That's awesome, thank you for the detailed answer!

I seldomly get above 6 tents or steins cause my ball control is poor. I really have to learn skills other than cradling. I wanted to try post pass next to make it easier to set up shots but I don't seem to be able to get it right. Nudging is next on the list after that, because the slingshots tend to hit it right into the outlane from certain angles.
So much still to do! Can't wait to get to Flippermeister or Stein slinging. So far I have resisted the urge to turn it to 5 balls.
Thank you guys for such an awesome pin!

I'm so happy that you love the game!

I rarely post pass on Oktoberfest, because the tent scoop serves that need for me... if I have the ball on the right flipper but I want it on the left, I shoot the scoop, and let it eject and dead-bounce to the left flipper. If I have the ball on the left flipper but want it on the right, I shoot the scoop and drop-catch the eject on the right flipper. This works great since the scoop spots T-E-N-T letters (unless you're already playing a tent mode) so these passes also give me progress towards the next tent mode start.

But certainly reaching Flipper Meister or Stein Slinging is not easy to do... which is why we have intermediate goals like Duck Derby.

Ah, I have to adjust the coil strength. A dead bounce makes it into the opposite slingshot for me. I typically can however get it into the left flipper by holding the right one up when it ejects. And I have to add drop catches to my list of things to practice because I never know how to get it onto the right flipper!
Ya I've gotten to the duck Derby several times already and it's fun! Haven't won it yet though.

Despite being bad at pinball I have been eyeballing machines for 2 years and when I saw a stream on sdtm I knew I wanted it!

We have guests over right now - adults and kids - and I think they put easily 60 games on the machine since this afternoon. Everybody is enjoying it and I managed to show off the corkscrew Multiball with the Shaker on it now! The amount of excitement you would think they were actually sitting in it lol.

And as a rule of thumb, does the next 20 double the tent mode scoring again, or will it increase it by about 50% compared to the first 20? I.e. if 100 points goes to 200 after 20 ducks, does it go to 400 after 40 ducks or 300... (50% more than 200) roughly...?

The way I read this is, that every duck increases points in modes by 5% but that is pure speculation.

Either way, I'm gonna go for more ducks. 25 lights an extra ball and 50 lights duck Derby.

One thing I noticed is, that if you hit the same duck multiple times in a row you don't get more awarded. Despite making the quack sound it is inactive until you hit a different duck.

Every tent has slightly different behavior on how scoring increases with more ducks, because we had to balance the scoring of modes with lots of potential shots (e.g. Fud Frenzy, Bumper Cars) vs modes with few shots. And I just realized I misspoke in my previous comment: it's actually that WINNING a tent with 20 ducks scores ~2x WINNING that tent with 0 ducks, based on Medium difficulty, all else being equal.

But the scaling due to ducks is linear, not exponential.

In the end, don't overthink it too much: "More Ducks = More Points" is the key takeaway.

Actually, in normal use, duck targets are inactive until you complete the set of duck targets. The "can't repeat the previous target" rule applies during Duck Hunt.

Thank you for the clarification, didn't realize that at all, that changes my shot selection!
When I get a set do I have to hit the question mark to light mystery or does it just light? Also, once I have all 4 do I need to "redeem" mystery or do become all 4 eligible targets again immediately?

When the strong man contest is not lit then I don't get mag nabs for completing it until I got the loop ramp right?

And last but not least, when the game activates a mag by itself, does it use my mag nabs, or are they free?

Sorry for bugging you with this, just curious. I guess I could take the glass off to try it out but I don't like to mess with the machine if I don't have to.

I can answer this one 'cos I asked it before... it's free... furthermore, when the game is going to give you a free mag-nab you can't actually use the mag-nab button... I.e. you can't waste them by using them when you don't need to.

Awesome, thank you!

For some reason I struggle to do post passes with this game more than other games.... it normally needs a failed post pass to result in the ball rolling back down the flipper and to then do a 2nd post pass flip when the ball's about 1/4" before it hits the return lane guide... an attempted post pass from a stationary cradled ball usually fails... for me at least...

I don't have any skills and tried to practice it, but I have been really struggling with it. May be just that the geometry of the setup is not conducive to it since you have the same problem and I assume you are a way better player than I am.
I'll try what ferret suggested with the tent scoop instead and practice drop catches.
Another thing I have heard of are tip passes but those are pretty difficult to do as far as I understand.

