how are you guys getting printed images to work as a QR code? I cannot get a printed version to work at all. Has to have it's own light source like a phone.

well I guess I better go play my Godzilla a lot today then

And I've found I have to have the brightness turned up pretty high on my phone for my QR code to be seen, so I'm wondering this as well.

I didn't do anything special. I printed on card stock (thick paper) with a laser printer.

If you're having trouble, it might be too big. The QR code in the app isn't much bigger than a quarter. I printed mine in a similar size and it works 100% of the time.

My printed QR codes take a little bit of finessing to work.

Know what works perfect? Shining a flash light on the back of the paper to self illuminate it.

Also, I have a big image of my QR code on my IPad Pro. If I hold it a foot or 2 away, and crank brightness to 100%, it easily reads it every time.

I think the qr reader’s camera needs to have its exposure / fstop settings tweaked, or at least be adjustable. It’d be nice to actually have the reader’s lights be brighter if you’re using printed codes. Any difficultly reading a code is literally 100% of the time brightness issue.

apparently this person is a known kook.

Try more reflective paper (like glossy stock) so the scanner's light will have an easier time making out the contrast

I think I just used regular paper and a normal home ink jet printer. I probably printed in high quality.

Works fine for me without any extra light sources. So IDK?

New IC-enabled code for Stranger Things just dropped. I'll be curious if that means a kit will be available soon for that game.

the kit is just a generic kit. Whenever the new code comes out that game is ready to have an insider connected kit. A few titles are still waiting final approval. I’ve been waiting on stranger things and Mandalorian. Not sure about stranger Things since I have a uv kit. I think I can put the qr reader on the Uv kit apron???

...with some exceptions. George Gomez has said that some games require a special kit...stranger things, elvira, and maybe one or two more... can't quite recall

The STh UV kit apron already has a square hole that looks like the IC reader will fit in. My STh pro with a build date of March 2020 also has that hole.

I believe B66 and Beatles get custom kits as well.

Batman66 is unique. It's the first one I've seen where the scanner is mounted on the left.

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Has anyone transferred an IC game from one owner to another? I just got a used Godzilla pro, and there doesn't seem to be any way to register it to my account. Do I just have to get the old owner to delete it first?

So far I haven't had much luck with the canakit wifi adapter. Signal strength is garbage inside the backbox. With a usb extender it seems a little better out in the open, so I might see if it works any better with an extension cable to the front of the game JJP style. Otherwise, if you want to run off ethernet, does it just connect to the open port on the bottom of the CPU board?

I like the setup with the switch too-I'm guessing you can't just use a standard n-port ethernet switch on there and keep everything connected at the same time? No idea what the protocol is on those lines, but probably something custom. I like the idea of a central sign-in location for all the games though-maybe even a way to drive sign in remotely for tournament play?

Observation from looking over the ST achievements: since most of the most modes in this game already have bonus things you can do for extra points, this game is very well suited for achievements.

Does the verified/unverified tag on achievements only get applied the first time you earn it and not change to verified if you got the achievement as unverified first? I've earned achievements on Godzilla at home, then played on location and did things that would be achievements. But since I'd earned them at home first they're still showing as unverified. I'd think that if you earn an unverified achievement and then play a location game any achievements should be able to switch to verified, but that doesn't seem to be how it's set up.

I'm going by the fact that distributors are specifically saying Stranger Things and a few other titles are not compatible with their current kits. My assumption on Stranger Things was that the UV kit in particular complicated matters (mine is a pro too) but would love to hear if it would work as it's the last Spike 2 game on location here not enabled.

DO NOT connect ethernet to the node bus ports, you will damage your devices.

The MPU board has a real ethernet connector on the top side (the lonely one).

Great man, great hack and thanks for sharing.

Now wait for Stern to update the code to avoid this hack.

Not possible since it looks exactly like a dedicated sensor to the machine. They could prevent the auto detection of the sensor after boot but that could have unintended side effects and make things less reliable. People that are anti IC are already complaining about the false error they get when booting their GZ with IC sensor unplugged.

Stern isn’t trying to make money off the kits and having more people excited about IC is a win for them.

Update-I messaged the last owner last night, and he unregistered the game. I was able to go in this morning and add it, so now it shows up under Machines in my profile. Good thing too-I was worried for a second that Stern would come back with "IC can only be registered by the original owner of the game", kind of like the old "online pass" thing that EA tried with their games. Glad they took this into account. Now to fix the signal problems...

Just to know..
I don't car about the reader, but what happens if I update and put a SD card and compatible wifi key?
Can I get the connectivy that would be used for operators?
Our charity program has 6 machines in various hospital and I'd be happy to have some remote audits, without spending 1500€ to buy kits

How big did you print it? They're pretty small on the phone screen - maybe if you print it big the scanner doesn't read it as well because it has to be farther away.

Just a little update, as new Stranger Things code was released last night.

