Just paid invoice for #159! Woot! Woot! I may have two new games later this week.
(Topic ID: 301220)
Linked Games
Ultraman (Blood Suckers Edition)
Spooky Pinball, 2021-
Ultraman (Collectors Edition)
Spooky Pinball, 2021
-
Ultraman (Standard Edition)
Spooky Pinball, 2021
Topic Gallery
Denver, CO
Quoted from Lounge:Just unboxed #87.
Does anybody else have this problem…
During Baltan multiball, the balls load in the shooter lane but don’t launch right away.
When the multiball starts, the trough kicks the ball into the shooter lane but doesn’t launch. Then it kicks another ball into the shooter lane until there’s about 4 balls in there then the auto launch tries to launch all 4 balls into play. Of course this doesn’t work so they just sit in the trough and get launched half way over and over.
Trough switch works and auto launch works.
Any ideas?
Make sure the trough switch is holding the balls up just above the shooter. Mine had this problem.
Added over 2 years ago:Isn’t*
Quoted from Lounge:Just unboxed #87.
Does anybody else have this problem…
During Baltan multiball, the balls load in the shooter lane but don’t launch right away.
When the multiball starts, the trough kicks the ball into the shooter lane but doesn’t launch. Then it kicks another ball into the shooter lane until there’s about 4 balls in there then the auto launch tries to launch all 4 balls into play. Of course this doesn’t work so they just sit in the trough and get launched half way over and over.
Trough switch works and auto launch works.
Any ideas?
Is the ejected ball sitting on top of the wire switch or leaning on it? Maybe some pics would help. Or just email spooky--super helpful and fast.
Quoted from mslow:Make sure the trough switch is holding the balls up just above the shooter. Mine had this problem.
Quoted from happyclan:Is the ejected ball sitting on top of the wire switch or leaning on it? Maybe some pics would help. Or just email spooky--super helpful and fast.
The ball is sitting in the shooter-lane, resting in the trough with a fully activated shooter-lane switch. The auto launch doesn’t fire until there are 4 balls in the lane.
It’s worth mentioning that the auto launch works perfectly when ball save is triggered and the machine is serving a replacement ball. This stacking of balls in the shooter-lane only happens during Baltan multiball.
I adjusted the shooter-lane switch a bit but that didn’t change anything.
Anyway - I’ll hit up Spooky.
Quoted from Tranquilize:Well, I've had my Ultraman CE for a week now, so I'll give my two cents on what I think.
------------------------
THE GOOD
------------------------
- The layout is really good. I enjoy the upper PFs, and I'm normally not a huge fan. These are designed great!
- The shots are balanced with easy, hard and really hard. It's on the easy side overall, but it's decently balanced.
- The modes are all fun. Every single one.
- The drops provide some nice danger.
- The right side drop is a great skill shot and difficult ball save during play. The mb feature is more of a happy punishment.
- The currency collection is AWESOME. The standups can be lethal, but that extra ball is tempting.
- The art is great, and the clips are awesome. The campiness is so fun. The wife loves it too.
- The music is what initially drew me to this pin. I love surf etc., so it's right up my alley.
- The Lighting is really good. I dig the LED strips.
------------------------
THE AVERAGE
------------------------
- The ramps are easy. The right rejects with backhands (I don't actually mind this) and the left is clunky as hell and a gimmie.
- The modes are not balanced. For example, Pestar is medium/easy, not difficult. Some of the easy ones require orbit hits...
- The right side drop does nothing after you've utilized it once... That takes away an awesome feature.
- Spacium cannot be collected during multiballs. This would allow for good strategy.
- The Spacium store could have more variety. Maybe you could buy locks? Timed PF multiplier?
------------------------
THE NOT SO GOOD
------------------------
- The status of the code is pretty shallow when compared to the industry standard. I'm patient though.
- The status of the settings is very limited.
- The upper playfield seems to have a ball snag on the rubber in front of the flipper in all games. Should be fixed.
- Timers need to pause when the ball is in the system. There is too much stop'n go to just let timers run. It's painful to watch.
