Oktoberfest was my favorite game at TPF. I sure hope they fix this screen (copied from the previous post). It came up frequently (mode start, I think). It's one of the ugliest things I've ever seen in pinball (and I've seen a lot).

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Disagree. I owned a JJP game with a 26 inch display and beautiful looking animations and video... that the player usually doesn’t see because they are looking at the ball. The content on that huge screen was very busy. Quadrants of info, serif fonts, everything in motion, spread across a 26 inch screen. Basically, in my opinion, the eye candy on their screen failed because it was too busy and not well coordinated with stop and go on the playfield. Very frustrating. Their games have a long time-to-market and high price. In contrast, I thought Houdini was the best use of an LCD screen in a pinball game since Lebowski. Fun, colorful animations, large, crisp fonts, easy to parse information. Loved the black on white non serif fonts used as scoring digits. It looked really sharp. I wouldn’t mind at all if some display content in Oktoberfest adopted the best attributes of Houdini’s display content.

I guess that makes sense on paper but somehow I don't think making the beer stein more prominent makes the artwork more fun to look at. Wait, is that a stein? Or is it a sippy cup? The beer doesn't spill when you tilt the thing! I want one!

I love the Otto artwork in Oktoberfest. The new Inga is fine, although I didn't necessarily see anything wrong with the old Inga. The old Inga (which was characterized as "Mad Magazine style") was more goofy looking. Actually, I thought that was kinda fun. Reminiscent of the style of some of Youssi's characters from the 90's, like in the White Water, for example, where some of the characters look goofier than others.

What's the story on the characters that once sat in the bumper cars (Duckie, Hot Dog, Monkey)? Cost cutting, or is it that they wouldn't fit under the wireform, or something else? They were super cool, way better than empty bumper cars.

I see a mod opportunity

According to some of the logic here, the classic arcade game Tapper should have been an epic failure (except in bars). I mean how could they possibly succeed? Besides Budweiser beer (and later on, root beer), they had aliens, cowboys and punk rocker characters.

Quick shout out to American Pinball for putting the power switch in the right place under the cabinet where it belongs!!!

Seriously, I owned Ghostbusters for a couple years. If I had a nickel for every time I reached under the cabinet looking for a power switch that wasn’t there...

Anyone notice that Otto is still looking for them?

Regarding the barrel ramp, I found that adjusting the UR Flipper coil strength can transform that frustrating shot into a smooth and satisfying shot. The shot is challenging, as it should be. If the game is set up right, and you make the shot cleanly, the ball should go to the barrel. The shot reminds me of the warp ramp in Star Trek Next Gen, but more fun I think, because of Mag Nab. I love the start sequence of both Beer Barrel Multiball and Corkscrew multiball, but I'm not going to describe any of that here (no spoilers)

In my game, adjusting the upper right flipper strength helped tremendously. Every game is different, I think, but in my game the magic number for upper right flipper strength is 30. I agree with you, it's a tough shot, and when you do make the shot, it should be a "feel good" shot. I can't get over how cool Magnab is. It activates two magnets simultaneously (the TAP lanes and the UR Flipper). Thus you can nab the ball and drop it in the TAP lanes, or you can nab the ball and shoot the Barrel Ramp.

Heck of a score and points per second, holy smokes!

Regarding combos, one of my favorite "feel good" shots is a left orbit followed by UR flipper into the tent hole to start a mode. The "side entrance" so to speak. Have you guys thought about making it a formal combo or adding some fanfare when it happens?

+1 on that. I've played OKF about 60 times. When I first saw the game at TPF I was drawn in by the theme, the bright colors, the toys, the humor... and the fact that I liked Houdini. What I didn't realize is what a great job API did on the rules and flow in this game. To say the game is "fun" might be an understatement.

I wonder if the game you’re playing has the updated 180 ramp. It helps a lot. Tight shot, but pretty satisfying when you hit it.

It’s a real treat. I don’t think I’d want it to be easier and more frequent (that might spoil it).

