Where is a ball

As much as I like AIQ, it’s no contest. CARNITAS FTW!!!

I need help…

Much of this is prefaced by the fact that, #begin auto plunger rant#, as I have posted here a few times, my auto plunger sucks and now almost never makes it around the left ramp. I guess today will be the day I really try to fix it. I have tried bending the plunger per some advice in this thread and played with the plunger power but nothing has worked. It’s mostly laziness or being stubborn and thinking that after dropping ~$10k on an LE that something as simple as the auto plunger should simply work. To me, its like buying a new car and after a week having to hot wire it to start it because the standard ignition won’t work - I simply don’t get how Stern isn’t 1000% embarrassed by this apparently being a common issue across games. Needless to say having the ball dumped into the pops and having a >50% chance that the ball is going to drop out from Cap and go SDTM 30 times a game (esp if you get soul gem mode) is stressful and is getting less and less fun. I took out the tilt bob and fricking slam the machine around, with middling success. #end auto plunger rant#

Anyway, I have had AIQ since November. When I got it, for about the first month, almost every game I would get 1-2 gems. I was consistently scoring in the 400k range. I think my high is ~700k and that was put up right when I got the machine. Now I can’t break 200k. I struggle to get gems. I know this is exasperated by the auto plunger issues right now because after accomplishing something, my ball is put into chaos instead of being fed around to a flipper where I can regain control.

Anyway, here’s the crux of my question. This game is unique in that when you lose a gem, generally speaking, you are done with that aspect of the game and have no way to recover. It feels super punitive. If I play a game and lose two gem quests, I generally left flipper/start and start over. What’s the point? Why should I think differently and keep playing through all 3 balls? I’ve never played a pin where, frankly you lose and are screwed like this. A lot of advice here is to set the game to 4-5 balls, but if you lose the first few gems, who cares how many balls you have? Maybe if there was a way to replay gems after you played them all? Maybe that mode exists and I have never gotten there.

Interestingly enough, the two times in the last month that I won the first two gems and the soul gem, then I had to battle Thanos and he took the gem(s) away from me. Personally, I think the battle thanos / thanos attacks mode should have an on/off setting in the menu as for me right now the mode is a huge kick in the sack and not a reward. Instead of thinking, cool 3 down and now here’s a fun mode, I instead am thinking, oh crap now this…

As amazing as this game is to shoot and hit combos, its starting to feel futile. Maybe I am simply not a good enough player and this machine and rule set is for a world champion pinball player. How do others approach this game and deal with losing gems?

I understand what you are saying to a point. But think of it this way. Who cares if you lose (or don't win) a gem? The gems do not block you from the wizard mode. The only thing in the game I can think of that you can get locked out of is you will not get Thanos Attacks if you do not win the Soul Gem (and I suppose you do not get the victory multiball for winning Thanos Attacks if you do not go in with all the gems you fought for to that point...you win a gem back instead). You still get Black Order Multiball and Battle Royale completely independent of any gems. You still get the final Thanos Battle even if you have zero gems...you just have to have fought for them all (plus Battle Royale) (full disclosure, I've never done it, but this is how I interpret the rules...I could be wrong, so please correct me if so). You still can get Super Computer Frenzy and the ultimate wizard mode, Trophy Mania. The gems give great perks and huge scoring, but they aren't needed in your possession to progress in the game. Is it a bummer to lose them? Yup. Does it block your progress and make the game a throw-away? Not in my opinion.

Good luck with your auto-plunger. I feel for you there. I have fought that fight on many machines. It's just a poor design and has been for decades. Some games you won't notice, some like this one, JP, etc, you will, and it sucks. Hope you can make it better, but I wouldn't ever expect it to be 100% without a complete redesign and/or much tighter tolerances in all the parts.

Deadpool (any model) is a great pairing with AIQ! Not seen: Space Station, Robotron and Capcom Bowling.

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the auto plunger problem definitely can be improved but not solved, even when mine is working well if I play long sessions it slows down over time. Soul Gem I just manually override and do a quick manual launch before auto plunge can get it.

I think the code has changed a lot in the time you've had this also so not sure how that would impact scoring, but as a newbie still in the honeymoon phase with my first NIB pin I am loving the depth and challenges. I get what you're saying, but if it was a cake walk and the same every game we would be done with it. I really like the level of complexity and challenge this game presents, and I think the code will continue to improve. The layout is awesome and as long as you maintain the flippers and get in the habit of manual plunging when it matters I don't see how I will ever get bored on this game. My only real beef with the design is why is a computer able to (frequently!) snag a gem when two valid avengers with level ups can't, that's really dumb.

Anyone hear anything about when the gem shooter rod will be available?

