I haven't seen this posted anywhere...

Is this Baywatch Easter egg common knowledge? During attract mode, the flipper combination below will show a secret screen that says "Craw Sightings". Anyone know the significance of this?

Left x 3, Right x 3, Left x 2, Right x 2, Left, Right

I also do not see this detailed anywhere.

Here are all the 3-Way Combo shot possibilities in Baywatch. All are worth 50 Million.

Center Ramp (Venice Beach) > Right Ramp (Tourist) > Spinner (and into opened Upper Ball Launch)
Side Ramp (Ironman) > Right Ramp (Tourist) > Spinner (and into opened Upper Ball Launch)
Right Ramp (Tourist) > Spinner > Shark Super Scoop
Side Ramp (Ironman) > Spinner > Shark Super Scoop
Center Ramp (Venice Beach) > Spinner > Shark Super Scoop

I'd like to compile a complete list of bugs and issues with Baywatch. Please reply with anything I do not have listed here.
1) CPR Mode - If you complete the mode, the game displays a 50M completion bonus. However, this 50M is not added to the score.
2) Diver Trapped Mode - The bonuses that are added to your score as you make the shots are incorrect. They are displaying 20M, then 30M, then 40M, then 50M, but instead they are granting 10M, then 20M, then 30M, then 40M.
3) End Of Ball Bonus is incorrectly displaying the amount granted for Rescue Missions. The game is supposed to give you 3M times the amount of Rescue Missions completed... however, it is not displaying the correct amount here. Although, it is granting the correct amount in the total.... so this is purely a display error.
4) The upper right gate opens in certain modes to allow a Left Orbit shot to pass. However, often on a fast shot, the gate is not opening quickly enough to allow the ball to pass and the ball is instead deflected down into the SPF rollover lanes.
5) The lower right gate (just above the shark flipper) opens at certain times (such as during Skill Shot 3) to let the ball pass into the kickback. However, the gate often closes too quickly which does not give the ball enough time to pass.
6) If game Adjustment 32 (Coil Pulse Power) is set to High then the upper right gate does not function correctly at all.
Added over 7 years ago: 7) Text when advancing and collecting Shark Award is not displaying the proper numbers and text goes off the edges of the DMD.
Added over 7 years ago: 8 ) Instant Info doesn't display SPF Bonus Multiplier (the code calls for the wrong screen that does not exist and so instead it shows score for a few seconds). Also, Instant Info does not repeat smoothly.

Added over 7 years ago: 9) If the player achieves the maximum 10X SPF Bonus Multiplier and then advances it again, the player is awarded Extra Ball Is Lit instead and then 20M for each advancement thereafter. However, the End Of Ball bonus will display 11X SPF Bonus Multiplier. The correct bonus is still calculated so this is purely a display bug.

Exactly the kind of feedback I am looking for. Thanks Ive!

I've found the bug you mentioned... and squashed it! The "FF" in the text of your screenshot is wrong (FF More Sharks For SHARK) ... it should be the number of shots remaining for the next award. So now it properly displays (1 More Sharks For SHARK, 1 More Sharks For SUPER LASER KICK, etc ). I have it so the text is displaying the proper number there now and it no longer goes off the edges of the screen.

I am adding your bug find to my list above.

Keep them coming guys!

Just the raw assembly language code of the ROM... and a lot of patience. No source code. No comments. But it is a lot of fun and very rewarding.

I've been analyzing the Baywatch code... it appears that Solenoid 15 (Shaker) is activated with these switches:

Center Ramp Exit (Venice Beach)
Shark Super Scoop
Upper VUK (Earthquake)
Upper Ball Launch
Pop Bumpers

Can someone with this shaker mod please confirm this?

I'd love to hear everyone's experience with the two gates in the game. How are they behaving for you? I hear that the lower right gate doesn't seem to stay open long enough for many people for the times where the ball is supposed to make it into that kickback. Also I hear that the upper gate sometimes doesn't open quick enough during a fast left orbit shot for scenarios where it is supposed to let the ball pass.

How are your gates acting?

Is your Adjustment 32 (Coil Pulse Power) set to High? If so, then it will not work in the game. This is a known bug (for now). Set it to Normal.

I know setting it to High will cause the upper gate to not work. But does setting it to Low also cause it to not work? I don't have a Baywatch so I cannot validate this. Can someone with a Baywatch please test the upper gate on Low and let me know if this causes the gate to stop working?