- I'm not a big fan of the middle PF being unlit at times. Letting a ball just drain out is so "unpinball" to me.
- The tilt code seems a bit broken. If the bob is set sensitive, you get all three warnings and tilt every time.
- You cannot collect spacium after Dada.
- Pigmon is listed in modes, but it's not really a mode. or is it? There is no Spacium afterward and no choice when to start it.
- Bemular lasts forever. It should be timed.
- Both Bemular and YourAss should be timed and have progress memory as default.
- I can't tell if Kaiju multiball has any purpose except keep getting left scoops jackpots?
- The sounds are so imbalanced that you can't utilize the system. Eg. the voice is deep in bass, while the main tune is all treble.
- If you start a game with "Switches Calibrating" on the screen, it sometimes stays there until reboot.
------------------------
THE BAD
------------------------
- QC on my machine was out the window, hands down the worst I've seen in all my years of collecting.
----- My center drops were so crooked that they barely functioned. See previous pic.
----- My trough was missing screws, had crooked screws and was dangling when I first inspected it.
----- My scoop rejected 100% of shots. I shot the scoop for about 50 shots. None went in, no matter how I shot it.
----- My playfield was missing two important rubbers that I luckily had spares to install.
----- Under the ledge of my backbox is all scuffed.
----- The inner cab has drill wear through the paint all over. It's also missing one of the cab support screws.
----- Minor, but my shooter capsule is missing paint all over the place.
- There still are pretty bad bugs that can completely stop gameplay.
- You cannot adjust the outlanes. They are too friendly for my liking. I'll prob put shrinktubing on the outposts or something.
------------------------
Now, I understand that games need adjustement. Trust me, I do. This game, however, was well beyond what I'd expect. I was going to have friends over to play it on day 1, but I instead spent the evening fixing the damned thing. I'm patient and want to support small companies, but I honestly don't want to pay 12kCAD for a night of work. Luckily I have the paitence, tools and skill to fix it.
All that being said, the game shoots well and will be great when it's done, I'm sure. My top score is 120mil so far, and it's been really fun playing it.
Thanks for the great review.
I am very concerned about QC, given we are 1/3 of the way through the entire HWN/Ultra run.... I don't have the tools or the knowledge to do what you had to do to make it playable. Going to keep watching and hoping I guess.
What’s the status on the next code update? Excited to see what the new animation company is adding.
Quoted from lpeters82:Here's what 120 games looks like. All should be heading out to new owners by the end of next week.
[quoted image]
We're working on code every single day. The next update will have the wizard mode and bug fixes. New animations are coming, but they will not be in the next update. That's going to be a HUGE update.
PS: I may try and provide a sneak peak at some point.
Quoted from lpeters82:Here's what 120 games looks like. All should be heading out to new owners by the end of next week.
[quoted image]
Number 199, please raise your hand.
Sydney
Quoted from smokinhos:I have to say I'm happy to see excited future owners. We need more of that!
Does this count? I’m at the back of the line, but my buddy already has his. Game is coming along nicely.
AAD34EE5-E89F-49FE-ADF2-DC53460CB75C (resized).jpegQuoted from richierich85:Any idea when the Australian builds are going to be built or ready to ship??
That question even by email always falls on deaf ears.
Well hopefully all the Quality Control issues are sorted prior to shipping to Aus and we are not required to remedy too much.
Quoted from lpeters82:Here's what 120 games looks like. All should be heading out to new owners by the end of next week.
[quoted image]
That’s quite an impressive sight, and really good that you have the space to queue up a ton of games while (presumably) waiting for a mystery widget.
Are you able to say what you were waiting for to be able to button up the games and box them? Some of the supply chain hiccups I have seen are almost amusing. I had to change a drawing recently at work because we couldn’t get a certain type of marking ink so had to get an alternative sourced and approved so we didn’t have a line stop. The fab guys were freaking out, but I found it interesting and mildly amusing.
Just heard that neither Halloween or Ultraman come with any sort of manual or schematics. That seems like it will make diagnosing and repairing issues more difficult. Are manuals and schematics planned to be released at some point?
