So confused!

I thought non-AMH guys had to wait until July to get listed... or was that only going to be for the LE?

The song list is included in the promo video.

If I end up staying in, I told my wife we might need to get a cover for when we have guests over. We'll see once the artwork is revealed. I love that kind of stuff, my wife is OK with it, and as long as it doesn't give my 3 yr old nightmares, I have no problems with him, either. I just don't want to offend friends (or my parents) who are more conservative. True, it's my house, and I can do what I want, but I also have respect for my friends and family.

Run it again.

Sheri's Moon

Or at least an empty cabinet.

I can't really say how definite this is, but here's the reasoning behind one run of 300 games.

Spooky's production capacity is about 150 games per year. It would take 2 years to produce 300 games. Spooky says they don't want to get stuck producing a single game, and they would rather limit the run and be able to continue designing new games.

I saw him during the Hellbilly Deluxe tour, and I thought he was great. Of course, that's been quite a while back, so maybe he's slowing down.

Breakfast of champions!

I wonder if they're going to be populating a playfield this week.

The only drama here is trying to decide which game gets bumped once Zombie ships.

Again, no love for the Card Whiz? I can get by with a 9th machine with it because it kinda fits on the other side of the room. Getting rid of it would not really free up a spot for RZSSI.

I'm leaning toward TOTAN at the moment, but I still have time to decide. My wife says MET, but nobody in their right mind would get rid of MET, right Mudflaps?

Yay! Color dots! ...and then?

On the surface, it sounds like the hardware is virtually the same as that of the ColorDMD. A custom FPGA board driving an LCD.

In general, I'm not a fan of video modes, either. I will reserve judgement until I play them, however. A few games actually have enjoyable ones. Fish Tales is about the only one I can think of that I would miss if it was removed from the game.

From what I understand there is also a list for backup buyers. I sure hope I didn't misunderstand when Charlie and Kayte said they were adding me to the interested list.

Well, yeah, but I sure hope I get to make that decision, not that it's made for me because I'm on list #2 instead of list #1.

When do we get to add RZSSI to our wishlist?

Listening to Zombie here as well. Currently "How to Make a Monster (Kitty's Purrrrformance Mix)", and I'm a bit bummed it won't be in the game.

June 16th request here, and I did receive an email. I can't watch the video (comfortably) at work, but the cabinet art is incredible. My first impression is that the playfield art is a little sparse. I'm already enemies with the chicken bumper.

That was in the announcement video way back when.

RZsongs1.jpg
RZsongs2.jpg

I totally agree that having gamplay video would be great, but I'm buying this one for all the wrong reasons.

1. The theme is my #1 most wished for. Actually, it's the only theme I can remember ever wishing for.
2. The artwork is incredible. In pictures, the playfield is the only thing that isn't perfect, in my opinion.
3. I love the gameplay on AMH, but the rest of the package just didn't add up to a purchase for me. I'm hoping RZSSI plays as well.
4. I'm speculating that this will be much more expensive to buy after the fact.

All things considered, I've decided this is a game worth taking a risk on.

So, are you bailing out on this thread?

We've heard your point. What YOU'RE forgetting is that we're all adults here. We make our own money. We make our own decisions. You've made yours as well, and no one is trying to convince you that your decision is wrong. Now, leave us be. If you have something constructive to say, so be it, but I've yet to see anything but negativity without any suggestions on how to make it better.

I'm interested in this as well. From what I've seen so far, he's very responsive to suggestions, and AMH has shown that Spooky is dedicated when it comes to updates.

I believe this was probably the area of concern. Nothing against you in particular, but being able to write software is not the same as being able to being able to write pinball software that is fun and challenging. I'll readily admit that I couldn't do the latter myself.

OK. I'm not from Wisconsin, nor have I ever been there. If given the choice of the 3, original, standard translite, or LE translite, I'd choose the original.

I'm not in love with the original, and in fact, I find it a bit underwhelming. That said, artwork with no regard for the playfield features, with holes punched into it for inserts does not help, IMO.

This thread was more interesting when we were bitching about the playfield.

I would agree that with the multiplier it won't be as tough as it sounds. I would, however, really like to have something to shoot for (other than just multiplier targets) during the mode. Trying to keep 7 balls alive while shooting at a particular target will probably be near impossible, but once you're down to 3 or 2 balls, what do you do to keep collecting corpses?