Excellent. Thank you for verifying for me.

I'll tell you exactly what the bug is here... this will get a bit technical but some of you might find this interesting.

All the coils have a set value for how long they are to remain energized. When you set Adjustment 32 (Coil Pulse Power) to Low then the amount of time is decreased by a small amount. When you set it to High, the amount of time is increased by a small amount.

All the coils have a different base value for time. To keep this simple, I will give all numbers in decimal.

The upper right coil timing is set to 240 when it is at the default setting. This means that coil will remain energized for 240 units of time.

When you set it to Low, the code subtracts 30 to the timing of this coil. This brings it to 210.

When it is set to High, the code wants to add 30 to the timing of this coil. This brings it to 270. However, the software is running in 8 bit hexadecimal numbers here. The largest number you can represent with 8 bits is 11111111, or 255 in decimal notation. So the number roles over to 0 if you try to go above that (and don't account for it). In this case, it ends up rolling over and winds up being 14.

Setting the coil power to High in this specific instance takes the coil power from 240 to 14. 14 is such a tiny amount. You can see the effect in the game that the gate probably just barely opens and immediately shuts.

Apparently, this was never tested back in the day and this bug slipped out into the production code.

The Upper Right Coil is the only one that has this bug. All the other coils are have a default value that does not roll over when changing power level.

This bug... and several others.

There are voice calls that say "Shoot the left ramp", "Shoot the middle ramp", and "Shoot the right ramp". I believe these are unused. I am adding these into the end of Copter Rescue where the roving ramps collect the 50M bonus. A little extra help for the player to know where to shoot.

I have a bunch of changes all ready to go... the problem is that I need to get my hands on a game. I need to have it in my possession for at least a few months to be able to implement the changes and verify everything.

Up until now this has been a background project of mine and I haven't been very aggressive around this, but I am now ready... if anyone nearby (Northwest Chicago suburbs) has a Baywatch that they can lend me, please let me know. PM me.

Baywatch is in the house!

HUGE thank you to Whysnow !!!

Now I can start to get serious.

I haven't gotten fully back into it yet. I got the game from Whysnow and then left for a Florida vacation. I am back home now and will dig in soon. I don't see this patch being nearly as big as my previous ones (Star Wars, Jurassic Park, TFTC, Tommy, Hook). My initial focus is on all the bugs in the game. There will be some tweaks here and there. But I don't foresee any major overhauls. Mostly just a polishing of what is there.

As always, I am open to suggestions.

Couple additional small bugs found...

Instant Info doesn't display SPF Bonus Multiplier (the code calls for the wrong screen that does not exist and so instead it shows score for a few seconds). Also, Instant Info does not repeat smoothly.

Here's something interesting about Baywatch scoring that I don't believe is well known.

If you make it to Earthquake... the jackpot bonus amount for shooting the Left Ramp depends on how many of the following modes you successfully COMPLETED:

CPR
Chopper Rescue
Driver Trapped
Shark Cove
Tidal Wave

Each time you complete one of the above modes, the jackpot value for Earthquake increases by 20 Million.

Jackpot = 50M + (20M x Modes Completed)

It looks like your bonus can be as low as 50M per jackpot... but as high as 150M per jackpot!

So, not only do you get a completion bonus of 50M each time you complete a mode, but it will also increase the Earthquake Jackpot by 20M. A little extra incentive to complete those modes, huh?

By the way, I watched the PAPA tutorial video and it appears that they physically disabled the Left Ramp lock. By doing this, they completely cheated themselves out of potentially huge Earthquake jackpot values!

Over 20,000 lines of raw uncommented assembly language like this:

8C65: CE 8C B6 ldx #$8CB6
8C68: 8D 45 bsr $8CAF
8C6A: E6 00 ldb (x+$00)
8C6C: A6 01 lda (x+$01)
8C6E: 84 0F anda #$0F
8C70: 8B 03 adda #$03
8C72: BD 43 8C jsr $438C
8C75: 20 A8 bra $8C1F
8C77: 8D 2E bsr $8CA7
8C79: CE 8C DA ldx #$8CDA
8C7C: 8D 31 bsr $8CAF

Fun!

First, make sure you game is NOT set with Adjustment 32: Coil Power = High. There is a known bug with the current code that will makes that upper gate unusable with this setting. Make sure it is set to Normal.

