Ive had my LTBR a couple of months and sometimes the bell will thwack the ball back too perfectly SDTM to save, but not very often, after all its like a pool shot - it has to hit just right. The left outlane is usually the main culprit but like with all pinball you just have to learn where the danger spots and when to nudge (not slam). I know all this probably sounds obvious but it sounds like some people would like a machine to be designed especially for them ?

I can attest to the fact that AV8's kids are very good players.. his one son put up 40 million on my Medieval Madness alone! I honestly think his kid could compete in a lower bracket or youth bracket (if one exists) at PAPA.

Great video of the TNT also, it's great to see this kind of enthusiasm in pinball with our younger generation.

Now I just need to figure out where and when I can put more time on any AC/DC machine in my area

To be honest, my AC/DC Premium does not send bell shots SDTM. Every now and then that happens, but 95/100 it can be hit without a nudge.

I'm not sure which is worse, and more hilarious.. that, or the fact that even the schools and Chuck E Cheese are playing off the LMFAO song "Sexy and I know it." I have come dangerously close to 1990's WWF clotheslining my kid after seeing him mockingbird that crap back. Was funny the first time. Not after 10.

At least it would be a change of pace around my house from the top 40 garbage my wife has been listening to...

Maybe your wife needs a 1990s WWF clotheslining?

STTNG? Really? I think AC/DC plays faster most of the time than STTNG and the shots are a LOT tighter for the most part too... no drain-monster chicklets in the middle-center of the playfield to send the ball right back down the drain.

Could be.... she tried to buy that "I just met you" song the other day and I had to lay down an ultimatum.

I respect others opinions but personally I love this game! It is what pinball is all about and is only going to get better. I have noticed most games have their fans and people who don't enjoy it, no big deal makes the hobby more interesting. Flipper on folks

Hmm. So one of your biggest complaints about AC/DC is "RDTM" (it's actually SDTM by the way), but adding a rubber to a post to fix that issue isn't worth doing because you "shouldn't have to"?!

LOL when you put it this way, it sure sounds silly, doesn't it?

I can attest that once you get the game leveled/dialed in, you rarely get a SDTM. I was getting them when I first took it out of the box, but quickly realized I needed to really take the time to level that game (more than any other game I've owned). Plays perfect now.

....which, incidentally, pisses me off in reviews when I see complaints about SDTM drains. B/c the operator failed to set the game up correctly, this game gets slammed. It's a shame some people will dismiss it before they get a chance to really enjoy it, but, I have one, so, not my problemo

I learned two very important things watching that video:

1) AC/DC looks awesome.

2) I really suck at pinball. The fact that Bowen can play that way while keeping up a commentary is insane. I need to start watching tutorials and practicing more...

First off, they aren't Pirate call outs, it's the return of Skull from No Fear.
If you could turn them off, there goes a lot of character of the game, lame.

This happens all the time with Avatar as well. Fixes to the SDTM and left outline drains have been available for quite a while yet it still gets slammed all the time for what should be non-issues.

Or the Black Knight from BK2000

I love it when I hear Steve say, "You are Champion!" on AC/DC. Nice shout-out to BK2000.

First time Ive seen this Bowen fellow. Wow, thats some sublime skills. His commentry is cool too, I agree with liking how this pin makes you switch focus and I too remember watching AV8s video and yelling out 'hey babe come check this out!' I replayed Bowen's death save six times- "I'm not done yet". Theres so many amazing aspects to this machine and the dudes who hang around saying 'I don't like this and I don't like that' need to get a life

I like this quote "She was a fax machine....what?" Just made me laugh for some reason.

That was my favorite part as well.

i only want acdc more now... looks like such a good game

I did try and let the ball auto shoot from the cannon on mine. Doesn't work for some reason. I also made sure pitch and level are correct and they are. I wonder if thats a designed shot to auto shoot from the cannon up the right ramp? The ball just hits the same spot on mine every time which is the rubber just to the left bottom entrance of the ramp behind the last "T" in tnt.

Im not sure if I can change anything to let it make that shot.

I like his "Vince" comment on the BSD tutorial when Mist Multi is starting. Drac says "Winds!!", but Bowen says "Vince!!" LOL.

Mine auto shoots up the right ramp but only halfway and mine is set to the correct angle.

