What you guys are missing is that the Pro model is for operators. Stern sells the majority of its games to European operators. Not Mike in Missorori or Dan in Delaware ...

If you go to Europe, there are still plenty of pins on site. I was at EuroDisney in France last year and every hotel had at least one new Stern ... Trons, Elvis, Rolling Stones.

Gary is loyal to his European customers. They kept Stern afloat in the tough times when you home users weren't buying the games. Probably the only reason Stern is still around is the orders from France and Germany etc.

Cool!
Dave.

I'd agree with that model. I have an ACDC Premium (with shaker) ... Has all the gameplay features, that's what's important to me. I can live without a special backglass and a $2 certificate personally, to me it's all about the game itself.

As it is, now I'll have to splash out the big money to get an Xmen LE to get the gameplay I want.

Premium would have done the job for me.

Dave.

I don't get it? How can something be "better quality" when nobody has ever owned one? Or even played one? Just saying .....

Delorian promised his cars would be the best in the world .... We know what happened there .. * Cough cough *

Maybe a WOZ will show up in a movie in 20 years and be made famous again "back to New Jersey" hahahaha

Seriously though, hope WOZ turns out great. But how people can say it is "better quality" when it doesn't exist is just beyond me.

Dave.

I agree. I can't see the fuss over a large screen. You can't watch it when you're playing!! You're watching the ball. If you're not, you should be!

The only time I ever look at a DMD is between balls or on ACDC when the cannon is aiming at the targets and the DMD is telling you what the targets are worth ....

Dave.

Check this out! First chance I've had to look at the pics on a big PC rather than my iphone.

Step one ... download these high res pics:
http://www.sternpinball.com/XMen/XMenPinballPhotos.zip

Now, look at the front views of the LEs (full size zoom)... both definately have the PRO playfields! No moving ramp, no magnet disc!

Then look at the side shot of the PRO model. Note the decals have been hastily and roughly applied, heaps of imperfections and join marks, probably stuck over some other old cabinet.

Now, look at the side shots of the LEs ... pretty clear to me that the decals are photoshopped on. Just photos photoshopped on the side of the PRO cabinet. No shadows around the legs, no imperfections, poor match of the front lines, no definition to the bottom of the cabinet ... etc etc

We all knew the ramp was photoshopped in, but I don't think anyone picked up the whole machines are made up? Even the backglasses are photoshopped on.

Which may lead one to believe that there are actually no complete LEs at all ... which means the finished product will possibly be quite a bit different to what these pictures lead you to believe.

Hopefully better

Dave

I would imagine all codes would be done this way. Using an existing framework (that works) and changing minor things to relate it to the new game.

To start with a blank page every game would be time consuming/very costly/pretty dumb

Dave.

Appreciate the response Keith

Yes, I was refering to the "framework" as you called it ... Not being a software guy I don't know what you call it.

But certainly in the industries I came from (sofas, furniture) I would design items around the same "framework" to save costs. ie all the Chests of Drawers I designed for sale in my stores were based around the same few drawer sizes, and all used the same "drawer inners". All the sofas used the same bases which were designed to fit sofa bed mechanisms. They just had different arms screwed on the sides. And different backs and cushions.

Of course, the customers never knew this, like software the inner workings of furniture is unseen and unthought of. Unless it fails ....

Dave.

Honestly, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Personally, I don't know why you'd want an LCD anyway. DMD works for me. I watch the ball

Cheers
Dave

I think that would be ok. Don't like the look of the WOZ LCD at all.

And looking at the display sample on the current WOZ post, the way they have divided the screen into 4 I can't see how you would see those small numbers and words anyway? DMD would be better than that ....

Dave.

You can always be relied upon for the good info

Personally I don't care who does what voices but I'm not an Xmen or comic book guy.

It's all about the pinball!

PS my Magneto is evidently shipping to New Zealand this week.

Cool!

Dave.

Classic.

Dave.

Just unboxed Magneto 126. First and only Mag LE in New Zealand.

My mate Mikey in Christchurch has bought the only Wolverine.

First thoughts ....

Good:
1/ lovely clear coat on the PF. Best I have seen on any game.
2/ they have "modified" the Wolfy toys arm so it doesn't trap balls (as in Clays video) Looks like they have simply put the figure on a belt sander and flatted the bottom of the arm. Plenty of clearance now.
3/ LEDs look awesome
4/ no faults on firing up at all. Plug and play. As it usually is (and should be)
5/ cool backglass.
6/ cool decals.
7/ only had a few games but seems to have some nice shots. Not getting into playing it too much until the code update. Then I'll get into it some more.