Second, make sure your upper gate is mechanically working correctly. Go into coil test mode and test that upper gate. The gate should IMMEDIATELY open when tested. There should be no delay. I've seen it where you press the test button and the gate hesitates to open. If this happens, examine the gate and make sure the arm that pulls the gate open has as much leverage as possible.

It only says "Well Done" if you abort the End Of Ball Bonus screens. It doesn't matter what your score is or how well your ball was played.

Here's a video of a guy completing it. Looks like there are 11 ramps. He gets a total of 135M.

From what I can tell, the bonus for this mode starts at 10M and then is increased by 10M for each successful ramp and increases by 1M for the instances you stay alive while avoiding obstacles.

This would mean that max is:
10M starting bonus + (11 ramps * 10M) + (15 instances of time passed avoiding obstacles * 1M) = 135M

What are you experiencing?

Ah... I see... my logic for scoring is correct up until near the very end of the whole sequence where 1M is added to the bonus with each frame for the last second or two.

Playing with the Jet Ski video mode, I think I can slow it down and/or speed it up.

What if.... the mode started out slower for the first few ramps, then sped up to normal speed you are used to, and then sped up again near the end with the last few ramps? But then if you make it to the very end you get an extra bonus because it was extra fast/hard for that last part?

Just tossing this idea out there for feedback/suggestions.

Actually, there is a bug in the code that cheated you out of getting credit for that center ramp (3rd from the last) even though the animation shows a successful jump.

There are 7 positions that you can be in.

From left to right, numbered 0 to 6. Here is how I'll define them:

0 = extreme left
1 = left
2 = left center
3 = center
4 = right center
5 = right
6 = extreme right

Here's the problem... when you are in position 2, 3, or 4, when you hit a ramp that is in the center... the game animation shows a good jump. However, there is a bug where if you are in position 2 then the game does NOT give you the 10M nor does it play the bell sound effect along with the "Alright" voice call.

Now rewatch your video and you'll see that you hit that center ramp when you where in position 2... and thus you did not get the credit.

This bug is now fixed.

Every game I have worked on has had bugs... especially Hook, that one was really buggy!

But you are right, some bugs are not so obvious... sometimes I've found very minor things no one would ever even know such as a voice call that is called by the code but never plays because something with a higher priority doesn't allow it, or a video animation gets cut short because the timing was off.

Here's a minor one in Baywatch you may have noticed. When you start CPR, it plays one of two voice calls.

"Listen up guys, the swimmers need help, apply CPR, 1-2-3 Now!"
"OK everyone here's the situation, some swimmers need help, shoot the ramp to apply CPR"

If the second voice call is played, there is a bug where another voice call of "Shark's in the bay" accidentally gets overlayed during the second half of that voice call... making it hard to understand what was being said.

If Lionman had to put in 3 initials, what would they be?

Here's another interesting thing about Baywatch that I am pretty sure not many know about...

Try setting Adjustment 49 (Mode Start Criterion) to "Extra Hard".

This completely changes the way the game advances with the various mode shots.

With it set to Extra Hard, you have to spell all of GUARD (and then play Guard mode) before you can advance to the next phase where you then collect all the cast members (and then play Tourist Season mode) and after that you can then play each of the main modes (and then play Earthquake).

Definitely changes the strategy.

Also, if you set Adjustment 49 (Mode Start Criterion) to "Hard" then it plays like the normal game except it takes two shots per advancement of each lite and shows an extra animation on the in-between shots.

If you set Adjustment 49 (Mode Start Criterion) to "Moderate" or "Easy" then it take two shots to collect each GUARD letter but only one shot for the cast member and one shot for the mode start.

Finally, if you set Adjustment 49 (Mode Start Criterion) to "Extra Easy" which is the default then it plays the way 99% of everyone plays the game and it's one shot per advancement of each lite.

Here some notes on the changes I made to the two Video Modes (subject to change).

Ironman Video Mode:
Allow all of intro video for Ironman to play and allow it to be aborted with both flippers.
Add motor boat sound to Video Mode intro for Ironman.
Change music during Ironman to previously unused music.
Increase amount for hitting flippers from 250,000 to 500,000 per hit.
Add "Well Done" voice call to winning Video Mode Ironman race.
Increase bonus for successfully completing Ironman from 20M to 50M.