I would tend to agree. I'm sure you guys at Spooky are doing all you can to make this a good game with fun modes. I'm not a great player, and I only have a limited view of what's in the game, so I might be concerned about something unnecessarily.

This mode in particular though, I can see myself with three balls left, trapped on the flippers, maybe I've already collected the 3X, and I'm deciding what to shoot at. There's no spinner, and the pops are spread apart. With all the switches the same value and no particular shot that will give you lots of switch hits, I could see it being a situation where there is no good shot. Maybe you'd just pick the safest one.

"Only parts of the corpse had been removed"

Charlie's pretty busy. What else are we going to talk about? Pizza or Aurich?

Thanks for the close ups. I think I have the patience to wait for this one, but any additional info about the game makes the wait easier.

I think I'm going to have to buy a cover, though. I love the artwork, but some of my friends, parents, my 3 year old, etc won't be as enamored.

Charlie said they were changing credit card processing and some PayPal deposits would be refunded. I suspect you will be asked to re-deposit using the new system.

Is this something Spooky told you? I'd love to have both, but I haven't seen any information that would make me think that they had decided to make them available.

Just looks like a yellow/orange gradient behind it to me. It still looks pretty cool, though.

The Dead Flip stream was nearly all the video I could hope for. It would be nice to see more of progress since then, and I would love to hear more of the callouts, but I'm willing to wait until mine ships for that.

I also don't think it will be too long until we start to see lots of videos.

Stock is thighs, upgrade is breasts?

Any updates on when we might be able to buy translites? I'd love to have one hanging on the wall while waiting for my game.

Sold out, but they'll be getting more.

I did intend to use the LE translite that I bought in my standard game, but it wasn't to make it into an LE, it was just that I like the LE art better. That's when I thought the standard came with a translite, though. I was expecting an easy swap.

No worries, though. Both are nice, and it may be for the better. When I showed the LE translite to my 4 year old son, the first thing he said was "Why is the witch's butt hanging out?"

Let me know. I'm #191, and I'll drive to Pittsburgh. My brother bought a TOM from you a couple years ago, and he told me how cool your setup is.

Short, but sweet. It's great to be able to hear the audio. That right outlane looks like a SOB.

LOL.

That would be great if they can do it. Using the data I've gathered to generate a trendline, I'd estimate yours at closer to 7/13. The trendline also shows #300 at 11/5/2017, which is close to 17.5 months from the date #1 was shipped. It's all speculation, but I'm a nerd, and I enjoy these things.

Swami sez, 7/31. But Kayte knows better than Swami.

11/16, but really it's too early to see an accurate trend.

Very simple.

1. Collect reports of games shipping and plot the date vs game number.
2. Generate a linear trendline.
3. Use the trendline to "predict" when other games may ship.

Here's a picture:
1-Fullscreen_capture_5252016_73820_AM_(resized).jpg

I'm not really "banking" on anything, and I'm hoping they can get them out faster, but Spooky's own estimate was 12-18 months for all of the games. We're still so early on that any single data point can cause wild swings in the trendline. Without GAP's point, the outlook was much more bleak, putting #300 at 3/7/2018. That's why I say it's too early for it to predict an accurate trend. There's too little data, and we have to extrapolate too far into the future, not to mention that production may not be linear at all.

I think what he's saying is that there were a bunch of games nearly finished, only waiting on boards and testing. That allowed them to ship at a more rapid pace than they would have normally.

You can't please everyone. I'm not a fan of video modes, but this one looks fun, and I love the low res version of Dragula in this context.

Wow! Busy little bees, you guys are.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/ad/35294

Would someone with the game be willing to measure the backglass? I'm considering a Swapbox for my translite, and it would be awesome if I could actually swap the two back and forth.

I haven't seen enough shipment data recently for the projection to be anywhere near accurate, but here's the latest.

Note that tsskinne's game is not included in the projection since he doesn't mention a shipping date. Also, it only uses the most recent 10 points, in an attempt to adjust for the build rate changing.

Remember, this is just for fun. Don't get your panties in a wad when it turns out to be wrong.

1-RZ_Estimate_-_Google_Sheets_-_Google_Chrome_6222016_11537_PM_(resized).jpg

I had been wondering how far along they were. It has been a while since I've seen any info on shipped games.

My estimate actually shows it a little earlier than than, on 10/15, and that's before I figure in hAbO's report. Based on what Kayte said, I guessed #76 on 7/15, and that bumps #150 to 10/2.

Yeah, by my estimate, 9/2 or as early as 8/24.

