So... where in production line are we?

#52 here. (Had to make my choices for art decals etc. about 2 weeks ago.)

(Oh, and I want that Turtles Arcade Machine up there!!! )

Wich year?

We're at game 25 delivered a couple of days ago, about 1.7 days inbetween machines. If that continues in this pace that would be 2019.

Isn't the Music repeating after reactor 3 anyway?!

As I remeber it Scott said it loops after reactor 3.

But that was months ago so that might have changed.

I totally shut my face in shame from now on until I have my game and played the game the newest firmware installed.

PLZ SHIP NOW!!! XD

Light beacon for bacon!

Hey Scott, isn't there by chance an additional RGB LED connection free to hook up an RGB LED strip for undercab lighting?

That'd be totally nuclear awesome!!!

Thinking about that I wonder why this hasn't allready been done for a long time at Stern? XD

Plz root for my game to clear customs and arrive at my doorstep before christmas.

COME ON CLUNKY CARDBOARD BOX, YOU CAN DO IT!!!

#52 supposedly incoming tomorrow!

Uh,... I'm too dumb. Link plz?

Best christmas ever... (well at least since I was 3 years old)!

Got my TNA and to play Guardians of the Galaxy LE for a good amount of time.

(But altough GotG is great I stick with TNA themewise. )

Sadly my machine is missing the artblades and protector plastics but heck, so I have another late christmas present in 2018.

I was a bit afraid since I had to order the game only by videos but altough there are some minor things (lockbarfits a bit loose, backglass light a bit dim, fan is noisy... - everything things you can easily fix, mod or propably adjust in the service menu) the game is pure fun, has the most awesome sound ever and the cab a reeeally nice built quality.

So, definately not cheap importing it but I regret nothing!

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Still not having played my machine a lot due to... well... christmas and stuff.
But my Kids (5 & soon to be 2 years old) like to turn it on and dance. XD

I've allready used 3 spare RGB LED's out of the goodie bag... Anyone else having a problem with the initial failure rate or am I just a bit unlucky?

Funny thing is, it's the green failing all 3 times and all around the upper right side of reactor chamber (one former star insert, one arrow and now the most upper Multiball-Lock insert). Will have a look on the wiring if this happens a again.

Ah ok, thx for the info.

And big thanks for making the LEDs unplugable and not making me solder (while holding the cables and LED board on the lifted playfield)! (Had to do this on other machines and it was a nightmare.)

So, for the next step... I'm getting my old Corrado back working. Will take a few weeks,... more months.

When that's done I'm ready to use the casette player inside for the first time in decades for the TNA soundtrack (hopefully it's available till then) and cruise the streets 80's style! - Looking forward to that!

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Since the car can now become an 'oldtimer' by law (and therefore I don't have to pay taxes for it) for this I have to put it in it's original condition... wich includes the original VW tape player. (Right now it's a 'relatively' new radio connected to an iPod Classic.)

Since I wrote a horrible amount of off-topic stuff, now me after about 2 weeks with the game.

I was a bit concerned since I'm mainly a one machine household (have one F14 in my basement for restauration and one old Gottlieb in my office) how I'd like the game and how soon the game will get old.

Can't obviously answer that question after 2 weeks BUT after taking a day to fix every little hardware issue (NIB machines tend to have a bunch of them after travelling around half the globe, so nothing out of the ordinary) and setting up every detail of the machine quite right it gets from allready "very good" to srsly "awesome".

Since the game is now much easier I'm able to make something like... uh... progress. So I get past reactor 2.

With every reactor getting even harder, the multiball beeing quite easy to achieve (so you should possibly stay in multiball as often as long as you can to complete the game) and the "Reactor Critical" + "Multiball" toghether situation leading to an own special music track it really, really keeps me on my toes.

And it's the ONLY game my 5-year old want's to play by himself still after 3 days.

Ah well, just look at'em...

