I mean, fair enough... but you could say that about any mod. You could argue that you shouldn't use LEDs at all. Or don't use ColorDMD's. Don't put lights in the starship toys. Don't put caps on the 3rd popper or add light rings. Don't put in scoop lights or repaint any of the toys. And certainly don't install lane extenders.

Changing a lamp color from white to another color doesn't seem like that egregious of a modification of the original design of the game. That's pretty hard core purist. (Which I know some people are hardcore purist, and that's fine.)

Yep. All I did was slowly pass the plunger thru this cheap demagnitizer I picked up for $5 on Amazon. Plunger no longer sticks. I'll see how long it lasts but for now I'm happy.

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I'm not saying it's any sort of crazy modification. My game has mods on it. Feel free to experiment however you like! That's just an additional reason why the hobby is so fun. However, I do consider myself somewhat of a "modern traditionalist" when it comes to things like lighting and mods. Little touches are nice and can really fill out the look of a game like Zitt's VUK dressing kit - takes rather bulky, lunky, mechanical looking parts and gives them aesthetic purpose. However, I do believe the lighting can be too much and has a massive impact on the feel of a game. There's a whole thread about it with thousands of posts, so I know I'm not the only one! Where's the line? That's entirely up to you to decide.

Haha I absolutely did not. Funny you mention that one specifically. I worked with Cliffy (and some other amazing Pinsiders in this thread) to make his enhanced lane guides available in the original outlane length. They play GREAT and preserve the intended design.

I've joined the club and read through all 134 pages. My probe has discovered a broken post. Does anyone know what part number these two pieces are and where I can get new ones?

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The top piece is a Hex spacer found here. https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=Hex+spacer

The bottom piece is a bumper post.

I looked here, but I cant never find what I need. https://online.fliphtml5.com/vrtyz/foky/#p=13

I would take apart the post and measure it. Should find if faster at Marco's than looking for it at Planetary Pinball's web site.

Ooohh - lots of opinions!

I like it. The entire top right of the game is pinky purple so it works IMO. I Find LED blue ist distracting - it somehow burns my retina. But purple is more subtle

And - as mods go - if you or the next person isn’t happy it’s 2 minutes and $2..
You haven’t changed the entire color scheme or made anything excessive or ugly.
Play it enjoy it. If you don’t like it change it.

LOL - if the game was designed today all of the lights would be RGB and change Color depending on the mode, pretty sure in battle modes they would be red (Red Alert!!), Green for Romulan Mode etc etc - like modern games -

In the 90’s Those guys had no choice… If you want to replicate the true original colours - those mode lights should be lit in yellow with a resistor in line halving the LED output!

“Over the top lighting”. - come on guys - 7 bulbs in a consistent color isn’t over the top… There is an entire thread for “Rainbow puke” machines and that is a different planet.

The “Experience” intended by the designer was a constrained experience based on technology available and cost. If remade today, and if no other changes were made, the entire game would be 300% brighter - it is dark not because the Freres and Ritchie wanted it dark:
1. They were constrained by the number of Yellow incandescent bulbs the power supply could feed -
2. Game halls were dark because lighting was expensive - a really bright game looked bad. (And because darker means harder - more drains, more revenue)

Lets be realistic guys - most machines are now in brightly lit rooms and they look.. Dark and dare i say it drab alongside a modern game - if you still have incandescents you barely notice if they are on. LED’s modernise them and make them brighter.
it’s like saying a Color DMD is over the top because it moves away from what the designer intended - Guy used an orange one.

Each to their own - that’s the fun, I love seeing the same game looking so different - Eric Manuel’s is an amazing feat of design, a fully factory game looks awesome. but lets not assume Factory was best because that’s exactly what the designers wanted - lots of compromises were made, like in any design made reality.

Well said!

To be fair, he asked for opinions on it so no one should be upset when you hear one you disagree with. I'd also note that Stern in particular has dialed back their use of RGB leds, especially for GI more and more the last few titles and not just on the Pro models. I like a good RGB light show, own WOZ and think it's beautiful but not every game needs that.

Yeah - WOZ is amazing - but I agree, if every game was like that or GNR it would be a bright room!

