Good work,Blue looks good.

doesn't do it for me (Hooked), i prefer the chrome...
btw, its nice to have not the same idea on all, than mod it as you like it

This is how it is for me also.

It interests me that some people don’t have this experience.
I will have to check my game out and see if it can be tweaked to not do this.

I don't think I have played a Tron where that didn't happen at some point or another.

I've played both. Both games I play on route tended to do it, but my one at home, not so much. FWIW, my game is set a little shallow at the moment. I'm sure once I crank the pitch back up it with be doing it like the others. As others said, when I play on route I nudge to try and get it to hit the pops.

I am of the same opinion, to the point that I am not really believing those that say they have never had it happen.

Any type of drain can happen, but the Gem shot drain should not happen on any type of regular basis.
I have never had this problem.

1, If I did have this problem, the first thing I would do is break out a level and make sure the game is leveled correctly by taking measures from different area's of the playfield -- left side, center, right side, front of the playfield, back area of the playfield, etc..
2, If that didnt work and it was due too some crazy spin etc... use a 1 inch piece of some furniture deadning tape on an area where the ball is always making contact, the goal is to put in an area outside the gem kickout area and makesure it wont interfere with the rest of the flow of the game, the goal would be to take some of the velocity off the ball when it shoots out that corridor.

I repeat though, this should not be happening on a consistant basis.

good luck
Scott
Detroit Pinball

I thought Extra Ball had always worked on the LE... are you saying that if you spell D-A-F-T PUNK once via the two ramps you aren't getting rewarded with an Extra Ball?

LE has extra ball but pro does not apart from scoop award on pro but very rarely happens.

<<fix the extra ball (make it work) >>

TigerLaw25 is an LE owner yet he still makes such a claim that the extra ball doesn't work. I think he is wrong about that, or he is just sympathizing with the poor Pro owners who only get EB as a random scoop award (rarely). I can't tell.

Either way, new Tron code is welcome but let us keep our expectations low. The beta test code was quite subtle from eye-witness reports. There is almost nothing noticeably different, except pictures instead of text during the mystery award. That's it. No video mode, you won't even hardly notice. Sorry, but true.

Oh, really? Maybe I don't believe those who say it happens a lot!

Of course I've seen it happen on rare occasions, but no more than any other time the ball comes out of the pops. Certainly not repeatedly, or enough to cause the least concern. On my LE, it was the little cranny to the left of the left pop, the ball would nestle in there and then bloop out and SDTM, until I added a mod to not let it get in there so far.

No way, Jose. I have high expectations. Many, many suggestions were made and it sounded like Lyman was going to implement a lot of them. I hope the widespread insistence for a video mode isn't holding him up, I could care less about that. If someone wants a Tron video game, they're out there.

Now that Lacquer loOk's Good !!! Nice touch Hooked .. It's FORD Tough now ,,

After GEM nudge into the pops. Not sure what the problem is. Very rare I get a sdtm on my pro. Face down ass up. My game is set up fast.

Well I made Gem 8 times last night. 2 went SDTM, two I had to make good saves on, and the other 4 hit the pops on the way out. It seems to go SDTM when you hit gem with a nice clean forceful shot and the ball comes out of gem with so much momentum, there is no time for a nudge into the pops. This seems to be what happens on my machine.

I also checked my game again, it's dialed in to 6.5 deg, and is perfectly level. Set with a digital level. The 'bubble" on my game is so far out of whack, if I set the game so that the bubble tells me it's at the right pitch, my game will actually be at 5.8 deg!

Anyone else want to chime in about their game set up, and if they have any gem sdtm issues?

HErg has played mine. Not sure why but mine does not drain. It Always bounces into the pops. I leveled everything.

I looked pretty closely at Hwawonyu's machine, and on a solid Gem shot, the ball consistently bumps the post at the end of the ball guide, then kicks left and into the lower left pop bumper. Mine does not. Mine sounds exactly like Pincrawler's description.

I also use a digital level and painstakingly level and slope to 6.7 degrees. The bubble puts me at 5.9, and I still have the SDTM issues at that slope.

I'm considering taking the ball guide loose and enlarging the screwhole in the guide so that I can adjust the ball guide further to the right, exposing more of the post to a ball that is screaming down through there.

