I have replaced 24. Ball guide originals remain in place due to the flipper mech placement, the two very back corners can stay, and the back board remains untouched as Stern staples them in place. Easy to include the backboard if you want to pull staples but I'm not going there. You could also go under the flipper mechs if you wanted to. My light boards are flat.

My custom light boards..
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With Heighway light pipes fitted..
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Don't use light pipes on the rear mounted boards. Conveniently mount over the top of the backboard. Very happy about this..
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I only have three mounted on the backboard at the moment for development purposes. Will probably end up with more like five as the final install. Simple ribbon cable back to the controller board..
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The GI interceptor turns the remaining factory backboard GI on and off, then the added RGB lights take over when needed. It's like two sets of backboard lights..
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Simple connection..
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Hard to see the mod through the factory wiring..
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Light boards screw right into the factory screw holes from the removed sockets..
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Some testing. Now for code.

Good news for those into the ramp lights. Trials of the software ported over to run commercial led strips and away from my custom strips completed successfully today. Ramp lights are back!

Nothing newer than the estimate I made a few weeks ago. The only component I'm waiting on is the main board, and it's probably still four weeks away. Everything else is in stock and I'm packing boxes as we speak. Here's last night's results from a fun filled evening of packing hardware baggies...
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If anyone was wondering what it takes to code the Met show, lines of code now up to about 3,400 (and that's just the game code and not counting who knows how many hundreds of lines for the low level drivers). Here is just the list of declarations..

unsigned curr_time = timer_get_ticks();
static bool attract_mode_on = false;
static unsigned attract_loop;

int i;
int j;
int k;
static int drops_down = 0;

static bool normal_play = true;
static bool drain_ready = true;
static bool drain_time = false;
static bool lady_justice_active = false;
static bool ramp_check = false;

static bool new_ball_light_set = false;
static bool ball_in_play = false;
static bool single_ball_play = false;
static bool multiball_play = false;
static bool drain_sequence = false;
static unsigned ball_in_play_time;

static bool drain_grave = false;
static bool drain_chair = false;
static bool drain_coffin = false;
static bool drain_snake = false;

static unsigned drain_sequence_length;
static unsigned drain_grave_time;
static unsigned drain_chair_time;
static unsigned drain_coffin_time;
static unsigned drain_snake_time;

static bool left_loop_ready = true;
static bool left_loop_reject_ready = true;
static bool right_loop_ready = true;
static bool right_loop_reject_ready = true;
static bool right_loop_ready_from_plunge = true;
static bool left_loop_ready_from_plunge = true;
static bool plunge_ready = false;
static unsigned right_orbit_exclusion_time;
static unsigned left_orbit_exclusion_time;
static unsigned right_orbit_reject_time;
static unsigned left_orbit_reject_time;
static unsigned plunge_exclusion_time;

static bool wait_for_drop_bot_hit = true;
static bool wait_for_drop_mid_hit = false;
static bool wait_for_drop_top_hit = false;
static unsigned drop_progress_time;

static bool left_loop_inserts_complete = false;
static bool grave_lane_inserts_complete = false;
static bool left_ramp_inserts_complete = false;
static bool right_ramp_inserts_complete = false;
static bool right_loop_inserts_complete = false;
static unsigned inserts_complete_bonus_flash_time;

static unsigned captive_ball_flash_time;
static bool captive_ball_hit = false;
static unsigned sparky_hit_flash_time;
static bool sparky_hit = false;
static unsigned sparky_su_hit_flash_time;
static bool sparky_su_hit = false;
static bool coffin_lock_one_ready = false;
static bool coffin_lock_two_ready = false;
static bool coffin_lock_one_locked = false;
static bool coffin_lock_two_locked = false;
static unsigned coffin_lock_flash_time;

static bool mystery_ready = false;
static bool mystery_active = false;
static unsigned mystery_time;

static bool ramp_hit = false;

static bool lady_justice_flash = false;

static unsigned ramp_red_standard_flash_time;
static unsigned combo_time;
static unsigned ramp_hit_check_time;

static unsigned lady_justice_flash_time;
static unsigned lady_justice_sequence_start_time;

static bool grave_multiball_start = false;

static bool ciu_mode_ready = false;
static bool ciu_mode_active = false;
static bool fwtbt_mode_active = false;
static bool ftb_mode_active = false;

static bool extra_ball_ready = false;
static unsigned extra_ball_exclusion_time;

static bool fuel_is_lit = false;
static bool fuel_active = false;
static bool fuel_end_ready = false;
static bool fuel_hit = false;
static unsigned fuel_flash_time;
static unsigned fuel_jackpot_flash_time;

static bool grave_multiball_ready = false;
static bool grave_mb_on_long_enough_to_drain = false;
static unsigned grave_mb_start_check_time;
static unsigned grave_mb_active_flash_time;
static bool grave_mb_active = false;
static bool fuel_start_light_pattern_exclude = false;
static bool grave_super_jackpot = false;

static bool coffin_mb_ready = false;
static bool coffin_mb_active = false;
static bool coffin_mb_shot_ready = false;
static bool coffin_mb_on_long_enough_to_drain = false;
static bool lone_flash_left_loop_arrow = false;
static bool lone_flash_grave_lane_arrow = false;
static bool lone_flash_left_ramp_arrow = false;
static bool lone_flash_right_ramp_arrow = false;
static bool lone_flash_right_loop_arrow = false;
static bool coffin_mb_shot_setup = false;
static bool coffin_mb_shot_made = false;
static bool coffin_mb_shot_to_make = false;
static unsigned coffin_mb_shot_made_flash_time;

static unsigned coffin_mb_start_time;
static unsigned coffin_mb_shot_flash_time;

