Bring it. I'll cradle a ball on the left flipper and make it drag on for a long, long time. Wouldn't be any point to play both balls at once. No one can loop two balls at once on that ramp. Left ramp on RS, sure. 3 or 4 balls at once are possible on that ramp. Warp ramp on ST, not a chance.

First of all, hi everyone. Swedish pinhead here who has been lurking on pinside for a long time. I'm a relatively new owner of STLE so the newness hasn't worn off yet, but despite that I'm eagerly awaiting the next code update =)

I really like this idea too. Since I'm a sucker for game rules that let you collect things I think it would be cool to actually assemble your own away team with x number of members. This could be done either via the trek lanes or a number of away team shots. Apart from the awards you suggest I would also consider an away team multiball, or a special away team mission.

I hope Stern does something - and soon - for all you intelligent gentlemen. Reading this thread all the way through has been like chopping wood!

I'd like to see a "buyin" option similar to STNG.
Sometime I need just one more ball to complete that mission.

That's what SHE said.

So how are people liking the game at this juncture?

Not enough to have kept it and wait for updated code.

Yeah took too long for update sadly mine was gone before I had the chance to see how next update would be. At a friends now though so at least I'll get the chance to see how the code progresses.

the dust is getting really thick on the glass of my LE. Metallica and Magneto have been getting the love in the last month or so.
just like all sterns, you have to be willing to sit tight and wait it out until great code comes along.

I can really understand the frustration people have if it's their only pin or one of a very few.

Great code is coming - I PROMISE!

Still fun to shoot, fun to mix up the order of approaching the missions. I find the start mode shots satisfying - I like shooting it under the flipper (Away Team). I still like hitting the warp ramp...love Klingon Multiball. Obviously still needs update, but fun to play none the less.

I'm in the same situation as Eskaybee still has his.

I go in waves with games, so I had a wave of STLE for a few weeks, now in a mini break but still play it some. The Uhurua voice spam is getting to me again, may have to turn speech back to 60 like I did a few months back. As I complete Klingon 1 just before Kobayahi Maru, I really don't want to hear that they're ordering us to land in a really somber, depressing voice.

One other nitpick I'd like to see changed is to allow us to start moving the mission select around immediately if we quickly start a mode after finishing one. Because they have to announce the name of the mission, the game makes you wait for the end of mission drivel to finish, so it can then start calling out the mission names. You're held in mission select jail until all the chatter finishes. Look, Uhura, I don't really care if that appears to be their only destination, let me select the next mission NOW! /rantoff

The game is still crazy fun to play, though. Really love getting Warp ramp combos in Super Ramps, it's a rush. Way too much fun to sell, and it's nice to know we've got a code update coming. Look for it *soon* (ha ha).

I must be the only person happy with it's present state.

They need warp ramp multiball simple add a ball for hitting it about 20 times is not enough.

I would like a warp ramp video mode. Hit the warp ramp a certain # of times then the left lock or center or away team lights for video mode/modes.

Steer kirk through space debris.like purba mode in shadow. Away team
Shoot klingons. Like t2 Left lock, or outrun klingon ships in caverns.
Outrun the vengence. Center lock. Have to avoid the vengence fireing on the enterprise

And others. I would love to have some video modes back. Tie them in that they can only be activated during a mission by hitting the warp ramp a specific number of times and locking the ball during that mission.

An extra mode to shoot for if you want to.

If the mission is completed the vid mode is gone. This would let anyone that doesn want to play video modes to be able to bypass them.

Would be a super sweet bonus to already great gameplay.

Sorry, last thing I want on a fast and flowy game like ST are some video modes to slow things down. Keep pinball about the ball, save the simple games for your smart phone.

While I agree in "part" with the flow aspects Aurich pointed out... for me it's the THEME which asks for a video mode. I think there should be at least one.

Sold mine, my friend still has his - but not for long .

Team away shot got really old and broke the flow. As the code stands I don't miss the game one bit.

