Big Game
Stern Electronics, 1980You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider chuckwurt.
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I am proud to report I am a new member to the club. Here is a forum I made with all my pictures of the game.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/got-my-first-wishlist-pin
One question, I noticed last night, when I set the High Score to Date in the diagnostics to something super low, when I beat that score, it still kept the score I manually set up in the settings as what the game flashes up as the high score to date. Is there something I am doing wrong?
Quoted from s1500:I have had mine for awhile, and probably wouldn't part with it. The game plays so smoothly. No issues with it so far. Could use some numbered drop targets, as the #s worn off.
I would say since these are so basic, a touch up job would look just fine.
I was adjusting one of my EOS switchs for the lower right flipper and I screwed something up. Now when I engage the flipper, it doesn't stay up if I hold it, it just goes right back down. Anyone know what I messed up here?
Quoted from Redketchup:Voila!
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Sorry to ask for more flipper pics, but could you take details pictures of each lower flipper assembly for me? I think this will help me diagnosing my problem. I need to see the wiring, what types of coils are used, and close ups of the EOS switches. Thanks!
Also if someone could take detailed pictured of the kick-out hole in the top left, that would be great. Mine is super weak and barely can knock it out far enough to feed the top rollovers. My mech is clean as a whistle, so I am thinking I might have a wrong type of coil?
What's everyone's high scores? I have mine on 3 ball, and everything else is pretty standard. Extra balls are awarded because I feel like they are tough enough to get. Anyway, I just had my best game at just under 800k. I was only a couple numbers away from completing all three bingo cards.
Quoted from rollitover:High scores you say? 1,859,150. Best I've ever done. Lit that badboy up! In fact, I had everything lit! Love this game.
Impressive especially if you're playing 3 ball. I have some work to do. Haha. 
Quoted from Redketchup:Thank you! I'm a big classic stern lover! I have 10 pinball and the last two to leave the mancave will be Fathom and Catacomb... So you have to be patient!
Did you see the last one who joined the group of Classic stern widebody?iron maiden-614.jpeg 311 KB
Whoa! That looks amazing. I think Classic SS games are quickly becoming my favorite.
Quoted from rollitover:Oops on that last one. Rookies...
Speaking of those drop targets. Is it easy to take those out of the housing? Mine could use a good cleaning. This will obviously be done after our tournament.
Great. thanks. I am always patient, as I have recently learned how to rewire scoring reels on EMs, take apart stepper units completely and clean, and rebuild flippers. I have learned some lessons from taking it too quickly.
Haha. I need to get home and play. Too busy playing potc on location right now. Wife is studying for CPA exam, can't bother her.
Quoted from rollitover:Dude! You OWN this game! How can a mere wannabe like me have even a chance to compete with that? AMAZING. If you were closer I'd love to watch and learn, watch and learn.
Haha. I am in over my head on this one. But I am gonna give it my best shot tonight and tomorrow and see where I end up.
I also thought of this last night. On what ball does your big game award the 5,000 bonus per line completed at the end of the ball? Mine is on ball three. Just wanted to make sure ours are all the same.
Quoted from rollitover:I do believe mine is on ball two. Need to verify to be certain. chuckwurt we may both be in over our heads. We might have to combine our scores just to stay in the ballpark. Well, like you said give it your best shot. Get the letters B-I-G G-A-M-E lit and feed that kick-out. It's the "money" shot on this game: big points! We'll need it.
Okay. I will set mine to ball two as well. I will go with the kickout hole strategy too. I was trying to complete the cards as early as possible to have those multipliers set up for balls 2 and 3.....
Quoted from rollitover:Targets garner a lot of points in this game also. As you fill the cards your bonus can go through the roof! Not trying to diminish their importance at all. However, targets drop due to gameplay quite often. Just saying that once you have spelled out Big Game, that kick-out lane is the most lucrative in point value that you can gain on a SINGLE shot. If you are a marksmen and you can nail that shot repetitively your scores will elevate quickly!
Great point. I need to learn to go for the larger point/shot avenues. I have so many games that I end up getting a crummy score because I am just about to get over that "hump" to get into the crazy scoring, and I just fall a couple shots short.
Also, what size is the speaker for Big Game? I want to upgrade mine to something nicer. Is it just a standard 6*6 car speaker?
Quoted from rollitover:Not sure about the speaker bud. Curious though , upgrade to... ?
If it's a standard 6X6 car speaker the options are endless. For 60-70 bucks you could really have a nice speaker in there. I may just get one and see if it fits.
Quoted from Redketchup:Really important to have your spinner turn fast, when it's lit, the one on the left is 2000 point by turn!
Oh yeah. I am definitely hitting those with superlube tonight before I start. Also going to replace an EOS switch on one of my left flippers to get it a little stronger than it has been.
Fellow pinsider recommended this. Mine has seen better days, so I am most certainly going to get one of these. Can't beat that price!
http://www.parts-express.com/pyle-pdmw6-6-1-2-mid-woofer--292-204
Quoted from maglar:I have that exact speaker in my big game. I love it, the game actually has some pretty decent bass.
Well that pretty much guarantees I am going to buy a couple of these.
Quoted from rollitover:Never changed out a speaker on a pin. Does it really make that much of an impact?
If it is anything like cars from this era, changing from stock speakers to aftermarket makes huge difference.
Maglar, you should join us in the Weekend tournament. Highest score by Monday wins. Previous highscore must be reset unless it is under Red's score from last night of 1.5 million
Quoted from rollitover:Shout out to Redketchup and chuckwurt: off work soon and will be headed for home. Let the games begin!
Ditto! Leaving in 30.
Quoted from LOTR_breath:I really love this game. I got the 1st or 2nd highest qualifying score in Louisville in the Classics tourney. The whole time I could hear Jon Replogle behind me saying BIG GAAAAMMME! I found a good strategy on this game for me. When trapped on the left, post pass to the right(easier said than done). When trapped on the right, give a little flick to get the ball to roll out from under the tip of the upper flipper, then nail that spinner! If you want to get fancy try this: From a trap on the left, do a little flick to get the ball to roll out onto the flipper, then do a super backhand up the spinner. That is beautiful when you pull it off!
Dang. I'll try this. What was your qualifying score?
Quoted from labnip:That's 8 ohm. Is your original 4 or 8 ?
Not sure haven't tested. Other big game owners have installed it with no issue though if that helps.
Quoted from rollitover:Pretty good for someone who hasn't owned the game very long. You'll be in the 1.5 range before long. I'll be aiming at 2m and thinking of Red's amazing scores every time I play I'm sure. Congrats to Redketchup, the first champion of the chuck, Red and roll tournament! November anyone?
Post edited by rollitover: script/ grammer
Sounds awesome to me.
Goty new speaker today, but one of the nuts from the old speaker is stuck and I cannot loosen it. It's rusted to the bolt. Problem is, the other side of the bolt underneath the cabinet has a head like a nail and flush with the underside of the cabinet. Cannot hold onto it with anything to be able to get the nut loose. Any ideas?
Quoted from labnip:there's some stuff you can pour on it that will help loosen the 2 parts.
Any idea what it's called?
New speaker is in. Pretty awesome for $26 bucks for two of them shipped using a $5 off code. Before if I turned it up a lot, the highs were cracking a lot, and the lows weren't deep at all. Now when I crank it up. I can feel the game vibrating with the drum beat. Pretty awesome.
Quoted from labnip:hi
i don't remember
That's alright. I just used good old fashioned brute force to get it loose.
Quoted from rollitover:Playing last night and sure enough... Houston, we have a problem. Machine cut out mid-ball, came back on and did it a second time. Turned it off, then back on. Only got six pings and am now without attract mode and displays. Anybody shed some light?
