Question on something that has bothered me...

So I have had my game for over a year now and am just now getting around to questioning if something is wrong with my game or if this is a code issue... (I already ordered an MRS switch from M&M in case it is a game issue, but have not installed it yet).

So, the light to my middle subway entrance (shot just to the right of the secret passage) pretty much is always lit. However, it hardly ever does anything that I can notice. Once in a great while, I will get the "random award" sequence that will progress me 2 rooms, but that is rare and I am not even sure what qualifies that. I would think that the light would blink once I have qualified for the award (I am not at home and cannot remember what it says on the playfield for that shot). But other than at ball launch when the skill shot lights are lit, that light always seems to be lit.

Is this the same on everyone else's game or does mine have an issue? Is that light only supposed to be lit when the award is qualified (and if so, how do you qualify that)? I also notice that when I am in Pit Creature mode, I occasionally hit that shot and it does not register that I made it to look for him. But other times it does register. This is the reason that I question whether my subway switch is working correctly. I have adjusted it and there is no way the ball can roll over it without hitting it.

I suppose I should go to the menu and do a switch test, but always want to play when in front of the machine and never think to do that... lol

Thanks in advance for any help.

Should be lit at the start of the game, then once hit should light mystery and not be lit. Once mystery is hit on the scoop, then it should light again. That’s it.

Thanks, but I'm confused. So it should be lit (and now I remember, it says Light Mystery) and when when you hit it, it should go out? And then the next shot into the scoop should give the mystery award??

If so, then mine isn't working right because mine stays lit most of the time, no matter how many times I hit it. And I rarely get the mystery award ever, which is why I did not remember that you get it from hitting the scoop. And since it does not register a search for the Pit Creature every time I hit it, I can guess that the switch is intermittent.

So since I have never had it working right to know this, is the mystery award given 1 for 1? And what I mean by that is does it qualify the mystery award each time I hit that subway shot when it is lit? Or is it a number of times, or does it increase each time you qualify it?

It seems that it would be very rinse and repeat to hit that shot, then hit the scoop, get reward. Hit the shot, hit the scoop, get reward... etc. After a year, I guess I want to dial this game in the way it is supposed to work... lol

Thanks!

Adjust the switch in the subway.

rd

That is something I have actually done numerous times with no success. I am thinking I have a faulty switch. I will test it in the diagnostics this weekend and see if that is the case. I bought an MRS switch from Matt at M&M here on Pinside, so if the switch is bad, I will replace it with that and it should work like a charm.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback.

Can anyone from spooky comment on the decision to remove difficulty settings?

It effectively forces you to play Igor, ethyl or zombie for the first 3 monsters if you want to use a weapon. I don’t quite understand why the rules were implemented this way?

Ya, we asked and were hoping they would implement the option to choose this or not in settings, on a future code update (before last two updates).

It was available before and subsequently removed.

I would really like to see some type of symbol on the map that shows what room a weapon is in for whatever monster you are currently on. Instead of trapping up and scrolling through the menu to get to the weapon locations, it would be much quicker and easier just to look up and see a red dot (or whatever symbol) showing where a weapon is.

We had 3 difficulty choices..
Easy, Intermediate and Nightmare. The difference was that 'Easy' skipped rooms like how it starts out now. Nightmare made all the rooms available from the starting point (foyer). On easy, and Inter, you would never see all the rooms. They just made it so the game begins Easy and gets progressively harder as you play into it by adding more rooms between you and monster. I played for the first month on Inter and never saw the Kitchen for instance. We just thought it would be nice to have the choice to select between the way it was, and the way it is now. But the new way lets you explore the whole castle every game if you survive. Also, this allows for all the weapons to be available for collection because they're tied to various rooms.
So..
On Easy you started in foyer (like always) but only Lab and Dungeon were available to get to monster.
On Inter you had Ball Room or Conservatory to pass through on way to Lab or Dungeon.
On Nightmare you had Parlor, Library and Kitchen added.

What we have for now...

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Yeah, those two are super glaring holes in the game right now Even if the items for the current monster were just on the instant info or something, it'd be so much better. I have that list printed on the wall next to my game for reference, but it's a bit ridiculous literally consulting paper notes while playing the game. Game functionally becoming the same two modes repeatedly if you want to play with items is a real downer too.

I agree. I'd like to choose any of the monsters to go for and still have the weapons available. If I pick a harder monster that's further away, then I just have to travel through more rooms to get to him.

This is why it would be nice to just have every room open to us from the beginning. Granted, its farther to travel (if we turn the option on), but a lot of us would prefer it this way.

Just play all the monsters with no weapons ... way more points. And way more fun.

Well, for me anyway.

Some of you in the northern hemisphere probably heard me “exclaiming loudly” last night in NZ. Lol

I got all the way to the last monster on one ball and then had two crappy drains on that last monster and didn’t make the wizard mode. I was not happy. Lol.

I gotta remember to turn the extra balls back on!! Grrrr.

rd.

The way I look at it is, if I get a weapon cool! If not, what RD said! The weapons still add an element of variety and excitement! Also some nice display screens you don't see very often! Last night I didn't realize I collected the shears for Alice and wondered why the mode was so short! First shot to guillotine took his head off! I was like... WTF happened? LOL!

Its fine if you dont like or care for the weapons but it doesnt make any sense for a "rules guru" like Bowen to implement in a way that takes away player choice in this way. It seems half baked at best by a programmer who is slower than molasses and a company thats looking forward. It is what it is I suppose! Still like the game almost 2 years later.

Doesn’t the new code have an info screen that shows you which weapon is available in which room for what monster? Saw that in a recent Bowen YouTube vid.

