Hey guys, looking to join this club soon! I have heard that Stern is supposed to get this game to distributors again sometime in January.

Can anyone confirm this? I don't mean heresay or game of telephone; I mean somewhere that we can read and verify it for myself.

Thanks!

I put my deposit down with Trent @ Tilt Amusements today as he confirmed that he will have Pro and Prem in January. He told me that the premiums will be in small numbers, so if you want a premium, strike while the iron is hot.

Give him a call as he has the best prices IMHO.

So, I have absolutely zero xp with a Premium or an LE. All my games have been on multiple TWD Pros on location in Florida and Ohio.

I am strongly assuming the walker bomb is basically like a martian bomb on AFM. Is that the general gist?

Based on Bowen's tutorial video, it looked like BG was made way less relevant as the new code has made the modes way more worth pursuing. Like I said, only played 2 Pros with OLD code - probably nearly 50 times total. Does the BG ramp going up hurt the general flow of the game? What does shooting BG's head once the ramp is up mean in terms of gameplay?

I asked Trent about the crossbow, and I got the general feel that it was not an integral part of the game. I am not speaking for Trent; I just took away from our discussion that it was not worth the extra cash.

I will admit though that the BG, crossbow, walker bomb, extra magnet, drop target, spinner, fishtank, and lightshow IS making me consider a Premium. As of now, my deposit is on a Pro, based on my xp with the Pro and Bowen's tutorial video showing me that PLENTY is possible with the Pro model. Difference in price is about $1700, and I am on the fence if enough is there for nearly $2000 additional over the Pro.

Unfortunately, we have ZERO TWD Premiums on location or in private collections for me to get any face time on =/....

Man, I am chomping at the bit for my TWD Pro. Can't wait to get the call..... in January. First world problems ):

Watch Bowen's tutorial video on YT. It has a solid amount of info (for the Pro model).

So, um, yep - this happened today .

TWD-Pro-GEX_(resized).jpg

Obviously, details were removed to keep my privacy as well as extending a courtesy to GEX with regards to their pricing. Here's a tip: make sure they know you are a Pinside member. Trust me on that one.

Got the very last one they had in stock. I called yesterday, and they had 2 pros and a premium. Got the ok from the chief (wifey), and tried calling back for 3 hours in 30 minute intervals, and I could not get their sales department to save my life.

Called them today within 10 minutes of them being open. 1 pro and 1 premium had sold in that time (4:30pm to 7:00pm lastnight). For those interested, they told me they have 2 on backorder, and they expect to get them soon. I know no further details.

Yeesh .....hot game right now.

I must say, I was SUPER impressed with the crew at GEX. I had the pleasure of speaking with David, and you could tell right out of the gate that these guys love what they do. This is not a 9-5 for them. For them, pinball is more than a job; it is something they enjoy and embrace with passion.

They called me in 10 minute or less intervals each time a step was taken: price-check for one, transaction complete for another, final invoice put together for a third. David was awesome, and I will absolutely gladly do business with them again.

JJ himself called me once the game was packed and ready to be picked up by freight (R&L Carriers for those curious). He answered all of my questions with thorough details, and he was both patient with me and super-excited for me to receive this game.

I already have confirmation of a PRO number (Tracking number) so I can see the game make its progress from Denver to Dayton. Even with the holidays, a tentative delivery date is 29 Dec. Dude, you cannot beat this level of service; this is all in one day flat. Total for the game with shipping included in the price was under $5000.

Just amazed man. Do not for one moment doubt GEX. So far, they have done me very well, and I am giving them a rock-solid 10/10 at this point.

Now, I wait patiently for TWD Pro to make its way to me .

TWD-Pro-Playfield_(resized).jpg

Dude, I cannot wait to get it here. We have one out in the wild with the old code, and while it is fun, you can CLEARLY feel the "dead ends" hit. As I understand it, my game will be coming with the new code installed, and the FIRST thing I am doing is updating my game with the cast voice callouts. I have watched Bowen's video...man...probably 20+ times from start to finish. Chomping...at...the...BIT.

I was totally considering the Premium on this one, and then GEX told me "Whoops, our bad, were OOS on that. Only got the Pro." and well, my decision was a quick one at that point. Won't deny, $6100 - $6400 was not out of the realm of possibility on this one for me, but like I said, I had one option so ...well... as the old saying goes: Any port in a storm.

Already looking at mods as well. I normally upgrade my sound systems with pre-amped equalizers, but I am considering skipping that on this one. I don't see a pethora of gunshot/explosions/huge zoom and boom call outs like on IM and ACDC. I am thinking more visual mods at this point. And the day ColorDMD makes roms for this one....oh man...

My bet is what they told me and what they actually had in stock may have been contradictory. That's prolly all it was.