Hilarious. This exact thing happened to me Sunday night when I was playing. I am pretty sure you blew the 7 amp slo blo fuse in your rectifier board (the thing with all the fuses in it in the front of the cabinet to the right of the speaker). See below, I took that fuse out already in this picture and the type of fuse is in red above the board. I was getting flipper rebuild parts from PBR, so I added some of those fuses to my order. That is what happened to mine.
I can mail you a fuse if you want, but I probably wont get mine for the next couple days. Just PM me if that is what happened to yours and if you want me to mail you one.
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Quoted from rollitover:Nice reply cw. Checked the fuses right away, none felt hot nor showed signs of being blown. However I will I will remove fuse and inspect tonight. Thanks for the offer to send me one. May have some on hand. Do you have any idea why it would blow a fuse in the first place? Just normal playing afterall.
I am not sure. I was in the middle of a game when it happened to me as well. I just figured it was a random voltage spike. I guess I will know for sure when I get that new fuse in there. Hopefully it doesn't blow right away again.
Quoted from Aladdin:Oh, yeah prob not them then. Maybe a ground issue? Check the screws on the boards and other grounding points?
Good idea. I am going to double check all my grounding points too. That was the only other thing I could think of from a random fuse blowing in the middle of a game.
My problem was definitely the blown fuse. Game appears to be back to normal. Not sure what happened though. Hopefully you can figure your issue out Roll, cause we got our November showdown coming up!
3 ball, 5k bonus for completed bingo lines doesn't kick in till 3rd ball, EBs ON. Best score by Monday morning.
Quoted from rollitover:Hey there, good morning to ya'! I was miserable this weekend. Had more problems with my machine too. Finally got ALL the kinks worked out, but not until Sunday morning. Anyway like I said when I finally got on it all I could muster were scores in the 800,000* range. *see definition of pathetic. The best score over the weekend was not even recorded by me. It was by our fellow pinsider/my pinball tech pinballplusmn. He got 1,278,600. This one goes to you chuckwurt, congrats!
haha. I was having that kind of weekend too, but got lucky and scored that 1.2 million on my first attempt yesterday when I played for a half hour or so. I think playing for 8 hours Saturday in league and hanging out afterwards drained me haha.
Quoted from rollitover:Great! I am sure chuckwurt will be in too. He's all about Big Game. We'll keep in touch and choose a weekend then. Maybe one that I have my son as I am sure he'd like to get in, as long as that's ok by you guys.
That sounds great to me. The closer we are to the holidays, my brother will be in town and he would probably get in on the action too, haha.
Hey guys,
Not sure if we touched on this aspect when comparing our game setups. Do you have only one bingo card lit at a time, or two? I didn't realize it was an option until I was reading over stuff last night. I am just not sure what factory settings are. Mine is currently set so that only one bingo card can be lit at a time.
Quoted from Redketchup:Mine is set up with two card can be lit at the same time...
Cool. I will change mine then. Thanks!
That's a pretty cool idea. I may try some slow fade color changing LEDS in the pops too and see how that looks. Or in the back glass. Might eventually put in an alltek lamp board too.
Hey guys. I need help. So last night I got done rebuilding all my flippers and I also wanted to get the game as steep as possible to increase the speed. Whoa baby this mother is faster than ever now! The only issue I have now is at the saucer. It is not consistently knocking the ball with enough force to get it all the way back to the top rollovers. Is there anyway I can increase the strength of the kickout arm? the only thing I could think of is replacing the spring on the arm that physically hits the ball with a much more tense spring.
what do you guys think?
Quoted from rollitover:I noticed that mine does the same thing on occasion needing three, sometimes four attempts to get it out properly. However, for whatever reason it seems to be able to "work" its way out of it. It will inexplicably stop the annoying behavior and go back to normal. ?!? Go figure. Could the increase in angle be stressing your kick-out? Try easing off a bit and see if that helps.
Ok I will. mine will work itself out eventually too, just wanted to see if I could change something with the mech to fix the issue and keep my pitch of the game where it is at. I will mess with it again tonight to see what I can figure out.
Figured it out. I just cut a few coils down on the spring on the kickout arm, and it's all good now! Heck yeah. This is is super fast now.
Hey guys. Here are all the LED conversions I made to my BG. All Comet. I put slow fad color changers in the in the backglass for the tiger's face. Not totally sure I like this yet, but it does look a little bit better in person than the video does. I also put alternating green and red LEDs in the Big Game lane. Also alternating green and reds in the top rollovers. I have amber LEDs in the bingo cards, and I also color matched all the colored inserts. Put Green LEDs in some of the GI plastics with Warm whites every where else that I didn't mention. I think overall it turned out well. Still might go back to warm whites in the backglass, but I want to give the color changers a shot for a while. See below for pics and a short video.
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Like I said, not crazy wild about the color changers, but at times, if the colors are just right it makes the face look 3D almost and come to life a little bit.
Quoted from dothedoo:I like what you did and I bet it looks better in person
Waaaay better. I was kinda bummed how the pics and vid came out.
Quoted from swampfire:I'd love to see this game in the PAPA finals.
I am bringing it with me to every show from now on. I assume no one brings games to PAPA I have never been. Hopefully it plays well enough that the people running the show would use it in one of the tournaments. that would be totally awesome.
Unfortunately my work schedule will only let me hit up one to two of the early shows every year (OH, LAX, PAPA, etc).
But if I can swing the Cleveland show, southern fried, and maybe Chicago, I will have this badboy with me every time.
Right on man. Interestingly enough I had no reserve bonus on that game, just spelled big game twice and hit the spinner like 50 times. Haha. Pretty cool that there are two ways to score big on it.
Frustration!! I just had over a million on ball one, and didn't even break 2 million on the game, nor did I get the reserve bonus going arrrggggg. I turned off EBs by the way. They are getting too frequent.
However, I did experience something new though. You know how if you make your ball last long enough, the drums get more intense? Well if you do it long enough the drums gets super intense then start over with a slow beat but it is different than the original beat. Then, when that new beat becomes faster and more intense, it is a different beat as well. Pretty cool that they thought that far ahead and allowed for extra experiences with the sounds. Makes for a deeper game than I thought.
Hey guys. I have a full set of extra plastics for Big Game. There is one with a small break at the bottom (the big one that is on the right side of the Big Game lane). I will offer it up to you guys first before I make a for sale thread. I also have pretty much every part that goes on the top and bottom of the playfield (including original spinners). I will let you guys have at everything before I put it up on the market place. Let me know!! pictures of plastics and spinners below.DSC01215.JPG
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Sunday morning bump gents. Anyone need spinners or plastics? Last call before I put these on the market tomorrow.
Quoted from mof:Can someone help me understand the rules on this one? Playing one now...
Mof
Sorry dude. Just saw this.
Whether it is three ball with EBs or five ball no EBs, play to get your bonus built up ASAP. Your bonus carries from ball to ball.
So, get your bingo cards going. One, and sometimes two of the cards will be lit at a time. The card(s) that is highlighted changes with every top rollover, top pop bumper (only the top one), and sling that is hit.
To fill the cards up you need to hit the drop targets. Whatever number you hit, it will light that number on the card(s) you have lit.
To get 2x bonus (carries over from ball to ball), fill one full card or make two bingo lines on two separate cards.
To light 3x, you need to fill two cards full or make two bingo lines on all three cards.
The other way to score big is the left spinner/big game lane.
To light the corresponding letters in the big game lane, you need to hit all three top rollovers, the two standups on the left, and the two inlanes to spell big game. Each letter you light will award you 5 k at the top of that big game lane via the saucer.