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My son just liked TMNT (because of the music) and Ghostbusters (the slimer mech, but that got old very quick)... otherwise not so much when that first bit of novelty wears off. TNA is really different in that regard.
He understands what he has to do to progress in the game; he even explains to me what I have to do next when I'm playing. That's different to most new games because it's way too complicated (noone here liked the new Star Wars) and most old games HAVE no progress (my Operation Thunder HAS, but still...). That combined with the great music and lightshow is really outstanding.

It WILL get old eventually, since everything will get old at some point (especially when you only have one game at home) but that game will keep up much, much longer than everyone would have anticipated at first glance.

Urgh... I think I pass... :-/

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Coudn't they offer a (slow & uninsured but) 'cheap' shipping method?

That'd be great!

Actually I kinda thought about this from day 1. Not necessarily with a casette deck but It'd be nice to use TNA as a... uh, "loudspeaker" since it has richer sound than my actual stereo. XD
(Well should quieten down the power supply fan for that but else it'd be great.)

Well the fan is at least too loud (kinda high pitched noise) to leave the machine switched on while I'm working in the same room.

Took a little video (but the video in itself is not very loud ).
http://www.demolitionsquad.de/extras/flippermarkt/tna-fan.mp4

Maybe the power supply behaves differently on 230Volts.
But it's no biggie. If it really bugs me "maybe" I'll replace the fan.

Edit: Disclaimer: I'm not lamenting. I love my game!

Honestly in reality it's way louder.
(Wich isn't so much the problem, it's more the pitch of the sound it makes).

But srsly no biggie. Usually the game doesn't sit turned on in "attract mode" in a private home (and while playing you can't hear it anyway).
And I can still replace the fan sometime...

The TNA is a bit louder or at least 'shriek' (don't know how to describe).

The Spike power supply is very easy to reach and therefore the fan is easy to replace.
I made a video how to do it:

Of course your warranty is void after that AND a silent fan doesn't pump as much air out as the built in one.
But the main thing with the cheaper power supplys is that they're not ventilating corresponding to temperature (wich Stern Spike LE and I think Premium do) but allways on full speed. So with a slower Fan but allways running on full speed it's still more than sufficient, at least in a private home not located in the desert...

...but then again you live in Australia and your streets are... melting?
Better not touch it.

Since I had to open my game again (wich is always quite an act because the room is so small) because the upper flipper stopped working I finally took my time to adress really EVERYTHING...

So I opened the power supply wich skreeching sound bugged me more every day. And boy I'm glad I did.

First here's the opened power supply wich is quite a challenge...

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...alltogether I had to unscrew about 27 screws. Since you cant remove the fan without removing the power supply board from it's case.

What really supprised me is the built of the power supply with the fan cooling the most important parts over a big heatsink.

When I removed the fan I noticed when tilting, that the noise stopped. The Fan just ran uneven, maybe a broken bearing. Then I noticed something...

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There were cut ditches all over the place. So my first guess was that this is a cheap ass fan and they tried to cut something out to make it run even.

But it turns out the fan is a really expensive one clocking in at about 25$. Mine was just broken...

...and then I found a loose screw the coin door was missing.

So I guess the maybe the screw fell in and broke the fan a bit. Important thing is I'm lucky the screw didn't lead to a short ciruit.

So, I got a new fan (actually git the fastest I could find but it's still a bit slower) and now you only notice it when really listen closely.

What I also did (together with other things) is to put some isolation tape left and right on the edges of the glass (you can't see it), since my glass made loud vibrations when the bass was hitting hard.

So now my mind is at ease (the game whas smooth like butter long ago) and I'm happy the fan was 'broke'and I'm not kind of a whining jerk.

VERY IMPORTANT SIDE MARK:
The Fan blades are purple as well as the insulation tape, so this is actually a beauty mod (nobody will ever see) as well!

Oh, had a really hefty bug/ glitch today:

Game sometines doesn't recognize it's in Multiball immediately.
Shot the Target down, got 3 Balls, then lost the first ball. Then game went into Multiball with the flippers dead with the ball still timer still running,...

