Lately I've been trying to get the 1B bonus so I've gone for Mind gem and Space gem first. Mind gem I can usually get but for some reason Space gem is the hardest of all the gems for me to collect, so I go for it early. That way if I don't win Space gem I go into Thanos Attacks (after powering up the Mind gem again) with only 2 gems (Mind & Soul) to defend and three free shots to use from the Mind gem. If I win Thanos Attacks I get my Space gem and continue on. I haven't been able to actually pull it off very often, but it's fun trying! Lots of fun ways to explore in this game!!!

Space gem is most always the last gem to collect in my topper........I think portal locks and multiball hinder winning that one so I rarely try for it (I’m no where near getting all 6 ever).

If there was a timed two step process to use the space gem when in single ball where you could hit the right ramp and hold the ball with the post and then move gems more like the ant man gems shot I might try for it, strategically it’s a useless gem unless something ends up on the targets by mistake AND you don’t have a gem on black panther for me, maybe I’m not getting something.

Very well put!

The addition of Thanos Attacks (and Battle Thanos) is what convinced me to finally pull the trigger and buy my AIQ. To me it elevated the overall gameplay experience and especially the theme integration. It's a great objective to aim for, even if you have a terrible first ball. I love games that make me wanna play out my game and not just restart when I mess up.

Lost the Mind Gem on ball 1, but really want those Mind BOOMS? Fight Thanos and take that fucker back! The way the code rewards you for NOT losing a gem is also a great touch. I do understand that it sucks losing a gem to Thanos in the mode, but at least the 4 shots you need for the mode are relatively make-able or safe(ish): Widow Ramp, Gauntlet Ramp, Hulk Orbit, Black Panther Orbit.

Yeah, I tend to avoid Space Gem as well. The mode is probably the hardest for me to complete, but that might mostly just be because I don't often play it.

The issue for me is that I really don't know how to "properly" use it, it just doesn't feel intuitive or useful for me. I wonder if, similar to what you said, maybe the Space Gem shot could be used to light "Diet Change Gems" at the Gauntlet/Ant-Man, where you can move it where you want or swap the positions of 2 Gems or something. I would also be open to it being a different perk for the Space Gem and just rely on the "Change Gems" mechanic to move things around.

But it's quite possible that I'm just missing something and need to try utilizing the Space Gem more often.

Yep Space Gem is the one I use the least also, and I have the same problem trying to win it with more than one ball in play. I'm going to start experimenting with Space Gem to try to figure out how best to use it though. Right now I have two ideas I want to try:

1) Use it to move Mind Gem from a Level 1 spot to a Level 2 spot to immediately use Mind Gem again at L2. For example, maybe in Black Order MB have Mind gem on Hulk at L1 with Cap fully powered. Use three free Mind Gem shots, then use Space Gem to move it to Cap and immediately have it available with L2 power

2) Use it to power up Avengers after BOMB. It takes a lot of hits to collect Avengers for Battle Royale. So maybe after BOMB use space gem to move the Power Gem around through Hulk, Cap, and Widow to collect those Avengers quicker.

I'm guessing there must be some other good ways to use it too though.

You could potentially even move it 2 spots over, I might have to try that. But I might go for L1 Black Widow: Mind Gem, L2 Black Panther: Space Gem. Use those Mind Booms, hit BP and then move 2 spots and have the Big Mind Boom ready to go.

Another good idea, that sounds like it could be fun to set up.

Man I love this machine with all the little side things you can try and do just for the hell of it. Very cool strategy with the way the Gems can work together.

So I took out the drop target mech to install a cliffy protector so I thought I might as well take some pics of what I was referring to. In the pic you can see the working threads with the plastic insert still inside, the insert itself that popped out, and the non-working thread that the insert popped out. I guess this is basically just a nylon lock nut type situation, but Im wondering if there's a good way to add a new insert back in. I'm currently using a jam nut on the one screw and it will probably hold, but it makes it a bit tougher to fine tune if needed.