I now have 4 total machines running off Godzilla's Insider Connected Apron, all able to switch real-time with zero issues having multiple users logged into different machines simultaneously.

Godzilla Premium
Elvira HoH Premium
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Premium
Stanger Things Premium
Jurassic Park Premium

The 2 daisy-chained 4-way splitters work like a charm, and have no problem sending and receiving data.

It's extremely fun to track and collect all the achievements, and I'm excited to see what new features Stern is gonna roll out. I've heard rumors of pingolf and online vs. modes.

But one feature that is a huge game-changer, which I don't see anyone talking about, is the ability to level-up your turtles in TMNT, and have those levels be persistent. Leveling up a turtles to level 4 in TMNT is a massive, massive ask. I just finally got Leonardo to level 4, and now every time I log in, either at home or on location, Leo stays at level 4. That's a literal game changer, because you can start new games with all kinds of perks, plus 30% scoring increases (on a notoriously low-scoring game) as well as Nutrinos' mode unlocked from the jump.

As of right now, Insider Connected benefits TMNT the most by far. Achievements are fun and all, but being able to level up characters and retain that progress is a big change to its gameplay. I hope this is the start of all kinds of persistent game modes.

Updated schematic attached
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I made a guide 3 weeks ago on how to share a QR code reader with different games: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-share-stern-ic-reader-with-other-games

Yeah, I read through your guide, thank you for that btw but I was looking to hook up 5 machines with multiple splitters. I'll have to update my sketch, as I'm using both 4-way selectors to move the reader between 5 games.

Haha thx! You can use another splitter and hook it to another ports of your 'primary' physical splitter

That's going to require some additional vigilance for tournament directors. Games started in tournament mode should disable that, anyone tried it?

I'm about a week into a GZ premium and so far the only features I've seen/used are the code update and the achievements.

I see I'm earning XP, but not sure what for.

Is there any sort of leaderboard associated with this? I know people can/will cheat, but I'd like to know just how bad I suck compared to everyone else.

Yes the previous Owner need to go on his Account on Stern Insider and Unregister the game.

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Update.

Got the latest Stranger Things update, which pushes me past the 4 bank selector into the messy area of daisy-chaining 2 4-bank selectors. Here’s my updated schematic.

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Wow Very nice!

Is there no such thing as a 6-port or 8-port version of a switcher like this or are they just too expensive?

I looked all over the Internet… no luck.

You can get these 20+ switchers, but they’re hundreds for some reason.

But stacking two 4-way switchers actually fits neatly in the coin door panel.

Do you switch it back to godzilla or leave it on whatever game needed it last?

Other thread had godzilla complaining if it couldn't see the QR reader. I wonder if they removed that check or if your workflow is avoiding it.

Any operators using it? Sounds like you can see how many plays a machine is getting and if it has any errors remotely.

BTW, how do you register as an operator?
When I try on the stern insider pro website, I can fill the form but can't submit it with an error 400

Right now seems to just be play counts on the machines. I assume more is coming, at the very least would be nice to see some scores and leaderboard information but tech reports would be great too. I know they also talked about being able to create challenges at locations so certainly lots more to come but for now nothing but play counts and last played time.

Upvoted for the nice artwork!

(And obviously the ingenuity, etc )

I made a free account on my iphone, then on the bottom right it has a spot that says "operators" if you click it then you can register. I stopped there because I'm not officially in business yet.

That's still huge though for an operator. I'm planning on throwing my Godzilla pro in a brewery and it would be nice to know it's earning by looking down at my phone vs. driving down there and opening it up to check the audits.

If you’re having trouble setting up an operator “pro” account, You can contact [email protected]

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Strange-that Panda one looks to be at least double the price of the canakit one, but they're sending it out in some of the kits? I'm assuming signal strength would be better on that one too.

Thanks for your help.

About setting up our old machines, is the qr reader mandatory to set up the machine?
Or just SD + wifi key are enough?

QR reader is needed. The game checks for that node.

Finally tried Insider Connected for the first time on a Godzilla Pro.

Pretty underwhelming experience, doesn't add anything to playing the game. Just some achievements pop up between balls. And going through the app after the play session was a meh experience.

They really need whatever other features they have planned to come out as soon as possible. In it's current state it's DOA.

Lol, it is absolutely not DOA. It is going to drive sales for Stern and increase revenue for operators.

So I made these QR code printouts and put them in magnetic photo frames. I have them magnetically clinging to the coin door of each of my games. Ever since doing that my Star Wars has acted kind of funny power wise. Once it didnt turn on with the rest of my games when I hit my wifi switch and now the game took another 30 seconds or so to turn off after hitting my wifi switch.

Anything in that coin door area that would be upset by a tiny little magnet? Im guessing no as thats a thick peice of metal a tiny magnet shouldnt mess with. Probably my wifi switch

No, not at all!