Should be announced in a few weeks.

My precious! Ha ha. I put the original glass back in it. It’s the stern HD. I ran it with PDI. You are good to go great game.
I think if you look at an angle it’s got a greenish hue to it. Anyways, you got the original glass, unused.

My Experience so far.....

Facts- I am new to Pin... bought Space Jam (played as a kid a lot) last Nov and it got me started/hooked....

Started taking my kids on weekends to play at places with tons of pins, had a blast. Place we go has 90+ games but no BKSOR.....Next step was buying a South Park (love the theme) and then I was just hooked.

Convinced my self BKSOR and metal theme was awesome.... also convinced myself I could do a pro and it would be 'Less expensive' - but then pulled trigger on premium at last minute. NEVER PLAYED THE GAME BEFORE PURCHASE!......

#1. BKSOR is so damn fun... so fast, amazing music and fantastic animations and simple to grasp rule set. Just really love this game.... I am no pro not scoring billions or anything but love the 'attack' feel and way you can start a monster, beat it and move on.

#2. Black Knight History - I am new to pinball and never played the original BK.... at one point played a few games on BK2K but that was in 2019. So I think its cool people have expectations but to me BKSOR is 'its own thing'... No disrespect to the old school folks but I entered with no baggage and perhaps that is why I like it so much.

#3. Not sure why people have said bad stuff about it..... Even F2F local people said (too many bricked shots etc). Again no I am pro but spend some time and its a glorious shooting gallery.

#4. Here is an observation..... pretty much promise first time this was ever said in the history of the interwebs..... BKSOR is one hell of a lot like space jam. Look as shot layout!!! Sure shots do different stuff / no upper playfield on Space Jam but the angles of the shots and open lower third are incredibly similar.

#5. Community around BKSOR has been great / answered questions and seem like 'good people' - really that is my favorite part of the hobby so far.

#6. Watching my kids and their friend come over and play PINS for hours not just video games is awesome... Nothing wrong with gaming just nice to see kids take to the kinetic joy of pinball.... and compete

Overall just love this game. Wonka is fun/still learning there as well but it totally a different game / feel / speed / flow etc. Its actually a good combo with BKSOR for HOU play IMO. Wonka has rule set I am just starting to get but it has a more random/advantageous feel to it. In BKSOR each ball has a mission..... you are there to beat monsters and the black knight himself and that is bad ass....

Not sure anyone really wanted to read this but might as well post it in the endless complaint fest that pinside can be at times. Pinball is in a renaissance and we should all be about one thing.... positive pinball .... Pins up / playfield pooling down.

[Mic drop] ...I'm out

Game is pure adrenaline!!! Thanks again!!! Not for the faint of heart especially after a few beers lol.

I too had no preconceived notions about Black Knight as I hadn't played the older versions of it. Game stands alone by itself very well as a title. Lot's of fun to play. This is a very good game and nice to have in a collection.

I'd like to see Stern give a whirl at another original non licensed themed pin. Maybe a really good Space or Western themed one might be cool or some other general interest that might have appeal across the board. I know licensed themes sell, but a good game is a good game. Pick a good topic or theme and execute it well and it will sell.

Enjoying BKSOR. Let's see another neat original themed pin in the future.

Given that I never thought there would ever be another Black Knight pin after Williams got out of the pinball business, perhaps the King is working on a few successors to some of his other non-licensed themes like Flash, Firepower, High Speed, and F-14 Tomcat.

But if the licensing gods are with Steve, perhaps he could convince the powers that be to do a *real* Mortal Kombat pin - because these certainly do NOT count:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MortalKombat/comments/arp9v7/i_came_across_this_vintage_mortal_kombat_pinball/

Modded up flippers from @hooked look nice !

Recommend !

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Question for the group here, what would you expect to pay for routed BKSOR that's pretty much perfect except for some chipping (on the backside) of the slings? Looks like routed games have been going for $4500 to $4700 with HUO games around $5k. Wasn't really looking into this title until the kids expressed interest in it after playing it today. I personally don't really care about the chipping, but I am concerned about trying to sell it in a year and whether this is going to be a problem. :/ I'd be concerned that it's going to get worse as time goes on, but maybe that is unfounded.

Thats a hell of an idea. I think a new High Speed would be recieved well, actually as long as I like it then who cares.

Hello, I have a pro model and and trying to find out how the premium models ramp shot is lit. Could some one please take a few high res pics of their premium under playfield. Thanks!!

I would use the upper playfield post to start off with as it makes the boss fights a lot easier. But if your looking for more of a challenge don’t use it. It is a quick and easy install. I have it installed for my family to make the game play easier.

I put the speech a little higher, but a subwoofer makes the game rock.

