(Topic ID: 119396)

TWD frustration thread

By TaylorVA

9 years ago


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  • Latest reply 4 years ago by chuckwurt
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There are 322 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.
22
#1 9 years ago

This pin makes me want to kick the legs out from under it. Drains SDTM out of the pops and airballs to outlane from the slings makes this one of the crappiest tables I've played on location. At a buck a pop losing at least one ball per game from the previously noted issues sucks.

Wtf!! Other than that the game is pretty fun.

Argh

#2 9 years ago
Quoted from TaylorVA:

This pin makes me want to kick the legs out from under it. Drains SDTM out of the pops and airballs to outlane from the slings makes this one of the crappiest tables I've played on location. At a buck a pop losing at least one ball per game from the previously noted issues sucks.
Wtf!! Other than that the game is pretty fun.
Argh

Sounds familiar to me Taylor.

Be prepared to be told by TWD owners that "this doesn't happen on my pin" though.

#3 9 years ago

This doesn't happen on my pin.

I picked up TWD this weekend. Yes, SDTM is a factor from the pops and the magnet. Nudging is your friend. Loving the game so far!!!

#4 9 years ago
Quoted from RobT:

Sounds familiar to me Taylor.
Be prepared to be told by TWD owners that "this doesn't happen on my pin" though.

This happens on mine all the time! I chalk it up to the fact I am no good!

#5 9 years ago

Yeah I've seen some of those 3 dimensional drains from TWD plenty of times.

Another favorite is the right ramp airball to left ramp return. I've started Bicycle Girl like that before.

They should actually code in a secret shot for that.

I still don't care about all these geometrical pet peeves people have with the game. I've passed up 3 HUO Iron Mans now while waiting for someone to sell me their TWD. The game is brutal but so mother flippin pleasing to play. The sounds, the dots, the shots! Love TWD! Please, somebody SELL ME YOUR TWD!

#6 9 years ago

The tilt is so tight that a nudge to rescue from the pops is almost guaranteed to get a warning or two. I think it's a fun shooter but the drain out of the pops may help an operators piggy bank in the short run but I'm not going to drop coins in a game with a crappy design that leads to cheap drains.

I do know of an owner that changed the rubber at that exit to try to minimize the issue.

#7 9 years ago

Has anyone else had issues with hitting the zombie head in the prison, not registering, and going SDTM? I've played three different TWD on location and all of them I had this issue. Also, the left outlane seems to drain quite often compared to the right.

#8 9 years ago

The pop drains annoy the crap out of every non-pinhead who plays at my place. It gets me maybe 5% of the time, but if you don't nudge it's gotta drain...what, once every 8-10 drops?

Also, unless I cancel the prison animation it's a 50/50 drain on my machine. Again though, most non-pinheads don't cancel animations (as far as I've seen), so incredibly frustrating for them.

Kind of odd these two attributes that can seriously turn off newbies are still not fully addressed...unless I just don't have my machine set up correctly.

Despite those two points I'm really enjoying it though...it's just that friends who love the show don't have as much fun as they could. When they get modes and multiballs going you can tell they're having a blast; music and dots are epic and create a really frantic/frenzied experience.

#9 9 years ago

yeah, average game times on the location pro was around 3 minutes. So we bumped it down from $1 to .50 a play.
agree it needs a code update bad though.

#10 9 years ago

The one I play is a buck a game. Losing 1 out of 3 balls on a cheap drain isn't worth it IMO.

#11 9 years ago

Time to level the game yourself to avoid drains!

10
#12 9 years ago
Quoted from huo:

Time to level the game yourself to avoid drains!

I tried leveling the game on location near me...it seemed to help at first but after several trips there I have come to the conclusion that sdtm cannot be prevented, due to poor playfield layout. I have this game on my wishlist but I am thinking of removing it ...

-1
#13 9 years ago

I have TWD and no sdtm issues at all, maybe these location games don't have the second code update ? 1.14 I think.

19
#14 9 years ago

Drain from pops is not a code issue....