As a repair tech myself, I definitely use them when working on pins. This concerns me. Especially, since apparently there still is no manual for Rick & Morty yet? Hmm.
Got my tracking number for #159. It should be home Monday! Unboxing stream and gameplay will follow.
Quoted from SKWilson:Got my tracking number for #159. It should be home Monday! Unboxing stream and gameplay will follow.
My #162 will be here Monday too. Look forward to the video.
Quoted from JohnDeere:212 is so close now... MY DAY SHALL COME
#209 should be closer!
Getting excited.
Quoted from marksf123:My #162 will be here Monday too. Look forward to the video.
Quoted from guitarded:#209 should be closer!
Getting excited.
So close at #164... must refresh must refresh..
Quoted from blowback1976:Does this count? I’m at the back of the line, but my buddy already has his. Game is coming along nicely.[quoted image]
Yes! That counts..
Quoted from DakotaMike:Just heard that neither Halloween or Ultraman come with any sort of manual or schematics. That seems like it will make diagnosing and repairing issues more difficult. Are manuals and schematics planned to be released at some point?
As a repair tech myself, I definitely use them when working on pins. This concerns me. Especially, since apparently there still is no manual for Rick & Morty yet? Hmm.
Your intel is accurate; no manual or schematic is shipped with the game.
This is something I've really wanted to address, and absolutely will be addressing going forward. To be candid, we are a lean team, and all have a lot on our plates at the moment, but I believe we are bringing more engineering talent onboard in the near future to expand our bandwidth. I know it's not the answer you're looking for, but at the very least, we do have a *top* notch tech ready to help with anything you need if you give us a call during business hours. But I understand, you're a tech yourself, and so you need to be able to diagnose problems yourself in a timely manner.
That said, the wiring in our games is dead simple. We don't use a 'matrix' topology; everything is point to point, and coils have unique wire coloring. So you can look at a coil, identify the power wire (lower gauge, and branches at the coil lug instead of terminating there) and see the color of the signal/ground wire (they all have a base color and stripe color, and I believe are all unique). Then just find the same color wire on the pinotaur to see where it's connected. LEDs are all chained together, so you can just follow the chain to locate a problem area. Perhaps the more involved wiring is the switches. We have 8 switch banks, each on their own harness, wired point-to-point, but each harness does have the same set of colored wires. So troubleshooting switches, you do at least have to identify the switch bank it's on. If you can't trace it by eye, the switch test menu, or doing a continuity test should help identify the bank it's on. And again, optos are point-to-point, and a meter or the test menu will help identify where they plug into the pinotaur if you can't trace it by eye.
Unfortunately, the pinotaur schematic/layout is not publicly available (not even Spooky has access to it), so if there is a problem with the pinotaur, you can send it back to us, and depending on the circumstances, we can repair it or provide a new one. Same with LED boards, or any part for that matter; just let us know and we can send you more.
Quoted from DakotaMike:Just heard that neither Halloween or Ultraman come with any sort of manual or schematics. That seems like it will make diagnosing and repairing issues more difficult. Are manuals and schematics planned to be released at some point?
As a repair tech myself, I definitely use them when working on pins. This concerns me. Especially, since apparently there still is no manual for Rick & Morty yet? Hmm.
You know, thinking about it more, a wiring pinout for the pinotaur is not too complicated. Let me check with the lead tech; if he doesn't have one made up already, I'll make one and throw it on our website next week. Won't ship with the games, but at least it'll always be available online.
Just don't let spooky luke know I'm doing this instead of programming the next game, which is *totally* not a courage the cowardly dog/powerpuff girls dual theme
:p
Cheers!
Quoted from spooky_dj:Your intel is accurate; no manual or schematic is shipped with the game.
This is something I've really wanted to address, and absolutely will be addressing going forward. To be candid, we are a lean team, and all have a lot on our plates at the moment, but I believe we are bringing more engineering talent onboard in the near future to expand our bandwidth. I know it's not the answer you're looking for, but at the very least, we do have a *top* notch tech ready to help with anything you need if you give us a call during business hours. But I understand, you're a tech yourself, and so you need to be able to diagnose problems yourself in a timely manner.
