I gotta add, I was jamming on the warp ramp a bunch of times that game. And I know there's no good rules associated with it besides points, but it felt dam good to be hitting that warp ramp so much consecutively. Fun times

Nice one! Why hasn't my brain tought to do that. I blame Bowen for his PAPA tuition (just kidding, love the tuition vids). Going to rush home any try to complete Klingon Battle 1,2and 3.

When will some nerdlinger do a translation of what they are saying in Klingon during this?

Man, I wish I was that good! Not a chance, I am afraid, but I still enjoy it.

I got 112 mil unbox day, rarely get near 100 since it's often hard to follow the ball

Damn.

Someone asked about the rules of missions. So instead of keeping it private, ill open this up for the public so some others can chime in on what i will forget.

more specifically, im going to talk about the level 2 & 3 mission tasks as the level 1 missions are pretty much the same - just hit flashing lights until the timer is out. That said, here we go:

Klingon battle II - Hit the left ramp a ton of times. you can back hand this over and over and over with the left flipper. Very fun to do - love this mission. If you dont hit the shot for awhile, other shots will open up for a brief period. This mission is NOT timed.

Klingon battle III - One shot lights up, hit it and move on to the next shot. I want to say 6 shots total are needed? might be more. If you cant hit the shot after a period, another shot will light to help progress through the mode. The sound effects in this mission are over the top outstanding! This mission is NOT Timed. Klingon battle is one of the easier missions to get all the way through.

Prime Directive II - Hit all 7 major shots. multi-color shots add bonus points - i hope future code makes multi-color shots add time too. This mode IS timed - it has save progression though so if you only get 4 of 7 shots, you will start where you finished next time you begin this mission.

Prime Directive III - Hit all 7 major shots - exactly like PD II. Except there is no save progression. This mission IS timed and one of the hardest to complete.

Space Jump II - make 6(?) shots. Left orbit/ramp & Right orbit/ramp are all lit to start. Depending on which one you shoot first will light the next sequence of shots. For example, if you hit the left ramp - then the right orbit opens for the next shot. This IS a timed mode with saved progression.

Space Jump III - Same as SJ II for the most part. I dont know too much about the sequence of shots in this mission. all i know is its the hardest mission of all 18 to complete.

Save the Enterprise II - I honestly dont know the sequence of shots in this, they seem random but there is NO timer.

Save the Enterprise III - Save as STE II; and NO timer. Save the enterprise & klingon battle are the 2 easiest missions to get all the way through.

Nero II - All about 3-way combos. If you get 3-way combos, you get a 'bonus to jackpot' reward, however i dont think its implemented in the current code. If you dont get a 3-way combo, other shots will still light up for less points. this is NOT a timed mode.

Nero III - Cant remember what the task is at hand on this one and i want to say its NOT timed but cant be sure. maybe someone else can chime in.

Destroy the Drill II - shots will open up on the pf from left to right until all are flashing. Then, they'll start to unlight from left to right until only the right shot is flashing. Then the sequence will reverse itself and go right to left, etc... Lit blue arrows are shots made in the mode, flashing blue arrows are shots that are still attainable. i believe 6 shots are needed to complete. This is NOT a timed mode

Destroy the Drill III - Typically opens with 3 shots - scoop, vengeance, right orbit. One shot will flash multi-color for a few brief seconds for a LARGE sum of points. I think 6 shots are needed total to complete. This IS a timed mode - making it one of the more difficult ones, but the timer is forgiving.

I know i missed a whole lot in this quick synopsis of the missions, but i wanted to throw it out there so others have a good start on tackling this beast of a game.

Few tips:
Klingon Battle & Save the enterprise are the easiest to get through while Prime Directive & Space Jump are the hardest; with Nero and Destroy the drill being smack in the middle.

I used to try and stack multiballs with PD III & SJ III to help get through those tough missions. But i found tackling those with 1 ball is easier and more controllable. I try to save Klingon battle III, Save the Enterprise III, and Destroy the Drill III for my multiballs.

Good luck!

SKB

BTW; We (self included) have really been harsh on the animations in this game. But honestly, the level 2 & 3 animations are done quite well! I think a lot of people bash the animations cause we only see the level 1 ones and the code needs cleaned up on these level 1 animations as theyre a little prolonged and bleed into another mode transitions and end of ball bonus transitions a little too much.

