Sure can. I have one of those.
(Topic ID: 47092)
Linked Games
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Williams, 1993
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1 week later
Quoted from jazc4:I'm restoring a STTNG. The cabinet decals are still nice, but the backbox decals need replacing. I've looked around and can't find the backbox decals for sale. Anyone know where I might find them?
This guy does great work:
https://xianek.eu/?l=en
He has backglasses, side blades, cabinet decals, aprons etc.
Here‘s a report about a STTNG restauration with Xianek‘s decals. Text is in German, but it has plenty of pics:
https://www.flippermarkt.de/community/forum/threads/sttng-restauration-custom-decals.222629/
2 weeks later
Well said. Couldn‘t agree more. If you wanna own a vintage machine, better learn how to service it. You can of course buy a refurbished one from a dealer - but then you‘re looking at the price range of a new machine.
Feature adjustment setting #10. See page 38 of this PDF:
https://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-pinball/S/Star_Trek_TNG_OPS.pdf
2 weeks later
1 week later
Yes, the EB percentage carries over. It‘s a means for the location owner to shape revenue. Too many extra balls -> longer games, less money. Too few extra balls -> frustrated patrons, less money.
That happens when the ball goes into the neutral zone without hitting a standup target. Neutral zone and command decision have the same subway, so if no neutral zone target was hit, the machine assumes the ball went into command decision.
1 week later
In all honesty, a full Pinsound package will set you back a few hundred dollars. About 800 if you go the full route with pinsound+, shaker, headphones station and new speakers. I've just done all that with my STTNG, and it is AWESOME (I had to redo the shakerisation though, the stock one isn't so great). You could try and recover some of the cost by sacrificing your original sound board, but I'd strongly advise against that. Your machine is worth more when you retain all the matching original parts.
Quoted from Robotworkshop:Had a chance to play the STTNG for a bit this evening and it is a much deeper game than I remembered or expected. Never knew about flying the shuttle through the caverns.
How do you get to the mode where the Borg ship in the back fires the ball at you? Haven't gotten to that part yet.
During Borg multiball, fire a ball up the side ramp from the upper flipper. It will give you a jackpot and load the Borg‘s cannon.
1 week later
Quoted from Robotworkshop:Unless they have come up with a new version with smaller LCD aren’t those a pain to install? Ones I’ve seen are huge. Both the LED and LCD look great but the LED seems like more of a drop in replacement.
I ended up picking up a color PIN2DMD for mine. Have one I installed in Independence Day 4 to replace a bad DMD and was really happy with the way it worked. Colorization support isn’t done for as many games as ColorDMD but Star Trek was one on the list too.
I have a Pin2DMD in my STTNG. Works really well and looks great, supposed to be one of the best colorizations out there.
Quoted from Robotworkshop:If it is a new to you game it’s a good idea to remove each fuse, check it for continuity, and then check to verify it is the correct amp rating and type fast or slow blow.
Most of the fuses in mine were wrong.
That‘s sound advice for ANY old machine.
At least you HAD fuses and not nails or tinfoil instead.
Quoted from Trindawg:Can you all see my posts? Testing, testing ….
Nope, can‘t see it.
1 week later
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:There are several STTNG videos on YouTube featuring actual gameplay with various sound packages individuals have created. PinSound not only replaces the actual sound board in the machine, but also replaces all (3) speakers for much better ones. Not only is the sound digital 2.1 stereo, it also provides for an external SUB to be added (very cool), and also provides for an externally mounted remote headphone station with volume control.
Multiple STTNG sound packages can added and are constantly improved.
Probably the most needed and worthwhile upgrade to a STTNG pin.
Don‘t forget the option of adding a shaker to the pin. You can customize everything - switch out the sounds, change volume etc per sound file, add custom shaker effect per soundfile etc. Also, you can run the soundfiles through an audio processor like Audacity, e. g. to enhance dynamics. Drawback: If you take the full package (pinsound board, speakers, headphones station, shaker) you‘re looking at apprx. 750 Euros.
1 week later
Quoted from radium:Oh boy. Just don’t venture outside of this thread and you’ll be fine.
Yup. There be dragons.
3 weeks later
Quoted from MrMikeman:Cool white GI suits this game well. GI-OCD is a must to enjoy the built in effects(shields dimming).
That’s exactly what I‘m doing right now during my restauration. Did the same with my SWDE and my BOP, and am very happy with the results. My LAH has all white as well but in warm white - looks much more vintage. I rarely use colored LED except for certain effects (e g. the STTNG cannons or BOP‘s mouth).