#15 9 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

I tried leveling the game on location near me...it seemed to help at first but after several trips there I have come to the conclusion that sdtm cannot be prevented, due to poor playfield layout. I have this game on my wishlist but I am thinking of removing it ...

Yep.

#16 9 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

Drain from pops is not a code issue....

easy fix with level....no problems or issues after this.

#17 9 years ago

My pops generally drain to the left flipper. Get a digital torpedo level. I no longer trust the pinguy app.

#18 9 years ago
Quoted from perryd:

easy fix with level....no problems or issues after this.

Unfortunately the one I played on location must of been a little unlevel I got some drains out of pops as well.

Quoted from huo:

Get a digital torpedo level

Agreed this thing comes in handy and is pretty inexpensive.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-digital-torpedo-level/p-00948295000P

#19 9 years ago

I'll ask the op to buy a digital level.

#20 9 years ago
Quoted from TaylorVA:

The tilt is so tight that a nudge to rescue from the pops is almost guaranteed to get a warning or two. I think it's a fun shooter but the drain out of the pops may help an operators piggy bank in the short run but I'm not going to drop coins in a game with a crappy design that leads to cheap drains.

My experience 100% playing this on location. Found it incredibly frustrating.

-2
#21 9 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

I tried leveling the game on location near me...

Of note, levelling using the PF glass is not levelling.

As for tilt, the tilt as set from the factory is quite forgiving. On location, if one finds the tilt setting to be sensitive, it shouldn't be surprising that this setting may be changed.

#22 9 years ago

It's a pretty challenging game. Its designed to be nudged big time. That what keeps me coming back. Super addictive.

-3
#23 9 years ago
Quoted from joeraptor2003:

It's a pretty challenging game. Its designed to be nudged big time. That what keeps me coming back. Super addictive.

Ironically I did a death save and didn't tilt but tilted trying to save out of the pops. Nudge this!!

#24 9 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

I have this game on my wishlist but I am thinking of removing it ..

I had that game on my wishlist... until I played it. 3 games were enough. Found another TWD pro later. Same issues. Fortunately I did not waste any money on that pin. Can't believe Stern released a game with such design flaws.

#25 9 years ago
Quoted from dzoomer:

Of note, levelling using the PF glass is not levelling.

Well, unless you have a key to the coin door, it's kind of hard to level the playfield of a game on location.

#26 9 years ago

I think if you like the game and you want it level, buy one.

#27 9 years ago

I have the LE, code updates, stern fix kit, game plays great. Many have come and played ,drains no worse than any other pin.

#28 9 years ago
Quoted from Banker:

I have the LE, code updates, stern fix kit, game plays great. Many have come and played ,drains no worse than any other pin.

What does the fix kit include?

#30 9 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

Drain from pops is not a code issue....

It's a leveling issue. I was told this and found it difficult to believe.
I was getting pop drains just about every other time the ball came out of the pops.
I checked level and my machine was leaning to the right.
I leveled my machine and have played at least 2 dozen games since with only about 3 pop drains total.

It's frustrating, but no where near what it was before. I was almost ready to give up on the machine before I leveled it. SDTM from the magnet happens sometimes, but I think code can fix that.

I really love this game, yeah it can be brutal but if a game is too easy I get bored quickly.
I have a BSD which has some brutal shots that will kick the ball STDM so maybe I am sort of used to it.

That's just pinball.

@TaylorVA - the fix kit is for the LE - it's some sort of padding for under the bicycle girl ramp to protect the PF

#31 9 years ago

My experience with this game is 100% on location. The tilt is a tad loose so slides can happen with only one to two warnings. That being said, zero SDTM issues with the exception of an occasional one off the magnet. Other than that, nothing at all. No air balls, no crazy left outlane drains, etc. Make sure the game is level. I promise you, if you're getting those drains out of the pops, your game is not level.

#32 9 years ago

I'll pass that along to the op.

The airballs off the right sling is pretty crazy. I had airballs over the left sling and wireform. Can the slings be adjusted?

