Well this kinda sucks - I've not had my premium for long, only maybe 30 plays or so and the CM ramp opto has stopped working. It doesn't register at all, and there's no led light on the sensor, which i guess means either no power getting to it, or the opto itself is screwed?

I've checked under the playfield, nothings worked itself loose or come undone - it was definitely working before so it's not any sort of initial build mistake. I have notified my distro who are in the process of sending me a replacement, but just wondered if anyone here knows of anything else I could check for an easy fix?

I've absolutely loved the game up to now - just can't wait to get it back up and running 100% again! Also just to say I've had 3 NIB Sterns in the last 12 months and this is the first time I've had any "serious" problem I couldn't fix immediately, so I'm still very happy with the NIB quality in general.

So I found my opto issue i think. I opened up the machine to take out the opto switch in readiness for the new one (the distributor AMD were amazing - have already sent a new one via overnight TNT).

I noticed that the opto wire was pinched really tight against the CM ramp and i needed pliers to free it. On taking out the wire it seems to have been half sheared - probably as a result of being pinched so tight, then the ramp movement probably ground it away a bit.

Hopefully the new switch works out - fingers crossed!

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Totally agree with this ^^^. These machines have so many moving parts/variables and an infinite number of possibilities with regard to ball movement and physics. Broken parts or uniformly bad mechanisms that affect every owners is one thing but tweaks here and there for a minority of owners can't really be that surprising?

Perhaps I'm being too forgiving - but I wouldn't be that put out by having to make these sorts of adjustments.

So, the new opto for the CM ramp turned up today - and after a pretty simple installation, the Avengers are now re-assembled!

Have to say - the local distributor here in Sydney (AMD Coin Op) were fantastic! I reported the problem yesterday, and a new part was sent out immediately along with an offer to have it installed by a technician. Luckily though my 10 thumbed, fairly incompetent hands were good enough.

Had another quick blast in between work meetings - damn this is a pretty special game...

For anyone else who likes to add characters to their playfields (it's not for everyone I know), I've found that the Tomy Takara figures are great - good size, pretty subtle and great quality. I'm still deciding on the best placement for mine (hence the blu-tac blob on the feet).

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Awesome! Must admit to feeling somewhat ambivalent in the initial few days with this machine - but after a few weeks of picking up more of the rules and hitting some of the shots with a little more consistency it's now firmly set as one of my all time favourites, and I am in love with it!

It is so close to a perfect machine - crazy ramps/wireforms, smooth shots, an absolutely banging rule set, it looks absolutely stunning - the sounds/animations are the one thing a little lacking, but are improving with the code. For me it's an absolute smash by Elwin/Yeti again, they can do no wrong at the moment.

I'm keen to see your take on it.

VirtualMayhem The gems only light as you win them during the game and this persists across games (it doesn't reset after each one). Once you get all gems lit on the topper you get a bonus "topper-only" mode - i think it's called gem-mania. Yours actually looks exactly the same as mine because I can NEVER win the space gem, so it's never lit...

I think the music is fine. The call outs are actually ok too, as are the animations (I prefer these 2D style ones over 3D any day). The big problem is - there's just nowhere near enough of them. So as you are pinging the ball around there just isn't enough audio feedback - hence the general consensus that the music/callouts are lacking and make the game appear a little hollow, plus it gets a little repetitive audio wise.

Compare it to something like Deadpool, which has banging music, plenty of audio feedback when you hits shots and as far as call outs go - well I've had the game for over a year and I still hear new things! Amazing...

So for me, it just needs more of the same - which I reckon may still arrive in future code updates. That audio stuff aside though it's an absolutely amazing game, it shoots like a dream, has a superbly deep ruleset and yep the machine itself looks incredible.

Holy heck really!? I've hit some absolute ripper shots at that thing - looks like its going to achieve lift off, but my top speed has only been about 800!

The problem with toppers is that not only are they horrendously overpriced, but once you have one installed, you realise they actually look pretty awesome and you have to get more. Yes they are aesthetic baubles, but damn they really do finish off a pin nicely...

In some cases, I'd actually go for the Tilttopper ones as they can be even better than Sterns efforts, plus a lot cheaper. Some of Sterns toppers are pretty cool though - GB, AIQ, DP, SW are all great, and their Black Knight one is just WOW. I almost want to buy the machine just to have that topper.

The tower and sanctum mods are brilliant - so much better than the stock plastics, I'd recommend them to everyone - they integrate so incredibly well, it's how the game should have come from the factory.

Totally agree 100%, this is something I've never really understood as a criticism of this ramp. It's a tough shot, its certainly not supposed to be easy and you have to hit it pretty much dead on because the ball has to go vertically up and over. I haven't adjusted it or modded it - it just seems to me if it rejects it's because I simply didn't hit it accurately enough.

Not to sound happy about your misfortune - but I'm glad this is happening to someone else! Jeez, I go through this with all of my games I'll have a few weeks of nothing but absolute frustration where I can't seem to get anything going, then I'll suddenly have amazing games for a short while where every shot goes where it's supposed to. Avengers is definitely one game where this happens a lot. Well... I suppose that pinball for you!

I never really see on streams etc, but I wonder of the likes of Elwin, Kearns and the top players ever have like 10 absolute stinking games in row, give a loud, frustrated expletive and just turn the game off. Ha ha ha...

That's just pure class - there isn't much that can touch this game for combo flow when you are in that zone.

Unfortunately it's a zone I can rarely get into.

Did you miss any shot?

You have to use up 1 flip at the start because you can't backhand the right orbit from the right flipper. I'm sure someone must have worked out the absolute minimum number of flips required/maximum you can possibly spare?

I hadn't thought of either of those! I always hit BW ramp on the first flip to get the ball to the left hand side.

The drop bank can be the biggest drain in flips, so when you can get that spotted (eg via the flank attack), it is pretty sweet.

It's a very nice mode with some cool little nuances... and hard mode is tough!

These really are some insane, next level scores - my highest is 850 million, and I had to have a lie down and a breather after that.

I do have the odd occasion where I think maybe this game just isn't for me any more, but then you have one game where you are totally in the zone and it suddenly becomes amazing again. It's the most odd out of all my machines - in that I just can't decide if it's simply an above average game, or a work of sheer unbridled genius.

That's some amazing work there - you should be working for Stern! The game is crying out for a full custom package like this.

I keep telling people this - for gods sake, please don't sell it after 3 months of owning it! It's one of the best machines for home use in terms of learning ways to play it and rack up scores. You'll suddenly find ways of improving your game without realising, and open up new levels of play. I think for home use, the code is brilliant. Admittedly, it's too deep for a game on location, because you could never learn all the intricacies.

All this game really needs is an updated sound/animation package, and its almost the perfect home machine. I really wish Stern would just give it a once over in sounds/animations it definitely deserves to be polished a tad more.

Yep I had that opto go out too - about 2 weeks after my game was delivered. Turns out one of the opto wires was pinched between the ramp guide and the plastic, so as I played the game and caused a bit of movement, the wire eventually sheared in 2.

Luckily it was obviously still covered by warranty - the distro sent me a new opto switch overnight and I was back up and running within 2 days.