Randomness is what pinball is all about. YOU can plan on playing the exact same way every time, but you still have to execute, and therein lies the randomness.

On AIQ, if I can initially plunge the secret skillshot, I'll take that lock, quickly shoot 4 combos for another lock then start reality gem to hopefully lay on big points early and a 2x shot placement. If I biff the SSS, I'll start single-ball time gem instead to try getting the longer timers and savers for the rest of the game. If I'm making the tg shots well, I'll play single ball. If not, I'll bring in thor to make sure I get the damn gem. Nothing set in stone.

If your "always play that way" plan involves a shot you suddenly just can't hit during a match, what then do you do? Good players have multiple backup plans.

Just a quick rules question? If you have double triple portal lock scoring on a gem mode and drain a ball do you immediately go back to double then 1x scoring if you drain 1 or 2 out of your initial 3 balls starting the quest? Thanks.

So if I'm having a good day, making my shots, then I have the most boring game possible since everything goes the same way? Doesn't sound fun. Why have a game that only provides variety when you do badly?

Even if I have fall back plans for messing up, I'm going to fall back to those in the same order too, so I'm going to tend to see the same 2-3 game paths at best. And most of the time, if I, say, fail to make the skill shot to like my portal lock, what am I going to do? I'm going to sit there and grind combos to get my portal lock. Or if the next portal lock is too far away Ill grind thor to get a multiball that way to play a gem with. And then I'm back on my same path again, playing the same gem mode as before with 2 balls, just like before.

I don't see how AIQ is different from any other game in that context... if you're always making shots, all games will get boring. You'll eventually find the optimal strategy on any machine, even the ones that throw modes randomly. R&M is exactly that, you get whatever dimension and mode it dishes. And yet the strategy is still just start modes and multiball as much as possible. Execution is everything on that game.

Anyone noticed an... um... well I'll avoid swearing and just say "unfortunate" bug with the Extra Ball award? Just happened to me again which makes it twice in the past week I've had games over 1B going and while I'm playing my last ball I get an extra ball awarded (not just lit, it's awarded). However, while the extra ball animation is still playing my ball in play drains and the game ends instead of giving me an extra ball.

The first time it happened I hit the Sanctum target to collect it and the ball bounced back like a rocket SDTM while the extra ball animation started, but the game ended. The second time (just now) I hit the Hawkeye challenge shot to the inner loop to be granted an extra ball (not just lit) and while the animation was playing the ball came out of the pops SDTM and the game ended. I'm going to send an e-mail in to the bug report but was wondering if anyone noticed the same thing happening.

The one just now hurt a bit. I was only an Avenger collect away from Battle Royale and had all gems collected when it happened. Still a really fun game to play though!!!

Also in this game I was finally able to get into Black Order MB with Mind Gem at Level 1. I hit the button intending to collect the inner loop jackpot but it didn't seem to give it to me.

Thank you... I retested the the pitch after calibrating my level. The pitch was at 7.5. Lowered it to 6.9 and waxed the playfield. It's much better now.

Yes, the double or triple scoring steps down as you drain a ball.

Now that you mention it, I think this happened to me....I was sure I nailed the sanctum (lit for EB) but drained straight off the rebound....and I didn’t get the EB. I chalked it up to the pinball gods but maybe it’s a bug (I can’t believe it’s intentional that the animation needs to play out before draining to award it).

The other thing related to this is, if you have Thor or Iron man multiball going it depends on when the balls drain whether you're at 3X or 2X or 1X Quest Scoring. If you drain down to 2 balls (or 1 ball) then start a MB, it stays at 2X (or 1X) but if you start the other MB while in 3X, you won't go down to 2X until the total balls in play = 2. So 3X Quest scoring and then start Thor gives you a cushion to stay at 3X. At least that's my understanding. I guess the way to think about it is you never raise your Quest multiplier while in "Portal MB" situations, it only lowers.

Maybe the Mind Gem award gives the leftmost shot available as the free hit?
I played again last night and had the Mind gem on Captain America - I can confirm that when the SJP was lit it awarded it from the action button, great improvement.

In regard to the extra ball not being rewarded - I haven't noticed that issue before, but could it be that you had already reached the maximum amount of extra balls allowed from the settings, so it was only a points value awarded? There's no shortage of opportunities to achieve extra balls in different ways.

Exactly this, dependant on whether I have a mb ready to start, or have already locked in a couple of portal locks, or if I have the Mind Gem on a particular shot will influence which mode I'll choose.