The bad:
1/ as per Clays video the leg bolts were already showing wear from bad threads. Stern, get a credit from your bracket supplier and return your stock!!
2/ the new balls are crap. Straight into the bin. Wouldnt put them in a Street Fighter let alone a new LE machine!!

Sweet.

Dave.

I've had Nightcrawler 3 times in less than 30 games so far. Completed it last time.

Dave.

Sounds good to me too.

Dave.

Errrrrr I think it is the other way around. Very few have issues ... The majority of machines are fine.

Dave.

Flasher bulbs are 20 volts, they run from the coil circuit.

The standard 555s and 44s are only 6.3v

So not a good idea to put standard LEDs in the flasher circuit. Unless you have a large supply

Cheers!
Dave.

Yeah, that can happen when you put 4x more volts through something than it was designed for .... lol!

Imagine putting 440v (in the USA) through your refrigerator

Dave.

Funny ... Cause on the maybe 100 games I've played I've had no SDTM off the pops at all. Nada.

I haven't played mine much, no point until the scoring works.

Still playing ACDC

Dave.

I can generally get the MMB running in 4 or so shots. Just "skill shot" shoot it, then bang it into Rogue each time. Bang bang bang Multiball.

Of course you can't build up your jackpot this way but it doesn't matter cause you don't get the points at the moment anyway LOL

Dave.

O
M
G

Just installed the new software. What a difference it made.

It was cool before. It is a whole different level now.

I got Nightcrawler from the scoop, and started MMB straight away ... They ran concurrently real nicely.

Dots - awesome
Sounds - awesome
Music - custom and awesome
Gameplay - awesome
Magneto Cabinet Art and Backglass - awesome.

If games as good as ACDC, Tron and Xmen keep coming out, it will render the games of the 90s obsolete. I can honestly see me having an all Stern line up. I could have a lot smaller house
Dave.

Mine were awful and dull. Same as ACDC was. I put them straight in the bin.

Maybe Stern read the comments about this when the first LEs came out and changed them for the later shipments?

I mean, really, we're talking $1 or $2 bucks of balls here ...

Dave.

Thanks for taking the time to make these vids!

Really helps with the Villain modes to know where to aim instead of flailing away ...

Imagine completing all those modes with the glass on ... That'd be an epic game ...

Dave.

Cool video. Stern are really picking it up with PR like this.

Dave.

Right-o. Yesterday, I was getting so frustrated with miss hits bouncing off the ramp posts and going down the sides (particularly down the left drain) I was about to chuck the machine off the balcony. So I decided to try something.

I took the rubber ring off the left post. Hardly earth shattering ... but boy did it make a difference. Now if you hit the post, the ball comes right back at the flippers rather than going god-knows-where (drains, magnet-->drains, magnet-->SDTM) Any failed Cyclops shots also fall down towards the flippers, rather than down the left lane. I will put a Cliffy colour sleeve on here eventually.

I also closed the outlane posts right down, and thats made a big difference too. You can shake the ball back up now, you couldn't before. Also gives you some leeway with nudging.

I hardly ever modify my games play wise .... my Ironman is exactly as it came out of the box. But something needed to be done!

Had 4 games with the above mods. Best score on totally factory 3 ball settings (the only change is to free play) is 45m. Had all the Xmen lit solid except Iceman who was flashing. Had 3 flashing Villains, almost got Juggernaut, had his helmet off but just ran out of time. Dohhh.

Dave

photo_1.JPG photo_2.JPG

Here to help

Happy to hear more feedback for the $0 RotorDave mod .... best $0 you have spent today .... possibly ...

Dave

This is the only way to do it. The ball doesn't lie .....

Dave.

If you do that, you are just leveling the glass.

The playfield is often very different to the glass. They are not attached to each other ....

There are a lot of factors that can also affect the playfield angle, most commonly binding at the front. Some playfields are also very tight in the cabinet ... My Xmen is very tight, it already has some scratches up the left hand side of the cabinet where the playfield has rubbed when lifted.

As previously mentioned, the best method is to take a ball, hold it up the top of the playfield and let it roll down a few times. The angle will soon become obvious.

Sweet!

Dave.

Me too.