DAMN!! I aint gonna play you for money that's for sure. Congrats.

Legendary stuff Eskaybee. Thanks for that. It's going to be some long nights ahead......

Nice score SKB!

This was my best before trading it

IMG_1171.JPG

Excellent SKB. Playing the game like this makes it much better. I like the idea of add'l time if you make a specific shot. Wish I could remember the few missing links from your rules. Great job, Thks.

Oddly enough, if the code update is as awesome as everyone hopes it will be, then most of this description will become outdated. Here's hoping!

I wouldn't say most. I doubt the update will focus on the missions much - my guess would be the level 1 missions if anything will be altered in some fashion as the 2 & 3 missions feel more solid. If I had to guess what the update would offer, I'd say it'll be focused on:

warp ramp awards
Better away team integration
better use of the vengeance scoring and battle with more scoring capacity with the vengeance modes
more punch it integration
apron shield lights interaction
More combo integration
proper 2x pf shot scoring
Better scoring possibilities for the Klingon double and super jps.
Overall Animation clean up. (Some animations are just too long and clutter the dmd not allowing for a proper scoring display of a mode or shot)
'Some' focus on level 1 missions as well as mission transitions.
More BH awards
Enterprise amok cleanup; dmd, animations, sound effects, inserts, lighting
More color changing lighting integration, cleanup, and effects
Repetitive call out clean up
And of course, Karl urban speech

Figured I'd check this thread out even though my ST Pro (my first pin) hasn't been delivered yet.

I'm really surprised at the people saying they like full motion video clips on DMDs. It just looks like a blurry mess to me. I mean if it was a full LCD screen, fine, go nuts. WOZ and Hobbit clips look great. But there's no way a DMD can capture that level of detail. Hand "drawn" (hand dotted?) art that is created to match the level of detail a DMD is capable of looks so much better.

Something like the character jumping onto the light cycle in Tron just looks kind of shoe-horned in to me; almost like they took the "easy" way out rather than creating something custom/unique for the game. And also the FMV stuff tends not to match the style of the custom animations they do have in the game.

I've only been in the hobby a few years so I'm still "catching up" on playing older games but I'm consistently impressed how good the DMD artwork is on many games (AFM, SS, Who Dunnit?, etc).

Plus if there's ever a ColorDMD made for these games with FMV, I can't see colorized FMV clips looking very good (or being easy to colorize).

Good point. I have spent the evening playing levels II and III, and you are right. The animations are much better with these - very impressed. The music and effects are also better. Worth going through that way than just completing level One, I agree.

I have stopped trying to play all level 1 missions and go for the entire progression for each 'mode'. I'm not a very good player and usually only get through 1 level III mission before my game ends.

Doing this I think is much more satisfying, challenging and fun.

Either way, I think this game is a blast and it is certainly a favorite for folks who come over. Looking forward to updates and, imo, hope they integrate a way to continue to level II and III missions without having to hit a mode start shot first.

Oh, and as far as those scores go above...YIKES! My highest is only like 70 million or so.

Try what I did and change to 5 balls. My skills are lacking but playing more balls in a game opens up modes we (of little skill) don't normally get to.

When your skills progress, switch it back.

Wouldn't it be nice if the code dropped today for Memorial Day weekend.

It's not even close, so don't start even thinking that way. I'm sure we'll get some hints when it gets closer. Then you can play that game.

Ditto. I'm lousy and couldn't possibly get through all the modes on default settings. Things to make the game easier include:

1) 5-ball
2) Change the setting to install "Extra Easy"
3) Install "Add-a-ball" to increase the odds of extra balls.
4) Increase the replay levels from 1 to 4, to increase the number of times extra balls are awarded
5) Moving the outlane post
6) Installing SuperPost rubbers ont he outlane posts

I wouldn't do all of them at once, but there are plenty of ways to make the game easier or harder.

I miss joining the group excitement of a code update. METLE is no longer owned and my STLE is starving for my attention. Hope it's next in line. Enjoy the code update MET owners!!!

I believe the Star Trek code is being actively worked on, how long we have to wait still I don't know, but it's a start.

