My daughter got me a shirt to go with my new pin.

20211209_172330 (resized).jpg

20211225_121124 (resized).jpg

Got a call from my distributor yesterday, my Iron Maiden premium came in and should ship Monday! Hopefully I'll get it before new years!

Great news! Enjoy one of the best tables yet!

Still a ways from the billion club but yesterday a game that began with ball 2 draining south of 30 million ended by blowing out my old personal best by 25%. Thanks Santa!

2021-12-25 18.20.40 (resized).jpg

Nice!

I had a similar one yesterday with two bad first balls and then I managed the 4 ball trooper multiball and cracked 300 million for the first time in a long while.

It's funny I started playing better after reading your post. I think I was being too hard on myself and when I read that this is not an easy table and those drains are to be expected it helped me just relax and enjoy it again. Changing my nudging a bit around the slings has been helpful too.
No high scores yet but I managed to beat Icarus for the second time ever and got the soul shard, and I've been cracking 200 million a lot more often so it at least feels like progress.

I had this happen and found 8b to be faulty so am waiting for a replacement. Be interested to hear if you have resolved it.

2022 resolution: Add Iron Maiden!

d6869c7fa5e6909bfe912f4b02701f54 (resized).jpg

Nope I'm afraid not - I'm guessing mine is a fault with node 8b too, since everything along that chain is out, and everything else checks out ok (cables, connections, node board 8 etc).

A couple of months ago I posted a wanted ad for an Aces High topper. When they were originally released, my financial priorities were a little different at the time so I did not buy one. Anyway I have always regretted it especially with my other Sterns being complete with toppers.

I am happy to say that I now finally have an Aces High topper on my game with huge thanks to Shapeshifter. Topper was sent safely all the way from the UK to Australia and arrived just in time for Christmas. Just wanted to give a shout out to a great guy on this forum that I have had the pleasure of meeting on here. Behind the usernames and avatars are so many great people on here.

Thanks again Simon.

IMG_5166 (resized).JPGIMG_5167 2 (resized).JPG

My girlfriend has been playing a lot of Funhouse on our virtual pin lately and I'm getting the feeling Elwin was a fan? There seems to be a lot of similar shots in Maiden like the upper left flipper shots, super dog target and mystery location. Also left inlane shatz target and orbits that feed the upper flipper. Also a shot through pop bumpers.

Who isn’t a Funhouse fan? It’s a classic!

A lot of the things you describe I feel are general things Pat Lawlor is known for. I always felt Iron Maiden resembles Twilight Zone a lot, another Lawlor, only much faster. All are amazing pins.

When I first played Maiden it reminded me a bit of TZ but it had been years since I played one. When I finally did find a working TZ recently it really drove it home. The 4 flippers on the main field all used heavily + the leftside pops has a feel that is largely unique vs other layouts. TZ is bigger but a lot of that space is all the toys resulting in a similar amount of space to work with to hit all the shots.

Funny, I own them both and find they feel like they're from completely different universes.

Agree! Elwin and Lawlor are the two top dogs in my book and my collection, but their games shoot way differently.

I finally got a personal best. Not a huge improvement score wise but I didn't have any single big mode, like bringing 3x into trooper, so overall it was my best game by far.
Got Cyborg Multiball for the second time too.

I think I need to start focusing on getting 2x or 3x before going into modes now since that seems to make a huge difference.

PXL_20211230_185229927 (resized).jpg

Hi all, I am having a problem on my Premium. The Ramp fails to lift up exactly once per game to start a mode. It is completely random, sometimes it's on the 3rd mode started, sometimes the first, sometimes the 4th. There is no consistency. It works perfectly every other time it is supposed to go up and down. But once per game when it is supposed to lift to start a mode it simply doesnt fire the coil.

I thought it was a code issue so I just downloaded the new 1.10 code and it does the same thing.

Anyone have this happen to them? Works perfectly in test mode and works perfectly every other time. Thanks!

There is a switch under the playfield that let's the pin know there is a ball under the ramp. My switch was loose causing problems. Your's could be loose or need adjusting.

I'm sure a number of 3 and 4 flipper games were inspiration for Keith, but I've heard him say in an interview Judge Dredd was a big influence, and he wanted to do a modern take. I can definitely see the similarities with the loopable shots from both upper flippers, etc.

I think he was a fan of the Congo through the pops ramp shot too - more than the more common orbit through the pops in Funhouse. I don't recall if was him or not, but I think he has echo'd the sentiment of that shot in Congo being one of the best ramp shots in pinball.

Yea I tried that. It never even lifts up. So I don’t think it’s an issue detecting a ball.

It doesn't lift at all or lifts and won't hold in up position?

That’s why it’s so weird about it. It doesn’t even attempt to lift. Yet every other time it’s supposed to lift it works perfectly. But there will always be one time per game where it will randomly simply not lift up to start a mode

Getting an Iron Maiden Pro again next week and will update my attract mode videos to the latest code version.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/22kQeWCGRzuh7VUn7

$100 for an SD card shipped that is loaded with either the latest 1.10 code or the prior code version before Insider Connect.

For $100, it's a majorly awesome mod that transforms the game when in attract mode.

I also have an instrumental version of all the songs available. Sometimes it’s nice having the option to play just hearing music without his vocals if you’re not a huge fan of the band like me.

If you have a Premium/LE, I could be persuaded to create a version for those models.

Edit - Was asked, so will be creating a version for the Pre/LE models.

I have no idea except to reseat wires on the board that controls that solenoid.

Alright Ill try that. Any idea which board it is ? haha

I don't know but I'll trace it back if you want. I'd try first pushing on all the connections in the back box. Also try testing using the flippers instead of the coin box door as things take a slightly different route

Did you try it in test mode?

