Hello @Xaqery, any plan to update the rulesheet PDF soon?
The one I can get from Stern website is still at version 0.97.
Thanks

This was supposed to be the post where I tell you how my premium arrived, and it was IC ready and the art for the IC was great. But…

Build date is aug. no IC.

Dying to know where this pin came from. Ordered in June, built in Aug, arrives in Dec.

Very happy it’s here though!

80E2369C-361B-4BA2-8E8D-7031B9BCBA14 (resized).jpeg

Probably kept on hold until missing parts came back in stock.

Good point. I assumed that build date = completion date, but I suppose that's not necessarily the case...

Finally updated the code to 1.0. I didn't play enough games to notice a huge difference. I did update the post settings and love the full orbit! It makes an already fun game, more fun!

Side note, I hadn't played Mando in a while as I had a couple of new arrivals last month. I also moved it to a new spot. I'm struggling to hit that center ramp, especially on a backhand. It used to be so easy for me. I'll have to check the leveling as I really enjoyed hitting that upper ramp!

Great game!

Hi All - Has anyone replaced the coil stops on the upper Mando playfield yet? I'm seeing some "dust" up there and think I need to replace them. I know I have gold dust on the lowers, but that is straight forward. It looks like there are three points holding the upper play field in place. One silver screw on each side of the black brackets, and the elevation arm under the play field. Any advice / suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Yes I just replaced my LE stops as I had metal bits everywhere.

Short story, they were a nightmare to replace... Maybe I'm a muppet but I couldn't see an easier way to do it. My method was:

- Lift the playfield up and off the rails to access the two screws you mentioned to remove the black holding brackets. This was difficult, in the end I slid a piece of wood between the playfield and rails to hold the pf out of the cabinet
- Lift the upper pf out, mine was quite tight. I suggest to remove the right plastic ramp to give you more space. Also put a soft cloth on the pf/plastics for protection
- This is where things get interesting... You need to unplug the upper pf main cable to get a good angle to access the stops. There is not much slack, so this was really fiddly. Again, lay a cloth on the playfield and surronding areas so you don't scratch anything doing this
- With the main data cable off I could move the pf angle enough to change the stops (the old ones were visibly damaged). This was the easy bit!
- Reverse everything > REMEMBER TO PLUG THE DATA CABLE BACK IN (I forgot )

I found the whole thing really stressful, I never want to remove it again!

Thank you very much ....and I was afraid you were going to say it was an awful experience. I know a lot of thought and design goes into a pin but it never seems to me that there is any consideration to long term maintenance. I mean that upper play field could be really easy to disconnect if they wanted it to be. Oh well, it's sorta what you sign up for with pinball. thanks again.

If your struggling to work on the upper playfield best advice is simply remove the entire playfield from the cabinet, it’s super easy, I lent mine against a wall to swap the coil stops made it 100x easier.

New version!

LE/PREMIUM V1.01 - December 16, 2021
====================================
NEW:
- Added new adjustment called SKIP ENCOUNTER BONUS LEVELS.
- It defaults to YES.
- If set to YES Encounters will skip the first two bonus levels. You
will be allowed to continue from level 1 to 2 to 3 without interuption.
The Bonus level will only start after level 3. Bonus level points are 2X
what they were.
- If set to NO the serries of levels and bonus levels are unchnaged.

TWEAKED:
- Setting the Adjustment MULTIBALL ALWAYS ENABLED to NO will now require a
new Hunter Mission to be started and competed or draining the ball before
you can advance to the next multiball.
- Changed the default of MULTIBALL ALWAYS ENABLED to NO. By default you will
need to complete a hunter mission after the Multiball or drain before you
can advance to the next multiball.
- Added MULTIBALL ALWAYS ENABLED difficulty Installs. It will be set to YES
for EASY and EXTRA EASY and set to NO for MEDIUM, HARD and EXTRA HARD.
- Setting Competition game play mode from the GAME PLAY MENU will treat the
adjustment MULTIBALL ALWAYS ENABLED as if its set to NO

- Changed the default of adjustment DISABLE TOP POST to be
DEFAULT DOWN: RAISE AS NEEDED.