I got 73m today. Completed all but two of the Xmen and the other two were flashing. Got 3 villains too ... Juggernaut, Sentinels, Omega. Had brotherhood running too ... Boy the shaker goes nuts at the end of that stage! Just drained though ...

I haven't played mine as much as a lot of you guys (it's in my 2nd house) but mine has no scoop wear, pits, holes, nothing. Probably 300 odd plays on it now I guess, maybe a few more. Was 200 last time I looked ... Could be up to 400 I guess.

Had 20 people around there last night for a pinball meet and comp .... First time seeing an ACDC or Xmen for most of them. They LOVED them both.

They all thought Xmen was too hard though. Which it is for the average player. Very tricky game. Especially if you don't know the rules. So I ran up 73m and showed them how to do it

My theory as to why there are a few Xmens up for sale ... It's just too hard for the owners to play. A lot of people just can't handle having their ass whipped by a pinball machine. I've seen it heaps of time. CFTBL is a classic example, it kicks people's ass and they sell it. They can't handle the defeats!

Dave.

Nahhhhh it doesn't suck.

If it remained exactly as it is now, it's still a very good game. Just a very hard one. Too hard for 99.8% of players.

With a bit of polishing, it'll be a real winner. Off the top of my head...
- opt out of villain modes from the scoop
- some sort of combo bonus (the combos rock)
- combos destroy villains faster
- more Night Crawlers. Maybe after 4 Xmen completed?
- some sort of bonus X other than random award
- more instructions on screen OR using Juggernaut as an example, make the Bonus Increase shots a different colour to the Hit shots. I was shooting Phoenix and Beast for ages wondering why the damage bar didn't move until I read some rules on Pinside.
- hits to Brotherhood and Hellfire are always counted in every mode

Hmmmmmm think that's about it off the top of my head.

PS the feedback from the people at my pinball meet on Saturday has been overwhelmingly positive about Xmen. They loved the art, playfield, shots, and feel. Just found it a bit hard but it was the first time most had seen an Xmen let alone played one.

Dave.

Well mine hasn't broken down once

I got to my apartment tonight, and cracked on Acdc and Xmen.

A couple of games into Xmen and I was loving it.

The thrill of nailing the tough shots and putting some sweet combos together is just great.

Still on dead factory settings (except free play) ... No cheating in my house. Almost got to Danger Room again tonight. When I get there on the factory settings, the payoff will be even better.

Sorry RobT .... I'm loving Xmen. It's f**king great.

Dave.

Mate, with this game I take every hit I can get

Dave

Same here. You really need to tighten those buggers hard!!

Dave.

"Greetings and Inebriations" ......

Dave.

From: Gary Stern
Sent: Wednesday, 26 September 2012 9:31 a.m.
To: Gary Stern
Subject: Code Power Packs

Dear Ladies & Gentlemen

I am writing to let you into some of our plans. Some of you, our direct customers, have asked I do this. In the future I will periodically.

We have been asked if we will again this year, like last year, create holiday season Power Pack code updates for any of our games. Power Pack code updates add and/or change rules and features. We did such a Power Pack last year.

Again this year our Christmas present for our game owners will be Power Pack code updates for X-Men and Transformers, Pro and LE.

We hope everyone will enjoy these Power Pack and that these will rejuvenate earnings on games that have been in operation for many months.

Best regards,

Gary

Gary Stern
President
Stern Pinball, Inc.

Exactly. Sheeeeeesh you guys are hard cases!

When I posted Gary's email here I thought you'd all be happy. We get a cool new code in a few months. It's confirmed.

Instead you are all throwing your toys out of the cot like spoiled babies.

Unreal.

Dave.

I have my moments ....

Dave.

I'm loving my Magneto.

I threw in a couple of LED flashers which look cool IMO.

Two blue ones positioned in the "storm" back board... One on each side, tilted the bulbs towards the centre. White and blue lightning!

I put two blue LED flashers in the Spinner. And left the two red standard ones there. So now one red standard bulb and one blue LED flash together. Makes a cool effect. Much more noticeable than the standard flashers which you could hardly see.

And I put a blue LED flasher in the Gambit flasher. Looks cool. Red would be cool there too.

I did the ramp post mods with dark blue Cliffies. Looks much better. Should be done like this standard IMO. No reason at all to use those two mismatching posts that came from the factory. Yuck!

So probably $20 spent in total, makes a big difference. Bang for your buck mods!

Dave.

10k (posts) by Xmas!!

rd

Post of the year Pete. Congrats.