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Dear Stern lurkers. I am enjoying your pin. I would humbly ask that on the mode select screen, while the ball is traveling through your fancy tunnel you give an explanation of what shots are required for that mode. I am only learning through trial and error, and it would be really handy if you put that info up on screen while I'm waiting 10 seconds for the mode to start. Thanks!

I don't think the people complaining of losing gems realize how many resources the game gives the player to help win the battles.

You only lose the gem if you drain during the gem battle. Therefore, set as much up to prevent draining during the battle:

- You can make the secret skillshot or shoot combos to get portal locks. Use the portal MB wisely, controlled play trap and shoot.. treat the extra ball(s) as a spare and not something to get points more quickly.

- You can bring in Thor or IMMB into the battle for additional balls and ballsaver. Not only that, both Thor and IMMB come with TWO add-a-balls (Antman mystery and Eye of whatever at Sanctum).

- If you get the time gem early, all those ballsavers last longer, making later gems easier

- If you need even MORE ballsaver, knock some drops down, figure out where Super Ballsaver is on the grid, then bring it in during a Battle

- During the battles, skip the additional "extra points" shots and just go for the gem goal (e.g. mind gem - shoot the fast blink shot then wheel 3 times for quick finish, ignore the non controlled avenger shots)

- Remember Marksman hawkeye will give back a gem if needed

If you do all this, you should get gems pretty regularly. And remember, the comics and movies would be pretty boring if the Avengers consistently wiped the floor with Thanos and won every battle before the finale...

Thanks for that, as I always learn much from your posts!

The space gem is possibly one of the most underrated and underused gems.
In early play it is useful by simply recharging the Mind Gem, by moving it.
You can also plan which gem you are going to battle for next based on which gems are placed on which shots AND which they will be placed on once you have moved them.
Having the power gem on a shot to boost how quickly you collect the avenger, and then move it to another avenger once collected is super valuable in later game play.
I had difficulty placing a gem on the CA shot(it's easier now a single pop bumper hit qualifies it), so always used the space gem to cover that shot with an already placed gem.
Powering up a shot to LV2 then moving the soul gem on to it to collect the reward is also very lucrative.

So many different variations that it pays to experiment yourself rather than trying to simply mimic tutorials posted online.

I like having the Reality Gem one behind the Power Gem, that way when you move them along one you've got the Reality Gem on a maxed out shot for added points. Great way to max out the Hulk spinner bonus.

Excellent points. I still have some learning/experimenting to do with the Space Gem, I'll admit it is usually my last gem quest.

Making the Capt. America gem placement only needing a pop bumper hit has definitely helped for placement... in previous code I needed to place the sixth gem which was CA and I just couldn't make that shot and drained... Of course now I accidentally place a gem there when I don't want to!

With the Capt. Marvel Binary addition, I've been trying to use the Soul or Reality gem there most of the time. Having a good binary multiplier on CM and also having a couple balls locked when going into Reality gem quest, I try to spin the disk to get 7X and then only make CM shots (as much as possible) since the scoring is so much higher!

Looks like 1.01 code cannot be burned to a fresh 8GB card due to file size, but I was able to upgrade 1.0 on my 8GB card to 1.01. Failed in both Etcher and PB Browser

I did it as a fresh install from the raw file. Are you using the recommended utility for it and following the steps? Also make sure it's a class 10 SD card for HD video.

Yes all confirmed. Was just a PSA really I will be doing backups and moving to 16GB cards since the image size can only go up from here.

Doh totally blew past the 8gb card part lol, yep 16gb are all I use.

The 1.01 SPK file is only 1.8 gb... I always use a 4gb thumb drive and don't have any issues.

Game rules:

What do you need to do in order to gain an extra ball?

How do you activate the ball lock?

Portal locks? That’s combos or the super skill shot or a grid award.

4 combos first, then more combos after that.

Stern used bright white led boards behind the gems so they get a little washed out as well as being able to see the spot of the white led clearly.