That said, the wiring in our games is dead simple. We don't use a 'matrix' topology; everything is point to point, and coils have unique wire coloring. So you can look at a coil, identify the power wire (lower gauge, and branches at the coil lug instead of terminating there) and see the color of the signal/ground wire (they all have a base color and stripe color, and I believe are all unique). Then just find the same color wire on the pinotaur to see where it's connected. LEDs are all chained together, so you can just follow the chain to locate a problem area. Perhaps the more involved wiring is the switches. We have 8 switch banks, each on their own harness, wired point-to-point, but each harness does have the same set of colored wires. So troubleshooting switches, you do at least have to identify the switch bank it's on. If you can't trace it by eye, the switch test menu, or doing a continuity test should help identify the bank it's on. And again, optos are point-to-point, and a meter or the test menu will help identify where they plug into the pinotaur if you can't trace it by eye.
Unfortunately, the pinotaur schematic/layout is not publicly available (not even Spooky has access to it), so if there is a problem with the pinotaur, you can send it back to us, and depending on the circumstances, we can repair it or provide a new one. Same with LED boards, or any part for that matter; just let us know and we can send you more.
Quoted from spooky_dj:You know, thinking about it more, a wiring pinout for the pinotaur is not too complicated. Let me check with the lead tech; if he doesn't have one made up already, I'll make one and throw it on our website next week. Won't ship with the games, but at least it'll always be available online.
Just don't let spooky luke know I'm doing this instead of programming the next game, which is *totally* not a courage the cowardly dog/powerpuff girls dual theme
:p
Cheers!
Thanks for the responses. Good to know it's at least something that is being thought about.
I suppose in an ideal world Spooky would have a full-time technical writer on staff. But even as much as Spooky has grown, it is still a pretty small company in the grand scheme of things.
Also, Powerpuff Girls for the win.
https://store.nakatomiinc.com/ultraman.aspx
Our officially licensed ULTRAMAN series of prints rolls on with this amazing new print release from red-hot print artist Matt Ferguson! This print is dropping Monday April 12 at 2pm Central in the ULTRAMAN section of the Nakatomi store HERE!
Available in a hand-printed and hand-numbered regular edition (above) of 140 copies.
Variant edition of 55 copies (for 55 years of Ultraman!) pictured below. Priced at $50 and $65, respectively.
Prints measure 18 x 24″, and will be for sale HERE at 2pm Central on Monday, April 12th.
Prints are in hand and will ship within 1-2 weeks.
All Ultraman prints ship in our special ULTRA-RED TUBES marked with Tom Whalen designed tube-top stickers!
unnamed (1) (resized).jpgunnamed (resized).jpglpeters82 when are we going to see 1.07? I was thinking 1.07 was supposed to be the better update for Ultraman. I know the bigger updates are coming later.
Quoted from spooky_dj:You know, thinking about it more, a wiring pinout for the pinotaur is not too complicated. Let me check with the lead tech; if he doesn't have one made up already, I'll make one and throw it on our website next week. Won't ship with the games, but at least it'll always be available online.
Just don't let spooky luke know I'm doing this instead of programming the next game, which is *totally* not a courage the cowardly dog/powerpuff girls dual theme
:p
Cheers!
Stern doesn’t do a wiring diagram type of schematic on new games. Instead they have a table for switches, coils, lights, and then what board/connector they go to. Probably lists the driver for each as needed, but I don’t have that in front of me. Manuals are online and might be a good starting point reference.
#162 was delivered today. Set and just going through it to make sure everything works. Game looks great out of the box. As I check it out I noticed that the drop target to the right of the scoop is down when I start a game and even if I it gets hit up that lane it does not go up. Is this normal or something I need to fix. What should be the behavior of the drop target?
Quoted from marksf123:#162 was delivered today. Set and just going through it to make sure everything works. Game looks great out of the box. As I check it out I noticed that the drop target to the right of the scoop is down when I start a game and even if I it gets hit up that lane it does not go up. Is this normal or something I need to fix. What should be the behavior of the drop target?
