Well, it would appear that I'm in this club now #218. I purchased through Joe at PinballSTAR. Sounds like they are estimating a March/April timeframe . I haven't selected my add ons yet.

lol, well PinballSTAR sold me on a timeline that lines up with my new house (where I can actually fit the damn thing) . I'm sure there is some wiggle room in his estimation, along with the timeline for my house completion.

If it's 2019, then someone else in AZ better be willing to have me crash at their house for a few weekends .

What did he say? I don't see the post. I personally ordered the knocker because I love the knocker...however I will say I don't love the knocker when you cannot control the knocker volume. For example, my friend has a TOM machine that scares the sh*t out of me every time it goes off.

This bar near my place uses this thing called PayRange (https://www.payrange.com/) which is absolutely awesome. Basically you hold your phone near the game and swipe up to coin in.

Ahhhhhhh. I’m new to this line of gambling. Tell me more .

This is fantastic.

Awesome!

As much as I want my game ASAP, I think I perfectly timed it with my move into a new house. So I'm more than happy to hold my spot . That said...if someone wants to buy me the butter cabinet, I'll swap places .

Is this the butter cabinet?

What do you consider the “documentation” part of your website? I’m not seeing anything labeled documentation, granted I’ve been drinking, and it is Xmas eve.

Yeah, I'm blown away by how much my kids love pinball. It really has a magic that cannot be virtualized. I certainly want them to keep trying, but it just isn't there.

I think Scott has too much time on his hands if he is cranking out cassette taps. Get you butt over to Spooky and start assembling tables!

I’m kidding. That is super cool.

I’m not following this advice. Does this mean start the playfield at 0 degrees?

Thanks for the info. I appreciate everyone’s take on this.

Got it...sorry I wasn't following.

Scott, can you put a standard 110vAC plug on this? I would like to power my mini fridge combo toilet so that I never have to leave the game’s side.

P.S. please invent a food storage combo waste disposal device.

Haha! I’ve never seen that. Thanks!

If this is the case, will Spooky start shipping it with smaller rubbers?

Ok, I understand @whysnow. I was just curious how the discovery is issues in the wild trickles back to the manufacturing changes. I had assumed that after some number of games, changes start to occur to the base.

For example, will you change the default setting @thenotrashcougar? I haven’t even played this game, I’m ust curious seeing as my game is in the 200s. Should I be making a list of these kinds of suggestions, or does the hardware and software evolve to solve issues as they are discovered?

That’s cool.

Awesome! At this pace I’ll have #218 delivered by Santa.

Kidding of course. Take your time and do it right.

Do you think #ACNC will slow production of #TNA? I am also not complaining, just curious.

I love how you can no longer even suggest an idea on the internet without 10 anonymous people piling on to tell you how horrible you are for suggesting something.

Not trying to argue here, but I don’t see a nicely worded ask as rude. The guy just wanted to toss out his opinion/ask. Scott ultimately built the game and decides.

With any software development, you let the business tell you what they want. You ultimately ignore 95% of it or explain why the request doesn’t make sense. You don’t flatten them because then they stop suggesting things and you lose the 5% of value that the creator never thought of.

Again, I’m not advocating for the request. I couldn’t care less. Just pointing out that 10 posts made fun of the guy’s ask, when one from Scott (which he made) could have said “no thanks”. Scott even went the extra mile and explained it, which in its own is a lot of work.

I got to play the game for the first time tonight at ZapCon (a Phoenix pinball and arcade event). I think it is extremely good, however the machine I was playing on was just completely beat. It looked like it had 50k plays and never even had one wipe down or rubbers replaced. It still played perfectly fine, and I am now more excited than ever to get mine!

Will Spooky install those speaker grills at the factory? Also, does anyone know what number we are on?

Is the psu difficult to remove from the game?

I know this is a terrible rookie question, but I cannot find a good guide for this…what is the best way to adjust leaf switches. I see that a lot of people like to adjust them out of the box for ultra sensitivity. I would like to do that as well, but I don’t exactly know how to do it. I always end up fumbling around with the leaf switch tool until it feels okay.

I’m #216 and based on my math, this means that mine will be done in 2018! I can’t wait!

Honestly, the wait couldn’t have been better timed. You guys will love this…I moved into a new house with a room dedicated to pinball and arcades. Awesome right!? Here is the thing, I can’t get my pins through the f’ng door to this room! It is the only room in the house that has this odd little bend which prevents me from putting a pinball machine in there (unless I take off the back box).

To rectify this problem, I am having the sliding glass door to this brand new house ripped out and installing French doors. That might make me the first person to do a construction project in order to get my TNA in place .

That is awesome!

