Totally agree with everything you just said. I love this pin please please XAGERY JUST AT LEAST GET THE SCOREING WAY UP. This is a beautiful game n fast as hell a lot to do.

Many people that have put time on TMNT think it is a top 5 or 10 game. It is not a tough shooter if a player traps up and makes controlled shots.

If scoring stayed the same, but had a 0 or 00 added to the end of each score, people would feel more satisfied, imo. But aside from that, if the bugs were squashed like the one reported by shaub namely:

“Turtle Power Crash for the first time in a while, normally Im not signed in.
Raph Level 4 (persistent)
Signed into Insider Connected using Home Team
NPMB played
2 Episodes completed: Mousers and a Shredder one
I Want a Body Episode was active
Had 1 April Hurry up Collected, I think I had one ready to collect as well. (I feel like this might be a key to the crash.)”

Everyone would be happier with the code. It’s real tough to work far into TMNT, only to have the machine totally reset. As stated before if Nutrino Pizza Party option available after completing level 4 training on any turtle, connected to IC, that’d be a winner too. No one in my family has seen it since it was taken out of 1.51 or 1.52 code. Doubt we will ever play it again, since its so tough to get to. Fun little mode to play. There is also audio clipping during cut scenes when Krang is talking and messing up the awesome syncopated Krang toy. Please Xaqery make this happen for such a stellar pinball machine. Always want to keep it.

ice cream is better than chili because you can build up the super jackpot value first by hitting 1 - 3 mondo jackpots first

I asked my wife this weekend what's more important, logging in with Home Team or being able to play NPP with a level 3 turtle. And she said NPP. And I agree. I kept the SD card with 1.5, I think we'll be going back soon.

Anyone know the achievements that were fixed in 1.51/1.52?

With regards to NPP, with 1.5 it was a perk to have IC connected. Now it's a detriment. I can live without the new callouts etc ... By having an additional mode that I'm actually able to play. As it stands with current code we would literally never see NPP again.

Oh man, your right. I've just realized the benefit of hitting more mondos before grandes. ...so it doesn't automatically go up after the first grande?

Totally agree. I don't even go for training anymore on purpose. Having the 4 shots carry over for 2x is more powerful and WAY safer. Dwight should think about having npp after l3 and 4. Training on its own right now (without IC) is something to avoid. It's too bad because the animation and light show creates one of my favorite moments in the game.

I feel like Training could have been what made the game great from a code perspective. There is so much potential in the turtle perks and the scoring boosts, though the perks could use some balance/re-working. But it would be nice if the modes themselves had some value, not a ton or anything but something similar to episodes feels appropriate, carrying progress over between attempts would also be a nice option. Also, when persistent perks is enabled, the Training Modes should still start have the default progression rather than always playing the 3rd and most difficult one.

I think it would also be an improvement to remove NPP entirely from the Training modes and enable it elsewhere. One option would be to light it by completing some number (maybe 4 out of 7) of the Cowabunga criteria, like a "half-way" to Cowabunga mode. That would be doable, but not a gimme and then it would give more reason to actually focus on collecting 123 Foot, WHU or Max Krang Kombo, but then even if you were just playing and having a solid game, you're likely gonna find yourself close to lighting it.

Those are all great ideas but I doubt Mr. Sullivan will have the time or resources to do so many changes. Really, time would be better spent on debugging imo. Not as fun but more detrimental to the enjoyment of the game overall.
I'm worried about his wording on the "fix what I can". His response and acknowledgment of the bugs are promising but saying "what he can" makes me less enthused. Makes me he's had people looking into the tpmb and they're stumped. But hey, maybe he gets a ringer in there to have a look. Let's hope.
I just changed my flipper bands back to black and am feeling like the lair shot is back easier again from the cradle. (Thanks again @Thunderbird: loving going back to rubber, the perfect plays suck on tmnt, look great, but they suck). I'll probably start going back to having games where I focus on training. Just to see for the challenge. I still think it's a poor choice if you're going for score alone.

You’re welcome. We all had to learn the hard way, leaving stock rubber from day one to using titans had me feeling TMNT was a tough shooter. Going back to Stern stock rubber changed the game for me, to becoming a real layout dream machine. Think this one has legs as more and more discover how outstanding J Borg designed the layout. Now if Xaqery Dwight will fix the code and dedicate whatever time is needed to make it the AAA title it should be.

