I have nothing to do but bump this thread and once again pimp the best girlfriend ever.

I had a very merry Xmas courtesy of a lovely lady that decided I needed my grail as my first pin.20141223_143652.jpg

Now to read back through 11 pages of info about this beast of a table. Just watched the papa video and am just in awe of how little I knew about it going in.

Pimp, pump, primp, pamper.... what have you.

Stoked to join the club one way or the other. She's a catch and a half.

Some advice on trouble shooting for a complete noob?

It's intermittent, but occasionally a ball will enter behind the TV and not get ejected until the machine goes into ball search mode. If I'm remembering right, it's almost always during a multiball, or when a TV mode is already active but the next TV mode hasn't been re-lit. If there's a single ball, and TV mode is lit - the mode starts as expected and the ball is released.

However, if I subsequently hit it back into the TV prior to relighting the start TV Mode light, it will frequently just hold the ball until the search starts. During a multiball, the ball will stay there until it's the only ball remaining and the search starts. Both of these cases really screws you on the timer, of course.

Thanks for the idea.

Forgot to mention. I did check the self diagnostic thing - came up clean. Went into the test active switch section, which brought up a grid/matrix, indicating that the ball trough switches were on as expected as well as the Bart skateboard for some reason. Reaching in and pressing the switch under the TV lit it up it's associated square in the grid immediately each time I pressed it.

Will play around with it more tomorrow when I have some free time.

Welp. Thanks for that info. Had no idea.

The table I recently got was still running 2.02, so I went through all of the settings after upgrading to 5. I left more or less everything at factory settings, except I think for using an adjustable ball save timer that changes depending on how well you're playing. And I set the tilt warnings to the maximum. I barely nudge things anyway, but want the option. Extra balls at replay are a no go. I need that knock sound even if it's not a tenth as cool sounding as a Williams knocker. (Do you get the knock sound with your extra ball? I actually have no idea.)

Oh. I also went with the 10 character input for high scores. Why not?

Definitely. Just checked though, and the default setting does give you a lit TV shot at the start of each ball. Harder settings can make the right orbit shot needed to light it initially. Perhaps that's what Kojak was referring to.

Off to go throw balls into the couch until I can figure out what's happening.

Heed this advice. Finger was definitely pressing it harder.

Went into the switch test mode and just tossed a ball up there over and over. It's registering maybe 1 of 5 times. (edit - for the record, even pressing it by hand was no longer registering a closed switch every time.)

Also "played" a few games with the glass off, and there's definitely no rhyme or reason to it. Seems to read the hit properly when the TV mode is lit, but I was also getting it just sit there as well. Oddly enough, it would occasionally trigger the DMD animation for the start of the mode, but still hold the ball until the ball search routine before releasing it. I'm assuming the switch has to register as closed for a short period of time or something? I would have thought it was a 1/0 on or off type of thing.

So my completely uneducated guess is that I need to either clean the switch, or check the soldering for it? Which of course means pulling the upper playfield regardless? Anyone willing to weigh in on this before I start? Should I maybe just replace the switch entirely while I'm in there? (Also - someone please come hold my hand.)

Thanks.

For better or worse - I'm not actually afraid to try or anything. Just want to make sure I'm trying the right thing before diving in. For whatever reason, the inside cover of the manual goes over how to remove the upper playfield. Doesn't look too complicated, and I'll take a metic ton of photos along the way just in case. Will see how it goes soon enough.

Edit - done and done. Works like a charm. As suggested - I just needed to bend the little curved bit that sticks up through the mini-playfield. Might even have been able to do it without taking the playfield off, but I'm glad I did in part just to get over fears of messing anything up. Only disconnected the TV and TV mode sign wires - didn't undo anything that feeds up through the hole in the main playfield. Was simple enough to undo the playfield, flip it over, unscrewed the switch from the bottom to get better access to it and then give that bit a little bend.

Threw a ball through it during the switch test after wards and it registered every time. Played a game and had none of the timer draining issues at all.

Feels good.