I’ve played over 100 times. I think the amount of stop and go is great. It gives you a chance to look at the screen (and your inserts) when you need to. Unlike some games that display great video and don’t give the player enough time to look at it, which can be infuriating.

What is Inga saying when you start Rockin’ Express? Sounds like “I’m on the music”.

Random question: The frosted dome LED above the TAP lanes... it turns yellow, green, or flashing red and I understand all that. Why does it turn white at the end of your turn?

Agreed. I'm lucky enough to have acquired some "A-List" games over the years. This is my first AP game. Really delighted with it so far. Fun and challenging enough to keep you coming back again and again. Code updates are making it better and better. The AP team is very responsive and apparently crazy enough to listen to Pinsiders. It means a lot to me when a company is interested in feedback from people who use their product (pinball machines are no exception). Call me a fanboy but the fun, the humor, the variety, the toys, the rules, the flow... this thing feels like a Top 10 game to me.

I ordered the shaker and knocker for OKF. Apparently the knocker is mounted in the bottom cabinet, near the front cross-member and it's utilized in the game (Target Shooting, Duck Hunt). So cool. Reminds me of the knocker in TAF.

My high score is in the 4 million range. I need only 21 billion, 880 million to catch you

Yes, mine "bounced" a lot (took a few tries to stay up). Adjusting coil power did the trick for me.

Specifically, in my game, Drop Target = 20 (default was 16).

I'm using a SanDisk 16GB Ultra Fit USB 3.1 thumb drive. Works great, about 7 bucks on Amazon. I'm pretty sure the USB extension port in Oktoberfest is USB 2.0 (so no speed benefit there), but it's a good choice if your home computer has a USB 3.0 port.

I'm seeing instances where the magnet dome LEDs are yellow, but the Magnab button does nothing (when I think it should activate and grab the ball). Happens frequently and impacts gameplay. Checked the Magnab button in Switch Test (works perfectly). I'm running the latest code. Typical scenario is this: I have one magnab left, the frosted domes are yellow, I make a shot from the left flipper (without going through an inlane first), through the spinner, and the Magnab button is totally unresponsive. Not always though. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Anyone else notice this?

Has never happened in my game (after almost 200 plays). Playfield pitch around 6 degrees.

No problems with Looper here. When you make the shot, the ball should stop at the Corkscrew lock... then it (or a ball ahead of it) is released and you hear people scream. How about your Coaster Lock switches? Are those OK in Switch test?

I think I've narrowed it down a little. It seems that if the dome LEDs are yellow and the spinner is spinning, the magnab button is unresponsive. Once the spinner stops spinning, the button works. Perhaps it's a bug.

I think autograb is really cool when I know it's going to happen, like when you roll over an inlane switch and a dome LED starts flashing green. I don't like autograb at all when it happens without warning (i.e. when the dome LEDs are off or yellow). Because of that behavior, you can't trust the visual cues that the dome LEDs provide. What's worse is when a surprise autograb spoils what you're trying to do. And, of course, too many autograbs makes your earned magnabs less precious.

Agreed. I partially covered that LED strip in my game (so that the Corkscrew queue is still well lit but the Playfield X inserts aren’t washed out).

When setting up the knocker, you have to go to a couple different places in the settings. My settings (in a home environment) are as follows and I am totally delighted:

Knocker = Mechanical

Mechanical Knocker on Bumper Cars = Off
Mechanical Knocker on Shooting Modes = Soft

Here's what I wrote about the knocker in my Pinside Ratings comments:

- The use of the knocker is brilliant. It's an add-on kit, but well worth it. It goes in the bottom cabinet, near the cross bar. The "pop" when shooting targets in Target Shooting mode (or Ducks in Duck Hunting mode) is great. I haven't seen a knocker used this well since Addams Family...

I've managed to reach Duck Derby a few times. When it starts, it says something about shooting green shots and avoiding red shots. Problem is, it always starts with all shots on the playfield lit up red. Is that normal? It happened today, and instead of shooting a red shot, I cradled two balls in the right flipper. With two balls cradled, each time I hit the left flipper button, I scored 2000 points, and I could do that forever.

