Better Wolverine than Shittybeast...but yeah, it's goofy.

My idea is this Everyone who owns a X-men or any other stern Speak your mind to the email below. If everyone does this it might get a response. Trust me nobody wants to have issues with any of NIB problems of any games. Also when emailing them state your problems with the software and politely tell them what you like and dislike. Also state in the email how many sterns you have purchased NIB.Give them the Number of your Xmen to show your are a buyer.

[email protected]

Over 30 games played and I still haven't seen Nightcrawler mode. Always at least one hero mode running and I always have a villain lit. I must play the game wrong/differently than others as I can't get it to stop feeling like a clusterf*ck. Even on extra hard eventually I've hit all shots about the same number of times and they pile up anyways.

Think I need to change my expectation of a good game on this machine, completing the modes is really unrewarding anyways. Just not sure what I'm even trying to accomplish at this point. Scores are higher than they were I guess for those that like higher scores!

I suspect the only hope of getting another update within any reasonable time frame is if Stern is convinced there's a significant bug in the current software that needs to be fixed.

They offered this update as a Christmas present (Gary's words, not mine), which makes me think they felt it was not entirely necessary but a simply a goodwill gesture on their part.

If that is the case then step it up a notch. If no one gets a response in 2 weeks then contact Marvel and Disney. They don't like hearing that a product they licensed has a issue. But we shall cross that bridge if we need to.

It should not be a present for a machine to have complete software for a +$6,000 game .It should be expected. So Gary if you got a car and only got heated seats for the passenger side and you were the only person in the car driving, but they were coming soon would you be happy with that.

heres an innovative idea: don't buy a game until its done.

complaining after stern already has your money isnt nearly as helpful... just sayin'. you folks talking about buying metallica or star trek take heed

Does this update go to show that stern could care less about a game that sold out as quickly as xmen did and/or is not a premium run? It seems they only spend quality time on premium games (ACDC/avengers)?

It was during a neutral moment. But should be possible indeed with heroes running now. I'll be sure to keep an eye out.

They care about keeping the factory moving. That means getting the NEXT game into functional shape so it can get built and shipped. If they spent the time getting Xmen right, they probably wouldn't have been able to ship Avengers. They've scheduled themselves into a corner and as Gary has said multiple times "They're in the manufacturing business." ...so, they gotta keep the factory alive. Unfortunately, the more unfinished or low quality code piles up, the less people are going to want to purchase new games. I dunno, I'm the type of crazy guy who just might buy every new release. I would have pre-ordered Avengers if this X-Men situation wasn't going on. I would have pre-ordered AC/DC if the TF situation wasn't going on. I eventually ordered AC/DC after it was updated (and clearcoated) to my satisfaction. I know I'm just one guy, and for every game I don't buy, someone else will...but still...I'm generally good for a sale whether it's a LE or a Premium down the line. I can't be the only one who's got a pinball addiction, money to spend - but won't bite on principal.

..

Count me out on that front... Heed isnt even the word there...,

No more nib, till i see them churning out good quality, relentlessly TESTED, fully working out of the box games, that have an 70-80%ish solid playing code...

till then i will be part of their sales statistics heading in a downward motion...

Its a shame too, cause i'm fond of fresh pinball machines...

Exactly, Greg. This needs its own thread, for concerned LE buyers who aren't following XM code. I also did not even consider ordering an Avengers, mainly because of XM, and that will continue applying to future Stern releases until XM is fixed and finished.

Until we speak somewhat collectively, with our wallets, nobody at Stern will listen. It's obvious from this update that they do not listen to any of our suggestions or forum talk. Let's talk a little louder...

They released this update very quickly. Do you think they would have even had time to listen to people before releasing this first update? It was most likely something that they really wanted the game to ship with and just miss deadline by a week or so and thought it was an important update to get out by the holiday.

I think Stern is trying to listen to us. Gomez was at game works tweaking the machine due to our feedback right away.

