Not this shit again?

I like that, have one ramp with multicolor flashing shot to advance to the next level.

Yea i really like the idea of hit the multi color insert and auto advances to the next tier, or hit the away team or mission start and select the next mission, or hit just a generic last shot and gameplay resumes as Normal with no mission running til you restart.

Prime Directive 2 & 3 are the same exact shots but have different dots/sounds.

So 17.5 missions.

dupe

Very true! But doesn't the multi colored insert add time on PD3? I could be confused with SJ3.

Interesting. Not sure.

Still wouldn't distinguish it much though.

dont you have to hit level 3 in order without missing a shot or it ends the mode?

Nope. Hit all the shots once to complete.

Once upon a time,

As it is now, PD2 was hit all the shots once to complete. If you didn't complete it, your progress was saved. Restart, complete remaining shots.

And PD3 was the same shots, but it was a hurry up and your progress wasn't saved. You had to hit all the shots in one go. The problem was, the value of the shots increased your base as you went along. Meaning when you restarted the mode, it was worth much more each time you played it as long as you didn't complete the mode. You could keep doing this, and it quickly became clear this would be the only way tourney players would play the pin. Keith Elwin came along and put up <insert crazy score here> using this method, and then shortly after the game was updated and the scoring exploit was taken out.

So now we're left with 2 same modes with different dots/sounds.

I agree that for some players starting the missions might be challenging, but I am not sure starting the missions randomly is the way to go.

One of the great features of ST ruleset is selecting the mission order to set up certain shots and combos to maximize scoring chances.

There has to be a place the ball is temporarily parked to make a mission choice, which is either the left saucer or the return to the shooter lane. I can see where the Vengeance magnet/trap behind the drop target could hold the ball briefly as well.

So now, maybe if a stray (or intentional) combo shot to the Vengeance magnet/drop target trap occurs, the display can give the player 5-10 seconds with the option to Choose: 1) Play Mission (X)-(randomly chosen by the code) or 2) Pass for now (similar to GoT). That way new players having trouble making the standard mission start shots can possibly start modes easier and advanced/more skilled players can continue with whatever strategy they want.

I wouldn't change the mission start sequence, but I understand how it might be frustrating for beginners.

Can you imagine Shadow if you had to beat 18 modes to get to Final Battle though?

I hope everyone who owns Star Trek enjoys it. Personally I waited for the last code update before selling in hopes that it would get better, and I just never felt like the modes meant anything even after Dwight stepped in to help. I'd take 6 modes that felt cool over 18 modes of meaningless lights (yay, blue mode!). I don't think it's possible to fix it with "polish", the foundation is what it is. Either you enjoy shooting it or you don't at this point I think.

Still, anything that makes it better sounds good to me.

I completely agree with this. I'm not great with either mode start shot, but I can do it, and don't find it overly difficult.

Still, I would love some things to do when not in the modes. Here are a couple of ideas that I had while daydreaming today:

** After finishing a mode, all red matter targets reset. You can go around and hit all of them to make the black hole shot flash quickly. Hit an orbit to make the black hole shot flash normally. Hit the black hole shot to add to a bonus jackpot that is collected at the beginning of a wizard mode. Maybe the first time through, you get 2.5 million added; the second time through, 5 million added; etc. You only get the points when you cash in and get to a wizard mode. This would be a fun little side quest and way better than the normal black hole awards of 200,000 points, etc. Perhaps after completing the cycle 5 times, you light Special. It would be good to have a normal rule for Special instead of having it be a random black hole award.

** After hitting the Vengeance a number of times, you have the option of either doing Vengeance Battle 1 or Vengeance Chase. Vengeance Chase (and here I am copying somewhat from another pinsider's idea) requires you to either hit the orbit or a ramp to escape from the Vengeance. You have _ seconds to escape. Every shot you make gets you further ahead. Combos get you even further. Every time _ seconds goes by without hitting a shot, the Vengeance catches up.

Just some fun ideas. I think adding some things like that to do while not in a mission would elevate already excellent code out into the stratosphere. ENGAGE!

image_(resized).png

I know what people mean by the modes seem similar. But what ST needs. Really, only needs is mode related callouts during missions to make each mode feel different.

If you complete a lit shot during a mode it should say something related to that specific mode. Rather than just callouts at mode start and end.

That way every modes shots would "feel" different by sounding different even though a lot are the same.

Another thing is a galactic mode completion should give you an instant gold medal.
You can finish galactic space jump in 2 shots. To end the mode quickly But only get a bronze.