Dude, did you marry a 12 year old? Not cool.

Bowen is one cool cat

This was EXACTLY what I was thinking last night when I watched that video. Too funny.

I just played my AC/DC after watching the video.
Alas, my skills did not magically improve.
Maybe repeated viewings are in order. lol.

I learned alot about the rules from this video. Bowen is amazing and I hope to see him play in person.

Does he give lessons?

Great video, what a player. I think I could fit about 10 full games into 30 minutes. The death save move nonchalantly done too which was fantastic. One question, does anyone know the difference between Cannon Fodder, Volley and Chaos? As far as I can tell they are the same and the video didn't enlighten me any.

The first game I played after watching the video, I set the grand champion score. 173mil ish.

I let the cannon fire it up the right ramp 4 or 5 times when appropriate, that probably saved me 1 ball. Interesting knowing that a cannon shot doesn't have to be out of control, especially if your jackpots are 250,000 etc.

Also I aim for the bell when jackpot is less then 200K. 2x scoring is huge pay out in MB.

So many ways to play this game!

Late to the party, here's a few questions that I think I can answer...

- The 3 different Cannon mode names all appear to do the same thing. Lighting any Cannon mode should light Song Jackpot. You can still feed the Cannon for other things, such as Combo Jackpot and Collect Bonus.

- I'm guessing about some rules mostly because of new software revisions and the fact that I don't get to play AC/DC often. I have also played less than 10 games on AC/DC LE, so some of the scoring values were a surprise, like the relatively huge scores from Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be.

- Games that are fast and vicious will keep you coming back for more for a long, long time and I think they are great for home collections for this reason. Iron Man, in my opinion, is the only other Stern in the last two years with that kind of appeal. This particular AC/DC was also set up with especially wide outlanes to increase difficulty, and outlane drains and SDTM slams are part of pinball. If you don't want the ball going SDTM, don't shoot the thing that sends it there, or don't miss.

- People had been asking for an AC/DC tutorial which is why it made sense to do one before the final completion of software. I have a lot of confidence in Lyman's ability to continue to improve a great game, but frankly, if there were no further software revision, it's pretty darn sweet as is.

- I changed songs probably more than I might if just playing for score, because a tutorial is as much about the overall features of the game as it is about how to most efficiently play it for score. I don't think people would be as happy with these videos if they were only about maxing the score. It might still be "obvious that I am unfamiliar with the rules" but there are definitely times where the game is not played efficiently to increase interest or information.

Thanks for watching and pass the info on to other players! There'll be more tutorials eventually but they've locked me out of PAPA until August

- Bowen

It was great watching you play Bowen. Its scary to think what you could put up on ACDC once you have a better grasp of the rules. If you play it at PAPA id suggest hammering away at the bell during Multiballs to eventually get to 3x Scoring with well timed shots to the bell to not let it time out.

Cant wait for your next videos!!!

Welcome to Pinside Bowen. I enjoy your tutorials quite a bit. Looking forward to seeing more!

Sweet death save Bowen. You rule

No kidding. Bowen you are insanely good

Thanks for chiming in, Bowen. I played a game with Hell Ain't a Bad Place to be as my main focus (after seeing your tutorial) and had the standard shots over 1.5 mil each. I cashed in a 73 mil song jackpot and that was my high score to date of 189 mil and change. I look forward to seeing what Lyman does, but am having fun with the game as is for now. Oh, and yall can just post the final games of last years PAPA to keep the vids going. Huge dry spell after the tie breaker. Thanks.

Bowen glad to see you on here! I am amazed at how well you play even while talking, I think you had a video on GNR where you gave a tutorial and it was an actual tournament game! You seem like an all around nice guy, though you do treat those machines pretty brutal with those slap and death saves of yours haha!!

I look forward to perhaps a revised AC/DC video once lyman cleans up these rules, while I agree the game is awesome as is definitely seems some things are missing. I think the use of the color changers will be very interesting in the premium/le versions!

As a side note, I would love to see the return of some of those typewritten rule sheets you guys have on the PAPA site...while I understand the games are so complex now it might be a novel LOL..but haven't seen those for the newer games. Maybe I will start a thread to get peoples rules and come up with something..I am not good enough to get far enough to figure them out myself Maybe if I take the glass off.

Keep up the good work!!