#33 9 years ago

Wow, I really love my LE, but if that happened to me playing on location I wouldn't waste my money on it either.

Has anyone who had such a miserable experience ever taken up one of the local owners who says theirs is dialed in on playing theirs?

I'd be curious to know whether we're just blinded by it since we're not dumping in dollars for every play or if there really is a huge difference.

Edit: And I occasionally get the the SDTM of the prison, before I learned to press both flippers, but rarely. The airball thing though just doesn't happen on mine as Taylor described it.

#34 9 years ago
Quoted from Razorbak86:

Well, unless you have a key to the coin door, it's kind of hard to level the playfield of a game on location.

Hint. That is what I was alluding to. RE previous posts about people saying they levelled a location machine.

.


.

Yes there can be the prison magnet stdm but the flipper magnet pulse basically prevents it, which many people don't know about. Instead of searching and reading the forum, some people complain and bash the game.

As for the prison STDM question, I have seen it happen from time to time, from a straight-on shot to the prison zombie or door. I find TWD rewards careful shots. I take more care now shooting at the prison and I try to angle my prison shot which prevents any stdm roll out. Even if I hit a straight-on prison shot, I now anticipate a potential stdm roll out and if needed a nudge gets me out of trouble. TWD has its share of high risk high reward shots. TWD will not be as hard to play with careful shot and shot angle selection. With lots of scores reported here at 150 million plus on the machine, many people are not having any significant prison STDM issue through the way they play.

Yes, there can be stdms from the pops if the game is not carefully levelled, and levelled properly. Instead of searching and reading the forum, some people complain and bash the game. There are also another couple suggested fixes. A felt mod for under a $1, similar to the left orbit mod for the game but at the bottom of the ramp exit, would likely fix the issue without affecting game play any other way.

Yes, some people complain of airballs from ramps. Most owners don't have this issue (I've had something like four ramp airballs in 700 games). Some people have posted that adjusting the ramps on their machines made ramp use much smoother. Instead of searching and reading the forum, some people complain and bash the game.

In 700 games I don't remember a single airball from slings and have my sling strength set to hard. It isn't common. A search shows other newer Stern games such as ST, MET, ACDC, Avengers, TF have had the sling airball issue with the odd machine. Most people don't have this problem on those machines or on TWD. The old threads discuss a variety of fixes to address sling airballs. There are many options to choose from, including a few service menu adjustments. There are also threads to change sling behaviour by adjusting sling switches. Also some people have reported improvement as the game is played more.

Amazing what can be found with a 5 minute search and read. Though at pinside bashing is much more the preferred sport.

#35 9 years ago

I play this game on location in NYC.
The only one that plays well is the LE at pioneer bar near pen.

Also, I wish ops used those rubber floor protectors on all games.
They allow you to nudge without slide the game, which screw up the leveling.

#36 9 years ago
Quoted from n0s4atu:

Wow, I really love my LE, but if that happened to me playing on location I wouldn't waste my money on it either.
Has anyone who had such a miserable experience ever taken up one of the local owners who says theirs is dialed in on playing theirs?
I'd be curious to know whether we're just blinded by it since we're not dumping in dollars for every play or if there really is a huge difference.
Edit: And I occasionally get the the SDTM of the prison, before I learned to press both flippers, but rarely. The airball thing though just doesn't happen on mine as Taylor described it.

I am not a Stern fanboy, only bought this for my wife. I have not had any of the problems stated on Pinside, and we thoroughly enjoy this pin.

I truly feel bad for those with problems, I would be sick if I spent all that money and was dissatisfied.

#37 9 years ago

Slings can be adjusted. Game drains no more than my other games (although prison head shot is a scary proposition...must get better at my nudge/slap here)

Personally, as I don't care what happens to the value of my pins....I find it satisfying that many people have not yet discovered how entertaining this pin is. I find it to be a mental and physical rush.