Enjoy you purchase, we really enjoy the game

My distributor just sent the post, I didn't need to order it. I installed it but don't feel the game really needs it. If you think you might want it, it might be reasonable to have the original owner request it from his distributor.

Left the speech vs. music settings at stock.

I had to order the post kit directly from Stern.

Speech +4 Music -4

Most don’t realize that it’s starting or will chip if not now then later. Going to be crazy soon.

Finally knocked that rotten Knight on his butt and got to RAGE! Awesome mode. The opening animation again proved that BK is second to none in the animation department. So freaking cool!

Still no Ransom for me. Ended up one letter away. Someday. How are you guys getting there? Alot of WAR hurry-ups? I generally do not concentrate on those but try to complete them when I see the shots flashing. I generally do not get more than one or maybe two per game, so it takes getting to the Black Castle and then a couple more modes after to get there. Is WAR the better way of getting there instead?

It has been a couple months and BKSOR Premium just keeps me coming back for more.

Still need to install the Shaker Motor and pickup a couple mods. This game is in the long term collection for sure.

I like a few of these mods from Tilt Graphics:

https://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/black-knight-sword-of-rage

I don't know. I gotta believe every LE game that Stern releases with the visible 5.25" speakers and the speaker surrounds were intended to be lit, but cut for cost. Why not pick up better than factory speaker lighting for those LEs?

Individual addressable RGB LED lighting with 358 different color / color transitions and adjustable brightness and speed. These "Deluxe SPIKE 2 - 5.25" Speaker Light Kits" should be listed soon at http://www.SpeakerLightKits.com

- Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

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Gotta say I dig Doug and his Speaker Light Kits! His standard set looks fantastic on my Premium. If I had an LE, this would be first on my list of mods to install. Once you see them in the videos on his website (let alone once you have them in your game) you’ll “forget” that they didn’t come pre-installed from the factory. Great product, great service, great guy.

I also recommend the BriteButtons lighted flipper buttons. I installed blue ones on my Premium. The latest version has an inline control that lets you select the brightness and some effects like blinking. I set mine to the slow pulse effect. To me it adds a nice visual element that is simultaneously beautiful and “intimidating” in that medieval magic sort of way.

Which kit provides the speaker-only lighting like in your pic? The website ones all light up the entire speaker rectangle which I find unappealing.

Is anyone having issues with the top-left gate not opening to allow for a super-skill shot consistenly (Pro)?

On my game it works about 2/3rds of the time. Always been that way. I kind of figured it was a sw bug at first but now I'm not so sure.

As I said:

These will only be for use with games with 5.25" speakers. After these light kits are available, I do plan on offering 5.25" Speaker Plates for a more affordable price than they are currently available for. This will allow a user to do a 4" to 5.25" speaker upgrade (including this light kit) at a lower price than the 4" to 5.25" speaker upgrade currently costs (not including a light kit). I will also be selling different color acrylic speaker surrounds for 5.25" speaker users.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

PS: If you just want speaker lights to light up the holes in a SPIKE 2 game with 4" speakers...you can get one of my Type 10 Speaker Light Kits (example: for Ghostbusters) and put it behind the factory speaker plates (SEE ATTACHMENT and ask for "The Jailbird" when ordering). That looks bad in my opinion. Tiny lit round holes in a larger rectangle grill area. The lit holes will be off center in the grill area. The lit holes will have bars running through the middle of them unless you cut them out yourself. I honestly don't like the look of them at all and that is why I don't have them listed on my website for that type of use, but they can be installed and used for that purpose easily enough.

If I were a fan of only the speakers being lit up....I would wait and do the upcoming 5.25" speaker AND Speaker Light Kit upgrade. The speakers will be bigger / better. The speakers are centered and fill the width of the rectangle grill area and no bars to cut out or go across the speaker holes.

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Do they respond to lighting in the game, or do their own thing?

Finally got to play a Pro BKSOR on route and the game was brutal. I like it!! They had it set up to play fast and each rebound sent the ball back to the flippers like a rocket, really kept me on my toes and I broke a sweat lol. To me it definitely seems like a shooters game where every shot has to be precise. The music is outstanding and really got me into the game as a metal fan.

I installed the Black Knight LE kit and it took 15-20 minutes. Not complicated at all.

Don't let the "complication" or number of steps worry you.
Doug is just VERY detailed in his instructions because he wants to ensure that you don't have any problems and that it works from the very first time you power the game on after installation.

Feel the same way. Thats why I bought one!

Buler,......... lol

I think that have made up my mind on removing that picture of the Stern manual from my website. Though I did see Stern had a slightly less complicated diagram for one of the later SPIKE 2 LE games.

The picture may look complicated, but all you are doing is taking off the speakers, removing the gaskets and spacers that are there from the factory and putting the speakers back on again.

