Theres not a shot i cant hit on any of my SYS80, with the bats lined up to the inlane guides, that was kinda my point, and trapping is a bit easier as well....

I have has B/W's games come in with the bats hanging down, or misadjusted by previous wanna be pin mechanics..

all bats should have a smooth transtion from the guides IMO...

I don't think scoring changes, actually. The main advantage is you can go downstairs and rack up humongous bonuses without risk of draining, since the re-entry gate never closes during multiball.

There is no end of ball bonus if you drain from the upper PF..actually there is NO bonus at all actually from the upper PF after a drain...

The only bonus scoring available comes from the lower PF..

Now if you complete all of the drops in order (BLACK) and (HOLE) in the Upper PF,you light the G-Force accelerators, the first one lit is double scoring, and the second lit for completing a second bank of targets, is triple scoring.. meaning each switch scores accordingly to the G-force that is lit... ie. double scoring or triple scoring from each switch hit..

completeing the upper 3 rollovers will give you 2x,3x, and so on, but if you drain up top it awards nothing other than the points scored during regular play / earned before you drain... ( as single switch scores)

Say you light 3X by finishing the upper rollovers twice, then go to the basement..without either G-Force lit..what ever you score, will be multiplied by 3x accordingly... if both G-forces are lit (trplie scoring) for each switch hit on the lower your bonus builds thre times quicker, and then at bonus countdown that is multiplied by your X factor...

you can add to or accumulate 2x, 3x, etc by shooting the advanced multiplyer loop on the lower PF too.. untill you max out at 5x...

The key is, if you can, take what ever x multiliers you can, and complete the Black and hole banks to light the 2 G-forces up top,.. then go to the lower, and concentrate on dropping the white 3 bank of drops right away, to ensure re-entry, then hammer away at points to build bonus, and or till you lock down there, rinse and repeat...

During MB, i dont worry much about the upper ball at all, i just try to keep the lower 2 going, as long as possible, cause the upper doesnt kick out till you drain down below, once all 3 are up top, its drop target fest as much as you can, once drained to 1 balls then try for the lower again, to rack up the triple G-Force as much as possible...

very fun, and it takes quite a bit of set up to get all this where you want to get a good score...

Devils Dare requires alot of set up as well to get it all working together for a maximum scoring opprotunity...

BH, and DD, both are like stacking rules rather than stacking modes.. but it is the same premis..

wicked addicting

Hope this wansn't too redundant.. but thats it..

oh definitely. during multiball, try to have as many balls down there as possible. it's the safest place on the table at that point.

Gerry is on point, but during multiball, get the balls to the lower playfield if you can. they can't drain down there (well, they "drain" to the upper playfield), and they are likely building up a lot of points down there.

in terms of getting to multiball: we all know it is not easy! but the most crucial thing by far for me is those 4 orange dots above the right flippers that light the upper playfield lock. you have to get all four on a single ball because they reset on drain. once the upper playfield lock is lit, though, it stays lit until you hit multiball. (if you lock a ball there and then drain, though, it forces you to watch the thing drain. love that!!)

the lower playfield lock is interesting for a different reason -- it persists not only from ball to ball but from player to player! that's right, if player one locks a ball on the lower playfield, player 2 can use that locked ball towards multiball. this is another reason why lighting the lock on the upper playfield is so important -- anyone can lock a ball for you on the lower playfield.

Pez is on !... It took me a bit to figure out how i was lighting the lock up top, i thought for a while it was completeing the BH drops in order twice or something of that nature...

When i figured it out it was then there was even more tactical planing in the game...

Really, there is alot to do on BH, to get a real good score... Lots to staging and getting ready type stuff..

It's all very hard to accomplish at times, being it's a game that can give you a speed of light drain at any given moment, SDTM or down the left outlane...

I'm there playing away, and the next second ...bang, ball gone!

My high score so far on this particular game.

Steve

BH high score 3-30-12.jpg

Yeah, but your a dick ! So !

