Highlands Ranch, CO
Ordered a Premium this morning! Congrats to the LE victors!
(Topic ID: 300354)
Linked Games
Godzilla (Limited Edition)
Stern, 2021-
Godzilla (Premium)
Stern, 2021
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Godzilla (Pro)
Stern, 2021
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1 month later
Quoted from Gov:How tall is the Neca figure? Looks too tall from the pics to fit.
He stated both were 6 inches tall, and also he thanked you for attending his TED talk.
I noticed how much harder the left ramp was to nail this last weekend on a Pro at Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown. One thing I remembered about the building mech was that it raises and lowers and diverts the ball to different ramps based on how high it is. I was wondering what makes it raise and lower, and if you can get more left/right inlane shots on a Premium/LE because of the raising/lowering combined with that right ramp being easier to hit?
Quoted from Forehead_Slap:Game Exchange??
I'm waiting..............
I'm with ya! Gimmie that bill -- let's do this! 
Quoted from Hayfarmer:But not sure if they are available yet
Yea, I don't think they're there yet. I keep looking for my Black Knight Sword of Rage -- because it's pretty much a requirement for that table.
Quoted from EricHadley:Premium scheduled for delivery Thursday
From Game Exchange? Now I'm nervous, I haven't received my email yet.
Quoted from PinMonk:Do you have a multimeter? You can check the output of the power supply to make sure you are getting 48v.
Also, the Prem/LE power supplies are interchangeable for the most part. You could just swap one out of your other machines. Just two connectors and a few nuts to do the swap.
Worth considering as well... I know a good bit about computers, and based on things working for about 2 minutes and then lock/freezing, it sure sounds like a possible heat issue. You've got heatsinks still attached properly to CPU/GPU etc. on the motherboard?
Quoted from DoCPooF:It definitely seems to be heat related. I'm thinking it's either the PS or CPU node. I'm leaning towards CPU as the pin will only work for about 2-4 mins from a cold start. Heat sink seems to be properly seated on the CPU node.
Still no luck getting through to Stern Tech support. I'm going to swap out the power supply from AIQ when I get home later.
I don't think I would touch it, as it is under warranty. But post-warranty I would take the heatsink off, re-apply thermo-paste and reapply just to be sure you have good contacts. Again -- don't do that now.
Quoted from DoCPooF:Oh trust Drain-O, I wouldn't go that far at this point. I'm just annoyed the money we drop on these and the damn thing doesn't work out of the box.
I question how much they actually test these once assembled.
Thanks again for all the input from everyone!
I'm not sure what the testing practices are, but based on all the rookie-mistake shipping pictures we're seeing in the forums, I would say that regardless of shop testing there is a certain amount that can go wrong, or come loose during the shipping process. All that being said, I feel your pain sir. I'm checking forums 4-5 times a day right now, looking for any info on when I might get my first-wave premium. The anticipation is killing me. I can't imagine what it feels like to finally get your pinball and have problems with it.
Quoted from mahony:Oh No, he didn't just call Teddyb73's distro a liar! You going top take that lying down Teddy?
In all seriousness I bet dealers were only receiving 9 or 10 to begin with. That's probably the initial run. I don't know how many dealers there are in the USA, but if there are 1 per state, that would be around 500 machines just in the USA alone. Not even counting anything in Canada or overseas. Sounds like a lot to me. I was told I was first in line for a Premium, but I don't have a shipping date as of yet. I inquired a few weeks ago and I was told it would be a few weeks. I want to email again but I don't want to be the guy who keeps bugging him.
My distro is expecting 28 (well -- that's what they originally told me) Likely you have some distributors covering several states.
Quoted from Flipstream:Uh oh...It isn't Next Level, is it?
Same info here. Distributor hasn't received their shipment yet but believes they're going to be shorted, and several people on the first run are now being pushed back to a March (hopefully sooner) run.
Quoted from Reality_Studio:Interesting, mine also came with V 8.0 code and also shows 8 ohm as the "default" setting, but it was actually set to 4 ohm from the factory.