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It's here, it's here, it's here... !!!!

Holy shit! Where's the tylenol???

*bonus points for those who know the reference*

Nicely done, sir!

I called R+L, and they told me that it was to be delivered tomorrow. I was like "heck with that!!" And drove an hour each way to get it. Got no time to wait. There are walkers to kill!!!

Going to do my homework on the custom callous from the show upgrade. I can't take the BBH guy telling me to kill zombies too long >____<

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Prison magnet throws the ball SDTM very consistently on the new 1.56 code? I had it happen 3-4 times in a row. The only way I could save it was to nudge as soon as the magnet let it go, and it still was very very close to SDTM.

Nice! I'll have to try that and see how it works for me!

I did a quick "looking back", and I remembered that with stock 1.56 code there was no SDTM shots, but when I put on Cleland's code is when it started. These weren't simple drops either; you could tell the magnet pulsed and slung that ball SDTM. Almost reminded me of War Machine or the Raptor kickout.

To continue the "custom speech" trend, I installed Milhouse's code, and the SDTMs are pretty much gone.

I am NOT blaming it on Cleland's code; I am only stating my observations based on my previous actions. I may re-install Cleland's code and see if the SDTMs return. If they do, well, I'll know the problem =/....

Already ordered Mezelmod's Hitchhiker sign with lights, Polk sub hooked up, and I am going to get CT's red shaker as well as get the Boss equalizers on their way (For those wondering about equalizers, see this thread: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/addition-of-boss-amplifiers-to-stern-machines). Game sounds like a hollow tin can right now; we need to fix that quickly...

I am working on the fishtank mod as well. I saw Laserific's mod, and wow was that impressive. Rumors have it that mod is returning...

Here's a thread or two that might help!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ij4-loading-multiple-ball-into-shooter-lane

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/need-help-batman-dark-knight-ball-launch-problems

So, I go rid of most of the white LEDs and came up with this setup. Here is a before and after picture (credit to fellow pinsider e4mafia for the "before "picture, sorry, I didn't want to waste any time fixing this).

Before:

Stock_Setup_(resized).jpg

And AFTER....

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I think my TWD was very grateful I did this because I had a MONSTER game right after doing this (after about 8 "house" games of x < 20 million points). This game is supremely awesome, and I've only had it 1 week on Monday o_o ....!

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I will never regret this purchase. Never, ever...!

No fancy light show on the Pro; however, we CAN change the insert colors. Holy smokes, premium owners cannot???? Man, that is....wrong on so many levels.

Also, got Superbands on it as well as Woodbury sign. Got the Well Walker red bracket, Fishtank illumination mod and Hitchhikers/Inmates lit sign as well as a lit sign for the Woodbury sign all coming from Mezelmods. Got my Polk sub and glareguard up as well

I also have all new speakers and the usual Boss pre-amped equalizers on the way to MAKE THIS GAME BOOM as I do on all my games (thanks Metallik for showing me how to do that!).

Finally, I ordered the Season 3 BluRay LE set that has includes the fisktank to introduce into the Pro. Fellow pinsider aztarac showed this in another thread, and it looks awesome! Picture below is his machine, and what I plan to do to mine:

TWD_Fish_Tank_(resized).jpg

I bought Mezelmods illumination mod for the Pro, and plan to run the wiring through the gap above the ramp. Hopefully it'll clear. If not, I may make a very small hole for the wiring to fish through the back and make it as flush as possible with the fishtank....

We'll see how it goes. The pro NEEDS the fishtank.

Just got done with a couple things. Added the shooter lane wall protection plate. Added the Express Sign from Laserrific. Swapped out all the stock speakers with Lanzers for the backbox, a Pyramid mid-woofer for the cabinet, have the Polk external subwoofer, and added the Boss 7-channel pre-amped equalizers. Pictures below!

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Now starting to prepare for the Fishtank mod I am working on...

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It's due to the metal ring body of the pop bumper coming down, and it is too close to a deflection pole, so the ring is getting ever so slightly shaved each time a particular pop bumper goes down. You can tell in the picture as the rubber on the deflection post is "stained silver" from the shaving dust. If you look REALLY closely, you can see the "grooved" area in the metal ring of the affected pop bumper. The ring is coming down on the spearhead of the deflection post.

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Solution is to shave the metal body down a tiny bit to help it miss the deflection post. Easiest way is with a dremel at a LOOOOOOOOOOOW speed and your playfield plenty covered with micro-fiber cloths. Once the ring is filed down to your liking, remove the cloths and use a magnet to "blot" your playfield of any remaining shavings. Remember.......blot....not set magnet down and rub your playfield with it like a cloth.