Does anyone have a link to those speaker light diffusers? I would like to order a set, then learn out to install them once my game is ready.

I got my email today for payment! I’m #216 if I remember correctly. (For anyone trying to make sense of the order).

I am planning on swapping mine out for a CRT.

I don’t understand why that outlet on the wall is horizontal? I’ve never seen anything like that.

#218 is scheduled to be delivered this afternoon! From what I understand I may need to adjust the scoop, monitor settings, and slingshot power settings. Any other tips for a fresh out of the box setup?

What is level for this game? 6.5 degrees? I remember reading that all auto-levelers up is automatically level on this game, is that true?

I got these lighted side rails from hooked on pinball, but there is shit for instructions on their site .

Am I supposed to rip the glue out of these buttons?

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Just fired it up, it has no sound. SpookyKT or SpookyCharlie any ideas?

Apparently it ships with the amp set to the O F F setting. Turned it on .

Anyone have a situation where the right flipper seems to go a little soft of spongy randomly? I can’t quite figure it out, seems really inconsistent.

Ok, revising my earlier post. It happens all of the time now. (Maybe 30 games in?). I tried powering up the right flipper, but that doesn’t seem to help it.

The flipper feels snappy without the ball, but when it hits the ball, it is somewhere between wet noodle and limp ween.

So, actuating the flipper manually produces a squeaking sound. I inspected the whole linkage and couldn’t see anything that looked off.

I ended up pulling the coil sleeve and replacing it with a new one. This seems to have completely fixed the issue. It still feels a bit more rough when compared to the left flipper, but at least it is playable now.

I’ll ping out to the support and see what they recommend.

This is really interesting! So I noticed I could see the sleeve end on the left flipper just barely, but could not see it on the right flipper. That prompted me to wonder if somehow it was missing. Sure enough, I removed it and compared it to the standard sizes I have. The replacement sleeve I had was about 5mm longer, and I figured that was fine. Now it is perfect.

So, if this is an issue, then I absolutely had it. It is playing perfectly now! I even turned the flippers down a bit to try and protect the glass .

Thank you! That is helpful.

TheNoTrashCougar I discovered a really minor bug that I thought I might report. If you disable the free game match, and you have balls locked at the end of the game, it will attempt to get ready for the next game before releasing the balls. This typically causes a race condition where it triggers a lost ball search and occasionally reports that it cannot start because four balls are not loaded.

Is there any simple way to fix a stationary target that has a loose stack? I have one that keeps leaning to the side because of this :/.

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Scott emailed me and said they are these: https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=313.

I will try to solder a new one in since this one leans so much.

My 5 year old scored 427,661 on her fifth game. She blew the first reactor and managed to get a multiball. Considering 35% of my games end with scores less than that, I am pretty proud.

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I think my issue is starting to return. Could there be a problem with anything else?

Has anyone had a repeated problem with the right flipper power? I've changed the sleeve with great success, but now the problem is returning. I will change the sleeve again tonight, but I suspect that something bigger is happening.

Any tips around this would be really appreciated!

Well, I replaced the target with a new one that TheNoTrashCougar recommended from PinballLife. I now have perfect stationery targets . I am also fairly prod of myself for not f’ing it up.

SpookyCharlie I did have a question about how you manufacture these…I noticed that the wires soldered to the target are continuous. There is no cut in the wire where it solders onto the target. Instead the shielding is perfectly cut off the wire, then the wire is folded over the target and neatly soldered to the pole. How do you do that?

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I would hope that people don't really care that much to cheat...I mean what is the fun in pinball if you're just cheating for a pair of socks?

Maybe I'm crazy, but I typically just unscrew all of these switches and targets, pull them off the playfield and adjust them, then put them back in for testing. I'm absolutely no expert here, but I find the angles and space for adjustment damn near impossible with everything left in tact.

I have one of those…I just find it funky to adjust the switches around all of the stuff on the playfield. Maybe I am just doing it wrong.

I have to agree…I never care for decals, but these ones are an excellent fit.

I had the same issue. I most recently turned my flippers down to like 25 and I now don’t seem to have the issue. That said, I didn’t have any issue with this out of the box. I almost feel like the game has gotten faster and more jumpy as it has aged.

I love these…granted I still haven’t installed the lighted side rails because I am not certain how to disable this without damage. :/

Great, where are the instructions? Where does the wire route? What is the best method for removing the side rails?

I’m sure I could figure it out by ripping this off the game, but for $120 I expected some instructions.

One of my flipper springs broke off. It was literally just the one coil at the end, but it made me realize these are unlike anything in my stock of springs. Can someone find them on pinballlife and link me? I don’t see just the springs. :/

Yep, I did that immediately after it broke, I just realized I don’t have more springs like this if I ever have one break in the middle.

