I would love a compete set of rules for 1.6.x.

Code release is great, so after a year of not playing it I fixed all the minor issues:

1) Added washers to fixed the center target
2) Aligned the warp ramp optos and reseated connectors
3) Cleaned up the cabling behind the Warp Ramp including the Vengence cables
4) Fixed the Vengence - Stretched and lubricated the metal bracket.
5) Added some Velcro on the ramps for smoother ball exits
6) Added some Comet Leds
7) Tweaked the strength of the coils (Right Outlane and Slings)

Then cleaned and waxed the machine.

Result = AWESOME!

Nothing in the menu says "Flipper strength". Is it the coil (soft, medium, hard)? If so, why do the slings have a separate settings?

Yes.

Stern re-engineered their slings for mad power beginning with transformers I believe. It wasn't til later that they realized there should be a setting for these super slingers.

Cool. The gentleman above mentioned adjusting the right outlane. What does that mean? It sounds like the right flipper, but they are apparently controlled by the coil strength option.

Probably means the outlane post. Should be 3 settings - I believe factory is middle position. Bring it in one peg to make the game easier; further most peg to make game harder. LE/prem does not have the adjustment on the left side cause there's no post and rubber - we have wide open outlane and tougher to nudge save. There's a setting to make the kickback easier light to compensate. I recommend it so these pro owners don't keep gloating about their scores just messing

Right outlane drains have been a problem for me. Going to have to take a closer look at this. I didn't seen an obvious way to change it. Must have been missing something. I'll look closer tonight.

A few guys made a Google doc for XM rules hopefully some would be able to do this for ST rules. People can add as it goes along.

I don't have much of a handle on the rules.

Really, the best way to fix this problem is to learn to nudge and slap.

Gotta be careful with closing up your outlanes, it can get pretty ridiculous.

I did it once on AFM years ago and I was thrilled with my awesome pinball ability...till I realized I wasn't losing a single ball out of the outlanes and my skill didn't really have much to do with it.

A lot of those drains are a fast break from the left into the top of the outlane. No nudging is going to change that.

How about making something like that one Pinsider did for TWD drains?

I did tighten up my outlanes but not sure it made much difference for me. What did make a difference was replacing all the post rubbers with clear super-mini's. Those things are super bouncy and make it easy to nudge the ball out of danger. They might be a little too bouncy but looks so much better than the ugly black ones.

Are they a little bigger then the black ones?

That's what she said!

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!

The infamous "Steve Ritchie left outlane"

I seem to be able to death save the right outlane drain on this machine with only one tilt warning. I'm around 80% success rate on it.

Sounds like you need a tilt plumb adjustment

Does anyone have any more info on the following:

11. Tweaked - Vengeance III will show what percent you will receive on the fly in the background; 10, 20 or 40%.

Specifically, is there a way to change the 10, 20, 40. Or is it random? I've played a good amount of games on the new code, but haven't made it to Vengeance III yet, and didn't see anything about it in the .readme

10, 20, or 40% is based on how multiplied you have the shot. Finishing it as a combo shot will give you 2x (20%). If you have the warp ramp double scoring running that is 2x (20%). If you happen to have both running that will give 40%.

I can't say I've noticed it show me what percent I am going to get though, might be too busy playing.

It's A LOT stronger.... I jumped back when testing it. Called the Red Rocket.

Moved the right outline post down to close the gap. Seems to marginally make it better. No super cheat by any means. I'll leave it there.

Is it on their page yet?

I have two Stern shaker motors.
The one in my AC/DC Premium will shake like crazy.
The one in my Star Trek Pro kinda buzzes.
Same motor and both are set to maximal usage, but one is far stronger then the other. Strange.

Sorry, Red Tremor... not Rocket.... Oy.... Here's the link

http://cointaker.com/t/shaker-motors

Klingon Multiball is a verifiable earthquake practically when shots are made.

Red Tremor

I've held off on getting a shaker. ...does it really add to the immersion factor?

Of course it does! The game feels naked without it.