- Improved some sounds volumes

- Improved some messages for Encounters

MOVED TO SYSTEM 3.01 -
Updated to nodeboard firmware v0.81.0

Nice move !

Changed the default of adjustment DISABLE TOP POST to be DEFAULT DOWN: RAISE AS NEEDED.

Since I don't have my machine yet, I have to ask rather than try it myself. Does this mean the "Razorcrest hurry-up between multiballs" is replaced with "hunter between multiballs?" If so, I like the sound of that.

Moving the bonus levels to the end of the encounter also seems like a nice change to maintain the pace of the action. I dig it!

Either way, thanks Dwight!

Code loading into the game now. Most excited for the encounter updates.

Brilliant update and once again shows Dwight listens to the end user, really polishing up nicely this code package a few more tweaks to Foundry (I would like a little more strategy added to foundry items like powering up items buying them a 2nd and 3rd time, takes the idea of TMNT training and puts it on steroids!) and it’s pretty much perfection.

Code changes look real good. Those should have been default and I’m glad Dwight thought so too.

I don’t think so, I believe it means that rather than everytime you hit the razorcrest target while doing anything it would reduce the number of hits to start multiball, once you’ve had a multiball that you will either have to drain or complete a hunter mission before the razorcrest hits will start counting towards the next multiball phase which I believe will still be mb, hurry up, mb, hurry up etc.
I may be wrong, but that’s how I read it

Xaqery huge respect to yourself and your team!

I asked about the bonus level idea recently and Dwight pm'd me to say he was working on it. How many other manufacturers/coders would do that???

Simply tremendous! I doff my cap to you sir!!

I really like this idea. I would also really like to see a Mando that moves a bit. Like he's alive, like they do on RPGs, just some subtle back and forths, head movements etc, rather then a static pic. The details make it, and we are getting more and more details! Thanks for listening Dwight and continuing to make this pin better and better.

So...MB 1, Hunter, Hurry-up 1, Hunter, MB 2, Hunter, Hurry-up 2, Hunter, MB 3, Hunter, Hurry-up 3, Hunter, Wizard Mode?! I'll never get there now...lol. Well y'all wanted it to be harder to progress through...

I will say that Dwight is the best. He made Star Wars truly special and is doing the same thing with Mando.

I like the raise post only when needed but shouldn't it raise when the child is lit?

Wouldn't that be considered "when needed"? When else would it be needed?

Can somebody explain to me the Hurry Up modes? I see a Jackpot value in millions going up when I make the shots., but not sure how to capture it.... what am I missing?

I think it raises for super pops as well.

It should be
MULTIBALL 1
Hunter or drain

Hurry up
MULTIBALL 2
Hunter or drain

Hurry up
MULTIBALL 3
Hunter or drain

PRECIOUS CARGO

When The Hurry up is running (You know because the music changed and the GI are pulsing)
you will be able to hit the Razor Crest target X times for an increasing number of points. Each value you collect will add to the next one.
How many times, how large X is depends on how many +1X multipliers you have running. If you have none you will get 2 consecutive hurry ups. Each +1X you have running will add 2 more shots for a maximum of 8 consecutive shots on the target with the value growing each time.

Hi all! I have been reading this forum quite a bit while we waited for our first pinball machine to arrive - a Mando Pro! We got it last week and are really loving it.

Today something strange happened... When the ball goes into the foundry nothing happens - no change in lights, no change in music, no foundry mode or extra ball... nothing - except the ball stays there for quite a while. The ball eventually shoots out after the pin appears to cycle through a series of clicks (solonoids reseting?). Any ideas on what is going on?

It could be an issue with the switch in the scoop that detects when the ball is in there.

Try putting the game into switch test mode (Service menu -> diagnostics -> switch -> switch test)

Activate the switch in the scoop and see if the game detects it.

