Hi all -

(I hope this hasn't been discussed to death, I searched this thread and didn't find much)

I am going to be looking at a Funhouse shortly, and was hoping current owners might be able to chime in on what I should be looking at in order to avoid a nightmare.

Are there any game-specific issues that are instant grounds for rejection?

Anything that I should make sure has already been addressed?

Any fragile or weak parts that are uber-expensive or else downright unobtainable?

Thanks!

Perfect, thank you!

Thanks for all the excellent advice. As it turns out, the game was pretty rough, not even considering the seller's bottom line, so I'm still on the hunt.

In my area, it seems like it'll cost you north of $4K to get one that still has all the printing on the inserts. $5K seems like it will get you a really nice one.

There sure are a lot of beat up examples out there.

Someone please prove me wrong and offer to sell me one with a nice playfield for $3900!

Just curious: Was there ever a definitive answer about the Sausage Bonus on the sample ROMs? Seems the question has been asked a lot, but not really answered.

Do the Sample games' ROMs have the Sausage Bonus? Or is that strictly a feature of the production ROMs?

The Sausage Bonus is awarded after a number of Rudy hits (I think it starts at 6, and maxes out at 12). The number gets reset when the high scores are reset, and then get incremented each time the bonus is awarded. Rudy says "You big sausage", and the player gets a million points.

Cool, thanks! I've heard one or two people say they never got the Sausage Bonus on their samples, but I haven't been able to confirm if it was missing from the ROM, or if they had some other issue.

I just joined the club with a Sample game, but it's going to be a few days before I can get it set up, and while I think the Samples have some really nice features and historical/collector coolness, I have to admit, I'd miss the "You big... SAUSAGE!" callout.

Here's a video of the Sausage Bonus, although the callout appears to get interrupted. It's also followed by a bunch of what sounds like machine gun fire. It's one of those kooky things that I'll be disappointed not to have. It sounds like it's similar to the bonus you're describing, but with a different callout.

So far, it seems nobody with a Sample ROM has seen this feature, although the sound samples appear to be there. I'm now curious to see what kind of ROM hack might be possible. I realize, though, how small the potential audience is, so I doubt there is much value beyond the fun factor of actually doing it.

Your machine definitely sounds like it's something special!

I've been bending everyone's ear with all my talk about the Sausage Bonus, I figured it's time to share some pics. I picked this guy up last weekend. There is some work going on in my basement at the moment, so Rudy will be living in my van for the next few days until the coast is clear and I bring him inside.

Sample game Number 90, if I read the label correctly.

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A bit of an educated guess: The way I understand it, the threshold for the Sausage Bonus starts at 9 hits, then increments each time it is awarded. This is reset when the high scores are reset. In other words: after a fresh reset, the first player to hit it gets it at 9, the next player at 10, etc. If your batteries are out, it may be the case that the game can't read or update the value, so it skips it. I dunno, like I said, educated guess.

Congrats on the NVRAM mod, by the way, that's a worthy upgrade!

Cool!

Interesting: You appear to be running a production game ROM. I'm pretty sure P-6 was the last proto/sample version. You said earlier that most of your Sample stuff was gone, do you still have the System 11 sound board, or is that now WPC? I've been wondering if the Game ROMs were interchangeable. I know the sound ROMs aren't.

Yup, you've got the System 11 sound board (A-13971-5003) and the Sound Interface Board (A-13502).

And you're running Game ROM version L-2, which is not a prototype/sample ROM. That's great news, and makes sense. It seems likely that you may be able to run more current game ROMs as long as you stick with the proto sound ROMs. I don't suggest you do that, as it seems likely that at some point the game ROM will try to do something the sound ROM can't do. It seems less likely, though, that a new game ROM would damage anything.

Once the plumbers are done, and I can get my game into the basement, I'll try some experimenting, unless a brave soul wants to beat me to it.

By the way, that is one nice looking clean machine under the hood!

I doubt you'll do much better than this:

http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GS-FH31-1-50003-2-SP

I needed both, and found a set here:

https://littleshopofgames.com/product/fun-house-sling-shot-plastics/

Hopefully they're out of the path of the hurricane.

It seems the current supply of Funhouse plastics is drying up quickly.

A quick update: for those who were curious, it appears that it is completely possible to play updated GAME ROMs in a Sample game. Mine is currently running version L-4, and seems to be able to handle all the features.

However, the SOUND ROMs appear to require the genuine WPC Audio board, so the sample games with the System 11 boards will have to live with the Proto ROMs for sound. The official word is that they may cause damage, but I didn't test it out. The rest of the news is that I haven't been able to find anything missing between the proto sound ROMs and the L-2 production ROMs (at least as far as I could glean from Pinball Arcade).

Good news for me, as I seem to really be obsessed with the Sausage Bonus.

You are stating it exactly correctly.

The original sample game ROMs don't have the logic for the Sausage Bonus included. It is possible to swap in a production game ROM, at least through version L-4 (I'll check and see if L-5 works), and get the Sausage Bonus and whatever other features may have been added. It's hard to peel apart the description of the various versions of the game ROM, as the documentation that I have been able to find is essentially a cumulative list of changes from the first version to the latest. It seems that version 9.xx added some Rudy movement and a light show, but for earlier iterations, it hard to tell what changes were made in each version.