You can spell big game up to two times making each shot to that saucer worth 70k max (5k per letter times 14 letters)
Another way to big points is lighting the spinners. The left spinner is lit along with the X bingo card. If the X bingo card is highlighted, the left lane will stay lit. If you switch to another bingo card, that left spinner light will go out.
The right spinner is lit when you complete all three of the top rollover lanes (B I G). When you complete those, the right spinner stays lit for the remainder of the game.
So again, light your bingo cards and get to 2x and 3x ASAP, then rip those lit spinners and you'll see your score jump up.
There are some more scoring opportunities once you complete all bingo cards, but what I mentioned above is the main strategy.
Extra balls are lit after spelling big game once, and another one is lit by getting the four corners lit on two bingo cards.
Quoted from Redketchup:Remove my playfeild for a socket job, a lot of them are flacky, so new socket every where... Except for the bingo card
My bingo cards and one of my pop bumper sockets are the only ones that I have left that are flaky. I have a spare set of bingo card sockets, but I guarantee they aren't all good, so I don't think I will swap any of mine out. I only have about 2-3 numbers on my bingo cards that are flaky.
I am in the process of preplacing the pop bumper socket cause it is very annoying seeing it flicker on and off all day long.
I recently acquired two extra big game spinners but they sold right away. From what I understand they are very hard to find in any condition.
Definitely get the generic stern ones at least. Toss the plastic GB ones.
Oh yeah, welcome! I'm a little obsessed with this game. Haha
Quoted from rollitover:adam. contact that man immediately. Those spinners are really hard to find and one just fell in your lap.
One is better than none. Gets you half way home!
Yeah and that one is in damn good shape too.
Quoted from lb45:Sorry , i don't sell the spinner . I need it !!! I bought one on Pinside to chuckwurt some week ago to fix my machine.
This is the scan to help ...as said adamgacek "at painting unless someone has a scan of the spinner art"
haha. I was crazy busy when I sold that to you, so forgot. Duh. looks good in the game!
Quoted from TGIPinside:My main issues right now are intermittent POP bumpers lights (went to change out a burned out bulb and now the bottom POP bumper is on and off all the time). Plus the extra ball in the right lane light is intermittent as well. It burned out the other day and when I replaced it, it worked a little while but then goes intermittent.
Welcome! They popbumper light sockets are terrible. to really fix the issue you will have to replace them. If you look through Vids guide here, you will find all you need to know about rebuilding pop bumpers and putting more reliable sockets in there.
that should be the spot where they talk about the different kinds of sockets to get. I have not bought this kind yet, so I am unsure if there is clearance.
Same with your extra ball light on the outlane. Replace the socket.
Hey Tom,
Sounds like we need to get a Big Game tournament set up soon for the new guys. Need to get Ketchup back in the action too.
Quoted from TGIPinside:On a different note, I had the glass off of the old girl and one of my daughters around. She could spell her name with the Big Game and wanted to see what happened when she started touching the targets and and the roll overs. Long story short, she got the score cards lit a couple of times (or more) and by the time I made her stop, it didn't just count off 3x at the end of turn, it rattled off 6. Anyone have that happen to them in real time play?
I'm looking forward to hearing the different fast beat after I get my second BG and cards. But in real play.
When you fill all of the cards, the green insert above them lights for reserve bonus and allows you to fill the cards again. When you get the reserve bonus lit, the bonus countdown at the end of the ball is amazing.
I have had games where ball one I had over a million and the reserve bonus lit. Crazy.
Quoted from TGIPinside:That is a blatant copy cat on my Avatar isn't it. I'll come up with a better one. Your was just too good to pass up rollitover.
Yeah that tiger face fits perfect in that little window. Haha
I am down for a tournament next weekend if others are! Sorry lb45, you'll have her running soon enough I'm sure!
Quoted from TGIPinside:I am out next weekend traveling. Maybe I will take a picture of my high game this weekend, and save for the fun of it.
That works for me. You set the bar.
Okay TGIPinside, did you play Big Game over the weekend? What was your top score? We will use that for when the rest of us play this coming weekend. I say we use these rules:
Tournament starts Friday Sept 4th. The person with the highest score by Monday Sept 7th morning wins. Post pics here of your scores if you can, so others can see what they are up against as the weekend drags on.
Happy Labor Day!
Quoted from rollitover:Like the idea of posting scores throughout the weekend. See how the competition is doing.
Won't be able to post pics myself but I'm honorable. Nothing to gain by lying.
Lookin' forward everyone!
Who do we have so far cw?
Here is the list I have:
Me
Rollitover
Ketchup
cdnpinballer
TGIPinside (assuming he was able to play this past weekend)
All are welcome, so let me know if you are in.
Quoted from TGIPinside:3 balls confirmed on my submission. Not too sure about factory settings. I'm still new enough that I don't really know how to change the settings...I played as I bought it. Got a shoot again to get me to the mark.
I believe factory settings will give you extra bonus for all completed lines in your bingo cards starting after ball two. other than that, I cannot recall any other changes that could be made to differ greatly from factory.
Quoted from TGIPinside:So Chuckwurt, I am having a similar issue with my saucer. I have the game set up for speed and am now only getting the saucer to kick as far as the B. Hardly ever goes across the full BIG at the top (except for carefully timed bumps). I'm considering doing the same as you did with the spring. My plan would be to cut out one or two coils and then re-form the loop at the top for re-attachment.
But I want to be sure I'm understanding the terminology, I'll be working the spring attached to the actual kick out arm that impacts the ball and not the spring closer to the solenoid coils, right?
Probably a dumb question, but I'm still pretty new and am not really confident enough to be attempting a total rebuild, and I don't want to be without my playtime.
Looking forward to seeing my tourney score fall to better hunters.
Hey man. Yeah, I messed with the spring that is on the arm of the mech, not the one that is on the plunger that goes into the coil. I cut a bit off, and reformed the top of it so that I could put the spring back where it was before. Mine has a good mix of trickling out to the "B", and others will blast over the the "I" and "G" I nudge to get it to go where I want, but I probably wouldn't mess with yours unless it is just barely getting out of the gate to fall in the "B" lane. Good Luck!
Quoted from TGIPinside:Excellent. Thanks for the response and advise. I'll hold off for now and use the nudge as needed. Until the thing really starts to struggle.
yeah I mean, I only messed with it because it wasn't even making it out of the gate. Cannot wait for the tournament tomorrow! Is anyone going to the Cleveland Show next week? My Big Game will be there.
Quoted from Pinwow:image.jpg image.jpg
There is actually supposed to be a ball guide there. Interesting adjustment though. Mine is hard enough haha.
Quoted from Pinwow:Oh yes, that is what I took out.
They are sitting in the coin box!
You should join in on the tournament we are doing amoungst big game owners this weekend. Starts tomorrow and best score by Tuesday morning wins!
Quoted from Pinwow:Hmmmm sounds interesting! How will we know someone is not playing with the glass off? Or with leg levelers all flat?
Thx
Honor system. Haha. We've done this before. We have a fairly honest group here in the big game club. I plan to post pics of my score each time I post a big one or beat the previous best already posted throughout the weekend.
Quoted from Pinwow:Are extra balls allowed? I have all of mine turned
Yes, but needs to be on three ball and factory settings. We talk about the rules earlier in this thread.
Me
Rollitover
Pinwow
Ketchup
cdnpinballer
TGIPinside (already in with the high score of 1,438,030)
Good luck everyone! Tournament has begun! remember that all scores from now until Tuesday morning count. Post here when you top the current high of 1,438,030.
Damn. That's gonna be tough to beat! I've been wanting to try my hand at gameplay videos so I'm recording all my games this weekend. Hopefully Ill have a monster score to post!
