I'm not an owner yet, but I will be next weekend! I had the chance to play an LE and was blown away. I couldn't walk away from it. I was completely sucked into the gameplay. The projection, the UV kit, the sound design and shaker integration. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of Stranger Things, but I liked the show. However I am a fan of the more simple layouts especially if they play fast and are fun to shoot, and I think this game checks those boxes.

If you haven't seen it, chuckwurt streamed a player view of the game, which I think is a better and more interesting representation of the gameplay rather than the directly above the game view. But I think standing in front of one and playing it is what sold me.

http://www.twitch.tv/sdtmpinball/v/739962145?sr=a&t=6s

Just got my LE this weekend and almost have it all set up! Is there a rule sheet somewhere? I can't seem to find one, or is there no official rule sheet because code isn't finished?

Great, thank you!

@chuckwurt, what menu setting are you in when running those tests in the video?

I was playing an LE a few weekends ago and I swear that when I hit the demogorgon the shaker would shake. When I hit the demo on my machine, I don't feel anything. Was I imagining things? The shaker seems to work in other parts of the game, I'm running the latest code. Any thoughts?

Maybe so. My wife seems to remember the shaker activating when he got hit, as well as the demo shaking himself. Could have been wishful thinking as well Just wanted to make sure.

Here's my prediction: complete code + topper= season 4 premier. What's another 4 month wait?

I figured since Netflix and Stern have their fingers on the pulse of this pinside thread, we could encourage them to release before July 2021 or Winter 2021 and maybe we might get that code and topper a little earlier. I've read the new season takes place during the winter, so February might just work. Valentine's day?

Bummer on the .99 code. My machine definitely has all of the side effects mentioned here.

Got my Tibetan Breezes installed yesterday and they made a huge difference. Played for a few hours tonight despite the code issues and was crushing the tk lock. Definitely a must buy for this machine.

After the tk locks performance tonight, I thought I should mention a couple of adjustments that stood out to me. First I should say that I have messed with the lock mech since I've had the machine and no matter how precise I had the mech arm from the back of the cabinet, the mech never seemed like it worked right. I even tried pulling the ramp out as far as I could and that seemed to make it a little worse. One thing I never adjusted until yesterday was the height of the rod. The height on the rod was a solid 2 1/8", way higher than Stern and chuckwurt suggest. So I bent the rod to about 1/16 under 2" and made sure it stayed there. The other adjustment I made is little harder to explain. The general idea was to pull out just the left side of the ramp and stick a 3/4" rubber ring behind it as a spacer. The thought behind this was to bring the back wall of the left side of the ramp closer to the lower part of the mech arm so that the mech arm was more underneath the ball instead of on the side of the ball reducing potential pinching and so that pulling out the ramp didn't create as much of a lip for the ball to travel over as it travelled up the arm. I added the tibetan breezes, lowered the arm and pulled out the left side of the ramp throwing scientific caution to the wind, so I can't be sure if it's just one adjustment or another that makes my tk lock work effortlessly, but it does. I also noticed that it just sounds better now (smoother?), there's not a lot of extra noise. Hope this helps somebody, hope my breezes help get me to the Final Showdown, and I hope the code is fixed by Friday afternoon.

It appears the .99 code is back on Stern's website.

Yep, nevermind, clicked on the link and said code not found.

I'm hoping to see it on Deadflips stream today.

Haha! I'll forget what happens in Final Showdown before I'm good enough to get there.

I totally understand the nervousness. This game makes me sweat when I play. I saw someone on Twitch say, "This game really keeps you on your toes." Ha! That's a bit of an understatement imo. It takes some serious work to get to total iso2, let alone Final Showdown. Deadflip has a stream where he got to FS on the .98 code and it took 3 death saves and at least a couple of extra balls. It was 40 minutes of the most action I've seen in a game, and inevitably led to this biggest sphincter buster ever because FS wasn't coded yet. Haha

I can confirm that removing the spacers works great. Also removed the rubber post on the one way gate.

Yeah, I remember there being air balls very similar to yours in the video, but mostly it was just brick after brick hitting that lower lip.

I think his name is Kurt Savage.

Yep, I think you still have to hit the lit drop and then deflect over to the saucer. I did it once and my daughter did it once tonight, and it started the 6 million skill shot video then when it landed in the saucer it changed to a cool 30 million.

