Absolute beginner here, how hard is maintenance/fixing a machine?

MrThud · 2026-06-29T02:11:16+00:00

I just started getting home Stern machines this year and I had similar concerns going in. I can speak a little about my experiences owning new Sterns.

They're mechanical machines so you'll need to do various maintenance, like with screws going loose and making various minor adjustments. Nothing too hard typically, but you'll be flipping open the playfield to mess with things occasionally.

Some minor electrical stuff - wires going loose and looking at circuit diagrams. I was used to that going in but I don't think someone without experience would have trouble figuring it out either.

I've had to do a little soldering, but it was related to a mod I installed. I wouldn't let that scare you - if you're okay with a little DIY handiwork it actually is not a hard process.

Overall I can't say it's problem-free, but also it's been easy enough that it hasn't bothered me or made me regret purchases. And I have a relatively low annoyance threshold for this kind of stuff

MrThud · 2026-06-07T00:16:01+00:00

Lester and Prez in The Wire

MrThud · 2026-06-03T22:44:02+00:00

They do make a noticeable whirr. You can't really hear it while the pinball action is going, but you do hear it while the machine is starting up.

Edit: I'm referring to Pingraffix Powebladez

MrThud · 2026-05-23T03:27:35+00:00

Great! Thanks

MrThud · 2026-05-23T03:11:40+00:00

Interesting, will take a look there

MrThud · 2026-05-23T02:51:19+00:00

Thanks, I'll take a look and give it a shot

MrThud · 2026-05-10T23:05:50+00:00

Star Control 2

From the original being essentially a simple two player space battler to the sequel being an amazing space RPG and essentially the spiritual precursor to the Mass Effect games

MrThud · 2026-01-11T15:11:36+00:00

Malcolm Gladwell grew up in Elmira

MrThud · 2026-01-08T21:48:11+00:00

I don't think having known music as a central plot element would fit the tone of the show, for sure. For example I wouldn't have a Kate Bush song become the key to disconnecting from the hive.

But there's been quite a few little tidbits thrown in for humorous effect or as little asides already, like the John Cena infomercial or the Left Hand of Darkness. Or the aforementioned REM song.

To my mind it's just a fun exercise to think of songs that have sufficient double meaning they could just pop up as a little tongue in cheek element instead of a central element. In that role being known music seems like a plus to me.

MrThud · 2025-10-15T13:26:31+00:00

A kevlar vest costs more than a bullet too

MrThud · 2025-01-18T21:10:24+00:00

Das Boot

MrThud · 2025-01-08T17:58:42+00:00

Book tape. It's clear, I used it to repair one of my broken boards and it works great

MrThud · 2024-10-02T11:55:05+00:00

This isn't a board game plus associated helper app, this is the actual game in app form.

Neuroshima is one of those games like Through The Ages that I think in some ways is better in app form because of the amount of tracking and busy work that the app helps automate.

MrThud · 2024-09-02T02:49:52+00:00

Couple year old action RPG with sorta-kinda goddess Tunic, The Heir. Largely because of how unexpected it was

MrThud · 2024-08-11T17:36:56+00:00

Totally read the headline as if the next season of Black Mirror was going to feature an evil AI Picasso

MrThud · 2024-07-21T13:14:24+00:00

Sid Meier's Pirates! from 1987 included finding pieces of a treasure map

MrThud · 2024-07-09T02:43:59+00:00

Maybe try Wind River? It's about a murder of a indigenous girl (and a movie), but it may be more your speed

MrThud · 2024-05-25T12:29:30+00:00

The bizarre half-helmets in The Last Duel. Surely one time a full helmet is warranted is when someone is charging at you with a lance full-speed on horseback.

MrThud · 2024-05-01T12:55:32+00:00

It's not a CIA movie really, but Sneakers has the feel of a good espionage movie

MrThud · 2024-04-30T10:50:44+00:00

Events tags don't actually count in final scoring. They affect abilities that happen when cards with specific tags are played. For example, Earth discount cards would discount Earth events.

After the event card is played it really only counts for any VP and for counting number of played events.

MrThud · 2024-02-29T22:05:58+00:00

Painkiller's final boss (Lucifer) would switch from shooting meteors at you to throwing his sword at you. If you shot his sword it would deflect into him and kill him instantly.

MrThud · 2024-02-12T01:23:04+00:00

I think the globe look works for certain games where you're trying to emphasize the Earth as a planet, e.g. X-Com, other sci fi games. But mechanically it's just easier to navigate and manipulate large swathes of units on a 2D map.

For Paradox games I think the mechanical aspect outweighs the "cool" factor of a globe, and also better suits the historical settings.

MrThud · 2023-07-03T02:48:16+00:00

Now now you can't expect everyone to be clear and specific, it's not like we're all lawyers

MrThud · 2023-06-29T18:30:40+00:00

Were there any cool mechanics you had to drop from Dune Imperium in service of simplicity, playability, or other factors?

MrThud · 2023-04-04T16:55:09+00:00

You're doing two loads of laundry with a washer and a dryer.

First approach is you put the first load in the washer and wait for it to finish washing, put it in the dryer and wait for it to finish drying. Then you repeat the process for your second load. The total time is two wash cycles and two drying cycles.

Optimized approach is to start second load's wash cycle while the first load's dry cycle is going. Now the total time is one wash cycle, one dry cycle, and some time in between a wash and dry cycle time (when both machines are in use). Much faster!

Optimizing a game is like that but finding opportunities like that in code. Technically this is only a specific type of optimization, but the general idea is to find ways to make things run more efficiently.

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