Rob

Hehe.

A shaker is great. It totally goes with the fast flow of the game. Definitely recommended, though they can be a pain to tune in and get all of the excess machine rattle under control. Overall, definitely worth it.

Add the super band minipost rubbers as well, and you will have to worry about those outlanes a lot less. They have the added advantage of not shredding after 100 games like the standard ones at the entrance to ramps and targets. Same size. Just a bit more bounce.

I have a pro with the Cointaker Shaker and I 1000% recommend it. If I could only add one mod that would be it. Sometimes I turn it off if it is late at night and I want to play when others in the house are sleeping and the game is just not the same at all. The Cointaker one is stronger than the others (I was worried about that at first) but it is perfect. Star Trek uses the motor perfectly. It totally adds to the experience.

Its true! I have a pro with the left outlane set at factory (in the middle) and when I went into the audits I have 4 times as many drains on the right as I do on the left. I just never seems to go down there. I played the LE extensively before buying my pro and remember the left lane being a drain hog when the kickback was not lit.

Thanks guys, guess I'll have to break down and get that shaker after all.

I didn't compare but they don't seem wider. They have less give so I guess that ends up making them wider during play. The stock black ones were not holding up well, especially around the warp ramp, so that was the big reason to switch. After having them on for a while, they still look brand new and not even dirty. Look purty, too.

Been putting the new code through it's paces and just thought I would share some thoughts.

Overall, it is most certainly an improvement. There are plenty of points to be had now. For monster scores, you still need to get some things set up, but you can still put up a solid score with 1 ball.

My 2 best scores thus far were both about 730mil. The 1 game, I made it to EA(played poorly during), but getting the medals a second time around was a nice boost. The 2 time, I was still 4 modes away from EA, but I made sure to get 2x playfield running before starting KM which yielded around 130mil in medal bonus! So as stated, lots of points to be had.

The bonus is also now very much more important to scoring. I've had bonuses up to around 80 mil. That's pretty serious. That got me to thinking maybe there should be a way to earn 'hold bonus'. But then that got me thinking that if there were a hold bonus it might take over the game.

Not sure I understand why the Warp Ramp during 2X playfield was crippled to be worth the same as the other ramps. It's still the most difficult ramp to shoot. It has absolutely changed my strategy. The warp ramp has become solely a means to get the EB and 2X, I avoid it at other times now. Not sure I like that.

Couple of things worth noting that aren't really bugs, but could use some attention:

First, starting KM while you have more than 1 ball in play is awkward. The medal presentation goes on, but you can start shooting the KM shots during. I've done it a couple times now, and I've resorted to just getting control and stalling until the medals are done awarding. Not really sure how other games handle this type of situation, or even how I would recommend changing it.

Second, I had EB and Vengeance 1 lit. Hit the shot, EB is awarded, ball is kicked out. Have to hit the shot again for Vengeance. Again, not sure if this is by design.

I'm still chasing a billion points. But I'm thinking we're going to start seeing some 3-5 bil scores from the big boys. I think the super scoring strategy at this point is to do as many modes as you can before starting KM, and then get 2X going before cashing in. However, I still haven't gotten to Vengeance III. The whole possibility of getting a 40% bonus is serious business which if achieved late in a game could be worth insane points.

Overall, I'm happy. When I first read the rule changes I thought the whole business of saving your progress might make the game too easy. I've been a couple shots away from 5Y on 1.5, and was convinced with the progress saves I would get there in the first couple games. That was concerning as games tend to lose a little something for me once you see all they have to offer. Haven't made it there yet, but once I do, I don't think the game will lose much since there are so many scoring opportunities now.

Very nice, I wish I understood the game that well. More practice I guess.