My current score 796,120, and that was with the glass off, trying to fix a switch... LOL

Another reason to get the upper right standup targets is that they light the lower yellow drop targets for 3000 (3 Ball). Now if you have both gforce lamps lit (for 3x scoring) lit and 5x multiplier lit each yellow drop target is worth 3000 x 3 x 5 = 45,000

My gameplay strategy is this:

Get at least one gforce lit on lower pf by completing either upper drop target bank.
Complete all four (or at least 3) yellow standups to light lower yellow drops
Avoid going to lower pf until the above two tasks have been completed as the bonus you earn will be minimal.
When you do get to the lower pf, complete 3 bank ASAP to open return gate at tube.
Whack away at the yellow drops and increase bonus multiplier by completing lower loop.

I don't usually try and setup for multiball but when I do get it it really can be an amazing pinball experience. I can get into an almost zen like state looking through pf window not really focusing on any ball in particular just trying to react to action on top and bottom pfs simultaneously. You'll understand when you get there....

LOL

Show off! One day I'll get 7 digit scoring going on mine...

Nice, i didnt know tht the 4 yellow stand ups up top lit the yellow drops down under for that kind of scoring, i have been just kinda winging it to figuring out how the scoring works.. Very cool, now i have a new set of goals.

Thanks for the info !

i neeeeed that 7-digit display mod! my high score is about 1.9 million but of course it only registers as 900 thousand.

mine is set to five ... i keep meaning to set it to three but i keep forgeting.

2. are there settings for making the "special" reward a free ball?
-mof

for the upper playfield special, yes. for the lower playfield special, i don't think so.

3 or 5 ball

dip switch 20 to off= normal game mode... and so switch 21 is not over ridden

dip 21 on = extra ball for special, and off = replay

in the manual it does not differentiate between upper special, and lower spec.

The easiest way I know of t get high scores quickly on BH (with the glass on ) in 5 ball play is to set the game up for multi-ball, get both G forces lit, go downstairs and knock down at least one the drop target and then trap the ball in the saucer. Then trap the second ball in the main playfield saucer. 3rd ball goes downstairs and try to knock down the remaining 2 targets so the gate opens and let one ball go so you only have to control one ball. Then you keep shooting the saucer in the upper left corner. When you hit it, the saucer is worth 12,000 points because of both G forces (6000 with one G force). Then you hold the left flipper up when the saucer releases the ball and it'll set up on the right flipper so you can do it again. Rinse and repeat a bunch of times, throw in 5 loops, maybe knock down the other four DT's and before you know it, you've got 350,000 in bonus X 5 and a EB. Do it twice in one game and you flip it a few. I had over 5 mill on my other BH, that's what got me thinking about changing to 7 digit displays.

Steve

i know -- i believe even after changing that dip switch, the lower playfield special still doesn't award an extra ball. not 100% sure, though.

Here ya go. I have the 6 to 7 ROM file, no more 6 second delay at start up, also has a dip switch free play option. So far, I've converted 4 games to 7 digit basically making a System 80 into 80A.

Steve

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/converting-any-system-80-6-digit-gottlieb-to-80a-7-digit

I meant more that shots would feel weird or off, not that they would be impossible to make. Bally made a ton of games in this era that were designed for the flipper angle to be lower than that of the ball guide. Frontier, EBD, Future Spa, Flash Gordon, all come to mind. If you're familiar with any of these games and play one set up with a modern B/W style flipper alignment, the games just don't feel right. Shots are further down the flipper, bounce passes are weird, balls are way easy to trap, etc.

I'm really curious to learn how BH was calibrated at the factory. Flippers look like they could be aligned lower in the flyer photo, but it's really hard to tell from the angle.

My dream setup would be 3 ball play with 5 ball rules. 1000-point pop bumpers are the death of most GTB 3-ball settings for me!

ok revised statement: i neeeeeeeed someone to come over and do that 7-digit display mod for me! i am not crimping 80 wires and messing around with ancient harnesses and sockets ...