2 weeks later
Yes! LEDOCD and perhaps GIOCD as well. I put frosted white LEDs (warm white for a more vintage look, cold white is more modern) everywhere and use colored LEDs sparsely as accents. Too many colored LEDs make your machine look like a cheap plastic toy.
Also: Clean the inserts from below (blowing pressurized air is often sufficient) and your colors will be good as new.
1 week later
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You don‘t have to like it, you certainly don‘t have to do it on your own machine. I personally wouldn‘t want it either, but I have a lot of respect for the quality of the work he has done. If he likes it and it makes him happy - great. If he makes some others happy as well - even better.
1 month later
Quoted from radium:Looks good. I bet STTNG and GB really look great next to each other.
Absolutely! For safety reasons, STTNG and SWDE are at the opposite ends of the room. 
1 week later
The labyrinth never changes. If you do the right sequence (LLRRLLRLRL) you get 159 mill and a crystal.
1 week later
1 week later
OK, now I need your guys' help. Both right flippers are doing fine. Left flipper however engages twice in quick succession (like a double-click), then drops and stays down, even with button pressed. I checked the switches, everything registers as it should, even the EOS contacts. I'm at a loss.
Any ideas?
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:What exactly is the breadboard connection for??? This isn't normal in the STTNG pin.
I know, right? Was hoping someone might have an idea. It's all part of the DIY replacement trough optos.
Machine was like this when I got it. Even though almost fully functional, machine had some serious hacks. Bit by bit I'm reverting to original, just replaced the flipper optos (someone had put in leaf switches instead). New trough optos are next on my todo list.
Quoted from harig:I think that is an upgrade/modification/improvement/hack or whatever one would call it for the ballthrough resistors-relocated to get rid of the heat/vibration from there
That's exactly what it is.
I removed the hacked board to replace it with a new one. Turns out the hack included soldering the wires directly to the board, so now I need a new plug. Great.
4 weeks later
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:Pinball Shakers....Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?
There are multiple systems out there. Some use external power (not from the machine), some also get their control information (like Pinsound) from the sound package designed with shaker control in the program.
Certainly a small amount of vibration feedback during gameplay seems cool. However is there a lot of sound from the motor itself? Electrical interference issues?
And finally, does it cause mechanical concerns with the machine over the long term?
[quoted image]
I have the Pinsound shaker in my STTNG. No interference, no unduly noise. The stock settings for the shaker suck though, had to create my own. When done well, the shaker really enhances gameplay. I like it, your mileage may vary.
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:It's my understanding, the "sound package" you download for the pinsound, would determine if / or what the Shaker System would do. Of course that's also assuming the individual who's designed the sound package even has a shaker system..
Looks like some companies are getting their trigger control information, by "listening" to the special feature and flash lamps. By installing a connector inline to those sockets on the power driver board.
Does the power for your pinsound system come from the pinball machine, or do they use an external power supply?
- Shaker has a builtin firmware which holds patterns for several machines. If you add your own settings to a sound bank, those would be used isntead. The shaker effects are always triggered with sounds.
- Power comes from the machine.
2 weeks later
Try Xianek, he does good stuff.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q
9q0W7Dxr7hwKK_AiUs6Z7c5JQOvYN/view?usp=drive_open
www.xianek.eu
3 months later
Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:What a fantastic game. As the longest standing game in my collection I can still walk downstairs, play a game, find something new, and put up a new GC score.
[quoted image]
Damn, what a score!! I‘m positively jealous.
Did you post it on Pindigo? You‘d be #25 on the global top scores list.
3 months later
You cannon problem sounds like you need to replaces the switches under the playfield. They tell the cannon when it's safe to load the ball and when to shoot.
Quoted from Robotworkshop:I'll check the one for the left cannon. Thanks!
It's TWO switches per cannon! Mark and home. (#92 and 97 for left, # 96 and 95 for right). See page 2-43 of manual.
pasted_image (resized).png 2 weeks later
Quoted from Trekkie1978:I got my apron powder coated and I got my replacement decals (mirrored ones) to apply.
Any advice on how to get these lined up properly?
Carefully.
3 weeks later
Quoted from MrMikeman:I had bought a pre-made kit for mine. BIG mistake. Stay away from the colored crap. Purple bulbs on a dark game like STTNG are utterly useless. Stick with Cool white for all the GI you'll be fine. For the inserts I used a few color matched bulbs (blue bulbs on blue inserts etc) but really sparingly. I found that color changing bulbs are distracting and tacky but YMMV.
Agree 100%! Put cool white or warm white (more vintage feel) everywhere, use colored LEDs only for accents (e.g. I have red LEDs in my cannons). The machines weren't built for colored lightbulbs!