Try it while the ball's moving is my recommendation...

As soon as you complete the four duck targets, they all unlight so you can immediately start collecting them again, and Mystery immediately lights on the scoop, and Bonus X is increased.

True... unless you hit the High Striker immediately after a left orbit shot. (i.e. Left Orbit -> High Striker combo) That always gives a MagNab even if not lit.

pinballslave is correct.

No worries at all, I'm happy to talk about the game!

Awesome, thank you again so much!

I must of the time try to go for the barrel. That's just such a satisfying shot when you make it! Have to mix more hi strikers in!

So what does the question mark do then when it is yellow? I know it spots an Oktoberfest Letter when it is green, even though I don't know what I have to do to light it green or yellow.

So, who's the king of Oktoberfest at the office? We need to see the Highscore screen of your guys' work pin! Gives us mere mortals something to work towards!

The "?" is lit green to spot an OKTOBER FEST letter any time it's possible to collect OKTOBER FEST letters. It'll light yellow to collect a duck target when you only have one duck target left to complete the set.

Oh, and my (legit) high score is around 45 million... a mere shadow of some of the boss scores I've seen. I believe Joshua Henderson posted a score approaching 700M!

45M I can see if you stack steins with multi ball super jackpots. They can get worth several million each. That's incredibly impressive, but 700M is just plain insane...
Mine is 12M and I though I had a fantastic game!

When you get to those scores you'll have to let us know the secret lol.

For mid-level scores (double-digit millions) either tents or multiballs can get you there.

For monster scores, I think absolutely the way to go is crushing tent modes. Tent Win Bonus can become very, very lucrative if you win several tents on the same ball. Never start a multiball without starting a tent first, and spend the first part of the multiball using your balls to win and then run up the score of the tent. The multiball jackpots will be waiting for you when the tent times out.

Also, here's a random tip for boosting multiball scores: start a Food Stand mode, then start Juggling. Pay no attention to the Juggling shots -- in fact, avoid them as much as possible -- and use the multiball to rack up calories. As I mentioned earlier, the even numbered Food Stand features are the juicy ones, so for example if you can start the second Food Stand feature and then stack Juggling, keep throwing the balls into the pops and try to rack up as many calories as you can. That'll position you well for big scoring in Corkscrew and Beer Barrel MBs.

But certainly there are lots of strategies for big scores in this game, and I'd love to hear any other approaches y'all discover!

Ha, just had a long game with 25 minutes and did pretty much the opposite of what you just said LOL. Ended up with only 4 million points but I had a blast! Needed only one more Stein for slinging and one more tent for Flippermeister.
Started 2 rollercoaster Multiball with 13 tents played according to the score screen that has to be some record lol.
13 tents 6 won 91 ducks 240 pretzels and 4M points
My wife is still giggling.

Hey, great score! You're not competing against the entire universe, you're just aiming for great scores on your machine. 4M points is definitely above average.

I hope that your wife giggling means that she was having a great time! Or maybe that she was having fun teasing you.

Sorry if this has been covered before but wondering if there is a way to change the behavior of the extra ball functionality. Instead of playing the extra ball right after a ball loss can it be changed to be awarded at the end of the game?

That is not currently an option in the API system. Extra Balls get played right away, as has been done in pinball for decades.

Somebody got 700 million? Jaw drop.

seems so simple & logical as it...

(having owned a DI home) i dont understand this !? can you explain your point if view ? tanx

When I saw this feature on DI I thought it was a neat idea... it saves players waiting for ages while other player(s) go through their extra ball(s) before they get their go... it promotes players swapping more often...

Yes, I think that’s the concept as JJP has implemented it. IMHO my concerns with it: everyone needs to pay very close attention to what’s going on. After 3 balls complete for everyone, suddenly perhaps it’s player 2’s turn after player 4 (because P2 earned an EB but P1 didn’t) which breaks the established pattern “it’s my turn after Bob”.

Also, if you plan to play more than one game with your group, it does not actually save other players from having to wait to play, it just moves around the wait time.

If we receive a lot of requests for this behavior, we certainly would consider making it an option, but to my memory this was the first such request.