Yeah - there's really not much you can do by undoing the three screws only. At the very least you have to disconnect the connectors from the back of the TV and TV mode signs. I checked to see where the wires through the hole in the main playfield went, but I was doing this solo, so I just did things with the mini playfield semi in place. Don't think I'll take that apart without another set of arms in the future. But with the two connectors undone I was able to lift the playfield and get to the underside as needed.

Replacing the switch would probably be wise, but I don't have a spare on hand. Nor a soldering iron for that matter. First time owner that hasn't stocked up on things yet. It's at the top of the list.

Well, I just discovered that you certainly don't need to disconnect the wires to the TV Mode sign - they're completely independent of the playfield. Of course I found this out since I just had to take it back apart. Wasn't careful about the wires when I put it back earlier and a some hung out over the hidden garage ramp. Went to play and the the first ball into the garage never came out.

Not hard to fix, but nuts. Was a bit more careful this time. Seated the playfield, then wrestled a bit with the wires from beneath the main playfield. Could tell when I had it right when I knew what to look out for. Tightened it down and things are (finally) back to normal.

Table is lucky that I'm a big ol' nerd and find this all interesting.

Edit - I have angered the Gods or something. Switch almost immediately acting up. Switch test registering roughly 50% of the time I put a ball through - even when I hear the little click sound that the switch makes when it's getting pressed down. Pulled it all apart and adjusted it again a bit - it's now really sensitive. Test mode works *most* of the time, and I was able to play a couple games where the switch worked all but once or twice, but it controls the TV mode starts and the timer - really need it at 100%.

Assuming the next step is just replacing it?

For what it's worth - here's a picture of the switch. In comparing it to a new one, I do immediately see that the diode has been bent over. Could that cause this intermittent issue? (I honestly have no damn idea what a diode does.)

PS - Thanks again to everyone that has offered advice and help here. Sorry to dominate the thread so much. First time owner, and learning the ropes.

20150106_210914.jpg

New switch ordered last night. Just got a replacement for the whole thing to minimize my frustration. Will cannibalize and keep what I can from the old one for future use though. Picked up a soldering iron and solder earlier today. (After reading more pinside threads about which type of solder to get than I care to admit.) And a set of nut drivers since it seems they'll be needed sooner or later.

Ugh. As I'm typing this, I just realized that I may have ordered the wrong switch. One that cost a couple extra dollars as well.

This is what I ordered:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1772

Double checking the manual, the part number was supposed to be 500-6227-02, which corresponds to this:
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=536

They look more or less the same other than the end of the wire, but I realize that they may be vastly different in some way. Anyone know if the one I ordered will make a difference?

Thanks yet again.

Well, moot point on whether the wrong switch I ordered will work. pinballlife are cool people and a quick email sorted it out. Order edited (and a little refund for the difference issued.)

Looking forward to it even though I've not done any soldering before. Like to learn new things and all that.

Switch came in the mail today.

I guess I'm officially not afraid of tearing this thing apart anymore.
explosion.jpg

Switch swapped out, and put in the couch weld fix while I was at it. (Hence the playfield explosion.)
Found that a prior owner had hacked a couch weld fix via the awesome "Wood screw right into the playfield" technique, but at least the damage is hidden, and now under the weld fix plate as well.

A local pinsider burned them for me, so I can't make a recommendation, but can confirm that swapping them out will reset everything. Scores, settings, play counts, etc.

Mine hits the left flipper, and roughly 50% of the time will bounce right back to the I&S hole before the drops pop back up. A pretty easy way to start the first I&S multiball. And subsequently annoying thereafter.

Well, I think there's a setting that makes it possible to start the subsequent I&S multiballs off of those hits, but I try to keep things at stock settings.

Probably why I've gotten to Scratchy's Revenge only once, but so be it. It's not like I'm ever going to wizard mode this thing anyway.,

Edit - make that twice. Home from work - played a few games and get further than I've ever gotten. Alien Invasion for the first time - fun and frantic. Got up to 4 balls but kept missing the couch lock shot. Got to Secret Stash - don't remember how many I collected but don't think I finished. Scratchy's revenge again, and Daredevil mania. Had the 2x scoring lights glowing for mystery spot when the game ended. Still nowhere near the wizard mode since I'm terrible at super jackpots (had 2) but a decent run. Still only scored a meager 122 million.