Nice!!!

I thought the same thing but then I started to change the gems at the scoop and it's better but yea, I see what you are saying.

The spinner RPM sound can be adjusted in the AIQ game settings, I set my threshold from factory 400 to 800. I think that is the purpose of the setting, in any case now when I hear it, I know I've had a good rip on the Dr. S spinner.

Outlane drains, they happen but I bet I save more on this game than other games. Maybe because it happens more? Maybe but I think it's a good challenge.

Overall with about 100 games in a Prem. I think if your are good at pinball, it will show. If you aren't, it will show but still fun if you like code depth and flow. Granted I'm still in the honeymoon phase. Also I sold my DP Pro to get AIQ. DP honestly just got boring but I know it's a great game and everyone from all levels enjoyed it. If I could afford to keep every game I liked, I would.

I put star posts in the outlanes and set slings to max, at 6.5 slope I find the outlanes to be fair now. It's work, you have to nudge to keep it going quite a bit but the slings all the way up really makes it play better.

Sorry Thanos, all mine, none for you

Drained before I could cash in 3rd assembly for the billion

Had a 71-flip soul gem but was pissed - I'd held in the button for hard mode but apparently not long enough... dunno how many hundreds of millions that mistake cost me Still finished over a billion for the game.

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A really nice addition in the latest game codes is the dev credit in attract loop.

Crew photos in hex frame are top notch.

On the other hand, it is a pity that the same pixelated background of the city is also used here.

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I did the same, hoping to get mine from 75% or so to 100%. I would say it got me to about 85%. Good improvement, but not a sure thing. I might try adding a second to see what happens. Definitely worth a try though...good call.

We’ve had the game two weeks. Everything has worked perfect up until yesterday. When the final ball drains and I have balls in the portal lock, it doesn’t register the game is over and goes on a ball search. This ends with the ball(s) being ejected out of the VUK and it still thinks that game is going even though I had already drained my last ball. While I appreciate the extra balls/points, I’d like to figure this problem out. Anyone have any insights?

check the ball trough in test mode. could be a stuck switch or something down there or you could have a ball stuck somewhere. similar thing happened to me once and when i checked the trough it said there were only 5 balls. i figured there was a switch problem in the trough. decided to check everything topside first and found a ball stuck under the gauntlet. good luck.

Getting closer, the top will be lit like the actual Chrysler building and this will address the black widow rejects

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Will it have the spire on top or does it get cut off at the glass?

Yeah it can't unfortunately because the piece is right up against the backboard. But there wont be a huge gap between it and the top of the cab....i think it's going to be pretty cool when its finished. But I do wish the spire was possible....I can print the spire and it can be the topper lol

I had a similar issue that took awhile to troubleshoot. Take a close look at your subway walk mech and make sure all the fingers are working correctly (if not contact stern and they will send you a warranty replacement). If mech is working correctly check your subway plastic (the new ones have the slot running all the way to the VUK. Old ones have the slot ending about 2" short if VUK and sometimes the ball gets hung up here and optos can't read correctly (stern will send you a warranty replacement for this as well). Hope this helps.

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Haha. A 2” topper. Perfect. Haha. Any idea if you’re going to make a Pro version of the Pym building? It’s really sweet.

If you play for wizard modes rather than score, is their any purpose in completing the Iron Man and Thor multiballs(getting super jackpots)? They are useful in stacking with modes and collecting avengers; but other than getting to the trophy wizard mode, does completing them do anything for you in getting to the main wizard modes like Battle Thanos or Battle Royale?

That's like a mile from my house ;p

I've been tasked with finding a pinball for my wife's aunt for her basement.

I haven't been able to play AIQ and I'm sure it might be a little biased in here but would this be a good game for kids ages 7-15? Not just boys.

And is the Premium a must?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Theme is perfect for that age group and plenty of focus on Captain Marvel and Black Widow representing girl power. The gameplay is advanced and has a lot going on but younger players can just focus on collecting Avengers or gems. I have a pro and don't think I'm missing much but if you ask a premium/LE owner you'll probably get a different story.

After barely being able to break 300M over the last couple of weeks, this happened.

Lost Thanos Attack, beat Battle Royale, and then beat Battle Thanos.

The wizard modes were all awesome!

Curious to know, how many trophies do you need for a Mania?

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Like 24 or you can adjust it down to 8 in settings.

Had ordered Siamese posts from Marco and they just arrived. During my order delivery time, I had figured out how to better negate the hungry outlane drains, by raising sling power to 30 instead of 25, which did help. Since I had already purchased the Siamese posts, I decided to see how they work and wow, even better. Only bad shots drain now and no cheap sling drains at all now. Game has gone from frustrating to bliss. There is still plenty of room for drains even with the Siamese posts installed. KE really left the outlanes very wide, even with Siamese posts. They are now about where my other games outlane openings are at, with 3rd adjustment holes, which AIQ doesn’t have. Game is so much more fun now!