On these Deluxe 5.25" kits you take off the speakers, remove the gaskets and spacers that were there from the factory. Then slip on the light rings and put the speakers back on. This is, by far, the easiest Speaker Light Kit install I have ever seen.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

Well boys, I joined the club tonight courtesy of an amazing wife, for my 40th bday. She got me a Premium BK!

It’s 2:30 am now and I started messing with it at 9 pm. Haven’t played a game yet, lol.

The game came with 0.94 so it took me a while to go get a USB and download, unzip, install. Worked fine with a 64GB SanDisk 3.0 drive formatted to FAT32.

Some questions/comments/complaints:

- Is there really no “auto” ball save setting?! I LOVE that feature on my AC⚡️DC. Instead of being a fixed number of seconds for a ball save, it analyzes how the game is going and adjusts for you. For example, if the ball is bouncing all over after you launch it, ping ponging on the slings, etc, then dumps down an outlane without you ever touching a flipper, you’ll get a new ball. In BK, all I see are pure timed settings for ball save!

- holy crap that fan in the backbox us loud as hell and annoying.

- the speech seems WAY loud to me compared to the music. So far I have the speech attenuation at +30 and it’s helping a bit, I think. Music is at 0.

- I took the glass off and opened it all up to check for issues. Only notable thing I found so far is that somehow the CN9 board connection was MANGLED from the factory. I carefully unmangled all the pins with the machine off. That’s where my speaker lights will plug in, so hopefully I fixed it enough.

- that Mylar protector that came in the bag doesn’t look particularly fun to apply

- mods on the way: shaker, FF speaker kit, speaker lights, gray and orange titan flipper rubbers, orange start button, orange flipper buttons, orange plastic protectors, “wood” flipper-top decals, the lockdown bar graphic (makes me appreciate my AC⚡️DC metal lockdown bar accent)

Ugh, there’s that fan again. Maybe tomorrow I have to order that quiet fan mod. It’s almost louder than my Raven helicopter attract!!

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Got a few games in. So much fun with the 6 ball multiball.

My only gripe is that I’d say about 40-50% of the time on a SOLID right flipper shot up the flail lane, the ball “rejects” when it hits the scoop where it should go onto the upper field, and rockets back down (often draining SDTM). Seems unfair and not right. I saw SR’s post about checking for screws sticking up, but I don’t see or feel any doing that.

Please post some pics once your Titans are installed. I want to change mine, but unsure what color to choose.

could you take a photo of under the play-field, specifically the ramp shot that is lit with the lightning bolts. i would like to see the light boards and connections.

I’ve gotten my ration of those same rejections. Nothing seems to be affecting the ball on my game. Checked the ramp and it all seems smooth. No alignment problems that I could see on the scoop end. Even played it with the sound turned way down to listen for any signs of the ball rattling or hitting something. Every time it happens to me, it at least seems to be because my shot ultimately didn’t have quite enough oomph to make it - like when I used to play miniature golf and the ball wouldn’t make it up a loop-de-loop and then would come zooming back to the tee mat.

I’ve also gotten at least as many flail ramp shots in which the ball “vanishes” for about 3-5 seconds and then slowly comes back into view up top and finally plops onto the upper playfield like a dead weight - as if I shot it at the precise minimum speed that would still get the ball up there. It always pleasantly catches me off guard as I prepare for the drain rocket that doesn’t happen.

I’ve concluded that it’s all a combination of intentionally “evil” game design (you know: the good kind of evil) coupled with the Black Knight using his magic powers. I used to think that it was just the Black Knight’s sword that had magic in it but then I realized that he has magic powers himself: it finally dawned on me that I’ve watched him conjure up extra balls out of thin air right in front of my eyes on many occasions but never connected the dots.

Thanks for the info and experience. I dunno...seems like something isn’t quite right. I mean, my right flipper shots are SLAMMING up there. Plenty of force. To me it almost seems like the ball knicks or spins into something from having tTOO much force maybe? Or there’s just something it’s hitting that I haven’t seen yet. I played with the glass off for a half hour and manually tossed the ball up the ramp but couldn’t conclude anything. I’ll explore some more when I have time and it isn’t 4am lol

You're, welcome, @ezatnova. And I'm certainly not saying that you aren't having an issue with something causing so many of those rocket drains from the flail ramp. It's entirely possible that your issue is an extreme case of my barely-makes-it experience. I've had plenty of solid shots go through to the UP as one would expect and a tolerable amount of rocket drain rejections - but then there's those barely-makes-it shots I get - which I started wondering more about after reading your post.

