Hot Wheels
American Pinball, 2020Quoted from Pinlover88:I'm torn between TMNT and Hot wheels.... They both were my childhood so that makes it even more difficult on deciding which one to get
I was in same boat. Ended up going with TMNT because my son-in-law is a huge fan.
Personally, my choice was Hot Wheels. Ironically, I'm too old for TMNT, but not for HW.
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:Sounds like you’ve been challenged!
Haha! Ok make that three
Quoted from CPanther95:I was in same boat. Ended up going with TMNT because my son-in-law is a huge fan.
Personally, my choice was Hot Wheels. Ironically, I'm too old for TMNT, but not for HW.
That's kind of the way I'm starting to lean... The thing that is so appealing to me about TNMT is the art style they chose is reminiscing to the one that we grew up with BUT as one pinsider pointed out Hot wheels has never been done before and that fact alone is one of the main draws for me
Quoted from LTG:Just got the email. Deal just got better. Free shaker motor with first 500 games.
LTG : )
[quoted image]
In the fine print it Says "Unless your name is Lloyd..." You have to answer 100 support calls to get your shaker sorry. Being the Best support tech in the industry has a price sorry.
Quoted from Yelobird:In the fine print it Says "Unless your name is Lloyd..." You have to answer 100 support calls to get your shaker sorry. Being the Best support tech in the industry has a price sorry.
Darn. Curses. Foiled again.
LTG : )
Quoted from Yelobird:In the fine print it Says "Unless your name is Lloyd..." You have to answer 100 support calls to get your shaker sorry. Being the Best support tech in the industry has a price sorry.
Do I get extra credit for the calls with no skill level, and no tools, or even knowledge of what different tools are called ?
LTG : )
Quoted from LTG:Do I get extra credit for the calls with no skill level, and no tools, or even knowledge of what different tools are called ?
LTG : )
No, that is your primary user base. 
Quoted from yancy:Have you ever seen one of those movies.
The new ones are entertaining! Would make for a great theme for pinball.
Quoted from Pinlover88:I'm torn between TMNT and Hot wheels.... They both were my childhood so that makes it even more difficult on deciding which one to get
I feel like no one is mentioning one of my most important criteria- build quality. Have there ever been issues with ap machines having the cabinets split? Playfield pooling/chipping/cratering? Insert ghosting? I am honestly asking. I know there were a couple hardware hiccups with Houdini, but haven't heard anything bad about build quality since.
Quoted from Viggin900:And not balley CORVETTE where you collect all the classic cars just like this game?
What I was referring to was as long as Hot wheels have been around that nobody has made a pinball about them until now
Quoted from cloggedDrain:I’m seriously thinking about getting one as my second pin
Wheel one into your house while it is hot.
Quoted from majicman110:I feel like no one is mentioning one of my most important criteria- build quality. Have there ever been issues with ap machines having the cabinets split? Playfield pooling/chipping/cratering? Insert ghosting? I am honestly asking. I know there were a couple hardware hiccups with Houdini, but haven't heard anything bad about build quality since.
They are built like a tank. Probably be around longer than you and I.
Other than those affiliated with AP or the video event, has anyone actually played it yet?
I’m curious what you think.
They had some local pinheads in test playing. Yancy was mentioned as putting some time on it.
It looks pretty darn good - I wouldn't be afraid to order one. Go ahead - I did.
Quoted from Pizzaman13:Other than those affiliated with AP or the video event, has anyone actually played it yet?
I’m curious what you think.
Yelobird has his and his comments are in this thread, I saw on the Helicon thread that they have one at the brewery and people have been in to play it as well. I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to play it, sucks that all the pinball shows have been cancelled this summer.
I don't know if anyone has posted the Hot Wheels machine raffle from Project Pinball, so here it is!
https://projectpinball.rallyup.com/hot-wheels-pinballmachineraffle/
Quoted from Pizzaman13:Other than those affiliated with AP or the video event, has anyone actually played it yet?
I’m curious what you think.
I have no affiliated connection to AP and so far we are really enjoying the game. I will say Honestly I do have a fairly deep collection of fun games and it fits in well in my opinion. Again, this is Not a LOTR, Hobbit, JJPPOTC, or even Houdini code deep adventure. Rules are very well implemented and clearly written for All levels of pinball player Not just the code strategy masters that know how to exploit the scoring. I have not found a single shot on the game that is not easily makable which is fun for us. 0 mechanical weaknesses that I have found which is also nice. Even the very Simple registration issue I had noted AP messaged me that it was fixed moments after my first post. Can hardly beat that!
