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Creature Feature

Calimori

Calimori

Staff member
10 Years
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
4,406
Location
Bedfordshure, UK
This was Jonathan's CFTBL and I have owned this machine since Tuesday but I am already looking at how to tweak it. Some will ask why, probably because it is in good condition and so doesn't need fixing but my inquisitive desire to learn makes me take stuff apart and when I do, I want to make it better when it goes back together.

It currently has the backboard LED light mod from Monsieur Dread, green lamps in the main ramp and bowl, plus a nice red car with lights over the KISS lane. I have replaced broken bulbs in the play field and found a few flashers that were blown. Plus adjusted the Creature window so it is flat. Underneath the play field is empty compared to TAF, things look easier to take apart but I could be wrong. There appears to be less play field toys like THING and the Bookcase to mess about with.
The Creature hologram appears to be in great condition. The Pinball Arcade game version gives you a few seconds of Creech when you light a letter in FILM but I only get a tiny flash. Is this right? He comes out fully to play when you find him in Multiball.

Current considerations:
I went to check why the Pop bumpers were not flashing to find there are no bulb holders in there as standard. This will be my first job, parts have started arriving and should all be here over the next few days. Several people have already come up with the guide on how to do it so someone else has done the trial and error part for me. There will be no play field alterations to make this happen so it can be reversed.
Changing the post colours to something that suits the theme is likely to happen.
Ball plunger is too weak, I suspect it is the wrong spring so will order that.
There is a very expensive speaker panel that can be bought and adds lights to the back panel it is expensive and I don't get to do much investigation and creation.
Creech should be visible more during the game, or the panel should glow gentle green or something. A black panel in the middle of the play field is a bit dull. This idea might not work but I have a plan.
The Snack Bar hole might benefit from a gentle glow..
Strip, Treasure Cove clean and polish, rebuild.

What other things have people got on their Creature? I would be interested in pictures and ideas. :rockon:
 
Regarding gameplay - one of the main things to check is that you are getting good ball revolutions in the whirlpool/bowl. When the ball goes in here it really needs to be making a good few revs without too much trouble, and you should be able to nudge the table to encourage more.

If you are only getting 1 or 2 before it exits then some adjustment may be needed to the bowl, or as I found the wireform that feeds the ball in - simply adjusting this can improve performance dramatically.
 
Br careful adjusting the shooter spring too much, it has to be a little loose to hit the skill shot consistently
 
I will check the whirlpool, only getting 2-3 at the moment but the angle is not very steep. It will be coming off and cleaned to see if we can't keep some speed on the main ramp, the final corner seems to slow it down.

At the moment, 80% of the spring needs to be compressed before it will even get up a relatively shallow angle. It means that it is much harder to dial in the four lanes in the remaining 20. I might replace the E clip first as it has taken a beating and put some washers in but I fear the ball won't make it when I raise the back and make it steeper.
The spring is meant to be stiffer according to many parts sites and it is certainly weaker than my Addams.

Keep the knowledge coming, gives me stuff to check. ;)
 
I love the fact the Creech is rarely seen. It gives it something! A sense of it being a deep mysterious dark lagoon. When will the Creech appear?? Nobody knows!! I don't even recall seeing the Creech when I spotted a film letter on the one I played. It was a treat to see the Creech. That's my memory anyway. Good luck with it. As I always say, I really wanna Creech one day!
 
I loved the ruleset, easy to learn but hard to master. It does really make a difference having one with a good hologram too
 
I can't wait to play this, but I'd certainly make the creature more visible if she was mine. I actually prefer what they did in the pinball arcade version. A constant dim blue/green glow is how I'd do it, then I'd crank up the brightness of the badboy when he was moving around in Multiball mode.

Isn't there a mod that has a drive in movie screen that sits somewhere? Or maybe you could rig up a tiny screen playing edited highlights from the film?

Let me know if you want the film, I can burn you a copy if you like. It's not much cop but apparently the sequels were even worse.

We need Darren in here, he knows all about the Creech
 
I have the panel mod in mine.

