There’s a feature adjustment in the service menu for the autoplunger power level. I have the opposite problem, mine is pretty weak.

I was referring to the ball eject power to the shooter lane. Sorry if my previous post was unclear.

You can always install a stronger return spring on the assembly for it to serve the ball less strong.

It was crystal clear.

Gotcha, I misunderstood.. Pints + Pinside will do that.

Just a quick shoutout to @chromecandy the lockdown bar button metal emblem is great. I realized it a few days ago after having it installed for months. It makes a big difference. Quality product and it's hard to imagine my game without it.

Just had some great games on the latest code. What an amazing pinball game. I play to "see" the game, so I just cash in Villains as soon as I can, collect the phone, start modes. Score is secondary. Really cool how Lyman has developed the game.

Here is my sucktastic player strategy: I save all my gadgets and go hog wild on Mad Hatter season 1 so I can make sure he is completed, so I can restart minor villains in the game. Usually a lot of gadgets are collected in multiball, so I'll just play that and stock them up.

My same strategy goes for other minor villains when I get to them - cash the gadgets in quick and try to wrap it up. Major villains are less important since they don't end.

I did notice there was a game adjustment to give you more than 1 gadget for every button press but I think that is unnecessary.

I also saw sling power in the game features adjustments, for those discussing it.

Batman and Deadpool side by side. My 2 current favorite games.

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Thanks for pointing that out.

Drains are coming off both the magnet and missed ramp shots. What is your strategy to stop that from happening? Nudging problem is recognizing early enough to affect a nudge before the ball drains. Any nudging tips from you pros? When do you nudge on Batman 66? Every time the ball is in the middle table area?

Weird I don’t get SDTM from ramps or the magnet. Missed ramp shots on mine just catch the flippers 9/10 times and the magnet usually a little nudge will save me from a SDTM.

Hmmm, will check my level settings and see if they are off. Thanks!

Does anyone know where a copy of game rules exist for Batman 66 code update .098? Probably that would answer my questions below. It’s like playing monopoly with no rules sheet. Very frustrating indeed!

1. What is the fast track to getting to the minor villain mode when beginning the game? Lighting all 3 seasons, awards multi ball or mini wizard mode? How do we complete minor villains wizard mode?

2. If a major villain mode is started, how do we start a minor villain mode and then switch to it, leaving the major villain till after completion of minor villain?

3. How do we start the next minor villain mode after completing the first?

4. How do extra ball awards work? Is there anyway to get an extra ball without completing two major villains?

5. Has anyone made up a flow chart for how the pathways flow from answering the bat phone, etc?

6. What is the best strategy to getting extra multipliers?

Thanks for answering in advance.

Hey guys, thanks for the additional ideas! I've complied them all together in a 2nd email to Lyman. Here is the email for your perusal:

Dear Lyman,

Here are the latest additional Batman 66 code requests from Pinside.com players forum, which we have all been discussing on ways to make our BATMAN 66 game investment better:

Additional ideas and requests:

1. Use some of the tons of voices that have been recorded that arent in there at all. Batman saying the parts of the playfield in current code? He has dialogue where he describes going to parts of the pinball and tilt callouts, but I've never heard it. Also, I wonder why they have 3 oclock, 4 o'clock (etc) callouts in there? Let's see those be used!

2. One thing that is missing from the game that everyone (even non-fans) know from the show is the voiceover and music for the cliffhangers - "Is this the end of the Dynamic Duo?! How will Batman and Robin escape?! Tune in tomorrow - same Bat time, same Bat Channel!". It would be so cool if this was somehow incorporated into the major villain cliffhangers, or at the end of the game. The only place "same Bat time, same Bat Channel" is mentioned is on the outlanes on the playfield.

3. Either more minor villains in season one, or a way to replay them if you fail all three. Completing a mad hatter allows you to replay minor villain modes. Of course if you fail at both of them... you are indeed stuck.

