Preorder here if you haven't already. http://ledocd.com/preorder.html

Just played a couple games of TZ after installing the GI OCD board.

I didn't have any major problems with installation. I waited to fasten the board until I had most of the cables connected to make sure there were no problems. I did end up installing it very far back to provide clearance for the USB cable (per a previous e-mail from herg, I was expecting this). Since the back two screw holes are so close to the corner now, I will just have to put some adhesive mounts back there unless/until a better solution comes along. I didn't have any issues with the ribbon cable distances.

The only issue I found is that I have some of the 545 replacement LEDs from Cointaker in the backbox, which are made to blink like the original 545 blinkers, and now they don't do anything. I'm guessing that the only way to fix this would be to design some new blinker LEDs... or to just give up on having blinking bulbs.

All that aside, there are GI effects on this game that I had completely forgotten about, and it is so great to see them again. When the powerball is out, the game really goes nuts. As for the configuration, I had to change String 4 and String 5 to use Input 4 and Input 5, and that was it. I may fiddle with the brightness a little, but it looks really good right now with defaults. Once I can hook my topper up to it, I may try to get a video.

Thanks so much herg for making this happen.

Yeah, my topper is a custom job I drew up in Illustrator based on the game artwork. Greg at Xtreme Pinball did the cutting for me. http://img-s.pinside.com/gameroom/07/medium/07d1a7ec3b57b43a7298c34f8652c407905c0eac.jpg Since it is "The Power", it's cool to have it blink with the callouts.

Yeah, I think I will probably dim the clock down a bit. I recently switched to the white proto decal, and it lets a lot more light through than the colored one.

Here's a short, rough clip I took earlier of the GI effects while on the powerfield. I'll borrow a better video camera soon...

Now I just need a Flasher OCD, and all my LEDs will be tamed lol.

Ah I see now. I read some of the earlier discussion about the GI Buddy, etc. and became confused.

My flashers do feel out of place now, so I'm seriously thinking about changing some of them out. Right now, I only have one incandescent flasher in the center spot because it feels more like a camera flash when the game shows the next camera award.

I'm leaving LEDs in the ones that are mounted directly beneath plastics, but I admit that I may be overly cautious. Pics like this one frighten me.

thisrighthere.JPG

I'm running these settings now, and everything looks great. All my connectors arrived today, so I was finally able to connect my topper. Works beautifully with it tied to String 5 (Playfield Right), max brightness at 60, and the two lowest values set to zero. Attached is a pic of the additional 0.1" connectors and IRL540 transistor installed.

2014-03-31-18.57.34.jpg

Would it work to set the min brightness to 100 and max to 0 to get an inverse effect? I don't plan on doing this, but maybe someone out there would have a use for it.