My still figuring it out (Not Complaints so far list):
1. Still seems like the audio is a bit garbled or distorted and the volume even at 6 is a bit light. Bass is Way strong with the amp but I suspect some of those knobs need to be adjusted. Not my specialty lol. Also curious what the round speaker panel is at the base of the backbox as there are no speakers in there.
2. The skill shot is always set to “3”? Not sure if that changes over time or if this is still being coded?
3. Don’t hear any attract sounds though I think I had that enabled. Only hear speaker crackle of sorts.
That’s honest the only “figuring it out” observation on the game so far.
Quoted from Yelobird:The skill shot is always set to “3”? Not sure if that changes over time or if this is still being coded?
You always want the three, since that will give you the biggest boost to the tach. We toyed with having the goal be different numbers, but we decided that would make things more complex, as the rev'ing the tach with the left flipper for a multiplier on skill shot added enough 'difficulty'
Quoted from Yelobird:3. Don’t hear any attract sounds though I think I had that enabled. Only hear speaker crackle of sorts.
There is attract music when the rock band appears in attract, about every 15 minutes, but you will typically hear it in the first attract cycle after boot up and often after a game. No flipper button or other attract sounds, yet.
Quoted from Yelobird:Still seems like the audio is a bit garbled or distorted and the volume even at 6 is a bit light. Bass is Way strong with the amp but I suspect some of those knobs need to be adjusted. Not my specialty lol. Also curious what the round speaker panel is at the base of the backbox as there are no speakers in there.
You may want to adjust the settings on the amp to your liking. I suggest putting the amps volume close to all the way up, so that the coin doors give you the full range. If bass is too high, the small knob at the top Control lets subwoofer volume. The speakers in the lower shaker panel, that were there for Okto and Houdini were removed. We found that now with the sub, we get solid bass and we felt the extra speakers were expendable. Even without those there are still 5 speakers in the machine.
Quoted from rosh:You always want the three, since that will give you the biggest boost to the tach. We toyed with having the goal be different numbers, but we decided that would make things more complex, as the rev'ing the tach with the left flipper for a multiplier on skill shot added enough 'difficulty'
There is attract music when the rock band appears in attract, about every 15 minutes, but you will typically hear it in the first attract cycle after boot up and often after a game. No flipper button or other attract sounds, yet.
You may want to adjust the settings on the amp to your liking. I suggest putting the amps volume close to all the way up, so that the coin doors give you the full range. If bass is too high, the small knob at the top Control lets subwoofer volume. The speakers in the lower shaker panel, that were there for Okto and Houdini were removed. We found that now with the sub, we get solid bass and we felt the extra speakers were expendable. Even without those there are still 5 speakers in the machine.
So to clarify on the skill shot. The screen shows (similar to TOTAN) a position 1-2-3 skill plunge. That number will always be 3 then as I understand it?
Quoted from rosh:No flipper button or other attract sounds, yet.
You sure about that, Josh? 
Quoted from Yelobird:The screen shows (similar to TOTAN) a position 1-2-3 skill plunge. That number will always be 3 then as I understand it?
Right... any of the 1-2-3 zones will give an award, but 3 is always the best award. It’s basically a stretched out version of the Twilight Zone skill shot, plus the addition of the flipper rev element.
Quoted from Ferret:You sure about that, Josh?
Right... any of the 1-2-3 zones will give an award, but 3 is always the best award. It’s basically a stretched out version of the Twilight Zone skill shot, plus the addition of the flipper rev element.
Makes sense, thanks! And you are correct, when you push the buttons there is a sound animation.
Quoted from Ferret:You sure about that, Josh?
No I'm not sure, I don't check every line of code you check in
Quoted from Novastorm:And they talk about Stern having bad QC... Sheesh.
loooooooooooooooooooooooool
...
Josh, Joe, its very nice to have you here, talking with us
Quoted from CPanther95:I was in same boat. Ended up going with TMNT because my son-in-law is a huge fan.
Personally, my choice was Hot Wheels. Ironically, I'm too old for TMNT, but not for HW.