....then it rebooted. XD

Please don't apologize!

And since it happens kinda regulary I think it's the the switches like you said.
(Still funny how that turned out.)

Size / Dimension: Square - 60mm L x 60mm H
Width: 25.00mm
Air Flow: 23.5 CFM (0.658m³/min)
Bearing Type: Ball
Noise: 34.5 dB(A)
RPM : 4500 RPM

Edit: 12V of course

Want to say some nice things/ things I really appreciate for a change:

I really like that the game says that an extra ball is coming up, while you're still just loosing your ball.
How many times did you allready change palyers and they play with your extra ball? (Since not all games even call you "player 1, 2, 3"...)
- Don't know if this is new but I at least Never saw / heard that before and think it's a totally neat idea.

I love that there is a sperate music mix for the final blow-up (when everything is red) if you're in multiball.
It get's you even more on your toes.

Also EVERYONE who came in and thought the game looks lame/ barren (more like: "what's this shit") was blown away when starting up the game.
First one kinda apologized after 5 seconds in.

I really hope that while the first games spread out in the wild that you'll get an additional wave of orders in.

Looking forward to my target decals, sideart & protectors arriving the next days pimping up the game and will order my knocker, shaker and then my music cassette next week as well.

Anyone has the shaker and cares to write something about integration? (Game IS allready shaking with bass so,...)

Two addtional Photos I like to share because in my eyes these stickers (wich cost money as well and are included despite serving no game relavant reason whatsoever) show that Spooky obviously are not penny-pitching their BOM but want build a product they like and put some love into it.

I had to open the game a bunch of times but I smile everytime I see these. XD

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Yes they are.
And bioxed game is regular 3 Dimensional!

Break open the coin door and run off with millions of cash?

Is Spooky remaking Ataris Hercules?

Like you said Scott I resoldered the LED and got them back working.

So now I'm with 5 spares again.

Also bought a bunch of spare diodes but OF COURSE, the pins don't match. - Red is Blue and otherwise. XD

Still not completely off the idea to use that canvas down there otherwise...

(No, I'd never mess with the playfield on a new game. )

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Well... Scott said why not and I can see it (it'd be propably too cluttered/ doesn't match up with the rest) nontheless I've fun playing with this idea & scribbling around, so...

I like it as well but I don't think people in general like to loose (even more) control.

I have an Operation Thunder Pin at home. It's great but you have to "fuel" your F15 otherwise it crashes (the flipperfingers won't work anymore).
People hate it!

Is it made out of kangaroo scrotum?

TWIP is a great site and the SDTM guys are very likeable, so even if I don't give a sh** about the awards itself I'll propably tune in.

You'll see it wehen you boot up the game. If it's not all white one is broken.

Just got my Art Blades & Protector set as well as the target decals yesterday!

I guess I know what I'll be doing later today.

That's a good tip.

Went silent for a couple of days. That is I had nothing to ramble about (and was sick),...

But next week I'll hopefully get my shaker, knocker and *drummroll* audio cassette so I'm looking forward to make some final (?) adjustments.

Game is still great fun but I just won't get better. XD

Looking forward to the code update and PLEASE if you would integrate an option that the machine can be used as a jukebox, playing MP3s from USB. That'd be awesome.

Kind of unfortunate setup but works for the moment.

Loving the remixes!

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Srsly went to work after having a chance to listen into the tape for a couple of minutes and was looking forward to listen to the music the hole day (more than installing the newly arrived shaker & knocker).

And everyone who tells me that tapes sound like sh** never haqd a halvway decent tapedeck.
(Altough I had to admit sound was horrible after ~20 years of non usage before I cleaned the heads.)

Installed my shaker today and after a little breakdown why it wouldn't start to work this is one of the best integrations I've yet seen... or 'feeled'.

When the reactor is critical and youre getting that constant vibration like the whole building is going to collapse: Great.

