Well here's my not so mini - mini review after playing a location TWD PRO (keep in mind I'm a walking dead fan and my wife wants to buy it for that reason):

Artwork:
First impression was wow great job with the pf, bg, cabinet and bringing the theme to life. The well walker is better looking than I was expecting and pictures don't do it justice. Wolverine is horrible; wellverine is great!

Dots + call outs:
the dots are amazing! There's a couple that look bad but for the most part They're awesome and supports the theme very well. If I'm watching just the dots, I feel like I'm in a zombie pin and a walking dead pin. I only wish the call outs surrounded this nature of the pin better. There are moments when the call outs fit well when redneck man says stuff like run from those walkers, watch out walkers , and call outs similar to that. But I'm taken out of the theme very quickly with a majority of the call outs and the cheesy humor. There was only one humerous quote that really belongs in the pin and it was something like, 'Holy Sh*t! That's a ton of points' - after hitting a huge combo'd JP. Had me rolling good. The cheesy humor just does not work in a pin that has a dark theme like the walking dead. If it was called redneck zombies from beyond the grave, then yea the call outs would fit perfect. I will say as I got deeper into the game the call outs did start coming to life and weren't bad. But Overall, the call outs are very disappointing for a walking dead theme.

Gameplay, layout, and overall feeling:
My first test was the well walker as I'm really not a fan of wolverine and well walker reminded me of it in pics. However, I was surprised how well the well walker played and felt as I was expecting another wolverine nuisance obstacle, not the case! Well walker felt good to hit and wasn't poorly placed. The well walker arm however blocks the players view of the PRISON inserts which was a little annoying. But the well walker gets 2 thumbs up from me!

The right orbit through the pops next to the well walker is an amazingly fun shot! Absolutely loved it. And combo'ing it into the right ramp even felt better. However, the right ramp by itself was a let down. The placement for a single shot or repetitive shots did not feel good. And I know this is a location game so it can probably be easily adjusted, but about 50% of right ramp shots deflected out the escape route near the exit of the ramp - very annoying!

Left ramp - kicks ass. Very satisfying shot all across the board. Makes me concerned for the LE machines because all the problems I've read about it. Hopefully when all is said and done the left ramp on the LE is just as good as the pro.

The left orbit really is a feel good shot especially following a left ramp shot but it is short lived as the shot went into the pops 100% of the time. It really killed the fun of the shot. It might not be as bad if Lyman could add some rules if you shoot the orbit into the pops up into the star rollovers. That happened a lot and if there were some cool sound effects or rules incorporated it would make the shot feel better and more like I accomplished something.

The overall pops location is a complete game killer for me. Not only do they kill the left orbit flow, but the pops exit is a complete wreck. The pops exit is single handily my most hated thing on the pin. While we got a few SDTM drains from the pops, that wasn't the problem. The problem is how the ball returns to the flipper out of that exit. When a ball exits a certain feature of a pin So much as it does on these pops exit, it needs to come out smoothe giving a player a good setup shot instead of having to play ball control so frequently. These exit pops alone may be the reason I never buy this pin.

Moving on, the riot (inner loop) shot felt great and I liked it a lot. I had no problem with this shot returning to the pops. However with two left side playfield shots returning to the infinite pops; it would be nice to see one of these end elsewhere.

The prison shot was okay. Not bad not great. Good overall. Typical center bash toy like sparky. I was disappointed with prison intro - didn't seem to have a good intro or build up.

The skill shot was cool and the Woodbury shot was cool too. Because the ball goes to the pops a lot and that the pops hold the ball for a good 5 secs or more, it made for some fun multiballs. It was a good change of pace from past Borg games (Metallica, xmen, TRON). This was also a bad thing for single ball play - there was one instance I could drink my beer while I waited for the ball to come out of the pops area. I don't want to sound like a broken record but the ball exiting these pops really is a dislike of mine.

Overall though, the game is good. But for the most part it lacked in an adrenalin dramatic build feeling of a sort. For example, one game I stacked a bunch of multi kill modes and the game was going off the charts awesomeness!!! Shots progressively scoring higher - call outs being great - sound effects for making those shots making everything about it FEEL GOOD. It was great. And it was even cool to lose my ball in the bit lane and get like 9mil points for it. But the build up to that point and the multiballs and other modes just take me out of the theme and are a mood killer for the most part. So while the climax was great, the rest of the build up was very lackluster. I did feel like I wanted to play again and again - part of that was to learn more of the rules and scoring. But it did have a good fun feel to it at times. I'm just not sure if that fun feeling would last in a home environment for me yet or not. The game has soooo many great moments followed by SOOO many horrid moments. It is the yin yang of pinballs for me at this point. Can't wait to play an LE/prem to compare.