For what it's worth... I have premiums of Star Wars and BKSoR. The default is 8 ohm, and I set it back to 4 ohm after reading some of the details, and I actually think it sounds much better at 4 ohm than 8. It certainly isn't as loud but I was getting a lot of clipping and cutouts in the audio, especially speech, which have now gone back to sounding normal. 8 ohm definitely seems geared to the premium speakers.
Quoted from brucipher:Happy to see everyone getting their Premiums! Bummed out that I was supposed to be in the Premium first run and got bumped due to Stern shorting my distributor. If anyone decides Godzilla Premium is not for them and you are in the first run, let me know
I feel you. I haven't received official-official confirmation yet, but I think I've been bumped too. I'm holding onto hope, but it doesn't sound good. I sure wish they would just fulfill orders on these premiums before moving on to the new JP and other tables on the line. Having to wait until March even though I got my order in within 30 minutes of the announcement, somehow just doesn't seem 'fair'... but I guess that's got nothing to do with it.
Quoted from MLarkin78:Yeah, don't like having items pushed back but I had good/bad news. My Deadpool was pushed back from Dec to July, but my Godzilla premium should arrive Monday.
Wow. Dec -> July is quite a push. Glad you're getting your GZ though!
Lots of day 1 orders are getting pushed into March, so a lot of March orders are getting pushed into August. I fully agree that Stern should catch up before releasing yet another new pinball. Stern please keep your customers happy, not frustrated.
Quoted from gamera9:They are contractually obligated to release the new titles. It is a licensing issue.
If that is true, then the contracts should be re-negotiated along with changes to future contracts. It all works in Stern's favor now, but if they build a reputation of frustration, it will bite them in the ass when demand slows.
Quoted from Pablito350:No it won't. People will still buy from them, just as they are now. They're selling pins as fast as they can make them. It really sucks for they buyer, but that's the current new pin market we are now in.
Just my .02
-Paul
It has to. I appreciate that this is all opinion, but at what point would people consider other options? 1 year wait? 2 years? At some point people aren't going to put down money on something that might or might not show in a "reasonable" amount of time. And at some point you remember the vendor that continuously allowed people (and new machines) to cut in line and go elsewhere.
Quoted from PinMonk:I'm sure it's a combination of shortages and chips/boards are a large part of it. But doing molded custom parts and ramps, etc locally is much more expensive than crating them in from Asia, and the setup is the most expensive phase, so they're unlikely to start over locally on stuff they've already paid for the setup overseas.
What does Stern's "Made in the USA" mean then? Just assembled in the USA? Of course I realize that chips, boards and other electronic parts sometimes need to come from overseas, but are they really outsourcing plastics and moldings?
2 weeks later
Quoted from Sunsfan23:Has anyone else have pinwoofers installed and noticed it makes the static on the announcers call outs more noticeable? I believe this was meant to be intentional on the audio sample in the stern code. I just wanted to make sure it’s from the audio sample because everything else sounds fantastic.
Nothing on my end.. but if you have the volume up at all, I would say make sure your speakers are set to 4omz not 8 (default) unless you have LE speakers. I've had a bunch of distortion on Sterns at 8... I don't think the standard speakers can handle it.
Quoted from UnholySpectacle:I got my premium on Monday but did not really get a chance to set it up till yesterday. Got to play a few games but noticed some issues right away.
1. The ball rattles like crazy on plunge against the side of mechagodzilla. Softer plunges don’t have an issue obviously but if I’m going for the other skill shot it never makes it past that point.
2. The drop from the magnet barely catches the end of the upper flipper which means I can’t hit the loop for destruction jackpots.
3. When I try to hit the loop during regular play the ball hits the loop entryway guide and immediately rattles up and down before dribbling back out. I have made it actually go through the loop once in 10 games and even that one barely made it after rattling.
All of this sounds like a leveling issue but I put my old school manual level straight across on 3 different points on the playfield and the bubble is perfectly in the center.
I played a pro on location and could make the loop consistently. The drop from the magnet in that game was fine as well. Not sure what else to do except maybe order a digital level if my manual one can’t be trusted.
Any recommendations for a good digital level?
I have two digital levels, and both are reading level for me as well, though I have the same issues you do. I can make loops, but I haven't been able to make more than 3 (of course this could be a talent issue, as opposed to a technical issue). I experience a lot of 1 and 2 though. 2 especially is frustrating.
