Not really, it's a waste going into mind gem with a level 2 avenger. I'll actually go out of my way to rectify that and go in with a level 1 even draining to do so. Now I'm less penalized for having the level 2 avenger

I mean, it's a positive change, sure, that the gem at level-2 won't work worse than at level-1.

It's just that it's going to cause even more confusion over the gem powers, which is already the #1 complaint about the game.

I’m really happy to see the Mind gem change for Soul Gem mode. Before this it definitely felt like a penalty to take L2 mind gem into it instead of L1.

I like the scoring boost on Thor MB too.

I'd bet most of the people complaining about gems don't even know the mind gem offers shot completion. I always hear this complaint so just ignore the gem powers. I scored well over a billion and beat the game and had no clue what the gems did. Honestly, I still have no real strategy other than mind gem at 1 for soul gem and mind gem at 2 to complete reality gem. You can have a ton of fun ignoring the gem strategies. The gems are there for the people that care to figure it out.

Good point.

Looking forward to playing "Gem Mania" now since I don't have the official topper. Probably can boost scores with it a little as well.

Ha! I just had a good chuckle at the thought of your high scores getting a boost! Going from insane scores to even more insane scores

Holy moly this is a great update. Leaving on current firmware due to spider mod, but I’ll be really, really looking forward to an update to that.

Got my game about 3 weeks ago and installed Spiders mod last week. No way I'm going back to plain code.

I actually played with the Spider mod for a month or two and ended up going back to stock eventually.

Just played the new code. Home Team is welcome addition. Spinner achievements seem to have swung the other way to the easy side. (250rpm Bronze, 400rpm Silver, 800rpm Gold). I got all achievements on first ball and pretty sure first spin at 1495rpm…

I think I saw gem mania but didn’t mean to start it. I was in middle of IronMan Muliti-ball when suddenly I had 6 balls going and the gem lights were all lit. I was focused so much I only got a couple glances at the screen, but I did see “Stone Excitement” and some type of Final Jackpot (that I missed because I drained looking at screen….lol). I didn’t see it start but assuming this was Gem mania because it wasn’t on BINGO menu anymore.

In general, I’m liking this update!

Yes, had the same experience with Gem mania and didn't even realize i started it during a multiball.
Saw a Gem Jackpot flash once but thought it was something else and then at the end of the game i got the Gem Mania achievement.

Does Gem Mania work without the IC hardware?

It will work if you have the topper installed. If not, you need IC.

With only IC, how do you know how close you are to starting it?

According to the README:

- Insider Connected - adding Insider Connected ability to start 'Gem Mania" if you are logged in
- Insider Connected - 'Gem Mania' award will take the place of 10M Points award in the computer grid

Oh, so it's just a random Computer Award and not tied to getting all the gems across plays now with IC? That's disappointing - I like the idea of having to get all of the gems across games to mix things up a bit.

Hawkeye challenge inquiry: tonight I selected marksman difficulty and nailed it, awarding time gem, then gauntlet to collect. When placing began I shot either the gauntlet or inner loop, can’t remember, and it awarded me the reality gem… so two in a row! Is that supposed to happen?

Was the Reality gem mode maybe running when you did the Hawkeye challenge and the shot you hit won that gem battle after hitting the Hawkeye challenge?

Or Reality Gem was already won and awaiting the Collect Gem shot. If you hit Hawkeye Marksman while in that state, then yes you collect and place two gems back to back.

Ahhh, I must’ve completed the Reality Gem before Hawkeye began… The way it looked, I thought My Avenger had been killed off. Thanks for the help! Would be cool though if in Marksman you could keep getting gems that were lost by nailing inner loop directly after collecting a recovered gem…

Today, after a long time waiting, I have been able to join the club. What a spectacular machine.

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Trying out new code... Defeated Thanos with all 6 gems, Computer Frenzy, Trophy Mania. Just squeaked out 5 Billion... Didn't even make it on my High Score leaderboard!

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Time to tone down the max extra balls

AIQ does have a fair amount of Extra Ball rewards.

I’ve thought about it because of longer game times, but so far have left EB’s at factory defaults.

And here I am excited when I put up a billy

Anyone have any tips for drop targets that stick every now and then? Seems to be the bottom one most of all and is super annoying when going for it in soul gem and the ball just bounces off until I hit it once or twice more. I've taken the whole drop target assembly out and cleaned with alcohol to make sure there's no gunk but is it possible it could be binding on the rubber behind the drops?