Only 2 LE's I ever bought - XMLE and STLE have been a disappointment and I enjoy my Metallica pro way more than either LE.

Agree. And the game is so fast that I would welcome a video mode just to catch my breath for a bit.

Maybe they could treat the video mode like a scoop eject..double flipper hit to just bypass it and move on if you're not into it. Obviously couldn't be too integral to big scoring then, but are they generally? I think most are bypassable without big scoring ramifications.

After my first week with the game I'll say that they really need to make it so that the lv 1 "mission complete" callouts only happen when you COMPLETE the mission, not when you drain during it. It doesn't make sense and is too repetitive to hear "I hearby confiscate this illegally obtained vessel" or whatever when I drain, and then hear it again when I finish the mission on the next ball. On a really bad game I've heard the same callout 3 times ("that door is there to stop us from being irradiated - we'd be dead before we made the climb!")

Also, I'd like to see something done about how brutal the eject from the left lane on the Pro is. Maybe a really short ball save activated after ejecting? I can't tell you how often it shoots it right off the slingshot into the outlane or gives me some barely savable shot right down the middle. Or is there some other adjustment I can make to help with this?

It's hard enough to hit Start Mission without my reward for doing so being an insta-drain right afterward a large portion of the time. I haven't played the Premium; I assume this isn't an issue there. In over 225 games this week I've only completed all 6 level 1 missions 3 times and I feel this is a huge reason why. It's my fault if I can't finish the missions but at least give me a chance to get going once a new one is started.

That sucks. Not to rub it in, but I love the VUK on my Premium.

Don't own one but all the pros I've played have had mostly safe kickouts. You could try loosening the whole assembly under the playfield to see if there's any play available. A small adjustment one way or the other may make a big difference. Also, you should shoot the away team shot to change modes whenever possible. Post passing from right flipper to left is easy. Once you get the away team shot down, it gets easier than the saucer shot.

It makes the game easier, so I can see how you might like that. What's your high score?

There is a software adjustment for this. I traded my Pro up to an LE a few months ago and don't recall where it is in the software.

Do you know where it's "supposed" to kick it to? To the inlane? Directly to the left flipper?

I will look for this. I'm curious; would you say your LE is easier because of the VUK or the kickback?

This is my first pin and I've been trying to avoid changing any gameplay-related settings in order to play it as designed. But if the Premium gets a nice feed when starting a new mission and the rules are all the same, I won't feel bad tweaking it.

This adjustment has an effect on the ball and setting it correctly will put it on the flipper. It was very inconsistent at full power. The slingshots also offer this strength adjustment. I would consider this tweaking the machine and not changing gameplay. The "Rescue" kickback does add an element not currently programmed in the Pro. There have been rumors of a software ball save, though.

It varies, like the kickout from the chest on POTC. Sometimes it bounces off the top of the sling, sometimes it goes straight to the left flipper. Maybe one in ten kickouts should go down the middle or an outlane.

If it's strictly for that kickout, it should be under feature adjustments. I'm assuming you're not talking about the coil power setting, which is in standard settings.

The VUK and kickback are two major reasons I went Premium, and I'm so happy I did. I absolutely LOVE the VUK - kickback is a blast now that I altered the settings a bit, too. Only issue I'm still having is the ball moving to fast around the wireform and jumping off. I need to mod it or figure SOMETHING about.

Odd, that's never happened to me even once. Where on the wireform is it jumping off? What's the pitch of your game?

Tried to do a rudimentary arrow and ball sketch of the two spots the ball jumps off most.

And my pitch is around 6.8 degrees.

It's apparent that the ball has too much speed around the bends. The first one, the ball hops off as it makes that second turn the arrow is pointing to. The second one, the ball almost rides up the outside rail as it finishes that third turn, hops up on the rail, and jumps out - it either rolls back into the wire and falls into the feed lane there or hops out into the playfield (sometimes over the sling as I've sketched).