I set my WOZ up this way so that if my wife and I are playing and I pick up an EB or two when her game is over she can go ahead and play something else, take the dogs out, get a drink, etc. while I finish my game. It is true that it breaks the established cycle and you do need to really pay attention to whose turn it is but if you're in a competitive setting you really need to be doing that anyway.

Assuming it isn't a giant hassle to code, I would appreciate if there were an option in the settings to enable this. I agree it could be confusing in certain situations but everyone who plays my #dialed-in seems to prefer the way extra balls are handled.

I personally like it, helps stop players getting bored and frees them up at the end of the game assuming they don't have extra balls racked up... but I'd prefer AP spend time on other things that actually add stuff to the game, like having corkscrew MB start with the ramp down and having each ball shot straight back up the ramp multiply the JPs up to a max of 3, aka Whitewater style

until you really have to leave, seems to me unpolite (doesnt know is this word exist, but you understand)
if you're playing with others guys, its logical to wait the end of the game... else play alone in your home
also dont forget the match sequence

That English word is "impolite". "Unpolite" would seem to make sense but is not correct, because English is weird.

Happy New year und hoch die Krüge!

Cleaned my machine and did a switch test afterwards. Noticed that there is no entry for the upper right flipper eos in the matrix there. Running latest firmware. Do I need to reinstall?

There is no EOS on upper flipper, not needed.

Thank you!

We have an issue with our bar door jamming. Here is a video of our issue. I replaced the motor to but that did not change anything.

Any help would be appreciated.

I think you may get more views if you post to this topic:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/joe-balcer-confirms-oktoberfest-as-american-pinbals-next-pin/page/87#post-5552119

Does the door open easily by hand or does it feel stuck? Does the door work in the test menu?

I have joined the club!
Ich liebe ein Oktoberfest!
I haven’t had a pin this fun (my opinion) since Funhouse and Scared Stiff. Keeps me coming back for more
Here is my first little mod/add on.

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Welcome to the club. Yeah thats about the only spot I found to add a mod, the game is covered in art. Just looking at that side blade I didnt realize it had a clock. I don't look from the sides very often. A new code should be out soon for more enjoyment. Prost!

With the power off does the door open and close freely?

If the answer is no..

see if you can find the source of the bind.

Also the weld on the door have broken on a couple, this causes the door to oblong, causing binding.

If the answer is yes..

If you move the door a little bit when in game play, does the door work properly then?

Could be the H Bridge board or bad opto (there are 2 for the bar door)

I noticed that problem on occasion as well (my game is only a couple of weeks old)

I’ll have to check Barry’s suggestions to see what kind of issues I might be having

I hear the funky vibration in your video and mine does the same...and after some gameplay, the door will just close and the vibration is gone too, and the door proceeds to work like normal

If you are having bar door jitter, be sure to confirm you are on code version 19.10.24

Barry, my door swings freely for the most part except on full open, where I can feel it bind a bit...but I’m not sure where the bind is happening

Ugh..

If you loosen the 4 quarter inch screws holding the bar assembly on, slightly quarter turn or so, there is ever slight movement in the assembly. Can you move the bar assembly to a position that the door does not rub? If so bingo.

If not I would start to think bad welds in the door. I was sending out complete assemblies and having the customer return the old one, which we would fix for the next one.

Not sure whats going on there now.

If you pull Otto off then there are a couple screws holding the top bar toy on, I want to say you can see into the door assembly, and perhaps get a good look at the welds, to see if they are cracked.

Got my hardware kit today and am very pleased indeed. Fitted the coil stop and got the barrel multiball for the first time ever! What a difference. I also fitted the lockbar spacers but can't really see what the problem was before and don't notice the difference.

Anyway, thanks for fixing this design fault AP!

I moved the bar assembly a hair and now it’s opening and closing like a champ! I think it might have been binding since it was a little offset in its hole through the Playfield (Otto’s lip also has a slight wear spot from rubbing on the yellow ramp). Thanks, Barry...you’re the bomb.

You know where to find me if you need more help..

Hello. I’m really thinking hard about getting this game. Let me know some of your thoughts on how the game has progressed. I’ve played it very little about 6 months ago. I almost pulled the trigger on it then. Just would like some input on how it compares to other games.

I personally love the game, and the theme. I just wish it had more adult humor.

I would sell my Spider-Man VE, and Metallica Monsters, and Houdini, before I would ever sell my Oktoberfest.