You know Titan has low bounce flipper bands that behave similar to natural rubber?

We put Titan bands on every game we own. Way less dirt than rubber, game is easy to clean and look after.

NPP at 4 out of 7 Cowabunga achievements would be awesome, really make you concentrate on some of those things in the game you basically ignore, making it seem deeper. Also not having it on a timer to start would be great.

Tried those and still they don’t play even close to original Stern rubber. There’s a reason tournaments use only stock rubber for play. In addition, the so called dirt: found that the Titan’s get really dirty fast and become black anyway. Silicon disintegrates quickly, fraying the posts rapidly, as it cannot take the pounding of the metal ball the way rubber does. If Stern thought silicon played better, they’d changed it years ago. I thought what you said was the case originally, but found PF is far cleaner, because the stock rubber doesn’t disintegrate so easily and far easier to keep PF clean.

Is there a difference between what stern uses and any black rubber flipper bands you get from distributors? I got my tmnt used with clear bands installed (guessing silicone), they felt a lot different from the perfect play and I could backhand the lair nice, especially with 2 balls cradled. But I'm liking going back to the black rubber so far. I think these were from pinball life.
I'd like to try the Titan low bounce. I'll get them one day but since I live in Canada some companies are hard and expensive to ship from. They're one of them. I've got bands from them before when I was at Allentown. I have them on my bsd and I'm liking them. No idea if they are considered low bounce.

Oh I totally agree that these ideas have no chance of happening, but I still like to think about gameplay and code ideas anyway. Fixing whats there is the best we can hope for. You'd think with the big delay between Rush and James Bond, there should be additional time for the upcoming games, hopefully that means there is additional time to revisit previous games as well.

The whole way this game has developed seems weird to me. If you look at Godzilla, that game has been getting consistent big code updates since it was released in like November 2021. Where as TMNT seems to be very much the same game as when it was released. I bought TMNT as soon as it was announced and feel like the biggest code update was the one that added Neutrino Pizza Party (about 4 months after release) or maybe the one that added Half Shell Challenge (6 months after release). It just makes me wonder if Stern has a habit of essentially pulling the plug on certain games when initial sales aren't as good as others. Or maybe they just allocate more resources to certain projects up front. Either way, its a real shame that Dwight doesn't seem to be afforded the time or resources required.

Yeah, I'm with you. I like pondering how I'd make the rules better too. And I hope you didn't think I was putting your ideas down, they're great ideas. I especially like the mini-wizard-mode-like cowabunga. But, the other thing is Dwight took ideas learned in Munsters and added it to TMNT. He said that he had the time outs on the mono targets because of criticism of Munsters. So who knows, maybe your ideas make it into a future game, which would be pretty cool. Maybe you'll get your own Easter egg. :O
I'm curious about tmnt vs gz too. Gz seems to get more resources but who know, maybe tmnt burned up their resources early and after the initial big sales it dropped off fast. GZ is a crowd pleaser (and imo, pretty awesome), but if you compare the dmd resources, tmnt has way more work involved. gz is a lot of pre-existing clips. But they've done a great job of integrating their own 3d art too (WAY better than stern JP). Its just that tmnt has SO much original animation. They get criticized for the weaknesses (of which there's many), but don't get enough credit for how ambitious it was.
I'm pretty sure tmnt too a reputation hit because of being the first pandemic game. It might've had the same trajectory of RUSH if people kept playing it.
The reputation will come around. Look at BKSOR, people love that now when a year ago you could get them below value. I predict LZ will be similar.
I wonder what Dwight is working on. If it's 007 an update could come sooner than later. If it's the next game, who knows.

Stupid question here and I dont think it’s possible, but is there a way to stop the GI from turning off when doing certain things in the game? I have a very poorly lit room and when all the lights go out starting the weapon hurry up (or anything else), I might as well be playing blind. Kinda hard to hit the center ramp if you cant see the ball. Im guessing I just need the game to be well lit?

Take a look at the Poor Mans Stadium Lighting thread. I have it on all my games now and can’t imagine playing without it.

You can wear a headlamp when playing.

