Joined the club a week ago with a premium and can't stop playing. Even though I bought new from distributor, the unit shipped had been sitting in a warehouse somewhere with an Aug 2016 build date with a 1/8" layer of dust on top. I only throw this date out there so anyone can warn me if there are issues with certain build dates that I should be aware of, otherwise I don't care.

Been too busy playing to do any mods yet, but I can tell you that the game is kicking my ass and is tougher than any table I've played in a LOOOONG time (even my buddies IMVE). I consider myself a decent player and want to see how it plays from the factory (I set it at 6.5deg), but I can tell you that the outlanes have tractor beams on them for sure and the STDM middle drains from the prison magnet are happening probably 60-70% of the time and no amount of flipper-slapping/nudging has been able to save it most of the time. Occasionally, the magnet will do a flip to the ball and give me a chance, but more often times than not it just hurls it down the middle. Just seems super unfair.

My questions are... 1) Any adjustments to the prison magnet to help? 2) Am I complete failure if I do something about the outlanes? and 3) what must-have mods do people suggest that I should do immediately. I did already order ColorDMD, but that's it so far.

Yeah, funny thing is I had already tried that many times because of my impatience. Learned that with my LOTR that if you want to time out a magnet capture, just hit both flipper buttons. You are right that it doesn't "fling" it STDM with as much speed, but it definitely drops it STDM. I'll try that a bit more, because at least it gives me a chance to do more of a slap save that way (not that I enjoy doing that every time for a feature that shouldn't need it). The rotation of the prison magnet by 90deg has piqued my curiosity, so I might have to try that.

As for the outlanes, I've owned pins for close to 15 years (only on pinside for 1 yr) and know how to nudge most balls out, but none of my usual techniques seem to work on this game. Oh well, I'm always up for learning new techniques.

Followup from my earlier post. Thanks Spyderturbo007 for the tapping the flippers a few times comment. I had actually been either holding both flippers to release the magnet (which just mostly let it drop down the middle) or trying to nudge the machine as the magnet hurled it STDM (mostly unsuccessful). However, a combination of both of those seems to be the best for me now in my last few games. I hold both flippers to release the magnet, then, immediately as the ball is being released, I tap the right OR left flipper one or two times. I think the flipper tapping activates an off angle magnetic pulse that throws the ball off to the side rather than STDM.

Also... regarding my outlane problem. What is Lesson #1 for playing any NIB game? Well, I knew this, but forgot to go through the playfield and tighten and check screws and bolts. You guessed it. My left lane divider screw was about 5 mm short of being all the way in. This caused it to be really loose and evidently it chose to lean toward the inlane. This caused the outlane to be about 2-3 mm wider and the inlane to be 2-3mm narrower. DOH!!! Because of the plastic ramp lane above this post, I didn't even notice it was leaning a bit until I got into the playfield with the glass off. No help for the right outlane, but as it turns out, I can successfully nudge over there a bit more, where I was having problems on the left.

Question for the group... the lower rollover is only registering maybe 10% of the time. Basically whenever the ball is going very slowly. Works great for Woodbury, but makes it very difficult to hit the skill shots on plunge, especially on later balls where you have to zing it up there. Upper rollover registers just fine even with a quick ball, just not the lower. I'm out of town and haven't looked under the playfield yet, but is this a switch adjustment or something else? Any advice is appreciated.

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I thought you had indicated in previous posts that rotating your magnet core didn't help any.... maybe I misread it. For the life of me, I can't imaging how rotating a metal core would help. I could possibly seeing it help for a short time because the magnetic flux lines in the metal might reorient. But it would only take a few cycles of energizing the magnet to align the magnetic flux lines back in the original direction and the problem would seem to return.

In any case, I used to have a STDM problem when I first got my TWD, but I have been consistently acting like a woodpecker on the right flipper button whenever the ball gets locked in. By tapping repeatedly (quickly I might add) the flipper while the ball is held on the magnet, the magnet tends to pulse a bit just at the time of release and typically causes the ball to go off-center a bit. I can't say it has 100% success rate, but I used to get maybe a 30-40% of my balls going STDM, and I would say now it is in the 5% or less range. As always, YMMV.

Were you rotating the entire magnet? Or just the solid core in the middle? I'm not familiar with the Goldeneye, so not sure if it's the same design as the annular magnet around a solid core that TWD uses.

This is good information Mike... I can now retract my ignorance of why it would make a difference. I trust your experience and it sounds like it has worked for others (but not everyone).

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Are you a fan of the show? If so, you'll realize after playing 5 minutes with the stock sound that anything would be better. Honestly, it's an understandable question to ask and I wondered the same thing. But once you install the Cleland mix with clips from the actual actors you'll realize that there's really no other option.

I can't believe you waited so long either. Welcome to the club!

... and then you went and got yourself bit.

Great score!!!!

Exactly! I bought my NIB TWD Prem from Melissa at Cointaker. Awesome service. Of course, no issues so far, so I haven’t had to test out any follow-up warranty service.

And be sure to let cleland know when you’re going out of town... so we can all get the real update!!