Have you ever played on a waxed one? I really like the feel of them on most games I’ve tested. I haven’t installed one on my TNA yet, but I was thinking about it.

I had the exact same thing happen. I had my multimeter out testing like an idiot only to realize there is a power switch. .

On the play field thing, mine was #218 born on 8/6/18 and it looks pretty good after 300 games or so. I just did a thorough inspection and I didn’t see anything jumping out at me.

Are you talking about that wood colored border? Mine doesn’t seem to have such a pronounced wood area either. That is interesting.

Yeah, if the random chance of that isn’t valid in tournament play, count me out. I love the concept that very rarely you can save a drain like that.

Ditto

Yeah, it is super annoying!

Basically
- Pull the glue out of the button holes. I used a tiny flathead screwdriver.
- Unscrew all of the wood screws on the side rails. Don’t freak out, it is easy.
- Gently lift out the side rail, and clean all he crap off of it from the laser cutting.
- Put the light in, mind the screw holes, one ends up going through the non-powered plastic of the light. Make sure it looks good before you peel the adhesive.
- Push the wires all the way back into the back box crevice between the cabinet and head.
- Optional: I ran mine through the existing wire tubing to keep it as clean as possible.
- Plug it into the aux power port pictured on the Hooked On Pinball site.

I can understand not doing random rewards, but I would love to see some more animations or crazy call-outs when stuff like this happens that you can detect in the code. Think of the Dan Forden "Toasty!" in the bottom right hand corner of Mortal Kombat II. That stuff is pure joy when the randomness happens.

I had just assumed the play field protector couldn’t stop dimpling.

I’ve read a lot of comments about this scoop, and by no means am I an expert, but I would challenge people to keep track of how many times they unintentionally hit it vs. when they are aiming for it. I find that my friends and I are quite successful at hitting it when not attempting the shot. That makes me feel confident that I just need to up my game.

Completely semantic question…is this technically cheating? Does this create a game that wouldn’t be valid for a tournament setting?

I am curious about how this works in the pinball scene. I understand that all players who played your machine would have the same benefit, thus nullifying any advantage. I just happened to wonder how mods like this work in the world of pinball “rules”.

Well, #216 has started to get play field chipping . The bottom right sling star post has some paint coming up around it. I’ve played an estimated 800 games on it (code update wiped my audits). The bottom left sling star post looks to be “pushing” up some of the clear coat. I guess it is time to order the play field protector.

I actually like the playfield protectors. I think they are unnoticeable in terms of play and accept the wax even better than the clear coat.

Thank you for the rubber washers @spookykt!

TNA Club, which six star posts do you put them under? I can guess two under the bottom slingshots since I have flaking there. I assume the two posts next to the keypad targets. Do the last two go on top of the slingshots?

Ideally yes, but they only sent me six of them. That said...I tried it and I don't care for the black look. Has anyone found a clear colored one that matches the size?

Awesome, thanks! What dimension did you use? Ideally I don't want it to overhang too much.

Those Noctua fans are awesome! I am totally buying that if you say it is a quiet fan. The fan noise in the game has become more annoying to me over time.

As for the display calibration, where do you access that?

I installed that Noctua fan and I can confirm it is way quieter. That said, it is a little more involved than I had hoped. It took me about 50 minutes and there are a few tight spaces to deal with.

Hands down, the most important part is to ensure you have the correct sized Phillips head screwdrivers. The entire power supply cage is held together by tiny screws that strip really easily.

Additionally, now that I can hardly hear the fan, I hear something else. I can’t tell exactly what it is, but I think it is a high pitched noise coming from the HookedOnPinball lighted side rails. Has anyone else noticed that?

So this is interesting. Was the problem all along hat the art bled under the posts causing a weak barrier between the clear coat and wood? Are all of the new games printed differently?

I cut spooky a break because I know they are small and trying to build something awesome…hen my friend asked me, if you bought a new car and the paint started to chip away after 10k miles, would you be okay with that? I am torn. I almost wish that spooky could make some kind of printed Mylar that could repair the wounds on here play fields.

Mine started chipping around the 300 game range.

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That looks great!

I noticed that too, and a few poss back I tried to ask if that is the cause of the issue. I never got a response from spooky so I won’t bother tagging them again. I am sure they know, I was just curious.

I also noticed that the BKSOR game that Stern just announced doesn’t seem to have any star posts. I wonder if these are just bad design for modern play fields.

SpookyCharlie would it be possible to tell us what happened that caused this bit of annoyance with the playfields? I completely understand if you cannot talk about it. I wondered if the details would help people get the closure they are seeking?