Too far away for me.

Steve

My Force II is in dire need of 7 digits...

I think tht is gonna be the first one i attempt doing...

I think at some point i will do them all, we will see..

Thanks for sharing that with all of us Steve...

I really need to redo the upper playfield lighting on mine. I've got cool white superbrights everywhere, and although I think the cool white looks great on this game, it's just too bright in spots, and from certain angles the bulbs are hard on the eyes. it is on my to-do list.

my lower playfield, though, I'm very very happy with. I rewired the voltage for the 9 sockets that go around the window so that instead of the (#313) 24 volt bulbs, they are now the standard 6 volts. it was a very easy mod. I then put slow color changing LEDs in there. it's a pretty neat effect now when the ball goes to the lower playfield -- the color down there shifts to all different colors while you play, but it's still bright enough to see just fine. I was inspired by the special effects of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (when Spock flies into V'Ger).

(skip ahead to about 1:10)

3 Ball. The rules and scoring are so much better for 3 ball. Easier to get Multi-ball and get big scores. Highest 5 ball score was 670XXX, I rolled mine at least a dozen times in 3 ball

can someone outline the differences? mine's always been on 5-ball but i keep meaning to switch to 3-ball. why's multiball easier? is the upper playfield lock already lit or something?

yeah ok i'll try to get a video of this.

2nd vote for mof's request for motor replacement strategies. Mine is crunchy and currently disconnected. Thanks!

BTW, current high score is 655,610 on 3 ball.

3 ball. You dont have to knock all the yellow spot target in one ball. The top rollovers are also remembered on 3 ball It will remember spots and top rollovers from ball to ball.

Makes multiball that much more obtainable. I created a poll on his sometime ago. Most people had no idea the rules or scoring was were different. Its a hard game, so it screams for 5 ball, but with the spots remembered in 3 ball and the major scoring discrepancy, you want to be on 3 ball.

3-Ball Scoring
Upper Playfield Drop Targets 5,000 points when lit or flashing
Upper Playfield Pop bumpers 1,000 points
Lower Playfield 4-Bank Drops 3,000 when lit, 300 when unlit

5-Ball Scoring
Upper Playfield Drop Targets 3,000 points when lit or flashing
Upper Playfield Pop bumpers 100 points
Lower Playfield 4-Bank drops 1000 when lit, 100 unlit

I strongly disagree that 3-ball settings are optimal.

One of the primary reasons scores are so much higher in 3-ball vs. 5-ball is that the pop bumpers are worth 1000 points. Say you're getting 10 pop hits on average every time you send the ball up top. That's 10,000 points awarded for basically doing nothing, which is hardly chump change in this title. Do this 10 times in a game and you're getting 100k just from the pop bumpers (not to mention 5k from every lit drop)! This is extremely unbalanced scoring and out weighs the risk of shooting for anything else.

Motor replacement is covered on Pinwiki:

http://bit.ly/LGVwev

I don't like playing any game that's easy, to me, easy equals boring. I like 5 ball play on most early SS games, because the games won't hold back, they "bring it". So I have to as well.

Steve

DS 17, 3 ball play on, 5 ball play off. DS 20 is novelty mode, off is normal play.

Steve

Count me in as member or did i miss open enrollment? Hi Steve, blownfuse one of the good ones!

I had upper flippers aligned with ball guides for a long time, one day after cleaning and maintenance I set lower and wow much better. Better shots for capture hole for the lower playfield and well just overall better.

Lower playfield is different I go out of my way just to keep em like they were, and are.

Welcome to the club, another good addition.

Steve

I dont know. To each their own I suppose, but if we are talking risk/reward; I dont think there is a bigger risk in the game than pop-bumpers. most of my balls drained were sdtm because of the pops.

The center pop is evil, as is the diverter gate on a fast moving trap...

i hate losing the ball down below with only one drop to go...