Bug fixes
The timer fixes on modes with no timers.
Callouts getting missed\missing if you start a mode quickly.

Other than those issues ST is awesome.

When you make a shot during a mode you get a call out from the movie associated with that mode/scene as well as a dmd animation and score value. What i dont like is when it gives you a random call out after a period of time has passed and no successful shots were made.

I think it was designed that way, completing the galactic vengeance will bump your medal automatically to the next higher medal. So if you're already at bronze and start the galactic vengeance and complete it you'll get a silver. Basically, you have to make more than 2 shots for gold. But there is a sweetspot in the mode that can allow you to jump from bronze to gold. Im not quite sure how to do it persay, but ive done it many times, and i 'think' its achieved by getting bronze in regular mode, then combo'ing into the away team and/or comboing into galactic vengeance - so while you're on the cusp of getting a silver medal, the galactic vengeance scores just enough to bump you 2 medals - does that make sense? cause it doesnt to me

I agree. I just think it needs more "exciting" callouts. Some shots just make a generic fanfare noise. That sound is somewhere in every mode. And not every completed shot has a callout. If it had excitement that built up letting you know you were doing good or bad. In each mode. It would be a lot less repetitive feeling. Or Bones yells out at you what to shoot at.

More callouts like "Super Klingon Jackpot!" And
"Double super Klingon Jackpot!"

And the shield targets should be integrated into a mode. Not just for the kickback.
You should have to build up your shields to do something mode related. Maybe used for save the Enterprise.

Also getting full photon torpeodos should do more than just help with the vengeance shots.
Klingon multiball maybe. Kinda like troll bombs.
Or used as well for their own seperate mode,

If you go into Pinball browser it seems there are quite a few callouts and sounds not used. Or at least I haven't heard them yet.
And unused captain Stevens callouts too.

All wishfull thinking. ST is great. I really hope they just fix the remaining bugs. Any other updates bedides that is icing on the cake.

I don't think the question is whether it can be 'fixed' or not, but whether Stern will actually do so. It's been 10 months since the last update. It's not a priority... Rather disappointing, but typical of Stern.

Rob

It sucks that you have this great community, and all this consumer/customer feedback, with ideas that could be used to improve their existing product, and yet it seems to just fall upon def ears @ stern.

On a properly set up shadow, it's left orbit, hold upper flipper up and it bounced into the hole.

Hey you guys that want an easier mode start, you could run a couple wires from the switch under the right upper flipper to the lockdown bar and hit the lockdown bar button to start modes. I bet this wouldn't have much of an impact on much else.

That would really make it easy! It would also make it easy to get Locks.

They're looking 3 releases up the road, not 3 releases back. One major update (already done) and minor fixes is about what you can expect, and its way more than the older games got.

They are still releasing the game... its not 3 releases back.

I know I'm in the minority here. But I have the overall game play of trek. The only thing I want stern to do is just fix the over sights of the machine.
- bonus multiplier stops at 9x so if u can 10x it'll show 9x but u will get the correct bonus
- 2x scoring. When the ball is in the pops is it 5k as it is on the dmd or 10k. Don't know because you don't see score only Kirk,Spock n uhura

I know programming the dmd might be a pain for that

But all in all. I can play trek numerous times a day and still not get bored

I'm not as advanced as most of you folks,i can get most level 1 missions,and am working on level 2,but,what is :vengeance chase?? Not familiar with that one?? How does it start???Thanks,peace!

Kirk,Spock&Uhura??On the new ST??? What??? Where???

Forgot about the black hole target which is absolutely useless most of the time. It could easily be made into a mode start if no modes are running. It would be cool if you could stack regular modes but that might get complicated.

OH yeah the new kirk,spock,and uhura,we older trekes have to stop and think!!

I wish it was different, but all of the Sterns are too hard to make it to the final wizard mode IMO. Why is ST any different than LOTR, TSPP, WPT, ACDC or even TWD? LOTR requires more chopping wood than can be imagined. You don't dig the game and that is fine. I think the premise that it is somehow flawed is stretching things though. I love the game and so do a lot of others. It is a great playing machine. I can easily sell my STLE for what I paid for it NIB at this point even though a lot of people bailed early and predicted $5K by Christmas. There are people who love WOZ to death, yet I have one here for almost two years and I can't stand the game. To each their own.

I really like the idea of a gold medal advancing automatically to the next tier of the mission.

All this said, the Stern ST is still a great and challenging pin!

Just something that is made up. Wishful thinking.

They're still *building* it. Sounds nitpicky to define it, but its completely different than programming it. They want programmers to spend their time working on the stuff you haven't seen yet.