So after like 50 games and like 6-7 beers, I finally set a new bar! My first gameplay video. For the newbies to Big Game, this video will show pretty much all the game has to offer. I didn't quite complete the Cards a second time, but did complete the big game lane twice. Enjoy!
Quoted from Redketchup:Can't open the video... What your score?
Sorry that link wasn't public. Should work now.
Quoted from rollitover:So we have a nice little, friendly tournament a couple a weeks ago and the best I can do is a paltry 1.3m.
Bored the other night so I fired up the 'ol Big Game. Second game in I pop 1m+ no problem.
That's followed by several other 1m+games. Then I nail down a 1.7+ and a 1.5m+ !
Why can't I have such a run when it's tourney time?
Guess I'm just not a pressure player (although I used to be).
I get too wound up (all fired up is more like it).
I feel the excitement of the competition (even though there is no one else in the room).
I gotta settle down or I will never win one!
This is why I have started to play tournaments as much as I can. I am much more comfortable now, and I don't get nearly as nervous. But as far as big game goes, if I get close to lighting that reserve bonus, my heart starts pounding every time. Haha
Quoted from rcbrown316:i do. i have seawitch and also in the process of restoring an f2k. also have 4 classic ballys. big game, nine ball, quicksilver, lighting all on my hit list
Dang. I would love to have seawitch, f2k, Big Game, and Nineball. that would be a hell of a line up. Not the biggest fan of Meteor. Artwork great, sounds questionable at best.
Hey dude. Um, I am pretty sure I had a long enough ball during that game that I would've had the drums speed up for me, so not sure why that didn't happen. To answer your question, the drum beat is not a setting to my knowledge. But essentially the longer you keep the ball alive, and the more switches you hit, the faster the drum beat gets. If you keep the ball alive long enough, it will get super fast and start over as a different slow drum beat and build back up. I have had a ball time before that was long enough that I got to the third drum beat type! haha. I think it was on a game where I had 1.3 million after ball one and finished with under 2 million. Choke!
Also, I just watch the video and during ball two, I was having a long enough ball for the drums to start getting fast, but I guess my ball times/switch hits were not long enough each ball to get to the really fast drums. Pretty uncommon for me though. If I get a big score I usually have at least one really long ball time.
Mines in s holding pattern. I have a friend helping me restore the cab, but since she works for free, it's going to take some time haha. Then I'm getting a repro backglass, then restore the playfield last. Might not touch the playfield though. We will see.
Yeah. Doesn't mean the number produced, but more of a serial number. A lot of collectors like the ordinal games to have matching numbers on the cab back box and boards.
Mine definitely don't match. Good ole Frankenstien game. Haha
Quoted from NicToria:Great group.. Proud to be a member-owner for sure. We have a Seawitch also.. We moved the BG down to the basement recently... Now the old girl won't boot back up... We have the dreaded red led light stuck on now..
We removed the ribbon cables and installed the Seawitch redone cable and got 6 lights or beeps now... So forward we go.. No displays and or booting up yet.
Nick. Victoria.
Bummer man. Luckily I have always had good boots on mine. Well at least worst case scenario you can send it away to be repaired or get an alltek. Good luck!
Quoted from cottonm4:What I am seeing is if the ball moves too fast over these three rollovers and the ball is riding the outside of the orbit lane the ball will only touch the the edge of the rollover star and not push it down far enough to make contact and give me score points.
This is the case on all Big games I believe. If you blast that right orbit I don't even think the ball touches the playfield. It just hugs that ball guide. I wouldn't kill yourself over trying to get those rollovers to register every time the ball runs through that area.
BG resto has back glasses for sale. This game looks great with LEDs if you use warm white and color match the inserts. I went a little crazy with LEDs in mine, but I've gotten mostly good feedback on them from people that have seen it in person.
I'm way under water on my big game too. I can't help it, I just love it so much! Haha
Quoted from cottonm4:Yeah, I saw your posts with your LEDs and that inspired me I like your orange for the bingo cards. But I'm thinking I want to use orange for all the BIGGAME letters and maybe use Cyan for the bingo cards. Any feed back for color and brightness choices you would be willing to offer would be much appreciated.
I have frosted amber/orange intense brightness bulbs. I got standard orange bulbs but they were too dim. These are much better.
I am not sure how the cyan ones usually look but I bet those would look good too in the same type bulb and frosted.
Quoted from cottonm4:Are you having good luck with the Comet bulbs?
For sure. Not sure I would ever get another brand. They have tons to choose from and Art's customer service is top notch. I have only had a couple bulbs go bad on me and Art replaced them for free in my next order. I've bought 100s of bulbs from him.
Quoted from cottonm4:1) Art does not have a phone number that I can find. If his service is top notch, I am safe to assume he works his emails promptly?
2) Are you using any of the non-ghosting bulbs? Or do "regular" LEDs work OK.
3) Have you already sent your back glass to BG Resto? If so, are you happy with the results? Mine has some flaking but all of the paint all across the glass shows hairline cracks.
1) art has always been prompt with me if I just message him on pinside. User name is https://pinside.com/pinball/community/pinsiders/oldpinguy
2)none of my bulbs are non ghosting. You will need a mod to allow for LEDs in the controlled lamps/inserts. Alltek has a lamp board that works and there are a couple other options for a bit cheaper that eliminate the flicker that happens with using LEDs in the inserts with the stock lamp board.
3) I have not ordered my BG resto backglass yet. However he will not need you to send in yours. He already has big game on file so he can make you one. Kinda nice cause you can use your existing one until your new one arrives. Be prepared to wait. I've heard it can take up to 6 months to get your new backglass. I would email him your request and he should give you instructions on how to order and pay.
Good luck!!
I know we have talked about this before, but has anyone came up with a way to have the bingo card lights more reliable and have a stronger connection? I have tried cleaning the sockets with no luck. I have an extra set of the socket boxes, but I assume those are going to be flaky too if I put those in.
Has anyone tried to rig up individual sockets, or is there a way to reliably service the existing socket boxes?
Whoa baby. Thanks for the info!
I do have a spare set of socket holders. I'm gonna see how cleaned up I can get them and try them out. Those other solutions you listed I have no skills whatsoever to do those. Haha
Quoted from cottonm4:I have done some Googling and there are places that will custom make boards. I have no idea of pricing, yet. It would be depend on quantity.
The board in that picture is branded pinballresource.com . Steve, at PBR sells them for $38.85 each US funds. I am guessing that he ordered them in quantity. What we would need for Big Game would be smaller in size so maybe they could be cheaper in price but you would need three of them. So, let's say $25.00 each US. That would be $75.00 for the boards. 555 bulb holders are $0.44 ea. and you need 27 for cost of $12.00 US. Then you have shipping and other items I could not even guess about.
So, let's say you could upgrade your Big Game in this manner and it will cost you $100.00 for the parts. And if you cannot do your own work there would be a labor charge, as well.
So, the question is: How many Big Game owners would pay $100.00 US and perhaps a bit more to upgrade to printed circuit boards for their pin? How many would pay $150.. US for an upgrade like this?
I could give Stave a call and talk with him about what we would like but having an idea of some numbers would be nice.
Bally produced 17,000 Kiss pins. Stern produced 2,713 Big Game pins. The numbers our not in our favor, but let's see what kind of action comes to the post.
Pinside says 68 pinsiders have Big Game in their collection. Maybe if 30, 40, or 50 BG owners were interested, something could happen.
I'm in for two sets.
Quoted from cottonm4:This is a dead board. Did everybody's tiger get shot in the ass, or something? Nobody done anything cool to their Big Game?
Mines stock except for the custom LeD work I did. Like to keep these older game as OG as possible. Except of course an aftermarket bingo card light mod I would buy in a second.
