Definitely a good idea. I swear I've seen this in a game at some point. I guess it might have been an arcade game or something, but I feel like I can remember selecting it with the flippers. Google is no help.

It would help in a home setting, like you said, so the owner doesn't spend like 3x as long playing as guest players combined when you do a 4 player game. You might need segregated leaderboards or something.

I really like the idea. It would need a different set of high scores for each column or it would muck up the boards.
Otherwise I think it is a spin off of skit Bs user parameters save. Would be great to play hardcore with pinheads and casual with family and non pin friends without changing anything.

Who Dunnit has this option. Novice and Pro or something like that where novice is guaranteed time and pro is regular gameplay.

I used to try doing the custom installs on stern games for extra hard and most of them were not programmed fully (some things were still medium or hard not extra hard), so I gave up and just do all manual adjustments.

Thank you! I've only played a real one once, and The Pinball Arcade's version doesn't do this (must be disabled). But I knew I had seen it before.

Congo has it too, but I think it's off by default.

Not quite the same but some games had things like this; Apollo 13 I just played the other day had it.

But I really like what the OP saying. Simple couple "user presets" options in the menu would be cool.

That is almost exactly what the Tournament Start button does. Hook it up if not already and start using it!

Whilst I agree with your basic idea, and it was the first thing I thought, Sure settings would be customizable which I don;t believe tournament settings are?

Some setting are and some aren't. The number of balls certainly is. I used to always set up my Stern games like Spiderman with Tournament on 3-ball and no extra balls and the normal Start button of 5-balls with extra balls for guests.

"Tournament Mode" in most games changes the game to specific settings that will vary by machine. Standards are not awarding extra balls, taking away randomized awards - or making them not random etc etc.

Not that I know of.

If you look at your ACDC there is a blank square cut out just below the Start button. That is where the Tournament Start button installs. Once the button is installed and running, you can setup a tournament in the menu and put the end date way out like a year from now so it doesn't end any time soon. All the new Sterns have this built into the software. No, you can't play multiplayer games with some on normal and some on Tournament. This does let you choose between two very different modes of play without changing any menu settings by just choosing a regular or tournament game.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-add-a-tournament-start-button-to-acdc-and-other-recent-sterns

No. Most games still end up on location with default settings. There may be some changes in SAM 2.0, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

You need to read the manual. Specifically, standard settings and the Installs menu. In standard setting, you can set Player Competition (not Competition mode) to yes, which will allow you to hold the left flipper in briefly, then start a game with even rules and awards (tournament mode). The Installs menu gives tons of options. Look at the standard adjustments chart to see what each setting will do. Many manuals have details missing in those charts. You can either download the digital manual and check that, or manually scroll through each standard and feature setting to see what has changed between each 'install'.

That's a really cool idea. Probably more than the OS could handle though.

on my judge dredd player 1 can play a regular game while player 2 plays a super game. although in different form its the same basic idea and shows that the systems should be able to support two different types of play at once. so maybe there is a way to figure out how to do this on on the tournament games as well

I mentioned this in a separated thread but it fits here too. Make a novice vs. expert setting.

There have been games where the player can select Novice mode or Pro mode. Obviously it didn't last long and I can imagine it may have had to do with earnings. Game experience is in my opinion also less fun when it is made too easy. There's no challenge left.

I think it'd be great for playing against younger kids, and friends or partners who aren't "in to" pinball. When they click "novice" or "beginner" or whatever, they get a 30 second ball saver on start, and Multiballs. Score multipliers are saved etc.

There's a really neat trick that Nintendo has always done with its racing games etc. poorer drivers get better handling, and boosted speed. It keeps every match close. The result is a better time for everybody playing. Perhaps there would be a way for the code to balance scores a little on the fly. Person A is destroying person B, all of the sudden, person B has 4X playfield scoring and a ball saver for 30 seconds.

Personally, when I have a bunch of friends over, I don't want to dominate with long ball times, and astronomical scores. I want them to have fun. Anything that serves that end would be good with me.

Obviously, this would be a mode you can toggle of or off. I think it would be a great option.