Quoted from Sleal16:On the drop from the magnet, it seems a .1-ish level to the left made the drop consistent for me. It's so minor that it hasn't affected any other gameplay. I'm using the Klein digital leveler and zero'd it with my floor.... So I'm hoping my floor is level too
Will give this a shot and report back... May help with the Godzilla Multiball auto-drain issues too
Quoted from navajas:This is fast becoming my favorite game. Having never owned a Stern nor played one off location, I have a few question if folks have time.
(Premium)
1) Do these speakers suck, is the graininess due to sound design for old radio motif or is it distortion, and/or is "10" too loud?
2) I have the game with the top of the on-field bubble entirely obscured by the top line. This is lower than when I set it up and the left ramp is much easier to hit, but still definitely an event when made. Lower it some more? I feel the right ramp is just about right, and outright STDM rejections on misses are now rare.
3) About once in 5 or 6 games a ball gets caught at the entrance of the building. Ball search resolves it, but kind of annoying. Anyone else? Remedy?
4) Where do you place your level when trying to measure left/right? I had it perfect on initial set up, but after I decided the game was too steep and lowered it, I seem to be drifting left... though the level reads fairly dead. Given my experience is with far older machines with about 1/5 the things to shoot, this kind of precision is new to me.
5) Can someone link a nice text format rules / strategy document? I don't want to watch people on YouTube play for 90 minutes.
Put a shaker in today. Pretty fun. Mom loves it. At the bonus countdown she gets a smile on her face and makes stompy noise, "Kuchh, kuccch, bwuchh..." Oh, and, by the way, wait until you see what my she got for wall art. Wow. My guess 80% of you will want one, especially if you install one of these piggy banks.
Mods on the way:
The above giant grey piggy bank.
Tilt Graphics plunger face and breath button plaque.
My God, having Rodan active, finding the right time to control a multiball and hitting your breath attack with a bunch of shots lit is off the fucking hook pinball fun. Just saying.
For (1) -- Adjust the speakers to 4ohm instead of 8ohm (default) -- Even though the default is 8, I don't think non-LE speakers can take it.
For (5) -- http://tiltforums.com/t/stern-godzilla-rulesheet/7210
Quoted from Hayfarmer:Buy pinwoofers. Sound quality and volume will increase immensely. Worth every penny
For the record, I have pinwoofers on all my tables. The pinwoofers are fantastic, but he was complaining about noise cutting out --- which from everything I can tell across 3 Stern tables I own comes from having the speakers at 8ohm instead of 4ohm. There's just too much juice going to the non-LE speakers at 8ohm. 4ohm sounds much better with or without pinwoofers to me.
Quoted from navajas:Hmm. Took a quick couple videos of how my Mom's game sounds. It's worse on 8ohm.
Thoughts?
Hopefully the 8ohm setting didn't do damage to your speakers.
Quoted from Sunsfan23:I get those random crackles. Especially with this announcer! I’m better off with the japanese audio.
I don't want to beat a dead horse, but everyone who has non-LE speakers, change over to 4ohm instead of 8ohm (default) audio. I've completely removed all the crackles I was getting on Godzilla, Black Knight SoR and Star Wars. Still sounds great on pinwoofer too!
Quoted from Medic:If I bought the pinwoofer kit should I change to 4ohm as well? Thanks
I believe so. The way I understand it the ohm setting is really similar to setting the water pressure in your house. If you send too much signal to the speakers then you get the distortion and eventually damage. I'm not entirely sure why things are set the way they are out of the box, but since the code for Premium and LE is the same, I'm guessing that is why 8ohm is the default... just because it's great for LE speakers. But I have personally set mine to 4ohm out of the box and never experienced distortion. The speakers don't have quite the range of 8ohm, but they're not as good of speakers.
Quoted from PinWoofer:Hey guys - since we were mentioned. Hope you are all having a stellar weekend!
Regarding the PinWoofer GT Amplifier, please keep in mind that the PinWoofer amp is now driving the speakers, and not the Stern CPU Node Board so while you will hear a difference in intensity (volume) switching between 4 Ohm and 8 Ohm settings (4 being quieter), it is not obvious what's really going on and I did not see it addressed above.
