I'm finally joining the club this evening and looking forward to giving this game a deep clean and the LED treatment. So many possibilities for mod & lighting experimentations with this theme.

I do have one question - anyone ever experience a slow boot / long load times? This one is very slow to start up. And after a ball drains, it takes up to a minute sometimes for it to process and kick out the next one. I'm assuming this may be common with some Sega games because I had a Starship Troopers that was also slow to start up. But it did not have the delay between balls.

Cool, thanks for the tips, I'll start there probably. I'll have it in a few hours and will dig into it really good then. I was assuming the RAM was going bad or poor quality, if that's even possible, but that's what it seems like to me, like the game just doesn't have enough power for the CPU processing.

Well my tech came out today and after removing the board and putting it back in, all the GI lighting works and the game boots at full speed now. Stranger things have happened I guess. And as a bonus, the condition of the game got some good compliments from him and they're not easy to come by.

X-Files NOS play field available - ebay.com link: Sega X files Pinball machine NOS playfield very rare

I'll be dropping a pic of my X-Files here pretty soon... With some extra added accessories to help fill the back of the play field more. Very pleased with the result.

I also took my metal protector that was made to cover the magnet and file cabinet area and just shaped a piece of mylar instead. So the art can be enjoyed and not covered up, but still stays nice and minty fresh like it just came off the press. A flex led bulb in the red insert by the cabinet helps light it up way better since that wedge socket is so tight in there. Blue LED flashers in there look sweet too.

rear-playfield-detail_(resized).jpg

If you haven't already hooked up an external subwoofer to this game, it's a must with all the music tracks in my opinion. Really brings the game to life.

I also put on some Stern Flipper Button Metal Guards on, a must have if you don't want wear around the buttons - this place has a pic, but not the best price - http://www.pin-protection.com/index.php/products/product/show/7-stern-flipper-button-protector I found them on GameRoom Guys eBay page for under $20 shipped.

Not sure what's next - probably adding some additional spotlights.

This thread needs more chatter! There's gotta be more than a half dozen X-Files owners here...

Been wanting to do this upgrade myself & add better speakers in the backbox. I just have an external sub at the moment, but would prefer and internal setup, but I still haven't gotten to play a game that has Flipper Fidelity in it to know for sure how good they sound.

First one I can think of is if you have no wear at the filing cabinet / magnet, and no metal plate the factory put out to cover it, get mylar in there! I made a template off my metal plate, so if someone needs me to trace it and upload an image, I will.

Speaking of Mylar, the bumpers can get a bit furious, so you may want some in there as well.

Oh, and the metal flipper button guards to protect your cabinet from fingers wearing the artwork off.

Man, what a sweet game to have NIB! Thanks for the back story on the magnet protection kit, I always enjoy learning more history of these games. I have the plastic protectors on but didn't use the metal plate, just made a mylar cut to the same shape and keep it super clean.

I think this area is being subjected to a controlled experiment.

Definitely one of the coolest shows ever created. No wonder the pinball machine is so awesome. I always assume the haters just hate because for some reason the series and theme wasn't of interest to them or they're just not very good at pinball and this game is pretty unforgiving with the tight shots.

Maur, I haven't seen anything specifically made for X-Files in the way of blades, or any blades made for other games that might also work on The X-Files... However, I am considering designing some myself if that's what it takes. A good friend found me someone who can print them off properly as well as a template to design them on. So for me it's just a matter of experimenting with some different ideas for what to use on the art and finding time...

Hi Jim - I'll PM you.

"I'm the key figure in an ongoing government charade, a plot to conceal the truth about the existence of extraterrestrials. It's a global conspiracy, actually, with key players in the highest levels of power and it reaches down into the lives of every man, woman, and child on this planet."

Amendes, you've got a PM as well. A little friendly competition never hurts... I'm told these things can be printed for much less than what they cost retail.

Sent. ..."we send those men up into space to unlock the doors of the universe, and we don't even know what's behind them."

Nice score! Make sure you get non ghosting LED's for this one, at least in the inserts, the cheap LED's will definitely flicker and annoy you. I settled with PinballLife premium bulbs for those. The GI lighting does not seem to have a ghosting effect so you can probably get by with cheaper ones there, but premium ones will definitely brighten it up even better.

Such a tough game as far as making shots go. Probably the most difficult one I have to hit ramps & etc. with, always challenging, sometimes downright frustrating, but such a great game.

I definitely like the idea of a Mulder and Skully side, also not a bad example at all. Definitely a cool concept and great start. Nice you're including the center panel into the design also.

I like you, so I'll pretend you didn't just mention that lying, cheating, murderous thug and $hill. She sucks. Would never consider it. Let's get back on track here...

"Well, just remember, boys, this is America - Just because you get more votes doesn't mean you win."