I just installed Gnassel's BG light in my premium a few weeks ago and agree 100% that it completely changes the effects on that mode... should have been factory.

I keep trying to pull the trigger on purchasing the yoyokopter crossbow, but can't bring myself to do it. Actually, the crossbow is one of the only features of the premium that I have realized I could have lived without if I had gotten the Pro. And to top it off, this last week, my crossbow has been holding the ball and not loading/deploying properly or firing properly. I'll have to check some switches I suppose... anyone else run into this?

But still happy with my decision to go with the premium for sure.

It worked for like 6 or more months and was never really very satisfying... but maybe I need a plastic crossbow on top to get the full effect. Mostly just seems to slow the game down. Even more so when it hasn’t worked the last week or so.

Just installed Cleland 1.60 on my prem and played 1 game after to test. Put up a 498mil GC, my best score to date. Don’t think the new code had much to do with it, but I could be wrong. Had like 93mil in Riot and a 7x multiplied wellwalker multiball jackpot for 63mil. I’ll have to read again, but don’t think those were affected by the code update. In any case, still my favorite game and won’t be leaving anytime soon.

Thanks for the summary. That makes total sense now. I need to study the rules a bit more for sure.

Hey Mike!! My TWD Well Walker magnet threw the ball into the drop targets a couple times today after my code update. I’ve also seen my prison magnet throw the ball up through the Riot lane (even before the last update).

Tony formerly from Kentucky

Pretty sure it is... just got mine a month or so ago. PM Gnassel and he’ll give you details.

You might try reformatting your existing USB stick and make sure it’s FAT32. That seems to be one of the reason some sticks aren’t recognized.

I love this response!! And I love this site... but it can sure get frustrating when the machines you like are crapped on by a few and the mob mentality takes over.

The file name can be anything... as long as the .bin extension is there. Also should be the only file on the drive for easy install, but if you have multiple files it will allow you to select which one in the menu on the DMD.

flynnsbit is making an LCD that inserts into the apron of a Tron. This wouldn’t work for the left side due to the crossbow... but might be pretty neat for the right side with clips from the show.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-legacy-play-field-lcd-mod/page/3#post-4188529

Make sure the plunger is hitting the ball dead in the center. If off-center, I could see it causing the ball to rattle off the sides of the shooter lane and enter the pops at an angle. The fact that your auto plunge doesn’t do this makes me suspect the plunger rod or tip.

Unless I’m wrong, Woodbury shot initiates Horde once you’ve got it qualified.

This is common on all most all the TWD machines I've played on route. Some people actually like it that way because it turns it into a True Skill Shot where a softer plunge just hard enough to make it into the lanes will trigger both rollover targets, but a full hard plunge will skip the first rollover.

But to answer your question... what is happening (at least on mine and two others that I've confirmed) is that the first rollover is sitting above the playfield by maybe half a millimeter. So subtle and barely noticeable, but enough so that the ball hits the edge of the rollover and "hops" a bit over the switch part of the rollover. All I had to do on mine was go underneath the playfield and loosen the nuts holding it on the playfield just a couple turns. It's still tight enough on the playfield that it won't move, but this lowered it just enough that now it triggers every time.

I'm starting to come around to agree with one of my buddies who thinks its better where you have to get your plunge just right to trigger it. I'm thinking about going back and tightening it up to the original way it came to me from the factory.

Would maybe help some decide to move on this if we knew where you were located. Doesn't seem to mention that in your profile page.

I'd like to add the railroad tracks mod to the top of my right return ramp. I've seen a couple versions on others machines, but can't seem to find one for sale. I did read that a couple had been "limited" by individual modders. Anyone have one for sale or can point me in the right direction to one for sale?

Anyone have a link to some custom apron cards for TWD? I found at least one version online (pinballcards.com), but nothing that struck me as what I'm looking for.

Ball hop most likely. Been reported by others with cliffys and/or raised magnets. Ball is getting just enough air to fly over the optos.

Truer words were never spoken.

That's better than my answer... I was thinking it was maybe just to annoy Brian!!

Must be just early signs of Fall... I know in my yard, all the squirrels are scurrying around getting their nuts in storage before winter hits. And we all know, Winter is Coming!! Wait... wrong thread.

Just a hair short of 100mil on a single shot tonight!! Stacked Blood Bath with Well Walker and Riot with a 9x riot shot as part of a combo. Game ended up approx 40mil short of my GC score. The rules on this game are nothing short of spectacular.

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Very nice!! I can only imagine that single shot is greater than the majority of GC scores out there.

Send a PM to Gnassel ... that’s where i got mine.

Tame by comparison when you consider that A Baseball bat doesn’t have a $#*^%...

I'm thinking that the only thing that would explain the differences between machines would be 1) hardware and/or 2) setup. We are running the same code (at least I hope everyone's updated). I know others have chimed in and add me to the list to say that I have almost no stmd drains from the prison magnet. I would venture to say maybe like 1 in 50 at most and possibly even better than that. I really feel for you and the rest who have this issues because it would frustrate me to no end.