Haha stupid iPad I posted last message in wrong thread. Well this message was regarding avengers.

I surely did not order The Hulk mainly because of how XM was coded.

Wow. Was travelling and missed this explosion.

This is EXACTLY why i didnt buy X-Men OR Avengers...

Avengers is miles better than XM code wise. It's a complete game, from everything I can see.

no one likes filthy muties i guess! mutant discrimination i say! those darn lovable avengers get nice shiny code

It really comes down to money. Polished Avengers code equals premium sales galore. Xmen LEs are sold and gone. Really not a financial incentive to do much more(Except for backlash). At this point the kids and I are going to wait to install the update. We are truly disappointed. Planning on picking up an AC/DC premium early next year. After that we are done. Better to wait and see how things work out than to gamble. We were so excited about avengers. We just couldn't buy another machine with poor voice work and little innovation. Stern has lost touch with its' customers and dealers. They are ruled by greed. There is no reason the Xmen code shouldn't have been good. In reality it should have been great. I believe most would have settled for good. To bad it turned out to be a TERD! If they filter the truth from Facebook....Why not just make a community Facebook with freedom of speech? (Stern pinball uncensored.)

This is because you are single clicking on the file and allowing your browser to load the associated program for it. This probably worked for you in the past but the adobe update registered itself as the default program for these files. I hate adobe software.

Anyways, simply use right click on the download link and "save link as". Then after the file is saved, open the zip file from explorer. If it still shows an adobe icon, right click and use "open with" and select the correct default program. This should since it permanently.

Good post. I'd like to add that in most companies, the programmer is told what to implement. Here isn't really a complaint with the printmaker but with the designer of the rules. It's not clear to me that at stern the developer of the software also writes the rules. For a new guy, I would expect the game designer or another senior individual to have a lot more say in the rules.

Lyman is great. But not because of his programming. He owns the games and works on them in his spare time. He takes the stern paid for rules and enhances them as a player wanting them to be more fun.

You're right. Set on hard, the hero stacking is very good and a great improvement. It solves the replaying completed hero problem entirely. Great change and welcomed in my opinion. The change that sucked was lowering hero mode start to one shot. Luckily easily solved by setting mode start to hard.

The reason the update is so bashed is because it was a promised power pack. Instead we hit a tiny update. Had they given this to us a couple weeks after 1.2, everyone would have been thrilled.
Also the first impression after the update is horrible due to the need to set mode start to hard. Had that been done by default, I think the initial impression would have been disappointment that it's no power pack but not outrage they it sucks.

To those thinking stern sucks and are never buying nib again over this, I'm pretty happy with my xmen even if it stays at 1.23 forever. The software on this is pretty good. Sure so much more can be done and I hope they do more. But it's not a deal breaker and not getting more doesn't equate to being screwed etc.

On my Pro machine I seem to be hitting Xavier, which starts find the mutant. Then the up kicker sends the ball down the ramp and that is starting Storm mode. Just me, or is this a software bug?

Same thing on my LE

I think some people, me included saw this problem very early on.. Try adjusting the sensitivity of the storm ramp exit.. Too sensitive and the ramp reacting to the ball landing can set it off and whatever.. I forgot who figured this out originally

Same here...doubt it's a bug.

Code may be better on Avengers, but X-Men SMOKES it as far as layout and flow IMO. X-men is just one good code away from being an outstanding game.. which is why this whole thing is so frustrating.

Have you played Avengers? I wouldn't call XM a flow game.

Why not? Cuz it has tons of flow and infinite combo possibilities. LOL....call X-Men a piece of sh*t for all I care, but acknowledge the fact that it's a flow machine.

I would be up for this as long as the completed mode that is getting replayed doesn't override the other modes DMD animations or audio. So basically it can run....but I don't want to know about it. So what I really mean to say is there is no reason to replay a completed mode before the entire game (final wizard mode) has been reached and attempted.

Replaying completed modes now isn't as bad as it was before (since modes can be stacked), but it still seems pointless for them to be there or interrupt another mode since you have already "been there, done that".