Yes. If you roll over it or hit it but the ball doesn't go in, it should close long enough to allow the ball to pass over it, and open back up. It should stay open until you drop a ball in there, unless multi ball starts, then it closes until after multi ball I believe.

I'm gonna take a look at mine and see if anything jumps out at me for you to check and will report back soon. I'm assuming something got knocked loose on yours.

Whoa, awesome! I think I was supposed to send you a pic or video and forgot to get it to you prior... Sorry about that! I even took video & everything for you.

Lol, in a totally straight way, simmer down. If you didn't have an X-Files you are actively working on to enhance, I probably wouldn't have even acknowledged you.

Scully: "What if there was only one choice and all the other ones were wrong? And there were signs along the way to pay attention to."

Mulder: "Mmm. And all the choices would then lead to this very moment. One wrong turn, and we wouldn't be sitting here together.

From post 271 above, same issue:

Solution:

Hopefully that helps.

A topper would be nice. I'm messing with some inner blade art concepts (not my art, just re-manipulations of stuff I found elsewhere)

x-files-blade_(resized).jpg

I was thinking keep them different on each side for some reason. Just messing around really.

I think what I wanna do is have the cityscape scene from the one episode fade around into the back board art and then fade into the woodsy UFO scene. Of course, lots of adjustments changes need to be made but that was my initial thought. Maybe I'll scrap it and go for something different. I just think both sides should be different, yet seamed together into one continuous worldly and outer-worldly scene while somehow keeping somewhat consistent with the play field & backbox colors and art.

Glad you got your plastics Amendes, hope they helped improve your ownership experience!

I've been going for the truth first and foremost, plus multiplier, and I'll do missions, and multi ball is least preference. Seems like I can score the most points working on those 4 things in that order, getting to the truth is just 5 shots and if you have a good run it's worth several million. Currently sitting at around 41 million with 20 million averages per game. Sound is killer. Plenty of different tracks as you work through the missions, multi ball & truth.

Also, thanks for the detailed write up / specs / tech info on optimizing the sound... I'm just running the Polk 10" sub at the moment, but that alone has made the game pump those hauntingly eerie and captivating sound riffs throughout my house.

Optos do lose their life and need replaced from time to time. You can usually just get by soldering in a new opto lens. Forgive me if that's not what it's actually called. I just had mine done fresh and they seem to work as intended.

Mine did that when I first got it, and it also lagged just as bad in between balls - I didn't read on the factory reset yet but I'm assuming that happened when I had the board serviced because after that and adding NVRAM, it works perfect every time.

It's here!!!

X-Files Cabinets are done!!!!!

"Well the time is finally here. X-Files cabinets are now on our website! Our cabinet comes with the metal door plate and the new door already mounted to it. Also comes with all the screws for installing it. Thanks everyone for hanging in there with us while we worked on remaking the part."

Announcement:

http://backalleycreations.blogspot.com/2016/11/x-files-cabinets-are-done.html

Order page:

http://www.backalleycreations.com/xfiles%20mods.html

X-files cabinet lower pic (resized).jpg

X-files cabinet top pic (resized).jpg

Yay! Congrats Amendes! Looks like you might get a cabinet!

It seems to be about the average price right now.

This game is so tough. I still have not completed all of the episodes during a single game or triggered a wizard mode. I've finished The Truth multi ball with over 4,500,000 for a personal best, and on the regular multi ball my personal best was hitting super jackpot 3 times during one. I can get past 6-7 episodes, plus a trivia or two, but still haven't gotten further. Currently have a 41,000,000+ high score on here.

Has anyone ever completed all of the episode modes and gotten to the alleged wizard mode at the end?

Yeah I don't think I'd let mine go for any less than 3K at this point, especially since prices keep climbing. It's fast, furious, difficult, limited production and a fantastic theme that can be made to look awesome with the right LED's and all of the great music tracks sound awesome with a subwoofer.

Oh no! That would kill me. I was probably through a good 7 episodes earlier today, I figured I had one left maybe, either way I was crushed because it's tough getting through that many I think.

I've still never seen official rules or documentation or evidence this even exists. Lots of people talk about it as if it does and I'm not saying they're wrong, I just never see any conclusive info other than random comments.

Whoa! So much for starting the work day. BRB, important testing must commence, thanks for the tip!

Yeah luckily I got in before the prices went up a good grand in the last year or more on these. I think when I got mine the estimated value was still under 2K. Picked up a sweet gem that just needed cleaned basically and never letting it go because it's a great theme and super challenging game.

Does anyone have a link to any official or unofficial rules / scoring for this game by chance?

Never mind - found it:

http://pinball.org/rules/xfiles.html

Finally got down there to try this and wow, I can hardly believe it's true... I've had this game over a year now and never knew that. Figured I'd add two extra spotlights while I was in there. I'm going for blood later tonight. Thanks again for the tip.