I don't disagree with your post but I will say this: LED GI may make it brighter but only if you stay "full spectrum". I.e. white. If you colorize the GI then you aren't making it brighter so what's really the point? Purple is just about the worst offender for making the game darker instead of brighter.

I know a few local collectors that just like owning machines, turn them on every day and just look at the blinking lights - I bought my WOZ from one of them lol. They don't play their games. Those are the people that seem to enjoy owning rainbow puked games. They're just in for the attract mode.

Sure, but the game wasn't made today. It was made in the 90s, so you're making my point about preserving the original feel of the game.

As mentioned above, it's not about replication for me. It's about *tasteful* modern upgrades that preserve the original intent of the designer. That's just MY style.

This may be true, but it doesn't take away from the fact that the "experience" is what it is based on those constraints.

That's pure conjecture.

This is your best point, and one I can largely agree with. This is where it all comes down to "drawing the line." I love a Color DMD. I think it enhances a game in a way no other mod can even though it's not exactly preserving the original intent. I even keep my STTNG Color DMD on overscan mode - no dots to be found.

Indeed! I would normally keep my mouth closed about it, but RedWizard did ask for opinions. Do I think the purple looks garish? Absolutely. Does it matter? Not one damn bit haha. It's not my game! It does make for some interesting discussion though. "Best" is entirely subjective, and it largely depends on your personal goals for your game.

The discussion reminds me how every single element of a Fender Stratocaster has been "improved" over the last 60 years, but people still pay tens of thousands for the originals. Others prefer to have Custom Shop Strats made to their preferred specs, and still others like to buy right off the shelf at the guitar store. As long as it plays the way you want, that's all that really matters.

Pahuffman - This is the kind of discussion that we should all have on forums - informed, friendly and fun! I agree RedWizard asked for Opinions and they should be positive and negative - Thanks for taking the time to read my monologue and responding. I don't disagree with anything you say and I agree, a Color DMD is the single best enhancement a game can receive.

You are right - there is a tricky balance between improving the Brightness and hurting the game. For me, GI should be White - some games are better with Cold White, some with natural/more yellow - I have a Maverick for example, with Cold white this would look horrible in my opinion.

But colour inserts - follow the colours if they are coloured - but if they are clear - why not add something - In my TZ I made a couple of the white inserts blue - because it stands out and reminds me to hit that target!

Blinking lights made me chuckle - 2 days ago I turned on all my machines (only 5) and stood there looking at the attract modes - for about 1 minute, then I was playing for 3 hours. Just 1 more game..

The hex spacer is a 02-4935-3 2.2" spacer, the playfield post is an 02-4659-1 #10 post with female threads on top. Both available from Marco.

With LEDs as an option we really can make our pins look like we want them. Some go over the top, but that's to the individual. I remember telling the person I bought my STTNG from that I had no intentions to use LEDs or a color DMD. That lasted for maybe a month. I liked the white mode inserts so used white LEDs. I had a spare blue LED and thought that looked good in the Command spot. One thing I never understood was why they used green inserts for the inlanes at the top as the UFP logo is blue. So I used blue LEDs and think it looks better.
To each their own I guess.

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I think the blue UFP lights look good.

They had "standard" colors for inserts back in the day. Orange = Extra Ball. Red = Special. Green = multipliers.

Rebuilt one flipper last night. It was extremely difficult to get the screws out. There is some kind of white residue all over the threads. Did the last guy put some kind of glue or something on them? It looks like the white stuff that leaks out of batteries. It's all over the underside of the metal bracket too.

I would post a picture but I didn't think of it and I already cleaned the top of the bracket and threw the screws and old metal bits away and I am not picking through the trash for that, lol.

Sounds like lock tight or some other thread locker

I guess. Are you supposed to put that stuff on the screws when you rebuild the flippers...? I have only rebuilt flippers once before and there was no lock tight on them.

"Read The Fine Manual" (page 2-17 for ST:TNG): Williams recommends LocTite 245 on the coil stop, bushing, and solenoid bracket screws.

My license plate for years before moving to Colorado....