Same thing happened with Transformers and Avengers.

A couple of guys on an Internet forum make a ruckus about some aspects they don't like and everyone thinks the game is a clanger.

I have a lot of pinball machines .. The ones I play most often?
Transformers LE
Avengers LE
Xmen LE

People come and play these games and say "hey, I read this is crap! But it's great! Can I buy it?"

The main problem is people believe what they read in the press and on the net ... And like sheep, they follow blindly.

rd.

I wonder how many posts there were before I started crapping on about "how great Xmen is and it'll become a classic"

rd.

The simple facts are, LOTR is way overrated and Xmen is way underated.

There. I said it.

LOTR is a snooze fest next to Xmen. I played LOTR the other day, after about 40 minutes playing it, I just lost interest. Maybe it's just my mental capabilities can't handle playing one game for 1-2 hours. Probably the case.

rd.

Just for shits and giggles, I decided to give LOTR a crank this morning to see how long the game was.

45 mins. It was a pretty decent game, with a 40 sec destroy the ring and TABA.

so maybe the average LOTR game is not as long as I thought. Maybe 20-30 mins?

image-427.jpg

image-713.jpg

image-688.jpg

On BSD and IM 10 minutes is a marathon game lol

rd

Come on Wolfie old mate ... we know you lovvvvvve the penis!

rd

No, not me buddy. Got close once though.

In all reality I don't play Xmen as much as I'd like as it is up in my apartment in the city.

If it was in my house I'd be thrashing it every day.

KME has probably been to the end of the game. More than once I'd guess ....

rd

Or like this? (The Avengers is at home though...)

rd.

image-23.jpg

Personally I don't like stacking on ... It makes the game far too easy IMO.

In the old codes, you only had to start all the Hero modes with the "stacking on", whereas "off" you need to complete them. I presume it's still the same? Thats much easier than having to complete them all.

I much prefer being kicked in the nuts when I miss DR by one hero every game lol

I've been to DR "non stacking" 4 or 5 times but I haven't completed it yet... And I got one Villian away from Dark Phoenix. Challenging game!

rd.

Playing lessons.

seriously, a wolverine figure that was 2/3rds the original size would be the best mod you could ever get.

rd.

The basic rules of pinball apply ... Hit the flashing shots.

Xmen - start a Villain then a Multiball = good.

If you are playing a Hero mode, the featured Heroes shot is the one to go for if you can as that does more damage.

Read Rcades rule sheet if you want to get really into it.

rd.

You wanna play at Lyons Classic or IFPA against dudes like Keith Elwin and all the hotshots.

After my last attempt I was thinking of going to the psychiatrist I was so mentally damaged lol

Seriously though, you need to put 500 games on it, not 15. You ain't gonna master any game in 15 games. Go hard!!!

rd.

Maybe you are getting a little confused here (easy to do...)

When you "choose a Villian" and play the mode, that Villian will be flashing.

If you complete it, it will go solid.

So if you have 3 or 4 flashing, that means you've started them but not finished them. You can only have one Villian running at a time. However, you can start a Hero when battling a Villian. A good tactic is to start a Villian (especially Sentinals which is a X number of hits mode) and then start Wolverine Multiball which will help finish the Villian.

You can go back and complete each villain mode. All villains have some completion memory so when you go back again, there is less work to do. You won't always complete a Villian in one go. I dare say most people won't.

When you do complete a Villain (or a hero for that matter) their light goes solid. Solid = good!

Nice!

rd.

I think this is a no brainer. For $12,000 you can buy the XMen AND a Tron Pro.

I had a Tron Pro and lucked on to a LE for not much dollar difference. While the LE is cool, there is no way I would pay double the Pro price for what is basically (95%) the exact same game play wise. The Pro is the way to go.

Tron LE for $12k? If you must have an LE, get a HUO one, several have been listed lately for under 10k. But I wouldn't pay that either. And I definitely wouldn't oay $7000 for a pro. Wait for one at the right price. Patience pays off in this market. Like the STLE that just sold for $6000. Wait for a deal and it will come.

rd.

no such thing as "only one spot.."

You should know that more than most, Pete ...

rd

Thatd be a good move I reckon.

I just sold my STTNG. One of the most overated pins in my opinion. But ... thats me.

rd

Tell me about it.

I wanted to quit some of my machines and my wife got pissed at me and wanted to turn our 4 car garage into ANOTHER games room.

I just had to put my foot down.

rd.