-----------

Xaqery - I found something small for you to fix in the patch notes. The link to the rule sheet is not valid -

https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MANDO-Rulesheet.pdf

Accessing this URL results in a 404 not found.

Sounds like the machine is going through a ball search? If that's the case, as Jesder mentions, the switch in your scoop probably isn't detecting the ball.

Pro too!

Thanks Xaqery great stuff on this update!!!!

Yup. I put a playfield protector on my Mando LE so when I re-assembled I did that with everything, put washer under everything like the child area blue plastic lane guides and the plastic guide along the shooter lane, star posts etc.

Some initial thoughts from me on the changes in the 1.01 update (Premium model).

Firstly - the skip encounters bonus levels. So far, I'm liking how this flows and it feels more natural to progress through the encounter. I think this is a positive change to the game.

I really like that Dwight has added it as an adjustment - so if you're not a fan of the change, you can switch back to how it was.

My only concern is the point scoring. Even with 2X scoring now on the bonus level, encounters seem to offer way less than the other paths (Razor Crest and Missions). It's entirely possible to drain straight away on the bonus level, leaving you with a minimal return for getting through the encounter. So if I'm going for points, encounters have been (and may continue to be) something I'm likely to ignore.

I wasn't sure I would like the default change MULTIBALL ALWAYS ENABLED now being set to No. But so far I actually don't mind it. It's forcing me to play hunter more and I don't think that's a bad thing. I'm now collecting more beskar, which is setting me up for more use of the foundry. I still would like more freedom with purchases at the foundry though. If I'm loaded on Beskar, let me choose anything I want to buy and not just 2 adjacent items.

A concern I have though is it's not necessarily clear to new players that to progress to the next Multiball you have to play hunter (or drain). Before it was very clear you just shoot the Razor Crest shot to continue advancing and then activate multiball / hurry up. Having hunter linked to multiball progress isn't really intuitive.

Again I like that this is a setting so owners can set it to what they prefer. Everyone wins!

Going to put some more games in later today after work to explore the changes more.

The hurry up is easily one of my favourite additions you added to Mando.

Any more plans for future additions Dwight before you are pulled onto your next game?

Mando is easily one of it not my favourite code package it’s so well integrated into the theme, any expansion of the foundry - levelling up weapons and their perks with multiple purchases would be phenomenal, basically anything to make Mando deeper and add longevity as I cannot see myself selling my LE ever!

Xaqery question for you Dwight

With the new encounter rules you can now skip the bonus levels which really helps progression on the encounters ladder and opens up the modes there which is fantastic!

But you have also made those bonus levels worth x2 now adding extra incentive to play through them, again nice touch to keep incentivise playing those bonus rounds.

Question is as I haven’t been able to keep an eye on it, is does your combined scores from encounter 1 + bonus, 2 + bonus, 3 + bonus effect/boost your scoring in I like those odds?

Basically is there a further incentive other than the x2 of the bonus levels that you will see through that ladder?

Xaqery or anyone question: Didn’t the 180 scoop come down every time after shooting the ball through the horseshoe from the left side? Now after code update 1.01 it no longer lowers unless scope or ambush is initiated. Am I missing something? Is that the way it should be? Didn’t the 180 diverter also come down during “Try to Escape” before 1.01? What are the times the 180 diverter is suppose to lower?

I spent more time playing the 1.01 update this evening.

I really like the change to how you advance through the Encounters. Removing the bonus level between each encounter level makes it flow so much better and feel like a single encounter that you're battling. The previous setup was more of a stop / start progress through them. I think we lose some of the cool cut scenes as a result sadly

I feel that the new way to advance through encounters -may- make it a little too easy to reach the Wizard mode however. Before today, I had only completed the third encounter a couple of times over the last month. But today I was there multiple times without much hassle.