A set of your lenses could diffuses the spot of the led plus add a little more colour to the gems rather than having the coloured gem wi the a white light in the middle of them.

Ah, I understand now. In that case, I would probably use a diffusion filter and a color gel to get the color more intense. Once Stern ships out the next shipment of Avengers toppers (supposedly this month), I'll see what I can do.

I have to say I'm not sure I agree with you. The stern guys, Lyman, Tanio, Keith, Lonnie, Dwight, Tim, Ray and others always take well thought out feedback and actually seek it from players - Ray himself has given me some tips on improving my game on LZ. On the ten balls thing I think that was regarding a co-op mode which folks were asking for. I think Keith decides whats in AIQ.

I gave some feedback on DP and JP2, which is one of the hardest games I've ever played, and they made some changes that made the game better. I still struggle but many of my friends who are great players love it for its challenging game play.

I think they made AIQ a little easier, the shots at the back could have been way tighter. I think on AIQ they have got it spot on yeah losing the gem on losing a ball is annoying but its inline with the story, you win or you lose... A simple way to make the game easier is to put a starpost at the outlanes.

I also almost always get portal lock then drain but thats pinball! - but compared to JP2 for me I've found that you can make progress with AIQ (and don't get me wrong JP2 is a great game I'm just not a great player) and have a lot of fun on it. Taking part in Pinclash and putting in some serious hours playing has made my game on AIQ significantly better. Before pinclash I'd struggle to get 100M now i'm getting multiple gems and easily always in the 250M+ area now.

Cheers,
Neil.

People complaining for the most part know all the code tricks and strategies. I know the bloody code inside out by now but.. thanos taking my gems pisses me off, so I disabled it (thank you coders). Its the feeling you get from that part of the narrative during gameplay. Nothing to do with progression or score. If the argument is that his attack mode and consequent stealing of the gems is Negligible to the game progression than why is the mode there in the 1st place lol btw love this game... best and most satisfying shots in a Stern in recent times.

Awesome Vic, look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Portal Locks
As chuckwurt said, combos award light portal locks and then spin the disc (on the Pro) or shoot the raised disc (on the Prem) to collect.
In addition you can get light portal locks from Super Secret Skill shot, mystery award and computer grid award.

Extra balls
I've never known a machine to have so many possibilities to light an extra ball. These are:
Bullseye target completions (3)
Captain marvel ramp (12) / spins (360?)
Combos (50)
Computer grid award
Trophies (8)
Progressing Avengers to Lv2 (3)

In addition there is an instant extra ball for completing the 2nd Hawkeye challenge.

Hi everyone - I have a couple of questions about my AIQ Premium:

1: I find it almost impossible to do a post pass from the left to the right flipper. But the right to left is smooth as butter with a near 100% success rate. Anyone else experience this? When doing it from left to right, the ball almost never leaves the left flipper.

2: My manual plunger is unable to shoot the ball hard enough to go up the ramp in the back and all the way around. And I don't see anyway to adjust it? As far as i can see, it hits the ball dead center.

3: About 1 in 10 of my auto plunges doesn't go all the way up the ramp in the back. Its like it bounces on the playfield when leaving the shooter lane, and in doing that looses some speed. Is this normal?

That’s the upgrade file not the full image file I believe. Apples and oranges-

Although I can post transfer L to R on mine, I usually go BW ramp then ski pass to the R flipper. In soul gem, you can save a flip by keeping the L flipper up as the ball travels around. I will try the post pass only if I want to avoid BW (eg, don’t want to place a gem there or don’t want to power her up to level 2 to keep the 3 mind gem hits).

Yep the raw file is 7,676,928 KB. So it's just about 8GB in size before it even installs.

I do the same. Also sometimes hit Black Panther to get from left to right. Or even Captain Marvel if I'm feeling it. I rarely feel the need to post pass on this game. On JP2 I do it all the time because it's less risky than making a shot. But for AIQ the shots are easy enough that the risk seems about the same as a post pass. So I might as well get credit for a shot. Especially for the Black Widow shot. Unless of course I don't want to level up a character any further.