The 4/8 Ohm menu options are an impedance matching feature in the CPU node electronics and since the GT expander board has a 30 Ohm input impedance, you will get greater "power transfer" when the menu is set to 8 Ohm (Ie. 8 will be louder). The power transfer efficiency is lower when using 4 Ohm so the intensity is less.
We generally recommend using 8 Ohm on the Sterns since 4 Ohm is much quieter but if you want to use 4 Ohms, you can always raise the gain and master Vol to level up. We will still recommend 8 Ohm whenever possible; plese keep the service menu volume <= 20 as per the instructions to avoid clipping.
Regarding the PinWoofer KO Amplifer, there should be no sensitivity to the menu impedance settings but honestly, I have not tried it yet. There is a comment above that Godzilla sounds cleaner with PinWoofer using 4 Ohm. This is an interesting observation and I plan to dig into this more since I wonder if the digital leveling in the track is also reduced along with the lower impedance setting. AIQ, IMDN, GZ and some others have peculiar noise spots that are an artifact of the track and quite repeatable, and we see them reported from time to time as above. If there is an adjustment path to help these titles, I'll report back.
Thanks for your attention
Thanks for coming into the conversation PinWoofer you guys rock by the way. Best mod ever. The distortion everyone is talking about is something I experienced on my Black Knight SoR until I switched over to 4ohm, which fixed everything. I have to turn the volume-setting up higher, but I no longer experience clipping at similar volume. I'm basing what I've been saying about this setting based on some stuff I've read in the forums, personal experience, and 3rd party info (ex. https://descriptive.audio/4-ohm-vs-8-ohm-speakers/) It seems like the setting needs to be considered not just for the amp but the speakers as well. If I have read something wrong I would love to know about it and be corrected. Thanks again -- I'm a customer for life!
1 week later
Quoted from Jay_Killjoy:I would like the New Yorker guy callouts much more if they were only used when you are "in" New York. Then they could add some French ones for Paris and British ones for London- like Attack from Mars!
That would be great! I would also love the ability to either pick your first city or have it randomized. Just to throw in a little variety to things.
Quoted from Mando:How do you get sauced multiball ?
If you get sauced enough, every ball is a multiball! I've got four-flippers, two for each one of you!
2 weeks later
For those that were looking for these... Flaming Speaker Light kits are available for purchase. No indication of when you'll get them but they are there:
https://speakerlightkits.com/Type-14.html
Quoted from MUGEN_4_LIFE:Anyone own the premium and just purchase the subway sign along with other signs? I cant find the directions for the sign install alone without the building replacement and ut seems like for the sign install we could avoid pulling the building out in my opinion? Help if possible would be appreciated!
I have both the sign upgrades/mods from Mezel Mods. I just used the 3M tape to stick them to the original signs and done. Nothing else to do beyond that. They work and look great.
Hey Guys -- quick question. Is there a good place to go to get an explanation of items in the "feature adjustments" menu? For example, you can set qualify Kaiju Battle to "easy", "medium" or "hard"... but what does that mean? I can't find anything in manuals, etc.
2 weeks later
Quoted from joelbob:Is there a list of the Secret Combos anywhere?
I don't know why these need to be secret. If we're out there linking shots all over the place, how do we know which shot the combo began on, or which one it ended on? I've hit the mode a few times, but have had no idea how I did it. Would be nice to just have it out in the open so I could at least shoot for something. I get that people like secret skill shots and what have you... but man rulesets are hard enough without having secret combos too. At least that's my opinion.
9 months later
Quoted from KneeKickLou:I found mine was the same way when I swapped my sub out. I posted about it in the DIY sound thread one of the guys there smarter than me said it was no big deal and wouldn’t really change the sound too much.
If you want more bass I recommend just changing out the speakers all together. I mean just look at the difference. [quoted image]
I'm really considering doing a little do-it-yourself upgrade on the speakers in my cabinet.. But I'm also a total novice... So, two quick questions, what type of wires do I need to buy to attach to the speakers, and what do you call the white plastic thing that the wires are going into that connects to the other white plastic thing, and where do I get those? Sorry for being so new to this stuff -- I'm perfectly capable of doing all the work, just don't know what anything is called.
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