Looking forward to a play on this beast

WITH BEACH BOYS PLAYING ON MY iPOD!

So for those guys who played "that beast" already, -what was your impression:
Is the gameplay (really) "very concentrated on the upper center of the playflield" like RipleYYY mentioned in post 2537?

If too easy, move outlane posts. Simple.

I doubt if it will be too easy as Keith and Zach can get Rock City on KISS in their lunch hour but only know of one other person who has got it.

And it's all well and good having super hard wizard modes, but how many owners ever get them?

Encore on AC/DC.
Last man standing on TWD.
Final Tour Aerosmith.

On factory settings only above average tournament players can achieve these.

So, if Maiden is slightly easier than those, then it's not necessarily a bad thing.

Enjoy your top score, Code update will be coming in morning and installed. Please come back and try again. Thank you. Management

My 10 cents worth on fonts, I watched the stream again today and have no problem with the Arial,

Thanks again Mr Danger, Super work !

I would really appreciate if the program team can keep the fonts clear and legible please.

I'm an 80's teenager and don't want to have to don the glasses to play pinball please.

Keep up the great work coders !

I'm seeing some of the cool little Easter Eggs you are putting in !

Like "Up the Irons" standby player etc.

This stuff is gold

Love Easter Eggs, Humor and Innuendo

Loving the call outs, Put some super secrets please !

Rock on you guys !

Knock it out of the park !

Can we some more of Cyborg Eddie please !

Oh and thank you to the unsung heroes behind the scenes, The Mechanics, Electronics team, The Artists, You guys have gone Next Level !.

The font is fine - some basic metal-effect shading to add depth, non-serif, easy to read, and just different enough to be noticed as different (if not unique). It’s not Arial or Times New Roman...or Comic Sans...

In my view, the LCD content should feel like an extension of the art from the playfield, backglass and cab. So here is a basic test to see if the font is cohesive in this way:

If whoever is picking the fonts for the LCD had the power to change the fonts on the playfield art and ZY would think it looks good, then the font looks good.

Another way of saying this is that ZY should be the art director for ALL art content and guide others down an art-style path. ZY should have final say on LCD content - then you would see things taken to a whole new level.

It seems like the industry is still figuring out that LCD art should be considered like "video-playfield" or a "video-backglass". Ideally, it should not be approached like dots were where a "dot artist" worked with the programmer in isolation. I'm not saying that there aren't some inherent differences between playfield and LCD art just saying that it shouldn't be so obvious that ZY is completely uninvolved in the LCD content. I will add that JJP is leading on this front and I just want Stern to pick up their LCD-game to match this new level of quality we are seeing in the rest of IMDN. This pin deserves it!

this pin must be pretty awesome for us to be nitpicking the “font”.

Hahaha I thought the same thing.

How’s the super skill shot for others? The one I played struggled to make it around the loop. Thinking this one may be a tad steep.

Exactly the point! Excellence comes from the same nitpickyness that ZY had while drawing the art on the playfield! And this excellence makes other parts of the pin (LCD) have to step up their game.

So, a question for you guys that have played it already. How difficult did you find hitting the left ramp through the pops?

How were the auto plunges for trooper mb, did they feed the upper flipper ok?

Perfectly. We’re thinking red spring to the rescue, just seemed weird the manual plunge struggled.

Way easier than the right ramp.

We couldn’t manual plunge up the orbit... but auto plunger did no problem

Maybe that is by design? Isn't the skill shot on the lower part of the playfield? I'll hopefully be playing one today!

This seems to be the case also on my game and a few of the other games at MGC that I've seen. When I get mine home I'll try to adjust and see if I can improve the strength. If that doesn't work I may try a slightly stronger spring.

I have not played IMDN yet (can’t wait though!!) but on my Roadshow that I used to have and other pins with shots through the pops it was more of a mental thing. Every time I just made the shot without thinking about it, the ramp was easy through the pops. But if I focused on not hitting the pops and staring at them too much I would hit them and miss. So I’m guessing it will be a similar “mind game” with IMDN’s left ramp IMO.

You should be looking at where the ball is on the flippers to make ANY tough shot consistently.
Like this guy!

A6831D5E-9DB4-476B-A37F-2E13BD2ED0D7 (resized).jpeg
“Hey chuckleheads, eyes up HERE!
If I catch you staring at my bosom or ass, one more time...”