Nice looking game! I'm gonna have to go down and play mine some more. Plus I still want to add lighting under the apron as well, it is pretty dark down there.

Holy cow blood mode exists and it is awesome!!! Just went down for a game after all the recent posts here got me thinking about my game more. Did that, made it back around another 6 episodes, had a few multi balls but no super jackpot on any of them but I also had a truth multi ball that netted over 10,000,000 alone! Killer game!

2017-SGC-x-files-high-score-60000-plus (resized).jpg

I earned a surprise extra ball for completing the smoking man episode, but that was the only one I got.

Haha, nope! With the glass on. I refuse to resort to those tactics no matter how bad I want to see a mode or end of a game, I won't even look for someone else's video, I need to see it first hand for myself no matter how many games it takes. I'm on default manufacturer settings for the game as well.

If you peek over my other high scores, you'll see that I tend to do pretty well on a variety of machines. I love playing, but going after high scores is an extra passion of mine. Sometimes I totally suck, but when I get in the zone there's almost no stopping the magic from happening.

Case in point, I just crushed the Pinside high score for SWEP1, a game I don't own, it's my friends, he had tiny outlanes and super sensitive tilt that got me 2x during the game just from hitting the flipper buttons both at about the same time a little too hard. He had #1 score here with over 300,000,000 and I just raised the bar with 404,000,000+. I've only played SWEP1 maybe 15-20 times total in my life.

Marco Specialties had it but has since gone out of stock... - http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-8265-01

Maybe Cliffy can remake them. I have one, not being used, that I could send him as a template. I'm not using mine because I just used it to trace a piece of Mylar for that spot instead because I didn't want to cover the artwork there. I'd rather not part with it, for sake of keeping my game as original and complete as possible.

I already reached out to him to see if it's possible to do this, for you or anyone else who may need or want this piece.

Heard back from Cliffy already...

"Steve please tell whomever needs the xfiles plate that I have been making it for quite some time with all apologies for not having put in onsite. Since I cannot attach pix to a pinside mail I'm replying to your email (well, I had to pick from half a dozen emails "

"Please feel free to forward the pic to the pinside xfiles group. The cost is $12. ...I rarely have time or access to pinside anymore these days"

Cliff
A passion for pinball!

XFiles-Mag-Plate (resized).jpg

http://www.passionforpinball.com and just send him an email to request what you need if you can't find it on the site and he'll send a PayPal invoice.

I seriously do not recall ever hearing anything scratchy on my X Files machine. I wonder if a ROM update fixed it or why I don't notice it on my game.

I'm hooked up to an amplified external sub which really makes the multitude of available music tracks within the game resonate very well.

Those Sega play fields seemed extremely prone to wear, as if there's no clear coat on them at all. The play fields kind of remind me of what would be like to cover a piece of wood with a giant sticker and then play pinball on it. I lucked out with mine, so I keep pounds of wax on it at all times.

Just installed some translucent green flipper buttons and backlit them with comet dual white LED flex bulbs in a wedge base, wired to the coin slot lights.

Cost me about $12 for all the materials to do both buttons, which were:

2 dual white flex wedge based LED's, 2 wedge bulb sockets, 2 green translucent flipper buttons, 2 hex head pinball wood screws, and some basic wire and a few dabs... of solder.

IMG_5255 (resized).JPG

Swapped out a few LED's today. Not sure why the round X's look white, but they're definitely green. Must be the type of bulb because my other green bulbs look correct in the pic.

Also made it to Blood mode when I was finished. This is the third time I've made it now. It really isn't too terrible to get to if you use both flippers for the FBI shot and focus on that and try not to get distracted on Truth and Cabinet multi ball. But it's still a heck of a challenge. Didn't beat my high score, but cleared 40,000,000.

x-files-full-playfield (resized).jpg

X-Files is such a beautiful game with LED's and a subwoofer is also a must have for all of the awesome music tracks. Completely under-rated. Truth multi ball, cabinet multi ball, and blood multi ball after you complete 8 different missions. Nice, tight shots and fast action. Fantastic theme. Nice back glass, decent play field art, good layout. Only 1500 ever made. Never leaving my collection.

It is kind of a tough sell without LED's and speaker upgrades, it just doesn't have that wow factor as much without those two things. Plus I think a lot of people just get frustrated with the tight shots and give up on it. Such a kick ass soundtrack too, plus the sound effects are all good, the light show is great, and the magnet action you also mentioned all make it a great game.

Looks so clean and fresh, nice job!

Whoa that's crazy! It sounds like the low end or bass is affected a bit more than the rest to me. I agree with Evilive69, disconnect a speaker channel and go from there. Hope you get it resolved, keep us posted!