I’ve had this too, but I think it is actually the plumb bob swinging. It is super sensitive.

I’ve heard of this, but I don’t understand how you use an earplug to help it swing correctly. I think the more logical move would to be lose these contraptions for a digital tilt sensor. There is no way that could be extremely costly to manufacture.

Ty! Very helpful.

Ok, now I am starting to get a little pissed. 3rd time I have been able to play post installing the washers and what do I notice after 3 minutes???? Oh, well my star posts got completely chewed up!

All of the ones that take direct ball impact are completely destroyed. Is there a fix for the fix?

Did I install the washers incorrectly?

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Shit! Yeah, I really wanted the clear washers. Keep me posted. I am going to order more posts.

I wouldn't think that a chemical reaction could occur that quickly without discoloring the posts. Seeing as they are clear, but don't show the slightest amount of "fog" on them. Has anyone had this issue with the black washers?

So I was thinking…this is happening because of either a chemical incompatibility or the posts have too much give as a result of the rubber base. Why not skip the rubber and use a pet G fender washer?

I ordered some of those from PinballLife to see if I can get a good fit. I didn’t bother to measure anything because I’m tired, but I suspect it should be a fairly close fit.

I like the colored protectors a lot, I just haven’t pulled the trigger yet because I still really like the look of the game.

Trust me, I was certainly eyeing those toxic green and nuclear orange star posts on PBL as replacements. I think when I do my first full rubber replacement I may get creative.

That is interesting. I would expect the PETG would ensue there is less movement since there is no give, and you are simultaneously spreading the force over a wider area.

I can find my neoprene washers spooky sent, but I really hate to have a black outline around the posts .

That makes sense, in theory I would be reducing the coefficient of friction using PETG like material. Most likely automotive clear coat is better at holding the post firm.

Thank you for explaining your theory. I will run a couple of different tests and report back.

So I think I can confirm the chemical breakdown of the star posts when using the Amazon clear rubber washers. Here are examples of my star posts. The splintered one was taking direct ball impact at the top of the left sling. More interestingly, the other one which is cracked throughout, was in the return lane of that same sling.

There is no way that the second one was being hit hard enough to cause the kind of “shattered” plastic I see. Furthermore, all of the posts which had these washers now permanently have the washers attached to the bottom. If I go to remove them, they just shatter.

I am now testing clear plastic washers from PinballLife.

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Yep

Not an official experiment, but this gives me another reason to think it is chemistry not physics.

I haven’t heard anything. Are you saying that other modern games are having issues with the star posts cutting into the play field?

Question about the flipper hold power…I should be able to hold my right flipper and withstand the impact from the reactor scoop right?

It seems when I do this now, the flipper will move as soon as the ball hits it. Also in a multi ball scenario I have seen it do a half flip when it has two or more balls, or get knocked backwards when trying to live catch a few balls at a time.

Is this simply the nut needing tightening or something with the coil?

I've always enjoyed the little things like this in pinball. On my game (or maybe with my play style) this happens pretty infrequently. When it does, I love it. In fact, if TheNoTrashCougar says he knows when this happens in code I would love some kind of call out or visual! I've been very impressed that it can happen, yet not once has the game improperly trigged into a multiball mode.

Lastly, I think triggering the drop target with software would be impossible. The way those mechanisms are constructed, I think you would have to physically interact with the target in order to get it to drop.

Good point. I didn’t think about that. I was thinking about some of the older games I have messed around with. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Nah, I have one in my house. I’ve toyed with putting it on location, but I really like it and find myself playing it often.

I didn’t know they had it. I am bummed that they got rid of all of their pins . They had a nice collection.

That is cleaver! I wonder if we could get a light on the rim so that it would illuminate the design.

So, I ended up using the clear plastic washers and I am pretty happy with the results. They seem to protect the playfield and blend in. I’ll try to take a picture later.

https://www.pinballlife.com/clear-petg-fender-washers.html. I think the 3/4 fit really well. You have to hold them center, but it is easy as you can nudge them before you tighten the posts. I’ll get a picture, I have just been busy.

Here are a couple of photos of those hard PETG washers under the posts. I have put about ~70 games on it since installing them, and I have not noticed any ill effects. Keep in mind that @thenotrashcougar recommended that we not do this as a solution to the playfield flaking problems. If you do this, I cannot vouch for the longevity or potential further damage. I also installed the playfield protector just to try it out on this game. That is what you will notice outside of the 3/4th washer.

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For the record I am still rocking the PET G washers (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/total-nuclear-annihilation-cluball-welcome/page/110#post-5067828). They are invisible and serve the same purpose as the metal washers shipping on the new games.