I enjoy the LE, all happy

The upper playfield just slowed the game down for me.

The pro was too fast for this old man I need that break on top. Also love the catapult shot.

Thanks so much for the referral! I was able to get in touch with them this morning and have a Pro headed my way. Adding in hundreds for freight was making it a tough decision for me versus my original plan for a Stranger Things, which many distros have free shipping available for, but I was able to get a floor model shipped to me at a price that was more agreeable.

I had been saving for a Stranger Things, but a night at a barcade in Denver a couple weeks ago made me realize that BK Pro just has "the fizz" that is lacking in Stranger Things. I have played the Prem/LE as well and found both layouts are great fun! Looking forward to joining the club officially when the big Stern box shows up at my door.

Awesome man! Mike will get it out to you quick im sure.

Is there an easy way to switch back and forth between soundtracks without opening the coin door?

If any of you are curious, I will share my impressions of my new'ish BKSOR.

I think the playfield lighting is dreamy. I thought I would find it too "red," but it's fine. The ball looks great up on the upper PF.

Game adjustments I found helpful:

1. Lowering the power on all the flippers, in particular on the upper. Lower power helps me hit loops up there. It does make it harder to lock balls though. Lower power down low just helps me get control of missed shots sooner and lowers the odds of an impossible-to-react-to brick return.

2. Lowering the power on the trough kick-out and the auto-launch, as well as the Castle VUK.

Protection:

I "chip proofed" the game by pulling the stainless lane guides where appropriate and adding broad washers at the fixing points. I put mylar at the foot of the short-plunge shooter-lane dump. It worried me watching the ball crash onto the PF, so I put a large circle there. I also added Cliffys, upgraded the speakers, and changed the GI to frosted bulbs from Comet. I also added a very nice set of custom plastics protectors from Silverball Designs OH. I sent him all of my vulnerable plastics and he made a protector for each using his CNC laser-cutting rig. They look sharp. I made my own protector for the super-slender plastic that stretches from behind the Black Knight to the Shield VUK. I threw in several PF spots lights - some warm white, some red - and gelled the flashers in the arch to gold from white. I ordered a set of PinGraffix Pinblades, too. I should have them by Saturday if I'm lucky.

As for the game, I'm liking it more as I put more time on it. At first I thought it was murderously hard. Now I'm getting used to it. My favorite shots, in order:

6. Flail from left flipper
5. Shield lock from right
4. Loop
3. Cat lock
2. Left orbit
1. Right orbit

I was struggling to reach the Black Castle, so, just to get there, I adjusted the difficulty level of the modes to "Easy." On the very first game after that I did that, I got to the Black Castle. It's hella cool. You finally hear the music that was used in the teaser. Tragically, I drained on my very first shot on a rejection from the flail. Big mistake not to hit the shield from the right first. I was crushed. I haven't played TKC MB very well so far. I haven't reached the second phase of that or any MB. It's also rare that I complete the W-A-R Hurry-ups.

Are most of you now good at flipper staging? By that I mean cradling on the lower right but flipping on the upper right as necessary. I can't do it to save my life. The stageable switch makes subtle flipping - tapping, for example - harder on the right. I also think the off-the-shelf flipper lane guides are weirdly lifeless. I think it has to do with how the elbows are too tight. It's hard to roll pass because the ball loses too much momentum getting through there. My game's pitch has the spirit level about one-third above the middle zone, although an inclinometer shows just 6.5-degrees. I have Titan's Super-Shiny chromium-steel balls and they look great. I may be kidding myself, but the Magna-Save's power seems so week that I'm not worried about magnetizing the balls.

The music is okay. I thought it would get on my nerves, but it doesn't. The sound effects are good. The SR BK callouts are great, but those of the Briton who does the majority of the more descriptive ones are just okay. No disrespect to Ed Robertson, but his "goofy" callouts - "Butcher" and the pyromaniac skeleton soldier - aren't my cup of tea. I don't think there's any place for goofy in this theme, but that's just me. I browsed all the sounds in the service menu under Diagnostics/Speaker and I even heard some by Timballs. I guess they got the whole team in the recording room! Oh, and you can set how much "backpedaling" your hear in the B.K. settings. The default is none, but I turned it on and it's fun to hear him struggle a bit as you score hits.