Adam

That's what happens on mine as well.

I emailed Steve asking him if his intent was for the cannon to shoot it up the ramp. If I hear back from him, I'll post.

Nice to have you on Pinside Bowen,I really enjoy your video's.Glad to have a pinball master on the forum, Hope You give Us some more insight on playing and strategy from time to time!

Fortunately for us, these text versions (plus pictures!) of modern games have been assembled and reside at Pinballnews.com, compliments of Martin and the myriad of people that help him out . The PBnews rules are very helpful, particularly if you are new to a game, or if you get stuck trying to figure out how to complete a mode, multiball, etc.

For specific strategies that people have discovered, do a search on the game here on Pinside or on RGP/google groups.

Call Stern..it's supposed to go up the right ramp...

Thanks Bowen! Watching your tutorials as released has become an event around here.

Glad to see Bowen on pinside finally. Look forward to more reviews.

Try this on your next Acdc video. My 9 yr old son taught me this. When extraball is lit during ball lauch, soft plunge the ball to the turn before ball gate. The ball rolls back down right orbit = extra ball!

Any chance of a Acdc Pro video?

One of the best pinball videos of all time.. I lol everytime I see it.

Nice.
I am so trained to use the button, I never thought of that.
Thanks for the tip.

OK, I gave this tutorial a watch too. Am not an ACDC fan, having played it many times (at PAPA and on location a few places, LE/Premium and Pro versions). I can see why some people (incl. Bowen!) like this game, although those same reasons are why I don't. I'm not a fan of having to fight for your life on almost every shot, apart from the relatively easy ramp shots. (The right one is pretty easy to backhand on most machines I've played.) I confess I didn't watch it to the very end b/c I was actually bored after 3/4 of the way thru--just a lot of the same "switch song, blah blah tour blah blah song on album blah blah multiball jackpot" that was pretty repetitive and the details not all that clear still. (This is NOT a critique on Bowen's commentary btw, but in the sense of the game is a mash of fungible modes with the same limited set of shots.) I like games where advancement and modes are more clearly defined and distinguishable (a la LOTR or WPT, for example) and progress is evident, rather than a big mess of songs and albums and tours. Gamnes that grab me after a few plays tend to stay that way, and ones that don't grab me tend not to upon much further playing. ACDC hasn't grabbed my interest. But yeah, I can see why many would like this type of game.

BTW, Bowen's a great guy and his skills are silly. The "I'm not done yet" followed by a casual death save made me chuckle. And you should see him play one-handed!

Steven, would it be fair to assume then, based on your comments above, that you also do not like Iron Man (a pin that Bowen, correctly in my opinion, compared AC/DC to in terms of being "fast and vicious")?

I have a LOTR sitting right next to my AC/DC...I find them to be a nice match If I want to go an an adventure and play some modes LOTR is just about as good as you get for that...if I want some kick @$$ fast and furious action I play AC/DC.

Yeah, I think that would be a fair statement. Ironically, IM was the pin at my team's home bar in the most recent NYC pinball league season. Although I found that IM wasn't quite the drain monster as ACDC. Maybe because I could get the ramps and orbits flowing better on IM? I guess I'm learning a bit of why I prefer some games to others. Watching Bowen play made it easier to look at the overall game flow of ACDC (and other games)--I could see a bit better why I don't like it. Bowen could just show in one game what it would take me 3-4 games to work through.

Also, I thought that ACDC was set a bit steep in this video. I still maintain that games are generally a bit *easier* when the pf slope is steeper. The ball drops into the flippers more readily and stay there, easier to trap and control. Bring the slope down to 6-6.5 degrees (some may consider this a bit "floaty" but 6.5 is average/standard, I believe) and it's generally harder to trap the ball in my experience. Not that ACDC needs to be more difficult for we mortal players!

When I want my butt kicked, I fire up a game or 2 of LW. (Right by my LOTR) A straightforward, incredibly fast and tough game. Yet I find I like it more than the others mentioned here (I don't mean LOTR, which I do like!). The goals are clear in LW and shots can be made--it still can be very tough to hit the ones you need to finish the modes, but there's more of a feeling that your destiny is in your own hands, and less of a befuddlement of modes. (Which is not to say that I dislike deep games--WPT and LOTR are way up there in my book.)