Audio Amp replacement -swapping out the little red amp and its mount plate! First step in resolving my issue with inconsistent audio levels between gaming sessions. Should be simple!

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Seems like those plastic 'targets' should stick out a little more, so that the ball strikes them rather that the bottom edge of that frame. Is there any way to adjust this?

Don't believe there is an adjustment there. They are apparently one long piece, so these are looking like they may be concave instead of straight. You can see the outsides do protrude beyond the frame. Got a feeling I'll be changing these out soon

That's the beauty of the modular system.

I've just checked mine and the targets sit out past the frames.

Excellent. Thanks for taking a look. I assumed that would be the case. It's the only design that really makes sense. I suspect they'll be sending me new ones shortly then

Mine seem concave a bit too, very little damage — just a little paint gone on lower part on right side. Forgot to check if they are flush it sit out — I’m guessing they sit out a bit since they look in pretty good shape.

Got to the kraken this morning - 3 hits left, damn that thing growing it’s legs back!!

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Playfield stiffener installed. It definitely had a slight bow to it. You could tell putting the part in place. As I fastened down one end, once I released the clamps after getting 2 screws in, the free end sprang up probably 1/32", maybe a touch more. If I place the ball carefully I can get it to trap but any degree of movement and it rolls off. There might be room for about half a turn on the adjusters but I'll hold that in reserve and watch it for a few days. It already seems much better in game play.

It's an easy install if you ever have to do it. Just make sure you have a drill stop to avoid drilling through the top and I'd recommend a proper tapered bit for the screw holes.

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Tried a little experiment today. Added quarter-inch spacers between the ramp and the cover to ease the ramp entry. Worked like a charm - maybe too well. It’s pretty easy to hit it now, as long as you can make the shot

I might consider dropping to eighth-inch to see if that makes it a little more difficult but not as frustrating as the default.

You can see the spacers on the back 3 screws in the photo. So far, hasn’t affected game play in any other way and my scores are only marginally better. Of course, my aiming sucks!

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Nice! I’ll hsve to pay more attention to that ramp shot - it’s not easy but I haven’t noticed a lot of rejects.. wondering if I just wasn’t focused on them now.

I took a look though and my side target plastics are actually behind the frames.

Also wondering if there’s a wizard mode on rocs or final battle thing? No idea how many levels there are..

I had quite a few rubbing marks on the ramp cover right near the entrance. It was clear that most of the time it would hit the cover and quickly drop speed, then just fall back onto the playfield.

I may try 1/8 if I can find them since I’ll need to disassemble once more for the new ship entrance anyway. Once the new entrance is in, I should be able to put the slope back to 6.5 or 7 which will also make the ramp a bit harder.

ROCs kicks my butt ?. I struggled to get my 24K and a friend came over and put up 34K on his second game! Grrrr.

Did you playtest after installing the playfield stiffener and before gapping off the ramp cover? Typically ramp rejections happen because the ball is bouncing, as it would if it was dropping onto a sagging playfield (before installing the stiffener) after rolling over the scoops.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Following up on this after verifying the code and settings. There is a setting in the beta (1.228) driver to only unload 'known balls' between games. Settings->Mechs->Ship->Unload only known balls. Set this to true if you want to speed up the unloading between games.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

I was still getting a fair number of ramp rejects after the stiffener. I did test for that as we’d talked about that possibility. I am going to try 1/8 if I can find some.

On a side note, had a nice 8 million point ball 1 going when it dumped to the launcher. Done that several times over the last few days. I know you’re working on it!

Our next release of System Manager will allow you to pull logs so you can send them to us. So if the dropout is happening for a new reason, we'll be able to identify it. The dropout that others have reported appears to be a bug in the underlying Unity framework we're using. Our next release of LL-EE (and all of our apps) is built on a newer version of Unity that has a memory contention issue resolved.