static bool electric_chair_mb_start = false;
static bool electric_chair_mb_active = false;
static bool electric_chair_mb_active_long_enough_to_drain = false;
static bool electric_chair_mb_jackpot_hit = false;
static bool electric_chair_mb_super_jackpot_hit = false;
static bool electric_chair_mb_super_jackpot_ready = false;
static unsigned electric_chair_mb_on_time;
static unsigned electric_chair_mb_jackpot_time;
static unsigned electric_chair_mb_super_jackpot_time;

static bool playfield_insert_disruption_free = true;

static bool ball_save_active = false;
static unsigned ball_save_active_time;

static bool fuel_lane_ready = true;
static unsigned fuel_lane_exclusion_time;
static bool fuel_jackpot_is_lit = false;
static bool fuel_jackpot_hit = false;
static bool fuel_setup_ready = false;
static bool fuel_bank_complete = false;
static unsigned fuel_bank_complete_time;

static bool inlane_exclude = false;
static unsigned inlane_exclusion_time;

static bool blackened_ready = false;
static bool blackened_active = false;
static bool blackened_setup = false;
static bool band_collect_start = false;
static bool blackened_super_jackpot_ready = false;
static bool blackened_super_jackpot_paid = false;
static int band_collect_number = -1;
static unsigned blackened_loop;
static bool blackened_full_set = false;
static bool blackened_jackpot_ready = false;
static unsigned blackened_jackpot_flash_time;
static bool blackened_loop_play = false;
static unsigned blackened_end_timer;

Lol, I don't really know why I posted that. haha. I know it's not very interesting. Sometimes it gets me down.
I'm sitting here in the basement trying to get the drop target handler working properly. It's not really necessary, but I have this mental condition where I need to get everything exactly right or I won't be happy with it. And a better bit of code now means easier work in the future, and more system capability. Anyway, just a nerd rant of sorts. I'll get back to work now.

Yeah, I'm super happy about this. Was so bummed when the custom strips were coming back just way too expensive to make. And the commercial strips are much more discrete now. They're on a black base and narrow, so they dissappear when placed on the ramp.

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I do all my work in Atmel Studio 6.
C++.
I have a JTAG ICE programmer permanently hooked up for intensive debugging sessions, but can also flash the board over USB if I'm just tweaking. Code updates by users will be over the USB.
I got the drop target handler working beautifully by the way. And it drew an outburst similar to finishing Alien Invasion. So as frustrating as it is, it's super satisfying when you solve a problem.

No need to wait. I will tweak anything necessary when there are factory code updates and you will be able to download new code and install it via USB.

Ya, they're all good. The thing with drop targets is that when they are hit they go to a permanent state of on, rather than a momentary state of on like most other switches. You need to convert the permanent on into a pulse on. This means you need to build a state machine for the switch which monitors the changes in state rather than just the actual state. This is also the basis for switch hit counting BTW. So the state machine is no problem, but what output do you want from that? Just setting a variable gets you no more information than the permanent on/off anyway. You have to generate a pulse. The problem I was having was that my timer for the pulse was just sitting on the wrong side of a bracket and it wouldn't work properly. Why do microcontrollers have to take you so literally???

Soon. I will create a market for sale thread when they are ready.

Now that I have the drop target handler working smoothly, I thought I would throw in another little tasteful bonus effect not on the Prem/LE. When the grave lane is not lit for combos there is no specific effect for a plain old hit of the drop. I have added a nice short blue fade for a hit on the drops when they are not lit for anything else. This demo shows that when it is lit at the arrow it gives the red flash of the ramps and combos like the Premium, but when not lit it gives a short blue fade with the normal GI then snapping back on. Feel free to suggest an alternative, I just see some little gaps here and there that may as well be filled.

Absolutely. ACDC was actually almost completed as a proof of concept before I tackled Met. There are ACDC videos in the thread. One of them shows my bonus feature of a fade to black effect during Back in Black, where I fade down to a blue as target bank hits are accumulated.
I'm just waiting for my first production run of boards to come back so I can dedicate a board to ACDC and get the code polished up for release.

Wow, nice job! I see you had to bend some of the tabs on the sockets over in the opposite direction from the way I flattened them out. That's good info. As I didn't test fit I just took a shot. Good to see there is enough clearance for the screws.

Your factory originals in there are wedge sockets? Screwed in? Mine are stapled bayonets. Interesting that they have changed their manufacturing. That's actually easier then for a user to change over. I guess there are going to be different people with different machines then. Stapled bayonets will be a little more annoying to pull out.

Let's talk a little about termination resistors. To address LED ghosting, Stern has added banks of termination resistors to the lamp matrix headers. Herg was the first to use these in his OCD board and they became factory issue for LED Pro machines.
Stern termination resistors..
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The issue that causes ghosting also causes issues in the cleanliness of the signal for the Matrix Interceptor. An advantage of getting your lamp signals from the CPU bus is that the signal is free of this noise. However, with the termination resistors in place, the signal is crystal clear at the headers as well. These two photos show the signal at a lamp with and without termination resistors.

Without termination resistors..
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With termination resistors..
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I have done a lot of testing with both setups and the conclusion is that to get full, uninterrupted performance, Total Lightshow is best installed in conjunction with termination resistors. So a LED Pro is good to go already. I am currently getting zero issues on my LED Pro. If you have one of the first run Met Pros without the resistor boards, I recommend adding them in. I am making them, and they will be a US$19 a pair add on. I'm not sure what Stern charges for these as a part, but I think it would be more than that. You could of course buy the Stern ones if you prefer.

Add on resistor boards..
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Without the boards in place Total Lightshow will still operate, but ghosting lamps may show up as false triggers to the main board and performance issues are likely.