I still say the ultimate mod for TWD is to devise a way that the left orbit shot is a smooth transition back to the flippers. I tried removing the furthest to the right of the cab pop bumper and rigging a make shift lane guide but it didn't work, that pop is disabled anyway on my machine so wouldn't matter if it disappeared all together. I think after the holiday I'm going to go back in full throttle and see if I can make it a reality. Otherwise the game is amazing and due to theme which is usually the biggest element of longevity when it comes to pinball machines for me is off the charts cool.

I'm surprised there would be very many positive comments on a "location pro" after playing one myself the last two days. Thanks for taking time to post thoughts.

Like you said, learn the rules, play an LE/premium, and you'll see why they are miles apart, imo. I think your impressions will change dramatically. Maybe not about the pops, they are what they are and although I'm a huge fan of their placement and use, but I see how people can be annoyed by them, especially the one i played on location. The left orbit if its a clean shot, zips right through, just like the right orbit, if made cleanly (very tight).

I don't find myself in the pops much on single ball, not until I get to a MB stack and you'll appreciate and use the time to your advantage there. Initially, when working to get Prison MB and then Well Walker orbit shots aren't part of scoring in a meaningful way. When you get the MB's going and you can hammer "multi kills" and Barn and Tunnel shots on top of everything else going on is where pops come into play more for me, thankfully. Can't forget about the drop target bank to get Blood Bath MB going once you've started the other two MB's.

Throw in some add a balls and wow! Work on BG, CDC, Arena and Riot during the chaos and you'll really start to get the "addictive" nature of this pin.

The "fun feeling" has only gotten better in my HUO experience, but I also love the theme, sounds, call outs and basically everything it has to offer on balance. Is it perfect? What pin is?

Looking forward to your future review!

Well, it doesn't feel right to bash the Back Glass

LOL. So why is this in an LE thread? It's not like there is a lack of more relevant places to post, even a new thread option.

EDIT
RobT with a quick thumbs down. Shocking. Perusing the thumbs downs posts over this thread has certainly been enlightening, especially with your footprint

Thanks for the review and btw if you're short like me the well walker arm doesn't block the prison inserts

Does it really matter, honestly? But if you must know , This is the thread I've been posting getting input about the game and curious about the LE/prem. Figured I'd share my thoughts with constructive peeps and keep it away from the troll bait. Looks like even that I couldn't avoid?
In either case, good to hear feedback from LE/prem owners on my review in case some of the negatives are resolved with LE features.

And whys a TWD PRO owner even clicking on an LE thread nonetheless posting in one!! Blasphemy.

Eskaybee, thanks for your detailed review of the Pro model. It mirrors many of the same observations I made earlier. I would love to find an LE model to play for comparison, but they appear to be relatively rare on location. At least the Pro model at Lake Alice is in a relatively quiet part of the rather large establishment, and the volume on the pin is turned up pretty loud, so you can get full appreciation of the sound design and music, which is excellent.

Seriously?

Your post scolding Eskaybee for supposedly being "off topic" is petty. It was a well written and well thought out review, giving both pros and cons to the pin. But you have to complain about it being "off topic" because he played a pro instead of an LE.

Give me a break.

And of course the great irony, as pointed out by Eskaybee, is that you own a TWD Pro yourself. Yet...here you are.

And now you are complaining that I gave you a thumbs down? I disagree completely with your comment. I stand by my thumbs down. Don't let it hurt your feelings.

whiny.jpg

LOL on calling my comment troll bait. The post was a simple question, suggestion and was backended with a happy emoticon. I must have been trolling.

With 11 pages of LE feedback so far on this LE thread, I wouldn't think this is the best place to put detailed a Pro review info. It was just a suggestion to put your Pro comments somewhere else where it can stand out and where it can be found easier and more simply, for the benefit of all .

I find some basic organization in a forum goes a long way to make it easier to find information, especially when I go back at a later time. No machiavellian plot here . Certainly your detailed Pro review is a good thing. Too bad it will be buried here at some point soon amongst LE comments and feedback in an LE thread.

It's pretty obvious that Pro owners do not only click on pro threads and that LE owners do not only click on LE threads. Your Pro comments would have been read by many if not all LE owners in any Pro thread or threads, and especially in a Pro/LE play comparo thread (which will likely be made at some point). BTW, I'm an LE owner. You'd know that if you'd read a few of my posts in this thread (they obviously detail and literally mention LE) instead of checking my profile (the PS db didn't have the LE machine option for ownership when I first filled out my profile). So, yes, my posts literally apply to this LE thread.