OK - if raising the cover helps, great. It's also possible the level of your playfield LCD or walls/scoops shifted slightly during shipping (as previously discussed). You said above that your walls/scoops seem really close to level with the upper playfield now that the playfield stiffener is installed. Please also double-check the playfield plastic (over the playfield LCD) is level with the front edge of the walls (and the aluminum blocks that the wall/scoops should be level with). The playfield LCD/plastic also has a height adjustment mechanism. The guide for adjusting that is on our short-list of guides to create, but if you want to tweak it before we get that guide out, let us know and we'll walk you through it.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Oh, that's good to know Gerry! Ideally you would want each upper edge to be ever so slightly proud of the lower edge to prevent the ball traps/walks, but not cause ball hop. Being able to adjust all the way down should make that feasible. I'm not feeling the need right now though. It's very good.

I'm familiar with this because of my Black Hole. Getting those window seams right is essentially the same thing.

Once the ship entrance is here, I'll need to look at the standups on the module. I'm getting some serious airballs, especially off that left-most one near the ramp. I think they just need to be angled down a bit. I was waiting to see if it was the wall/scoop adjustment but it doesn't look like it. The ball isn't hopping into the air until it hits the target face. No big deal - happens all the time on standups, particularly with the P3's excellent flippers.

We actually recommend the opposite... having each device farther back on the playfield be ever so slightly below the previous one (if not perfectly level) to avoid airballs. Mating 2 surfaces perfectly is obviously ideal, but if there's any lip at all, we'd prefer the returning ball to be affected moreso than the outgoing ball. You can control the aim of outgoing shots and should get a true response. A returning ricocheted ball is usually coming back at a semi-random direction already.

That said, the adjustability lets you set them up to your preference. Either way, they should rarely affect the ball when leveled well.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Just for the record — I am really loving the option of firing up the p3 and choosing different games to play all with 1 module! Can’t wait until more games come out / are made! There are times where I just want a quick game - boom, rocs! Bit longer, CL. Longer still? 2 min swap for llee.

Yep, I hear you. A lot of times, I'll go down to play a game or two before bed. Usually that's ROCs because it's quick but it could easily be LL:EE or even Secret Agent Showdown. If I feel like it, it's a 5 minute job, max, to swap the playfield module and play some CL. The machine really showcases the power of the platform idea already and that's just going to get better as more stuff comes out. Then you think about things like networked games and such and the sky's the limit.

Time to swap back to CL and try and beat that Kracken. Closest yet is 1 shot remaining - he’s one tough beast

I haven't looked through all of the Service menu options yet. Is there a "Reset to factory default" type setting?

If so, I'm thinking maybe we ought to get together a little virtual tournament, just for kicks. Something like "Sometime in the next 7 days, you decide to play a countable game of LL:EE. You can warm up and practice as much as you wish but, on the honor system, you select one game as the one to count before starting. Play it out and take a photo of the score screen. Post the photos here. No prizes, no trophies, just some bragging rights

Sounds cool. I don’t know about reset to defaults but we could all create a profile and agree on whether it should be easy, normal, hard and it will create a standard Tournament profile on your machine which we could use for that. PM me (open to anyone with a P3) and we can coordinate something. I’m already preparing myself for defeat

I've not looked at Profiles at all yet. Do you do those in-game for each app, or are they global to the machine?

I think they are per app. I’ve set one up for LLEE. The instructions are on the screen when the games in attract mode. I’m not home to check just yet but I think you hold the right white button and press Start. I’ve setup one for me on hard and then others on easy for my kids. That way we can play a 2 or 3 player game and keeps it competitive. It’s a fantastic idea.

Released apps don't have a factory reset yet for settings. They do for high scores. The next release of System Manager will have app-specific factory reset options. That said, the idea of using profiles for competitions seems more attractive than resetting anything. We're looking into adding options that allow you to activate specific setting values outside of the profiles (e.g. changing the settings to tournament mode, or easy/medium/hard/expert, etc).