In the meantime, I'm still LOVING my ST Pro as is

Looking forward to Aurich's custom translite

So now this is the code-update / Aurich-translite waiting room.

FIRE EVERYTHING!!! in I think either Klingon Battle III or Nero III is frikkin hilarious... it reminds me of the old displays from early Sterns like Jurassic Park and Last Action Hero

Shit.

I'm actually working on it tonight though, gonna go do some more painting after I hit "Send post" even. So still possible I could beat the code release!

While I'm waiting for the inevitable update, I'm practicing the shot into the left eject hole. If you can't make that shot you're screwed.

I can occasionally make the Away Team shot, but it's more luck than skill for me.

Robert

what's the secret? I can't make it either.

It's been actively worked on since Feb!

I can get it pretty good from a right flipper cradle, but sometimes it bounces out of the eject. This irks me because afterwards the eject fires but I dont get registered for making the shot...

I put drop dead foam on the deflector and that fixed it.

I may try that or sometimes the deflector is a little too straight up and down; a little bend forward usually does the trick.

Is there a way to have a "mission" just time out and then move to the next? I know it's like-cheating, but it would allow me to get further in the mission structure.

It seems like you either have to hit one of the 2 shots to end the mission, or lose a ball when the end mission light is on...and that only seems to happen sometimes.

Robert

lol, no, it was actively worked on *in* Feb. And then I left it sitting, just ran out of free time. This is why I shouldn't have teased it ahead of time, I normally know better.

I really did work on it last night though.

I think he meant the Stern Star Trek code has been worked on since Feb. Not your awesome translite we're all waiting for.

I meant the code! LOL! Not your translite!!!!

I READ GUD.

And from what I've heard about the code it wasn't being worked on at all until after Mustang code releases. So I think the "active" part is pretty recent.

Well, Steve said it was actively being worked on when I saw him in March at TPF. They had just recorded Urban's work, and were working on gameplay changes as well.

I don't think this code ever stop being worked on completely. Some resources would have shifted, of course, but not everyone on Star Trek had anything to do with Mustang.

Substitute MET for Star Trek, and virtually the same post was made at least 5-6 months before we got the code update.

Just sayin'!

Haha, true, but at least we have public word about it this time, instead of needing inside info from Lyman.

There's one mode in particular that, once I figured it out, was such an awesome "A-HA!" moment that I'm really loathe to spoil it and sort of made me appreciate it if there was a universal accord not to write a rulesheet not only because of the eventual code changes, but to preserve those moments.

Nevertheless, it's really driving me crazy that I can't figure out some of the scoring and limits in the game; like if the spinner and pop levels ever max out, or if the "Pops Now Score 200k" Black Hole award is limited like Super Pops, or if you can cash those in forever.

My biggest wish for the code update would have to be the Virtual Kickback other people have talked about... and some secret attract mode signifier so I could tell when the local operators have installed it!

I changed the timer to 15 seconds for each level one mission instead of the default 30 seconds. It is enough time to still make a few shots while progressing faster. I did 20 seconds at first, then pushed it forward to 15. Test out what time works for you.

I'm enjoying the game more this way. I haven't felt the need to tweak anything on the Level II & III missions. Really looking forward to the next code update. I'm really digging my STLE! Big fun and love the artwork.

Interesting, thanks.

Robert

Very interesting indeed. Gonna try that after work tonight. Kinda feels "dirty," like I'm cheating, but I'll give it a try. Thanks for the suggestion!

I don't think you're a cheating. My guess is kobiyashi becomes worth way less because you issues out ok half the points per mode.

New code should be released by 4th of July.

standing by!

The key to the "Away Team" shot is to release the right flipper as soon as the ball hits it. The flipper will then help guide the ball into the shooter lane.

Personally, my problem is finding the spot on the left flipper that places the ball under the Away Team flipper at all. The shot geometry is crazy tight on it. But you are right - once you can get the ball under the flipper, releasing it immediately will guide the ball right in!

I'll still love you in the morning
Check is in the mail
Pregnant women are beautiful
Just the tip
I'm from the IRS, I'm here to help

My money is on the 4th of September. My STLE is going nowhere so not a big deal either way.

So, in 2 days...doubtful.

Robert