[quoted image]
Normal. You have to hit it a few times & then it'll come up and lock the ball.
Quoted from SKWilson:Well, #159 is in the house! Literally. I was going to stream the unboxing, but I had to unbox it in the driveway. Not gonna lie: I prefer Stern's boxing.
I'm curious. If you received your game from R+L, did they call you before showing up?
[quoted image]
Congrats on getting it!!! If you plan on streaming it soon may I suggest learning the rules a bit before doing so, other streams I've watched just haven't gone very well when they try to figure it out on stream. Maybe hit up Rarehero or another owner before hand, don't think there's a tiltforums or pintips on it yet.
Quoted from manadams:Congrats on getting it!!! If you plan on streaming it soon may I suggest learning the rules a bit before doing so, other streams I've watched just haven't gone very well when they try to figure it out on stream. Maybe hit up Rarehero or another owner before hand, don't think there's a tiltforums or pintips on it yet.
The jist of the rules is pretty straightforward.
-Use flipper button to choose a skill shot before launching.
-Knock down the drops & then hit the scoop to choose a Kaiju to fight. Screen/lit shots will explain the rules of each mode.
-Get to the middle playfield, shoot the drop & then scoop to start the Bemular mode.
-Shoot the middle ramp 3 times to start the Jirahs mode (the middle ramp will then send the ball to the top playfield).
-Shoot each Baltan target & scoop to start the Baltan multiball.
-Blue targets collect Spacium, shoot scoop to collect rewards.
That's about all you need to know, really!
Quoted from Rarehero:-Shoot the middle ramp 3 times to start the Jirahs mode (the middle ramp will then send the ball to the top playfield).
Thanks for the rules - When I get to the upper ramp by shooting the middle ramp 3 times, the upper flipper does not work.
Congrats to SKWilson and
marksf123 for getting their UM! I am at 189 - no options email yet but it has to be getting close I would think! I saw
Riefepeters (168) got the options email. Anyone above that? The closer it gets the more times a day I have been checking my email...
Quoted from marksf123:When I get to the upper ramp by shooting the middle ramp 3 times, the upper flipper does not work.
All is good with my upper flipper. Called Spooky, my leaf switch just needed to be adjusted. Simple fix.
Quoted from TechnicalSteam:Wonder what the word is on the new Code? - Any progress?
See post #1658
Quoted from desertT1:Stern doesn’t do a wiring diagram type of schematic on new games. Instead they have a table for switches, coils, lights, and then what board/connector they go to. Probably lists the driver for each as needed, but I don’t have that in front of me. Manuals are online and might be a good starting point reference.
Quoted from ReadyPO:Congrats to SKWilson and marksf123 for getting their UM! I am at 189 - no options email yet but it has to be getting close I would think! I saw Riefepeters (168) got the options email. Anyone above that? The closer it gets the more times a day I have been checking my email...
I can update that 168 is on the truck for delivery!
Quoted from Tranquilize:[quoted image]
There are zero games listed there.
0C56E8C5-1EAC-4319-A1A6-E867C4B36810 (resized).jpegBuddy played UM and HWN today. He wishes he bought one. He did prefer HWN as a theme and the unique pf was a winner.
Quoted from desertT1:There are zero games listed there.[quoted image]
Which game do you want schematics for? I'm assuming it will be Spike....
Quoted from Tranquilize:Which game do you want schematics for? I'm assuming it will be Spike....
There's a lot of stuff that isn't there on the page though and they haven't updated it in 3 years, and that was after bugging them about it for 3-4 years.
Just as an example, I can't get schematics for the unique lamp boards in Batman 66, the turntable node board, or the mini LCD node board
The only thing Stern consistently gives you is a table with connectors. Which is fine for the most part if you're not doing board work. Spooky at least gave that sort of information with TNA and Rick and Morty.
Got Ultraman set up last night. No problems whatsoever. It's probably my second heaviest game behind Dialed In!. I'll be streaming it tomorrow night. Beforehand, I'll need to adjust the pitch and try to learn the rules better. Still trying to form an opinion. We'll see how it goes! Great product, Spooky!
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