1 week later
Quoted from radium:Did you try running the program as administrator? Right click, “Run as administrator”. Just a stab in the dark.
Doesn't the GI OCD and LEDOCD have TWO USB connectors? Perhaps you used the wrong one?
1 month later
Quoted from digdug2084:I know this isn't a new question for this thread, but what are everyones thoughts about translights? I've finally started cleaning my game up and the translight that came in the game is really scratched up. Any neat alternatives? Where are the best reproductions?
Thanks.
Xianek does excellent work: https://xianek.eu/?l=en
70CF6EC8-3F96-405D-AE13-5B311BA846E7 (resized).jpegFCFED57A-D2BD-4BB2-974D-DA652200EAC4 (resized).jpegDon‘t do it unless you want your eyes to bleed. Get high quality warm white LEDs and enjoy the natural charm of the machine. Colored LED only for accents, e. g. I have red LEDs in my cannons.
Quoted from ingo333:Everything that is not a bug-fix can be disabled and we've tried to keep it as close to LX-7 as possible... with some nice tweaks here and there.
[quoted image]
It's EPIC! And it's a cool group effort. ingo333 gets all the credit for programming of course, but there's a ton of crazy STTNG owners who helped with testing and bug squashing.
1 month later
It‘s seriously several kinds of awesome. My favorite part is the new randomized Shuttle Simulation!!!
2 weeks later
Quoted from Thor-NL:Anyone in Europe selling this ? (or willing to ship to the Netherlands?)
https://shop.thepinwitch.com/Elektronik/Eprom-s/star-trek-tng-eprom-cpu-lx8.html
1 week later
2 weeks later
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:Note on the PinSound Shaker...cool idea, however the "stock" shaker events are WAY TOO MUCH. I feel they should only happen during significate moments in gameplay. Not launching the ball and nearly everything else. SO, you will need to learn PinSound Studio and customize your own, with the sound package you are using.
I would share mine with you, which is pretty good, however I haven't learned exactly how to do that yet.
There‘s no way to copy shaker settings between sound sets. Has been requested multiple times over many years, but no response from Pinsound. Perhaps someone can hack the config file…
Quoted from MrMikeman:It's not in the config file. It's in the firmware, hence the inability to modify it.
It‘s both. The firmware holds factory presets for many machines (I actually did the ones for SWDE for instance), but you can configure your own triggers with the same editor you use for the sounds, and that overrules the firmware settings. If you switch to a different sound set, however, it goes back to the firmware settings unless you configure your own shaker events for the 2nd sound set. There‘s no way to copy the shaker events between sound sets.
1 week later
Quoted from radium:I’m burning another batch of LX8 EPROMS in about a week. PM if you want one. $5 plus shipping.
[quoted image]
That's a fair price. Thank you.
Quoted from dashv:Anybody got a good custom profile?
I haven’t gotten around to building one in two years, so I just have the shaker disabled.
I have one! Send me PM and I'll be happy to share.
2 months later
Quoted from math08:Which means that it will register as an Advance in Rank if it doesn't hit the target? Ok, I will play some and see if that is the case. Thanks for the answer.
That‘s how it was designed. Normal behaviour.
1 week later
Hey Pinheads!
I have a weird problem and need help finding the cause. My right cannon fires with a delay. I start Battle Simulation, cannon starts turning. I hit the trigger, the sound effect play promptly, but the cannon keeps turning another second or so, then fires the ball into te stand up targets at the left outlane. Consecutive runs in Battle Simulation or other modes are fine. I'm on LX-8, but saw the same problem when I switched back to LX-7.
I checked the switches (home and mark), both are registering as they should. I'm at a loss - any ideas? Has anyone seen this problem before?
Oliver
3 weeks later
Quoted from flashinstinct:Shameless plug for Early bird pricing on my newest STNG target set.
Please don‘t spam the group. Post an ad in the marketplace instead.
1 month later
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:Information (all that is available) is in my previous post (changelog)
There‘s no changelog for Pinsound Studio though.
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:Among some other improvements, the recent Pinsound Firmware and PinSound Studio Pro software updates seem to now include additional information on system configuration and sound package information.
Note: to use PinSound Studio Pro fully, registration is required. It doesn't cost anything and unlocks all the software features.[quoted image]
With the new software, iIs it possible to export/import or copy shaker settings between packages?
Quoted from TheMickster:Labor Day sale from Mick's Pinball is ending soon....
Thank you all for the orders, and please share your playfield oscillator videos if you can....
Mick
Mickspinball.com
https://www.mickspinball.com/circular-red-oscillating-led-flasher
Would you please stop spamming the forum? This is not the marketplace for ads!