I played 3 games with 1.23 and turned it off! Shame!

It looks like it should flow, but I don't think it does. Tight shots kill flow, and XM has nothing but tight shots. In fact, every single shot outside of Wolverine is a tight shot. I just feel like they wedged too many shots into the layout. TRON flows. Adding two shots killed the flow.

I'm no tournament expert player, and I can link and combo shots in X-Men easily....with about the same frequency as Tron. I'm actually better at doing combos on Tron and X-Men than on AC/DC....hehe. I dunno, I don't really see X-Men's shots as being any tighter than any other game. Most of them are pretty far from the flipper....but again, comparing to Tron, the shot distances are all about the same, really. Eh, I dunno....I don't care anymore lol ...just fix the damn code and murder Shittybeast.

The old requirement to light extra ball (on version 1.2, 1.21 & 1.22) was to light 5 modes (heroes or villains) and they didn't have to be beat. That is definitely not the way it is now as I have had all heroes lit and 2 villains.....still no extra ball. I'm not sure how many of the heroes were lit solid so that may be the key....but that defiantly wasn't a factor up to this update.

I think any game where you can hit an 8-way combo (I know I've made at least an 8 way more than once) is a flow game.

It's not an EASY flow game, that's the rub.

The Beast shot through the jets is a nice, clean shot, but as with any shot through the jets it's a tough shot for some players, and a tough one to see and hit. You have to just hit it strong and *believe* it's going through, and it'll just sing right through smooth as glass. I know I've hit the Beast loop 3x in a row a few times, that's how clean a shot it can be. And it's the strongest feed for the Storm shot, of course. The Cyclops shot is the other which feeds Storm, and if you can nail Beast or Cyclops consistently, then you open it up to amazing flow. A soft plunge also begins Storm-flow, and you get a ton of opportunities at those with all the locks. If you can't make those few intermediate level shots, then it won't feel like a flow game. But Iceman and Xavier are both very easy return shots, so with those alone you can get some minor flow, 3 and 5-way combos.

It's definitely a flow game, but it's not a spoon-fed flow game like Tron or ACDC. The shots are definitely a little more challenging. Which, personally, makes me love the layout more. I have tons of fan games which I can just rape, and sometimes it feels too easy almost. When I start raping XM with those multi-way combos, I *really* feel like I'm shooting the lights out!!

That's one reason why many of us are freaking out on the code so much, the layout is utterly awesome, and now that the magnets are brutally strong (the way they always should've been), it's just a few easy code tweaks from being so much better than it is now. If the layout wasn't awesome, the code threads wouldn't reach hundreds of posts in a few days, nobody would care.

Flow = definitely.

No i got all the heroes lit with 6 completed without lighting extra ball, maybe the extra ball is only tied to the villains now.

i get that to, it is most likely a bug.

I've had and fixed that a few times on prior code, but I do think I saw it again on current and haven't looked into it yet. It could be a bug as I had it fixed pretty good the last time.

You'd think the vuk firing was triggering the entry switch @ storm, and the ball always hits the exit with both shots so it makes sense, so that's what I started working on. But I found it was always the exit switch triggering when the vuk fired that counted as storm for some reason, it doesn't make sense why that would happen, as the ball triggers it anyways and doesn't count as a storm shot then...

Yes...I had problems like this when I first received the game with version 1.1 software, but then realized it was an issue with the Storm switch being set too sensitive and registering when the ball would hit the ramp from the VUK. After adjusting the switch it was fixing these wrongful counted Storm hits....but I have since noticed some after this update.

The way the Storm switch is counted seems silly to me. The ramp entrance switch does NOTHING besides making a sound effect. The way the game normally works (before this update) is that if a shot goes into the Xavier VUK....the game is programmed to ignore the next hit to the Storm switch. If the switch is set too sensitive and is triggered when the ball hits the ramp from the VUK...that will be ignored BUT the actual switch hit of the ball rolling through the storm switch will count.