Don’t worry, most of us don’t remember it either... we just ask Erik when we’re stuck for an answer!!

Probably while trying to remember where he put his USB stick so he could reload the code and reset high scores.

Exactly this. I believe on factory it’s the 1st set, then twice dropped after that (3rd, 5th, etc).

Cleland code is the best, but yes, you do lose some instructional callouts from the stock code. I can’t remember just how many, but a few for sure. If you want to learn on your own without watching a tutorial, you might want to reset to stock just to get a few extra hints here and there. Added advantage of making you appreciate the Cleland code even more when you do install it. And you will definitely want to install it after listening to the stern stock hillbilly for a bit.

It goes without saying... you want/need to update and it will feel like an entirely different game.

This whole discussion seems a bit like the movie groundhogs day. I'm sure I've heard it all before. That's not to say that it's not important because it is. And a couple of you complaining are close friends, so I trust that your experience is frustrating. TWD is one of my favorite games in my collection and would be among the last couple to ever leave. But, I would invite each and every one of you to come play my TWD premium and you wouldn't be saying 1 single thing about the prison magnet. I can count on one hand all the times my magnet has thrown the ball STDM when I play. I can't explain it... I've never done anything special to my game. Don't really pay attention to the left to right level or the pitch. Maybe I just got lucky on my initial setup. I really wish I knew what the difference was so everyone could replicate it and have the same experience. Same goes for the pops. I get maybe 1 out of 30-40 that goes down the middle... has to be exiting the pops at just the right speed. And typically when it's coming out at that speed, I realize it's going down the middle, but my reaction time is to late to slap save it. I'm sure better/quicker players could save most of those (even how few they are).

I’ve got a guest room with your name on it. As for the collection comment... hmmm, maybe we need to setup more of your games to throw the ball STDM. Maybe then you’d hold on to them longer!!

And I know one day in the future you’re going to need that Magneto space and a little money...

I realize I'm in the minority, but I have LED on two of my machines and they look great. TWD is one and SMVE is the other. I don't disagree that the LCD looks awesome and I have it on way more of my machines (maybe 6-7 or more), but I wanted to see if I'd like the LED... figured I could sell it for $30-40 cheaper if I didn't like it because someone would snatch it up since these never go on sale. If I had it to do over again, I might choose LCD, but I might not... depends on how I feel that day I suppose. It's that close in my opinion (for certain titles).

Increase the pitch a bit and see if that helps.

The TWD over at Blue Moon Bar and Grill had blood splatter vinyl on it when I played it over a year ago if I remember correctly. At least that's my best recollection, but take that for what it's worth. Maybe kettchxxii might be able to tell you more or if they're similar to the ones you linked. I wanted to do this to mine after seeing his in person, but never got around to it.

Personal preferences vary... but general consensus is to go with Cleland’s masterpiece with callouts taken from the show. That’s my vote at least.

Can you define what a cheap drain is?

You ok, Erik?

Congrats on the win!!

... and I should know better than to question an accountant!!

You should be able to go into the switch matrix test and flip the left flipper and see if any other switches activate. Possible bad diode? Or just a very sensitive switch that is responding to vibration. Though the fact that it’s only the left flipper and not the pops or other flipper make me suspect a diode/matrix issue.

You can try the original just so you’ll appreciate Cleland even more. You asked the right question though, because the ONLY thing the original has over the modified code is that some of the callouts are instructional in nature. But still nowhere near worth putting up with the hick callouts.

I was reading the last few posts and got re-energized to try to get to LMS again. I haven't been playing it much lately, so was thinking if I concentrated on it for a couple weeks, I might be able to pull it off. I think my highest number to date was in the low 80's.

Then I got to your post and it felt like a big kick to the nut sack. I know your skill level, so I'm not even going to try now... (at least not on 3 ball)

I have the one from @gnassel... not sure if he still sells them, but drop him a PM maybe. Excellent service and installation when I got mine a couple years ago.

Any Horde score is a good score!!

The reason the slow plunge works is because the first rollover is slightly above the playfield causing the ball to ”hop” a bit and glide over the second rollover a bit too high to register fully. Had this problem on mine and after lowering the first rollover by a very tiny bit, i never have this problem.

Funny thing, is now I miss that you had to be skillful with the plunge like you said... just slow enough to not hop. Now, a fast full plunge will get it every time but definitely not as “skillful” as it used to be.

This only works for Woodbury skill plunge. There is no scroll option on the initial skill shot for each ball for the STAR rollovers.

deleted - dup post oops

I’ve only ran the R rated version so can’t compare to the other version. Like most pinball callouts, the frequency is sporadic and not overly repetitive with most of the good callouts only being heard once in a while. However, when you do get a good R rated one, there’s no mistaking. My advice, don’t run it if you think there’s a chance kids will be around or just generally don’t want some very graphic language while playing.

I’ve never thought of it this way… you have a point. But, if you’ve watched the show, the factory callouts are painful for sure. And the whistle is pure gold!

Great game, terrible game, mediocre game… in all instances if the game you’re selling is TWD, you should definitely keep it!! I just can’t imagine letting mine go EVER.