Anyone else found the cow on the playfield yet?

Have you temped other coils besides the flippers? Like the saucer or the TK arm? The saucer seems to fade, going from zipping the ball around the burn it back to barely making it register. Also I'm wondering if the TK arm gets weak after long sessions.

It sounds to me like the ball is struggling to get up the arm. The base of the diverter is a pinch point which is why you are pulling the ramp out, at least that's how I interpreted it. I have mine pulled out enough that I could stick a 1" rubber behind the left side of the ramp. So technically, you are only trying to pull out the left side of the ramp so that the ramp is closer to the base of the diverter arm, the right side of the ramp can remain flush. I think the ball needs to have more of the rod underneath the ball than on the side of it to create less of a pinch and produce less resistance as it ascends. Also note that you are limited to the amount you can move the ramp forward because when the diverter arm activates, the arm will run into the edge of the hole it is sticking through. The arm should barely touch the edge of that hole without impeding it's movement. Also make sure that the ball still rolls past the arm when not activated.

One more thing to note is the offset between the back of the ramp and the back plastic on the wall, now that the ramp is pulled out. Set the ball at the base of the diverter arm, activate the arm at the coil and use a screwdriver to roll the ball up the arm slowly to see how much the ball is affected by the offset. You want the ramp to be slightly more out in front of the back plastic so that the ball doesn't get hung up in that gap. If the ramp is to far out in front I think this can be problematic as well because you don't want the ball banging around as it moves over the offset. You can reduce the offset by removing the bottom left screw in the back plastic and sticking washers behind the plastic to move just the left side out.

Lastly, and you may already be doing this, I would definitely test the mech by pulling your playfield out to the rubber feet and rolling the ball up the ramp with the coil engaged by holding it in with your hand. You'll have to roll the ball with a little speed, but if your diverter arm is off, then you won't be able to make it up to the magnet. Once dialed in, the ball will make it all the way, nice and clean. Not only does it help to be standing right over the top of the mech while you're watching balls fly up, but I also think this "breaks in" your adjustments, so I would roll it up the arm 15-20 times before shooting it with the flippers.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but this is one the coolest shots in pinball and totally worth the effort. Hope this helps, don't give up!

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Does everyone know about the Brian Eddy easter egg hidden on the playfield?

When I was watching Deadflips stream for the 1.0 code Brian Eddy was in chat and he mentioned that there is a cow hidden on the playfield. I thought that was funny so I looked for it and sure enough. I like it when artists or designers throw in weird shout outs like that.

Ever since I found the cow, my tk lock has worked perfectly.

A good time to come back to it might be when you get Pin Monks fans.

This page hasn't been updated in a while, but most of the rules are there.

http://tiltforums.com/t/stranger-things-rulesheet-wip/6093

ralphwiggum how do you order a set printed on clear?

Have you tried pulling the ramp out from the back wall?

Also, it looks like the ball dies and the diverter arm gets pushed out away from the wall a very tiny bit at about this point in my picture below. That's where the ball meets the transition point between the back of the ramp and the back plastic. Your ramp might need to be pulled out a little more.

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The ball would have to jump quite a ways to hit the guide above the arm, but I suppose it's possible.

This is my ball at the base of the arm. Zoom in and note the arm/ball contact point. This is important as you pull out the ramp because you are not only moving the back of the ramp out from the back plastic, but also bringing the ball closer to the arm, moving the ball more on top of it, which only improves the momentum of the ball.

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Spoil away...I've watched Karl's showdown video a couple times and have made it to Send it Back once. If you haven't watched him play GNR, you should definitely look that up. I have a GNR LE on the way and still watch him play whenever he's streaming, spoilers and all.

It's interesting that some people don't want the wizard modes spoiled, and some don't want any part of the game spoiled so they avoid all videos of gameplay. I watch videos all the time to try and size up a game before I buy it and I always find that it is a different experience when I actually play it. I even try and read the rules before I play a machine, talk about spoiler alert.

Do you have the new ramp cover? It improved my lock more than I thought it would.

If you shoot it up the ramp and the ball doesn't lock and you think to yourself, that should have made it, then install the new ramp cover.