Couldn't stop grinning. My son was busting with joy also.
Kept playing for multiple hours today (usually I max. do 3 games and get back to work).

Edit: BURSTING!!! Not busting. XD

How long does the update take? Waiting for 10 minutes now and beginning to get nervous. :-/

Waitet for 30+ minutes updating then turned the machine off with still no "Update Finished" notice on screen.

Luckily everything is working but definately wish for a progress bar. Kinda died inside I'd brick the machine.

Machine froze & rebooted on my when my Ball got over the rollover lanes into the reactor chamber when reactor 2 was active (so no special reason), wich was my first game on 1.1.0.02 . XD

Do you want a a log of that Scott?

I have to give an honest update.

I'm sitting here next to my TNA in test mode, listening to the music (with the update all reactor songs are available) loving it...

...but I really suck at playing it (or maybe pinball as a whole).

Max I got to was reactor 4. :-/

(That said I really have to admit that it's my own sucking, I never ever felt that I lost the ball without my own fault... wich is quite different to Ghostbusters for instance.)

I think I'll up to 5 Balls.

Dear Scott for your next game (if ever):
I love your music, I love Matt Andews Art (finally something else), I love the theme (I love 80's and Sythwave) but next time PLZ keepo everything of that but do something... uh... more 'flowy'/ easy. (For me Sterns Star Trek is the best game ever made, because altough I can never finish it there's this ultra rewarding.shootdown of the Vengeance and a Mini Wizard Mode after a couple of missions.)

For me TNA and JM are the best games ever made, but ST the most rewarding.

I sincerely hope for more cyberpunk games (Ghost in the Shell, Blade Runner... anyone knows 'Shadowrun'?) but till then and for the coming months I try to do what Seve Ritchie says:
"Play better!"

It isn't. But for me personally (a poor guy that can only afford one state-of-the-art pin in my home/ office) of course something like ST (with soundmod) is a bit more rewarding.

As I said I love it, it's the best game ever when playing with folks, and I'll keep it (for the time beeing) but I'll eventually (in a year or so) switch to an easier game in the future.

But before thet I'll yes OF COURSE change the game to maximum balls and easiest setting (and maybe glass off). XD
(Heck, if I'd known beforehand my Baywatch was able to play "Looking for Freedom" I would've kept it.)

Edit: And AGAIN this is nothing bad about TNA. TNA is great. It's just my personal '1 game environment' and no 1 game can fit everything.
(And with my F14 and Atlantis in the basement 'out of order' for overhaul, TNA really is my only game at the moment.)

And altough I mostly disagree with you: I hope we agree that this is a good thing.

And on topic: TNA is more fun (for me) than ST when played with friends.
But ST is more fun for me when played alone...

...and I mostly play alone because I'm poor poor fat internet dude.

(As soon I have the bucks to spare I'll buy a NIB ST -and Vengeance Mod- and it'll stay as long as I live. - It may have took a while but for me Bally Atlantis and Stern ST are absolute mus haves that never may leave.)

I'm intrigued.

In the meantime I try to "Play better".

Tetris!

You should play TNA with audio on; better game and you won't hear the beacon.

It is kinda loud when in silent room but the Beacon is usually off in Attract Mode.
And yes you can turn it on/ off (in attract Mode).

I LOVE it. It's agood soundcue that you failed and it's the next's turn.

Having the same problem (TNA is my only machine right now) but I still love it.

Will sell it eventually when I can't bear the humiliation anymore but it's a perfect game in what it intends to be.

Anyone noticed in the Christopher Franchi presentation that the lock unter the GotG Orb was a full Danesi Lock in the prototype?

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The leftover target in the production version auf GotG is used for short ball locks also (wich is nothing new, Star Trek did this also) but therefore it's relatively safe to assume that this would have been a ball lock.

Whysnow - You're propably right. Not because of the optos but that they just took the target bank over from Metallica.

Fortytwo - You can make it without optos,... jut not very relieable.

What?

Lol...

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