i just messed about with my x men with the glass off and got dr without compleating all the heros
i had all mode options stacked destroyed magneto let the balls drain then on the next ball dr was lit so i dont think you need to compleate all the heros to strart dr

I like this idea a lot.

--Luke

Actually I thought the NC thing was stupid ...seeing them 4-5 times in one game didn't make sense. But considering you light EB if you defeat the NCs...it even furthers the important of keeping 'that' ball in play. If Marks assessment of the NCs is correct..which I have no reason to believe it not...having a good ball and mowing down heros will be an absolute must to have any chance in getting to DeadPool

This game is stacking up to a game that will require long balls times to get through the software. With the randomness of the magnets\spinning disc... long ball times will be few and far between. Instead of long ball times it'll be 'lotta' balls type game. The the NC thing is crucial to stack EBs.

IMHO If the NC thing was intended and not a bug..it shows that the 'pinball' guys at Stern (Sheats...etc) took a real good look at this game

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say in the ever going Pro VS Premium\LE debate. I'm seeing a greater distance between the Xmen Pro and LE...than most other Sterns

On a side note I emailed the 'software' email address about the Xavier\NC Mutant bug. I got an email back from Sheats saying he was asked to look at the bug after numerous emails that morning...he found the problem and fixed it...and will be available in the next update.

You only get an extra ball the first time you complete nightcrawler, its just points after that.

I did not test draining the ball, but considering i noticed it in normal game play the first two games i played... I know I didn't play the entire game in one ball so I don't see how that's possible...

Yep.. that's the one

I feel compelled to comment after playing a couple quick ( and I suck at pinball, so they were QUICK) games this morning before leaving for work....

....XM has THE BEST dot animations and presentation in pinball thus far, bar-none.

Can't wait to see what they'll fill in to DP mode when it's done. Hell, I'm even interested to see what dot upgrade (hopefully) they'll give to the "+3x multiplier" messages after completing a hero. That's a big thing completing a hero mode, would be nice to have something a little more impactful and fun than the boring text, but I'm sure it's just a place holder, like DPs text is at the moment.

That's interesting...Is there another way to light EB?

I know the game I played long enough to see a bunch of NCs..I had 2 EB lights that ball.

Maybe it lit for another reason?

Hi dug yes i am running the 1.24 code did you have all the modes stacked when you tryed it also i had to destroy magneto then let all the balls drain then on the next ball danger room was lit i will have another play tonight

You should try it. I am definitely, for sure not getting night crawlers after every completed mode. There's more to it. It does seem to happen after completing each hero (completed or not already) while on the same ball. But then it stops happening. Something causes that. I haven't taken the glass off to see what.

The points rewards are really cool. It seems to start at 6 mil and then increase by 1 mil everytime you beat NCs. Im not sure if it was a bug or not, but I was using it to my strategy while playing and finding it loads of fun.

Perhaps if you do not beat night crawlers you have to wait a whole 3 more beat characters to get him back. Maybe if you beat him he comes back everytime as long as you continue beating him. I'm not too sure. There's no changelog. Maybe I'll take off the glass and get to the bottom of it.

Extra ball also lights every 3 heros completed, you can change that setting in the adjustments.

I beat him everytime in gameplay and testing, he's really easy....

I am definitely for sure getting him every completed mode from 7 on... Don't know how to do bold if that helps me get my point across.... I did try it with glass off and in gameplay, all I can post is what I've found and I have tested it. Maybe you should try it? Waste of my time trying to explain this anymore, it doesn't bother anyone else that's fine no big deal.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is something else to it, but the fact remains him appearing as much as he is for me in gameplay and testing is way too much and in the way of getting anything else going on, so I thought I would post it and test it properly to get the word out and help others.

I think this was asked before but couldn't find an answer, does anyone know if there is brotherhood and/or hellfire progression?

So now I have a video of the software version 1.24...
I was on a good way, but then my daughter came in to remind me that I had to go to pick up my other daughter... and then I blew it...
But I thnik it is okay to give some impressions.
http://www.flippervideos.de/video/xmen124/

Yes, there is progression saving for both.

I haven't had much time to play the past couple days...just had a lengthy game this morning.

Dunno if you'd call this a bug - but it definitely struck me as odd.

I started Rogue & Nightcrawler together...their NC "back and forths" are at different speeds, and it seems like both NC "rules" are running simultaneously which results in both NCs being up at the same time. Doesn't really affect gameplay negatively, but it kinds monkeys with the illusion that there is one NC and he's warping back and forth.

I have only had a chance to play 5 games or so. I haven't got that deep because I am not even close to as good as Eskaybee (although I think he cheats and plays with the glass off ), but so far first impressions:

Great! I give this release a solid B+. The things I like most:

1) The stacking options. I hated the stacking in 1.23, but really enjoy the default hero/villain stacking in 1.24. My most favorite, the options settings to turn on hero stacking if you want. I will personally never use it, but making stuff optional and up to the player is how you are going to keep the home collector market happy. Big thumbs up to Stern on this one.

