I sat next to Lyman in the line to play AC/DC at PAPA for hours this year -- it was a very slow line with so many people doing the cannon-ramp trick -- and much of the time was spent talking about the game and the rules. He was very friendly and seemed more than happy to discuss various elements of the game, strategies, and whatever else.

I of course completely blew it when I went up to play. Chatting with the designer about his game before playing his game directly in front of him has a way of messing with the nerves! (Also I have no business playing in "A" to begin with.

About the obscure tour/song rule, I've always just viewed that as a bit of crazy fan-service for the kinds of hardcore AC/DC fans who would theoretically be some of the ones playing and/or owning the game. I'm not an AC/DC super-fan or anything, but even I have decent knowledge of the order of their album releases (and therefore, theoretically, which songs were played on which tours) and I think it's really cool to have game rules that challenge your knowledge of the band's history.

Yep ! The song order is second nature to me .

Jim

We can agree on the crazy part...

The "upper echelon" of tournament players understand pinball will only grow if there are more players getting interested in the game and improving their play. Hiding information from newbies and one another is counter to that goal and would be self-defeating in the long run. There's no secret club of pinball rulesets.

Even back in the 90's there were rulesheets to share information. Now there are plenty of videos, including Pinball 101 and sometime in the future Pinball 102. No one is hiding anything; it's quite the opposite. And in the event some player is hiding something, they're only hiding it until the next video gets posted or someone looks over their shoulder at a tournament and then starts to do the same thing. In the end, the best strategies for every game filter quickly through whoever is attending the event.

As for complicated rules, the more you play the game, the less complicated they become. There's no magic button to push on ACDC that scores a trillion points. In the end, the biggest obstacle in the game between the player and a high score is the player being in control and hitting the shots he or she wants to hit (usually the flashing one).

_{Post edited by mhs : grammar}

Wait, you don't know about the magic trillion button on AC/DC? I thought I told you and the rest of the echelon.

Most of the game-related conversations I've had with Lyman are along the lines of "why did you ___" or "maybe it could ___". I can't remember ever having a conversation about specific game rules with him, it seems like a dick move

One thing I can say is that some of the changes in AC/DC's scoring and sequencing have come from Lyman's keen observation of tournament play. The "cannon to right ramp" trick doesn't work anymore, and Highway to Hell is more difficult to play for a big score. It's a little like the developers of an online shooter tweaking the strength of weapons based on how people are using them in action. The fact that Lyman cares enough to make these subtle changes is very impressive to me, and speaks to the heavy amount of thought he puts into his rules and software.

This is by far the most boring video I've ever had to edit.

The cannon is destroying you in shot percentage, btw.

It is because the song bonus rule was hard to figure out that I posted the sequence to my website since not everyone has access to ACDC. Some stuff is best discovered on your own which is why my ACDC video does NOT include encore.

Yeah thats a good point. The question is should players be told everything about the game, or enjoy figuring it out for themselves???

The issue here is that ACDC (song jackpot etc etc) is so complicated that you would likely never figure this out if you were not 1: an ACDC fan and or 2: own ACDC. (not taking into account the internet and videos etc).

I agree that Stern are targeting the enthusiast market and are making games extremely complicated to satisfy that section. Edit: I was not too happy to wait so long to find out about the rules, it was kinda like a long long long film with a twist at the end. (lol similar feeling to Saw when I saw that) but I was eventually satisfied with the coding brilliance of Lyman. Another question is should games be made to be SO complicated that the general public when playing them on location do not know what is going on???

Personally I think a complete rule book should be released by Stern. If players want to work it out for themsleves then sure you dont have to buy it, but I think players and owners of this game have the right to know whats going on.Walkthru's are done for games like Fallout, why not pinball??

VIP Pass: get 1 from a regular skill shot, or 2 from a super skill shot (which starts by holding in the right flipper on ball launch). Get 1 from 50 lit shots during songs ("Song Requests". They accumulate. Use them to score any lit mode shot at any time.

Bowen, could you help me out on this? I played AC DC at lost ark in greensboro n.c. today and tried to get the 2 VIP passes and could not do it. I tried holding in the right flipper but nothing . I did see something different in that if you launch ball into song changer and have both flippers are pushed down it shoots the ball around the right hand side when you launch a new ball , is there something that does? I have played this machine plenty and got a pretty good score at lost ark picture below and am trying hard to get encore but can only muster 9 songs changed. Thanks Bowen if you can help.

image.jpg

Never mind my buddy just told me that the shot I described above is the super skill shot that goes around te right hand side to hit left ramp with right flipper when it shoots out.

If you hold the right flipper in and do a hard plunge the ball will go into the jukebox. Then the jukebox will shoot it back down through the right orbit. For a brief period the white notes will be flashing and you can shoot one of them for 2 VIP passes.

Thanks solar ride , I will try that. Did not know about that till I talked to my friend this morning

Someone tell me what the red arrows mean???

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Seriously, though, I have no idea. Try as I might, I simply can't figure out what they are for.

I speculate that they increase the time out of the playfield multiplier and for LE that they also qualify the lower playfield at the jukebox and increase the time you get on the lower playfield. I hesitate to post this since it is just speculation.

one day I will take the glass off and check everything out for like 3 hours...

Its a bit difficult to know the damn rules when they keep changing them.! I just try to learn the whitewood - where and when to nudge, and try not to lose the ball. Shoot for whats lit and don't cash in your song jackpot too early. When the song changes catch the ball. Take a deep breath and get accustomed to the new beat because (whether you like the band or not) the new song will effect your shots. I always lose the ball at the start of a new song!
You can set your own objectives on this like no other pin because theres no adventure to follow. Lose the ball and it's back to the start. Sort of - Your multiballs keep building up so if youre going for 'ENCORE' use MBs one at a time to get your songs lit so that preferably at the end of the multiball the jukebox is lit. If youre only going for score use the bell for 2X, 3X, especially before you go downstairs to the cloudy underworld.
I don't mind the changing code because this machine is on the H2H.
Turn up the volume.
I usually go for superskill shot up the War Machine then maybe the Bell. Then wonder which multiball is closest?
This pin is no 'better' than any other, it's a great machine in the mix. Its the music, the Ruthless layout and the code. which should keep on updating.