Assuming you get the "shoot the underworld" and the red ramp light comes on..but ramp doesn't lift I'd pretty much rule out a software problem. It's probably between the back box and node board or at the back box itself. I hate intermittent problems, they're harder to diagnose and harder to really know when it's fixed. You might contact the pros at Stern.

Yea that's exactly what happens. Ok , I never checked the back box. I will do that next. What did you mean by this? "Also try testing using the flippers instead of the coin box door as things take a slightly different route" Thanks!

Your flipper button will activate the ramp also in test mode. Just try it and see if anything's different. A real long shot. No matter which button you use you need to do it 50 or so times because it's intermittent instead of just a few. I feel though the backbox isn't sending the signal to the node board then to the solenoid...but I've been wrong many, many times. If you can't duplicate the problem in test mode I'd suspect a bad connection in the backbox. You might contact the really smart people at Stern if your problem persists.

You may know this, and if so please disregard,
But what he's trying to say is, is that you don't need to have your coin door open the whole time to run the testing/diagnostics.

Once you open the coin door and enter into diagnostics, you can actually close the coin door (while still in diagnostics). Then, your start button and flippers reproduce the same functions as the coin door buttons to scroll through the diagnostic menus and activate /enter on whatever test you are trying to look at.

Because this menu use is utilizing coin door buttons -versus- flipper buttons, they are slightly different pathways that ultimately lead to the games computer, is what he's getting at.

Personally, I am not entirely sure how the above information will narrow things down for you, probably a bit above my pay grade, and I am not exactly sure what's going on with your intermittent problem, but I am sorry to hear about it and I hope it gets resolved soon.

Whenever I have intermittent issues on newer Sterns, I always start with raising the playfield and re-seating all connectors on the boards that sit underneath the pf, including/especially those bigger cable-looking connectors, not just the molexes. I have definitely experienced on several occasions loose connections of those larger black/grey cables that connect into the boards underneath the playfield. They look like they're seated in, but when you push them in they go in/seat in by a couple more millimeters, so actually they were not seated in well at all.

And just to be clear, when you randomly experience this on your game, and you are spelling Eddie letters, and you get the last Eddie letter and then... nothing? Or do you get the last Eddie letter and it says "shoot the underworld" but the ramp doesn't come up?
Do you hear the words "shoot the scoop/underworld"? Because if the latter is the case, it certainly sounds like a loose/wobbly connection somewhere that is being shaken somehow by gameplay. Gameplay. I would not think the problem would be in the back box, I would think that the problem is somewhere underneath the playfield.

If you sell even one it'll be available here being shared for free almost immediately, like every other code mod.
(Sidenote: isn't charging money for content that isn't yours some form of copyright infringement?)

During Hallowed Be Thy Name I hear "escape light lit". I'm not sure what to shoot for as I don't see anything lit that says "escape".

One thing you can do on the ramp problem is first measure the coil ohms to see if it's far off a normal coil. Then attach a voltmeter the coil leads and leave it hooked up as you play the game. See if you get voltage sometimes but no ramp raise. I've had a flaky coil before. This will at least
tell you if it's a pre-coil problem.
(I'm just throwing ideas out as they come to me)

Pretty sure that's the final ramp shot you need to hit. You first need to hit an orange arrow and then hjit the captive ball. Then you need to hit an orange arrow and drop all three targets. I think the escape shot is the last one where you hit one more orange arrow and then the center ramp.

Thanks!

I fixed it!!! I went through and made sure every single connection was secure. Then disabled the ramp. Then reenabled the ramp. And now it’s worked perfectly for five straight games!!

Yeah!

Right on

So what was it then?
If disabling/enabling fixed it, I would recommend you flash the code with the card image.
That is typical behaviour when incremental updates are not working well. Flashing the card fixes that

Im finally back in the ring.

Will admit to being too addicted to gnr.

Im determined to crack the billionaires club for IMDN in 2022.

I forgot how awesome Maiden is

20220101_201316 (resized).jpg

It has been kicking my butt for the last 3 weeks!
Before that I was rocking 2-3 eddie cards, now I am barely surviving.
Talk about mental game!

I've been in the same boat lately. Sometimes I turn it on and rock out a 800M game and other times I can barely crack 300M. A few days ago I was 2 shots away from the Beast and had a very unlucky drain. Yesterday I wasn't able to cleanly hit the center ramp.

I love pinball...

My machine came in today! I can't wait to set it up and play! Meanwhile I have my crack security team guarding it!

20220104_142136 (resized).jpg

20220104_142152 (resized).jpg

You have Spud's Mackenzie as a guard dog! You must drink Bud Light. Congrats on the new pin. AWESOME game

the pharaoh's guards

I used to collect Spud's stuff. This sign is all I have left.

PXL_20220105_142502626 (resized).jpg

I love your dogs. My favorite dog I had was an all white female that was my shadow. Oh and great choice Iron Maiden.

Thank you, they are both my shadows, they follow me everywhere! When they were 8 weeks old, I set them on the glass of my Godzilla and they would love to watch the ball go around the playfield! They were pinball addicts at a young age!

I did too! That's a cool sign! I still have a giant glass mug, I want to get one of those reproduction neon beer signs they make. They need to bring back Spuds, everywhere I go people yell "hey Spuds"!

It funny you say that, people give them free stuff all the time! When I go through any drive-thru they always ask can they give them ice cream, a hamburger, etc., but never give me anything! LOL! My local Target saw them and asked me to bring them into the store, so I did, and they made an announcement "The Target dog is in the store", I spent 2 hours in there letting all the little kids take pictures with them, they love little kids so they had a blast! Everywhere i go people yell "hey Spuds", but no one has given me any free Bud Light yet!