Profiles are framework features, but the only apps that currently make use of them are LL-EE and LL-SAS. Profile names are global to the machine. So as more apps make use of profiles, you shouldn't need to recreate profiles in each app.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Great interview with Gerry on the latest This Flippin' Podcast.
Talk about Cosmic Cart Racing begins at 8:00 and interview starts at 15:00
http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/the-way-too-late-tpf-recap-with-aj_127901

The Kraken sinks lifelessly into the deep! Finally downed the beast tonight, ending up at 420,661 points and a perfect 90,000 on the Kraken stage. Not to say I shot perfectly though; I just lucked out and hit tentacles instead of missing completely

Such a good game...

Nice!!! Got down to 2 hits today. Frustratingly close. Just game over after you destroy the kraken?

Yeah, game ends at that point. Have a cell phone with you if you want a score photo as it never seems to reappear again. I've put a feature request in for CL to include a high score table and show the previous score in the attract mode. No idea if/when that might happen but I think it would be nice to have. I know it was designed as a redemption game, but how many home games are likely to have ticket dispensers?

For now I am using Pezpunk's iScored app to keep track.

Tonight's job was replacing the side target modules. The new ones are absolutely better, straight and with faces protruding well beyond the surrounding frame. It's a fairly easy job, made slightly more difficult as my new right side was a much, much tighter fit into the side rail than it probably should be. Thickness between the new and old was off by nearly .02".

Anyway, all that's required is to remove the wireform over the module. This is just 2 screws. If you want to leave the nuts attached, you can just slide the wireform off the rail, watching to be sure you don't scratch anything. I slid mine off, and of course a nut fell off and down into the drain VUK. I highly recommend a shop towel or something in the trough to prevent that. Multimorphic recommended covering the playfield glass with paper so I used some cardstock I had on hand. Here you can see the setup with the wireform off.

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The red circles mark where the screws are. You reach them through that large access hole in the upper playfield guide and between the two posts of the swivel outlane adjuster. You need a long Allen key. Once you have the screws out, you gently pull the unit out of the side rail slot about 1", and you'll see a ribbon cable to disconnect. After that, it's free to remove.

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Re-installation is essentially the reverse. The only tricky bit is that the ribbon cable needs to flex upward behind the target module, not downward. It's fiddly but not too hard. You remove the flipper assembly and sight down the side rail. If the cable is up tight to the module with nothing hanging down, you're good to go! Put the wireform back in place, with the end of the wires about 1/16" behind the cut edge of the side rail. I actually marked the location of the wireform brackets with masking tape on the side rail and put them back that way.

While I had the CL module out for the side target work, I also wanted to troubleshoot the LED in my rightmost scoop, which stopped working today. This required removing both collection pans from the trough area to gain access to the LED Breakout board mounted on the back of the wall/scoop assembly. Earlier in the day, Gerry had suggested checking the cables on the PD-LED board which can be reached through the coin door when in service position. I found no problems there however, so we had to range a little further.

Here's the back of the wall scoop unit with the collectors removed. You can just barely see the gray ribbon cable there. That was the culprit - it had worked itself cockeyed and one (maybe more) of the pins wasn't connecting. Reseated it and all is back to normal. Gerry suggested perhaps using a small dab of RTV to hold it if it does it again. That's a good idea I will pursue if/when I have to open that area up again.

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On the docket for tomorrow is the ship ramp replacement!

Posted a YouTube video for Multimorphic to look at for a ticket we're working on. I'd also be interested to know if anyone else sees this sort of thing after a few games of ROCs? You can skip forward to the third game to find where it starts to error - the first couple are OK. Yes, I suck in this video

Is it always just that single one that won’t stay up? I had that happen in diagnostics once when I was just looking thru menus testing stuff. Haven’t seen it again though.

Yep, always that one. Has only done it once or maybe twice in Lexy, does it a lot in ROCs. Checked the coil connections but all seemed good and tight. It's an odd one...

I just replied to your support issue with some suggestions to try to help narrow this down. The wall shouldn't be doing that in ROCs. It should always stay up when driven up.