4. Return of the red lights on either side of the slings, lite up when you do a Crain hit! Crane also be used in minor villain modes would be nice. The crane choreography needs a lot of work in the current code, better lightshows and better sound effects. On BDK when you hit the crane you knew about about it from the loud/distinctive sound effects combined with a drop out of the GI. Hitting the crane, we should hear the Penguin laugh or make other distinctive Penguin sounds.

5. Give the GADGETS another use. If you have a GADGET maybe 2 ready to use and lose a ball: if you hit the gadget button within say a second or two max, you get a delayed ball saver and the ball is put back into the shooter lane and back into play.

6. On the display indicate how many total gadgets available. Franchi did all that amazing artwork for the gadget LE plaques, so why not use it in the game?

7. Is there a flow chart Lyman has created for the many modes and how to advance available? If not, could one be put together? That would be a major help, along with a game code rules book for 1.0. Right now, no one is too sure what to do and where to go and how to best use the apron button. It’s like playing monopoly with no rules sheet. Very frustrating indeed.

We all love what you’re doing for us with our Batman 66 table investment, making it better. Please employ the above ideas, along with the other ones I sent earlier.

Best regards,
Brent

I can provide suggestions to a few of your questions.

1. Minor Villain modes. Normal game play ball flow will result in the ball eventually hitting the three "TV" targets on the right side of the playfield, even faster while in Penguin mode with the crane moving around. Once all three targets are hit, the left orbit "TV" insert will light and a firm left orbit shot to the upper right saucer will lead to the Minor Villain selection menu. You can select the Minor Villains in any order and in any Season order, though the selection timer is short and will time out on you in a hurry. My primary choices are: Season 1 - Mad Hatter, I just keep hitting the light blue lit shots, which isn't too awfully difficult. I prefer to be in any Major Villain mode other than Penguin to fight Mad Hatter. Season 2 - Egghead where using a quick Gadget leaves one final shot for completion, the 'G' in the Gadget targets on the left. It's a difficult shot to make though, so I have better luck with it if I'm in Penguin mode at the time for more crane ricochet opportunities. 3 - King Tut just completing the lit shots. It's tough to time, but having this going and then entering Batcave multiball will usually do the trick to close out the deal on Tut. There are many other options and completing certain Minor Villains make the others easier, like Mr. Freeze, freezing the Minor Villain timers or Mad Hatter allowing missed Minor Villains to be replayed. Many Pinsiders have already shared advice and strategy further back in this thread on the Minor Villains. Among the three Minor Villain wizard modes which you can choose from in a menu, I prefer Holy Multiball. I don't have the coordination to enjoy the video cues on the LCD while playing, so the other two modes aren't as appealing. Holy Multiball is sound driven though, so I prefer it.
2. To switch from the last started mode back to another mode on the primary screen, touch and hold the Gadget button for a long second and it'll toggle between which modes are featured on the LCD and playfield. Both modes are still running and scoring, but you can focus on the mode you prefer, which should always be the Minor Villain mode.
3. Complete the "TV" shots on the right again and then repeat the left orbit shot to the upper right saucer and select from the menu again. In my opinion, the left orbit shot is the most important shot in the game, so I suggest practicing on getting that shot down above all others.
4. Yes. To add extra ball opportunities to your game, go to the settings menu, select Adjustments and then SPI. At the Replay, setting which shows up first, I think, change the option to "Fixed," then go to the next adjustment and set the Replay Award to "Extra Ball." I think the next setting is where you setup the score which triggers a Replay. You can increase the points trigger point over time as you get better at the game. In the settings menu you can also change the Special award to be an extra ball.

Other than signing off the email with the word “investment” thumbs up to your email, some great ideas there.

I have problem where the ball lock doesn’t open when lock is ready. I’ll shoot the ball up the right loop and have it deflect into the mystery hole. I remember the railing/lock was open previously as soon as lock was ready. My game seems confused as to what the open or closed state of the mechanism is where the balls lock. If I shoot up it seems sometimes snap open and shut, so if I do have perfect timing I can still lock balls, but it’s rarely full open and waiting. I don’t know if there’s a test I can do or something to reset the state.

Any help would be appreciated.