Quoted from cottonm4:I understand. But I also sent out an email to that outfit that sells the PDI glass. Since Big Game is not a standard body and it is not a wide body I/you/we cannot just order one of these play field glasses for a Big Game.
Seller advised me that there is a 5 sheet minimum per order. If I ordered 5 sheets there would be a discount. But each sheet is over $200.00. So not cheap.
Here is hoping that more Big Game owners might be interested.
I paid 500 for my big game, so not really interested in PDI that only fits that game.
I sent them a request via their contact us page. Everyone else send a message too so they take on the project!
Okay boys and girls. Pinball replacement parts thinks he can make these for around 25 bucks a set. Who is interested? If we can get at least 5-10 sets sold, I think he's gonna do them. Let me know!
I'm in for two sets. I have a friend that wants one.
Okay cool. I'll keep bumping this a couple times a day for the next week or so then report back to the parts guy. I'm sending him one of my light boxes tomorrow so hopefully this will get done sooner than later.
Keep the orders coming!
These will be 3x3, but I bet if you go to his site and email them they might be interested in make more for more games.
Quoted from cottonm4:So, are you saying if you can't get a set for your Nine Ball you won't get a set for your Big Game?
I'd like a set for my Nine Ball, too. But I'll sure take a BG set.
I don't think he owns Big Game.
Yeah he is going forward with it! I will keep people posted on he progress, but he is going to make these.
PCB design is complete! Chris didn't give a timeframe on when the first batch of boards would be ready to ship, but he is making progress. Stay tuned.
Quoted from Pinball_Nate:Is it possible to add a different sound effects "chip" to this game?? It is sooo unfortunate that this thing sounds like a space battle instead of some great jungle/animal sounds when you hit things (lions, monkeys, birds, etc.). That would would be a HUGE Improvement.
Thoughts?
Unlit spinners sound like birds.
Definitely possible to change the sounds. I have no idea how to do it though. I think someone is working on a Proc system of sorts for these early Bally and sterns. Made that's the ticket.
Quoted from Pinball_Nate:Great, that is good news. The sound could truly elevate this pin.
So when can we expect these new sound roms? 
I cannot remember the last time I got the advance bonus light lit. Gonna have to rage on my game tonight to make sure it still works. Haha
Quoted from rcbrown316:i wasn't.... but i could be, if I knew wtf you were talking about Chuck. lol...
Basically the lights that are in the bingo cards are in these horrible metal boxes under the pf. They are always flaky and impossible to get all the lights to work consistently.
Someone is making an aftermarket replacement to update those boxes to a more modern light board like we're used in many games with the twist in 555 sockets. They are already being developed and pretty sure they are getting made so just wanted to let you know. I'll post updates here as I get them. See the previous page in this thread for more talk about them.
Quoted from pinballholder:Ok, new to the club! Been wanting this pin bad for awhile now and finally snagged one. I am in for the lightboards, who is in charge and what's the cost looking like?
Cheers,
Seth
Pinball replacement parts is making them. Last I heard from Chris Eddy was that the boards were finished being designed and he was just waiting to get a bunch of them in hand. That was on 9/27. He estimated a set of 3 costing $33.
Just got word from Chris! I'm getting a prototype set next week and once I can test them and give him the all clear he will make them available on his website. Stay tuned!!
Prototypes are in hand!! I'm hoping to get to trying them out next week. Still moving into my new house so I'll be doing that all weekend.
Stay tuned!
Quoted from rollitover:NOW you're talkin' !!!
Easier the better in my book. But new and improved still better than what we have to begin with.
Yeah I'm gonna try to push for plug and play but even in that case you have to know how to pin connectors.
Hey guys. I just got big game set back up after the move. I've mapped out the new board and I'll get to soldering it in tomorrow night. These will need some longer screws than the stock ones. I'll make sure and find the right kind to make sure Chris includes hardware with the boards.
Stay tuned!!
I won't be able to finish tonight. I have the first card prepped and ready to go just need better lighting. I will continue tomorrow night and hopefully post a video of the first card installed. This will definitely be a project that will take some time for everyone.
They Work!!! The key to getting these installed is patience. Take your time, and the install is not bad at all. Things to note:
1. Get a very thin tip for your iron. I got these and they were perfect for prepping the board. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GGKT0T4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00
2. Tin the pads on the board first. Getting a nice dome of solder on each pad is key. lay the iron tip as flat as you can to cover the pad and then get the solder to it to build up the dome. Should take 1-2 seconds per pad.
3. Remove the wires from the old light box. Don'r worry about keeping track of what goes where, there will be a mapping guide included with the kit, but just in case your wiring isnt the same as mine, take lots of pictures of what wires go to what sockets.
4. Tin all the wires. getting solder on the wires before connecting them to the board is very key. makes attaching them to the board very easy.
5. secure the board to the playfield. the stock screws are not long enough, so longer ones are needed. I will suggest that hardware get added to the final kits.
6. Before reconnecting any wires, make sure the playfield is in the full upright position.
7. solder the common wire to the board first, the do the top row left to right, middle row left to right, and the bottom row left to right. have all the wires coming from the top and down each column to get to the pads. See my picture below to see what mine looked like after the installation of one board.
8. You will need 555 bulbs for this, and also you will need the twist in 555 sockets. Not sure if chris will include the sockets, but I will ask.
Everything is installed and works great! I have sent all the wire mapping information to Chris and He said he will include hardware with the sets and maybe offer the twist in sockets as well. If not, he said he has them for cheap on his website anyway.
I have one flickery lamp (X card #1). I am positive it is from my Alltek lamp board not doing its job. I will put a incandescent in there to be certain, but I am sure that is what it is. Other than that, the lights are nice and bright! Hopefully these boards hold up, but I am sure they will.
I will post here once the kits are available for purchase.
Quoted from Redketchup:Was ready to order, but 41,80$ to ship it to canada... with the exchange rate, it's 56$can for three little board... real turn off! And this is only shipping...
Bummer. Wonder if you email them and see if there is another way.
Quoted from Gryphun:Do you plan on making a light board for stern meteor?
Not my product but if you email Chris from that website I'm sure he can do some for the other early sterns.
Anyone else install the new light boards? Just wanted to make sure the instructions for where the wires go is correct.
Also, I had one of my ball guards break again between the flippers. I know i found these new somewhere, and I cannot remember where. Anyone know where to find them? I think PBR might have them, but i have no idea what the part number is.
thanks!
Quoted from cottonm4:I'm still waiting to get my play field back the the restorer.
******************************
NOS Stern Big Game Short Ball Guide
It is about 1/3 way down in PBR's "Special when lit" section. . Part number: A-655 STN-A655. Watch how those "dashes" are placed. But Steve will probably already know what you want.
Thanks!!
Quoted from cottonm4:Ok guys, I have just traded emails with the guy who is making the Big Game bingo card light boards. As of today, he has only sold three sets. He is not worried about it but some of you who said you would buy a set ought to step up and make an order and give him an incentive to work up something for Nine Ball.
Yeah that's a shame. Thought we had at least ten sets sold. I might have to buy a backup set or two in case he pulls them.
Quoted from rcbrown316:still LOVING THIS GAME. we play 4 nights a week 4-5 hours a night. big game does not get skipped ever and i have a big collection. who knew!
My SDB burned up from a locked on coil. Still waiting on the repair to be finished. Bummer. Miss my BG bad.
Quoted from rcbrown316:how much is the repair? who does it? I need a gottlieb guy. these things are brutal.
barakandl in cbus. Very reasonable. Not sure if he does gottliebs.