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*shrug* well, I have never seen LocTite on any of my other machines solenoid or coil stop screws.

Is that super necessary on this machine? I'm asking because I don't have any and don't want to go buy it unless it's a big deal for some reason.

Of you use it at home I believe it‘s not necessary. Just check all the screws once a quarter year.

All my machines are home use. And I suspect it has been a very very long time since anyone looked at these flippers. It's pretty dirty in there.

Just double checking - no one in USA with cabinet decals , backbox only preferably…

I also don't use Loctite on anything really.
Maybe only once or twice; never on a pinball machine.
That said; If I were an operator - maybe different story.

The strobing is solvable using the GI OCD Board for general illumination, which also allows your SHIELDS to properly dim the right amount during gameplay. The LED OCD Board allows for smoothing of all the other leds in the machine. BOTH of these products I own, and if you are wanting your game to be it's best, a must have.

All kind of comparison examples on YouTube showing before and after.

ledocd.com

Most of my machine came with lock tight on flipper parts.(B/W). I must have been first one to work on flippers.
I hardly ever put it on myself. Side note. Gottlieb pins use so much it can be hard to take stuff apart.
Gottlieb machines are built like a tank. I did read on previous thread. If you have trouble getting the screws out. Heat them up with solder iron.

I have been searching for an answer to this issue that just popped up on mine. I rebuilt my flippers and when I restarted the game, it normally loads two balls to the subway system, but now it only loads one. Also it doesn't put a ball in the left canon when launching a probe and it also wont load one in the left one when starting battle simulation. All worked fine prior to my flipper efforts. game plays but I know its not right. Any thoughts on this particular problem?

did you break an opto wire while removing/rebuilding the flippers? Esp the top one?
Did you load 6 balls into the trough? My assumption is that you removed all the balls because you had to lift the PF to access the flipper mechs.
Could just be coincidence maybe the left one may have developed a bad opto or got dirty.
Time to start debugging.

yes all 6 balls removed during rebuild and then loaded and 5 remain in the trough on game start. Dont think I broke any wires and I don't see any hanging. sounds like maybe an opto though?

Well I really don’t see much posted on. Very strange. This issue with Star Trek the next generation. Anyway take one of the screws out of opto Control board. Swing it towards the center of the machine as much as you can. The wires for the optos get caught on that pin on left side when play field gets lifted. That darn harness is just to close to the left side of of playfield.

Any opinions on Romulan mode? I find it so disappointing, the mode itself is pretty well done, I enjoy playing it.. it's just that the scoring is so unbalanced considering the shots vs reward etc. the strat for me seems to be just to avoid it and forget about the neutral zone if the romulan's are there.

Or maybe that is key theme integration.. avoid them.. lol

Am I missing anything here?

What settings is everyone using for their GI and LED OCD boards?

I’d be curious to see how others have theirs configured.

Does anyone have the part number for the cannon plunger? While I may try demagnetizing the originals, I wanted to locate replacement parts too ... but searching has been futile so far.

The parts diagram in the manual (pg 2-21) strangely doesn't specify the plunger itself.

EDIT: It's A-13270, oops

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Actually it does specify it. Other view. Part #8: A-13270

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Ack, I was focused on looking for a word like "plunger" and missed that. Duh. Thanks!

When I rebuilt mine I ordered new everything. I found all the screws/washer sizes in the BOM.

https://www.moll.no/pinball/jsparts/STTNG.php

I almost always time it out. There's zero reason to actively make the shots unless you're just exploring the game for fun. Hopefully this will be something Soren fixes when the code update eventually drops.

We're getting new STTNG software?!

Yeah.. it's in the queue to improve for competitive play by Soren

Yeah, some balancing (particularly shuttle sim, can't help but think how awesome it would be if it could actually be random tunnels), and config switch to allow fixed neutral zone sequence between players would be amazing.

Great news. And like you koji I would sure love random shuttle mode. I skip it every time and take the easy points, it's just no fun to play back the correct sequence for max points. Worst thing about the game, at least for my home use.

My question, and I believe it's been mentioned by others is how achievable would anything be in the video mode if it's completely random? You don't want the mode to run too long after all.