Had a pretty awesome ball 1 today. 256 million - man, what a rush!! Did it by going for bloodbath, then got Barn going, and remembered Bowen's video saying that if you have Bloodbath going then progress for Prison MB, and after that stackage occurred, WellWalker MB was not far behind, and I lit that up as well!

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Hit Horde for the first time, and man, that was really exciting! The music is awesome, and the "dread" as the mode happens was just fricking great!

Ended up with a score of 311 mil with 54 walkers killed. Crazy to know I didn't even get HALFWAY to Last Man Standing. Man, that is just insane. Some games are 1-2-3 house ball games, but then man, the stars align on one game, and "it happens" and TWD is just....man....great game. So great.

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Looking forward to having this one for a long, long time.

Thanks man. Best way to say it - DO NOT get hard on yourself if you have an incredible ball 1, and then quickly drain your EB and ball 2. That happened to me, and I stayed focused, and Horde happened. Yeah, it was a bummer to only get another 60 million in 3 balls after a crazy ball 1, buy hey, that's pinball!

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Man, when the game comes together, it is like pinball poetry. Got to Horde again, and I drained my last ball as Terminus began.

Totally pulled a Bowen by hitting an "X" during Barn for 36 mil, and yes, I even said the "Drop that bomb" right after it happened. For just a moment I knew what it was like to be him...just a lot less skill and no PAPA titles.

Reached Terminus for the first time as well. Love this game.

I'll try based on my limited understanding.

So, the X represents the number of times you have completed the upper in lanes directly above the bumpers. Say you have completed them 5 times: you would have an X worth 5 times the the shot you're about to take and make.

So say you're in Barn mode, ideal setup is to hit the left ramp to feed to the right inlane to go for the Barn shot. You do this, hit the lit up "X" as the ball rolls over the inlane switch, you shoot with the right flipper, and you nail the Barn shot. Say that shot without the X is worth 5 mil. Since you hit it with your X enabled at a value of 5, that one shot earned you 25 mil.

That is one of a countless number of possibilities. I wonder what would happen if you nailed the same shot with 2x scoring enabled.....I'm guessing you'd net 50 million.

Least I was 1/2 way right .

Kudos, good sir!

???

Outlane are definitely brutal on this game, no doubt, but that is on all 3 models.

The SDTM shots were definitely addressed in the 1.56 code. Every now and then it'll happen, like 1 out of every 30 magnet releases.

Weird. I press both flippers in as soon as the prison multiball "start" animation sequence occurs (crowbar to the jaw and head animation), and I nearly never have a SDTM. EVERY now and then it'll happen. I think in the last 50 games it has happened once to me.

Must be nice -______- ......!!!

So glad to hear another story of someone who played the dud code and the new code and is getting to really enjoy the game. Get the custom code from Milhouse or Cleland; they did an absolutely outstanding job. Their code is th me way the game SHOULD have come stock.

Glad to hear you joined the club. This game is simply amazing.

I am reserving this spot for when I get home from work.

I will say this tongue-in-cheek: don't buy a BSD. BSD will shred TWD in terms of difficulty.

Just curious, how exactly do you rotate the magnet core? Not that I have to, but I am curious in case I ever HAVE to. Thanks !!

When you go to rotate the magnet, do you turn CW or CCW to make the adjustment?

Holy shet

The prison tower mod was created by Mezelmods, and best of my understanding, it has looooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggg since been sold out. Every website that carries it also carries a wonderful lil' "sold out" patch next to or on the picture. Only way to get one is to wait for someone to sell it separately.

Sucks as it is a solid looking mod, and from what I understand, has a fantastic light show incorporated into it. Sigh ): ...

I have them to be installed soon.

Wait on Hooked Barn Mod...it is worth the wait.

Thank you for that - just snagged one! Those must have just been put up this month as I have been watching eBay for new goodies since December. Good looking out, man!

... damn you rotate colors??? You are one awesomely and sickly dedicated owner .

Welcome to the horde...er.....club!!

I am on my phone, so I'll answer what I can short and sweet. I have a pro, so I cannot comment on the crossbow question.

So with prison, you hit it 2x to start thewarm up mode where you have to spell prison out entirely to start the multiball. The arrow shots plus hitting the head all will light up prison letters once you've fully spelled it out, hit the prison one final time to start the multiball.

The Horde light indicates the mode is ready. Best of my knoedge, once it begins, the light turns off.

Get the cast callout custom code. It is in a thread somewhere here on Pinside. There are multiple different versions through out the thread. Once you hear the cast, it REALLY helps compleye the game package.

Welcome to the fun!!

Are you running 1.41 code? Bowen experienced this behavior in his tutorial video.

I'll "cheat" and have fun before I get frustrated on a $5000+ toy.