If Mind Gem (or Reality Gem) is on Hulk, I'll choose the Space gem every time.
MB ready to start (especially Thor) I'll choose Mind Gem as having to hit the spinner is a risk.
Single ball play when there isn't a readily available mb I'll go for Reality or Power Gem.

I'd hate to lose that kind of choice, which is purely dependant on the current game state.

In competition, what also comes in to the choice would be what my opponent has already scored, or has setup ready to go. Do I need 50 million to win or 500 million? Being able to make those decisions mid game is what comes from many hours of practice and experience and what the top players have knowledge of.

Hi all, joined the club with my NIB premium.

I've got an issue that between the star rollover and PF there is a decent lip between the rollover and the PF. Adjusting the pitch has done nothing as the ball flicks in here from the bumpers and at other times, its getting quite annoying as it happens literally every game, sometimes multiple - usually resulting in a TILT to get it out (yes i know I can remove it but thats not the point!).

I’ve lifted the PF and ensured the screws were in tight, (even removed the entire rollover and re-seated it) however there is still a lip between where the star rollover sits and the playfield sits. Surely the split on the underside of the Playfield wouldnt affect it?

Below is an overview of the issue with pics and a video (refer link) that highlights the amount of force to dislodge (a pitch adjustment wont help it when it takes that much force to dislodge IMO)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q857era8wyi3a3p/IMG_0212.MOV?dl=0

From reading the owners thread on pinside I’ve read the below, however I couldnt get it sorted

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“Stucky ball 3 - skill shot roll over. Ball sticks on rollover. Appears insert needs to be pounded upward. Since these inserts are not put in place until after clear coat and decals, they sometimes not inserted far enough. Pounded in slightly from under playfield - fixed."

“The roll over insert is adjustable (up/down) if it's the one I'm thinking about. It was the same thing in Beatles. I'm not aware of any other inserts that aren't level with the playfield. pain the butt to unscrew the plastic housing though."
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Any ideas would be appreciated

Thanks

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I hadn't thought of that. I just checked my settings and it was on a default of 5 extra balls max. I changed it to unlimited. I'll see if it happens again... although I'd rather not test it again by draining while an extra ball animation is playing Thanks!

Rules question:

If you have soul gem, do you have to replay a quest (and risk the soul gem) if youve played all of them and lost at least 1?

Os everyone using Ninja chrome balls in there avengers or silver jets? Need to replace my stock garbage

I've been using Ninja's. No magnetism issues in AIQ or TZ so far. I do change out around every 400 - 500 plays as they are fairly scuffed at that point.

So, just to confirm, you do want carbon steel so that the avengers tower grabs them, right?

All pinball are steel and will "be grabbed" by magnets.
Games using magnets can sometimes "magnetize" the pinball which csn cause issues with machines. I would advise against listening to this and getting whatever ball you want and changing them out every once and a wHile.

Other than Ball Barons "Polaris" which is the worst pinball I've ever seen or owned. Uff.

I think it all comes down to player level, I'm a mediocre player but I have my good days, I like playing tournaments, but I play them like I play at home, I'm trying to set things up and that is not always a good thing in tournaments, sometimes it's better to take what's available.
I'm not going to change how I play though, if it works I win big, if it doesn't I loose. That's what has put me both in the top and in the bottom.

A lot of 'real' tournament players seem to not care if the game was fun, they're only there to win, I have had great games, but then lost because the other player just looped a single ramp like 50 times, (which is great if you can) because he couldn't seem to make the other shots (he even said so), I just walked away, if he wants to win like that, ok.
Of course it is nice to win, but I won't be pissed if I loose, only if I played poorly, but some players really seem to go nuts when they loose.

On some games I manage to keep the ball in play for a few minutes, and the other player maybe only 20 seconds, and they end up with a score a 100 times more, I guess I won't play that game for fun anymore....this is exactly how I feel about AIQ, the game looks fantastic and has some really nice shots, but I get nowhere, because I don't have the intention to read 25 pages of rules and strategies to get to a higher score. I think the game should be intuitive, and to me it is not.
I only have 4 machines at the moment (AIQ LE, Maiden LE, IM VE and Metallica Prem), and the game that pulls me to play it over and over again is still IM which I have the longest time. Sure it is hard, sure it is simple, but its just a blast to play, you know the goal(s), and they are reachable.
With AIQ I don't think I will ever manage to get to any of the endgames, in approx 500 games I have never had more than 2 gems, and only a handful of times managed to get the soul gem, truth be told that this is probably mostly to side drains and rejects. I play it maybe 5 times in a row and then the fun is gone.
Maiden is tough too, but that game is still fun to play, and once a while I get a really good game (for my standards )
Metallica is just a fun game of keeping multiball going....