I mean, you aren’t wrong…

I will look into this. Thank you!

This baffles me, that Dwight Xaqery does not seem to have time or resources to make everything right, like team Elwin does. I think Dwight is Stern’s top coder, but TMNT has not been given the proper code time to squash the bugs and do the good ideas you’ve come up with. Dwight should be talking to you to implement such great ideas that shouldn’t require much to implement, aside from scoring. Dwight already told me directly changing all the scoring would be like rewriting the whole code. TMNT will become a highly sought after game, just like Tron became from the same designer, Borg. TMNT has even more, with best art package, great versatile code, super fast layout, great shots, toys galore. If I had to only have one machine, it’d be TMNT. Lot’s to do with different ways to approach the game.

I put these on my Deadpool. Makes the ball look like the power all in TZ. Before and after is below

You can save 1k

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I love TMNT. It has such amazing potential with an extremely sought after license. Unfortunately the TPMB crash is enough of a problem by itself to tank its value and ultimate playability. It pains me so much to admit that as I love the license that much. But it is what it is, all the other items are nice to have fixes. The TPMB crash should be an absolute non-negotiable for Stern to fix. I can’t think of any reputable product manufacturer that would allow a key component of their product to fail and be like “oh well, it mostly works”.

I want this game but all the complains about code really bother me.
I also heavily dislike low scoring games.

Layout and shots are amazing, but the low scoring and unfinished code kill it for me.

You’d pick this over Munsters?

I complain about the code but I can never see getting rid of mine. Not for a long time and only for something else I would know I would love. I'm about to sell a game, a BK, I tweaked it and it's playing amazing--I usually play the hell out of a game I know is going but tmnt always calls to me more. I still get a few games of bk in every couple of days, but tmnt becons me every day. You get use to the low scoring just like lotr or any JJ. The reset bug happen so rarely that it's not an issue at home. And the smaller bugs just seem like part of the game right now: for instance marshmallows are a wammy card, and "I need a body" tumb perk is 'rescue all' instead of "rescue any".

well, as said by "few", Munsters should be a top 10 game, while TMNT should be top 5...

(take this with humor)

Hello guys,
The sad time has come for me to swap my TMNT for another pin, being in a 1-pin-only home I knew it will come one day
I still have my custom topper that I am selling separetely.
It has been produced in a factory so looks super professional. Only 30 units were produced and most of them sold over here in France. No additional units will be produced. See details in the picture attached.
It comes with both EU & US power cable.
I am asking 600$ + shipping, and could ship worldwide.
PM me if interested!
Thanks
Bazou

124373484_369659470971991_5795239744076785581_n (resized).jpg

IMG_20220831_212055 (resized).jpg

ISO an extra TMNT cabinet. Anyone have an extra empty one? Ordering one from Stern is a non starter.

I see your problem, so much furniture.
Very professional looking topper, I'm sure any tmnt fan would love it; not just someone with the pin.

I totally agree Munsters is great and I love my tmnt also. Munsters definitely should be way higher than we’re it is so many games in front of it that are not in no way better but that’s pinside for ya. If I listen to everything on pinside rateing there would have been alot of games I would have never owned.

it is almost like every Dwight game never gets finished code.
or am I wrong?

I asked my wife this weekend and she said "What the hell are you even talking about?"

Unfortunately correct. Still, w/TMNT, add a zero the scores and fix the reset bug and I'm completely satisfied.

time for a younger generation to take over this job? He might be too stuck in the old Bally/Williams/DE ways of the pinball world where code never got finished and machines were delivered with a barely working machine, just good enough to make $.

Players today want to finish a game, people own these at home and work to complete the gam and to explore the code rather than a casual play in location that is only barely scratching the surface of the code - which is what happened in the 90s - . I think this old mentality might be hurting the games he works on?

Elwin, manages to deliver and complete all his games, so this is obviously NOT a Stern problem and could be perhaps a team lead problem and I presume the lead is usually the designer, who calls a game complete 'enough' when it is released. It almost feels like he abandons all his projects.

Sorry if this comes across a bit harsh, but, I believe to be somewhat accurate in my assessment.

why, when i read you, i think about Lyman (and the fact we all missed him) !?