Now I will admit, I won't touch the outlane short of factory adjustments. To me, that is where nudging skills really start to develop. Make it too easy, and your skills will never improve. Make it too hard, and you'll be more frustrated than have fun.

Remember, everything is reversible. So have fun and improve at your own rate. Bowen is a top 10 player for a reason. Don't try to compare yourself to him. It is not fair to you to judge yourself to someone else...your journey is different than his.

Yep, the same day that link was posted they were out. I bought one, and then was told someone bought it off their website before I bought mine on eBay. That's how close I was and how fast they were gone.

As an owner of a Pro, my response will be biased.

No. You won't, as long as you can overcome the single greatest handicap we have: no walker bombs.

The walker bomb is in essence a freeshot to completing a goal. Take prison multiball for instance: you have to spell out the word "prison" to prime it, and then it takes one final shot to activate it. So many times, I have "prison" fully spelled out, only to lose the ball on the very final shot. Prem/LE owners don't have to worry about that; all they have to do is hit the walker bomb button on the lockdown bar and off they go to multiball. That's just one of a good number of situations where the walker bomb would kick into gear.

Other than that, for me, I don't feel regret. Some would argue difficult on the Pro is harder due to no walker bombs. Others would say Prem/LE is more difficult due to having to deal with the Woodbury drop target and more magnets with the well walker.

Bottom line, both are flipping difficult in their own ways. Most of the time when I play, I cry softly .

"The main difference is basically how much money can they get out of you...?" That was great, and I 100% agree with you.

I am all about a company making money, but releasing difference versions of the game and calling it "more options for all" is a specious way of saying "We want more $$, and if you don't pony up what we want, enjoy the crippled version." Such crap.

So far, great review!

If the walker bomb was present in the Pro, I'd be good. It's very.......annoying to see the tiers be completely different games in some respect.

Metallica was a good example of a tier game still playing the same for the most part. The differences in it were minimal (in terms of gameplay).

TWD is VERY different. The challenge of going after BG on the Prem/LE is more difficult than the safety of the ramp on the Pro. Pro owners are on edge every single time we are one shot from a multiball thinking "Boy, a walker bomb sure would be nice insurance right now...."

You want to sell tier systems - fine, but don't make it to where the games play VERY differently. Just a crap thing to do if you ask me.

Loved your review overall! You plan to finish it since your camera cut it short??

TWD is a new level of pinball to me. No other game has come close to it in terms of excitement and frustration. To put this into perspective:

My old BSD (2nd one) is now in the hands of another guy just 10 minutes from my home (traded it for a NIB IMVE, and now that's gone too ). I got to play it just this last Saturday for the 1st time since I let it go in October. Dude, I was popping coffin, mist, and castle multiballs (not triple multi, just one at a time) fairly regularly. I could tell my nudging and ball control had gone WAY up due to TWD. I almost....almost thought BSD was easy after TWD.

TWD is right up there with BSD in terms of "you miss the shot...you're paying the piper..." . Such a fantastic game. I remember playing the very first one at Zanzibar's Pub and Grub in Louisville last year way before the big 1.41 code drop. I remember telling my buddy "Wow...what a total dud....too bad this had to come out."

Oh, how I have paid for that transgression.

When you say it is "tied" into BB, is it an insert light or flaher? If it is an insert, would you mind showing how you connected it to the insert light? Thanks!

For those not in the know, Hooked on Pinball has an awesome Barn mod that has been completed, and those of us on the pre-order list are pretty much fulfilled. I think he is going to be putting them up on his website soon. As for price, he may have given a discount to pre-orders, so I'll let him disclose those details.

Get mine on Monday - looks so sweet!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mod-thoughtstwd-guys-what-do-you-think

lol. Look at how close that tower is to those ceiling tiles. Near millimeters!

Dig deeper....

So, funny story...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/colordmd-plans-for-2016?tq&tu=epthegeek#post-2908119

He has hinted at this a couple times in other threads too.

I am not saying for sure he is dedicated to doing it, but he has hinted that it has his attention and maybe some of his spare time....

1. Spend a tiny bit more and get the Barn mod by Hooked. DEFINITELY looks the part.

2. Woodbury sign.

3. Apocalypse mod (google it) and hook it up to the lower left flasher.

I'm just curious for all the Prem/LE owners, how exactly is the fishtank held in place?? With every picture I have seen, I have never been able to get a clear shot of how it attaches to the back plastic.

Yes, all the 44/47 lights in the playfield backbox on my Pro are wired up and fully functional.

Just got done with a 427mil scoring game. Finally saw Horde again. Man this game is so insanely satisfying when you finally get one of the mini-wizard modes. Frustrating that it takes 2-3 hours straight of playing to make that happen, but when it does, it is the equivalency of 3x multiball on BSD for me.

Got 59 Walker kills, which for me, is pretty high up. Insane to know I was just about half way to LMS.....

