6261 6 years ago
Quoted from pinlawyer:

I like the new code, but the turntable moves jerkily and slowly now.

You can adjust turntable speed, but it shouldn't be jerky. Sounds like you have an intermittent connection.

#6265 6 years ago
Quoted from thundergod76:

The smaller the number the faster it goes right?

Yes

#6294 6 years ago

Still has problems not lighting the yellow arrows at ball launch for the super skill shot sometimes.

#6297 6 years ago
Quoted from Rapzilch:

I’m thinking of letting my SLE go
Are the updates enough to make me want to keep it?

Certainly are steps in the right direction, but way too early to tell what the long-term prognosis is. Load 0.81 up and see for yourself. It only takes about 10-15 minutes, and it's WAY better than whatever you have on it now.

11
#6314 6 years ago
Quoted from J85M:

Don’t assume anything is the lesson I have learnt over the years, sometimes the most simple of things can be over looked when the focus is on incorporating more complex ideas.
I can tell you this thread is being read and looked at which is why I think it’s in all of our best interests to upvote ideas we like as a group of owners as much as possible to make them standout as something we like and would want.

Yeah, progressively more frantic quacks as you complete each of the purple points on the playfield would be pretty cool. Just a single quack the first time, then more then a frenzy of quacks on the last one.

#6319 6 years ago
Quoted from NeilMcRae:

I think the update is superb. The polish is really starting to show and the sound was so much better.
Just need to get better at hitting the commissioner gordon target, struggle with it!
Neil.

Yes, the sound balance is MUCH better in 0.81.

#6387 6 years ago
Quoted from Rolls-Royce:

Also... that last time release frame will be a problem for the next Vireland’s graph

Hopefully we can leave that retired and BM'66 really does get feature complete by the end of the year.

#6402 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

Had my game reset. Was in Joker mode level 3 and hit the mystery scoop. Game just powered off and restarted.
Curious if anyone else has had this

It's probably the issue with all spike games where if the power drops momentarily low, the node board freaks and the machine resets. Supposedly turning the pot in the power supply to give just a *little* more power fixes this. These resets happen most often with Ghostbusters for me, but haven't gotten around to trying it yet. Not impressed with the Spike system...at all.

#6409 6 years ago
Quoted from hank527:

How do you adjust the power? Where is the place to turn it up a hair?

I haven't done it so I can't tell you, but there's supposed to be a potentiometer inside it that will up the output. 2-3% or so should be plenty to stop the low drops since most systems are built to 10% tolerance. Basically you'll just need a multimeter to read the output as you adjust. When I get around to it, I'll take pics.

#6441 6 years ago
Quoted from PBMAN:

What I would really like to find is another set of those SLE Decals that just got sold.

Someone was selling SLE cabinet decals?

#6455 6 years ago
Quoted from Yelobird:

Last he PM'd me the SLE set was still available. Hold your shorts though as this is not your average cost sticker set. Not saying in Any way that he wasn't fair just a little outside my comfort zone and the Thought of scraping down my New LE to properly install these made me shiver. PM him if your wanting the ultimate Mod.

Already have an SLE. Just wondering how he got SLE decals to sell when he only had an LE and Stern wouldn't sell us a spare "safety" set when we actually have an SLE.

Promoted items from the Pinside Marketplace
19,000 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Mead, WA
From: $ 18.00
$ 10.00
Cabinet - Other
NO GOUGE PINBALL™
Other
$ 27.50
Playfield - Toys/Add-ons
The MOD Couple
Toys/Add-ons
From: $ 35.00
Cabinet - Armor And Blades
arcade-cabinets.com
Armor and blades
$ 60.00
Tools
Performance Pinball
Tools
From: $ 64.95
Cabinet - Sound/Speakers
PinSound
Sound/Speakers
11,495
Machine - For Sale
Linn Creek, MO
$ 130.00
Cabinet - Toppers
Docquest Pinball Mods
Toppers
From: $ 35.00
Flipper Parts
Precision Pinball prod.
Flipper parts
$ 8.00
Cabinet - Other
NO GOUGE PINBALL™
Other
From: $ 5.00
Playfield - Protection
UpKick Pinball
Protection
From: $ 10.00
$ 69.99
Cabinet - Decals
Inscribed Solutions
Decals
$ 299.95
Lighting - Led
Pin Stadium Pinball Mods
Led
From: $ 30.00
Cabinet - Other
Rocket City Pinball
Other
$ 99.99
Lighting - Other
Lighted Pinball Mods
Other
$ 54.99
Cabinet - Shooter Rods
Lighted Pinball Mods
Shooter rods
$ 25.95
Cabinet - Shooter Rods
The MOD Couple
Shooter rods
$ 6.00
Cabinet - Other
Pin Monk
Other
11,200 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Houston, TX
$ 427.00
Cabinet - Sound/Speakers
PinWoofer
Sound/Speakers
From: $ 99.99
Cabinet - Other
Lighted Pinball Mods
Other
$ 5.00
Lighting - Backbox
Gameroom Mods
Backbox
$ 76.00
Lighting - Backbox
Arcade Upkeep
Backbox
$ 54.99
Cabinet - Shooter Rods
Lighted Pinball Mods
Shooter rods
$ 5.00
Cabinet - Other
Side Gig Studios
Other
From: $ 399.95
Lighting - Led
Pin Stadium Pinball Mods
Led
$ 9.00
Cabinet - Other
Mooshue's Market
Other
Great pinball charity
Pinball Edu
412 posts in this topic match your search for posts by pinmonk. You are on page 1 of 2.

You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider pinmonk.
Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/batman-66-official-club-thread?tu=pinmonk and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.