2) Bye bye bugs. The majority of bugs that existed in 1.23 are gone.

I know it took a long time for this release, but the amount of programming effort it took to take the mess that was 1.23 and turn it into this was not trivial. Kudos.

Things I hope they put in future updates (echoing a lot of what is already in the thread):

1) Complete the combo, deadpool and dark phoenix features. Would still like to see the end of ball multiplier tied to combos rather than completed heroes once the comboing system is all in place.

2) Sounds like some people find Nightcrawler popping back and forth to be too fast now. Maybe an option to control Nightcrawler speed?

3) Option to have no replay of hero modes once they are completed, reset after danger room.

4) Replace Beast voice.

5) I too miss the 1.1 music. Hopefully it is still in the ROM somewhere, would like it to show up again.

6) I also agree with Iceman ramp needing to stay still in Iceman mode. Having extras on the LE like the Iceman ramp should make play better than the Pro, not worse. I like the ideas posted before of having it involved in a hurry up. My thoughts:

a) Ramp stays in "home" position until Iceman has been completed (so plays like the Pro in this respect).
b) After Iceman completes, the ramp moves to the right (and stays there) for a bonus 30 second hurry up of seeing how many times you can nail the shot, more points being awarded for each successful one.

Sounds like a bug to me. I'd report it.

I'm that guy..., but I like the way you think.

On the PRO, why can't you start a villain when you are in Weapon-X? I can start a villain when I am another hero mode like Beast... is this how it works for LE too? It was a bummer too since I had hellfire and brotherhood ready so I could have picked either

Because you wouldn't be able to use the flippers to choose a villain while in a MB mode.

Or at the very least it would be too chaotic. You can start either mag or wolvie MB while already in a villain mode, but not the other way around.

You must not have played avengers yet.

I have played both and I don't really care for Avengers. Everyone has their own tastes.

Avengers has some stellar character animation on The Hulk scenes, that's for sure! X-Men has more variety though, as it has 30 or so different characters represented with DMD animation.

Lololol! Well, I do have this games outlanes at minimum. It's weird, my hardest game (ACDC) I leave at factory outlanes. Xmen minimum; avengers minimum (but skinny posts not the factory fat ones).

Anyway; I like a lot of your thoughts for future update. Personally, I love that NC is so fast. No stuck balls and more difficult. When he's slow, it's too easy to hit and control. I actually didn't get an EB one game he was moving so fast.

Replace beast voice? I'm in the minority. Keep it.

Seems we all want an iceman hurry up mode with the ramp STAYING to the left. I had beast and magneto both running and the ramp stayed left. Was nice to hit it back to back

True. But xmen is choppy and sometimes can't keep up with the software. Avengers is smoothe which is why I believe it has the best 'presentation' - as the other poster put it.

My biggest gripe with xmen is you still have to repeatedly play the same villain over and over til it's beaten. I would rather see villain modes be one and done and your total points of all the villain modes is the deciding factor of progressing to dark Phoenix or dead pool. Similar to the tv modes of FGY. Personally, this would make the game less repetitious and give that one more game feeling cause you'll want to do better on the villain modes. Goes back to the LoTR analogy - would you like the ring modes if you had to complete them to get to TABA ?

That's odd, because mine definitely did NOT remember when I go to Brotherhood and didn't complete it the first time. Got their a 2nd time and started off with Toad like usual. To be clear, all the other modes did save but I haven't seen it with Brotherhood or HC.

When I tested with the glass of the other day, I completed all but the last girl in BH, requalified and started off with her.

HC I'm not sure how much I completed, but hit a few shots until I saw the healthbar was less than full, drained to one ball requalified and when it started the healthbar wasn't full.

Magneto I did the same, got the health bar down a little, requalified and it was full again.

I don't mind having to complete the Villains - however, since we see that there are two difference Villain insert states...

Flashing - Played
Solid - Complete

...it would be nice if getting all Flashing counted for something and getting all Complete counted for something else. Still, not a dealbreaker IMO. Now that there's progression save & stackability w/ Heroes, fighting Villains is fun, IMO. Before, starting them a 2nd time was "f*ck I gotta play THIS impossible mode again" ...now it's "aw yeah, I'm gonna finish that f*cker this time!!!"

PUNCH! KICK! SMACK!!!

Still f*cking amazed anyone would go to bat for this embarrassingly bad actor with a horrible voice that sounds NOTHING like Beast. I'm assuming you Shittybeast Lovers like the LINES moreso than the actual delivery? Would it be SOOOO BAD if they used the SAME LINES but had them read by a real actor who evoked ***BEAST***, not some personality-free talent-free @$$hole!?

The delivery is terrible, the voice acting is terrible. I LIKE IT. Shittybeast FOREVER.

-Wes

With Beasts current voice I like to refer to him as pedabear. Since he sounds like a creeper and not a hero. ;p

It would be nice if completing a mode was optional, instead of a requirement. Similar to the way Tron works. If you complete the modes, then you have fewer things to do for the final mode start sequence, or just increase the scores. Or, if the mode isn't complete, this might indicate the hero was captured, and when they are all completed, DR starts up and you have to rescue the heros that you didnt complete to fill them out before you can get to the jackpots.

