Left - Returns to the left flipper.
Center - Returns to the left flipper or upper-upper playfield.
Right - Returns to the lower-upper playfield.

It's all preference. The only Spooky title I've owned is Total Nuclear Annihilation and it's such a different game then every other modern game. Ultimately, I would agree with what others have said, you won't have any trouble going back and buying a Mandalorian a year from now. I would not be willing to make the same guarantee for Halloween / Ultraman. If you think you're ever going to want one, now might be the best time.

Deadpool and Ghostbusters might be my two all time favorite playfields. Zombie Yeti is without a doubt my favorite artist working in pinball. Stern hiring him and Keith Elwin were two of the best hires in pinball. Back to Spooky, I think Jason Edmiston absolutely crushed it on the backglass and cabinet artwork. Among the best ever. His work reminds me of Christopher Franchi. With that said, I think it's okay to admit that the playfield artwork is just okay. The bottom half is really good, but as my eye works it's way up the shotlines seem to stand out with the knives and blood floating a bit. I much prefer when an artist works shotlines and inserts into the artwork, like the katana's on Deadpool. Still an amazing overall package, but if he continues in the hobby, that's where I'd provide some constructive criticism.

I just don't think there is a game where the inserts are worked into the artwork more seamlessly then Deadpool. Whatever the workflow between artist and designer was on that game is the standard others should try to replicate...IMHO.

That's funny. Several years ago I was in line for a TV on Black Friday. I was talking to the guy behind me who was from India. I asked what he was there to purchase and he said that he was just there to look around. The crowds on Black Friday reminded him of home.

Yeah, sporting tickets for me. The sites crash always crash once the tickets I want go on sale.

I think this is one of those cases where you'll have some double orders and even though things are "sold out" you may be able to find one as things are sorted out. The real question is when we'll start seeing resale spots on Pinside.

I wonder if it would be possible to create a "waiting room" to limit traffic to the actual shop website.

The game will be better then the horrible confusing website.

Those "spinature" figures are sweet.

Yeah, I saw that one as well. I thought about posting after I secured my copy on eBay

I believe the goal is to hit each standup target, then the scoop, then the exit to the shooter lane as a bonus.

No question the butter cabinet looks better. If you want the best version and an extra $1,000 is no big deal...go for it. If I had near unlimited cash I'd get a butter cabinet. That said, I do not have near unlimited cash and have many other priorities that will come first.

Wasn't it already confirmed in an interview that one of the wizard modes was locking a ball into each of the 7 physical ball locks?

I don't think that's a fair comparison. House is not a wizard mode or sub wizard mode it's one of the three main modes in the game along with Hedge and Sanitarium. If you are following the movie you'd want it to be Sanitarium then Hedge then House, but then Spooky would have people complaining that the game is too linear. I'm glad they let the player choose which order to do each mode based on their preference.

Soon, very soon.

I'm going to drive to get my Ultraman.

Can't wait to see the new code.

Thanks for the updates @SpookyLuke. It's a beautiful evening in southern Wisconsin. I might suggest a drink, fire, and Brewers game.

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I think it's part of the nature of supporting a bootique company. The most important thing to me is that almost everyone has said it's the best shooting Spooky pin to date. Code and animations can be added, see B66 or TWD. Correcting shot issues after the fact is much more difficult. Not impossible, but much more difficult.

100%. Rick & Morty had such amazing access to clips that blend in perfectly with animated overlays.

That said, I actually like the animations for hedge, where it's the shot from behind Michael's shoulder and the animation for house, whene it's Laurie in the closet. If they can interrupt those with some more frequent clips, I think they will work just fine.

That upper-upper playfield is what sold me on the game. The figure-eight shots look like a lot of fun, once you get the flow going.

I didn't watch through the whole stream, but do we know that "the big guy" is from Spooky and not from the license holder? Maybe it doesn't matter in the end, since it could have the same end result, but I know licensing for some games is more difficult then others.

I had the same thought, but I think this license is specific to the first Halloween. They probably look back at what has happened to the franchise and not want to further tarnish the original. With that said, I'm hoping they put some faith in Spooky Pinball. I don't think there is a licensee that is more committed to the horror genre then them.

Nice. Did you also get Ultraman #8? I think the rules are going to be almost identical, but I'd still be curious which game you enjoy more.

I'm listening to the stream while typing this. After first reading this, I thought I was going to be upset about everything, but I'll admit his first few points are valid. Early on he says something about the player just shooting the drop targets and center ramp. With the current coding, if you are playing exclusively for high score, this is 100% correct. The combo values are out of balance and you are also make progress towards House / Jirahs. Based on the inserts it does appear that the combos values might not be the final plan for the coding. On Ultraman the right scoop is marked for "Mystery" and on Halloween the right scoop is marked with a large blood symbol. Similar symbols are used on each of the combo shots, so I believe that the combos will eventually make progress towards a series of mystery awards. Bottom line, this can be fixed with code.

He also mentions not enjoying one of the minor Pumpkin Modes / Quick Battles. The mode he's talking about does happen to be my least favorite of the six modes currently in the game. This is the Zarab battle in Ultraman. Sorry, I'm not sure what it's called in Halloween. My preference is that they would combine this mode with the roaming target mode and then perhaps add a new mode. For example, knock down all the drop targets to light all major shots for 15-20 seconds. When the timer runs out the drop targets reset. The final shot will be lit after the player successfully completes 5-6 of the major shots, which may require completing the drop targets multiple times. I tend to prefer modes with multiple phases and multiple shots lit at one time. Either way, I think this is another example that can be made better with code.