I believe you can buy a different colored spring to make it impact the ball “harder”. I bought a purple spring and it always makes it all the way up now smoothly.

Addition: different colored springs have higher tension rates from my understanding.

Anyone have issues with the tower magnet not working after installing the Mezel ModTower? Optos are working...magnet test not working in test..reflowd coil lugs...not sure what else it could be...pretty simple install. Node 9 tests fine.

How many combos are needed before you spin the disc?

Mine had a bunch of wires pinched from the factory I had to fix when I installed that mod, might want to check your wires for clearance going down through the playfield.

4 combos lights the portal lock the first time, you can hit them before or after you open the portal.

Curious for those that have played the premium version. I have only played the pro and it is a great game. Is the premium worth it. I have a SW premium and to me the hyperspace multiball is worth the cost to me.

Does AIQ have same feeling or better to get the pro?

thanks in advance.

It's definitely a personal decision and I have nothing against Pro machines as I own a Deadpool Pro and love it!

I haven't played an AIQ pro, so I can't directly compare to my Premium, but I wanted the Captain Marvel ramp and the subway and I enjoy them very much. The Captain Marvel ramp is fun everytime you make the shot and comboing with Black Widow is great. I'm very happy with my decision to get the AIQ Premium.

I own a pro but in my opinion, the step up from Aiq Pro to Prem is far more worth it than the step up from SW Pro to Prem.

I owned the Pro for a few months before upgrading to the Premium....no regrets.

Played a Pro at location, bought a Premium.
Premium is imo worth the extra cost.

Happy mothers day

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I have a question about extra balls. The tiltforums rules list 12 captain marvel loops (360 spins on pro) to qualify an extra ball in one place, but in a different place say 50 loops (1500 spins) is needed. I've gotten a few extra balls during game that I wasn't sure whether they were from grid award or achieving captain marvel target. Any clarification on the rules would be helpful. Thanks.

I think code updates have changed the marvel thresholds, maybe a couple times.

I played a friends machine and said “wtf your strange disc is so much easier?” After some help from this forum I realized mine wasn’t adjusted correctly. Long story short, I would get credit for one rotation about every eight rotations. I played for months like this and just thought the game was hard as hell.

PSA for anyone out there like me ripping the spinner 500 times before things would happen.

Haha

OK,I've got a question for ya, on the Avengers Infinity quest movie, Thanos gets all 6 gems and rests>I haven't seen "End Game "yet so I don't know how that ends!,But,what happens if ,playing, Thanos gets all 6 gems??What will happen then??Anybody lost all 6 Gems yet??

Firstly, this is based on the movie not the comics and even if it was it couldn't be a direct story conversion.

If you have all 6 gems you instantly defeat Thanos and get 1 Billion.
If you don't have all 6 you still get to battle Thanos but it's more difficult.

As you can only lose a gem (other than the Soul Gem) if you lose the ball, as there is no timer. To get zero gems you must have started a mode then lost the ball during that mode on at least 4 separate occasions. (Thanos Attacks could count for the loss of 1 gem) So you've either achieved 2 extra balls, or set the machine to 5+ balls per game AND collected all 6 Avengers on 4 separate occasions - pretty slim odds.

The least number of gems I've had for getting to Battle Thanos is 3, and I still managed to defeat him.

Opposite. More comic like but again, not a direct conversion

I don't think I've lost all 6 gems, but have had some "bad" games where I lost most of them. To get to Battle Thanos you have to be having a pretty good game, so chances are you aren't losing all of the gems and balls associated with that.

I think 2 or 3 gems is the lowest I've had when getting to Battle Thanos. I've lost to Thanos and also defeated him multiple times. Only once so far have I had all 6 gems when I got to him and collected the 1 Billion bonus.

I think he was referring to hawkmoon's comment about the movies, not the game itself in his reply. However yes 100% it's comic driven not movies based which was loosely driven from the comics lol.