Not in the club, yet, but just a heads up for fellow Batman 66 fans. Amazon has the Bluray set of the show on sale today for $37.50. Picked it up while I continue pondering purchasing a premium, lol.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PVBCSNA/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1

Thunderbird by default EB lights after capturing 2 Maj V and also 20 Combos. I've seen it awarded via Mystery in much earlier versions of the code, but not any time recently.

*Multiplier strategy:*
For shot multipliers, it's wise to get two gordon hits after collecting bat phone, but before your first major villain shot or scoop. This gives you 2x Multiball scoring, +4x bonus and only one shot away from your first shot multiplier. Then you just need to understand which shot is the best to multiply first given your Maj V mode.

Catwoman - Left Ramp > Right Ramp > Turntable > Scoop > Right Orbit

Penguin - Turntable (makes sections 2 and 3 very valuable) Shot multipliers payoff the most in Penguin since EVERY shot relights with a crane hit allowing lots of collection + shot multiplier on crane hits. Can be dangerous, but lots of points to be had.

Riddler - Right orbit > Turntable > Scoop > Ramps

Joker - Turntable > Scoop > Ramps

Also, right before you capture, get a shot multiplier on the scoop to multiply your capture jackpot. If you can combine this with a playfield multiplier, you'll get some pretty big points.

Also, use multiball time (especially during ball save) to rack up your shot multipliers with more safety. Again, if you have 2x MB scoring + shot multipliers + playfield running MB can get pretty lucrative.

Keep your eyes out for a HUO premium if your a little unsure Panzer, but honestly I think if you like story telling in your pinball which I get the impression you do and your collection would suggest the same.

Then BM66 takes theme integration to a new level, every mode feels like your playing through an episode of the show and the cliffhangers are a touch of genius from Lyman that puts you right in each episode.

If you love the theme/show you won’t regret joining the club, it takes the depth of SW code and gives it a much more cohesive feeling, genuinely my favourite game in my collection.

A little bit more information. The coil fires for the diverter then it immediately shuts the diverter. It opens the diverter but only briefly. This just recently started happening. I know in multiball the coil should hold the diverter open unless the left loop switch is hit then it seems to close.

Any help on why it closes so quickly would be appreciated.

Wow and a big thanks! This is great advise and much needed to truly enjoy the game. I’ll try it and ask more questions probably. Thanks again for taking the time to clue us into all this.

Does the diverter have a hold and power winding? If yes, I would check wiring.
You can always contact Stern customer support too.

Have you looked at the switch test to check to see if the left orbit switch is registering correctly??

I tested the switch it is fine. All switches appear fine.

Does any have a video or could do the coil test for the diverter? Mine pops open hits the back of the orbit and immediately shuts. Im almost thinking it’s trying to open too far and I need to shrink the length of play a little.

I recorded a video of what it looks like. https://streamable.com/gjrvg This is the same action whether it's opening for ball lock or if the ball lock is supposed to already be open and I hit the left loop/orbit, which originally closed it and opened it quickly.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm thinking it's either coil related or there's a catch that isn't catching when it opens. I also thought maybe its because the elbow seems loose below and maybe needs to be tightened. I can record a video below if it would be helpful.

couldn't agree more....

This is soooo true. I love the cherry picked modes. Whether it's the latter Riddler mode where Batman somberly states that he will fight the Champion of Southwest Asia (Riddler of course), Tut stating that In Accordance with the Prophecy, or Batgirl telling Penguin that perhaps he would train her too, it's just great stuff. Joker surfing, Catwoman crawling to escape, Penguin in a bag, "a typical evening in Gotham City," Shame calling Batman, Batfella, etc., it's amazing.

Installed the new code tonight.

Bookworm 1 is now pretty easy to complete.

It’s a good reward to get, because it keeps all earned Villain rewards for every ball to the end of the game.

So, first ball I got Bookworm, then I got Mr Freeze, who freezes the timers on every mode. So you can keep building up playfield X, keep shooting bat turns, etc etc. Timers never expire.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t keep the “earned” things ball to ball. eg Mr Freeze, if you have the playfield x up to say 5x, if you drain, it starts from 0 again next ball. Which I think is good, as otherwise you’d be getting 20+ billion points a game.

