UGH, game went from a sharpshooters dream to an ADD sufferers.... Anyone that couldn't figure out what to do before will have no chance now. Really a shame, all those good DMD animations and callouts are pretty much wasted. Storm voice is a non issue for most now I bet, you can only start her through a combo so guaranteed to have another modes random stuff over her.

And good luck ever seeing Nightcrawler again with him being unable to start while villains are lit.
Iceman ramp is somewhat fixed... I still had it moving back and forth during a shot, especially on backhanded ramp shots, but there were four other modes going too so who knows what was going on.

I assume the young guys got kicked off and this game just got Lopped?

Completed all hero modes on my second game, no fanfare or anything was no big deal I guess lol.

Wish they would have just let one hero mode and one villain mode stack, this is constant madness going on now.

Nice to be able to get multipliers now I guess.

Interested in hearing anyone else's thoughts on this... pretty let down myself and will put many more games on it as I always do, but so far this code is a step backwards imo. Pretty much just flail around wildly and you'll start/complete modes bleh.

Probably, I've been against stacking in this game anyways, unless it was 1 hero 1 villain. The hero modes were all so short it was completely unnecessary, and it ruined the animations and light shows.

Anyone seen nightcrawler mode at all? I always have villain lit, and pretty much always in a mode. I don't see it starting unless you work at setting up the perfect scenario.

Any modes running keep going when weapon x starts.
You could always adjust number of shots for mode start in the old coding, just medium was default at 2 before, now medium is one.... silly of them to change it.

Eh I'm one of the few or only that mostly liked the code before. Villains needed some help and some sort of ending to danger room is all I needed. Didn't have an opinion before on stacking modes as I had no experience with it, though I did think it wasn't needed when every mode could already be completed in less than 5 seconds with one shot usually or two for a couple. Now I do have an opinion though, and stacked heroes sucks for me, even with mode start set to hard. its absolutely terrible and just destroys the rewarding feeling I got from completing any of them before.

I liked this game with original code, even more with each change though I did like collecting the characters independent of the modes in original. This is the first time I haven't liked my game yet and that's after 3000 plus games of continuously liking it more... ill be reverting code and living in dread the following updates follow this trend and ill be stuck at 1.22 or sell it off which I never thought I would do.

I'm surprised this was Waison's work, I assumed the original ideas were his and they were pretty unique and showed a lot of thought and integration to the theme. Collecting all Xmen and having to battle Magneto before going to modes, nice epic starts to all modes, villain modes with the health bars and the modes themselves really in line with the theme. This update is the complete opposite of that....

I've never paid a lot of attention to programmers, only had two pins and my last one was KJ on LOTR so I guess I was spoiled. I've only heard bad things about one before now, and that one seems right in line with what I'm seeing here...

Setting it to hard or very hard does help, but if you screw one up and need to restart the mode it takes quite a bit more work. I can't believe they bothered to stack heroes, they were all so easy and fast you could already complete 5 heroes in less than a minute, its pretty hard to tell how much time is left on any given one when multiple are running now.

Completing all the hero modes and getting absolutely nothing for it sucks bad, whats the point? might as well time out all the heros now. I was able to complete them all on the previous code 1 out 5 games or so, now I do it every other game but its soooo lame.

I doubt there are two less used or more poorly used playfield toys on any machine as the Nightcrawlers and Iceman ramp at this point. The entire point and fun of the ramp is to repeatedly hit the shot. Its how it was in original code and it was really fun to nail it over and over and over! It's just been a hindrance ever since.

Going to start ignoring hero modes and only working on villains now, should at least be able to see Dark Phoenix finally.

Eh, even set to hard I had so many modes finishing/starting/blackbird awards piled up at once that Villain selection timed out before I could even pick anything. I guess I've played this so much it doesn't matter what I do I'm going to have stacks on stacks on stacks, and it really screws up all the timers when they keep going while the game stops to tell you other crap.

Personally I find it a lot easier to complete all heroes versus light them all and get Magneto's Super Jackpot to light Danger Room for some reason. Played quite a bit and I still can't get it started. That's on me though, I think I have my Magneto shot tight witht he targets leaned in a bit. Plus either I'm terrible at multiball on this machine or the way its set.... I got from sniping anything I want with one ball to everything bouncing off each other and draining with two or more out.

Ramp isn't perfect and not what I wanted, but it does behave better in general and at least I can complete Iceman mode consistently now without feeling screwed over by it. Lock works great.