Son in law? I understand kids, but, son in law swayed the choice. His family must be $$$ ha
Interesting facts about Hot Wheels .... Check out how many are made each week - if memory serves correct that was a trivia question during the stream of the pin. You will be surprised at some of the numbers ...
Ordered mine today, along with a NIB Houdini.
Can’t wait to receive both!
#20 is in the house. Ordered on Mon and delivered today (Sat). Topper needs an led strip to light it better.
EBD21801-5F62-4479-9296-E6DBF0A7B103 (resized).jpegBACD49B9-1BBE-43BA-B84D-1B97F4023C1E (resized).jpeg
Played a few games and decided to up the balls to five, while I am learning the game. Am having some decent success and the resulting scores are insane. Having two extra balls from the start almost guarantees an extra ball can be earned. I don’t care about the final score now - just playing, watching and learning the game - trying things and seeing the impact on scoring.
Quoted from jeffspinballpalace:#20 is in the house. Ordered on Mon and delivered today (Sat). Topper needs an led strip to light it better.
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Played a few games and decided to up the balls to five, while I am learning the game. Am having some decent success and the resulting scores are insane. Having two extra balls from the start almost guarantees an extra ball can be earned. I don’t care about the final score now - just playing, watching and learning the game - trying things and seeing the impact on scoring.
Have you figured out how revving the tach with the flippers before plunging works? Seems like a timing thing.
Quoted from DakotaMike:Have you figured out how revving the tach with the flippers before plunging works? Seems like a timing thing.
Left flipper does one quick rev and it only revs part of the way. I need to watch some streams on that. Also wasn’t sure I was shifting gears after each redline mania, but I read up about it and the color of the tach indicates which gear 1-5 you are in.
Congrats on receiving your game!
Your gear is also shown on screen by the Tach display.
Left flipper skill shot rev is a timing thing. It’s not one and done, you can play with it, but if you over-rev and “blow the engine”, you’re done with that part of the skill shot. Idea is to rev it as close to 10 (without going over) at the moment you launch the ball.
Quoted from Ferret:I think so. Hot Wheels provides depth in lots of ways. The most obvious way is through the Tachometer... mastering the Tach, and Boost, is not easy. The instant you raise the Tach value, time is ticking... how do you best take advantage of it? Crank up the Track Builder jackpot? Start a multiball? Clean up on a Battle mode? The final "kill shot" of each Battle mode awards a Fuel Bonus based on how fast you won the Battle, times (of course) the Tach value... are you better off spending a few seconds raising the Tach value before making the final Battle shot, or should you cash in as quickly as possible? Should you stack a multiball or two with a Battle mode and/or some Epic features? In many games, stacking a multiball onto a mode is an obvious choice... but the Tach revs down faster during multiball, so if you don't play skillfully, this might be less lucrative. Of course, play it well, and points will be flying. Or you might be thinking that an obvious opening gambit is to just pound the Tach up to Redline, play Redline Mania, and shift up a gear for a permanent scoring increase... maybe. But the Tach revs down faster as you move up the gears... worth it?
Epic features are a fun and interesting element... They challenge you to make a choice of how many you can complete before you even get them started. The more you start at once, the more valuable they all are. (Think Medieval Madness: how many Madnesses do you light before starting Multiball Madness?) The difference here is that you have to make enough shots on everything you started in order to light the Epic Jackpot... it's quite the tease when you've stacked several Epics, accumulated a few hundred million on the Epic Jackpot, but can't collect it until you make, say, 6 more dangerous Car target shots. Should you have been less aggressive up front? Hard to say, but now you have to play out your decision.
And of course, as in most modern games, if you want to collect all the Hero Cars and reach Legend Multiball to "beat" the game, you have to play everything, can't just pound on any single shot or couple shots forever.
We think we've got a terrific balance of rules that are easy for anyone to understand, with scoring nuances that advanced players should really enjoy.Nope. Shots are generally medium-to-wide. The only really tight shot is the kicker shot, but that's rewarded appropriately since that's where you start Boost and collect some Super Jackpots. On the plus side, the kicker can be made both forehand and backhand, just like most of the shots.
Thanks for everyone's interest and great feedback on Hot Wheels!
I’m close to deciding to buy one but am hesitating over concern the game (rules + shots) is too easy. Usually would never buy a pin without playing but that’s tough these days with no shows or locations near me.