Quoted from rcbrown316:i thought he was out of that business. I actually bought a sdb from him. great guy and knows his stuff for sure.
Hasn't turned me away. I think he has developed another option for replacement early stern MPus too.
Quoted from zacaj:Temporarily joining the club... Fixing this one up and will probably pass it along to a friend:
Have party this weekend and needed to get ge Z card working quick (X and Y are pretty reliable), so I busted out my soldering iron:
Had a lot of interesting problems, but it pretty much works now...
Two questions though:
1. If I cradle a ball on the lower flipper and then release the flipper to make a shot, the ball gets trapped in a little nook between the upper flipper, the end of the lower flipper and the metal guide, which sits lower than the lower flipper. Is that normal, or are my guides mounted wrong?
2. I tried to put the backglass in, but it's very hard to do because the lower 7 digit displays stick out past the slot for the glass. The holders are mounted on the inside of the insert like they should be, but the glass is still basically touching the displays?
1. Shouldn't happen. That flat metal guide can be adjusted. Be careful the legs can snap from too much adjusting.
2. Make sure the displays are sitting all the way back in their housings. They shouldn't be close to the backglass.
Bonus: if your bonus card insert lights are still flakey after your fix that you did, see previous posts for a permanent fix using a 555 lamp board.
Btw, that playfield is so nice. I wouldn't pass it on. Haha.
Can you post hi res well lit pics of your flipper and display issues? For the displays I mainly want to see the back of them sitting in the housing so I can compare to mine.
Nice on the ball guides. One down.
I'm perplexed on the displays. They look fine so the only thing I can think of is the door with the displays is sitting too close to the front of the backbox. Maybe see if that looks messed at the hinge.
Quoted from zacaj:I can't see anything about the hinge without removing the whole panel first, but nothing looks weird. Even on the far (right) side, the display protrudes slightly past the wooden frame and I can tell the insert is pressed back against the latch plate, which can't move, so...
Just checked my game. My displays are sitting 7/16 of an inch out in front of the white light board. The track that the backglass sits in starts at 9/16 of an inch from the white light board door thing. Haha. So I have effectively 2/16 or 1/8 of an inch clearance from my display fronts to the backglass.
Quoted from zacaj:and the backglass channel is 3/4" away, giving me -1/8th" of clearance
I thought you had zero clearance? As in the displays touch the backglass?
If you have an 1/8 of an inch clearance between the front of the display and the backglass I say that's normal.
Just shy of 1/2". Isn't that 7/16?
Haha. Okay man that's weird. I checked my old displays and they are the exact same as yours. Maybe the brackets are stock and aren't deep enough? No clue man. Sorry.
Quoted from zacaj:I thought they're the same brackets as normal, just mounted inside? but yeah I'm really confused. How deep are your brackets and how deep are your displays?
2 1/4" deep on the brackets.
3 3/4" on the stock displays. I just measured the pcb that the display is attached to.
Also the display board door is 5/8" from the backglass track.
Quoted from zacaj:Well I guess there's my problem!
How the hell does that happen
Looks the same to me. Measure all the way to the back to the bracket. The part by the connector.
Quoted from zacaj:It looks like 2 1/8 to me
Okay. Man that's so weird that it's that snug for you. I can tell ya that the xpin displays leave plenty of space at a cool 320 bucks! Haha
Quoted from zacaj:I'll die before I put LED displays in a game. Been stocking up on plasmas for years...
I'll sell ya my stock ones. Dirt cheap. 60 shipped for the whole set. Haha
Quoted from Redketchup:I will buy it if you are serious!
Here's the catch. I have no idea if any of them work. They started to go and that's why I replaced them all. And it ain't cheap to ship to you mister. Haha
Quoted from Redketchup:I will take the risk... i can give 15$ more to cover the shipping cost... for all 5 display. Let me know, i can paypal you!
Looks like I only have the credit display and three players displays. I'll do 60 shipped for all these.
Quoted from rollitover:There goes cw being righteous again.
That's a good deal buddy boy.
You're a good Pinsider c-dub. You are what Pinside is all about.
Thanks buddy. Try to be genuine which I never understood why some people are so different in their behavior online than in real life. Why not be yourself?
Quoted from zacaj:Maybe they are
Good point. Just hear stories about guys that get bad reps on here but are totally good people in real life. Idk.
Quoted from Redketchup:Got my board installed! Very happy with the result, light are brighter and more stable!
Yay!! So glad there is a fix to this nagging problem!
Quoted from rollitover:Red, cw, cotton...
Anybody?
I was just curious if anyone knows what the MAX bonus is for BG?
I know that after you have filled the cards once, light the reserve, the game allows you to fill them again.
But does it end with a second time around or can you keep going again (and again)?
I'm asking because I have never filled them twice myself.
I think I was doing glass off testing once and it stops after the second fill. Just like completing the big game lane twice.
Quoted from Drano:Shop job and cleanup/rebuild of most major mechs was completed this weekend.
Seems to play great! I've also corrected the display issues since taking these pics.
Nice work. You have no idea how lucky you are to have that playfield.
Quoted from chuckwurt:Nice work. You have no idea how lucky you are to have that playfield.
Is that playfield original or restored at some point? Damn thing still has dimples. Crazy.
Quoted from cottonm4:Not only just a super looking play field but the drop targets look brand new and nice white. And AFAIK, you cannot buy the #6, #7,#8, and #9 anywhere.
Nope. That's why I was lucky enough to find some pretty white originals, touch them up with a paint pen, then put Mylar over them. They look pretty awesome. Not sure they look this good, but they are nice.
Quoted from Drano:Thanks guys.
The playfield is original. I just gave it a good clean and wax. I used some melamine foam (magic eraser) and some bleche wite followed up by a little CP100 to finish it all off. I gently touched up some areas around the inserts using my MOLOTOW paint pens and then waxed the hell out of it.
The drops were cleaned up ad touched up with the same pens. Here's a couple of pics.
Nice I did the drops the exact same way and they came out awesome. I was very happy.
You might have the best original playfield in existence. I'm not kidding.
Quoted from Spraynard:Big game got some love at the 2017 Texas Pinball Tournament. Some dramatic game play in game 3 of the finals. Big Game action starts at 5:54. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/131209220
Awesome! Thanks for using this game. I think it's fantastic for tournaments.
Welcome!! I say put Mylar down over the wear spots then clean and wax regularly.
Hey guys I was streaming big game tonight and noticed something. If you light reserve bonus and you're on ball 3 (should get 5k bonus for all bingo lines) but you don't complete any bingo lines on your new set of cards, you won't get any 5k bingo line bonuses for your 3 complete cards. Bummer. Go to the 42 minute mark of the steam link below to see.
Quoted from cottonm4:Nice video.
What flippers do you have on top? They look shorter.
They have white rubber on them. Plays tricks on the eyes.
Quoted from rollitover:Hey, I've been wondering what THE max bonus would be? I figured it out once and wrote it down only to be misplaced.
cw you might be the guy to inform us all.
Just what is THE max bonus?
Without the 5k per line it would be 27k for three cards, 54k for 6 cards. At 3x that's 162k. The big points are from the 5k per line. Each card has 8 bingo lines. 40k per card times 6 cards. 240k from that total. So total max bonus would be 402k I think.
I don't have my calculator so don't hold me to that. Haha
Quoted from rollitover:Awesome!
Thanks for working that out.
That does sound right.
Almost a half million bonus on one ball..
Crazy!
Still love this game, too much fun!
Me too. Glad I streamed it the other night. I haven't had a healthy big game sesh in forever.
Quoted from Thrillhouse:I recently joined the club and am loving the hunt. Unfortunately somewhere along the line my games spinners got swapped out for these plastic gottlieb ones leading to some very unsatisfying spinner rips. Does anyone have some spares sitting around for sale or a line on where I could get a pair?