1 week later
Quoted from transprtr4u:careful will be pissing off oradke !
Possible. I‘m here to learn and talk about the game, not to watch commercials. YMMV.
I can also recommend the shaker for the STTNG, but beware: The factory settings for the shaker have lots of room for improvement. But if you fire up the (free) PinsoundStudio software you can easily assign shaker events to explosions and warp sounds. That really adds depth to the game! However, YMMV.
4 weeks later
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3 weeks later
I hate it that Pinsound still hasn't provided a means to copy shaker settings between sound packages. I programmed my own setting for the remix by lmh01, but when I switch to any other soudn package my custom settings are gone and I get the stupid firmware effects.
Correct. All the settings are in the pinsound.config fileat the root of your sound package folder, including the shaker settings. When you switch sound packages, you also loose the shaker settings.
Quoted from Zitt:Curious if the .config file is xml or human readable.
Maybe you could manually transplant the settings from one file to the other.
Or write a python script to do it.
Already thought of that. It's not XML but binary. Seems to be encrypted even.
Feel free to encourage the team here:
https://www.pinsound-community.org/index.php?/topic/546-copy-shaker-settings/
or send them an email. They could either add a feature to the pinsound studio software or (preferrably) publish the specs for the pinsound.config file.
1 week later
Quoted from GCS2000:Then it would be a waste then.
Can you listen to any of these soundtracks before putting them on the game itself (probably not unless they have done a video like you).
You can downlaod all the packs anytime. Inside you'll find standard audio files you can play with any player.
For more context, get the free Pinsound Studio software, the editor for the packages. You can play around with the sound files and see what triggers they are tied to.
Quoted from Eric_Manuel:The "original" board will only do quality mono sound. If you want better quality sound, and all the benefits PinSound offers, explore on YouTube PinShark's Ultimate Sound Mix for STTNG.
Even WITH Pinsound the original sounds will be mono, because they're still the same sounds, just played through different hardware. For real stereo sound you'll need the custom packs.
And yes, a Pinsound+STTNG subthread would be nice.
Quoted from GCS2000:So it sounds like it would be a waste for us if we are only going to run the stock soundtrack (wife will not want any remix - don't bother).
Guess I could just swap out the 30 year old stock speakers at least and be done with it.Is there a reworked original soundtrack that is stereo and does that come with the ultimate package if that is what I order?
You don‘t get any sounds with the hardware. Instead, you download from the community supplied packs or create your own.
I very much doubt you‘ll find any „improved“ original sounds. In order to make them sound better and stereo, one would need the original sounds and remix from the raw material. Never gonna happen.
Quoted from GCS2000:I picked up my game tonight. Played at the sellers place of course and the shield inserts are lit blue uggh. Need to put them back to the proper green.
Anyone have a recommendation on what bulbs I should get for these inserts?
Also the round white inserts in the shop are using white LEDs of course. Unfortunately the ones on the game are so bright they are literally blinding. What LEDs do you guys recommend for these as well
Thx
I'd go with warm white for pretty much everything except a few accents (such as the Bird of Prey) and the indicaters like "advance rank".
1 week later
Quoted from Zitt:Why is everything about spending money with you?
Sometimes repairing the original boards is more cost effective than just blindly buying new stuff.
Connectors and a little solder is a lot cheaper than a set of Opto boards
That's true, but botched jobs can be very painful to repair. Depends on how extensive the damage caused by said job is.
But also keep in mind that optos age over time. If you opt for a new board, you get brand new LEDs and sensors.
Word.
Also, never use it while your machine is powered on, no matter how tempting.
A friend told me so.
Right Good tools are the foundation of good craftsmanship. Buy cheap and pay double. Sam Vime‘s Boots paradox.
Quoted from dashv:The out of the box shaker options are overkill and detract from the game.
I made my own custom shaker config and I could not be happier. Feels to me like it was always meant to be there.
Same here!
And while your at it: Replace the wires to the cannons. They are a typical point of failure, and a broken wire in the cannon loom is hard to figure out because it will stop working in random intervals.
Quoted from Thehipster:I think it's difficult to get lx 8 in the UK Eric.
Not if you know someone with an EPROM burner!
1 week later
Not related to the switches under the playfield, but cannon problems caused by the opto and/or the coil malfunctioning are highly suspicious of a bad loom. Those are a common weak point in the STTNG and very hard to pin down, because a broken wire will act up at random intervals due to the movements of the cannons.
1 week later
Quoted from Zitt:Have you ever had your coil wire "fail" and become dislodged from the coil lug and have to go solder it back in?
Happens more often than one would think.
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