One thing I find interesting about games and modes that raise all of the walls is that they force the ball back down to you in very different ways than loop/ramp shots do. Further, in ROCs and LL-EE's warehouse mode, the virtual targets make you shoot what I call 'infinite shot angles', whereas in traditional games you're always trying to shoot the same shot angles over and over again (targets, ramps, loops, toys, etc). Being forced to shoot different shot angles, especially with all of the walls up, makes it nearly impossible to always shoot 'safe' shots.

That was a very long winded way of saying, "we all suck at ROCs".

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

Listened to the ccr interview this afternoon — sounds pretty cool!! Particularly the skill shot triple launch button timing with the magnets - that is gonna be fun!

Very, very true! I've been swearing at myself because I keep shooting this one shot into the same area and it kills me every time. Gotta quit doing that. And, yeah, with the walls up the reaction time is a lot shorter which doesn't suit "old geezer" reflexes that well

It looks like it is being pushed up but then falls down again on its own. As if some latch is not catching well enough. I do not know the system, but it looks like there is some adjusting needed on the latch that holds on to the upper position, just like with a drop target ? Also this could easily happen if another brick gets hit and the vibrations make that one fall down on its own.

The way I understand it, they work sort of like a flipper. They are pulled up by a flipper-like coil, with the main winding, then held up by the hold part of the coil, like when you're cradling the ball on a flipper. This prevents the coil from burning up. There is no physical latching, like with a drop target.

Last night's work - replacing the ship entrance ramp.

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The new vs. the old:

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Looks like those new V-slot tabs netted me about 3/32" in closing the gap between the ship and the ramp. Tonight I'll be putting the module back in, after a few obligatory games of ROCs and CL, for some in-game testing with Lexy.

Last night I also posted up a couple videos for Support so they could see the results of some diagnostic testing they asked me to run on my #2 wall. You can find those here for those who are interested:

Finally, a little thing I learned is that if you loosen the top screw on the playfield module display, you can move the display panel slightly to center the image. Mine was about 1/8 to the left so I also fixed that. If you need to re-align yours, be careful though. There's a thin ribbon cable on the top of the display panel that you don't want to pinch with the retainer. Multimorphic also recommended loosening the screw with the power off, turning the game on to center the image, then shutting it off to secure the screw. This keeps tools out of the way of the electronics in that area.

It's cool that you can work on the playfield with it out of the game, much easier.

Oh boy, did you hit the nail on the head with that one! I enjoy working on this one so much more than any of my others. I think the only thing that's going to be remotely difficult will be the PC boards at the back and bottom of the wall/scoop unit but, that said, I haven't even had it in the extended service positions yet. That may mitigate any minor concerns about that access - that and the fact the main display comes out so easily.

Before I forget about it, any other P3 owners headed to the Pintastic show in Massachusetts in late June?

A little bit too far away for me I’m afraid

What constitutes “perfect” in CL? I would expect if you make every shot you attempt? Is it tracking misses that are flipped but don’t sink into a hole at the top and come back to the flippers? Just noticed on the first round - had 2 balls fed and shot up the middle twice to complete but no perfect award? Wondering how that’s tracked then or was this an error and it should have been perfect?

I've surmised that I lose the perfect bonus if I miss any shot or drain a ball. You also lose it if you don't get all the crates before hitting one of the powder kegs in the first stage. I also have the sense that there's a "time remaining" bonus involved.

All this talk about CL and I may need to throw mine back in and play a few games. Frankly, I beat the Kraken the first couple days I had the game and have not put that game back in since.

Maybe I need to try for PERFECT and stuff like that.

Hehehe, maybe just a little

Have you tried the Game Setting for Narrow Ships? That makes it "interesting". You can also play with the number of ships, their speed and the round configurations to keep adjusting the difficulty. There's a lot in that little game!

And yeah, trying to score the perfects is a lot of fun and a good challenge. My best score to date was in the 400K range and there were definitely more points to be had in there.

Hmm...didn't know about any of those settings. I'll certainly check it out now. Sounds like it could breathe some life into that game that I didn't know about.

Sounds like there’s more to level 1 than I realized. I thought you just wanted to hit 1 shot twice to finish it quick lol