I had a mixed sort of game, ball 2 is when it all happened, but that was sort of it. Ended up with 6b, not bad I guess, but Bookworm has the possibilities to be massive if you are good enough to capitalise on his reward.

rd

I'm having some fun changing sounds/music in pinball browser. I'll just say that Mr. Freeze is now "cold as ice", and that when I enter my initials I'm "the best around".
Other than those silly things I changed some of the major villain music, added a call out on top of the tilt sound effect and added a penguin laugh on top of the clang crane hit noise.

New BM Code

V0.99.0 - Nov. 1, 2018
=====================

- Increased minor villain mode select timer to 15 seconds (from 9 seconds).
- Added a setting (default YES) that allows minor villain modes to be
replayed once all modes in a season have been played.
- Added sounds and speech to some BOOKWORM 29/30 clips that were missing.
- Cleaned up and trimmed several BOOKWORM 29/30 clips.
- Added right bank targets and better scoring for the minor villain modes.
- Added GI lamps to minor villain mode select.
- Lowered HSTD scores for minor villain modes (100M to 50M).
- Fixed an issue with the EGGHEAD 47/48 mode that would light the "G" in
"GADGET" instead of a random shot to complete the mode.
- Added GI to skill shot (shooter lane).
- Added an adjustment for the trough power.
- Cleaned up/added shaker motor effects for major villain super jackpots
and major/minor villain jailed (completed) effects.
- Added a setting (default: YES) to spot an adjacent GADGET target.
- Implemented (fully) "save minor villain progress" for finishing King Tut.
- Fixed an issue with "hold bonus" that was causing the bonus to not be
held.
- Implemented SHAME awards (+1 balls to multiball / multiball extend).
The "extend" time is given by the adjustment "AUTOFIRE EXTEND TIMER".
- Reworked score criteria for the minor villain modes. The base score
will go up with each major villain stage completed, along with each minor
villain mode completed.

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Hey! I just installed the last one!

Must be pretty close to complete now.

Even Pinside can’t complain about all the shit packed into this game now....

rd

Yep! I once had an imaginary list of things I expected to be implemented, but how the heck can I complain after seeing Lyman's vision implemented. It's amazing. I played four games tonight. Under 100M for three and then I ripped off a 1.5B game. It was amazing! It's now easily my favorite game, even though it sits between MMr and IM.

Haha...the amount of code updates are unbelievable compared to the first year. Better update the new one.

Let's see what comes in 1.00.

Another update? Holy shit, is Lyman working on this game 24/7 and skipping on sleep? The guys superhuman pumping out these updates.

Anyone slightly concerned that 1.0 will now be anticlimatic It was so exciting with the 0.2 changes and all the mode additions. Still hoping for more game sounds, callouts, villian vision, crane modes .... May be that will be more like TWD and have to wait till he is in a lull from his next game (Elvira3).

I miss the Riddler’s signature inane laugh that was present in the very early code releases. That laugh was the best thing about that character! Let’s hope it can come back in the final release. Penguin’s quacking laugh would be great also! Maybe licensing restrictions prevent that?

You just know my next two balls are going sdtm..

Very good code update although I’m not sure why we even need a time limit to pick a minor villian.

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I haven't looked for the Riddler laugh but it should be in there somewhere. There are so many unused sounds in there. I found the penguin quack sample then exported it and overlayed it with the existing clang sound from the crane. Pinball browser is an excellent tool.

I need to pay more attention the next time I play. Concerning the Riddler, I mainly notice Batman preparing to fight the Champion of Southwest Asia, so mostly Batman. Penguin is too much of a frenzy for me to notice much in callouts, mainly because I'm in crane mode trying to bounce balls off of that.

Is there a how to like video or log on how to do these kinds of editing? I am envious of the smart people on these forums that know how to edit these to perfection. I’m guessing it’s harder then it sounds.