Here's another. I still need to hide the wire, but my Swap Box is on the wall. It looks great all lit up. Thanks.

My translite was 27"x20", so make sure to measure before you cut. Since mine was exactly the same size as the glass I had cut, I didn't have to cut. It still wants to ripple a little bit, so I might end up trimming it ever so slightly.

20160715_164830_(resized).jpg

Is the source for the PIC going to be available for this game?

I made some minor changes to the lamp matrix driver for AMH to smooth the lighting when dimmed, but I don't know if Ben has looked at it or if it's going to be used. I'd like the option of trying it on my RZ once it ships. Will this be possible?

I'm confused. Is the option still there or not? If there's no option, it's always on?

I'd like to take a peek at the code to see if anything jumps out, but it seems that the code won't be available for this game. Is that true?

AMH is open source, but I have not seen the RZSSI code anywhere. It is PIC microcontroller code, not PROC based, and the compiler is freely available.

I would REALLY hope that people wouldn't bother them with support requests on source code, but maybe I'm giving people to much credit.

We ran into a bug last night. I was in multiball, but I can't remember which one. It should have been 2 ball, but I was only seeing 1, so I assumed the other was trapped somewhere. After I drained, I went looking for the remaining ball. We found it in the VUK, and eventually noticed callouts for mode select, but it was not displaying mode select stuff on the display. Once I selected a mode blind, everything seemed to work fine again.

At a friend's house last weekend, I completed it twice out of probably 15 games or so. It's tough, but not impossible. It is almost definitely also game dependent, though. If one of your slingshots is crazy, you're not going to be able to do much about it.

bt69_(resized).jpg

I see you moved it slightly. Did you get around to updating the lighting yet? The lighting is the main thing I would like to see improved.

Is v12 released yet? The Spooky website says V0012, but when I download, it's still v11 in the archive.

I installed a knocker, and it sounds great. I'd like to see more options to use it for high scores, though. I set my other games for GC 3 credits, HS1 2 credits, others 1 credit.

I also need to work on the lighting. Has anyone changed the GI to different bulbs? What did you use?

My gameroom has overhead lighting that helps a lot, probably even better than spots. Sometimes, I like to play in the dark, though. I tried OpMax, and the sunlight look good, but don't light anything better. The red OpMax barely lit at all. I think I'm going to try twin SMD, but I'll have to order them.

I installed a LED OCD this morning, but I still need to work on the firmware. I also gave Ben some code that he says he's looking at for AMH. Maybe that could be rolled into RZ and give us smooth inserts without any hardware.

I like white lamps under the mode inserts better than color matched ones.

I'm not sure that other colors would work in this game. The lightshow uses the white and red strings separately to highlight game events. I'm not really a big fan of colored GI, either. I'm leaving the red here because of the way it's used, but if it was just like a Stern Pro game, I'd make them all white.

I have some frosted twin SMD on the way, and I'll step my way up through the spotlight and post light suggestions. I think it might remain a lot like WOZ. I added spots to WOZ, but I still never play it in the dark.

I'm pretty happy with the inserts now. I got the OCD running properly in it, and I love the white lights under the mode inserts. I do have a few more inserts that I'm trying to find the right bulbs for, and I have some stuff coming to try.

As others mentioned, one of the ramp screws came out of mine as well. The previous owner used the toothpick method, but it came out again. I used a longer screw.

I also have an occasional trap happening somewhere under the upper playfield where I can't see the ball. I have always been able to shake it loose, but it take a lot of shaking. I have a thin USB camera that I can slide up in there next time it hangs.

Please don't take the following as complaining, but rather as an attempt to make the game better. Overall, I love it, and I plan on keeping it a long time.

That's great to hear, and that's why reporting issues, even small ones, is important. The remaining 200 or so buyers won't have that issue to deal with. Good job, Spooky.

Along those lines, the wooden backbox trim piece that sits in front of the lock was not nailed in place on my machine. It has holes in it, so it looks like it may have been predrilled or something, but no nails. I'll tack it in place with some brads.

I'll take a look at that. I didn't get any hang ups on that last night, so I didn't get a chance to go searching.

I did have a bunch of balls sitting on the back of the drop target, though. Most times it's resting against the left side of the target and the ball guide. A bump on the side of the cabinet clears it pretty easily, but risks a center drain. I leveled the game using a digital level on the playfield, near the bat, so I don't think that's the problem.