Thanks for the info on the backpedaling setting. That must be why I hadn't heard any at the locations I have played it (and totally not because I suck and lose money quickly on it. Can't be that.....)

Make sure you're running code version 1.01 or 1.02 and you'll find it in the service menu:

- Enter the service menu
- Select Adjustments
- Select Feature adjustments
- Cycle to feature adjustment 100 - Alternative Soundtrack

Sadly no. It's one of the polish items I sent feedback on as they went to the trouble of adding a completely alternate soundtrack, but make it a pain to switch between.

How is your game pitched?
My spirit level shows I'm good, but inclinometer app shows just 5.8 degrees.
I'm guessing Steve Ritchie intended at least 6.5 degrees.
Ball is pretty lazy at this pitch.
Thoughts?

9938B830-66A4-4882-AD9B-2A3D48FA1E38 (resized).jpeg

Alternative soundtrack is abbreviated.
Tracks are reused for multiple modes.
It's a hodgepodge of music that was probably picked off the cutting room floor from other games. I can hear EHOH's "Gappa angry!" in one of them. Oh, and one is definitely a castoff from GOTG.

I had the "too much reject" issue with my flail ramp and finally decided to take a look.

There was a hanging wire & clip under the UPF and some ramp screws were a bit loose.

Not sure if that was the issue or if I re-installed the UPF more correctly, but I played a couple of games and no more rejects now.

Adding images for future ref.

P1050219 (resized).JPG

P1050221 (resized).JPG

Intermittent Flame Panel: What Gives?

Set to "Always on," but it's off most of the time during gameplay. Will come to life for a second or two, then go dark again.

I reseated the connectors - in the wiring harness and at the playfield 48V core-driver node. I also updated the game code. Please tell me I don't need a new driver node. If the panel works fine during attract, I assume it's fine but the signal to it is interrupted during gameplay.

Ideas?

Recently been having the game eject two balls during play (for example when locking one in catapult and having it auto fire a new one). Any thoughts? Optos, or auto plunger adjustment? I almost think it’s trying to fire a ball, and it gets hung up, and then the game thinks it didn’t try to eject one so then it ejects two.

It could be a trough-eject power issue. You can bump it up or down in the settings under Adjust/BK/Trough. I would experiment there first.

Nobody? I could really use some ideas here.
Whad'a ya' got?

Usually the "trough jam" opto when this stuff happens. On the old SAM and Whitestar systems, it was just a cold solder on the trough 1 / jam board. Haven't seen much on a Spike. But try taking the balls out and hit the playfield a little in switch test. See if any of the trough switches flicker... Hope this helps.

Check to make sure the connectors to the trough opto board (attached to the trough itself) are firmly seated. I had a recurring problem on my ghostbusters where the connector would loosen up over time and the issue would pop up intermittently, reseat connector and it would work fine for a few months.

Flame panel action: when is it on and why?

When I first got my game, I thought the flame panel was on almost all the time. This made me happy, as the glowing effect is great. Then it seemed to be on rarely. I was confused. I was sure I'd broken something. I etched a fresh SD card of the latest code and installed it, since I assumed the panel action was controlled by the CPU. No change. Still rarely on. I went to another collector's home just to see how *his* flame panel behaves, and there I saw that his, too, wasn't on all that much.
So, my question is, what turns it on and/or keeps it on?

The stars seemed to align, . . . If only for a moment. Still didn't get BC (haven't been there yet) , but was my first time getting BK2K MB! Didn't realize it was a timed wizard mode! Definitely got 85MM from a single war HU!

20210429_201355 (resized).jpg

Holy shirt!
Almost $700M!
You slay!

Where can I download the soundtrack?

Thanks! I bounce back and forth between this and my AIQ:Prem (don't think I've broken 500MM on that one yet). Regarding your flickering panel flame display question, I'll see if I remember to check mine next time I play and let you know. Cheers!