Am I right in thinking that the lights under the characters in the car on the playfield light up as you finish the requirements for the wizard mode? If so, does anyone know which ones correspond to which - or do they just light in order as you complete them?

Check page 4
First post links to a pinballlife link, and some other ideas afterwards.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tspp-owners-club-members-only/page/4

A few questions. A couple adjustment/possible fix related. The other just general table info.

First - I'm having an intermittent couch issue. Upon locking a third ball, the multiball animation starts as it should, but now and then, one of the balls gets caught as it's being released. Like the coil pulls the plunger back enough for a ball to fall, but then releases it again and wedges the ball in place as it's dropping out of the couch. If it happens to the first ball released the game will go into ball search mode and it will try again. The first time I ever noticed it, it had happened to the third ball and it just held it in place until the other balls drained. If I remember right I had to manually remove that one.

Any ideas on what's going on or what to adjust? I've got the weld fix in place, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the switches - multiball certainly starts when it's supposed to every time.

Also - now and then (But oddly enough not at all over the past 10-15 games) the VUK leading to the upper playfield isn't getting the ball all the way up. Don't think it's ever taken more than two tries, but it bothers me when it happens. Suggestly tweak or part to replace to adjust for that?

Lastly - not sure on what the part's actually called, but the wire guide between the left outlane and inlane. Is it supposed to be vertical to the playfield? Mine seems to be a bit angled with the top closer to the side of the machine. Often times if I hold the left flipper to try to help trap a ball, or if a ball rolls up the left inlane, it will reach the top and roll up and over. While obvious defenses against this include "Stop doing that" and "Nudge, you dummy", it still annoys me and I mention it since the guide on the right side appears perfectly vertical. Is mine bent, or is that by design? There's a picture in the manual on page 130 that seems to show it angled way more than mine is. The pictures on the IPDB entry and other Google search results are from angles where it's hard to tell. Can anyone check theirs and tell me if it's angled as well?

Thanks for checking. Much appreciated. Was just driving me nuts and I assumed I had a bent part, but then noticed that picture in the manual and thought I'd ask.

Quite an evil little design choice.

I suppose there is a bit of a trade off there.

OK this might sound entirely crazy, but just in case someone is interested, I thought I'd post before tossing things.

Recently installed a set of cliffys for my table and while I was at it I replaced my couch and the garage ramp.

If anyone for some reason has a couch that is in worse shape than the one I just replaced but just doesn't feel like buying a new one - I'd be happy to send this one to you.
It's cracked - see the pic. Of course it doesn't effect play at all, it's just not perfect and it was bothering me. Still if you're missing your couch or if yours is a trainwreck - you're welcome to this one if you'd like. EDIT - Couch potentially claimed.

20150228_221110.jpg

Same goes for the ramp that I replaced. I have no idea how or why, but my garage ramp was damaged, but not in the usual way. The front lip that can crack off and make garage shots hard/impossible is still fine. No real damage that I can see at all. But the other end of the ramp - where the ball dumps into the VUK? Battered somehow - no idea what happened. And as you can see, the former owner/operator jerry rigged it up. Ugly as can be, but works fine. So - got a garage ramp with a busted from lip? Don't want to pay the $50 for a new one and don't mind some crazy crap under the playfield? Free to a good home.

20150228_221132.jpg
20150228_221137.jpg

PM me if you're interested. It won't hurt my feelings if you laugh and tell me to take out the garbage.

Oh. And while I was at it, I managed to swap out an LED for what I am going to guess is the least LED'd bulb on the table.
20150227_203754.jpg
Ha ha. Got you. And I didn't have to pull the Moe ramp to do it. Some long fingers, some needlenose pliers, a little swearing, and some light pressure. Done.

