haha, that's so good.

That's my worry for sure. But when it goes super steep, flailing might actually work out well.

Dwight Sullivan on code.

Flipper: direct ball interaction using a 3" plastic bat controlled by analog player input

What's nice is that there is a diverter on the ramp so the ball doesnt have to go through the upper playfield. Thats what BKSOR is missing. So if the code calls for it, send the ball up there. And if it's spending too much time up there, the code can be adjusted for it. In theory at least.

Correct. The ball goes past that swinging razorcrest target to a small ramp that feeds left and falls into the left orbit coming back toward the player. I believe there is also a diverter on that center "ramp" to diverter to the Grogu rollover lanes.

Technically yes. But for me, I wouldnt exactly count it the same as the left, right and the 180 degree (prem) ramp.

Yep.

You start a bunch the multiballs and the mini-wizard modes on that center ramp thing so that diverter probably stops and holds the ball while animations play and the multiball starts

Good point. Compare that to something like Stranger Things which has like a thousand different modes, I feel like it makes it hard to really connect with any of them. IMDN nails it because all 5 modes are well thought out, fun and difficult.

She compared being a Republican in the USA to being a Jew in (early) Nazi Germany. Admittedly not the end result of the holocaust but basically a slippery slope argument that Republicans are beginning to be demonized and that is how "it" starts.

Whether you agree with Disney's choice or not, I can at least see why they made it.

Correct. It's a self contained playfield area but it is part of the main playfield.

There is no mini-playfield on the Pro. It's just a flipper and 6 targets.

It loops back into the left orbit coming back toward the player.

Am I the only one getting banzai run vibes out of that upper pf when it goes really steep? sure at 6.5 degrees its kinda bland but jack it up to like 45+ degrees and that tiny flipper gap is gonna feel like Ghostbusters.

I could be wrong and I have no idea just how steep its gonna get but Im excited to try it for sure.

Flippers moving on a pinball machine is distracting? Ive heard alot of complaints but that one might be the greatest.

Boo! Boo this man!

I think I'm the most critical of games I own or have owned. And that is for one simple reason, I know them thoroughly and have thought a lot about what works and what doesn't. I've probably also thought alot about tweaks and changes that would fix "issues" I have with the game.

With that being said, I definitely judge games when they're revealed, but I generally have a "wait and see once I actually play it" mentality. That's what I don't understand about people passionately bashing a game or an element of a game upon reveal.

I was really curious just how steep it gets and I believe he said 65 degrees, that's pretty steep. Plus it can also go less steep than the normal playfield which could make for some interesting gameplay. For the Pro, youd think a weaker flipper would actually make it easier to keep the ball alive, no?

Encounters are their own set of modes, separate from Missions and Razorcrest Multiballs.

why would the player beat up a small child?

I think that's meant to be a compliment. After all, the anti-christ is also apparently responsible for some of the most kick ass rock music we've got.

A big part of the problem is that no one really wants to buy them.

Thats kinda what I meant. People dont typically wanna take a big loss on a machine, especially at a time where lots of used games are selling for nib prices or higher.

I don't know that a backlog of games that already have customers is a "problem" for Stern, as long as that line keeps moving, Stern is probably more than happy.

Oh wow, what a buzzkill. Hope they get you sorted out asap.

That's a good question, the problem with those manuals is that as the code continues to develop, they need to continue updating them. As far as I can tell, that isn't something they've done with any of them, though I could be wrong.

In the meantime, I recommend checking out the tiltforums wiki rulesheet. There's a handful of committed people continuously trying to update the rulesheets on the newer, evolving games.

That really is great! Not everyone wants/needs the same things out of a pinball machine. Personally I think Dwight has great ideas but often falls short on the follow through with things like score balancing, tweaking the existing rules to better balance the overall gameplay or under-utilizing playfield features. I owned GB for a long time and I currently own a TMNT, on both of these games, I feel like they could be so much better overall with relatively minor changes and balancing. But again, a lot of my criticisms probably just boil down to personal preferences.

But damn do I love his enthusiasm on the reveal streams.

Hey, it may be a firstworldproblem, but its OUR collective firstworldproblem! This is a safe space.

A buddy of mine just set up his Mando Pro last night and I'd like to help him get a few things dialed in.

First off, what does the machine screw for everyone's upper playfield area star post look like? I would have expected something like this: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4424-2 but his is just a philips head screw fastened to the PF with a nut, with the star post sitting on top of it.

Secondly, the ball seems to fall from the ramp diverter and hit the plastic before hitting the playfield, which then prevents the ball from getting any momentum and not making it to the upper flipper most of the time. Has anyone had to adjust that ball feed to work better?

If it was my machine, I'd just start poking around but the more time I spend figuring it out at his house is less time I spend playing it, so any guidance would be appreciated.

I still think metal habitrails would be (will be) better than the plastics, but after playing Mando for 4 hours the other night, I can't say I even noticed them once while playing.

Haha, not from me, no.

I just figure someone is likely to do it.

Does anything cost less than 100? Armor is 200 from what I remember, but I can't remember seeing anything for 100.

I definitely agree that they haven't bothered or distracted me or noticeably obstructed my view in the 30 or so games I've probably played on a Pro. But the wireforms on the Premium still look way better from a strictly cosmetic standpoint.

There are definitely parts of the layout I dislike but overall Id say it's solid. I like the Razor Crest shot being a nice bail out shot and both ramps shoot pretty good but I despise the way that "u-turn" style shot bounces off the ball guide for such an inconsistent return. My overall biggest complaint about the game is probably the repeatability of the Razor Crest shot combined with the way it's coded. I think if the actual lock shot was different from the lock qualifying shots, it would have felt much less grindy.

If you look in the manual (found here: https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Mandalorian_Pro_web.pdf) you can go to page 16 and 17 to see which switches are where. Switch 40 is near the pop bumpers.

Crazy ol' switch#40, always messing around!

I wonder why they did it that way instead of putting the nut about the star post or using a post stud like this: https://www.marcospecialties.com//images/products/02-4002-3/detail.jpg

The thing about "deep code" is that it has a lot of things to progress through and to. It doesn't mean that it only has that. If a game has nothing intuitive and obvious for beginners to understand, then it's not the depth that is to blame, that is just poor rules design. If you listen to interviews with designers and coders, they often refer to things being "close to the start button" which basically means something obvious that everybody (including beginners) will activate/see and can easily go for.

So I guess what Im saying is, a game like Munsters could be simple for beginners AND deep for better players without having to pick between the two. In fact, that is what I believe makes truly great games.

I would install over the hole and then use a scalpel to trace the edges of the hole. Or just leave it maybe and only cut it out if you need to access that bolt?