Anybody know the names of the 3 files for the downloads in the .99 update? I get batman-0_99_0.spk.003.000 and batman-0_99_0.spk.003.002 and batman-0_99_0.spk.003 So the last one is missing the last part of the name (.001 I think). Does this look familiar to anyone? I am not using my regular computer and I am having a little trouble with the download. The file in question doesn't seem to unzip like it usually does. I am a bit afraid to try it.

Thanks, Dave

The first numbers after the spk are the number of files, so in this case 3 files = 003. The next three numbers are the file numbers, which should be 000, 001, 002. My .99 files all have the proper full file name so maybe try unzipping it again, otherwise try just renaming the last file to 001.

Also, the 001 file should be about 1,953,360 KB

HSTD is DEAD! Long Live HSTD!

Glad to see the "G" bug fixed and a couple of those minvil awards actually doing something.

Last things have to be some sound and choreography and Egghead awards doing what they say re:bonus.

It's not too hard to figure out but I did end up watching a how to video which helped a lot, I think it was on Buffalo Pinball's youtube page. Since BM66 has a LCD screen you don't have to worry about any of the video stuff as that can't be changed, apparently you can do your own animations and such on a DMD machine though.

Just being able to change the default settings in the code itself is quite nice, for example I set the minor villain selection screen timer to 25 seconds, which is more than the normally available max value. You do have to register pinball browser ($20) in order to edit the sound files but I've found it very much worth it. I did run into some issues trying to get the modified files onto my machine but I can help troubleshoot if you run into the same issues.

You can also edit some of the game text, now my machine has "The Big Cheese" instead of "Grand Champion"

Hopefully v1.0 has a couple of surprises, but more importantly adds some depth to the crane modes and adds all the sounds currently missing like the villains signature laughs with some killer lightshows.

Has Lyman ever just stopped at v1.00 (feature complete) he took AC/DC over the top with several extra updates, did the same with Metallica and TWD, he even dropped updates for TRON over a year after it was considered complete.

I would be surprised if he just stops at v1.00, whenever he speaks about this game you can hear the love and passion in his voice, no way he stops at v.1

No, because the game has already significantly exceeded my expectations.

I gambled on an LE when it was a box of lights because I believed George when he asked us to trust them to make the game what it should be and because Lyman was a passionate Batman 66 fan intent on crafting a rule set that did the game justice. The "play the episodes" approach is pure thematic genius and the use of the massive amounts of IP from essentially the entire series is probably beyond what any of us could have imagined two years ago at Expo.

I suspect that 1.0 will be "feature complete" (whatever that means to Lyman) and then we'll see at least two more releases - one with additional callouts and lighting and a bug/polish release. It seems unlikely that we will see any major new modes or any significant change in how Villian Vision is used.

Now if only George would have Stern re-engineer and sell the left ramp as MK6PIN has redesigned it, Batman 66 could be the closest thing to a perfect game Stern has ever produced.

Wanted to update on wireform/ ramp progress....ALMOST DONE!!!!

Wireform came out to perfection.....there are some shots showing the silver sparkle in the red.....finish is uniform and silky smooth....the flake gives it a textured look however.......couldn't be happier!!!! My powder guy said this was very tough to get correct.....incredible job....

Picked up my ramp today as well. He confessed to me it was exactly to spec EXCEPT he used the wrong steel (uggh)....you will see finish difference in the photos. Regardless, fit is flawless, and no nasty wire-tie holes. He said he could bang out another one for me, but would have to be after the first of the year, as several larger projects in the works....

No way was I waiting for the final ramp, and it's back together...plays amazing...exactly how I'd hoped....very, very solid, fast and gorgeous...

A long process for sure, as the shops I'm dealing with now are pure pros, and I've had to beg to get my tiny project in. The wait was worth it...

Machine shop will also have my final lockdown button assembly done in January as well (1/8" high billet aluminum, anodized in Red, w countersunk logo on the top in black chrome)...it will show just the outline in red, as the batmobile.

I apologize endlessly for not being able to bring this for others to have (major abandonment by prior pinsider documented in the other thread). Hope it will inspire some, however, to make this amazing machine even better with the ramp and wireform that should have always been on it......some pics:

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bm8 (resized).jpg