It's like Rickwh says. But there's a couple where there are other parts mounted over the socket underneath. I swapped out most of the GI from the bottom by just unscrewing the socket, swapping the bulb, and then returning it. That little light there was blocked from both sides and you're forced into dismantling something from either direction.

When The Simpsons Movie came out a dozen (I think) 7-11s were converted for a while.

Worked a couple blocks from here.
Kwik-e-mart-7-11.jpg

Surely there are some of you that would crush this, but I just upped my grand champ score from 122M to 299M. Took way too long, but was pretty damn fun. Sadly, that included TILTING 30 seconds into Alien Invasion. Nearly got there again - lighting 6 of the modes a second time. Also pulled Mystery Spot, Scratchy's Revenge, Daredevil Mania and Secret Stash, though I think I only completed one of them.

Asked once before but don't remember anyone weighing in or confirming. Does anyone know what the lights in the center of the playfield that light up the character's faces indicate? I *think* you light them up as you complete the requirements for the wizard mode, but can't find any verification of this. I mean, there are six of them, and during games that I consider good, I semi-frequently light up Maggie. I think she corresponds to completing Daredevil Mania or Secret Stash. During another decent game earlier tonight I had lit Lisa as well, so I assume she corresponds to the other of those two.

Can anyone confirm that that's what those lights are for?

Come to think of it I just realized that I've never just held a flipper during a game to see what the status report says. I assume it would at least tell me where I am as far as progress goes if not explain the lights.

Ahhh, thanks. That makes sense as well.

During the game where I noticed two lit I definitely had 2 super jackpots. (I'm crap at them. Too much going on during a multiball for me to focus up there.)

Kinda dawned on me that it would be trivial to test this out with the glass off. Might just satisfy my curiosity someday. Just a little afraid that while I'm at it the urge to start the wizard mode will be too great, and I just don't want to tempt myself on that one.

Depends which version you have. The CPU and Display roms need to be the same version. If you already have 5.00 (Assuming you intend to run the latest, and why wouldn't you?) - then you should just need to replace the display rom. If it's an earlier version, then yeah - 5.00 CPU and Display chips.

There was also a single update to one sound rom, but it was done pretty early on. You likely already have the latest there.

Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer. (Or any sort of pins expert.) But I did got through a rom update a few months back. If I butchered any info - someone please correct me.

The CPU and Display 5.0 roms should be all they need.
Of the other five roms, only one - the sound one - was ever updated.

Just check which sound rom you have - if it's already $A7EE then you're good to go.

Sound Release 1.01
Sound 512k U7 $A7EE 1.01 spp101.u7

Sound Release 1.00
Sound 512k U7 $A734 1.00 spp100.u7

Ohhhh so it's not just me, huh?

I just wipe things down any time the glass is off and try to ignore it otherwise.

Damn. For the first time ever I just got to the five ball part of Alien Invasion. And almost immediately - for the second time, I managed to get two balls into the I&S saucer simultaneously. Nothing to do but watch the timer slowly drain, since it won't eject them even when it goes into ball search mode.

Well Hell. I've noticed that before, but never thought about what it meant. Damn. Been getting there more often lately - will keep it in mind if it happens again.

Edit - well it happened to happen again. Back to Alien Invasion in a few games, and stuck two in the I&S saucer during level 4. Start button did the trick. A shame that they all get released, but it's better than standing there looking like a sad puppy as the TV timer reaches zero. Thanks for the post!

Yeah - My best of sorts has been 2 in the same game. And that was "just" Secret Stash and Daredevil mania, which have to be the easiest of the requirements by far. Have never finished AI, am terrible at getting super jackpots, and don't think I've ever come close to finishing Mystery Spot or Scratchy's Revenge.

Super Duper Whatever will likely never be reached, which is oddly a part of the appeal to me.

Well, if anyone really wants a TSPP plastics set, this just came up on Ebay.

ebay.com link: TSPP The Simpsons Pinball Party Plastic Set NOS

Way more than I'm willing to pay, and considerably more than the last few that sold here, but there you go.