Never buy chrome or “super shiny” pinballs and you’ll never have an issue. I recommend the standard shiny pinballs from Titan pinball. They last way longer than 400-500 plays. Probably 1,000 plays before I change mine out.

xyntec - I am too a mediocre player and my #1 goal is to have fun and “have a chance” to get deep into a game every time I jump on, not just 1 in 100 games. I love AIQ for the difficulty, the depth and speed etc. but the side drains were a game and fun killer. I made a ton of adjustments to the game per recommendations on this chat (pitch, sling power etc) and it helped tremendously but the side drains still killed a lot of momentum. The one thing I did that I changed which made the game so much more fun was to add Siamese posts to the outlines. It has reduced the “cheap” drains tremendously and lengthened my and my kid’s games noticeably. Im still draining out the sides (it’s not like I blocked it off completely). The purest in me hates me, but I have so much more fun with this game now and have reached some of the really cool rules and modes that I never thought I would because of the side drains stealing a ball 10 seconds after it was plunged. It’s at least worth the $5 to try it out for yourself. The game is just too damn special to give up on.

Alright, i hear a LOT of talk about these out lanes but come on. I mean, i am NOT what you'd consider a good player and I find the outlanes a bit hungry but no more than many other game ive owned or played. Metallica left outlane comes to mind (or any Borg left for that matter)
AIQ is least fair when you are new and you haven't had a chance to get that instinct of where a ball will end up from where it already is but changing posts etc seems excessive. I reminds me of the weekend where i had put rubber bands across the Metallica outlanes for my 5yr old.
Setting it to 5ball for a bit (to get a bit deeper into the rules) and learning the path of travel is the best advice for someone new to AIQ imo. If i went to a league night (oh how i miss human interaction) and one of my friends had siamese posts on his AIQ we would absolutely tease him about it.

Btw this is not meant to be anything personal against @ryancaseystudio. They just happen to be the most recent post about the outlanes. I am broad stoking across all "unfair" outlane posts.

Well, setting the game on more balls doesn't really matter does it? I mean if the ball drains before you get the gem you still don't have it....neither with a second ball, or?
That said I did close the outlanes for a few games just because I was exchanging rubbers for silicones and wanted to see where it got me, and then I could get some gems going just because I could finish the modes without draining...of course this is a big nono, but hey....one can try
Actually on the Maiden I had some troubles with the modes too, I just couldn't make the shots in time, and then when the countdown starts I just start flailing hopelessly and fail, I set the timers a bit longer now (advice of a forum member and thanks for that, just didn't think of it), and now the game is so much more fun.

the side drains are not as bad as in my Stranger Things though. lol

I do find that the side drains are 95% off the slingshots, so I lowered the power a couple of points and it helped... rest assured, a ball bouncing off the upper portion of a slingshot will most likely be shot towards the out lanes... having the slingshots too weak takes some of the fun out so it is a fine balance.... sooooo, all that to say, gotta master the nudge. a good timed nudged is key.

I find slings max power makes the side drains not as bad, actually. It is counter intuitive but it works for my setup.

This cant be stressed enough. Great players get the same slingshot kicks and balls into the outlane area as everyone else, they're not just making every shot they take, they are just able to control the ball in ways other than with the flippers. Definitely something to experiment with, especially when you can adjust the tilt bob. Take note of how many tilt warnings you use, if you arent taking any, you can definitely be more aggressive.

Alright yall, newbie to the new sterns.... looking to install lighted flipper buttons and the instructions says the 12 vdc femal connection should be by the coin door and for the life of me I can't find it. Maybe it's somewhere else?

I’ve got ball baron super chromes in my AIQ and STLE no magnetism issues at all. TMNT on the other hand magnetises them fast!

A lot of it seems to depend how the games is using the magnets.

Yeah, I've probably gotten "spoiled" by the mirror like finish and as soon as I can see the balls are pretty scuffed, I change them when they probably aren't much worse than the new standard balls at that point.

For around $10, it's not a big deal to change out 6 balls.

You don't need the gems to get to the endgame, just battle for them and just collect the Avengers three times. Winning gems gives you perks that you can use for higher scores and help complete modes, but for now, just worry about shooting Avengers for the three collects and wizard modes (soul gem, black order, battle royale). After all the gems have been fought over (whether you won or not), you get to battle Thanos for endgame.