Looks nice - new CPR panel, the mirrored one and all the bumper lights/saucer are lit. Also used Cliffy's hot pink rubber posts - sound awful but they do look good - really!!
 
Please post me a picture of the hot pink posts on your machine. Plus a pic of that speaker panel, they are expensive but I like the idea.
All the parts for explosive pop bumper flashes have arrived, just need to time.
Had a fantastic game on it last night and was near 500m when some friends turned up and I was made to answer the door. Still, they then played for a few hours so not a bad night. :-)
 
Shoot me a pm with email address. Tried to put photos here - failed! Tried to send pm and that did not even work!!
 
Would be keen to see these mods also. I assume you tried clicking on the insert image icon when you click on reply to thread ? The wee box with a tree in it above where you type beside the film strip etc
 
This is Replays play field with hot pink posts from Cliffy plus not reflective glass. There are some other nice touches in there to be discussed later.
 

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Speaker panel really sets it off.

I like the starlight sign and the UFO, not so sure about the moon (it might look better in the flesh though)

Cheers for putting the pics up Geoff and Darren? for taking them..

Whole thin looks tastefully done.
 
BigIan said:
Speaker panel really sets it off.

I like the starlight sign and the UFO, not so sure about the moon (it might look better in the flesh though)

Cheers for putting the pics up Geoff and Darren? for taking them..

Whole thin looks tastefully done.
Click to expand...

Its not my Creech.
Mine is nearly the same but with green posts and led's in the swirl ramp.
I would have jumped in this thread but without a machine for the mo it would be pretty hard to take any pic's.
Mines away on its hols being babysat as the space issue is once again making life hard.
Note to self don't buy any more machines. ( yeh like thats going to happen)
D.
 
Not sure if you guys have seen the new update for the lcd mod, but here it is anyway:

 
I was going to reply quickly and say I am perfectly happy with my original hologram thank you very much. Yes, it is a shame it is dark for great lengths of time but when he flashes into life I feel rewarded.
But I clicked on the link to check and was very impressed. The water feature is very nice and illuminates a sadly dark, blank area in the middle of the playfield. Then the video ties in with the movie and looks pretty good. I expect price to put me off but I will be interested.
My current plan is to find a way to get some gentle green glow on the window without too much creature action.
 
It will be pinball blasphemy to pull out a rare, bright green, good condition hologram to replace it with an lcd screen! The whole point of a black lagoon is that you can't see beneath it!
 
Well put Jonathan. You are right, it would not be the black lagoon if you could see it all the time.
I am just trying to make my toy have more lights and be more shiny, it probably doesn't need it and I wouldn't want to pay for it. Not when my hologram is such a good one.
My mum was playing it the other day and got really excited when it flashed briefly when she got a single letter, had she ever made it to multiball and found the creature, she would have lost the balls immediately from being so amazed. :whoo:
 
I'd be tempted to try and pick up a Creech with a dead holo in anticipation of the LCD mod going on sale, assuming you could get hold of one for a good price.....or trade ;)
 
I am keener on the original and may buy a spare if they are good and a decent price. Probably a good time to buy CFTBL's with no holograms as looks like 2 choices next year. Henrik wrote this today -
Good morning,
just got off the phone with holo studio.
Status:
We 3d scanned a very similar figure of the original holo - still not 100% the same. At the moment a 3d artist works on the last details to make it look 1:1. This 3d model then will be 3d printed and here we go. We expect this model around 10th of January. Will post pics of this whole process very soon
Once this model is accepted from all parties involved, it'll take aprox 20 more days before we can provide the first holos. So by end of January the first holo repros should be available
Have a great week guys and girls
cheers
Henrik
 
Everyone wants a Creech. And why not. Looks like we will be seeing more pic's once its set up eh Dean.
 
Its been on my wanted list for ever. Finally snagged one. Have to have a move around before I can set her up though. Need a bigger house.
 
Aghh ha ha ha, ****ing hell Dean, another one!! You're living room will be like a maze of upended pins soon.
 
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