Probably need to sell it now..

I must really suck. I've had the game for months and haven't gotten to AI or got a score that high yet.

I just picked one up today and it will be here in 30minutes.. fun game.

Was the glass on?

That seems way too easy for your first game. You're either the best pinball player ever, or the game is just set too easy somehow. Most of those things take quite some time for anyone to accomplish. That being said, the game is so chock full of stuff, long games aren't a bad thing...you did notice that it was always cool new stuff happening, right? There's really no repetition during a long game. You just can't have IM/Tron type games on this game...it's not structured that way.

Here's a simplified summary of what you did.

-You started all the modes....that's how you get Alien Invasion lit. Mode start = TV shot. You can relight the TV by hitting the right orbit, then get the TV again to stack.

-The Otto shot (inner loop that wraps around the giant Homer Head) lights the 2x inserts. Getting them all starts Springfield Mystery Spot (reverse flippers)

-Starting all 4 Itchy & Scratchy Multiballs (the saucer behind the drop targets) gets you to Scratchy's Revenge. Each of these should be harder to start than the last. For instance, the first one - you can start it without dropping all the drop targets. The 2nd time, if the ball gets into the saucer without having all the drops down, it kicks the ball out and resets the drops.

Grats rob! As for settings; you can always do a software factory restore.

Cool. I am waiting for my Congo...........won't be here 'til Monday.

Just go into the settings and see what the modes are set as....mine are stock but some are easy, some are moderate. Someone could have done the "easy" setting on the installs menu? I dunno. The manual might have a list of the stock settings...you can compare against that. Or, as SKB said - just do a reset.

I bet your machine doesn't have a I & S cliffy on it. The target bank lip protector tends to block slow moving balls from reaching the saucer. I reach I&S multiball less often now.

I have had TSPP for two years. I made it to the Springfield Mystery Spot once... never to Alien Invasion. My best score is something like 59 million.

My TSPP is up for sale/trade, i have had for more then 2 years now. And although i love the theme and qoute's, hell the whole execution of the game. My highest score is 159 million. But i noticed i'm grown tired of playing it. I feel i'm not that far of that playing a game is going to start to feel like a chore. I have doubted very hard for selling/trading it, because of my love for the theme. But what's the use of keeping it, when you barely play it anymore? So i recently decided to either sell or trade it. And it seems a trade is in the works since of today. Someone is willing to trade for a very nice WH20, with no fading and no damage on the playfield (no not even at the lost mine ).
The pin is also fully loaded with leds. An WH20 has been on my want list a very long time, so this seems like a very nice trade off!

Outlanes appear to be at factory settings. The post on the left is three holes from the bottom. The one on the right is also three holes from the bottom. So the outlanes don't appear to be closed up at all.

I think the following is how the factory configured the posts (four in all):

1. Lower left: three from the bottom
2. Upper left: all the way down
3. Lower right: all the way down
4. Upper right: three from the bottom

Basing this on the factory flyer under extreme magnification--distorts terribly, but you can clearly make out three of the four posts except for the lower left, but I've heard other people say factory was three from the bottom...perhaps someone who bought one NIB (or someone who has an original flyer they can magnify) can chime in.

Congrats on the purchase, the game is a blast overall--the only knock can be the marathon ball times you mentioned.

Oh, and mylar the shooter lane and add a cliffy lane protector ASAP (screening on both sides of the groove on this one: Doh).

Flyer.jpg

The exact same thing happened to me....When I brought TSPP home it was set on easy/extra easy and I got AI nearly twice the first game. Set it on moderate/hard and it is an entirely different game. Especially TV modes. On easy, you can stack all the TV modes as the TV light stays lit all the time. On moderate/hard you have to go to the lower PF and hit Krusty spinner to relight the TV mode light. Also, I&S is much harder to achieve. On easy, you just knock down a target and start any I&S multiball. On moderate/hard, it takes all the targets just to light the mode, and then knock them down again to get into the hole.

On moderate/hard settings after having the game for a few months, I usually will hit 125M+ every third game or so. On easy, I hit 180M my first game.

Do factory reset then change the TV rules to competition mode. Im pretty sure thats what Bowen has setup in his tutorial video and I liked it better than only shooting crusty to light modes. Crusty sucks because the shot sucks and you get screwed by the pops sometime. Compeitiion you can relight tv mode by shooting mystery in the upper playfield or crusty but you cant claim modes from mystery until you reopen the garage and shoot tv again.