You, me, and seemingly everyone else.

Can I just suggest a thunderdome style contest?

All pinsiders enter. One TSPP leaves.

I have no idea if it was intentional or not, but scrolling down through the photos of the right side plastic and mentally thinking to myself "Stop scrolling and PM him now!" only to get to the last image was pretty funny. I got pinblueballs.

Another good picture of it in the first post here.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ever-wonder-what-the-tspp-was-and-what-problem-it-fixed

I didn't have the heart to video it, but my parents visited me this weekend and both played my Simpsons.

Pro tip - if you have the ability to watch a 70 year old woman play pinball for the first time in 50 or so years, do not miss it. She did not reach SDMEWM.

74 year old dad flailed away for a few games, and then put up a decent little 20M score despite having no clue what he was doing. ("Hey - I think hitting it in that TV thing does stuff!") Then I pulled the glass and started up Mystery Spot for him. I think he was half way through it before he even realized that the flippers were reversed.

It's like you were the fly on the wall.

He did well with a single ball. The occasional I&S two ball multiball would send him into a double flipping frenzy though. Mystery Spot was just chaos with some swearing thrown in.

Just grabbing the first one I see at Comet, but he means something like this:

http://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/1-flux-wired.htm

There are a few inserts where the socket is at a 90 degree angle to the playfield. A few on the upper playfield, and if I remember right, two for the large homer area in the bumpers.

Edit - repeating what others have said though - I fully LED'd mine and it makes a huge difference in my opinion. Looks better overall, and the upper playfield area is lit up way better which negated some terrible glare I was getting from the translite.

Yeah - the insert (If you can call it that) is pretty opaque compared to the others. I used two bright white flex ones, and you can tell when it's lit, but it's definitely not going to be as bright as some of the others.

The part with homer sleeping in his chair will be lit. Just not as bright. There are two 90 degree sockets under there.

If I'm remembering right - that's what I used as well. Two 2x flex bulbs like that. bright white - pointing up at the playfield. (Of course.)
edit - just checked an old order - those are the exact ones I ordered for that, though it was "natural white."

Question about your OCD board. I've noticed that while the LEDs look great, they really don't handle the pulse effect that the table does for some inserts. Notably, the 2X inserts when Mystery Spot is ready to go (Not that I see that that often.) and more often, the daredevil inserts when a given daredevil mode is active.

Assuming this is a common thing - does the OCD board take care of it?

Edit again - reading something at ledocd.com and it seems it actually works better with non non-ghosting LEDs. Not really sure that I'll ever bother with an OCD board, but it's nice to know, I guess.

It's controlled by a setting. You can have it empty the couch at the end of a game or keep the balls there to make starting MB easier the next game.

Correct.

Well, technically there was an update to one of the sound roms (top of my head - I think the speech one.) but it was done early on. You probably already have the right one. My production date is earlier than yours and mine had it already.

Saw that on CL the other day - looks great!

This is one of the better before and after OCD Board comparisons I've seen.

Haven't pulled the trigger myself, but damn this makes it tempting. (I know full well that I'd want to swap out with non-non-ghosting LEDs though, so there's a bit more expense.)

Not mine, but just noticed this on ebay.

ebay.com link: THE SIMPSONS PINBALL PARTY STERN COMPLETE PLASTIC SET 803 5000 77 12151 NOS

Didn't count pieces to see if it's complete, but it's got the long narrow piece from the right side of the table.

The cards look great. My condolences for having to try to summarize the rules in a 10 point list. (This is actually true for most modern tables, I know, but sheesh. To accurately tell someone what to do on TSPP would take a small book.)

Super Duper Mega Extreme Wizard Mode.

Never really come close myself. Can't seem to ever beat Alien Invasion, and have maxed out at 3 super jackpots. Technically, I think the closest I've come is completing Secret Stash, Mystery Spot, and Daredevil Mania in the same game. Three of the six requirements, but definitely the easiest of the three. That was with (I think) standard stock settings and outlane post positions.