Capture.JPG

Hmm, I'm closer to 6.5, I guess it's possible that extra fraction of a degree is too much. That definitely isn't normal behavior though, doesn't happen on my Prem and I've played a couple other LEs without seeing it there too.

Mine has never hopped there .
I'm around the 6.5 degrees .

Imho, it should kick out most of the time (8-9 out of 10 times) to the L flipper. The variability or risk created by the kickout should be skill-based: the ability of the player to manage the ball coming to the left flipper via live catch, dead bounce, or well-timed on-the-fly flip. It shouldn't be so soft of a kickout that you can hold up the left flipper (in advance) and have it eventually come to rest.

That way, the 1-2 times out of ten that it does go to the top of the sling, with careful nudging, you can keep it from going down the R outlane, ending up with a % drain rate of less than 5%.

On a couple ST Pro's I've played where the kickout went to the top of the sling the majority of the time, my left hand got awfully sore from slapping the left side of the cab to get the kickout to come off the rail, and miss the sling to the right, so that it ended up at the left flipper .

I know we've gone over ideas for rules, but one thing I was really hoping for, actually assuming (yep), was that at the start of a Vengeance battle, the lights would go out and the flashers would illuminate the Vengeance ship, just like the STTNG "you will be assimilated" intro. It seemed so obvious, and I was really disappointed it wasn't like I expected. So in general, I think the "wow" factor needs to be upped, as the hardware is already in place. So, big intro for Vengeance, and also something way better for Kobayashi, even if the rules stay the same. When you see the game in attract mode, you can't help but wonder why they don't throw some of that magic into the game itself. Mini-wizard modes are a perfect opportunity to throw amzing light shows at you so that you tell everyone , come check this out! So there it is, pizzazz, splash, whatever, some kind of eye candy to reward me for getting to the next milestone.

The team has done a great job using the rgb inserts for showing you both mode shots and mb jackpot shots. Playing LOTR, I found that was a big weakness, the mb shot indicators took over.

Yeah, right now none of the spotlight/asteroid/backbox lighting is used during gameplay....I imagine that will all be incorporated in the update.

I've wondered about this. I see 'em in attract, and flasher test - but have never really been sure if they are lit during gameplay. I guess now I know why. Good to know.

This is what I have said, trying to hit the "away team" shot or the left Orbit to get to the next mission is crazy hard; especially if you need to do it, what 17 times.

Robert

Sometimes I appreciate that to change modes, you have to break from the traditional shots. However, now that I've played it more (and more and more), I do see how this is an impediment. How 'bout, in addition to hitting the away team, there is a roving shot that could also change modes.

As I've said before, I find the left lock/Mission Start shot to be a LOT easier (and safer?) than the dumb Away Team shot. I just can't hit it.

It would be neat if they were able to integrate a start mission shot involving the Vengeance. That shot is SO much easier to make and still allows the ball to pause a second to select the mode.

D'oh~! I didn't think through my suggestion. Yeah, you need to stop the ball to allow mode changes. A shot to Vangance where the magnet grabs the ball would work. Maybe that shot could 'strobe' on/off to make it bit more challenging.

I'm not sure what the setup would be, but I really do feel like they should introduce it as a potential mode start option. Maybe even do something where it lights for a few seconds after hitting the left/right loop or after hitting the warp ramp when not in a mode? I don't know - just something so that you almost have to "plan" to do it (i.e. working the loops).

Good idea! ...also, you could make it so it won't capture the ball/change modes unless you hit the shot as a combo.

Good thought - the fact that the game is already rockin combo code means it shouldn't be too difficult to work something like that in.

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but do you guys think it would be cool to have a midnight madness included in this game? (With the option of disabling it in the menus, of course.)

There's no "midnight" in space...

It would be cool that during the Vengence battle if some of the GI would go out randomly or other things flash haphazardly like you were taking damage from the battle. It would feel more interactive.

So how many of these suggestions made it into the new code?

Other than the obvious and obligatory warp ramp improvements, what else is there?

Modes start easier? How does the "Galactic Away Team" scoring work?