I have found on my machine that it improved the lock efficiency, especially on questionable ramp shots.

It's a little shaky, so it's kinda hard to tell, but in your first video if you focus on the end of your diverter arm, after it engages it looks like the ball hits the ramp cover pretty hard and when the ball lands back on the arm, it pushes the arm back out and then the ball has no chance.

I was hesitant to install the new cover as well. I had mine dialed in and didn't want to risk it. I also was skeptical that the cover impedes the ball as much as it does. I think palacekeeper posted a slo-mo video a while back and Pin Monk pointed out that the ball was hitting the cover.

If I had to do it all over again, and I definitely don't, I would install the new cover first before messing with adjustments.

Welcome to the New Ramp Cover Club

The worst part of owning my LE is cleaning up all of the spit spray from all of the f bombs, general cursing, and excited yelling through gritted teeth.

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Have you pulled your ramp out from the wall?

That picture was just too good, I couldn't help myself...

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Christmas light bulb is a great idea.

I hardly ever see it mentioned, but for me the projector and the screen reminds me of a drive in theater and there is nothing more nostalgic and cool than a monster revealing itself behind the movie screen. It's really a brilliant idea for the theme.

As far as the other projections that Chuck laid out, they pulled me in and completely immersed me into the game. They really make the game come to life and there is nothing else like it. Couple all of that with great sounds and UV, it makes for one of the great pinball experiences.

You'll have to add the adhesive sheeting.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-stranger-things-prem-le-darkstar-9-screen-details#post-6222860

The new plastic is adjustable, it can slide left or right.

If you installed it with any room to slide the plastic to the left, try sliding it in that direction a little bit at a time and see if that makes an improvement.

If you've moved the plastic all the way to the left and the ball isn't flying past the magnet, then you will have to make sure the other adjustments listed in this thread are dialed in.

Wizards Mist n Shine also works great on left ramps, diverter arms and back walls for lazy TK locks.

Here's the link for the material:

https://shop.elitescreens.com/store/p127/Sample_Screen_Material.html

It's called Starbright9 instead of Darkstar9.

And here's the thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-stranger-things-prem-le-darkstar-9-screen-details

I just received a back up from Midwest Gaming. I plugged it in to my machine and it powered on and off with the machine. It looked and worked as it should.

Sappin' it up

I've tried blue, red and purple. I have purple in there right now, but think it's debatable how purple it is, if at all. I like it because it's in-between blue and cool white. I also have a brightness reducer on there.

I thought I took a picture of the blue, but I can't find it.

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Type in the pinside member "cfh" in the search topic and read all of his comments. He took the projector experiments pretty far and answered most of the questions besides maybe why it cost $600.

Happy Stranger Things day!

I'd read through this first. All the info you need is there. It definitely takes a little more effort than most mods, but is worth it.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-stranger-things-prem-le-darkstar-9-screen-details

I like this...it fits the retro theme. Has a real PB2000 vibe to it.

If you don't know, you will know soon enough...

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This is as good as I could get the right ramp projection. Any further left and the projection gets blocked by the ramp.

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The 5.25" speakers are stock on the LE and I got the lights here:

https://www.speakerlightkits.com/Type-13.html

Get your Cleland code for 1.11 while it's hot, all models available.

Pm Cleland and he'll send you instructions along with info to donate to his efforts.

The new material has held up great for me. 2000 plays. Here's my post in the mod thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/diy-stranger-things-prem-le-darkstar-9-screen-details/page/4#post-7795759

I use low bounce GITD Titans and that got rid of my flipper bounce. I like how they play, feels like I have more control.

I didn't have to bend the plate up or down, it was more of a left or right adjustment. When the ball ejects on mine, it hits the right most target when it's up and clears the post when the target is down. My eject power is at 33 and makes it around the burn it back every time.

How do you view the leaderboard?

NM. Found it!

The Save Will bug has been fixed, all good to go.

I have the new code Version 2 on my LE and it doesn't have static on Save Will.

You might want to message him. Maybe he sent you an old link?

Every version whether it's pro or premium/LE has the original version and a Separate Ways version.

Do you have a link for these?

I'll have to reach out to them too because I can't find anything Stranger Things related on their website which seems weird.

Yessir