But it's got to suck when you are dropping in $1 a play (a lot less than $7400 though

#38 9 years ago

Can somebody elaborate on the flipper cancel/control of the prison magnet. Not sure I'm following that one.

Quoted from TaylorVA:

I'll pass that along to the op.
The airballs off the right sling is pretty crazy. I had airballs over the left sling and wireform. Can the slings be adjusted?

We have this happen to us every few games. The machine is on location at a mini-golf/arcade/batting cage/... place. My bi-weekly group constitutes the majority of the plays their pins get. Issues we have noticed:

Right sling airball to outlane
Prison zombie requires pretty hard shot to register
Skill shot rarely makes it past the pops
One-way gate sticks up to let the ball drop in from the pops at times

It's still a decently fun game to play and between the bulk discount when buying tokens and the 1/$.50,3/$1 you are playing for very little money. If it were $1 a game, we'd be screaming bloody murder, or telling them we won't use that machine in our events.

#39 9 years ago
Quoted from BMore-Pinball:

It's a leveling issue. I was told this and found it difficult to believe.
I was getting pop drains just about every other time the ball came out of the pops.
I checked level and my machine was leaning to the right.
I leveled my machine and have played at least 2 dozen games since with only about 3 pop drains total.
It's frustrating, but no where near what it was before. I was almost ready to give up on the machine before I leveled it. SDTM from the magnet happens sometimes, but I think code can fix that.
I really love this game, yeah it can be brutal but if a game is too easy I get bored quickly.
I have a BSD which has some brutal shots that will kick the ball STDM so maybe I am sort of used to it.
That's just pinball.
@TaylorVA - the fix kit is for the LE - it's some sort of padding for under the bicycle girl ramp to protect the PF

Also want to add that this is my first Stern machine. I was hesitant to buy one with all the Stern bashing that goes on, but I have no regrets. I love it, including the non-cast member call outs.

#40 9 years ago
Quoted from rolandthoms:

Slings can be adjusted. Game drains no more than my other games (although prison head shot is a scary proposition...must get better at my nudge/slap here)
Personally, as I don't care what happens to the value of my pins....I find it satisfying that many people have not yet discovered how entertaining this pin is. I find it to be a mental and physical rush.
But it's got to suck when you are dropping in $1 a play (a lot less than $7400 though

I spend about $30 bucks every other week on the TWD near me. that gets me a solid 5-6 hours on the game with replays and what not. I will take that all day long. Might have to buy this one day, but having a ton of fun putting the money in the machine for now.

#41 9 years ago

On location this game has a drain issue from the upper left side to a middle drain.
And if the tilt is set too tight or its in a tile floor (mugs ale house in Bk), you cannot prevent the drain.

Games in the Wild have issued with shots to the well walker registering.
And on the LE, when the left ramp raises, that shot has problems registering.

#42 9 years ago

let me be clear. I'm not trying to bash the game. I think it is a fun game. I just find it frustrating when you have a great game going and your ball pops into the outlane or you tilt out because every time out of the pops you have to nearly tilt to save a drain.

#43 9 years ago
Quoted from TaylorVA:

let me be clear. I'm not trying to bash the game. I think it is a fun game. I just find it frustrating when you have a great game going and your ball pops into the outlane or you tilt out because every time out of the pops you have to nearly tilt to save a drain.

We actually had the arcade manager up the tilt because we could slide the machine all over the place and it was a chore to get a single warning. To say it (long game times like you wouldn't believe) was holding up the event is an understatement.

I (and the rest of the group) like the game, but it seems like a pretty singular strategy. I'm ok with that, as not all games should be insanely deep, but can feel like chopping wood at times.

#44 9 years ago

I never argue with folks opinion as its just that a different opinion. I will say playing pros in the wild was very frustrating while playing my LE at home properly set up is quite the opposite . It's the one game that's played every day now.
But I totally get the frustrations as I experienced them as well.

#45 9 years ago
Quoted from desertT1:

Can somebody elaborate on the flipper cancel/control of the prison magnet. Not sure I'm following that one.