Best use of a shaker in Pinball, IMO. Awesome when it comes on.

One of the other Villians in Brotherhood has good use of the shaker as well.

rd.

Persevere and XMEN will make you a better player.

Or, just be like some others and sell it and claim it sucks (because they suck!!) and then they go buy ST with its 4" wide ramps so they can shoot them all day and feel like a winner!

Just take some time .. Have some practice games where you just try and learn say the three shots on the right ... Cyclops, iceman, phoenix. Take the glass off if you want. Stop the ball on the left flipper and learn the angles for the three shots. Do that for a few days.

Then, do the same for the left hand shots. Firing the ball cleanly around the "beast" loop is pretty sweet. Especially when "gambit" has just started counting down. As soon as I hear the gambit music playing, boom! Over to the right flipper to line up the shot. Big points if you can pull it off.

Your practice will pay dividends, I promise.

rd.

Thanks. We all know who they are too. Some of these guys did the same thing with Transformers too.

Hey, I don't like WOZ (at all!!) but you don't see me going into the WOZ threads and posting crap and thumbing down posts.

At the end of the day, everyone has the right to an opinion (I like Xmen, they don't) but pissing on someone else's opinion for the sake of it (all the time!) is a bit lame.

rd.

I was just testing and videoing Judremys captive ball mod he's been working on for the last few months.

I was just belting it around to show the shots and a bit of gameplay for the Xmen newbys, and whattya know, I got to Dark Phoenix for the first time and completed it. I was also one mode from Danger Room but couldn't complete Iceman for the life of me.

I got it all on video ... Itll be a day or two before I can get it on YouTube but I'll let you know when I do.

I'm going to start a new thread on Judremys mod, I think it's the way to go.

Sweet
rd.

Honestly, I'm surprised you still own it.

All you've done since you bought it is complained about it.

rd.

Well, I believe your wait may be over.

Here is Judremy's Captive Ball Solution

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/judremys-xmen-wolverine-solution-with-gameplay#post-2151723

I will post up some gameplay shortly as well on that thread ... including Dark Phoenix.

rd

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/judremys-xmen-wolverine-solution-with-gameplay#post-2151723

I posted a video a few weeks back which was one hero mode away from the final wiz mode. Has Dark Phoenix too. 3 ball factory.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/judremys-xmen-wolverine-solution-with-gameplay#post-2151723

PS the captive ball mod is excellent, can't recommend it enough.

rd.

No reason to have him there now. Throw him away.

Install Jeremy's Newton ball bracket and he is gone forever.

No reason to moan then ... Game is as Borg designed it originally.

rd.

No. It makes the Beast and Xavior shot "as they should be"

It makes Wolverine slightly harder to complete, as the target becomes smaller.

With the byproduct that you're not starting Wolverine all the time.

If you watch the video linked in the thread above, I talk through everything.

rd.

How is it difficult to place two small orders in order to radically improve your game?

Jeremy has even provided the parts numbers.

Jeeeezzzzz

rd.

I rarely buy from Marco as they are a rip off. Here are the parts numbers from Pinball Life.

Yes, I forgot yours had the threaded posts. I'm sure Pinball Life sells those too.

That's the beauty, you can do it whatever way you want.

rd.

The beauty of the captive ball mod it that it is completely reversible.

Just keep all the old parts, and slap em back in if you don't like the captive ball.

But once the change is made, I doubt anyone will go back.

Balance of the game is much better.

rd

Hmmmmmm where to start .....

It's a challenging game. I like challenging games.

Lots of shots. Tight shots. Makes you play better.

If you go back to the beginning of the thread, you'll see I liked it from the start. A lot of others bought the game, found it too hard, then their egos told them if they couldn't play it properly, the game must be crap. In truth it was them that was crap. . At one stage, probably a year after release, I was one of the only guys pushing how good the game was.

There's been a lot of crapping on the code, and in truth Stern was very very slllllowwwww with the code updates. But nothing has changed in that regard, check out STLE code ... But Xmen still had the killer layout.

Awesome art too. I have a Magneto and everyone who sees it just goes wow. I'm so happy they used the cartoon characters rather than the Movie guys. Movie guys date fasssssst. The art on Xmen is timeless. I was in a comic book shop with my daughter a while back, I showed the owner pics of my machine and he almost pissed his pants he thought it was so cool.