I'm not familiar with that connection but I have had some 12V DC speaker kit installs that required unplugging something from the power board (top of the left edge I believe) that went to the coin door and wasn't actually used. Hope that helps.

Did not realize this, so thanks! Will go for this as I’ve never made it to battling Thanos, thinking I had to get all the gems. This simple strategy should make it even more fun, along with the Siamese posts I purchased from Marcos. Cheap 10 second side drains after ball launch gone, but now only get after legitimately poor shot side drains like I should, not just because of crazy sling action straight to side drains. Game is soooo much more enjoyable. No cheating at all. Puts the side drain post down to the third hole position all other Sterns have. Side drain holes are still plenty open to punish bad shots. Family enjoys playing it now, where before just too frustrating to play.

Note there are clear plastic cupboard stops on side of Siamese post to maintain position, since a second screw is not used. That way there is no sliding of posts.
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The three small nuts don’t need to be removed. I used pliers on mine. I just slowly upped the force I was using until it loosened. Once you get that initial loosening it’s easy to turn by hand.

Got the Mezelmods tower as a birthday gift from my wife today, easy install. Looks great next to our quintet, love it! Both are tied into the tower flasher. Took like 5 mins to install, great fit.

Just the white jam nut needs to be loosened. Strap wrench or pliers will help get it started.

sling ring? you mean your disc?
very common issue, mine is a bit off but not as bad as yours. have a kit to level it being sent by Pablo @ stern but not sure if it will save the issue as to me it seems the actual disc is uneven, in other words, it changes elevation as it rotates, or, the elevation isn't on fixed location (if that makes sense)...

wondering what others did to correct this.

I had same issue (wobbly disc) and got stern to send replacement. It did take almost four months from initial request. In the meantime I split the difference as best as possible. It has to be adjusted to at least avoid airballs otherwise the PF gets hammered.

Technically that's what that feature is called. It refers to the ring that Dr Strange uses to create portals or whatever.

I'm trying something new to try to help with the auto launch percentage.

Trying to push up on the left edge of the ramp in the shooter lane to better direct and help the ball keep momentum around the Black Panther orbit.

Used a 1/2" FxF 6/32 spacer, couple of large washers, 6/32 kep nut and about a 1-1/2" 6/32 screw. This allows for some adjustment of the up force being put on the bottom of the ramp.

So far the auto launch is making it all the way around the orbit to the right flipper about 9 out of 10 times. (Currently have setting at 240) I may try to adjust more with setting and upforce as I get more time on it. Only put a few games on it, but so far this seems promising.
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thanks for the heads up, I will follow up with Pablo and maybe he can send the replacement disc instead.

Here's a link to my post with pics before and after installing the Stern fix kit for the disc not being flush with the playfield on one side similar to what you're describing. Kit worked great for mine.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-avengers-infinity-quest-owners-thread-pinsiders-assemble/page/83#post-6048506

I fixed the auto plunger on the one I am borrowing last night. It was bugging the crap out of me. Mine looked just like yours in which the right side of the auto plunger was not making good contact on the ball. So when it auto launches, it pushes the ball more right and into the side rail which causes it to lose momentum. What I did is I removed the 4 nuts that keep the mech in place. When I took them out, I could see that the mech was not straight and it almost looked like it was a shit mech and not very good quality. One by one I put each nut back on to see how the mech moved left or right at varying degrees. What caused mine to finally straighten out was not putting the back left nut on. So right now the mech is only being held by 3 nuts which makes the mech straight on mine and I have been having 100% success. Try that and mess with each nut and tightness to see if you can straighten it up. For the outlane drains, make sure you have a good 6.5 pitch. I found using Sterns recommended pitch (listed in manual) helped with a lot of outlane sling drains I was getting. The steeper your machine is set up the more side to side drains you will get.

New best for me on Soul Gem! 225,250,000!

Played Hard mode with a Level 1 Mind Gem and completed with 24 Flips remaining!

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I've tried similar a few times. Not removing a nut, but removing the whole mech, straightening, checking contact points, bending, shimming, etc. Seems to help short term, but not long term in my case unfortunately.

Adding the Hard Mode option is such a great touch.

I know there’s been issues with the subway, but I am experiencing a new issue. I’ve always had an issue with the ball getting hung up before the VUK that the new plastic subway didn’t fix. Now I’m finding an issue where You spin the disk to open the portal to start your gem quest. Immediately without shooting the ball into the portal, the gem quest automatically starts. Anyone experience this issue and found a fix?

Are your opto connectors connected in the proper sequence? Sounds like game thinks ball has progressed through the subway.