Important note: this refers to the GAME ROM, not the SOUND ROMs. It seems that the production sound ROMs are still not compatible with the System 11 audio board that the sample games use. Definitely don't try to change the sound ROMs unless you REALLY know what you're doing (and if you REALLY know what you're doing, you probably know not to do it ).

It's not my game, but there is one at the local barcade. They've got it at $.50. It's pretty beat-up looking, but sure plays nice, and the last time I was there it had a bit of a line waiting for it.

This would be my hesitation about putting a game like that on location: It seems very likely to see heavy wear. The paradox being that enough coin drop to make it worthwhile will put whole lot of miles on it in short order.

I'd love to be wrong about this, of course, but cherry Funhouses seem to be awfully rare.

I find it a bit doubtful. Over on the Planetary Pinball Forum, there has been an "informal" list of what the next few titles might be, and also that the current plan is to release at least 7 remakes.

Prior to MBr being confirmed, the list was BBB, MB, KP, TOM, or CC. You can cross KP off the list, since someone else is doing that, so we've got BBB, TOM, and CC, plus one more. I would think it would be a more rare or expensive game than Funhouse, but I have no actual information.

It would definitely be cool though...

Some of the shots on Road Show are a bit similar, but that is overwhelmed by the weird (IMHO) rule set and the fact that it's a widebody. Also, the crazy soundtrack and oddball theme that I feel isn't anywhere as cool as FH.

I made a mod...

I realize hardly anyone is going to look under the machine, but those who do will be well-rewarded.

30" doll pants off of Ebay, a pair of 30" puppet legs, a pair of size 8.5 toddler Oxfords, a couple of safety pins, a plastic storage container I had laying around the house, and a couple of zip-ties, and Rudy has legs.

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For those who thought my Rudy Legs mod was creepy before:

The adhesive gave out, and this is what is under my game right now...

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I'm not smoking anything. The glue on the velcro gave out, and this is how the legs landed. Must be October.

If you're still looking, Action Pinball has the crank listed as "temporarily out of stock", which seems to be different than "discontinued", which is how they list the eyeballs, unfortunately.

I managed to find a crank at Pinball Heaven in the UK, but they are also now listing it as "Available for backorder", so I'm hoping mine was the last one, and not a mistake in inventory.

If I do end up with it, I will be measuring and making a 3D printable version, and I will most definitely make the file available somewhere where everyone can get to it.

Meanwhile, if anyone is sitting on a cache of Rudy Eyeballs, I'd be in for a set as well.

For those who were looking for a replacement eyeball crank, I've started this project:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/3d-printable-eyeball-crank-project-for-funhouse-and-road-show#post-4894589

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I'm working on a 3D printed replacement for the eyeball crank. If you don't mind helping out with some beta testing/product development, I'd be happy to send you one in exchange for some feedback. Of course, I'll also send you updated versions as they become available. Alternately, if you've got access to a 3d printer, I can point you to the files.

If you're interested, let me know via PM and we can discuss details.

Welcome aboard! Is that the HUO one that was advertised in town recently? If so, that was a GREAT deal!

If not, that's still a great looking game.

Great find, congrats!

If anyone is still looking for Rudy eyeballs, I've just started a thread on the Planetary Pinball "Parts (and art) Wish List" forum asking about eyeballs and face plastics.

I suspect that if we let them know there is demand, they may be inclined to produce a few.

At the very least, as I understand it, they are the owners of all the Bally/Williams IP, and would be the ones responsible for either making or authorizing the making of them. As for the actual molds, I have no idea, but if anyone does, it would be them. Meantime, I would think that if a bunch of people jumped on the thread, it would let them know that people are interested. I'm not sure if it's ok for me to link to the thread, but if you go to their website and look for it, I'm sure that's where we'll find out.

I'm working on a 3D printed crank. So far it's in what I would call "late beta". The project files are freely available, or I could send you one if you're willing to report back with any issues or inaccuracies.

The upper face plastics look to be vacuum formed, and they wouldn't be a good candidate for 3d printing.

That's impressive! I assume it's printed in ABS with acetone vapor smoothing? They look molded!

Wow! You're right, that IS a lot of work! A great effort, though, they look fantastic.

Oooh, not just drunk, that's a pretty gnarly barfight...

Looks like Marco's is out of stock on the eyelids.

Indeed!

Well, you can sound off on on the thread I started on Planetary Pinball's forums. They have all the rights to the IP for all the B/W games, and represent the best chance we have to get the parts produced. You can also participate in the library I'm building on Thingiverse for all the plastic parts in 3d printable format. So far it's the eyeball crank.

Unless, of course, you've got an injection molding setup and the legal resources to defend against PP, in which case, by all means, forge ahead!

I agree. I think the best way forward is to let Planetary Pinball know there's a market. I started a thread in their parts request/wishlist forum, and so far only one person has jumped on.

I suspect if there more responses, they'd be more likely to consider repro-ing some parts.

Make it 9!

I'm definitely in.