Yikes!! Sorry to hear that. These spinners are very hard to find. I would try to find a couple generic White stern spinners with the S on them. They should work fine.
Good luck in the hunt and welcome!!
Quoted from Thrillhouse:Can anyone tell me what dip switch controls the free play on the game? I think I have the updated roms in it and I want to turn it off to accept credits, thanks.
Not possible thatvim aware of. You may have custom Roms that allow it, but I’ve never heard of them. I just set mine to take 40 credits and also set the first high score level to 10k and set the award to credit/replay.
Quoted from Quench:The readme from the Big Game freeplay ROMs simply state:
"stern mpu200 freeplay roms
no dip setting, always freeplay"
Oh cool. Didn’t know these were out there. Might have to snag some.
Quoted from 27dnast:On the hunt...
Machine - Wanted
Wanted: Big GameNew!Wanted! “Look for a very good condition Big Game within 100 miles of Wash DC.”
9 hours ago Gaithersburg, MD
Wanted
27dnast
good choice my friend. Hopefully you find one soon!
Yes!! We had someone else make these a while back though. However that solution required the wires to be soldered to the boards. If you make a plug and play version it would sell like hot cakes I bet!
Quoted from barakandl:I don't think plug and play is an option. I can (and did) put male headers on the pcb, but then a female plug would still need to be made as the original lamp holder board was hard soldered.
If someone else already did this for big game I might skip this project or do it just get minimum pcb order to do my own game.
Yeah good point about having to still make the feamale connector.
Still might be a better option for some that are more confident at repinning connectors than soldering.
But yeah, not sure how many sold of that other run, and how many are left that would prefer this setup.
Quoted from tdiddy:Where does one get a full set of new drop targets?
Try pbr or Marco. I bought mine years ago though.
Quoted from swampfire:I prefer the sounds and art of Big Game over Meteor,
You’re going to prefer the gameplay too. Haha
Quoted from DK:I had to strip a Big Game recently (Bad termites) so if there are any specific parts you need for your Big Game let me know
I know a new owner that needs at least one original spinner if you got one.
Quoted from DK:Of course it doesn't have it lol
Not surprised. They are like gold!!
Quoted from tdiddy:Anyone have a extra set of ball guides for behind the upper flippers. Some removed mine....they must love paragon or something
PBR has them.
If you make them I will take a set. I’ve been through two sets on my game already. They seem to bust every couple thousand plays.
Quoted from Collin:After 5+ years searching, I finally got my Big Game this weekend!
Does anyone have a current source for ball guide A-655? Pinball Resource told me they're sold out.
Where is it? I might have it.
Quoted from cottonm4:You will need to make some. Scroll up to post #601 and start reading down to your post #625.
Pretty sure I have a spare set Colin. Can pick them up on the 30th.
Quoted from Collin:I saw people have made new boards for the cards... I have two cards totally out. Any thoughts on what the issue could be? I understand general diagnosis and repair of lamp issues, but it seems like there may be issues specific to the early lamp boards on this title, so I figured I may as well ask
I would make sure the common wire (the one attached to the box and not any specific socket) is getting power. Other than that, tough to get those sockets working reliably.
Even if your light boxes are working fine they suck and once one socket starts to go the only way to fix it is to get a whole new box. I highly recommend the 555 boards. You’ll have to buy the twist in sockets separately though. They don’t come with the new boards.
Fun Friday topic!!
If you guys could improve the game with a code update, what would you change? Although I think the game is pretty rock solid, here’s what I would tweak:
I wish there was a way to skillfully light the left spinner. Now the way it works is that it’s only lit when the X bingo card is lit. Maybe keep that but also after spelling big game once, it stays lit. But the catch is, your big game letters reset ball to ball.
How about at least as a setting, allow it so that you lose your bingo card progress ball to ball?
Right now, if you blow it up ball one, you’ll have all the bingo cards lit and 3x bonus. That holds for the rest of the game. Maybe have the bonus X stay, but you have to re-light the bingo cards via drop targets.
Quoted from Thrillhouse:A timed playfield multiplier for sweeping a drop bank I think could be fun too.
This is a great idea. I’d like the top lanes to stay especially since it would be tied to getting spinners lit. Needs to be a bit more difficult.
Quoted from cottonm4:I like this.
I like this, too.
The thought of having to relight all of the bingo cards makes me shudder. So, no to this.
I assume you’re talking about my bonus reset idea not the big game letters resetting. I can see why some don’t like that one, but I am not a huge fan of some early SS games that if you blow it up ball one, you really don’t have to do anything rest of game to beat your opponent, unless they blow it up ball one too. This idea would be more of a setting available to tournament players.
Quoted from cottonm4:Thank you, rollitover.
I'm looking for someone who has one that is 3/16".
I am having to prove somebody right. Or wrong. I don't think Stern made one in 3/16". There is some real money on the line, here.
I had a Hot Hand pin and that glass was 1/8". My Meteor back glass is 1/8". Since Ali and Galaxy predate Big Game I would like to know what those glasses measure for thickness.
My Seawitch, Nine Ball, Catacomb, and Dragonfist all measure 1/8".
I just can't see why Stern would be using 1/8" and then bump it up to 3/16" for Big Game but I'm being told that, at least, the earlier Big Games were 3/16". I do not believe this but I cannot but I cannot disprove it.
Anybody else?
Thanks in advance.
I will measure later today and let you know.
Awesome!!
Mine is 1/8” too. Are you sure the 3/16 person didn’t just measure the glass edge cover?
Hopefully I can get a playfield and BG under their new process. Wouldn’t mind a spare set of spinners too.
Quoted from cottonm4:Cottonm4 ===1/8"
Rollitover === 1/8"
pinballholder ==1/8"
chuckwurt ====1/8"
statictrance====1/8"
Trident, Hot Hand, Meteor all precede Big Game with 1/8" back glass. F2K, Catacomb, Dragonfist, Nine Ball follow with 1/8".
Any more?
Every early stern?
The game must be mad at you for using the wrong flippers. Haha. Jk.
Yeah had to be a glitch. How did the bonus countdown? Did it give you full value for all 27 lights?
Quoted from cottonm4:I got the bonus countdown. Was it for all 27 lights? I did not pay attention to that. That is a fast countdown, as you know.
Yeah I would’ve looked for all the 5k lines. But yeah tough to tell. Weird weird stuff.
Quoted from TooFiddyMan:I am using a Big Game cabinet to build a VP. If anyone needs any parts from the playfield let me know. It looks like all of it is there. The plastics are in perfect shape, pop bumper caps are super nice, and apron looks really good. Just though I would check, not sure if I can put this on here or not. Looks like it was an awesome game!
I’ll take the playfield. Haha.
Quoted from Redketchup:I think i got the new Big Game world record today... 3 449 740. 3 ball factory setting! Complete the bingo card two time, after first ball , and compete big game two time for 2 extraball[quoted image]
Whoa!
Quoted from Squeakman:Without having gone through all 14 pages of text can owners tell me what makes this game so loved? Good layout or greats rules Or? I always hear great things about this game and after playing it at Zapcon a few times it seems really cool. I don't totally understand the rules though because I have only played a few games on it.
Great rules , art, sounds, everything. Drops everywhere, ripping spinners. It’s great. Get one if you can.
Nice! Did you our Mylar over them after applying the numbers?
I was lucky enough to find used ones and I just colored them in with a paint pen and covered with Mylar. Been great for thousands of plays now.
Had an extra set from a parts game, but sold them a while back.