And man, that is ANNOYING AS HELL.

I have clearly nailed the extra ball a couple times with a ball just about to be auto-launched, and you're right, it does NOT count. Of course, every single time that happens it was a MB on ball 3 and I drain with the EB light flashing away and me swearing up a storm.

Dude, the combos of swear words I have come up with since owning this game is nothing short of verbal genocide. I don't know if they intended for this game to be this tough, but it is a kick in the mouth with steel toed boots. I have both outlanes as far in as they'll go with the extra rubber ring in the tunnel lane, and it is still just insane how brutal it is. I'll admit this though, all other games are a creampuff after playing TWD.

If ONLY the Pro owners had the walker bomb....

See, that is huge at least to me. I have had many, many, many premature games drain with 1 hit left on WW or Prison MB, and that can be a massive factor in having a huge game.

Don't get me wrong; I am not looking for a game that should be a wizard mode every time I play, but dang, this game takes it to new levels. Getting a replay at 15 million = not a huge feat. Getting a replay at 100 million = commendable.

As far as no drains from pop or prison issues = must be nice. On mine, I get a SDTM shot from prison startup about 1 every 10 games, and the pop bumper drains don't happen as often because I purposelly nudge TF out of the game if I even think the ball has a hair's thickness chance of draining out of the pops.

I know the rules pretty well, but sometimes I struggle to implement them. More practice for me - especially shooting the Riot shot. That and the Tunnel just feel like death to me. Lke the Tunnel - getting it past the pop bumpers is tough. The shot itself is not so bad, it is getting the ball past the dang pop bumpers that is a bit trickier for me.

Real quick: how do you set up the EB at those scoring intervals?? That would definitely help me out. I think I'll put my outlane posts back at factory settings. Maybe I have been a bit premature with my actions.

There is no rhyme or reason to it. They are absolutely random. The thing that matters is how many are active and how many points you got off the mode (s) before the multikill that are active. The multikill award is 5% of the total points completed on all dead features that have been completed during the ball you are currently on.

When I get home, I'll take a picture to help you if you'd like.

Depends on where you are in the dead features progression. If you have all of the dead features completed, go for the drop targets. Once you complete them, all the dead feature lights will flash again as if you started over. Once you hit one of those shots, Terminus should activate, and you go for the shots that are lit (This is what I interpreted from Bowen's amazing tutorial video).

Here are my numbers:

Plays: 328

Balls: 1050

Left Drains: 261

Center: 575

Right: 214

So...yeah. My drains are nearly equal on the sides. Center is definitely brutal.

I suggest doing what Lermods suggested: make some extra ball score goals. That helps A LOT. I have definitely been blowing the game up a bit more. In a way, it almost is like having a 6 ball game, but you're earning those extra balls; they are not givens.

I am all about doing what makes this game fun to me. It is WAY harder than most Sterns. After playing TWD, I wiped the floor with IMVE (well......better than I ever used to before TWD). My ACDC I can nearly call any shot and make it when I want.

TWD is a whole new level of "kicked in your mouth" difficulty. Do what it takes to make the game fun for you. Don't play in misery.

As a previous IMVE owner, I'll do it for you.

TWD >>>>> IMVE

.

Play TWD and it'll all make sense .

You won't take just the title bob out; you'll take the rod the tilt bob hangs on out as well to make 100% sure you cannot get a warning.

Dude, that's Keith Elwin. Just one of prolly the top 5 pinball players in the world. Nothing significant or anything .

http://www.ifpapinball.com/player.php?p=1

He is starting to do tutorials with Nate over at C2C podcasts. Simply amazing to watch. Keith and Bowen are my fave two pinball players to watch.

Here you go, sir,

So to clear this up really quickly, here is the first picture:

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See the molex connector in the middle? That is where the harness begins to light up your "playfield backwall" lights.

That wiring goes to the lights in the back middle of the playfield nearly directly above the fishtank plastic:

20160221_214952_(resized).jpg

They then daisy-chain from those lights to the remaining 2 lights to the far left of the "playfield backwall":

20160221_215151_(resized).jpg

Let me know if you require any more clarification pictures.

As a public apology, I am sorry this took longer than expected. I promoted to Captain in the AF, so family and friends were in town til yesterday. Thanks for understanding !

Well, I'm going to go ahead and say it here first: I am considering selling my TWD Pro.

That being said, this game will be coming with a couple mods - Mezelmods fishtank lighting (note: NOT an actual fishtank), Zombie Apocalypse mod (biohazard flasher emblem that goes underneath the bicycle girl ramp), Woodbury sign tied into the insert so it flashes when it is time to hit the Woodbury shot.

Game has 329 plays on it.