Water Skier Video Mode:
Turn off G.I. during Water Skier Video Mode.
Adjust scoring of Water Ski video mode from 1M per passed obstacle to 3M per passed obstacle.
Fix bug so center ramp will now correctly score when hit on the left-center.
Fix bug at end of Water Skier where last ramp does not count.
Prevent "Alright" voice call from being cut short at end of Water Skier Video mode.
Fix Water Skier bug to prevent incorrectly adding ghost points at end after final ramp.
Add 50M bonus for successfully completing Water Skier Video mode.

I am looking for someone who wants to help beta test my patch and provide feedback. You need to have a good working Baywatch on hand (obviously) and have a ROM burner and be able to burn 27C512 CPU ROMs as I make revisions. Need a good understanding of the current rules and willing to test all the changes (which means often taking off the glass to try out the more obscure changes).

Please PM me if interested.

Shouldn't those LITE LOCK flag inserts on the playfield be green? I think green is the common "lock" color in pinball. Or maybe your video is just making them look blue.

Here's a sneak preview of a minor adjustment to Shark Cove which I think does two things... first, it increases the possible points to be achieved for this previously underscoring mode (relative to the other main modes)... and second, it adds a new strategy to the mode.

Original Rules for Shark Cove:

During this timed mode, the SHARK TARGETS and the SHARK SUPER SCOOP are lit. There is a 10M mode start bonus. Each hit on the bank of SHARK TARGETS kills one shark for 10M. There is one shark at first, then a set of two, then a set of three, then finally a set of four. The first time the SHARK SUPER SCOOP is shot, all the sharks currently on-screen are killed (for 10M each). Subsequent shots to the SHARK SUPER SCOOP will only kill one shark. Killing all sharks grants a 50M Completion Bonus.

New Rules for Shark Cove:

During this timed mode, the SHARK TARGETS and the SHARK SUPER SCOOP are lit. There is a 10M mode start bonus. Each hit on the bank of SHARK TARGETS kills one shark for 10M. There is one shark at first, then a set of two, then a set of three, then finally a set of four. EVERY TIME the SHARK SUPER SCOOP is shot, all the sharks currently on-screen are killed for DOUBLE POINTS (20M each). Killing all sharks grants a 50M Completion Bonus.

Let's talk about Tidal Wave.

During this timed mode, the Left Orbit, Upper VUK, and Spinner Lane feed the ball to the Upper Ball Launch and awards 20M. The ball is then kicked up around the Right Orbit to the Upper Left Flipper, from which the Side Ramp can be shot for a Rescue Award of 50M. Getting Rescue Award three times will complete this mode where you receive a 50M Completion Bonus.

That is original description of this mode... but in reality, this one is buggy! The way it currently stands, it is very hard to actually complete this mode successfully for a few reasons.

Here are the problems:

1) When the mode first starts it offers up a "Shoot the Side Ramp" along with the jet-ski girl animation. However, if you make this very first Side Ramp shot correctly the game does NOT count this as a successful shot! You still have to do this three more times!

2) If you are slightly late with your Side Ramp shots, the game will show a "Rescue Successful" animation... however, it does NOT count as a successful shot, very deceiving!

3) Every time you make the Left Orbit, Upper VUK, and Spinner Lane shot, this counts as one of the three attempts. After these three attempts (regardless of whether you successfully shot the Side Ramp or not) the mode ends! This means if you do not perfectly make all three Side Ramp shots then the mode ends and you do not get the completion bonus.

All the above issues are now fixed. Now every successful Side Ramp shot counts (even that first one). Also, the failed attempts at hitting the Side Ramp do not count against you towards the three attempts. The mode ends when either the timer runs out (unsuccessful mode completion) or you make the three combo Side Ramp shots (successful mode completion).

Another change is the upper gate will now open faster with the Left Orbit shot during this mode. I know in the current game, this gate often does not open fast enough and the ball doesn't get to feed down into the Upper Ball Launch. I have made this gate open as fast as possible so hopefully the amount of misdirected balls will be reduced. Similarly, the lower gate opens faster with the Spinner shot in an effort to allow the ball to properly make it into the Upper Ball Launch with this shot more consistently.

With all these changes above I think this mode now plays as originally intended by the designer, and the player has a fairer chance of getting a successful completion. (And remember, each successfully completed mode increases the amount that the Earthquake Jackpots are worth!)