Mine very seldomly goes SDTM. I'm going to check with my wife's Iphone inclinometer app based on folks reports of the bubble being off. What the hell is it there for if it is not calibrated at the factory.

I watched several shots come around and definitely hit the post at the end and go into the bumpers.

Have not played this game in a few weeks. Big dummy!! I just spent 2 hours having a blast - hypnotic like experience.

This game will suck you in. So very cool!!!!!

+1 for no STDM after Gem shot or left orbit. If they put a ball save attached to the gem shot I hope I can disable it. I am not sure I can even make the Gem shot without hitting the pop bumpers on the way out... Not calling you other guys liars though. Mine is a HUO Tron Pro, with pretty much zero mods if that makes any difference for data collection.

-ben

Same, it always hits the post and bounces in to them.

Can anyone post a pic of the post the ball is hitting after it comes out of Gem?

When mine goes sdtm it doesn't hit anything after it comes screaming out of gem, and passes right thru all the pops and sdtm.

I'm not at my machine to be able to take a good picture, and this one isn't going to win any awards, but it should get the point across.

Untitled.jpg

Add me to the list of Gem to SDTM. Man it sure feels good, I make a tough shot and then the thanks my Tron gives me is a little SDTM action. Was playing last night and I hit Gem maybe 5 times and I got 1 SDTM, so it doesn't happen all of the time.

As for pitch, I just set mine up using the bubble, didn't realize how far off it can be!

One other shot that I get that drives me nuts when it happens is I shoot the left orbit and it comes around, hits a pop bumper and then takes a beeline straight to the left outlane and bye bye. This doesn't happen all the time but it's frustrating when it does.

Then I am the second. I owned a tron pro which never did it not even once and now I own a tron LE which has never done this.

I think that metallic blue trim looks awesome. For anyone that wants a cheap alternative to this, rustoleum metallic blue cans. This particular paint color is very unique. No primer needed. One coat covers perfectly. It dries in 5-10 minutes to the touch. One can should do the entire machine and tmolding. It is very durable. I did my avatar with it as a proof of concept before planning to get it powder coated and not so much as a scratch since. Been over a year. It retains that stern powder bumpy texture as well. For prep, just wipe the parts with alcohol. I did legs, lockdown, hinges, side rails, plunger housing, coin door, and the chrome tmolding. It has a very nice metallic sparkle.

This is the paint: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000LNWCKM

Exactly. Not enough time to even think about nudging.
My bubble was so far off that the pitch was 8.0 and it was ballistic. Balls flying everywhere. I now have it set to 6.7 and its perfectly level but a really good Gem shot rips right thru untouched.

That is frustrating. I can sometimes see that drainshot coming but just cant get my body to do react.

To me I feel like I'm in the batter's box waiting for the next pitch (got 2 strikes on me so one more to go). I'm thinking it's a curveball all the way, but turns out it's 95 MPH fastball and it blows right by me and I'm standing there frozen and look like a fool.

I see that ball hit the pops and fly over the playfield to the left but I can't do a damn thing about it and I just watch it go. Arrrrghhh.......

Pics of that post. OT with invisiglass still on ; )

IMG_0746.JPG IMG_0747.JPG

Well, there's your problem SB!
You'll need to set the PF to 7 degrees to properly coax GEM to gyrate (around the pops) instead of quickly draining your balls every time.

That extra .3 is where the magic happens!

Dang that spot needs a Mod

BR the paint code is Ford KY easy to remember

Thanks. Now, pics of mine. Remember, Hwawonyu's does not SDTM much, if ever. Mine does it all the time. Look at how you can see blue playfield between the white/yellow stripe and the ball guide on his.

IMG_5334.JPG IMG_5335.JPG IMG_5336.JPG

I see it slap a cliffy post on there and see if that fattens it up a bit.
His second shot really shows that post away from the end of the rail.
Will have to check mine.

It looks like Hwawonyu's game had LOTR's aftermarket post added to beef up the thickness.

lotr_post.jpg
Herg's looks pretty flush in comparison...