With the problems with this happening in the new update....I'm guessing they forgot to have that "ignore storm hit right after VUK switch hit" in at least some of the modes. That or possibly having 6 modes that were not intended to run at one time...running at one time has confused the programing a bit.

It seem like the smart way to have programmed the storm switch would have been to only count it as a storm hit if it is coming directly after her ramp entrance switch (or maybe within a certain time of the ramp entrance hit). This may not work well during multiball mode, but I haven't put a lot of thought in any multiball scenarios.

It sounds like just another bug added by this gift of a power pack.

It's the same. But it only counts villain modes. I set it to 4 I think down from 5.

What setting and what are you saying now needs to be done to light extra ball?

If the game still has you to replay completed heroes (even set to hard) the problem isn't fixed in my opinion.

The game either has you replay them when complete or it doesn't have you replay them wen complete. This is not a judgment call. How many shots it takes to start them is not an issue here. It is either...they replay....or they don't....and I believe they still do.

If this is a problem or not IS a judgment call and a matter of opinion, but if they replay or not is black and white and in my opinion it is a problem, unneeded and clutters, a now super cluttered game, for no reason.

Replaying heroes has become irrelevant now. In the last code accidentally starting a finished hero mode sucked because it locked you out of what other things you might want to do. But since they stack, there's no harm in starting a hero mode again. You can ignore it if you don't like it and still go for whatever else you wanted to do. I think the stacking solves the issue caused by previous code where you were locked out. Preventing the ability to replay heroes once completed would suck ass. You would quickly get into a situation where there's very little to do. Plus I enjoy replaying wolverine mb over and like the new stacking to use it to complete other modes. On the previous version, I saw your point with the replaying hero modes but I cannot see an argument against it with the new stacking. In fact, I think the stacking was added to address exactly that. At this point I would be avidly against preventing replaying finished hero modes.

I'd also point out that I know of no other game in pinball that has multiple shot mode enables (vs start mode shot like villains, ij mode start, tz scoop start) that prevent completed modes from restarting. Other games that have these types of modes include spiderman, monster bash, medieval madness, tron, ironman to name just a few. Allow modes to be replayed and it works since they are stackable. That solution now applies here.

Couldn't possibly agree more.

Be prepared to be told that you suck ass at pinball like I was when I posted the same thing.

You suck ass at pinball.

Okay finally got some play time with new code. When set mode start to hard or extra hard it is a pretty darn good update IMO. Changes the game a lot but in a good way. Brotherhood and Hellfire are attainable and the mode start pretty good at hard setting. Mode start left on Medium makes the pin almost unplayable IMO. The mistake by the team was making medium the default setting.

I finally got to and beat Danger Room and beat my previous high score by 100 million. Wish there was a bit more fireworks once complete (dead pool...) but definitely the best game I've had on the machine so far and I must say it is a rush. I think it is clear this is not a flow game like SM but if you own/play XM for a decent amount of time and get used to it flow is very attainable IMO.

Love the game and very grateful for the update. The Villains are at just the right difficulty now which is great. Villains are definitely not a given but I kind of enjoy the challenge. Sometimes it seems when reading these boards that pinheads are an impossible bunch to please. Happy Holidays I hope you all flip in the new year in style.

How do you score big in xmen. I must suck averaging only 10 million a game!

Well, now every time you complete a Hero it adds a 3x Bonus multiplier. Complete Heroes = Score big.

I am great at starting them but I guess suck at finishing them. Also it still seems very hard to finish a villain. Seems like I nailed 8 shots on sentinels and the Mode was still going.

Sentinels is the easiest one to beat since all shots are lit and each time you destroy a Sentinel, it adds time. The rest are a pretty tough race against the clock to hit very specific shots. I haven't noticed if Villain modes add multipliers...don't think they do. One of the things needing fixing in this game is a reason to want or NEED to play the Villains other than the "cool factor" (GI color change, animation, voices, the battle aspect).