Not what I wanted at all, but can definitely understand people liking this update. It changed the game dramatically imo, better or worse will always be the opinion of the player.

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'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...

Really sucks when you have three balls locked and Phoenix and Rogue left to light, no way to light them both before starting.
Also sucks to have three balls locked and any characters unlit and start a villain mode the uses a lock shot. Either have to time it out, give up on danger room, or drain on purpose.

They really shoehorned you into playing villains too, removing the extra ball qualifier from heroes. I still doubt anyone will get close to Dark Phoenix, especially with less extra balls available in general.

I did finally get Nightcrawler once in about 50 games played, have to get him on that first blackbird of the game and avoid starting a hero mode or completing the lanes again or else the villains stack all up. Also have to get lucky, first few times i pulled it off it was a 200000 bonus and a hold bonus award.

Have to light them all from what I've seen, order doesn't matter.

Magneto Multiball already had one of the best purposes in the game imo, it already had the biggest jackpots/ super jackpots in the game. Now it's tied to the only other viable thing worth going for in the game, in my opinion. I consider myself pretty efficient and skilled on this machine and I don't have a chance of seeing Dark Phoenix.

Eh, one of us is confused, obviously you have to lite all the heroes before getting the Magneto Super Jackpot.... its in the notes, its how it plays... have you put much time into playing this?

I was just stating what was actually happening to me in game.... not making up hypotheticals... How does stating what actually happened become moot?

Woot, actually started Danger Room on ball one....

Walkthrough -

Hit every shot twice, flail multiball around trying to not lose any, with a little luck one will go in the Magneto lock after a while.

Funny enough strategy for Danger Room is the same, hit every shot twice, with a ball saver active the whole time.

I really HATE the new code, for me it took out all of the strategy and all the work I put in to be able to flow the shots seems wasted now that I can just flail around and get the same score.

That said, you will love this machine, it will grow on you. I still love this machine. The art is fantastic, the layout makes every shot feel rewarding just for hitting them. It's the rare type of machine that might seem iffy as you get used to it, but put the time in and it will continue to grow on you an amazing amount even after thousands of plays imo.

And you did the right thing getting a pro imo. The Nightcrawlers are wasted now, and will never be used enough to matter imo. The iceman ramp is nothing but frustrating and a hindrance at least so far. The lightshow is great on the LE yes, but half the time its all messed up fighting for time with whatever else its trying to show you. You can get close to the same thing tweaking the pro.

Congrats on the pro to all you guys that picked them up recently, stick with it and you'll love it. And it will make you a better player in general. The code can only get better....now...

I've warmed up a little to stacking heroes. The modes were so short anyways, and I hate the animations/callouts being a f'd up from it, but I guess its fine to be able to rip through and hit everyone twice really quick now. Just a lot different to what I'm used to. do hate the fact that the timers get totally f'd up though, can never tell how much time is left on any of them. And the jumbled mess on the DMD when the ball goes in the scoop after getting everything rolling well.

I really hate that Danger Room is qualified the way it is now though. Danger Room is a training facility for the Xmen, it's got nothing to do with Magneto, especially after he's already been defeated! The instruction card plainly says that Danger Room is opened after completing all the Xmen modes! CHANGE IT BACK! I have a hard time believing that the same person who tied the IP into the playfield/modes/callouts in the rest of the game could say "I know, we'll have Magneto qualify the Danger Room! It makes sooo much sense!"

I DO however like having SOMETHING happening from both collecting all the Xmen and hitting that Super Jackpot. It's very cool to have a multi-tiered goal in any game and I think that's a good way to do one in Xmen.... just NOT Danger Room!

I was already avoiding the scoop in the old code just because Danger Room and Magneto Multiball were the only things in the game worth going for. Now I'm avoiding the lock shots until I'm ready, avoiding the scoop or if I do start a villain, once again avoid the lock shots so it doesn't start before I'm ready. To play the game most efficiently to give myself the best shot at qualifying Danger Room.... the only thing worth pressing the start button right now.... leaves me actively avoiding all these things...

Iceman mode needs to go back to being a timed mode like it was in the very beginning. 2 shots to collect is fine, but let me hit the shot repeatedly for score, EXACTLY like it says it should do on the instruction card once again....

Of course, also like it says on the instruction card.... add the freaking secret combos to build multipliers already. Its on the damn card, obviously it's been planned since the very beginning, do it already!

If nothing else for him, Nightcrawler should be treated like a hurry up mode just like Gambit, X number of shots to the scoop automatically starts him no matter what was lit. Just like it says on the instruction card...