This. ^
After defeating DTD 3, and getting warp 2x pf multiplier. This warp ramp is still only worth 250,000/500,000/1,000,000

Additionally, I've developed a new primary means of hitting the warp ramp safely, if anyone else wants to give it a go. Not sure it will actually even work on another machine, but here's my strategy:

Drill the spinner, let the ball come around to the upper flipper, but hold it up. On my pin with a strong shot, the ball goes off the flipper, bounces into the lock targets, bounces back to the upper flipper (which you are still holding up) and rolls up it a little bit at which point you have a very slow moving ball to work with to take a clean shot at the warp ramp. This also works directly after making a warp ramp shot as well.

The only time I don't do this is when the ball save is on.

It should be noted that I have a super band on that upper flipper. I definitely feel like it might be providing me with a little ball spin black magic that lets this whole process happen. I haven't tried yet on a pin with regular rubber.

Great write up!
I agree about the warp 2X shot and will bring it up to Dwight.

I absolutely love the scoring strategies in the new code; for example you say you got 730m after enterprise amok. I just got my new GC score last night of 760m and wasn't even close to amok. I love trying to stack a couple 2X shots then pile on galactic modes with double scoring that compliment those 2X shots. Then I played a game to focus on getting to amok - one mission away! But ended with like a 500m score. Keep in mind I didn't defeat vengeance 3 in that 760m score - that could have bumped me to the billion range! In fact I was fighting vengeance 3 in that game and drained ball 3 with a hard vengeance Fire back! Love it! ...but hated it lol.

That said; vengeance 3 has an ACDC element to it - build your pot up then decide when you want to attempt to cash it in. Im wondering if a better strategy is to try and defeat vengeance 3 early on and try to qualify it a second time for the big jackpot.

Oh one other thing - I haven't gotten the double super jackpot on Klingon mb yet - came close three times now darn it! But I hear that reward plays a role in scoring now. With the right multipliers and double scoring I was able to get 2m regular jackpots in Klingon mb. Just need that DOUBLE SUPER JACKPOT!!!!

I love this new code! finally I get rewarded for finishing the modes and also it now allows me to finish NeroII, what a relief!
BTW, in 1.50 code I never completed all Warps but the last game I played ( I was in the Warp-zone) on 1.61 I completed all Warps it seems, all the way up to Warp 9.9? I think? and it went back to Warp-1. Is that as expected?
The extra ball was not awarded the second time I reached Warp-5 though.

Normal behavior. You don't get another EB, however, you do get 2X playfield for 9.1 and 9.9.

Allright, back to the practise table then

It's an AMAZING game now with the new code. I thought it certainly deserved a top 30 ranking on 1.5 but to my eye's it's now a top 10 game for sure.

I can honestly say I like it more than LOTR (I owned LOTR for eight years); more than MET (although I do like MET a lot), and more than AC/DC.....that one just didn't click with me and left after a short stay.

The closest call for me would be IM. I love IM and it sits right next to my ST.....been going back and forth between them a lot since the new ST code came out. Very different games but I find them to be vary complimentary as well. Both are super fast, have great sound and cool call outs. One is deep and the other is pure brutality.

Yeah I am also a bit bummed about this. The reality is, super ramps with 2x playfield and a combo spinner to warp ramp shot was about the only thing I REALLY looked forward to in the 1.5 software. Getting up to 10M a shot and firing off several warps in a row after that was extremely satisfying. The rest of the game felt wood choppy on 1.5 in comparison.

My memory may be faulty, but is it the case that in 1.5 you could go 3 deep on a mission to enable 2x on the vengeance shot? And with 1.6 they have moved this to the warp ramp instead (DTD 3 deep)? I recall it this way because with 1.5 I was desperate to see if you could permanently 2x the warp ramp, giving an 8x multiplier for up to 20M a shot. I didn't find the 2x for the warp ramp. So maybe if the warp ramp can be lit for 2x in 1.6, it negates some of the need for the bigger warp ramp values? I did 2x the ramp and have found it still doesn't seem to give huge points like it used to, but I might not be setting it up well enough. The thing is, even if it did still max warp ramp points, there are so many more points around the table that maybe it doesn't matter. Warp is my favorite shot, and is tough, so I always hoped they might add more rewards for playing it well, not take them away. On the other hand I find with the new code I'm making shots all over the table to keep it happy, so maybe this was the right choice to avoid it being a one-shot game.