Yes, disconnecting a speaker channel can be done by just unhooking the speaker for a moment. The speaker you replaced is for high end range sounds, so I still suspect a potential problem with the cabinet subwoofer since it sounds like the low end sounds are affected on your game more than the high end.

I have a Williams Demolition Man and it had gotten a similar static sound at one point. My trusted tech troubleshot everything, including boards. He unhooked the subwoofer in the cabinet and the static went away, so somehow that subwoofer got shorted out or failed, as odd as it sounds.

I didn't want to cover that area with the plate and had no wear at all so I just traced the plate around a piece of mylar and used that. No signs of wear on it yet either, it's held up well.

Technically there's 3 multiballs - the Truth multiball, the Cabinet multiball, then Blood Mode multiball if you get all of the episodes at least started. Plus at least one of the modes is a 2 ball multiball. It's definitely a pretty sweet game as is, but ChadH really made Tales from the Crypt better in a lot of ways so a code update by him would probably be well received on this game.

I only ever see a decal come up for sale every few months, it's been awhile. But if you know someone who can make good stickers, here's a scan with special thanks to Jim for scanning and providing this image awhile back for those in need.

Sega_X-Files_Sewer_Cap_w_Ruler.jpg

I had to throw some sticky foam padding up in there to help calm it down, it only does it 1 out of 100x now instead of 1 out of 10 or less. It should also help protect the welds & shape of the metal guide it launches out of from the VUK.

Chad, I appreciate this, your TFTC code has been very good to me. I have been playing The X-Files extra heavy as of late, in case I can answer any questions or contribute in any way.

You can just add a powered subwoofer and be done with it, it will sound awesome with that alone.

I think pinsound would be overkill unless you're willing to install the audio component modifications to the board which are needed to add the second high range speaker and channel Sega omitted so you have a pair instead of just one.

Plus some people seem to have issues with the existing X-Files audio being grainy or distorted at times, mostly the call outs I believe - so that could become worse or more noticeable. I never noticed an issue with the sounds on mine but the subwoofer really made the game come alive with all the great tracks it has for the various modes.

Nice observation! I never realized there may be variations with the inserts on these playfields but it will be interesting to see if anyone in the know can shed more light on it.

Just rebuilt the flippers on my X Files - they already worked pretty darn good but wow - they're so powerful now the balls go flying around at rocket speed, and are very out of control a lot. This is seriously somehow one of the fastest flipping games I've ever played. Maybe even the fastest. Totally caught me off guard. I might have to dial down the coil power, they're on factory / medium right now. I do keep it super clean and waxed, so that's a factor but still... No wonder the file cabinet broke so often.

Pretty sure it's empty on most / all of them.

ChadH

I always go for Scully because she helps get the X’s lit faster for that multiball, and the file cabinet multiball is easy enough to get without choosing Mulder which makes it even easier.

Unless I’m missing something with what either choice rewards, that was always my take on it.

As for scoring, I think it may be easier to get higher scoring with X multiball than the file cabinet multiball. Although I don’t really pay much attention to how much each scores. for me, it feels easier to complete all the X shots then hit the cabinet a few times and start the X multiball over than it seems to be to try and get super jackpot on cabinet multiball at least once and maybe a second time or two.

Whether for tournament, scoring or for fun, my choice is always Scully.

Interesting. I never noticed it worked like that. I’ll have to pay attention next time I play it. Or maybe read the rules again. It’s been forever since I briefly glanced over them.

"During the interview, Carter said, “I just spoke to a young man, Ryan Coogler, who is going to remount ‘The X-Files’ with a diverse cast. "

Diverse cast? Sounds like it will be a hard pass for me. The woke agenda is likely to trash it like they have with many other remakes.

Welcome to the club! I think X Files can be one of the faster older games out there. I just rebuilt my flippers and it’s insanely faster than it already was.

Are you sure about that being the last pin you ever buy? I don’t think I could ever make that statement.

ChadH did an awesome job with improving TFTC code. I still have that game. I’m very much looking forward to his work on X Files.

It is a great game. Everything you mentioned is how I feel. It can be nice and fast! I really like the super pops sound effects. Have you tried a subwoofer on the game yet? If not, it's a must with that soundtrack! Modes are enjoyable as well.

Blood isn't terribly hard to get because you only need to start, and not complete modes, but getting extra balls in the game will help you get there easier. There's an extra ball offered if you complete the cigarette smoking man mode.

You can also get an extra ball if you rip the left ramp enough times. I think those are the only 2 EB's the game offers other than the compensatory one if you don't score high enough by ball 3.

I would do this before anything else you plan to do to the game. It’s that much more awesome. The rest of the stuff is nice too but I think the effects of the sub will really wow you.