I guess the problem is, will it (or any game) be how someone wants it?

Everyone has different ideas ...

Could you make things an option without screwing up the rest of the code? Dunno!

For example ... GOT Pro used to be unbalanced to two houses. Then the code was changed, now it’s unbalanced to other houses. Lol!! Other people seem to love it, I thought that was a dumb update so I sold the game.

For me, I like Alice the way it is now (progressive mode start difficulty) and having tournaments at my house frequently, I watch people playing it and can see that setup suits the majority of players (from all different skill levels)

If you can’t start a mode on Alice, you’re not going anywhere, points wise. That was my big thing with the game when it was released, starting a mode was pretty difficult for a novice player. No mode = no good.

YMMV - but that’s my 10c.

rd.

It literally was already an option. The game just silently ratchets the difficulty every few monsters in the background. Revert the code change that removed the menu option, add in an option for dynamic, done.

Are you sure? All the weapons do is get you to the build up phase faster. Which is where you want to be. That’s where the points are.

Assuming this new code is like the last code.

It does, which is appreciated, but why not just show what room has a weapon in it on the main map at the bottom of the screen? The map is always on screen, just show me with a simple icon where a weapon is for whatever monster I’m on. Then I can simply look up for a quick second to see what direction I need to go, versus having to trap up and look at the info screen.

You get more points if you grind through the mode.

Like Zombie .. if you only have to hit one shot (rather than 5) obviously you miss out on the points for the 4 other ones.

rd

Yeah but you also die most of the time trying that. I’d rather my accuracy be working me more towards a big cash out.

So does everyone else's scores and stats get wiped every time you do a code update? I forgot to backup my stats (again) and after the update, everything was reset.

I was pissed but then managed to put up my highest score yet on the first game. So there's that... Lol

Yes, there are a couple of spots where the ball savers stop. One from memory is when you’ve started Frank and then quickly start Crypt .. the ball saver stops pretty quick. Generally in most games when you start a second MB you get a new ball save starting up.

Still a few little things like that that need tidying up.

rd

That would make sense if that’s how the game started code wise but it’s not. This doesn’t have anything to do with game of thrones or stern.

There would of been a text file dumped to your USB which has some good info. I like to keep track of games played so I have an accurate record of lifetime games played.

Flex much?

There are a couple I actively avoid the weapons (cold ethyl and Igor), but if the weapon is there I'll go for it most of the time. I hate getting the weapon on Igor because you only need to hit one shot, but they are all lit and you still have to find the one where he's hiding. I will say I haven't tried this on the new code.

Great point on Igor. That’s annoying for sure.

It'd be cool if the weapon made the shots fewer, and was two levels, instead of one level of lots of shots

I haven't noticed, but one of the most annoying things to me was the outlane ball save being burned if the player drained in an outlane while the standard ball save was still lit. Was this fixed in the latest code?

Sorry, not the intention.

I was more berating myself for being a dumbass.

We had a tournament here on the weekend. All EBs are turned off (if they aren’t already). Alice and a couple of other games I’ll have EBs on if I’m chasing a wizard mode.

Didn’t realise they were off until half way through that game. The extra ball would have got me to Billion Dollar Babies.

I wasn’t happy. Lol

rd

Faaaaaaarkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I just did it again!!!

Billion dollar babies flashing ... drain .... doooooooh

Used the extra ball this time though.

rd

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What’s the highest score without reaching BDB? I feel like 600 million is about the max if you crush everything.

WHAT A SCORE!

Yeah, I had scores in the 500 - 600m range without getting to BDB.

That last game had 6 monsters beaten and a couple of good hurry up collects. Failed to get the super on Frank when it was lit. The modes stop pretty instantly when one ball drains. No AFM grace periods here! Lol

That’s my aim, beat BDM and get 1.6m there abouts.

I haven’t been playing much pinball this last year, been busy restoring an old house since last January. Starting to get back into it now.

rd

My high is 745m and I’ve never seen BDB, but I’m still on older code (before weapons were a thing) so not sure it translates the same now. Been hesitant to update because I LOVE this game and feel like it’s pretty perfect as is.

Is BDB easier to reach now than on the older code? As is I would need an absolutely perfect game to get there.

Does anyone know if Cliffy has made ramp protectors for Alice?

rd

Nothing on his website for Alice

No, but he often makes things and doesn’t have them up on the site ...

Thought I’d ask here first to save bothering him. He’s a busy dude!

rd

He told me a week or 2 ago he has no measurements for Alice

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/alice-coopers-nightmare-castle-club-enter-at-own-risk/page/113#post-6065305

... I didn't want to wait and made my own protectors for both ramps.
First prototype made from a piece of cardboard, second made from 1mm Macrolon (easy to bend); then the final attempt from a piece of old WPC siderail - adjust, polish, done.
A sufficient solution for me and it seems to work - marks show where the balls hit the surfaces.
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I’ll drop mine around.

Nice job! I’ll end up doing the same.

rd

Wish those were factory!

So this just happened...

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I am going to email Spooky and see what my options are with them. Maybe they have some spares and if they are not too much money, then maybe I will buy one. I would weld this one to fix it (and still will), but am going to have to take off the powdercoating in that area which is going to look like crap. Maybe some of the "hammered look" paint from Home Depot will touch that spot up okay? Worth a shot I guess.

I do have Medisinyl's arch mod for that location which will hide any repair, but still would like it to look good even if the arch was not on. Upon looking at the wireform, it was a very poor weld to start with. All of the other welds are at least twice as thick with more penetration. This one spot was barely welded.

The joy of owning a pinball machine. Steel balls flying around at high speeds, violently crashing into stationary objects.. lol