I highly suspect his is stock. He's never complained about any problems with it, and he's not the type to make changes like that. Also, the difference is not only that the post sleeve is fatter, it's also that the ball guide is located differently. I've already tried loosening the screw on mine and pushing it over, but it's maxed out.

Mine has a Cliffy sleeve on it, and it's VERY slightly larger, but it doesn't really help much.

Herg knows me well. I have never and typically would not go in there. Unless he or DC fan helped its stock, which it is.
I can clearly see the difference. My post is positioned out in the lane vs. his which is flush.

After looking at the pictures of your guide as compared to Hwawonyu's pictures, it is pretty clear that the guide somehow needs to be pushed back to line-up with the blue line.
In David's picture you can even see that the guide is lined up about to the middle of the post.

I wonder if the mounting part of the ball guide could be bent just a little to shorten the extension between the mounting hole of the ball guide and the edge of the ball guide.

It looks like mine needs to move nearly 1/8".

Bending the ball guide would be very tricky, and it would sit higher than it used to.

I think the options are to use a fatter sleeve, extend the hole in the ball guide, or to make another hole in the playfield. If I can find a fatter sleeve, I may try that first to see if it helps. I'd hate to make permanent changes, then find out it doesn't help. It it DOES help, then I'm debating between the two permanent options so that I can use regular sleeves on it. A fatter sleeve also makes the shot up that orbit more difficult, and I already can't make that shot.

I have that happen on occasion, and yes I see it happening, but then it's to late!!

Interesting that the lane guides are in different positions. I was playing again last night and was watching the ball feed out of Gem. It seems to me that the back loop of the Gem shot that feeds that ball out towards the pops could have a slightly different radius on it. Mine seems like it is a very tight radius, and when the ball exits gem it is directed down as opposed to the ball being directed into the lane guide you guys are all talking about. On mine it only hits the lane guide on very low velocity gem shots. If I hit it gem with any kind of force the ball almost never touches that lane guide or the post at the end of it for that matter. Usually resulting in a SDTM.

Thoughts??

Hmmm... I'm not sure if that's even possible. The angles just aren't right for it. Maybe yours hits the guide up around the shooter lane exit and bounces off, never touching the guide again.

How hard is it to take off the ball guide in this location? If it is easy to take off the guide then drilling the ball guide's mounting hole bigger would be an easy fix that would not be visible and would only give the guide more adjustment range.

The other option of bending the mounting part that I mentioned earlier would not entail raising the height of the guide the way I am thinking of doing it. If the mounting tab is bent upwards it actually will bring the guide closer to the mount but the guide would still rest on the playfield the way it does from the factory. It is just a question of whether the screw will fit through the mounting hole after that angled bend is made (and whether a longer screw would be needed).

did you make sure to clean the playfield? A proper waxing, or cleaning, adjustment of switches, maybe your flippers aren't adjusted or rebuilt properly. Depending on your skill level, maybe it's never done this, because you're not hitting gem at all....
Sound familiar?

GEM drains happen, they're frustrating. Playing around with a different pitch or quick reflexes to slap it in the pops can help.

Well, as I mentioned earlier, there is clearly enough people having serious issues with this to merit a patch fix. A three second ball save after GEM shots will not negatively impact the game even for those who claim not to have an issue with it.

So reading the thread there are several folks that don't have this problem. You're really going to try to take this stance after all that? Maybe you should read the thread lol. Gem drains not happening here is not a problem. You're suggesting what? I adjust pitch, rebuild my perfectly working flippers until everything is f'ed up to cause gem drains? Lol.

I don't know. I've yet to investigate that far.

I must have misunderstood. We'll talk about it this evening.

Or even better, an option to set the "GEM ball save time", defaulting to off.

Sorry, but what does this have to do with a TRON Update? I thought there was some news?
Oh Lyman where are you man!

btw Please make a separate thread about GEM shots

Herg, we can take a look at it tonight and discuss.
I have a feeling that the ball guide is slightly out of spec and can be worked around.

Gem drains SDTM maybe 1 time in 5. If the ball is slow enough, I can save it in the pops. Not a big deal for me, and certainly not enough for me to adjust or bend anything. It's a fun shot, and the drain possibility is part of the adrenaline.

Not a problem IMO.

he didn't ''get it''.