As the magnet nears the end of holding the ball, press/hold the flippers to pulse the magnet. Try both pressing and press holding and see which works for you.

Quoted from TaylorVA:

let me be clear. I'm not trying to bash the game.

You did say the machine had a crappy design. Though my comments were not specific to you or any one person. There is plenty of bashing in this thread, much from the usual suspects; not surprising.

Quoted from desertT1:

I (and the rest of the group) like the game, but it seems like a pretty singular strategy. I'm ok with that, as not all games should be insanely deep, but can feel like chopping wood at times.

The game may appear initially to have a singular or basic strategy, but there are a few threads discussing the ruleset and they are a good read. Upon reading imo I find the machine to be fairly deep wrt play/strategies/goals/steps/etc. People have often posted that Lyman is a great coder, and he is on TWD. It might even be a little too deep in some aspects for my preferences, but I need to play it more before before I decide.

Quoted from DCfoodfreak:

I never argue with folks opinion as its just that a different opinion. I will say playing pros in the wild was very frustrating while playing my LE at home properly set up is quite the opposite . It's the one game that's played every day now.
But I totally get the frustrations as I experienced them as well.

I agree. There is nothing wrong with a different opinion. Variety is a good part of life. Can't please everyone either.

But as you and a few people have noted, and which some others have totally and explicitly discounted, there can be a sizeable difference in play experience due to a few factors, and which can manifest more so in location games than in home use games.

Then some people post their opinion as it it were fact, extrapolate to extreme conclusions, use sweeping generalizations, have limited experience, or flat out don't know about machine details. So getting good info out there is important and can be an issue.

#46 9 years ago
Quoted from dzoomer:

You did say the machine had a crappy design. Though my comments were not specific to you or any one person. There is plenty of bashing in this thread, much from the usual suspects; not surprising.

It does have a crappy design element. I'm sorry it does as it really detracts from what is otherwise a fun game.

Most game have some weak design element, unfortunately for TWD it is one that leads to cheap drains.

#47 9 years ago

Anyone want to explain why that ball guide isn't adjustable? Seems like having the last screw hole be slotted so you could move it a millimeter would solve the problem (disclaimer: non-owner that hasn't seen how it's attached up close).

-1
#48 9 years ago
Quoted from aobrien5:

Anyone want to explain why that ball guide isn't adjustable? Seems like having the last screw hole be slotted so you could move it a millimeter would solve the problem (disclaimer: non-owner that hasn't seen how it's attached up close).

What ball guide? The outlanes?

Quoted from TaylorVA:

It does have a crappy design element. I'm sorry it does as it really detracts from what is otherwise a fun game.
Most game have some weak design element, unfortunately for TWD it is one that leads to cheap drains.

More specific. Good. And everyone is welcome to their opinion. Though your original comment reads that the game has a crappy design, not crappy design element, which resulted in the earlier quoted remark. There is a notable difference between the two statements... (some specificity versus a sweeping generalization).

"Crappy design element" is not the same thing as "crappy design", like
"I shoot people" is not the same thing as "I shoot".

I see much on the thread to address the issues noted. Including adjustments and tweaks to minimize or completely remove pop drains. Such is the case with many other pin themes and related issues, adjustments and tweaks (e.g., as noted with sling airballs earlier). So I fail to see how there is a crappy design element.

Plus,... characterizing how a game plays is full of subjective preferences. I like to use more neutral language that isn't so loaded. Some people like more challenging games, other's don't, and many have noted that they find TWD to be a challenging game. TWD has big outlanes and some shots that can lead to stdms. Still, even with that the machine can be adjusted and tweaked a multitude of ways to fine tune the play and lessen drains if so desired. All together, it doesn't mean there is a bad (crappy) design element imo and such language is misleading or used to tarnish a machine.

Any way, I've gone through this language enough.

#50 9 years ago
Quoted from dzoomer:

What ball guide? The outlanes?

the one coming out of the pops and draining the ball down the middle.

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