That's ok I'll do I again and hopefully better. One thing I did notice last night I'm sure code is going to fix it but it was weird Everytime i started fear of the dark and hallowed be the name mode the LCD would go black and only showed scores it did not show the animations.

That's fear of the dark mode.

Lol I know right!!

Difficult, but not erroneously so. Feels good to loop the ramps.. like Metallica in that regard.

That is due to the earlier code on the game.

Great game. I'm a sucker for multi-flipper games. The fact this thing has four flippers, is fast as hell, smooth ramp shots, multi-ball galore, and an interesting layout... I think people are going to love it. I was lucky enough to get several games on this at the local arcade and will be spending the weekend up there trying to figure out this game. I wasn't the biggest Iron Maiden fan but I do like metal so this game is definitely growing on me. It's probably the best Stern game I've played in awhile. Hope everyone enjoys!

I un-boxed my game at MGC last night and got around a dozen plays on it before having to leave. The game is amazing! I've been in the hobby since '04 and have played every new release game and I don't think I've ever seen another game that had this level of polish and breadth to the rules so quickly after release. At this point I don't even know what's missing or incomplete software-wise. Everything about this game feels well executed and thought-out. The layout has a ton of shots, speed, combos, loops and a good mix of tough, moderate, and easy shots. It doesn't really play like any other game that I can think of. The ramps I'd say are moderate in difficulty.-the left ramp is easier than it looks. The mini loop and super-jackpot shot are tougher to hit than I thought which is a good thing. The main loop is very repeatable and fun to hit. I love hitting the left orbit and then ripping off 3-4 consecutive loop shots! The power orb shot is actually pretty tight which is a good thing as it's not something you really want to hit "by accident". my guess is that this is by design. The spinner shots and the sounds associated with them are awesome! It's great to see a game with really good spinner rules. Lighting revive using the lower left spinner is a great rule as are making that spinner score double in Fear of the Dark. You can tell that the team behind this game put their heart and soul into it! I love that there are only 5 main modes in this game. I'd rather have 5 modes that are well thought out and feel unique than 125 modes that feel the same. The modes in this game are just as fun as playing the multi-balls which is rare in games today. The game doesn't play as brutal as games like TWD and GOTG but isn't easy either. I'd say it's just about right. Most of my drains came as a result of "playing loose" with the game and not being able to react to the speed.

As far as other aspects of the game go I think the artwork is phenomenal and may be the best looking modern game to date! The sound and callouts are all really well done and the music really fits pinball well. The display does a great job of telling you what you need to do and displaying where you are at. Yes the style may not match Zombie Yeti's artwork but when you're playing you don't care. It still looks good and does the job it needs to do. I think the lights and use of RGB lighting for the main shots on the Pro is really well done.

I really can't come up with any gripes or things that I don't like about the game. For a Pro model it doesn't seem like anything is lacking. I am looking forward to seeing what the differences are in the Premium but I am 100% satisfied with my decision on the Pro and can't imagine that the upper tier models will be "that" much more fun to play. I'm putting the savings towards KME and his team's 2nd game (whenever that comes and I don't really even care about the theme). From this point forward I'm really not interested in seeing what re-hashed designs the other Stern designers come up with. Now that I've seen and played this game which is totally original with a unique layout and excellent "code complete" rules, I think this is all I really want going forward. The only other NIB game I really have an interest in is TNA for similar reasons. -JJPOTC and DI are both excellent games but I won't consider them due to price but will gladly play them on location!

I'll provide an in depth review once I actually get the game home and spend more time playing it but my thoughts so far is that Stern really knocked this game out of the park!

Really? In every thread there are no less than 3 people who decide to come in and tell us all how much IM music sucks...

I think the icons are AWESOME! Now you can look up at the screen and know your progress on certain parts of the game instantly. I hope this is a continued trend. Also, the font being simple is another plus to me. Readability is everything. I want to look up, get my info and get back to play instantly. Nothing worse than searching on the screen (Star wars) and returning to a preventable drain.

I'm feelin pretty helpful today so thought I would share, what I think, would work very well in place of "Flight of Icarus" for you non-Maiden fans. Very similar lyrics and melody.

ok, when exactly have people on the internet ever been afraid to say anything from behind a keyboard? Nope, this is Pinside - their are haters and bum-huggers around the "normal/average" pinheads. Stern actually appears to have knocked this one out of the park from the getgo.