Good call. It finally happened again. I immediately went into Switch Test and sure enough, the Right Duck target was stuck closed. Just needed a gap adjustment. Both times it happened, there was, um... a lot of quacking.

That happened in my game too a couple weeks ago. It was a two player game. Not sure how to reproduce it. Most of the time Last Chance mode works fine. So far, I’ve never managed to successfully plunge a ball into the tent scoop.

Thinking outside the box here, would covering up part of the LED strip above the TAP Lanes make the center of the playfield seem less dark? Just a thought. In my game I felt that the LED strip back there was so bright it washed out the TAP lane inserts as well as the Playfield X inserts really bad. So I covered parts of the LED strip (so just the Corkscrew Queue is highlighted). Very happy with the lighting now, except I think I'd like a spotlight on the bartender whenever he's active.

Regarding the difficulty of lowering the Corkscrew Ramp, as others have said, shoot the OKTOBER FEST target banks. Make sure those switches are properly adjusted, and aim for them if you want the ramp to come down. Feels about right to me.

Maybe, although Otto already informed me that it's ready and the insert is telling me it's ready. A higher priority for me would be a callout when you successfully clobber the high striker after Inga says "Eins... Zwei... Drei... Strike!". It seems odd to me that she makes a big deal out of shooting for the striker... but doesn't say squat when you make the difficult shot.

I've had a ball get stuck there 3 or 4 times out of hundreds of games. Ball Search jiggled it free every time. A weird thing in my game right now is that the ball sometimes gets stuck on the spinner. That's right, the spinner! Once in a while, if the spinner is not quite stopped when the magnet releases the ball, the ball slowly leaves the magnet just as the spinner comes around and the ball gets wedged-in. It never happened at all until I adjusted my spinner switch to ensure the spinner spins freely.

Love the new code update. Callouts, music, graphics... neat stuff! Magnab/Autograb is great, working like it should. Good job AP!

I don’t have access to my machine at the moment, but comparing your photos to the images on Multimorphic’s web site, it looks like this might be the spot...
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Just peeked in my game. That cap is omitted in my game too. In your photos, there’s a board that has 5 caps. My game has three of those boards (I only see two in your photos). So make sure you checked all three of those boards.

I’ve had two game resets so far on 19.7.27. I sent the logs to Rosh yesterday.

Looking forward to the another code drop! I'm hoping for some kind of callout or fanfare if you successfully clobber the high striker while "Super Striker" (Eins... Zwei... Drei... Strike) is qualified. Right now it plays something like this... the player is challenged to make the shot... and manages to make the difficult shot... and the game quietly adds a few points.

The allen-head bolts are clever. Stern moving the power on/off switch away from the standard location... that's an annoyance.

My game (default settings, except I have it set for 5-ball): after 417 games played, average game time is 8:24, average ball time is 1:52. I'm an "average" player (middle of the pack in tournaments). You guys are gonna love this pin.

It's definitely one way to earn a Magnab According to AP, an upcoming code update adds audio/video/lighting/choreography associated with the captive ball.

Rule-wise, what shots do you have to make to qualify the re-entry mode (with default settings)? I took the glass off and hit the right outlane standup a few times, but that doesn't do it...

Regarding the flippers flipping when selecting a stein (or tent), I noticed it immediately when I first got the game. It's a "nit" for sure, but the way I see it, polishing little things like that adds to the perception of a top-notch, high-quality product.

Regarding the loudness of the flippers, I've noticed it (and gotten comments about it from at least one pinball friend). It's another nit. The responsiveness and strength of the flippers in Oktoberfest is fantastic, so I'd be hesitant to change anything here. In terms of loudness though, I wonder if the flipper supplier uses well-matched components, including the correct coil stop bracket... or if that would even make a difference.