In your case, something could very easily be in the way or mis-positioned in a way resulting in your rocket rejections. But perhaps the same obstruction on my game just happens to be wide enough to allow the ball through once the full weight of the ball rests on it and gravity works on it for a couple of seconds. Because when I have a barely-made-it ball plop onto the UP, it has no momentum at all.

I'll stay tuned because once you identify what is causing your rocket drains, I'll want to look at the same thing on my game. There's probably a good chance that I've overlooked the issue on my game since I could plausibly be causing it with my shots and because the pathway looks and acts "normal" every time I've sent a ball through it in gameplay or by hand.

Well, after playing for serval hours:

- Really love this game. So many nice details, and the visuals on the field are really impressive as far as the lighting, knight, etc. So happy I went with a Premium. Played both on location and felt a little thin on the Pro. Loving the Super Skill shot and catapult multiball, and maybe most of all, Last Chance. What an awesome mode that is so unique.

- my concern about the flail ramp shot rejecting a lot has decreased a bit. Maybe something broke-in, or I don’t know what, but now it feels like only 10-20% of the solid right flipper shots get wrongly rejected back down that ramp by the U shaped loop up top.

- regarding the physical playfield, I am only noticing a few dimples from air balls. My AC⚡️DC had hundreds of dimples after the first night. Wonder if it’s just different play physics or if the play fields differ that much in hardness?

- love the speed of this game. And while certainly shots are brutal, I do feel like it’s no where near the mean-ness of AC⚡️DC, and I had much longer average ball times on BK than I can manage on AC⚡️DC.

- still can’t believe there is no “auto” option for the ball save like AC⚡️DC has (and I presume other Sterns). Maybe hope for this in a code update, or do new Sterns not allow this?

- just FYI, so far I’ve managed 148M, and in that game I achieved KNIGHT, but then my ball immediately drained, so I still haven’t gotten to see retro mode yet!!

What auto ball save option are you referencing? The factory ball save setting is 9 seconds and you can adjust it as you want.

On AC⚡️DC you can set it to “auto” instead of a specific time. It’s so much better. As an example, maybe the ball launches, bounces off the pops for 6 seconds, comes down and bounces from one sling to another for 5 seconds, then fires back up into another area and bounces around, then comes down the center and drains. 25 seconds went by and you didn’t touch a flipper and pretty much got screwed. AC⚡️DC on Auto would realize you did nothing to mess up and make a bad shot, so it would do a ball save. Similarly, maybe the ball is fired and goes right down to the flippers. You hammer away, hitting it off some close drop targets 5 or 6 times, then it drains to an outlane. It would NOT give your ball back in that case. Basically, it sense how your ball is going and accordingly adjusts a proper ball save. Never have I felt that it was too short or too generous, it works incredibly well.

Hmm. I’ll have to look at that when I get home. I don’t ever remember seeing auto or understand how the machine would know when to activate that feature.

I do know that the pops stop timers for ball saves and sometimes hurry ups and mode shots. Could this be what you are seeing?

No, I’m not seeing anything. It’s just that BK has no “auto” option in the Ball Save setting menu. Just “no ball save” or time specific selections 5-15 seconds. AC⚡️DC has all of those as well as “auto”.

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I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing more code updates. There have been plenty of tweaks and suggestions here since 1.00 was released, Tim undoubtedly already had/has his own list of things he wants to address in the next code release, and I have a very good feeling that the game team as a whole is far from exhausting their creative talents in regard to surprising us with some new features as time goes on.

More minions and monsters would be great and I'm all in favor of it as an owner, but I also want to first and foremost recognize and acknowledge the heavy lift of the additional work it would create for the art team.

That said, it would be extremely interesting and add more depth if there was a second monster in each of the Black Knight's lands. The lands themselves are pretty much set in stone because they're on the lightning wheel. For example, in addition to the Lich Lords in the frozen wasteland (the name I made up for it right here on the spot; nothing "official"), there could be an "Abominable Ice Man" or something. And with two monsters in each land, you do the current set leading up to the first black castle and the others in the second set. Or, to make it a little more interesting, have the game randomly pick which monster you'll face when you enter that land - and have different shot objectives/completion requirements for monsters in the same land just to vary the game each time through - even leading up to your first black castle.

Otherwise, more minions and monsters sprinkled throughout the game either with specific features attached to them or just for more visual accents and effects in the display would be great too. One last suggestion in that regard: I'm surprised that there aren't more skeletons prominently appearing in the display. The end of game match sequence is excellent. The one with the flamethrower voiced by Ed Robinson is excellent too. It also sounds like at least one skeleton has some callouts (Ed again? Saying "I'm the leader of the boneheads!", "We must stop them from getting to our master", etc.), but they otherwise don't seem to play much of a foreground role given that Mr. Meanness has a whole army of them.