Already answered your huff and puff. Keep up the good work.

It's great to see that my explanation of a previous post clarifying that it was not intended in to be negative is fine by y'all. Your positive demeanour, posts, and camaraderie to members here are such a great contribution to this thread and the Pinside community. Keep up the work and Christmas spirit boys.

Considering your the only one who seems to have a problem with my review in this thread, I think I can live with that. What you fail to realize is I have a vested interest in this thread inquiring about LE features. I posted my thoughts on the pro as a follow up to the built up conversation at hand in which I was taken part of. Sorry you missed that; so now that you're up to speed, have a nice weekend, enjoy your LE. And hey, if it's not too much trouble reread my pro review and see how it correlates to the LE. After all, that's what were here for, a constructive communicative discussion on the walking dead LE, right? Or do you want to just keep posting snarky comments?

As noted, it was nothing more than a suggestion to give your Pro review more visibility and traction on the forum. And if it had been that way, linking to it on this thread with specific LE questions would have worked well for you.

What you fail to realize (to use your own language) is that, while it is obvious from your other posts in this thread you had some LE questions (and your last one on the left ramp/BG was already answered in detail), your Pro review was nothing more than a review of that machine; your Pro review post did not contain any playing questions or ask for any input/review/comments wrt LE machines. In fact the only LE comment in that entire post was that you "Can't wait to play an LE/prem to compare". It sticks out like a sore thumb from other posts that discuss the LE and does not fit.

So now that you have explained yourself in these later posts, what you actually want is some comparative LE/Prem vs Pro playing feedback based on your Pro review, and so only now starts to make sense. Good luck and hope you get some feedback. As for snarky comments, all I've been doing here is responding to what is more than just snarky comments. Time to move on.

I'm all for constructive TWD LE discussion and look forward to it.

I guess this more or less is an appreciation thread so here we go

Just played a long tense game and scored 182,???,???

I got all the weapons lit and had 4 balls on the field, everyone is screaming, I get the biggest shit eatin grin on my face, the sub is pounding, and all my balls finally drain but one. I just made it into HOARD mode and the last ball goes air born and hops over the flippers and drains.

I fell to my knees sobbing why? ...Why?? ...WHYYYY????????

EPIC!

You are one funny, motherfarker

The same happened to me Yesterday!!!! The last ball was coming out of a perfect right loop, full speed.... what a way to loose the last ball in my best TWDLE ever!

CORAALLLLLLL

fc0.jpg

Making it to HORDE unfortunately does nothing right now Wait until you break 300 mill yippee ky ya MF!

I'm back on my LE today after getting back from Breckenridge and playing the pro at Eric's.

I'm SO glad to be home, (cold as shit up there right now), and the fact that the LE is MILES apart from the pro on location (not huo), but man.......

the whites are brutal on the pro, just over the top awful, I love my BG bash, crossbow, two magnets and spinners, yep just some basic ole spinners.

The LE is simply great, and Lyman's next big update should really incorporate more sounds, sound effects, color changers and a great wizard mode.

I couldn't be happier with any pin I've ever purchased before!

Me too, the topper is the coolest, man is it great. I just had a serious game with all the multiballs, axe multikill and blood bath. My favorite mode was also running, Tunnel. I think the next update will incorporate the GI lighting more and slowly this pin will offer a lighshow equal or greater to Met Pre/LE. Just getting better and better, gas sign coming and I hope Pin Ref releases the Apron soon.

I am by no means a pin expert, got my le from pinball refinery. excellent service. unboxed and played the pin. liked the gameplay but something missing. l/s ramp bicycle gal? where is she, cant see her. I am an arcade collector, my arcade is dark, is the pin supposed to be played in a lit room?
then I ordered pinball refinery bicycle gal lighting and installed. wow, great now I can see her. love bashing her zombie head. something that should have come with the pin. how can this pin be sold without bg lighting?

the l/s ramp, it sucks. the clear flap on the very front top keeps getting loose, I have to always keep tightening the 2 screws, put some blue Loctite holding good now. the l/s ramp is horrible, not as smooth as metallica or other games I have played. not an easy shot, does it make the game harder, yes. maybe it was meant to be this way?? when the ball goes up you don't know where its gonna end up!!

the crossbow (my crossbow) is useless. I activate it every 3 games at most. when I fire the crossbow the ball barely makes it 1/3 up the playfield-it sucks.