That’s exactly what my game was doing, except it was the middle one. I ended up putting to small washers on the two back screws(closest to the rubber side on the drop assembly)to lean it forward away from the rubber just enough to let the drops have a bit of space. Since doing this it’s been behaving a lot better. I still get a brick once in a while but nowhere near as it used to be so I’m satisfied with the results.

I haven't had to do any of this myself, but have seen in the Deadpool group - some people put in stronger springs (or cutting a link or two out of existing spring) to make it pull down harder. Also check the "ledge" that the targets rest on as well as make sure there is open space in the playfield behind the target.

You mean like between the other washer and the e-clip?

The washers I installed went in between the drop mech and the playfield. The drop mech is attached to the playfield with 4 wood screws and I just put 2 washers on the 2 right screws(if you’re looking at the machine as your playing it)to slightly move it away from the rubber. Here’s a few pictures to help.

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Ahhhh thanks legend

Ok, got another weird one here. Anybody who has installed Infinity Gem Stern Shooter Rod, does the stock spring need to be upgraded. I changed out the shooter rod and now a full plunge won’t make it all the way up the ramp. A full plunge barely gets me to the black panther secret skill
Shot

Yes, Order the red spring. I did this and haven't had issues since.

Thanks a ton for this, I'll try it. My top target fails to drop about a quarter of the time, and occasionally the middle one too. I saw upthread where someone re-drilled the mounting holes to move the entire assembly forward (to the right), but I couldn't bring myself to dare to do that.

BTW for all, if you have the Cliffy protector here, it makes this significantly worse by narrowing the gap. I had to take it out.

Does it happen to someone else that when you release the ball from the stark tower, the ball rebounds on the way down and does not fall clean until the flipper? I can't do the hawkeye shot...

Try using slow motion video to see where the ball is rebounding. That would help you know what to try to adjust.

It's easy, when you release the magnet the ball and go down the ramp of the stark tower, hit the left side and move the ball from the path to the flipper

There have been a few reports of this. I had it happening a little bit after I moved the machine to another room. The key seems to be to raise the right rear leg - make sure the playfield is level at the back, or even leaning a little leftwards. Or if the ball is hitting something on the left, maybe it's leaning too far leftwards already and you need the opposite solution.

I have tried to upload a small video to YouTube but it does not keep the slow motion...it uploads it at normal speed....my machine is lowered to the maximum of the 4 legs...it should be level and do it well.... One curious thing that happens is that when he throws the ball without making the hawkeye shot, he doesn't do it badly at all... when he throws the ball worse is when the hawkeye challenge is activated.... it's weird...

I have the machine since yesterday and there are some things that I still don't understand...for example there are some gem battles in which there are some moments when I don't know where I have to shoot...for example in the battle against maxima... ..I make a shot to the central ramp, another shot to the right ramp and then to the targets of dr buner....after this I don't know what to shoot at....

As vikingerik said, try playing with different settings for both the pitch and level of the game to see if you find a setup that works better.

This website has explanations of the gem quests:
http://tiltforums.com/t/avengers-infinity-quest-rulesheet/6740#heading--gemquests

Also you could watch videos of the game to see how the quests work. Here's the Bowen tutorial:

And here is a DeadFlip stream:

For Time Gem, after hitting Widow/Gauntlet/Targets, it should start over at Widow/Gauntlet. Make sure when you hit the target the the line that is flashing is the line you hit. You have may have to hit the entire bank multiple times to finally hit the one flashing. (Good use for Mind Gem)

Actually, after hitting both ramps you have to drop the flashing target. If you clear the bank without hitting the flashing target it resets and the middle target becomes the one to hit ( ie it does not scroll).

I like this

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/avengers-for-dummies-complete-tutorial-stream-and-flashcards

And this

https://www.pinballmexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AIQ-Rule-Sheet_LOW.pdf

Give that pin time, watch the videos recommended and play again and again. And set it up well, level and with 6.5 to 7.5 pitch how you like. The rules are not easy here... This Pin is hard to get into it, but if you get it once, it will be better and better. I was disappointed first when I got it, wanted to sell / trade but I didn't and am really happy with that now. I have newer Pins but get back to that game again and again. It's the drop target rules, the many possibilities / strategies and the fantastic fast action flow with very well Multiball possibilities.

Can confirm adding 2 washers here fixed my issue, the game plays so much better now - thanks mate

Good to hear man!

One more thing that's been irking me - I've had the machine barely a month and I've changed the upper flipper rubber twice already cause it just seems to get minced up by brick shots to it - and that was before I just rebuilt the flippers. Anyone else had this problem?