I’ve watched some of the streams (plan on watching more this weekend) and the rules seem similar in depth to most modern pins with some exceptions like POTC and JP2.
Can you, Yelobird or others compare to a spectrum of Sterns. For example: Munsters (shallow), Deadpool/BKSOR/IMDN (moderate), or JP2/Simpsons (deep)? My understanding is that the major code elements are already in the game and updates will only polish.
I like some of the side/minor features, but am mainly interested in the breadth and depth of the major scoring opportunities and strategies for a reasonably skilled, C-B Division type, player.
Quoted from luckymoey:I’m close to deciding to buy one but am hesitating over concern the game (rules + shots) is too easy. Usually would never buy a pin without playing but that’s tough these days with no shows or locations near me.
I’ve watched some of the streams (plan on watching more this weekend) and the rules seem similar in depth to most modern pins with some exceptions like POTC and JP2.
Can you, Yelobird or others compare to a spectrum of Sterns. For example: Munsters (shallow), Deadpool/BKSOR/IMDN (moderate), or JP2/Simpsons (deep)? My understanding is that the major code elements are already in the game and updates will only polish.
I like some of the side/minor features, but am mainly interested in the breadth and depth of the major scoring opportunities and strategies for a reasonably skilled, C-B Division type, player.
Watching last night's stream, it seemed like there was a lot to do, and a lot of different strategies that one could take. You could focus on the race and trying to get first place, you could focus on the various creature-battle modes, you could focus on track-builder, or you could focus on RPMs. Plus, I'm sure there was more that I didn't notice. Ball times seemed pretty short when Dominic was playing, so actually accomplishing more than one of those strategies during a game seems difficult. But of course, time will tell.
Quoted from luckymoey:I’m close to deciding to buy one but am hesitating over concern the game (rules + shots) is too easy. Usually would never buy a pin without playing but that’s tough these days with no shows or locations near me.
I’ve watched some of the streams (plan on watching more this weekend) and the rules seem similar in depth to most modern pins with some exceptions like POTC and JP2.
Can you, Yelobird or others compare to a spectrum of Sterns. For example: Munsters (shallow), Deadpool/BKSOR/IMDN (moderate), or JP2/Simpsons (deep)? My understanding is that the major code elements are already in the game and updates will only polish.
I like some of the side/minor features, but am mainly interested in the breadth and depth of the major scoring opportunities and strategies for a reasonably skilled, C-B Division type, player.
I often like to think about it as breadth vs depth, where I want a lot of different stuff to do, and a lot of variety, but not necessarily layers to get through. This lets you focus on different aspects of the game when you play and/or just have more variety as in the paths you to get through the game to the wizard mode, if that is you goal. Use of the Tach/RPM, shifting gears and Turbo (and we are doing a few tweaks on that right now) are key to finding your strategy if points are you goal, and will take time to figure out.
With Hot Wheels we have talked a lot about accessibility, making it easy to know what to do, letting you get into the game quickly (a MB that is four shots away from the start button), objectives clearly identifiable, so you can quickly start to enjoy the game without having to figure a lot out, but that does not mean the game is not packed with a ton to do and a lot to figure out. When Ferret and I are doing a game, we have so many ideas between us, and we had plenty of other folks in the mix as well, in fact plenty of stuff does not make it in, as the challenge is not about getting enough in the game, it is figuring how best to get them to all to work together in a cohesive and balanced way.
Quoted from luckymoey:I’m close to deciding to buy one but am hesitating over concern the game (rules + shots) is too easy. Usually would never buy a pin without playing but that’s tough these days with no shows or locations near me.
I’ve watched some of the streams (plan on watching more this weekend) and the rules seem similar in depth to most modern pins with some exceptions like POTC and JP2.
Can you, Yelobird or others compare to a spectrum of Sterns. For example: Munsters (shallow), Deadpool/BKSOR/IMDN (moderate), or JP2/Simpsons (deep)? My understanding is that the major code elements are already in the game and updates will only polish.
I like some of the side/minor features, but am mainly interested in the breadth and depth of the major scoring opportunities and strategies for a reasonably skilled, C-B Division type, player.