I find myself playing the wd le pin most of the time. a lot of fun, but to me it would have been a really good pin with the l/s ramp done properly and other adjustments.

the 1.19 recent software made the game so much better.

btw I like the ball in the bumpers, more time on the bumpers is less drain for me.

The sound effects on Tunnel is unreal. It's really great right now but you are right Hazoff, the lightshow has a LONG ways to go, I feel like when pandemonium gets going its a multi kill head slashing fiesta.

Glad you liked your topper, gotta make time to install mine, too busy playing, I'll do it tomorrow hopefully.

You will love it on stacked MB's and when you post a score in the 200's plus. Report back when you do that with all the shit going on.

Ha. Ice you figured out my avatar handle. Wasn't sure if I would get away with Yipykya_MF when I greenly joined pinside.

Agreed, Tunnel Mode sound effects especially with a sub are outstanding.

It is so hard and such an achievement to make it to Hoard mode and then when I lost it after arriving I didn't know there wasn't anything left. If what I read about Lyman is true we are certainly in for a treat.

He's working on next update. Gonna be epic.

So is the rumour of one more update then that's it true?

I am sure there will be mulitple updates in the year 2015 for this machine.

TWD is a clunky POS.

Left ramp- clunk - airball.

Right orbit - clunk - no credit.

Prison face - registers when it wants to.

WW - registers when it wants to.

Woodbury Award - was worth very little in previous ROMs, now it's worth less.

Double playfield rules are nice.

Inlane multiplier is a cool award.

This has been my experience playing the game on location. And these are locations with good ops.

Yep, my machine always registers and never had drain issues. The only adjusments I had to make is to the left ramp to make it smooth. Other shots are super smooth.

I am hearing a lot of negative reaction to this machine on location. Being an LE owner, i find the game to be an amazing experience in the home environment (big sub, sound cranked up, shaker ,etc.).

It sounds like you are talking about a PRO (only because of no mention of the ramp lifting for bicycle girl shot). This machine has 2 switch issues, which may take some annoying time to fix, but it seems the op (hopefully not you) has not tweaked them. Personally my WW switch is a bit flaky.

The game does have that CLUNK factor when you miss the left ramp. Location games seem to like to go steep, which will increase an already nasty ramp pitch and probably increase the possibility of the airballs. If it is indeed an LE, some awesome fixes are on pinside (recently taking an undeserved bashing for the "few " that ruin it for the masses on FB) to remedy that situation. I have gone from bad to better myself with the help of some creative geniuses on this site.

The right orbit shot (again when you miss) just falls flat sometimes. Nothing you can do there. It is rather satisfying as well as scary when you make it like 3 or 4 times in a row cleanly. I think an award for that is due.

I agree with your woodbury assessment , although if you build up the spinner value and have 2x plus an inlane multiplier , shooting for the spinner on way to woodbury, can be very valuable. The award for the skill shot itself will hopefully be improved, as it is very boring now.

Just offering a different perspective from someone you know so you don't write off the game entirely. By no means do i have the location or even playing experience to tell you "i know better" on anything.

Also curious about how much you have scored or how deep into the game you are able to go.

Anyone looking for a spoiler can look for my crappy video of siege mode. Anyone else get there?

ez

Newsom, are you having a bad day today? Why get on a thread regarding pinheads enjoying their TWD pin only to bash it saying it's a POS? I admit the left ramp does have it's "faults" but, at the end of the day, I still enjoy playing it. I know it's your opinion and you have a right to state it, so why don't you start a thread stating "TWD is pathetic" and you can bash all you want. I, personally, get on this type of thread to hear the positives because that is what the operator originally started this thread for.

Since we're on the topic of starting new threads. You started a thread stating pinball is made only for location. HA! Although I realize there is some places that have good places to play decent, well cared for pins, those places are far and between. I remember going "out in the wild" and finding a TOM. Filthy, hardly playable, worthless flippers, etc., that I went home and admired the one that I had. I do believe some of these pins are "saved" from some operators by restorers and collectors like myself (as they should) and I wear that statement like a badge of honor. The only way I get to play some of these "should be only on location" pins is from several home collectors who keep their pins dialed in and maintained for correctly. I hated IJ before I played one from a local collector BECAUSE of the condition and playability of the pin that I played "on location", but once I played a well maintained one I loved it so much I had to have one for my collection.

But, since you own 30 plus pins in your collection (with most, as you stated, are on route) are you upset because home collectors aren't going to these establishments and putting their money into the pins that you operate because they already have them in their homes??

I haven't written the game off at all.

I don't even know all of the rules yet.