Spend a few hours polishing out some quirks? Sure. Write new rules and add modes to games that came out 3 years ago? Just isn't gonna happen.

Ummmmmm..... Avengers?

Seriously? Avengers got a horrible rep because it was so rushed and incomplete.

That update is the polish and fix code the game should have received 3 years ago (and if the community didn't lean on Stern it probably wouldn't have happened).

It wouldn't impact locks at all but I suppose you could button the away missions during modes.

With all these people selling ST and buying GoT nib, why would stern even think about making star trek the best it can be...

I love this pin not much I can think could be better other than my gameplay.

So true. Such a fun game. Emphasis on fun...and the theme integration is mind blowing good.

I'd be surprised if Stern cares much about sales in the secondary market. If they are still selling ST new in box, that's the metric that counts.

Sorry, I was mistakenly thinking the left saucer switch, not the away team.

I just wish that if I turn on G-rated speech that I should only get G-rated speech!!! They still say "Bastard" and a few other words that should be removed. Mostly during the KM. I've got young kids... and their mom doesn't like it much

Also hope they kill the repetitive callouts. How many times in a row do I have to hear Kahn say "I'll walk over your dead corpses"... mix it up man!

I see bugs all the time in the timing of missions when locking balls. Several seconds come off the clock and if you are only a few seconds away from the end of the mission it counts as you're final shot. That sucks...

Away missions don't always register if you hit it with 2 - 3 seconds. The mission just ends. I've seen the lanes get dark blue (PD) and the away mission was skipped/aborted and I'm on to the next mission because I hit it with 2-3 seconds left.

Casual players (kids) find it really hard to start new missions. There should be an option in the code to start a mission via hitting the ship - imo.

There is still a lot of room for improvement - i think and they can make better use if the hardware in the LE. Seems like a lot is still just used in attract mode.

That's what bugs me when people say Stern code is complete except Kiss and WWE. It's not there is a lot of things they can do not only ST but XM and to be honest AcDc as great as the code is, still needs some work especially regarding the lower PF on the premium. They use the lower PF only in isolation, when it would be nice if it could also be used during MB.

Rferullo - The pg words are not a big deal to me but really poor that they were overlooked. It doesn't seem like it would take much to polish the code to fix things like you described.

I totally agree about making mission start easier. GOT launched with a setting to simplify gameplay. ST could have something similar where the easy setting makes level1 modes start automatically. Level2 and 3 modes will be started like normal. The game already starts modes automatically in some cases so that shouldn't be a big deal. Kids and casual players would get a lot more out of gameplay and experienced players will have an easier time getting to the higher levels.

How would you guys rate the skill level of a Star Trek player?

How many missions completed per player rating ?

I don't see many ST for sale. In fact, I've noticed a few "Wanted" ads for Star Trek.

Star Trek is a fantastic game. It has easy to understand basic rules that I can explain to a newbie and more complex rules for a polished player. Loving mine!

I had a few folks over on the weekend. Now at least one, maybe two, people would like a Star Trek And that's after another collector came over a couple of weeks ago and decided he wouldn't mind getting one. The game is fantastic with a great light show.

My line up includes LOTR, TSPP, Tron, Spiderman, TZ, and STTNG (among others) and ST Pro is getting the most plays right now by both myself and guests.

I think it's perfect the way it is. In fact, if anything, it's already pretty easy. It's automatically lit once a mode is completed. So all you have to do is shot one of two shots to start a mode. Pretty easy.

It's not easy for me or anyone else that has ever played my ST. I've played it hundreds of times but still struggle to make either shot regularly. My 11 year old boys play once in a while and it's a very tough shot for them. It would be fine for me if there was fewer modes and more to do outside of modes. The idea is to have settings so everyone can setup the game like they want. I want mine a little easier so I can get deeper into the game and so my kids can enjoy more of the game. If you are a really good player, then you would be able to set the difficulty on normal/difficult.

For the ppl having trouble with the starting mission shots. How do u cope with having to make those shots while in a mission. Ex PD 2,3 you have to make the vuk shot or you won't finish the mission

Or if KB3,the vuk shot is your only lit shot or the first shot to be made ?

Because they're probably playing the 6 different missions and not playing down the through the deeper level of each particular mission.

I find it easiest to trap the ball on the right flipper and try to bloop it up into the left side to start missions. I can usually do it within a couple tries, but I've sorta practiced the shot for years playing Taxi -its nearly identical to the Drac shot.

I have more trouble making the shot that goes behind the flipper. If I miss, it often takes a weird bounce and wild ball to get back under control.