Original rule is it has to be a combo... and that's how it remains.

You are correct. Plenty of other very nice changes that I think you will all enjoy... but no mode stacking.

Ask and ye shall receive! (well, sometimes anyways...)

Here's what I came up with. To disable the automatic shark flipper, just set Adjustment 50 (Shark Flipper Control) to 99. Game plays the same except it will no longer automatically shark flip... and you can still manually flip in instances where automatic flip would have occurred to receive those bonuses. I'm hoping most people don't set their game this way as there is some charm to automatic shark flip, but I understand how it might frustrate some players.

You can adjust it manually with Adjustment 50 (Shark Flipper Control) to try to make it more accurate for your game. It does not automatically adjust over time like the the Bally games.

Adjustment 50 can be set between 0 and 99. (But now 99 will mean Disable). Default is 0. Hard to say exactly the time difference (milliseconds) between each setting.

You can play with this by going into Service Mode. Then go into DIAG, the scroll all the way to the right and go into BAY. This will bring up the Shark Flipper Control adjustment and will also allow you to play with the switch and see how the ball/flipper behaves over and over as you make changes to this setting. The ball will automatically eject from the Shark Scoop as you are testing in this mode.

The only thing that happens when you disable the automatic shark flip is the automatic flipping is disabled. All other functionality remains. If you light shark flip via the 5 shark targets then you can get the shark flip award still, it’s just that you manually are doing the flipping. Likewise Shark Award 3 where shark flip is now lit for the next 60 seconds (no longer till end of ball) will give you the shark flip bonus for that shark switch to shark scoop shot, but again, you are controlling the flipper.

Yep! Although, I am tempted to change it in this instance to the female laughing voice call.

I think there is a bad batch of these microswitches out there and you got one of them. I bought one from Marco and the exact same thing happened to me... worked fine for a couple days then just stopped working. It didn't even make the click anymore that micoroswitches are supposed to make. I wrote them back and they sent me a replacement which has been working fine. I'd recommend reaching out to Pinball Life.

The struggle to I’ve had is with the Shark Scoop microswitch. The switch works, it just seems to be very picky with its proper adjustment. Just when I think I have it perfect, the ball drops in the scoop and doesn’t register and I have to wait for ball search to kick in. Has anyone else struggled with this switch?

Yep. It looks like this:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/180-5116-01

When the ball drops into the Shark Scoop, it sits in a hole. It almost seems like the ball should sit down lower in the hole (which would mean the hole would have to be slightly bigger) so it can press down more on the switch.

If the Ball Save timer is active when the ball hits the Outlane switch then the Ball Save timer gets reset to its maximum. Because of this, there should never be an instance where Ball Save is active when that Outlane switch is activated and then runs out before the ball reaches the Outhole. The only way this should be possible is if that Outlane switch is not working properly.

Does anyone sell that kind still?

Yes. Diode required.

"Help is on the way!"

I just looked into it and I think I have a solution to reduce the crazy flashing GI especially when it just flashes every second or two when multiball is ready and when multiball is active. GI will still flash during jackpots and other events... just won't constantly flash as you play multiball. Hopefully will be more bearable.

Release Candidate 2? Hmmm... must mean final release is coming really soon...

Yep. I've temporarily disconnected it to experience the full GI flashing craziness.

Check here to see how the previous games are handled:
http://www.pinballcode.com/

Doing that leaves the GI on all the time.

There are times where you do want the GI to turn off for the added effect... like during the start of Multiball light show, during Video Modes, as bonus is displayed in between balls, during Match sequence or entering initials, etc. Also, the occasional OFF/ON flash is not bad during certain events for extra feedback.

I think the main complaint people have with Baywatch is the excessive flashing OFF/ON of the GI during certain events... especially during Multiball where it just constantly is quickly flashing OFF/ON on a short timer for no reason.

Is your upper right gate opening?

Also, if your Coil Power is set to High then that upper gate will never work correctly in CPU version 4.00.

Concerning the GI flashing OFF/ON...

The game flashes the GI a whole bunch of times in a row during certain events. GI will still flash for these events... just not nearly as much. Figure a 50% to 80% reduction for these events:
Ball Launch, Successful Skill Shot, Ball Lock, X Million Award, Swimmer Jackpot, Tourist Season Jackpot, Special, Replay, and Match.