If the 2x did move from vengeance to warp that would make sense. In the old code the most a vengeance shot could give you was 10M. Vengeance 3 can now give out hundreds of millions. Going 3 deep to light that one would be a huge score booster when V3 is reached, and maybe a bit too unbalanced.

You were never able to 2X the Vengeance. All the 2X are still in the same spots.

If anyone knows, can you clarify the 2X. In v1.5, the 2X only applied to lit shots in a mode, which is why I think a lot of people thought it was broken. This meant that getting the 2X on the warp ramp via DTD and then getting the 2X playfield from Warp 9.1/9.9 still only yielded a 2X for a regular warp ramp shot. You would get the 4X only if that shot was lit during a mode and the 4X only applied to the mode shot points. (Confused yet?)

So is that the case still? Are the 2X you earn from going 3 deep really 2X, or are they still just permanent mode combo shots?

In other news, only got one game in last night and caught a glimpse of the Super Jackpot Score for 20 mil! Not sure if I combo'd it or not. Anyone know the values of Jackpot/Super Jackpot/Double Super Jackpot?

Vengeance never had a 2x pf shot. It was always the warp. Hopefully Dwight will recognize this and IF he's allowed more time to work on the code hopefully it'll get addressed. I remember reading or hearing or knowing somewhere when Lonnie originally wrote the 2x pf shot rule it was only to effect missions or it was a conditional 2x shot and didn't stack with combo multipliers. It'll need some off glass testing and diagnosis to know when for sure its used and when it's not used.

That said, I tried a new strat last night lighting the 2x left loop (Nero) and 2x warp (DTD) then stacked double scoring and galactic warps and was getting roughly 8.7M warp ramps and 8M left loops! That was fun. What was even more fun was seeingy final STE1 score....78M!

I was curious, with this update it sounds like most owners are very happy.

I always like to guage how good people think code is. So how do people feel the code is in comparison to SM (the obvious comparison) or in comparison to AcDc, Metallica or XM?

I never got too much into the 1.5 rules, but people said it was much chopping wood. Has this been addressed with the update?

Short answer - Yes.

I never really got the "chopping wood" effect from this game though....I actually get it more from MET and AC/DC then ST.....but that's just me.

That being said it's a far more intense game with the update. You really want to keep things flowing to try and achieve gold medals as often as possible. Because of that it seems faster now and it also has more intense lighting effects and sounds.

I liked it before.....I LOVE it now.

Using your games to compare:

SM: Im not a big fan of SM, owned it twice. ST is faster; SM has clever classic Lyman rules, but Dwights ST 1.6 puts it slightly ahead but one could easily argue SM's rules are better and I wouldn't argue to much. Sounds, Music, Call outs, theme pushes ST way past SM IMO.

ACDC: ACDC is a masterpiece in overall theme, gameplay, & rules. ST always had the theme and gameplay, it was just missing the rules and it finally got it! At times, ACDC feels like work...build up a jackpot > collect. Fail to collect and you gotta work your way back up. If everytime I played ST I try to start every single GAT mode, the game will feel like work. Luckily, I can play that style if im trying to maximize scores or I can try different stacks and take advantage of certain sequences. ST also has a build jackpot/collect aspect added in 1.6 with Vengeance 3. Also, Klingon MB is much more desireable with big jackpots, great visuals, and one of the best DOUBLE SUPER JACKPOT call outs ever...with a score and prize to compliment it

MET: Metallica to me is the definition of Grind/Wood Chopping. Bash this 20 times, bash that 30 times, bash this 10 times. It has creative modes when theyre going but the game does not offer the diversity or strategies that ST has to offer.

Im with you Astro. I owned LOTR for nearly 7 years. Absolute favorite! now look at my rankings...STLE has bumped into a tie with LOTR for #1 and my favorite of all time. Only til I own LOTR again will I know which one deserves to take the #1 spot