I play a LE on location.
And you are right, I believe that it is pretty steep.
R ramp to r orbit is satisfying, as is consecutive r orbits. No doubt.

How is the right spinner value increased?

How do you start siege?

Others: Feel free to correct me if you are sure about it

How is the right spinner value increased? : I believe (and really should be sure) that the left loop and spinner increase the value of the right spinner and eventual Woodbury shot. I think this is only available if you shoot the right drop and the spinner lights are lit. I have seen some pretty hefty woodbury shot totals for the spinner , which show on the display after making the shot , albeit slightly delayed.

How do you start siege? : Siege becomes available after completing PRISON twice and collecting the super twice during Prison Multiball (again , this may have additional qualifiers i am unaware of).

Quick tips : Blood bath multi has 2 add a balls and can be started at any time. start prison multi, advance WW multi. during prison. Start WW when prison ball saver runs out. Concentrate on advancing BB multi (left drop lights must be completed, after qualifying each "unlit" light to get to Blood Bath - first shot to drop qualifies one light and they can be repeated , aka they don't automatically go to the next "unlit" one) during well walker ball saver. Start up BB - completing targets thereafter will ADD-A-BALL (more ball saver). BASH the hell out of the prison and "blue" shots (super is RIOT shot) and you will get to siege. Siege is basically the only mini wizard mode to go for right now.

Of course this will be frustrating if the switches aren't registering. For the most part i have been reading up on everything here and the switch problems can be overcome. Left ramp issues are supposedly being addressed by a Stern fix kit.

If you know the OP , have them put a felt strip under the rivets of the left ramp (playfield damage is being done under the ramp) and tighten down the ramp on the right side. It is most likely mis-aligned from the factory. Proper pitch is this games best friend as well.

Good luck

After being spoiled by my increasingly-heavily modded Pro in my game room, I played a Pro on location last week. I can see why people who haven't played a dialed in home use example are disenchanted by the game on location. It's just not the same experience.

The light show is virtually non-existent with the stock white LEDs everywhere, the prison doors didn't register lots of hits (and got stuck shut multiple times), the Well Walker didn't register hits consistently, lots of drains from the pops, lots of SDTM drops from the prison magnet (game was still running old code), and you couldn't hear the game all that well due to all of the other games in the arcade.

Save for the occasional pop drain, I don't experience any of those issues at home, so I can totally see why someone who has only played TWD on location (or at least played the machine that I played) would think this game's a turd.

After applying the felt, rebuilding my BG ramp it's now functioning as close to perfectly as seems possible.

Question for everyone though, are you supposed to have to slap your balls to her face really hard for it to count? lol Seriously though, when they don't hit her in the face at full force they don't seem to register. Do I need to adjust the leafs? Same with the Prison zombie, but it wouldn't have been as much fun to type if I was talking about him. lol

Oh and if you're an LE owner, and haven't bought nodyeliab's bicycle girl light mod, what are you waiting for? It really should have been there from the factory. It's amazing. It's definitely the second best "mod" for TWDLE right behind a sheet of PDI glass and well it's WAY more budget friendly. The game just isn't complete without the light.

My BG ramp is currently apart. I was going to dremel it down and apply some weather stripping, but then I left for vacation and never got around to it. Has Stern officially addressed this with some sort of kit they are sending out to people? I would hate to mess around with my ramp if I don't have to.

Yes sir.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twd-le-bicycle-girl-rampstern-fix-kit-502-6942-00

Personally I wouldn't dremel too much off like I saw some people do. I just dremeled the rough edges smooth, then applied a piece of stick on felt over the rivets, to just over the edge of the plastic. The ramp is working really well now and it seems to be stopping any further damage.

Can someone please post a photo of the felt or weather stripping installed on their game. Where do you apply it? Do you stick it on the metal flap right up against the plastic ramp?

I should have done it before I installed, but let me see what I can do.

Edit: Without pulling the ramp I just can't get a good enough shot of it unfortunately.

Post #23 in this thread

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twd-le-adjustments-and-mods

I found that grinding the ramp like that is unnecessary. Using the picture where the rivets are shown, apply the felt starting there going to just over the edge. Obviously that way must work as well, but it's more work and I was afraid it might weaken the rivet itself.

Anyone gotten Siege mode yet? I just did and its amazing. I think when Lyman is done with this pin we are in for a real treat.

Not yet. How do you get it going?

Its within the prison multiball, I had a super long multi and all of sudden the mode started with a tank on the DMD and with successful shots of the tower and prison zombie head you cold blow up the prison fences etc. Very cool mode with great animations and explosions.