Anyone is interested, go ahead and PM me. I'll more than likely be putting up a thread soon with pictures and videos as I usually do.

Search my name here in the thread to get some pictures and things I have done to my particular TWD Pro (Go to top of page --> "Find Posts in this Topic" --> put my name in --> BOOM, you found my posts and pictures).

Very good guys (:.

I pick it up NIB this weekend.

My Pro is already sold.

Ready for my upgrade!!!!! Woooooo!

New one fresh off the line. They just came in on Monday.

Thanks, man . You and a couple others (bigD....!) told me to just go Prem, and I tried to skirt the line, but ultimately, I had to go Prem finally with this one!

Man, screw waiting until the weekend...I went and got it tonight!!!!

Setup this weekend .

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I wasn't supposed to get it until Saturday or Sunday. We actually have friends over both those nights, so I realized the time to get it was lastnight, so I made it happen .

Man, I'd love to, but I can't. Too many things going on that are time-sensitive at work to do that =/ ...

So weird to have both the Pro and Prem now (temporarily). Definitely will take a picture of both before the Pro heads to its new home.

Won't be much longer....

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And addicting...it's my 4th one in a year ): ... ACDC LED Pro --> IMVE --> TWD Pro --> TWD Prem

I have a problem >___< !!

It is starting to happen.

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I genuinely can't joke about how much I would love to make that happen.

Just give him that fair warning ahead of time, and hopefully he'll be understanding. I haven't even played my Premium yet. Was too busy de-modding the Pro and bringing the mods over to the Premium as well as a new shaker and new lollipop rails.

One of the coolest pictures I've ever had in my gameroom. The game, OH so nice, that I bought it TWICE!!!!

What a sight .

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So I played my Prem today finally. I have the bubble on the level resting dead between the two lines, and this seems WAY faster than the Pro. Where does everyone else have their level set? I noticed an air ball or two if the ball doesn't hit the BG ramp nearly perfectly.

GREAT game so far. We'll worth the upgrade. I was a fool to settle. The light show is spectacular. ...more to talk about soon.

Dude, I pulled a Bowen earlier today. Ball was in the right outlane, and it had actually passed the post, and I was able to wiggle the machine side to side and gently up and down very slightly and got it to travel back up and out of the outlane.

It was unbelievable. It's moments like those where all the "BS drains" are cancelled out, and you feel like a pinball god - for just one teeny tiny 2-3 second blip...

All credit to Bowen; he did it with the lights and sounds and audience and pressure of PAPA. I did it just in my private gameroom.

So amazing.

Added fellow Pinsider, Beatmaster's shooter assembly mod. Looks so killer. Link to read up on it is here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/shooter-rod-housing-lighting-kit-new-mod

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Looking at ordering the Crossbow with laser site as well as the BG light mode from Gnassel soon.

Anyone be able to comment on the crossbow with laser mod? Any inputs/thoughts/reviews?

Yes.

Undeniably.

I have a Pro and Prem literally side by side for a temporary time, and the difference is pretty huge. The lightshow alone is just awesome and something I did not expect to win me over in such a convincing fashion. So many things I did not know about with the Prem. I will admit the BG ramp does have a tendency to shift a bit from side to side, and one airball was so powerful it left the BG ramp entrance and flung itself sideways to the other end of the same ramp. My machine is perfectly horizontally level with a 6.6 deg pitch (Craftsman Torpedo Level checked).

All the tiny little things really added up though for me: 2 spinners, drop target, flasher inserts FOR each spinner, fishtank, walker bombs, crossbow, WW magnet, really nice clean artwork on the cabinet (you can see a LOT of differences with a Pro and Prem side by side), lightshow, BG ramp/target, WW guts, and coordinated color changing arrow inserts, traditional lockdown bar mechanism, and service rails.

Granted, I am prolly in the honeymoon stage, but like you, I owned a Pro first, and yeah, definitely worth the upgrade to me. Took me about two months nearly to the day to go from Pro to Prem - first time I have EVER upgraded.

Go back to the post with the picture. I provided the link in that post.

I took the drop target inserts and changed them to red for BB, and then green, blue, and amber for the other three. I also took "warm white" LEDs for Arena and the WW insert to give those particular inserts a little warm flesh tone.

Yep, bigd1979 hit this one.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twd-club-only-walkers-not-welcome?tu=bigd1979#post-2951402

Just ordered Gnassel's BG mod. After reading the reviews and seeing the videos, total no brainer. I ordered option 1 (horror movie style lighting) with rapid white flickering once the mode ends. Gnassel is super professional too so far. We pm'D and he had that mod in the mail all in 2 hours flat. That is incredible given the time difference.

All right, not going to lie, I am still pretty pissed as I write this so please bear with me if I seem a bit sharp around the corners.