Got any favorite, unusual shots in Oktoberfest? I have three so far which I've given arbitrary names:

1) Easiest (depending on how your game is set up): The "side entrance". When Enter Tent is lit, make a left orbit shot around to the UR flipper (with right flipper button held down) and watch the ball go into the tent hole. I use it frequently.
2) Difficult: The "jaw dropper". Make the Corkscrew ramp from the left flipper. It's possible but the ball has to approach the left flipper with momentum in order for this to work.
3) Crazy difficult: The "home run". Using the UR flipper, hit a ball up the Beer Barrel ramp that doesn't make it, see it come back down fast and hit it again (all the way up the ramp to the Beer Barrel). It's like hitting a fast ball for a home run.

Interesting. I had a problem when I first got my game where I had balls in the Corkscrew cue at the end of a game and the software tried to release them as usual. For whatever reason, the Corkscrew Release coil didn't have enough strength to release the balls. When that happened, with balls stuck in the cue, the software kept trying to release them. The release coil sat there making a buzzing sound, trying to move its armature, getting hotter and hotter. I wondered whether or not the software would have ever stopped energizing that coil had I not powered down quickly. The coil survived, I adjusted the mechanism so balls always release as they should, and it hasn't happened since.

I don’t know of any “preventative measures” here. If it starts acting-up, ask API what do. If it works fine, I’d say don’t mess with it! To answer your question, when my game wasn’t releasing balls from the queue, I bent the metal tab that stops the armature (because the magnet didn’t have enough strength to grab the armature when the gap was large).

Kinda agree about pro/premium/LE etc. Perhaps it’s a tactic pinball companies use to maximize profits (while making feature-limited machines more affordable for operators and home users). I played at an arcade recently that had a bunch of new Sterns... but every single one of them was a Pro. Kind of a disappointment.

I’m hoping the next API game is as much fun as Oktoberfest, bright and colorful like Oktoberfest, no more expensive than Oktoberfest, and maybe boots up faster

I think, in some games, big honkin’ scores in the billions are part of the fun (for example, AFM). Maybe even part of the wow factor. In some low scoring games where the score increases by tiny increments leading to a low total score (for example, WOZ)... I never felt that scoring model added (or subtracted) anything in terms of fun

Never happens in my game. However, I have seen the opposite, a rare “gift” where an air ball lands on the habitrail and slowly rolls into the barrel

Having played Oktoberfest hundreds of times (and still haven't gotten tired of it), I'm in the camp that thinks its number of multi-ball modes and the challenge level of starting them is just right. I might even say "brilliant". It's up there with my favorite pinball games of all time, games like TZ, CFTBL, IJ, AFM, etc. Some newer games feature a lot of easy-to-start multi-ball modes. That's fine, but I'd never buy one, not for home use (I'm not into flail-fests). In Oktoberfest, there are a couple things about multi-ball that I think are brilliant: 1) The ability to "stack" stuff (such as food stand, playfield multiplier, start a well-chosen mode...) and then start multi-ball with a well-executed ramp shot. So satisfying! 2) I love that I have a choice and I'm not forced to start Juggling mode (a multi-ball mode) every time it is presented as the initial default... and yet a newcomer can access it easily. Well done!

All I know is that the monkey had a history of bad behavior. He got kicked out of the bumper car area for knocking the ball of the habitrail. He got kicked out of WOZ (and turned in his wings) because he was always flying away with the ball. I hope he shows up in game #3 so I can see what he does next!

My feeling about the open-source-in-pinball debate is that the "sweet spot" is somewhere between totally open and totally closed. I'm pretty happy with a game like Oktoberfest. Basically, as a home user, an "enthusiast", I like a pinball game that I can "tweak" and work on myself, with a number of settings I can customize, user-updateable software, and some combination of standard pinball parts and unique parts. I wouldn't expect pinball companies to open up their games much more than that (surrendering their intellectual property and/or leaving themselves vulnerable to litigation).

There's something else I've observed about "openness" in pinball: the pinball community at large is capable of producing a ton of crap and a few nuggets of good stuff. Take Pinsound for example. I have one. It's a real marvel. You can totally replace the sound in a pinball machine. Problem is, in my opinion, aside from improved fidelity, none of the "community" generated sound mixes are nearly as good as the original music/callouts created by people like Chris Granner, David Thiel and others. Another observation has to do with virtual pinball. Visual Pinball X is amazing. However, my opinion again, community created virtual pinball tables (originals and re-creations) are nowhere near as high-quality or fun as the commercial tables from Farsight and Zen.