For the villians maybe if you fail to complete the mode then you have to complete more shots before being able to go to Dark Phoenix mode. Tron handles this very effectivley, which is why I think Tron is one of the best games released by Stern to date, next to Spiderman. Xmen definitely has the shot count and variety over every other game so there are a ton of creative opportunities.

Might it be useful to start a thread just reporting on bugs?

First off, I think the code is a HUGE improvement and am very thankful it came out. It is important to try and point out the bugs so the next update can address them. I noticed one last night on the Pro I had professor x going with night crawler and I think a multi-ball or at least a villain (not weapon X). The DMD blanked out for about 3 to 4 seconds and no scores were being tracked then it came back and everything seemed to be okay. Anyone else experience anything like this?

That is awesome I was hoping this would be the case!

Sorry I was wrong, the Brotherhood DOES continue where you left it the prior run. I am absolutely LOVING this pin!! Just got to Danger Room, and finished all the modes except Juggernaut, Shadow King, and HC (never started the first 2, almost finished HC) People should be prepared to do a complete 180 on this pin!!

I have a pro..

- when is extra ball lit?
- when I am playing a mode, the first blackbird award is not "ad more time" anymore
- super spinner is still one of the awards :-/

I like this idea for villains and hero modes. It will feel more progressive and more players can actually move through the game. Like TRON and sea of simulation.

Well, the Heroes serve two functions right now. Playing them (but not finishing them) will allow those heroes to help you during Magneto Multiball by giving you more points (and I think damage) on those shots. Completing Heroes lights Danger Room.

It's not that elegant, but here we go:

Hero Shot inserts:
Blinking - Hero has not been played.
Solid - Hero has been played, and will now help you during Magneto Multiball

"Hero Wheel" inserts:
Blinking - Played
Solid - Completed

I wish someone would clone Lyman so the code can get finished. How long do I have to wait for combos to be in a game and bugs to be fixed?

Just played another game, best one to date, and although the 2nd visit to Brotherhood started off showing the entire group, it quickly changed to Avalanche which is where I ended the first time. And I got to but didn't quite finish the DR, finished all villian modes except HC and Brotherhood. LOVE this game now. I just want to keep going further!

Lol. It's not that I'm a huge supporter of beast. And I don't want to sound like a broken record. But after playing avengers, all the xmen voices seem pretty bad, not just beast (wolverine aside). They really aren't that bad, it's just avengers is so much more smoothe and flows with the game better.

Yes. The lines themselves aren't all that funny. The delivery is. And by the way, since you'll certainly avoid any facts and start insulting me for having an opinion that's not yours, all those old movies you accused me of liking, well I've never heard of any of them. The fact that you knew them says something

I don't get how this made it into the game as it was obvious the first time I heard it how bad the voice acting was. The cartoon version would have been great.

I realize that people don't like Storm, but I also did not like her voice in the cartoon from the 90's so I expected that.

I think the rest of them are excellent, even the minor characters seem to be really well done, I just don't get how they messed up Beast. Even nailing Pyro's English accent which shows there were some hardcore fans working on it.

Fans were definitely thought of with the making of x-men, they didn't have the movie license as a crutch, so they really had to use the material to the max. Got tons of different mutants making appearances in dmd and fx.

-Combos sound like a promising addition (maybe attach bonus multipliers to combos, every shot adds 1x, finish at scoop to collect?)
-Deadpool (roving shot hurryup that awards "completed" status to an unfinished hero or villian, started by defeating magneto SJ)
-Dark phoenix, started by completion of all villians and magneto SJ.
if these things are fleshed out as well i don't see why x-men couldn't breach the top 25 or so.
the implimentation of these things will make or break x-men in the long run, as for right now the game is SOLID and lots of fun thanks to some great updates!

I agree. Tons of potential in xmen. It's a fun pin and is 'almost' great. The problem is, are we going to have to wait another 8 months for a good code update?

As for the movie license; they did have it. They released artwork based on the original xmen series and it looked like crap. Borg didn't like it either and was able to convince marvel to go old school with this pin. Way to go Borgey!!

I am really enjoying playing X-men again FINALLY, I hope the trend continues and it isn't too long before they get close to finalizing it for good. Combo scoring, Deadpool and a few changes/additions to call outs would be awesome! Adding some of the X-men voices when battling the villains would be cool IMO. I just always will want more call-outs and voices whenever possible they are what make the sound and game better to me. More Rogue and Gambit voices are needed, there are too few in their modes, with Gambit being a hurry-up mode he could definitely say some good stuff when you aren't making the shots

Oh and I am definitely on the change Beast voice, it is absolutely horrid. My friends that were over the other day that don't really play pinball asked me what that stupid voice is when I was playing and they heard it. No other comments on anything in the game until they hear him, enough said there, even a casual person listening thinks it is horrid.