So, lastnight, I was trying to figure out how to get the BG ramp to stop shifting from left to right so much. I remembered bigd1979 has shown adding a small doughnut washer to the pivot point of the BG ramp (between the metal bar and the E-clip that allows the ramp to pop up and down). I did the same modification, and all of a sudden the ball wasn't almost not making it up the ramp. Perplexed, I went to remove the washer, only to have the e-clip come off and go somewhere behind the BG head.....

So, the only way to get to that area is to remove ALL the plastics and interconnections behind the BG head to remove the big main "prison fence" plastic that is underneath the BG ramp. As I am starting to do that, there is a similar rod that connects the solenoid responsible for raising and lowering the BG ramp to the ramp itself. That rod has 2 of those e-clips as well. Guess what came off.....YEP....one of THOSE clips....

So I had to take apart absolutely everything in the BG area short of the main left ramp, and I mean nearly everything. I have to remove the flap portion of the ramp out of the game entirely, and I had to remove the solid steel ball guidlines that help direct the ball up the flap ramp to the main left ramp.....

So, I finally find both clips that came off. After tweaking them, I finally started to re-assemble the game, only to find out that my game would not properly go back together. I'll start to explain....

So, there are two metal guidelane walls that help direct the ball up the flap ramp and onto the main portion of the left ramp. These "walls" are held into the PF by hex screws on the top of the playfield - 1 I think for the left wall and 2 for the right wall. They also have threads that go through holes in the playfield and are secured by locking nylon hexnuts on the bottom - 2 for the left wall and 1 for the right wall. So to review, the left wall has 3 anchor points to the PF: 1 hexscrew on the top with 2 locking nylon hexnuts underneath the playfield...and the right wall with 2 hexnuts on the top with 1 locking nylon hexnut underneath the playfield.

So, the pivot rod starts and stops at each of the metal guidelanes walls, and is secured with an e-clip on each side. On my game now, if the pivot rod runs through just one of those two walls and the flap ramp, everything behaves as it should. To run the pivot rod through both metal guidelane walls, I have to be pretty forceful and force all 4 holes (1 for each guidelane wall, and 2 for where the flap ramp meets the solenoid responsible for raising and lowering it) to line up. If I get the pivot rod through one of the metal guidelane walls and through both holes on the interlink arm, everything is good. Getting the pivot rod through BOTH walls is quite a challenge; I have to force the the 4th and final hole to line up with the rest of the assembly. Once I do this, the flap ramp is pushed nearly all the way to the right, and it starts to hang in mid air on its own as if the whole assembly is under high tension, and it will NOT return flush with the playfield until I remove the pit rod from one of the two metal guidelane walls - then everything loosens up, and the ramp flap operates smoothly.

Here is a picture of the end of the pivot arm not lining up correctly with one of the two metal guidelane walls. Look directly behind the flap ramp on the left underneath the screw on the top of the ramp flap.

20160305_065649_(resized).jpg

the flap ramp has a tendency to hang in mid air as if it is getting caught. The reason this is happening is my flap ramp is pushed VERY far to the right as shown in this picture:

20160305_060015_(resized).jpg

** - Please note - in this picture, the metal lanes and the plastic of the main ramp are "staggered". That has since been corrected with the metal lanes inside the plastic lanes of the main left ramp. - **

Unfortunately, I did not take any "standard" picture before disassembly, so I don't have a clue of the flap ramp's normal resting position.

Guys, not going to lie, after working a 12 hour day to come home and play my game only to spend 4-5 hours on this having to disassemble all of this and having a $6000+ game in pieces has me pretty frustrated. My ramp entrance got scratched up from the metal guidelane walls, everything has finger prints on it, hardware is all over the place with no "home" pictures taken to show how it all goes back together. I just want the ramp flap to operate freely as it should, and I can't seem to make that happen.

Does anyone have any ideas at all? If anyone does, please help.

I'm not incompetent or an idiot - just something does not seem to be lining up right. I shouldn't have to FORCE all 4 of those holes to line up right; they should come together pretty smoothly, but that is just not happening....

.

When attempting to re-assemble, I have not tried to add the rubber ring. I just want the game back together and working at this point. I loathe $6000+ paperweights.

So, I took all the underneath the playfiled ancoring hexnuts off both metal guidelanes, and I was able to get the 4 holes to line up fairly easily at that point, but then the flap ramp hangs in the air with enough room to get my pinkie finger in without any effort.

20160305_073738_(resized).jpg

Soon as I take the pivot rod back out of one of the four holes, ramp comes right back down as it should...

Dude, if any of your e-clips pop out, heaven help you.

So, I'm headed to Louisville for the Arcade Expo. Trent will be there, and I can talk to him about this. I don't know what can be done, but with 15 total plays on this game since opening the box, this is total crap (read: not his fault, just expressing how I feel in a bit of a raw moment).