Ok, just checked mine. Definitely only on certain times. What I've noticed as on activity:

-attract mode
-opening light show
-knight letter award
-bonus award at end of ball

I'm sure there are more but when I watched it was definitely off more than on. Hope that helps but I'm sure there is a detailed description of its activity on the interwebs somewhere

Oh, and also when you hit the "realm" shot to lock in the monster

Got my Pro today! Some loose and missing screws, and the ball was jumping out of the wireform due to a too-long screw thread sticking up, but we got that all taken care of and having fun now. That's my buddy, not me in the photos.

0430211609_HDR (resized).jpg

0430211635_HDR (resized).jpg

0430211707_HDR (resized).jpg

0430211811a_HDR (resized).jpg

Awesome! Congrats!!
It's a super fun and addictive game!

Congrats!! Awesome pin.

Can't beat Black Knight and Star Trek in the lineup!

IMG_7378 (resized).jpg

very nice ! even more for the one in the center...

Thanks, DBB, for taking the time to share this. Very helpful! I notice that hitting the Light Locks target up there also brings it on for a few seconds. It has its own sound effect, too - not surprisingly like a surge of flames. I will wait to hear from Stern about troubleshooting the boards anyway.

Congrats on your new game! Awesome, sunny game room!

Thank you, fortunately it faces North so direct sunlight on any machines is minimized. Decent game to start my morning, beginner's luck I guess.

0501210823_HDR (resized).jpg

Didn't know they had these NIB still.

One thing I'll say, this is the only game I've ever owned where I can set a new high score and still be pissed off about how a ball drained.

Mine was a floor model with only 50 plays but the distro had one NIB left when I called a couple weeks ago. It was hard to find and came through a tip here on Pinside.

Good find, now I am hoping for a much needed code update.

After reading the rules a few times I have one question for the champions in this club...Where’s the playfield multiplier?

the sword (when full)

...

In case you're in IN or nearby:

Machine - For Sale

Black Knight Sword of Rage (Premium) with TOPPER!! Archived

Routed - fresh off route - “will not separate topper. . . lighted speakers. . plastic protectors. . slight shooter lane wear game can be played at North End Pub, Lafayette, Indiana”

2021-07-07

Lafayette, IN

Porkfritter

8,500 (OBO)

Archived after: 6 days

Viewed: 549 times

Status: Not sold: Decided to keep game

Resuming Black Castle mode on next ball?

If I drain in any given mode, I continue in the mode on my next ball - assuming I have one.
Not so with Black Castle.
Is there a setting that will allow me to return to it?
I have only reached the BC a handful of times and I always drain early.
I would like the chance to keep at it and reach Rage MB.

F0CF5E67-8AF2-4FC1-8B3D-9166509CBF25 (resized).jpeg

Welcome to BC Frustration. There is currently no setting to allow BC to continue after a drained ball. This is one of the most requested features (fixes?) I've seen in this thread for a newer BKSOR code drop that may never come.

I've owned my BKSOR for 18+ months now. I can reach BC every 5 or 6 games or so, but I've yet to complete it. Most hits I've had in BC is 18. I read somewhere that 22 hits completes it, but I don't know for sure.

18 hits for you, huh?
Nice work!
I usually get off a couple and then - bang! - the ball has drained like a bullet.

Yeah. Ridiculous that Stern doesn’t want Tim to fix this glaring issue. Why have a final/wizard mode that is basically useless?

TWIP update today mentioned an interview with Tim Sexton. It says he talks about BKSOR but doesn't give any details. I'm sure it would be all over here if he said anything about a code update... But, did anyone hear the interview??

I have never made it far enough to face the BK. I have the game set to 3 balls per game. Is that what you have your setting on?

I have mine on all standard settings and made it to BK the first weekend I had the game home. This is one of those games where when your shots are on, you can progress fairly quickly.

Sadly my shots are usually slamming off a post SDTM before I can blink.

I tried to listen but...

...let's say the host sounds very... "special".