Recently opened up the outlanes as much as possible, went to 5 ball games, and put every setting as easy as possible, but the only real effect was that games now take forever to complete. Still can't finished off AI, and I'm still garbage at super jackpots.

I was someone that asked about them. They do look pretty good.

Alas, they don't make repros of THE PIECE. Sigh.

Totally guessing, but I assume they corrected Homer's hair when they corrected the car color? (Red car with hair blob here. THAT I HAD NEVER NOTICED BEFORE THANKS A LOT GUYS.)

Pinbits.

http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13_19

Though Cliffy occasionally sells them as well - I grabbed one from him with a set of ramp protectors.

If by chance it's not a misaligned coil due to the weldment issue - here's something else to check.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tspp-couch-ball-release-intermittent-issue

(Skip forward a few posts - long story short - check the little plastic nylon part that lines the hole in the weldment that the coil plunger passes through. Mine was broken and causing an issue.)

Don't think anyone addressed you question since your problem is 100% definitely that bent weldment, but yeah - that little white nylon spacer is supposed to be like that.

I'm not sparechange but I'm in the area. I saw a local HUO TSPP ad that I think mentioned that low playcount here on pinside a week(?) or so ago at $4k. A price that made me wish I was still in the market instead of contemplating putting mine up for sale. I'm assuming that's the one, though sparechange would of course have to confirm if they care to.

Congrats then. Seems a decent couple hundred or so under market.

Which seems more like it.

On the other hand, if you're starting a "Games I'll never beat ever no matter how much I practice" collection. It's a perfect start.

I've long since gotten oven having a broken plastic in my TSPP - just not worth the cost of a full set when all I need is one piece, and impossible to source the one piece since it's the same piece most everyone with broken/missing pieces needs.

However - just noticed this.

ebay.com link: itm

NOTE - Not original pieces. Repros, and I have NO idea on the quality. To top it off, the complete set price is higher than I've seen original sets listed for.

However - read the full description. They're willing to make and send individual plastics. Of course the long part from the right side of the playfield is the most expensive, and shipping is a bit much (From Russia.) - but here's an actual source for getting that part individually.

Buyer beware, etc etc etc

I believe the only audio update was done early on. From a readme file on the Stern site:

Sound Release 1.01
Sound 512k U7 $A7EE 1.01 spp101.u7
Changes from sound ROM v1.00
----------------------------
- Rebalanced voice calls vs. bg music.

This was in Jan 2003, so unless you have an early game - you probably already have this. Mine was running 1.04 when I got it and I already had 1.01 for the sound. If you're on 2.03 I would assume you're good to go. CPU and Display 5.0 and you're done.

The car in the center of the playfield seems to vary in color from pink to red. Different playfield runs, I assume.

There's also Homer's hair. Something that's on mine that I never even noticed until it was mentioned in this thread.

Some Homer's have a bit of a smudge/blob above his standard M hair:
hairblob (resized).jpg
(Photo taken from someone else earlier in the thread.)

I've never noticed anyone pricing things differently based on car color / hair blobiness though.

Don't think they're stock to the machine, so probably not?

Here's an alternate set. (That also includes the itchy & scratchy and garage door stickers as well it looks.)
http://www.pinball.center/en/shop/pinball-parts-by-game/the-simpsons-pinball-party/3793/target-decals-for-the-simpsons-party-pinball

Just go through the settings and pick the easiest for each.

The big ones so to speak:

You can have modes start whenever you hit the TV - no need to shoot Krusty each time.
I think there's a similar setting for Otto, if you're specifically trying to get to Mystery Spot.
There are also a number of extra ball settings that when set right will basically give extra balls away like candy.

Physically speaking - close the outlanes. Left side is obvious what to do. There's a thread dedicated to discussing what the easiest setting is for the right. I once set the two pins as far apart as possible, and saved a LOT of balls by getting them to return to the shooter lane.