It seems complete and pretty straightforward to me. Complete 4 episodes and get mini wizard in the middle. Complete another 4 and get the final battle. And if you are better than most people, complete a handful of side objectives to get cowabunga.

After that, neutrino was added as incentive to get training up.

Additionally, half shell challenge was added which is essentially a training mode for all the shots in the game. There was no need to add this, but he did anyway and we do play it from time to time and my kid loves it.

TPMB crash is the only thing that NEEDs to be fixed, the rest is nice to have.

Well stated

I have joined the club. I really like my Premium. I seem to be enjoying it more with every game played. Haven't had the TPMB crash yet (fingers crossed).

Just curious... why does the shooter lane on the premium/LE haver the ramp that sends your plunge into the right ramp? I see the pro is just a normal plunge around the orbit. Just curious if I was missing something.

Haha, yeah I definitively have room for a second pin but...not the wife nor the budget that come with it :p
Yep I'm sure this topper will make someone happy!

The Prem/Le has that shooter lane/ramp configuration in order to re-load balls into the Turtle Van for Turtle Power MB. I much prefer the Pro shooter lane configuration myself. And I think the Pro overall, just wish the spinning disc was replaced with the ramp diverter.

Lol, I'm lucky. My wife is into pinball as much as I am.

If anyone is wondering, the Final Battle Start and Complete achievements are awarded by the Challenge mode. Probably shouldnt be, but that's how it is.

Nah man, Dwight is a legend. Elwin can learn still from him and I bet if you ask him he'll admit that himself. Your critisism does come across harsh, mostly because we know he reads this forum, but it's also worth the conversation. Sometimes ya gotta be cruel to be kind.
The way I see it is that Elwin is the new hotness and everyone is gaga over him BUT people seem to give him the benefit of the doubt of any flaws (like harsh drains) and also give him more credit than he's due. For instance, Elwin isn't a programmer. It's like blaming Borg for the bugs in the tmnt code.
Also we have no idea about the politics at stern. Are they gaga over elwin too and give him whatever he wants? (Probably yes, because they know his reputation means people will buy sight unseen). Is Dwight asked to simplify his code to appeal to gamers who like the 90's games more? Maybe, there's definitely a good argument for that and Munsters seems to be proof.
But also, I don't know about you but I like a lot of variety. For instance I was stoked about GZ when the PF had some throwback lower pf elements. I like that about elwin more than the code. I like gz's code too, but I dont think it's that much better than the code concept for tmnt: it's just more polished. It still is a start the mode then stack the mb at the base of the game. I think LZ is a bigger leap in code creativity, especially with theme integration (although this partly goes against my argument because of the possible influence of Rayday .) I'd argue RUSH is a bit more creative with the code too. Not to put down GZ though, it's awesome. I'm using it as an example because it's elwins best game and a great achievement.
But also without big achievements from Richie, Dwight, Lyman, Eddy, etc., Elwin isn't doing what he's doing. And me personally think it would be a huge mistake not to let these legends continue to make games as long as they want to.
But I hope you don't take this as being harsh against your opinion. Like I said, it's a worthy conversation. I personally like the variety and think Dwight it doing some fascinating things like the npmb--i don't think there's another mb in pinball like it. April HU is another one. I can't think of another HU in pinball that is based on the events that's happening; which is incredible use of theme integration since April is reporting.

Anyone know if final battle is awarded if done in co-op mode?

I wish I could read the ingredients menu at the start of PPMB. Small white font, light color menu background, getting old and needing new glasses.

Rob

If someone that has done the servo replacement for the Glider, I would appreciate it if you could reach out. I installed a new servo, but it still isn't working. I watched the one video on YouTube that I could find, and followed the guide. It moves but when you push left it moves right. Also when it gets to an edge it keeps trying to move. I'm worried it's going to burn up the servo.

It sure goes by quick at the start of MB

Thought I’d show proof of the silicon I removed from my TMNT. People go on how they are somehow “cleaner” for the PF to use than Stern stock rubber…..(not to mention my TMNT is now very playable and finally enjoyable).

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I joined the club recently and love TMNT. It is doing something weird though. Twice now it has performed a hard reset at the end of a game. Didn’t really bother me since it was at the end of the game but wondering why it happened. Any thoughts?

How many plays on those rubbers?

Yeah, that too.

Rob