Still hoping BackAlleyMatt produces a set of bumper car passengers. Not sure how such a mod would avoid interference with the habitrail, but if anyone can do it, he can.

I doubt if you'll find the Beer Barrel ramp "unfun". In my game I find that it's both challenging and fun (more fun than the treehouse in TSPP in my opinion). I'd say clobbering the High Striker is just as challenging. The shot I find most challenging is the "re-entry" plunge into the tent scoop. I like them all. What is my least favorite shot in the game? I never, ever like the unsatisfying thud of a metal ball crashing into a metal wall in a pinball game, so for me, bashing the closed bar door is my least favorite shot, much like bashing the metal garage door in TSPP, or the metal castle doors in WOZ.

Thinking outside the box, one way the software could "fix" this would be to add a "super magnab" feature. With super-magnab qualified, you would catch the ball above the UR flipper like you normally do, but the dome LED turns purple and auto-flip is enabled. Then you sit and watch as the UR flipper makes the perfect shot. Much like Phantom Flip in Monster Bash and Thing Flips in Addams Family.

Still thinking outside the box, and this is a little off-topic, but are there any games where making a skill shot doesn't kill all the remaining skill shots? In other words, if you're really skilled, you could collect two or three skill shots before the skill-shot timer runs out? I guess a super skill shot is something like that, but not exactly.

Neat! The one on the right must be the longer coil stop (less flipper travel).

Interesting. I wonder if that would work. Basically, when you think about the mechanics, your method sets the flipper bat end-of-stroke position by slewing "coil start" instead of changing coil stop

In my game, after installing the new coil stop bracket, the frequency of balls getting into the beer barrel Vs total balls played has increased from 18% to about 35%. Clever "fix" to improve that shot. Well done! One thing surprised me... the ball goes up the ramp with more velocity than before. That's a pleasant surprise

"What you're describing... is non-existence" (Kirk and Spock, 1967)

Yeah, so about that... why the difference? When I hold the start button for 5 seconds, it's always because I want to restart the game. Seems to me it's better to leave the ball in the shooter lane when you restart the game (and that's the expected behavior). The Oktoberfest behavior (the code auto-launches the ball, you wait until it drains, wait for the game to decide everything is ready, then press Start to begin a new game) is a slight annoyance.

With the new coil stop I make the Beer Barrel Ramp more often, and, surprisingly, the ball has more velocity and sometimes flies off the habitrail. Easy to fix with some tweaking. Haven't had any difficulty making the high-striker shot. Not sure about the bar (I rarely shoot for that from the upper flipper). Prior to putting in the new coil stop, I could almost always make a side entrance into the mode start scoop (shoot the left orbit, hold the right flipper button, ball comes around off the UR flipper right into the scoop). Kinda miss that shot

I'd like to get a little more action in the pop bumpers (ideally, have the ball bounce up to the TAP lanes a little more often, as that almost never happens). Adjusting coil strength doesn't seem to help much. Leaf switches are well-adjusted. Playfield pitch is around 6 degrees. Is it just me, or does the ball spend less time in the pop bumpers in this game compared to most pins?

Thanks for the ideas. So far, I've adjusted the leaf switches and also tried Ferret's idea (removed the bottom part of the rubber baby buggy bumpers in the TAP lanes and see what happens). Those measures didn't make much difference. I like your idea about checking the tension between the spoon and skirt (indeed I do feel a bit of resistance there), so that's the next thing I'll try. The bumpers sound strong, but it's usually two or three thumps and the ball is gone. Maybe it's just the layout. Not a huge deal though.

Something that has been on my wishlist for a long time... I'd like to see a more complete set of switch audits in the Stats menu. As far as I can tell, the game contains 96 switches, but there are only 16 listed in the switch audits. One area in particular I wanted to look at is how many times the TAP rollover switches close in comparison to other things happening in the game. I guess audits are mostly for the benefit of operators, but hey, it's a wish