Just have to START the modes BEFORE beating Magneto, don't have to complete any of them.

In the notes it specifically states that you MUST start Magneto Multiball by locking 4 balls. I take that to mean that if you were to start the multiball by hitting the captive ball x amount of times it wouldn't count. I imagine that is the case or it wouldn't have been explicitly stated in the notes.

Do you know if you started the multiball by hitting the captive ball(s) versus locking them?

That is another thing you have to AVOID doing in the current code, but I didn't list it in my last post as I haven't been able to test it yet.

START the modes.... not finish... you can even start the last mode with the same shot as you start magneto with and it will work.

that actually scares me more than anything... if the changes are actually included in the half that was done, this will be the most bastardized code in relation to the IP and original intent via the promo video and instruction card info in the history of pinball imo.

I have a hard time playing more than once or twice now myself...

Before i would play over and over and over. Getting through all the modes felt like an adventure and an accomplishment and felt different every time.

Now if feels the same everytime.... hit every shot twice, go for Super Jackpot. If I miss SJ, relight lock over and over. I don't even feel like I accomplished much when I do it all right. Did it all on one ball a few times now, bleh. Nothing to do after it, try for Villains but it's still not possible imo. And I consider myself well above average on this machine I've put so much time into it.

I'm surprised people are liking this more. Did you not get to Danger Room at all before? Understandable if so as it was quite a bit to do, but if you have the shots down and stayed away from the scoop it wasn't too bad. The only hard mode was probably Iceman with the ADD ramp.

My Wolverine toy actually broke all down his left side along the mounting channel today. I think I've just bashed him so much he gave up the ghost lol.

He flops around, still barely connected on his right but its going fast. I actually like it! Awesome reaction movement from him now! Might try to turn him into a bobblehead type bash toy.

Well, this is the most current Xmen thread so I'll post my Wolverine figure progress here I guess. The other figure thread is now a cesspool anyways lol.

My figure broke apart along the channel in back. My guess is anyone that moved the holes all the way to one side will eventually break the other side off just like I did. Although I may have had a defective figure, the channel itself was stepped in from the body, making where it meets the figure the thinnest part of the whole thing. I also have some air bubbles now that I look at the figure closer. The middle blade on his right hand has a huge one right in the middle that bulges up and also into the inside blade on that hand. I don't notice the bulge in any of the picks of remounts or painted figures that have been posted.

I've got tons of games on mine, I imagine as more games are put on others this is going to be a problem.

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So the gf painted up the figure, and did a hell of a job on it. I thought I would try some things out on this guy since he was dead in the water anyways. Pictures probably speak for themselves, I thinned him up maybe a half an inch or so. After the last pic I had to take a notch out of the bottom to make room for the switch.

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Whoops, wrong pics!

Still have some mount issues to clear up. His elbow is too low and catching balls. And I need to figure out how to get him moved over centered on the magnet a little better. Everyone that remounted him like I did ended up mounting him all the way to one side of that channel or further, with the channel cut out I'm now centered again. Need to slide him over somehow or use some sort of spacer to get him angled a bit.

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I only slotted the holes over so the backplate was right against the edge of the channel, and then down just a bit to pick him up off the playfield some. The entire channel ripped right off during gameplay at some point, as I haven't looked at him in the thousands of plays since and he's been fine. That entire clean cut along his left side in the first pics is just ripped from play! The channel ripped out so he just had a big square hole in the back as was bouncing around.

I finished cutting the top of the channel that was untouched, and the angle higher so he would bend easier then laced him up with zip ties wrapped in heat shrink tubing.

I wish I would have noticed, that channel in his back is way off center to his left originally, we that moved him pretty much moved the mount to center of the figure. So once I laced him up the mount point went back to his left! I need to mount him where the right hand laces are now to get him back in the right spot facing the magnet, though he is much thinner and looks sweet with the "V" waist now.

My ramp is out for powdercoat now, but i'll be going back when returns. I don't really care about score, so the multipliers are a non issue. Setting the hellfire and brotherhood targets to very easy at least lets me play them once per game usually. Only thing i'll really miss is the better working magnets, not that big a deal.

Its too bad for me, but that's the risk I took buying a game on theme, art and layout I guess. Although I guess I could be mad that the instruction apron card led me to believe the code would not be going in this direction either.... its all wrong now... I was one of the few that really liked it before the last update, didn't need much changed for me at that point.

Hopefully more people end up liking the changes so I can sell it I guess