Short of drilling a new hole through the metal guidelane walls, I am out of tricks. I shoulnd't have to make permanent modifications to this game; this should go back together smoothly, and for whatever reason, it is not.

So, Trent and I will talk it over. Maybe something can be worked out. Like I said, 15 total plays since unboxing it last Saturday. There's got to be a solution, and I'm sure we'll figure this out.

I'll keep everyone informed on how things go. Thanks for listening to me rant.

Can someone take for me a good picture of the double black posts for the "air ball deflection" plate at the BG ramp flap entrance. Everytime I go to put that area back together, there is a noticeable gap between the two black posts when tightening everything down, and that does not seem right to me.

Thanks!

All right, here is a question: the pivot bolt that runs between the two metal walls......does the ramp flap attach to that pivot bolt, or does the pivot bolt simply sit there unattached to the flap, and the fall simply rests ON TOP of the bolt?

I have been trying to attach the ramp flap TO the bolt, and now I am thinking the ramp simply rests on the bolt, and the bolt allows the ramp to pivot up and down - almost like a teeter totter.

Does anyone happen to know? I am at Louisville and Stern doesn't publish their manuals online anymore.

Dude, once I get home from Louisville I will adjust this right away. If you nailed it, I will buy you two drinks the first we meet. One for a thank you, and the other so the first one doesn't get lonely. Thank you very much.

And thank you everyone for coming to my aid and helping me. Seriously, you all have come running with help, and I am very grateful for everyone's contributions. I'll be donating to pinside when I get home from louisville, because this kind of help and friendship is what it is all about.

When i get home tomorrow, I'll follow up with everyone, and let you all know how it goes. Take care!

So did you take the two screws off your ramp flap, place the washers underneath your ramp flap metal playe, and put your ramp flap Philip head screws back in? Just curious.

One other question for everyone, the double rubber posts for the air ball deflection plate at the entrance to the BG ramp. When the rubbers are stacked on my machine, I have small gap of metal between the two rubbers. Do you just have to crank down on the screws and tighten them up to force the two black posts to minimize and eliminate the gap? Just curious.

My last two posts root from Friday night and Saturday morning. Still in Louisville, so I figured I'd ask question before I get home. Thanks, guys!

Well, as promised I am reporting back after fixing the BG ramp as instructed per BigD1979, and I am 100% happy to say that it works EXACTLY as it should !!! My game is all better again, and I want to thank everyone for helping me, and to BigD1979 for having such great eagle eyes on catching that detail. As promised, donation made today!

I did record a video explaining everything, and I showed adding the 7/32" donut rubber to the pivot bolt that helps reduce the slack in the bicycle girl ramp as well as how flush my ramp flap is now that I have removed the foam pads underneath.

I need some pictures of the plastic underneath the BG ramps, guys. All of that area is still in pieces, and I plan to put it back together this Friday night, but there's a good bit to do there, and I need some help if some of you wouldn't mind snapping of photos of the plastics and how they go together underneath the BG ramps. Please <3.

Thanks again for everyone's help. This is what Pinside is all about.

Video for anyone who is interested. Sorry it is in 360p. Don't know why. I uploaded it directly from my Galaxy S5...

Sounds like Larry got his game... ?

I would have been there, but I was sick as a dead dog last night. Just had my fever finally break this morning. Now the "weakness" stage sets in where a strand of toilet paper is tough for me to break...

I want to see how that looks on Horde....

Had this happen lastnight:

20160323_070133_(resized).jpg

Three prison MBs, two bloodbaths, and I think 3 WW MBs. Got to Terminus finally as well as Horde. Man, what a game. GB Prem and this are going to get along REALLY well.....

If you are getting a Prem/LE, get pinsider Gnassel's BG light mod. Holy crap, that looks amazing and a solid effect.

Anyone else having their crossbow button not registering the first time you hit the fire button? I have noticed mine definitely does not register the first time I push the button. I'm thinking it is just needing an adjustment of the leaf switch, but wanted to ask before I go prying all around in there.

Thanks!

That is because you lit up something that you already completed. For example, you completed "food", and as the light pulsed around the 3 options, you stopped it on "food" after it had already been completed. Stop it on weapons or medical, and the dead features should re-activate

That could be true. I'll find out on TWD Prem later today.

I checked this. You were right, and I was wrong. It is 1 complete drop target bank --> mode start --> mode end --> two more drop targets banks --> next mode.

My bad on that.

If you don't want to grind the hex spacer as others are suggesting, just remove the tall hex spacer to the right of the ramp entrance. That will allow the plastic ramp lip to come down some, and it will be a much smoother transition from the ramp flap to the hard plastic ramp.