The GI is plenty bright, but the f'n brights don't really get a chance to point at the playfield. They're so low profile that they mainly light the plastics, though you do get some reflected light from the underside of the plastics. It's easy to change them out, and I'm not sure I'd be satisfied no matter what you chose. I'm pretty picky about lighting. The dark art does make the issue stand out more, but with good overhead lighting, the dark artwork looks fine. It certainly feels different than anything else I own, and that's part of the draw for me.

.
I have a few notes on gameplay as well.

House of 1000 Corpses is fun the first few times, but I'm starting to find it a bit lacking. I can't really aim at the multiplier targets all that well, and once they're collected, there's no reason to shoot at them anymore. There's nothing that I'm aware of to shoot for to get lots of switch hits (no spinners, pop aren't clustered, etc.). I just end up flapping away trying to keep balls alive.

It's too loaded with points to avoid, though. I can complete three modes and still end up with lower scores than one trip to HO1KC. The modes are where the fun is IMO, and I'd love for there to be a better reason to go for them.

Some of the modes are a bit ramp heavy. Despite one being timed and the other being avoid slings and pops, Dragula and Superbeast feel like the same mode to me. In Dragula, hitting the slings or pops results in time being chewed up, so the end result is the same. I think I'd like to see alternate shots being required, to collect gas or something, rather than just spamming the ramp.

I really like American Witch, how it makes you work your way across the playfield. Are the sling and pop hits clear when a shot is successfully made? It feels like I often get caught up in the slings before I hit the left orbit, then I don't have enough of a chance to complete the other shots.

I also like Dead City Radio, but I cringe every time I start to shoot at the 1 target. I've started shooting the ramp to get chop completed, hop the ball to the right flipper, then shoot the 1.

Demonoid Phenomenon feels like a wizard mode to me, and I've only come close to completing it once. It's a lot of fun, though.

What, I need to get a feel for the upper playfield before I can comment on it. I can't remember, are the shots carried over, or does it restart every time?

Is there any kind of shortcut for adult mode in the current code (v12)? I think I remember Fawzma saying he had to remove the flipper code. I'd be happy with something as simple as default to family mode, but booting with a flipper button pressed would set it to adult for that session.

Edit:

I found the reference to it being removed.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rob-zombies-spook-show-international?tq=Flipper+code&tu#post-3236364

Great to hear you're working on it.

The timed settings are cool, but for my situation (and I'm guessing a lot of others), I'm finding that even if they were working properly, they wouldn't really work in practice. I don't know ahead of time when I'll be able to play without my son in the house. Often, it's when I come home from work to find that the family is out.

The flipper code would work in this situation, but it doesn't need to be as complex as setting a combination and being able to enter that combination at any time during attract to dynamically change the setting. Simply looking for the left flipper button being held when the game boots would work for me.

That's the way it is now, but it's more steps involved when you need to switch it back and forth relatively often. We're talking about a shortcut here.

I suppose the menus will get easier to navigate as I learn them, but for now, I find them pretty confusing. Additionally, there aren't four buttons like I'm used to. There's only two inside the door, plus the flipper buttons, so it requires jumping back and forth between the two sets of buttons.

This may be coincidence, but it started happening at the same time I upgraded to v12. Attempt the skill shot, don't hit any switches and drain. The DMD says ball saved, but it doesn't kick another ball out. The game then goes into ball search for a while, then eventually the game recognizes it as a drain. My plan tomorrow is to revert to v11 and see if the problem goes away.

Edit:
This now says fixed in the release notes for v13, which is still in progress. Thanks guys. I'm looking forward to it.

http://www.fawzma.com/RZUPDATE/WHATSNEW.TXT

It's a link on http://www.fawzma.com/rob-zombie-pinball-beta-support/

This turned out to be a narrow spot in the inner loop. I just adjusted the guide a bit, and it's fine now.

20160903_131414 (resized).jpg

You have to remove the small flipper and two screws along the right edge. If you're completely removing it, you'll need to disconnect Spailding's wire as well.

I've never completed What! either, and I'd say more than 50% of the time, I don't even get a flipper on the ball. I'm thinking that adjustments to the VUK might help.

That reminds me, last night I got two balls in the VUK at the same time during multiball, and I had to remove the glass and use a magnet stick to clear it. No amount of shifting was able to get the balls into a spot where the VUK would clear the jam.