This pin appears to have almost everything that everyone wanted.

Some more Iron Maiden Streaming here right now: https://www.twitch.tv/cjarcade2 (seems the games are switching but it was Iron Maiden at one point).

I had a chance to play about 5 games on an Iron Maiden pro today on location at Marvins Marvelous Mechanical Museum. The game played great thanks to the unique and fast layout. I really like the inner loop shots from both upper flippers, each felt satisitifying to hit. Also, the lower third of the playfield felt very open, yet unique thanks to the shot layout on the lower left side. The only odd thing I noticed is that the back board shot either wasn't working, isn't coded yet, or on the pro it just hits the target and falls back to the playfield (hope that isn't the case).

As much as I liked the layout I just can't get into the theme or the music. I like rock music, especially ACDC but I just can't get into Iron Maidens music. None of the music felt, in my opinion, like it went well with a pinball machine unlike that in ACDC, Metallica, KISS and Aerosmith. Since I'm not a fan of the music I could never see buying this game for my home collection but I'll play it on location again. Obviously this point is all based on personal taste so if people like Iron Maiden music they will most likely enjoy the pin.

As far as the LCD goes I feel that Stern is overloading it a bit and / or that the font and front color is making things difficult to read.

If you are considering buying an Iron Maiden, or any music pin, I would make sure to listen to the tracks first if you haven't already. If I'm going to drop $5.5k-$9k on a pin I need to at least enjoy the music. ACDC and Metallica will likely always be Sterns top music pins followed by KISS and Aerosmith. I just don't see Iron Maiden long term being as appealing to as many people as Sterns past 4 music pins. I wish Stern would have saved this layout for a different theme with broader appeal but now I'm just complaining, lol. If you are an Iron Maiden fan then this is the ultimate pin for you and I think you will be very happy.
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...for you.

I'm pretty sure that is how it is supposed to work. On all of the video footage I have seen, this is what is happening. I also haven't read anything about it having a magnet back there.

Correct. The target is just 3 switches (outer ring, inner ring, center) that the ball hits and bounces off of after registering. There isn't a magnet which is a smart choice. If there was one it would get smashed and mangled as magnet cores are way softer than a pinball. The target works perfectly for what it's intended to do.

*edit* - what he said, duplicate timing

Yep. Just a big ole physical switch spot target back there. Pretty cool. I wonder how long the orb flasher will last and also the plastic around the Pharaoh target will last though. The orb flasher makes for a cool effect, but is upside down under a hood above a spot target close to the flippers. Can see air balls busting that pretty quick. Time will tell.

This is funny. I like ACDC music a lot, but owning the pin eventually put me off the music for a while. I stopped listening to it outside of pinball. I don't own a KISS and really wouldn't because of the theme, but the music ends up being cheesy pinball music. I am fine with cheesy pinball music during pinball, and it doesn't impact me beyond that. Short answer I would be fine with a pin were I thought the music was meh. Although, I like Maiden.

Played last night at stone hedge in akron. My initial thought is its too easy. I thought it was OK not great. But I only played 2 times and it's hard to hear everything wit so many other machines going

Easy on the game you played , but its so not a problem because its so easy to make games harder or easier .

I made twd easier i left acdc like it is
I made Met and afm a little harder

Im not a Iron Maiden fan, but phenomenal pin, blazing fast. 1st game

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I've been looking for it diligently and haven't found him yet... is my favorite Eddie - Live After Death - somehow missing from this pin? I can't find him anywhere. Anybody seen this guy?

Good points. It's possible that asking the PF artist to also take on the "electronic" art of the display would be just too much in terms of time/effort.

And I agree: JJP's "dots" are the best around, by a fairly large margin. I actually think TWD's dots are a good deal better than the animations of IMDN - at least when seen with a color DMD.

It didn't need to be electronic (video game style) art for the lcd. Hand drawn art would have been awesome for the lcd and match all the artwork on the rest of the game.

Aerosmith works but Iron Maiden let you down? Kiss? Come on man.

Did someone page me?

Mine is being delivered Tuesday!!

First impressions.... Very cool!

Fuck em'. If that's all they can muster up against IMDN, their argument is about as strong as wet toilet paper.