The game constantly flashes the GI during Multiball Ready, Multiball (all stages), and Earthquake. This constant flashing will drive you crazy and is probably the reason why most people try to come up with a solution. This constant flashing (every one second?) has been completely removed.

In the end, the GI will still flash to punctuate certain events like most other pinball machines of its era, but the flashing has been greatly reduced.

Hold off. Won’t be long.

I do not.

I found a fix for this! I realized that the VUK in the back (Earthquake shot) has the loop microswitch. So I moved that one to the Shark Scoop and moved the fork one in the Shark Scoop up to the VUK. Working perfectly now.

If you guys like it now... just wait, it gets even better.

Soon! Honestly, I thought it would be released by now but I've been getting great last minute feedback from sudsy7 which keeps delaying it... but it's all for the best as he is finding obscure bugs and I am fixing them. When it is released, it should be solid and worth the wait!

A single 27C512 for the CPU.

While this update will not make any changes to the DISPLAY ROM, you want to make sure your game is running DISPLAY VERSION 4.00 from 1995 for proper game functionality. You can verify this by checking the very first screen that is displayed when you power on your game.

If your DISPLAY ROM is older than 4.00 then make sure you get that also when the time comes.

I'll be ready,
Never you fear,
I'll be ready.

A highly recommended purchase for any pinball collector.

Fire up your ROM burner...

Baywatch unofficial patch version 4.01 is RELEASED!

Your journey starts here:
http://www.pinballcode.com/

Read all the changes here:
http://www.pinballcode.com/bw401

This patch contains many bug fixes and game play updates. I hope you all enjoy this one. Looking forward to your thoughts after you get some time with the update!

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to Whysnow for lending me his game for this project! This would not have been possible without him. (Now does anyone have a Data East Star Trek near me for sale or that I can borrow?)

HUGE thanks to sudsy7 for many in depth suggestions and testing! Also, thanks to Tsskinne and PoMC for additional testing.

Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions and ideas. I obviously cannot implement everything but I think many of you will see updates you suggested.

Enjoy!

Hard to say how many hours. Way too many, I'm sure!

I can tell you that I started this project on December 21, 2016. All the initial work I did on it was without having access to the actual game. Then this past June, I picked up Whysnow 's Baywatch where I was able to really start working on it seriously. Then in early October I started to involve some beta testers. And now the release on December 3.

Don't forget... each main mode Successfully Completed will add 20M to each Jackpot Bonus during Earthquake.

That is awesome. Thank you!

Currently thinking of returning it early to mid January. Thank you again!

Congrats! Perfect timing!

When I started this one, I thought it would just be a few minor tweaks and bug fixes but the more I dug in, the more I found to fix and polish the game. It's always fun finding unused voice calls, music, and sound effects to add to a game.

I always love to hear the feedback!

Trap door is same as old code... opens for Ball Lock and for Earthquake jackpots. But you can now disable the trap door if you like by setting Adjustment 51 to NO. The game will count a Left Ramp shot as a Ball Lock or Earthquake jackpot if the trap door is either disabled or broken.

Default High Score #2 is HMJ

And the default Shark initials are SOF. Lionman!

Also, make sure the gate switch at the entrance to the Left Ramp is functioning properly as this is what will trigger the opening.

Baywatch is stereo.

Mine is similar. I almost see it as a trick to re-lite the Kickback. But remember, each subsequent re-liting of the Kickback takes more shots so it isn't like every single Shark Scoop shot will re-lite the Kickback.

I don't recall the particulars with how to access this coil / gate.

Make sure the arm that pulls the gate open has as much leverage as possible. You definitely want this gate to be responsive.

If you have the 4.00 Display ROMs already, then all you need is the single new v.4.01 CPU ROM.

Read the last paragraph here:
http://www.pinballcode.com/bw401

I always thought it was "Point Ridge".

Much appreciated!

That’s not CPU info, that’s Display info. It appears that your Display is rebooting. Also, your sound board is rebooting (sound board always says “Baywatch will be right back” upon boot up)

Definately a power stability issue.

Definitely less G.I. Off/On flashing.

I think he was referring to WWF Royal Rumble.

Don't know about all of them... but it didn't work in the original Tommy, TFTC, Baywatch, or Jurassic Park.

Congrats! Enjoy the game. This one seems to be getting a lot of good attention lately.

Beautiful!