I can't speak for Jeff, but on mine, the ball comes out of the VUK, then often bounces off the rail on the left of the playfiled all the way back the rail on the right, then races off the upper playfield without me being able to get the flipper on it.

Ok, I did manage to finish what this evening by digging the ball out of the drain with the tip of the flipper, then getting a rhythm. I also finished Dragula, SB, DCR, AW, and about half of DP. Now, that was FUN!

I played with VUK settings, but it's either too weak or I get a lot of bounce off the rail. I'm not sure what to do with it.

A few possible issues:

When a ball is sitting in the shooter lane, you can plunge it just far enough for the switch to open. The music changes like it assumes the ball is in play, although the ball is still sitting in the shooter lane. If you wait a few seconds, ball search kicks in.

I haven't been able to fully track this one down, but occasionally, I can plunge a ball and as soon as the ball leaves the shooter lane switch, the shaker rumbles and it says skill shot failed. Maybe there's a switch that is misadjusted and is getting triggered? I'm just not sure how to find out.

This is not a big deal, but I just have to ask. What's up with the double knocks? I have a knocker coil installed, and it knocks twice on a match or extra ball. Replay, I think it's only once, but I'm not sure.

Awesome! Thanks.

I have looked, and the only switches closed when the game is idle are the trough switches. It might be a momentary switch closure due to vibration, but I'm not sure how to track that down other than going into switch test and banging on the playfield.

Historically, the knocker means you won a free game. On match, it's usually a single knock (single credit), and it's usually right at the moment that the match value is displayed.

For replays, I think it's right as-is, but I can't really remember whether it's knocking once or twice. Once is normal.

Extra balls, I've seen both ways. Some games knock, others don't. Whichever way you choose, it should probably be a single knock, based on convention.

Usually, games will also allow the operator to award credits for high scores. Often the number of credits is configurable for each position on the high scores list, and you'll knock for each credit awarded.

That will be awesome. I'm excited for the update.

Thank you so much for the attention to detail and willingness to listen to feedback. Like other have said, it's very refreshing.

I'm sure you're internally keeping a list of changes and assigning priority to them. The knocker changes are LOW, LOW priority. Anything you guys are working on to improve the scoring balance would be highest on my list. If you would prefer feature requests and bug reports sent somewhere else, I'm happy to do that instead of posting here.

Still tracking pretty darned close to linear.

Untitled (resized).png

I'm starting to like the stripped down, bleak look, so I don't think I'll be doing much to mine.

The previous owner installed a shaker and topper. He also gave me a knocker with it, which I installed.

I put Titan rubbers in it, but I left most of them black with a few red here and there. I'll be interested to see the orange.

I swapped out all of the LEDs and installed a LED OCD. I added a booze holder, and that's about all I plan to do to it.

I don't think I'm even going to add spotlights. With room lighting, I can see the playfield fine, and even without room lighting, I don't lose the ball while playing. I switched to Comet Frosted 2SMD Twin in the GI, and they spread more of their light across the playfield rather than directly at the bottoms of the plastics. I think this keeps my eyes from adjusting to the bright light as much and allows them to see the dark playfield better.

Oh, I just remembered anti-rattle tape. I need some badly.

I had thought about trying to print a modified drop target with a back that would help avoid balls getting trapped. After thinking through it fully, though, the ones that need a big shake are resting between the left edge of the target and the rail to the left. I don't think any shape would help in that case.

More work than it's worth. I'll just continue to shake it loose when it happens. It's not too bad.

Interesting idea. I might look into it if the hangs end up bothering me enough.

I'm not sure what the technical limitation to font size is, but if that's the size you're limited to, I think the current font is better.

My RZ does have a fan in it that makes a good bit of noise. Nothing bad; just normal fan noise. Maybe Spooky changed to a different power supply mid-run?

That's looks better to me, though a few numbers look a bit off. I'm looking at you, 5. What's the resolution of the WPC font?

Nice!

It also looks like you've released v14.

Mine looks like that in person. It's like the hole in the speaker panel is not big enough for all of the display to be shown.

I checked my games, and the one I was thinking of is mostly 4x5, with a few 5x5 and 3x5. I modified my own VID file, and here's an example. It looks a little weird due to the extra space between characters, but the characters themselves look good to me, probably because I've been looking at them for 25 years.