I do think that scoring within the Encounters really needs some tweaking however. Encounters are one of the three main paths through the game and while you can reap some decent points from the bonus level, you can also very easily bomb out and receive very little. Which leaves you with an unrewarding feeling. Previously, it didn't matter if you bombed out on one or even two of the bonus levels as one good bonus level would make up for it all. Now you have one shot to get decent points from an encounter - fail the bonus level and you walk away with very little. I think points within the Encounter (before the bonus level) need a buff to make it more rewarding.

I have a quick question for Xaqery . In the 1.00 update, this was in the release notes:

"If a ball falls into the mini-playfield when you are between Encounters and you can start an Encounter the next Encounter will now start"

Tonight I found myself with all 3 encounters complete and had at least 3 ramp shots required to light the Wizard mode. I shot the ball up the left ramp, but it wasn't powerful enough to make it all the way around and instead dropped into the mini playfield. I flipped the ball a few times and then let it drain out into the orbit since nothing was happening. At this point, the "You have what I want" wizard mode started - even though I had not completed the 3 ramp shots to enable it.

Is this what that point in the release notes was referring to? So it's possible to take a short cut to the next encounter (including the wizard mode) even if it's multiple shots away from being lit?

Encounters need to stay difficult to progress imo, so I am not sure I'll like 1.01 for that (not tested yet) BUT should be more rewarding. This is the hardest part of the game and this is the one that pay the less. This is causing that we are almost always playing the game the same way.
I am sure this will be improved with future code updates

Hello, I am not sure if this has been already talked here but wondering if there's a fix for this. When the ball travels the Razor Crest ramp at very high speed, I've seen that it sometimes hit the plastic edge showed on the picture. There isn't any damage yet but I think at long term it will shows the repetitive balls impact there..
My flippers coils are already reduced from 255 to 210 so I maybe there's another tip you could share to me

Thanks!

mando (resized).PNG

A couple people have posted some possible fixes. You can loosen the screw on the post at the right side of ramp exit, push the ramp to the right if there is any play, retighten. Someone else placed a piece of foam on the left side of the ramp exit changing the balls trajectory. I'm wondering if a thick piece of mylar on the left side of the ramp exit would be enough... Another idea would be some type of flap that could be attached to the top of the ramp exit sending the ball down into the orbit.

Yes it would be great if you reach level one you at least get the movie from that one, also with level 2 and maybe a random one when you reach the bonus level. I really like this new way of encounters but indeed also loved the movie scenes.

This code really brings out the best in this game. Really like the flow and ambush mode now.

Exactly, yet it doesn't. I don't think I've seen it raise at all anymore. I definitely have it on raise as needed.

He added that setting in 1.00 but it wasn’t default. I have it set to raise when needed in 1.00 and it does raise when child is lit. I thought the only change in 1.01 was to make that the default setting. I will wait to install 1.01 until clarity around this. Does it raise if you turn it back to previous setting?

Yes. I put it back to normal to make sure it wasn't a post issue and it worked.

Just played the new 1.01 code. Got to Razor Crest Multiball 2 after completing Hunter. A nice emphasis on orbit shots, not easy to complete Hunter though. I like the change. Thanks!

Someone mentioned using a piece of adhesive backed foam-ish material on the left side of that ramp exit, to deflect the ball away from the side wall.

Thank you for the timely help Jesder and @xelz! I was able to activate the switch using a plastic stick, but the ball did not activate it. So I figured that the switch was pulled or bent back. I opened up the machine and saw a tiny black screw laying in the bottom of the box (dumb luck that it is the first thing I saw). Looking at the switch I discovered just where that little screw belonged. We are back up and going again.

IMG_4772 (resized).jpeg

I would check to make sure the rod is straight.

So now with the option post down by default & raised as needed, at what specific moment this post will be UP?

Some have said that it comes up when the child is lit but it doesn't on my pro.

Did a glass off test because I swear I could hear the post come up and it does, just immediately goes back down again.

Mine comes up now when child is lit and seems to drop the ball in there when super pops is lit and running.