You definitely do not need a diagram, but here you go!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19sZoDc1MHa73RKTqZHUNUDDT7DLCRHlGP695ltOndps/edit?usp=sharing
Anyone have any of the flipper guide plates that go behind the upper flippers for sale? I think PBR is out.
I have the guides. The feet just keep breaking off. I’ll probably just send them to my friend to weld. Maybe he can make a stronger leg for them too.
I think the reserve bonus green light is this games wizard mode. It’s that hard. Especially on three ball, EBs off.
Quoted from cottonm4:This was a clean count with no extra balls. I still have the EBs turned on, though, but I think I am finally getting good enough to turn them off. Maybe resetting the dips will be on this weekend's schedule.
I set special to award 100k too. So if you get either one at least you get something.
Quoted from cottonm4:Low balling it.
Just for grins I removed the glass and played a couple of games by hand. The lowest number of points you can score and light all 27 bingo card lights is 24,000 points.
So, to mix it up a little bit, I am going to go for the goal of how few points can I make and light all 27 lights. That's means trying to avoid the spinners and trying to keep the ball from going back up to the top. And trying to minimize contact with the slings and pops.
I'm not trying to win any games. So why not? Give it a little twist for a change.
Try lighting all 27 lights twice. I’ve never seen anyone do it. Bonus points for getting it on video.
Quoted from slochar:It's not easy but I've done it. Score doesn't really top out too high in this game I think that was 3.8 million or so. That's with extra balls on though.
That reminds me, I have to fix the extra ball bug on this game.... both the one lamp not blinking on the next ball if you didn't collect it, and collecting one killing both.
Yeah that extra ball bug is annoying. Forgot about that. Haven’t had them turned on in years. Anyway to add a setting to reset base bonus, bonus x or both each ball?
Quoted from slochar:Bonus X depends on the base bonus in the cards, so really, you'd have to reset the base bonus.
Yes, that can be done pretty easily although I think that would make the game REALLY hard.
Just kind of stinks that if someone has a big ball one and their opponent doesn’t, they can pretty much plunge off to victory. But your points are valid. I would just like the option to try out. But not sure that’s possible on older games.
Quoted from slochar:What format do you need the roms in? 2x2732, 4x2716, 1x512? (What mpu do you have in the game?)
Not sure. Does this picture help?
E7BA6702-5050-4BB8-9F28-147046176258 (resized).jpegDO NOT change the 25k bonus lights. Haha. If you want to keep track of your number progress, look at the cards.
Also did you email me? I haven’t seen anything.
If you add the 3rd round that would be awesome. And let the sounds get nuts. That would be part of the appeal of getting there imo.
Quoted from slochar:So you'd like the pink lights for 25k bonus on drop banks to stay on even with the bonus erased?
I was under the assumption that once they come on it’s a 25k bonus for rest of game. If they don’t award 25k anymore after completing the cards and the lights stay on, then I agree, fix that.
Confirmed. Once you’ve completed 1-3,4-6, or 7-9 for all cards you get 25k per bank completion for rest of the game. That should stay imo.
I just had a thought about skillfully changing the cards that are lit up.
Anyway to make the lane behind the G,A stand ups do it? I feel if you make that shot it will usually get back to the flippers without hitting another switch that switches the cards.
Just a thought. Also, not sure if shatzing is possible on this game, but maybe the inlanes could be another option.
Haha. Yeah that’s a no go. But have the lit card change with timing that would be cool and caught some tense moments.
Only issue I can see is what if the card changes mid spinner rip? Will the value change mid rip?
Quoted from slochar:11) a couple of factory hacks have been streamlined into the code (nothing noticeable to end user.... but it looks like they had issues getting the top saucer to clear when they were in development because they specifically check for re-entrancy!!)
If this is what I think it is, it’s huge. If your saucer doesn’t get the ball out to the top lanes and falls back in, it will give you the saucer value again. No bueno. Hopefully this fixes that.
Quoted from slochar:Anything I missed? Any other suggestions? Maybe 5x if you get 3x from the cards AND complete big game?
How would this be indicated? Blinking 2x and 3x lights? I like it.
Quoted from cottonm4:The times card selection sounds is sounding interesting. Would add a new twist.
I agree. It will not allow the player much time to think when trapping up. And if the score auto decreases as the spinner is spinning and the card moves, you’ll have to hit it at the perfect time to get a full spinner rip with 2k value.
Quoted from slochar:I don't like the idea of NOT getting your full spinner value.
Then just make the time interval change like full 5 count.
Also. Is it possible to have the lane behind the GA targets be the ONLY thing that lights all 3 cards? Then if the time interval passes or you hit another change card switch, they move? That would be really interesting.
Yeah I’ll wait until I get some time on it, but my main gripes with the game were:
No really skillful way to light cards or spinner. That seems to have been addressed.
If EBs are off, there’s no real reason to hit the lane behind the standups. Now there is. Well you can set the special to award 100k(which I have), but having this extra wrinkle is really cool.
Bonus was too powerful since it never resets. Now there’s an option to have it reset each ball rewarding the player that plays consistently well across a full game instead of just one ball. This could be too nasty since it’s all or nothing. We shall see. But the possibility of 5x bonus is awesome and should balance this out. Again, we shall see.
I’ve had both going lots of times. I used to try to do it all the time. Plus my spinners rip for days so it’s more feasible for most.
Spinner counter is going to be awesome!
Got the new code in and testing now! First thoughts. The spinner counter is awesome.
Streaming this Thursday at 8pm so we can take a deep dive. Come watch so we can get Scott some good notes on anything that should be improved!
www.twitch.tv/SDTMpinball
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/499086591
New code gameplay for those interested. May have found a couple bugs, but overall, I think it’s pretty damn fun. And completely adjustable back to stock rules if you want.
Quoted from cottonm4:Nice video. I like watching you play. I love those 4 flippers. I'm still working on my post passes and lower flipper passes; It really help with the scoring.
What I am seeing in the new code looks like fun. I can see where all 3 bingo cards lit for a short time will ad a new twist to the game play.
I need to learn how to do this.
BTW: What are you using to get the green displays? I want.
XPin. They might not have the green ones anymore but I think they have white with colored gels you can use. Also the displays only look flickery like that on video. Look way better in person.
Quoted from Dragon:I see going back to ball count when not showing spinner counts?
Yep!
Quoted from Dragon:those are the plates behind the flippers with the broken L brackets , i have one broken one on mine , is there 2 or 4 guides on the big game , i would be interested in this
2 guides.
We’re they right before? If so you mixed up the wiring somewhere.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19sZoDc1MHa73RKTqZHUNUDDT7DLCRHlGP695ltOndps
Quoted from Fytr:Are you guys *sure* your 8 and 9 lights correspond to the 8 and 9 drop targets? And if so, does your attract mode work correctly?
Yes to both. If you click my link and follow those instructions that should be the correct wiring. Or use the schematic posted above. If your game is still wonky, then you might have a lamp board or mpu issue.
I kept pictures of my game from when I first bought it and periodically compare the wear on the playfield to how it is today. Thousands and thousands of plays later, no more wear. I think regular waxing and checking the ball condition does just as good as anything else.
Quoted from cottonm4:My Catacomb and Nine Ball have many cupped inserts and they both got a protector.
I think this is the best use of these protectors. Instantly makes games with cupped inserts play much better.
Nice job! I put Mylar over mine after doing that. They still look new years and thousands of plays later.
Quoted from Dicky:Yes I put Mylar on as well , I am hoping they don’t get caught if the Mylar starts peeling off
You won’t have this issue.
Quoted from Dicky:I am also looking for a pair of the metal brackets that go behind the top flippers , I thought I read that someone was going to make these ?
You’re on your own here.
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Boston, MA