Not too easy, in fact it is a tough game. It is easy to qualify and complete any of the main objectives once, to start many of the multiballs, to complete redline and shift into 2nd gear or win a race. Those things are real moments and feel good to accomplish. However to progress in the game you need to accomplish multiples objectives and multiple instances of each. This is where the game appeals to advanced players.
So taking redline he mania for example, you have to do it once to shift into 2nd gear and win a hero card. Fine, now do it four more times to really the complete mode. I can’t accomplish that simple task (so far I’ve gotten into 3rd gear). Then apply this concept to other parts of the rules. Completing a track is simple, but to do it five times in a game will take all your concentration. Want to battle a monster? Well do it five times. Want an Epic battle? do it four times. If you do everything above and multiple times each, you can see the wizard mode. I don’t think many people could do that, if any. But fortunately the game appeals to all skill levels.
Thanks, Jeff! Those feelings you describe are exactly what we were hoping for, so I’m happy to hear that we succeeded.
One minor note: you don’t need to reach fifth gear to qualify the Legend Multiball wizard mode. Just one Redline/gear shift is enough to earn the Hero Car. Of course you may want more for higher scoring potential...
Quoted from Ferret:Left flipper skill shot rev is a timing thing. It’s not one and done, you can play with it, but if you over-rev and “blow the engine”, you’re done with that part of the skill shot. Idea is to rev it as close to 10 (without going over) at the moment you launch the ball.
What triggers the timing? Is it the switch in the shooter lane? I noticed when reving the engine if I did a small plunge and then the ball came back to the plunger it qualified for the skill shot on the next plunge if one of the number inserts were made. Seems that could be one way to do it without having to worry about both at the same time. Do a small plunge to lock in the RPM and then plunge again with focus on getting the #3 insert.
Yes, the shooter lane switch. What you describe shouldn't work: if you soft plunge, it disables the multiplier from the flipper rev. You can still make the lane (1-2-3) skill shot at that point, but you won't qualify for any multipliers from the flipper rev. (If you successfully do the flipper rev component, it'll show on-screen as something like "400,000 x 4" ... the 400K being from the lane skill shot, the x4 being from the flipper rev.)
I have an honest question, after playing this game a dozen times or so I couldn’t put my finger on why this game felt “cheap”. Don’t get me wrong the game was fun but I played nearly 60 other machines last week and something about this game seems different. Did they use too much plastic in the cabinet, different flipper mechanics, or what? I even played Oktoberfest to make sure it wasn’t an American Pinball thing and that game didn’t give me the same concern. If anyone else has played the game and knows what I’m talking about I would love to know your theories. I wish I could explain the “cheap” comment with more detail but I’m just not sure, maybe the playfield is thinner, I don’t know.
So let’s say you rev the engine and plunge the ball while the tach is about 7 or 8. You gauge the skill shot so it falls on 3 before dropping. For landing on 3, I am awarded three upgrades on tach so now it reads 4. Although I rev’d the tach high but less than 10, there doesn’t seem to be any effect. What am I missing?
Quoted from Gtrefraction:I have an honest question, after playing this game a dozen times or so I couldn’t put my finger on why this game felt “cheap”. Don’t get me wrong the game was fun but I played nearly 60 other machines last week and something about this game seems different. Did they use too much plastic in the cabinet, different flipper mechanics, or what? I even played Oktoberfest to make sure it wasn’t an American Pinball thing and that game didn’t give me the same concern. If anyone else has played the game and knows what I’m talking about I would love to know your theories. I wish I could explain the “cheap” comment with more detail but I’m just not sure, maybe the playfield is thinner, I don’t know.
I can only share my assumption to your question having owned and played it for a week. As far as build quality they honestly spared no expense on the construction or components. All top shelf (looks like Bally) type stock parts and hardware. I would actually say I’m impressed on the things they went Overboard on that honestly could have been skipped with no penalty like the sub sound system. Short of Spooky I don’t think Anyone has ever put a Bass speaker and amp in that large on an entry price game? From decals to ramps I see nothing comprised. I will agree it Is hard to look past the .99 cars scattered around thinking they cheated on toys but those were honestly the Only direction they could have gone to complete the theme. Kind of surprised more hasn’t been said about the 3D rear Playfield image scape. I will bet Any money that will be copied by many companies in the future. With the added lighting that is truly unique. Game has less by design but is in no way lacking quality in my view. A few mods to fill in spaces and this thing will be a blast for any level player.
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