20160917_073832 (resized).jpg

If you like the look, the metal and the plastic together is fine since the metal ones keep the plastic ones from touching the cabinet. I agree not to use the plastic ones as the only line of defense, though.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rob-zombies-spook-show-international?tq=songs&tu#post-2844252

Jints doesn't have one now, since I bought the one he had. I do still have my original order on the way, and Jints may end up with that one, though. There's also a guy right across the street from me with one on the way. I think there's just a LOT of pinheads in the area.

Yeah, I'm here. After #123 was added, I noticed a big-ish gap between #119 and #123, causing a small drop in the build rate. Maybe that's when the family was visiting Disney.

Reminder: This is just for fun. Nothing official or accurate is claimed.

Untitled (resized).png

Yeah, they posted pictures on Facebook.

I have both the shaker and knocker in mine. I would recommend it if you like shakers. There are a few places it's used that I think really adds to the game; the lawn mower, video mode, etc. Others have said that the subwoofer is a good substitute, but I tend to disagree.

That said, if you don't really like shakers or want to save some money, I don't think you would necessarily miss it.

Hmmm... I'm not sure whether I'd like that or not. I agree that LDG seems to be running a bit too often, but making too many modes selectable feels like it might make the progression a bit too predictable.

For LDG, I think I would like an approach similar to the optional Iron Monger rules on Iron Man. With this enabled, all 3 spinners can be used to qualify the MB, but only the center shot will start it. Maybe the LDG targets could qualify it, then right orbit starts it, regardless of whether you want it to. I'd love to hear comments from others who are better players than I am.

At first, I was thinking I would also prefer to not select the other modes, and instead have it be something similar to the ring modes on LOTR. Having them somewhat controllable, but through gameplay rather than a menu selection would be good from the standpoint of awarding skilled play. That would eliminate replaying modes and all of the infected stuff, though. I do like the idea of getting forced into playing all the modes over time.

It's tough to get all of this right, and I don't envy the job of game designers. If you get it wrong, you'll certainly get blasted for it.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but...
Hit the center target to collect letter and spell GEIN, FISH, or SATAN. Once you have spelled one of these, you can collect the card from the inner right orbit. If you collect three, you complete Murder Ride. I thought it also lit extra ball, but that might have just been coincidence. Three modes completed also lights extra ball, so Murder Ride might have just been my third.

What! is nearly all upper playfield.
Demonoid requires you to hit the upper playfield switches to complete.
Nearly all the others allow you to hit the upper switches to increase a jackpot multiplier.

The standard is not a normal black, either. It's kind of a silver-black orange peel textured powder. I really like it a lot, and I think it's a perfect fit for the theme of the game. I'm not sure exactly how it differs from the LE, though.

Edit:
It looks like the LE is a copper colored powder using the same texture as the standard.

You can choose either one from the drop down menu.

One other extremely low priority bug. The attract mode lighting hangs while the last scores screen is being displayed.

The decals do look great done that way, but what happens if they need to be replaced?

I wasn't intending to criticize. I was asking since I didn't know. After thinking about it a bit more, I guess you'd just cut old decals along those corners and leave the pieces in the joint.

Same here. I went more pink with the LDG inserts. I used cool white under the American Witch, What, and others, since I thought the color was blown out using the color matched LEDs.

If you're talking about the X inserts, those are mainly for House of 1000 Corpses to multiply how many corpses you collect per switch.

Shoot the ramp to qualify them, then the right orbit to actually collect.

hAbO's answer is correct.

After spending a lot of time messing with the coil settings, I added a guide to mine that the ball brushes on it's way down the VUK habitrail. It slows the ball just enough that it usually rolls down the left (chicken) lane. It's still a fast eject, and you still get random bounce, but it makes the upper playfield much less aggravating.

Yeah, I'll post one this evening. The guide is a 3D printed part, so I'll post the file for that as well.

Here is a picture of the guide in the game. I plan to print one in black once I get filament.
20161206_171600 (resized).jpg

A picture of the guide out of the game, where you can see it better.
20161206_171737 (resized).jpg

It's designed to be a tight fit, but slightly wider than a ball. The path does not allow the ball to pass straight through, though. It has to get bumped a bit to at least one side, taking a bit of speed off the ball.
20161206_171832 (resized).jpg
RZ Guide (resized).png

...and finally, while I'm posting pictures, here's one of the unreleased LED OCD in it. I have a small number of them on order, and they will likely be ready mid-January.
20161110_170511 (resized).jpg

Oh, I almost forgot, here's a link to the STL file:
http://ledocd.com/RZ_VUK_Guide.zip

To my eyes, yes. I may just be ultra picky, though.