Only changes to Ball Save in 4.01 were:

Start-Of-Ball Ball Save timer was increased from 5 seconds to 7 seconds.
Shark Scoop/Laser Kick Ball Save timer was increased from 2 to 3 seconds.

bwflash (resized).png

Yep. v.4.01 should help increase the success rate of all gate functionality... but ultimately you do want to make sure your gates, associated coils, and playfield are all in good solid shape.

You gotta admit. This looks beautiful...

92B3E56B-E481-4A6B-A8DA-6E625C0FB103 (resized).png

True. But think of it this way... let’s say that Baywatch is a $2500 game today. If you take that Baywatch and add a new ColorDMD to it, then you are adding value to that game. Does this mean that the game is still worth $2500? Of course not, that Baywatch is now worth more.

Yep. I reduced the OFF/ON GI flashing by a very large amount. Still flashes on occasion to punctuate certain events like most other games... but those times where it literally quickly flashes OFF/ON 18 times in a row? GONE! Those times where it just flashes constantly every second after you lock all three balls? GONE! Give it a try.

Always better marketing to have a professionally produced video be the first public exposure... someone's shaky far-away camera phone video with bad color correction never does justice to a reveal.

I am most anxious to see the colorization of the animated scoring screen. Hopefully someone can get a good steady up-close shot of it.

Looks like it’s living up to the hype. Well done!

I was hoping for an interpretive dance.

http://www.pinballcode.com/bw401

Check the diodes on all the related switches. Also check for shorts.

Just because it's a new switch, doesn't mean it's working. Those switches (even new ones) are notorious for performing poorly.

Swap that switch with the one in the VUK (diver trapped). See if the problem follows the switch.

Make sure you are running the v.4.01 code. More fun!

http://www.pinballcode.com/bw401

Eric P or Randy,

I want to know... how did you find all the source video clips from the Baywatch series to colorize those animations for the ColorDMD? There's gotta be a story there...

Baywatch Binge Watch? Or did they all come from a single episode?

Check all diodes in the problematic rows/columns.

Don't only focus on the two switches/diodes that are directly involved. Instead, you need to check ALL the switches in the associated Rows and Columns of the Switch Matrix.

Doesn't make sense. Something is wrong.

It's on for the remainder of the ball. This is how it was in 4.00 and there was no change to this in 4.01.

Doesn't make sense at all. Sounding like maybe you have a bad Shark Hole switch? Is your game kicking out a ball because of Ball Search? What happens in Switch Test mode with the Shark Scoop? Maybe give all your switches a test while you are at it.

Start-Of-Ball Ball Save timer was increased from 5 seconds (in 4.00) to 7 seconds (in 4.01).
Shark Scoop/Laser Kick Ball Save timer was increased from 2 seconds (in 4.00) to 3 seconds (in 4.01).

Sounds like the playfield switch in the lane right above your Shark Flipper is not working. The animation you describe is not related to a successful Shark Flip. That animation is played when the ball just happens to enter the Shark Hole randomly. Hitting that lane switch above the Shark Flipper should trigger the shark animation where he is coming out of the water at you and plays the Jaws type music.

No.

Blue balls draining.

Yep.

Not mandatory... but it is recommended. Can't say what might be displayed incorrectly if you are not on latest version. If you're getting the new 4.01 CPU ROM, you might as well also get the 4.00 Display ROM.

The amount of clicking (GI Flashing) is greatly reduced in 4.01 CPU ROM... so maybe see what you think with 4.01 before purchasing the GI Maestro.

Yep. 64K before and after.

Fun fact... only 48K is usable space for code.

Yep. If you are running v.4.01 (and you should be) then the initials for Shark Hole are always the most recent person to achieve Shark Jackpot during multiball.

Glad you figured it out.

I heard that some tournaments (PAPA?) and location operators where physically disabling the Trap Door in their games for various reasons. I wanted to make the Trap Door to be controllable in software instead of requiring the cutting of wires. That's why I changed that rarely used Adjustment to serve this function. The only problem is that since my update was a CPU ROM only update, I couldn't update the description text of the adjustment to better clarify what it means.

In the original code, if you had the setting turned on (was off by default) then the Inlane Return switches would open the Trap Door momentarily. No idea why. The door would be opening and shutting constantly.

So I yanked that logic and made it so you could enable/disable the Trap Door overall instead of cutting wires.