I think in say 5 years, XMLE will be seen as one of Borgs best games. If not the best. So much going on, so many modes (two different sets of modes for starters) Whereas a game like Ironman is basically using a hotrodded System 11 ruleset. And hey, nothings wrong with that! I love my Sys11s!

So, after all that blathering, I guess I could sum it up thus ...

If you like to aim the ball correctly and nail the shots as required (or learn to do so...) Xmens one for you.

If you like to flail the ball around willy-nilly and hope for the best, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.

rd.

I like Tron. But XMen is better.

rd.

I've only played the pro once. Seemed fine. Grab one if you can.

Has DugFreez taken over Judremys account?

LE is cool IMO. Everything is sweeter. Moving ramp is cool. Pop up nightcrawlers are BOSS! Spinning disc is BITCHIN! Love it.

rd.

Better buy a Getaway or No Fear then.

rd.

See, all my crapping on about how sweet it is finally rubbed off.

rd.

This is true!

Because there are only two Wolvies and two Magnetos in NZ. And two Pros I think.

Never been one for sale.

rd.

I never read any rules before I did it either ... Just seemed to be "shoot lit shots" and I completed it which was very sweet. It just happened to be the game I was video recording to show the captive ball mod which is linked in this thread. I've never watched it again so I don't know how I did it.

rd.

Danni hasn't played a lot of Xmen for one reason or another.

Today I coached her through a game and gave her some tips.

Straight to Danger Room and 175,000,000.

rd.

image.jpg

Party time!!

rd

Well, she is the 3rd ranked player in New Zealand, so she knows how to smack a ball around.

(So to speak....).

And being still in school, she's like a sponge when it comes to rulesets etc.

Just like Escher Lefkoff, he was teaching me rules for games I've never played before when I was playing with him at Lyons Classic Pinball. "Hit the spinner all day ... It's all about the bonus!" He would say.

Us old dudes, our brains are too full already, no room for any more stuff to go in there ...

rd.

Welcome in, Frax.

What you need to realize with the Wolvie mod, is that on the LE version, the way it shipped from the factory, the Beast shot was not shootable in a lot of the games. Wolvie is so far left (mounted incorrectly from the factory) the shot is closed up. Stern realized they Fd up and moved the routing on the pros.

If you visit the fist pages in this thread (I've been here since day one..) we were slotting the figure to slide it to the right to open the shot up. This then closed down the Xavier shot. Both shots were very tight, too tight for a lot of people and they bitched about it and ended up selling the game and ripping on it for the next few years.

The captive ball was the original Borg design, you can see it in the blueprints that are in this thread.

The captive ball is a great trade off ... It opens up beast and Xavier, but neither is a "gimme" ... They are still tight shots. Beast is now like shooting through the pops on Addams or Tron I guess.

Whereas the Wolverine shot is now A LOT tougher. With the huge figure in place, Wolvie is a gimme, and people were complaining "Wolvie multiball starts too much". This problem is solved with the captive ball. In fact, it is now pretty difficult to complete Wolvie Multiball, you need to really focus on it, whereas before (stock) you can just flail around and it will complete itself every time.

My 10c.

rd.

Nah, the LEs were made first on Xmen. I got one of the very first ones, air freighted from Stern to my distributor in NZ.

Whether the routing was planned different from day one, or changed later, only Borg would be able to tell you.

rd

Yeah, if it was just scaled 25% smaller, there would be no issue.

rd.

Do a factory reset.

Factory ... No hero stacking. Stack them with Villans and that'll help you with completing the villains.

Stack Sentinels with Wolverine or Magneto Multiball and it'll finish itself.

Enjoy.

rd.

Everyone knows I am the biggest XMen fan out there.

On my LE, I can get a decent score every game. And as per my video I uploaded to the Captive Ball Mod thread, I have been to the wizard modes (not to the very end though...) more than once.

But I would like to say that when I played Xmen Pro at the Swedish Open, the IFPA World Champs and a couple of pre-comps ... I got my f******king ass kicked. lol!! I don't think I got over 10m on any game.

Dunno what it was .. nerves probably. I tend to just crap myself during competitions.Maybe I need to see a shrink.

Now I know why people hate the game!

If you're not playing well, this game will whoop your ass.

rd

How is the Pro faster? It's near identical.

Only changes are spinning disc and moving ramp. They don't slow down gameplay at all. Pop up NCs maybe, but they are rarely up.

ACDC pro is faster than Premium/LE, no question... Due to no drop targets to slow the ball down. The ACDC pro in Sweden IFPA venue was possibly the fastest machine I have ever played. However I still managed 59m.

rd.