Yeah, setting up the light TV mode definitely makes a difference - having to shoot the right orbit to relight the TV again should make it play a lot harder.

TSPP is one of those games that's feast or famine for me. Either I'm playing for 45 minutes or the game is over in 45 seconds. That's actually one of the reasons I sold it.

I have yet to check my settings.....what a DOPE, I am.

I have been playing the game the way it was delivered.....have not reached AI.

Itchy and scratchy, 2x drop targets first multiball, 3x, second multiball....

Still a challenge, and more fun.....

I had a STTNG delivered, and with the glass off "walked" through the entire game.
Ruined it for me.......

Discovering what happens, rather then knowing what I have to do to get to the surprises
has been the best for me.

It took me 14 years to trip a feature I never saw in Fish Tales!!!

I recently sold one of these and I have one already for myself. It was amazing how much difference there was between 4.00 and 5.00 ROMs. Under 4.00, it just felt wrong. The person that bought it never saw the difference because I burnt a new set for it. Amazing game.

Hmm. Not on my game. Even the slowest rollers go in like it's not even there. Hmm.

Man me too! But I ain't gonna sell it. Haven't reached AI yet!

Others already noted this, but "Extra Easy" for the TV means it's always lit. Normally, you have to shoot the right orbit to relight the TV. "Extra Easy" for Otto means it's always lit in the center loop. Normally, you have to shoot the white target in the lower left corner to relight Otto.

It sounds like you had fun and played well!
- Bowen

I like threads like this....cuz I've gone for stretches without turning my TSPP on - but when someone else gets excited about it, I get excited about it and it's fun to rediscover it again. I played it a bunch yesterday...thanks, Rob!

Thanks a lot Rob. I just bought one of these because of you
You have similar tastes to me. And we both didn't like this game prior to this. So I figured I'll give it as chance as well.

(Rob...start a thread about how Popeye is the greatest game ever made...teeheheheee)

Haha I spent some time with Popeye. I don't hate it but I definitely don't love it.

I haven't found one of those yet. I'm using the rest of my pinball fund for Simpsons so bbh might be on hold.

I have a friend with one. I already know I like the game. It's easily as "cheap" as ironman.

Teehee...I kid the Popeye...I'll actually go to bat for that game any day. It's fun and doesn't cost much compared to most pins these days. I just sold mine (and a few others) cuz I felt like culling the collection a bit. Will I miss them and cry!? We'll see...

My Simpsons will be here in the next four hours I think.

Thought you did not like simpsons =-)

Sorry Rob guess that makes two of you I was commenting about markmon picking one up.
I agree there are some great things about the game and after a couple years owning one there were a few things I got bored with. I will likely own another down the road it was a very fun game.

It's funny that it was setup so easy, when I bought my HUO one it was setup the exact same way and had version 3.0 roms on it. Needless to say, it was way too easy, starting 4 modes on one trip to the living room is ridiculous, lol. Too bad that you got to see some of the cool stuff before you figured it out, it's always pretty awesome to achieve something that's hard in a game.

Btw, that's awesome about BBH, I've been thinking about that one for a while but have never been able to find one to play. Perhaps when I'm done with World Poker Tour I'll try and find one, although I'm liking WPT so much it might be awhile.

Congrats on the new pin Rob. TSPP has shots upon shots, fun pin hope you continue to enjoy it.

Ok, got my machine. After being in this hobby 2 years and being an avid TSPP hater, I am actually enjoying the machine. I have some more to do before I consider it ready to bring into the house. I should get some real play time on it later this week.

Ok can one of you guys tell me how the garage door works? It seems it has more than 2 states - open and closed. There are times it seems partially open. Is this how it is supposed to work or is something wrong that I need to investigate?

Something seems wrong.....I only remember it either being open or closed. May need a minor adjustment.

smassa is right. The door should either be shut or open. I haven't done any work on the TSPP garage so can't offer more insight then that. Hopefully someone can chime in to give you some specific things to look at.

Ok thanks. I will figure it out. Just needed to know how it is supposed to behave.

LOL yes it very well may be at the moment. But it won't be when it leaves the shop and goes into the house
Mine is home use only. But that doesn't mean perfect. But the cabinet and playfield have zero issues so it will be perfect when I'm done. As it stands, I need to fix the garage door, the auto plunger, clean and wax it, and finish the LED job (or redo it I guess is better to say). Still I don't think it was a bad deal at $3800.