Order link if interested: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/C-17492C

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did the game end while you were in a gem quest? Because then you're probably just having issues with the subway, fingers in the subway a lot of times (especially the front one) don't come up a 100% and thus the ball is no longer seen by the opto, so it doesn't know there is a ball there. Then when you drain the ball, it expects the ball now stuck in the subway also to be in play, when nothing happens it does a ball search and throws the ball out which should have been thrown out directly already at start of the quest.

This is a great call. What size rubber did you use?

Extra ball lights at around 8 trophies. An extra ball is useful for getting to the wizard modes.

Also, all the shots you make during these multi balls count towards collecting or powering up avengers, getting you closer to the next wizard mode.

As others have noted though, it is way more efficient and effective to stack Thor and Iron Man with a gem quest.

Everything checked out. And all 6 balls are accounted for.

Our Prem is a Feb build so we have the new subway. The fingers are all the way up when this happens and the slot runs all the way to the VUK.

Not sure on that scenario but it sounds like what is happening. It’s a Feb build so it’s the new subway. The fingers look like they’re all the way up when this happens. I ran diagnostic check on the subway and it’s detecting the ball.

Also, double check that the subway optos are plugged in in the correct order in switch test. A few machines have had them in wrong order and that could cause what you are experiencing.

I was nowhere near then.

At least I got Thanos!

If anyone wants to see what happens on screen when you beat Thanos, here you go....

SPOILER ALERT!!!

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BaxterStockman - I have the Pro and 10 yr old twins (boy/girl) and both love this game. We recently dove into the Marvel movie series so it’s made playing the game even that much more enjoyable (we just finished watching all 23 movies in chronological order-highly recommended!!!). I have a Pro and the kids have played an LE on location and both said they preferred the Pro since “there was too much going on” in the LE. I don’t think you’d go wrong either way. There is a lot going on with the depth of this game but like someone said earlier, the kids can focus on some of the basic layers of the game and really enjoy it. It’s fast and hard which I think they love.

the subway check won't let you notice there's a problem, because when the opto detects a ball, it directly fires the walking mechanism, so you won't notice the opto going off just an instant before the walking mechanism is down. But you can check it by pulling the white power interuptor switch in the coindoor, just before the ball will enter the last position, then you can still do the switch test, but the walking mechanism doesn't fire, and you will probably see that the ball rolls just a bit further than the opto. The finger only needs to be a little down for this (not necessarily all the way)
The only difference with the new subway is the slit in the tunnel, without it sometimes the ball stayed in the tunnel even past the last finger, this was a different issue.

Anyone change out their coil stops yet? If so, any better flipper feel?

Yes, at around 400 games. Don’t forget the upper flipper. Original coil stops won’t last much longer. I wasn’t having flipper issues yet, but the “nipples” on the stops were loose and wobbly with the tell tale gold dust below...

Squeaked out a new high score on AIQ and just missed Trophy Mania... finishing with 23 trophies!

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We unboxed and set up our Pro on Friday night so it’s time for the obligatory “where do these fasteners that we found at the bottom of the box belong” post. So, where *do* these fasteners that we found at the bottom of the box belong??

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Most likely here

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BAM! Nailed it! 2 of the four were missing. Now they’re all there! Thank you!

Ok, next question, does everyone else’s playfield glass rumble and rattle like you have a super shaker motor in there (and we don’t)?? Is it time for tape on the glass edges? The glass is fairly tight in the channels, doesn’t slide out easily at all as it is.

Thanks. Yeah I'm pretty sure they'd love it. Just have to make sure her grandkids are into that. I can't imagine they're not. But I don't want it too "boy" friendly or simply something that I want rather than the kids. haha.

I put a small (1/2") piece of thin carboard from a 12 pack of beer/soda in each upper corner of the playfield glass, taped in with small piece of packing tape. Sometimes also have to use electrical tape on mount for backglass.

A have a lot of bass and shaker and this pretty much eliminates any rattles.

So I got to finally play a pro model today!! Shoots great been looking to get add a pin back after 2years. I think this is the one for me.

I did some rattle testing, found it was coming from the rear edge of the playfield glass. I used a strip of high quality electrical tape across the top edge (folded over) and the rattle is gone! Thank you.
We’ll see what happens once the shaker gets here.

Thanks. I’ll give it a try.

I have this exact same issue with my feb. build. Running subway test the last opto flashes briefly but doesn’t stay on when the ball is stopped on the final finger.