That actually replicates the "feel" of the captive ball mod.

The post is about the same width as the captive ball.

I also played with the post only before I did the ball mod.

If anyone is on the fence about the captive ball mod, you can take off the figure and play with the post, and it'll give you a very good idea of what it plays like. Put some insulation tape on the post if you don't have the foam, it'll save the ball from damage.

rd.

Simply check on Sterns website for the latest version of the code. Your version displays on the DMD when you power up the machine.

Do a "factory reset" on the machine, and that will make it "as it should be" and wipe all the high scores as well, so you can start afresh.

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Aim for the flashing lights.

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Tip of the day: don't push send twice.

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Just had a nice game.

Dark Phoenix completed, and one mode away from Danger Room (and presumably the final wizard mode)

Funny how in Xmen, for me anyway, there's always one shot that doesn't work for you in a game. In the video I posted of Dark Phoenix (on the captive ball thread) I couldn't get Iceman. In this game, I didn't even start Storm at all. Sometimes it's the Xavier shot. Weird.

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I've nearly done it twice ... One hero away both times.

I confirm that I had 3 extra balls in the latest game ... The second nightcrawer didn't award an extra ball (and I'm pretty sure I completed it). Complete factory settings, presume on the latest code but I'm not there to check it.

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Don't like this one. If you really want to get to DP, then just set your machine to 10 balls and you'll get there no sweat. Wizard Modes should be hard to get to. That's why they are called Wizard Modes. Not "anyone can do it every game modes"

The big challenge for me is to get to a wizard more on factory settings. That's what I try to do every time I play a game. Of course, 49/50 times I don't do it, but that makes it extra sweet when you do make it.

Again, don't see the need for this. Completed Heroes require extra shots to start them, so they won't start unless you keep shooting them. And if they do start, finish them and get more points. More points = good!

I like this one.

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I *think* you'd need to cut the belt off so the height is ok so the glass can go on, maybe someone else can confirm.

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Stand by ... I'll do it in the weekend and report back.

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As I've said repeatedly, it doesn't make it easier. Some people say it makes it harder. It is now hard to finish wolverine. Danni started it three times the other day and didn't finish it once. We had League night at my apartment an NOBODY finished Wolverine at all. You need to hit the captive ball 90% square in the middle, on my version at least. That's a 1/4" wide target, probably. Standard Wolverine figure is a 2" wide target.

Yes, it opens up Beast OR Xaviour a little (on the LE, as the figure blocks Beast standard or maybe Xaviour a little if you slot the figure) However I don't think the shots are any more open than the Pros I have played. They are tight shots even with no figure fitted at all.

Someone with a Pro asked me about the mod ... I told him no need to do it unless your wolvie is busted up. On the LE, I think it is a good idea. In no way does it somehow make it easier.

To confirm this, I think I have been to danger room once (maybe twice) since I installed the mod. With the standard figure, I probably got there 1 in 3 games. Wolverine usually take 2-3 goes to complete now.

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Agree with this sentiment.

If someone starts paying a manufacturer to fix things, that creates a dangerous precedent. You wouldn't pay GM or Ford to fix your car if the suspension wasn't to your liking.

Actually, while writing the above "car-anology" (TM RD) I sort of thought, what needs fixing? Nothing particualy wrong, you just want a few minor things done code wise. So, maybe a couple of ideas would be:

A/ everyone get together and formulate a definitive list for what you want done.

B/ everyone spam Stern and keep asking them to implement the above changes. I think a XMen Pro could be a future Vault Edition, with a couple of changes and the new LED lights like IMVE. Maybe tie a new XMen VE into a new XM movie release with new graphics. So it could be well worth the effort for Stern to spend some hours and update the code.

C/ if that fails, I'm sure someone on Pinside is a clever clogs and can change the software. You can change the songs, next step is to change the rules. Not something I would know how to do, but I'm sure someone could do it. Lots of clever dudes on Pinside.

my 1c worth.

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Hey! That was encouragement!

Miss "I stand on one leg!" lol

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She's working on it ....

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double post. What's with that?

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Just send me a check for $50 and you're in. PayPal is ok too.

Start by reseating the 2x molex connectors you can see on the opto boards on the ball trough. Then remove and reseat the three (from memory) molex plugs that run from the ball trough assembly and plug into the main wiring harness. Try that for starters.

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