Word of warning : If you think games of TSPP take a long time - setting everything to it's easiest setting and adjusting the lanes will make your game time go through the roof. I only played 2-3 games with these settings, and they all went over an hour. And nope - still no SDMEWM. There's no setting to make me be able to reliably collect supers, nor lock five balls during Alien Invasion.

To make it easier for people that want it to be easier. I've turned it on in the past so that my girlfriend can get couch multiballs going more often.

Feature adjustment #35

HOLD COUCH LOCKS: Set to NEVER, 1-PLAYER GAMES or ALWAYS. Default is 1-PLAYER GAMES.

Set to NEVER means the couch will never hold locks between games and will kick balls out at the Game End.

1-PLAYER GAMES means the couch will hold locks between games and allow players to "steal" locks from previous games, but only in a 1-Player Game (so there isn’t an advantage in Multiplayer Games).

ALWAYS means the couch will always hold locks between games AND players, and allow players to "steal" locks even in Multiplayer Games.

Bowen's write up tells all....

http://www.ipdb.org/rulesheets/4674/tspp-rulesheet.txt

https://www.amazon.com/Simpsons-Exclusive-Playset-Moes-Duffman/dp/B0000789S2

This.

Definitely move the left post to the lowest position to assist with the left drain.

But on the right - move the two posts the furthest apart. You'll save an amazing number of balls by having them go into the shooter lane.

Yes, you have to not just start the six requirements, but beat them as well.

I don't own one, but I think it should be mentioned regarding LEDOCD.

If you know you're buying one, and haven't LED'd your game yet - buy standard LEDs - not non-ghosting ones. The LEDOCD is more effective with standard LEDs. Save some money on the bulbs, and get an improved experience.

Side note - I have no idea if the difference is really noticeable to the naked eye. Herg? The charts on your site are cool, but I'm assuming that x axis is some really small unit of time. How noticeable is a 0-40% jump versus 0-6-12-1-8-24-30 etc?

Welp, I give up.

I've had my TSPP for 3 years now and have going through extended periods of being burned out on it - no games played for weeks if not months on end sometimes. A while back I decided that I'd get back into it, and since SDMEWM is way beyond my ability level - finally sell it once I beat my highest score. Sadly for me - I had one ridiculous outlier game that was more than double my next highest. I tried a few dozen sessions over the ensuing weeks and just never came remotely close.

Tonight I tried again for the first time in a month or so. 2nd game in and I had a good one going. Three couch multiballs (But no super jackpots.) Started mystery spot, secret stash, and daredevil mania. Too hectic to even pay attention to whether or not I finished any of them, though in the past I've been able to complete secret stash and daredevil mania now and then. Had what might have been my best Alien Invasion ever. Took it up to 5 balls three different times - once locking three of them, but unable to get the required 2 in the couch. Much like super jackpots during couch multiball - I'm just terrible at the couch shot while trying to pay attention to the main flippers.

30 or so minutes of playing and....
IMG_3101 (resized).JPG
Ugh. This is my 2nd best score ever. I should be happy, but that one outlier game? 299M and change. Same stock settings. I just can't do it again. It was the perfect storm of keeping the TV timer going for a long long time, combined with a lot of Otto 2x shots, and 2 times through Alien Invasion. It just seems insurmountable, and I'm rarely in the mood to even try when I know beating that score will take 30-45 minutes on one game. At least I was able to get over half of my high.

Nuts to this. It's a damn great game, but coming soon to a Craigslist near you* : One loved and simultaneously despised TSPP. It's time to take a load of pics and place the ad. Whatever I get to replace it is going to be a fast and mean bastard of a game. I want something that will kick my ass and be quick about it.

* If you live in the Twin Cities.

Well, since I've already gotten one PM about my post - I'll make sure to mention it here in this thread if/when I do get around to listing my machine. (Probably post-Xmas just so you know.)

Some donation to pinside if sold through here, of course.

The seller is here on pinside and has posted in this thread. Quality is apparently decent.

Also sell copies of sillyoldelf's decals with an amusing typo. It's like a bootleg of an originally unlicensed product to begin with. I think it's the copyright equivalent of a double negative and it cancels out.