Finally, let's talk about his major complaint; the scoops on the left. Personally, I enjoy them way more then the giant targets other companies tend to put in those locations. I've never seen it take anywhere close to 10 seconds from the subway to the playfield, but it does slow down the gameplay. With zero staging it's closer to 4-5 seconds from the top scoop. For comparison, this is the same amount of time for the ball to return to the flipper from the center ramp. The greater issue is when you lose a ball on the upper playfield when House / Jirahs mode is already started. Again, I believe that is fixable with code. Ultimately, those are multiball modes. By not starting these modes until you start the multiball you allow the player to move from the upper playfield to the middle playfield to the lower playfield with meaningful shots everywhere. As an added bonus this change would also permit increased opportunities to play the upper playfield, which is one of my favorite upper playfields on any game.

Absolutely! The longest delay in the game occurs when the player loses a ball on the upper playfield. The issue really is not having anything to shoot on the middle playfield. Any time you reach the upper playfield you are already in the house mode, so you can never make progress towards sanitarium mode. Why even have the ball travel from the upper playfield to the middle playfield? I think the solution is simple, don't start house mode until the start of multiball. Then allow the player to reach the upper playfield more often but increase the difficulty of starting multiball. The playfield if fun, let the players shoot it more often. Require them to complete multiple shots to each spinner before they can shoot the crossover ramp or use virtual locks and require them to shoot the crossover multiple times before it starts multiball. It's less noticeable on the middle playfield, but it's the same thing. There I wish they would take advantage of the physical ball lock. Complete a sequence of shots to light the scoop on the middle playfield. Then lock a ball in that scoop and launch a new ball from the shooter lane. Require another sequence of shots on the middle playfield to release the locked ball and start sanitarium multiball.

I don't think there are jackpots in the pumpkin modes, only during the three multiballs. Have you played the pumpkin mode where you have to shoot the individually lit drop target? That is my favorite mode in the game. For those that haven't played it, one of the drop targets is lit green. You have to hit just that one target. After a successful hit you have to shoot an orbit to reset the drop target and a new drop target will be lit green. In my opinion that is the perfect length for these quick modes. Another mode I though about would be similar to what I mentioned above, but light up all the standup targets, including the ones on the middle playfield...why not. The player must shoot 4-5 of these targets to light the orbits for 15-20 seconds. Since there are less shots, each successful orbit resets the timer. The final shot will be lit after the player successfully completes 3-4 orbit shots. I just prefer quick modes like this that have those multiple phases and multiple shots lit at once.

PS: Again, I don't want this to scare people away. The game is already good. I just think with a few additional rule tweaks it can be even better.

Halloween / Ultraman is not a brutal game. It's more like Lord of the Rings, where the majority of the shots lead to the in lanes. I think that's why my favorite mode is the one where you have to hit the orbits and drop targets. Those are the shots have a bit more risk / reward.

Luke it's time to stop working.

I love the addition of the blood collectable feature. Do these replace combos? The current combo value seems too high.

I don't have an issue with ball staging, but I don't think it fixes the problem you are talking about. In my opinion, timing isn't the issue. Players aren't losing balls because they aren't being returned instantly. The issue is the ball entering the playfield in a unique way. I think that's cool, but it takes a few games to get used to.

It might depend on the slope, but on my game the ball would hold pass to the opposite flipper.

It's his neck that really stands out to me.

Halloween III: 2, LOL

Anyone else stressed seeing his battery life at 3%?

Can't wait to try out the new code.

The layouts are identical, so yes.

I've seen them both. The decals look fantastic. The butter looks even better. I did not go with butter.

Michael creep is a known issue. We're working on a correction.

With the first servo being zero, they are labeled as servo 3-5 on the board.

There is some weird behavior with 1.05 code. That will be corrected in the new update. Prior to 1.05 it was one orbit per mode previously completed that ball.

I would get your slope where you enjoy the speed of the game. From there I would start launching balls from the plunger...over and over. What is happening? If you can take a video and send it to [email protected]. I'm sure we can come up with a solution.

The first thing I'd try to check is if the ball is riding the left orbit all the way to the end. You may be able to push in on the ball guide right near where the wire that pulls down the drop ramp. That's a bit counter intuitive, pushing in, but if that's out too far the ball may not be following the correct trajectory. I'd also look for any lose wire or debris in the orbit. If the ball is following that guide all the way down and the orbit feed is clean, then I might just give the end of the guide a slight bend outward. Perhaps just bend the guide slightly past 90. There is a CNC spotted mounting screw right near the end, so I'd be a little hesitant; but, if you've tried everything else, and it's still not working, a little bend outward will for sure make a big difference.

If you've followed the instructions for getting the .pkg file onto your USB drive then all you have to do is plug the USB into the game. We update every single game in the factory using the extender cable inside the coin door, but you can also plug them directly into any of the slots on the computer inside of the backglass. It doesn't matter if your game is on or off when you plug in your USB drive. Obviously if you plug it in when the game is off you just have to turn it back on for the update to start. Otherwise, when the USB is plugged in the game will recognize the USB stick and start the update automatically. When it's updating all the lights on the game will turn red. When it's done updating all the lights on the game will turn green. When the update is finished you need to remove the USB and restart the game by powering off and powering it back on.

The two games are very similar, but there are some minor differences. The biggest difference with the rules currently would be Dada vs Stalker. With that said, the games do have a different feel due to light shows, sound effects, and video assets. In terms of swapping software between games, it's simply not possible with licensing. Neither company would allow their assets to be placed on the opposite game.