Reporting back - have not had any further balls rolling out, so I think we are good!

New issue though - I did a factory reset, and now the game will not auto-launch. The lane switch works fine, the coil to launch the ball works in test.. but it never launches during the game! This is particularly annoying in multiball .. is there a setting somewhere I need to adjust?

Thx

I leave the center post in. It seems like at least once every few games a ball hits the post, rolls along the left apron to the kicker and gets launched back on to the playfield. It is so awesome! The first time it happened my friends created a quite a ruckus, in total disbelief.

Thanks for the reply and suggestions, much appreciated.

I had the head out and apart as best as I could last night and checked every connection, even ran a different cat5 from the head back to the
relevant board incase that had developed a fault. No obv breaks or faults but didnt go as far as taking the opto board completely out to inspect closer as its between both the metal discs and looks tricky to remove but I'm guessing that's my next job but I have no idea how to test it once out if it's not working in situ? Time to call my distro I think? Problem is he's 3.5 hours away and this is 2nd hand so not sure what he can do. Will let you guys know how I get on. I was hoping there would be something in the menu that could diagnose or a led in the motherboard that might help point to the fault but way beyond me at this point..

This is from a YouTube video. Is there a way to see how many balls you have left that shows more than 3 balls at a time? I lose track of how many extra balls I've gained. This picture was from 2.0 and there was no "shoot again" light present. Maybe this feature went away? Or maybe there is a setting I'm missing? There is a German video with the same thing present...

Capture (resized).PNG

If the "reserve ball" option is turned on and you play a multi-player game, you would not see a "shoot again" but the ball image x3 would change to x4 for you if you won an extra ball. Each player gets a turn for one ball in the rotation. Once a player runs out of balls (think cleanly), they are out of the game* and the rest of the players continue to cycle through the rotation.

* If there are less than 4 players in the game, another player can join the rotation during the game by pressing the start button and have the full number of balls that a game is set for (default is 3).

There's better explanations of this setting, but this is the general idea.

Jesus this game is deep but the video was a one player game, as far as I could tell. Would that happen with just one player?

I know that with that option on, yes, if you won an extra ball, the ball image with the "x3" would turn to "x4". If you won yet another ball before draining, the "x4" would change to "x5" and so on … until you reach the maximum extra balls allowed - which is also a menu setting.

I was thinking the exact same thing last night wondering how many extra balls I had left , it would be good if they put that as a standard feature in all modes in the next update .

Anybody have a thought on this? Ball in trough, it ejects. Ball in shooter lane, auto-fire does not fire. Fires in test. Switch registers in test. .... what should i test next?

Does the switch show as closed with the ball resting in the shooter lane? Sounds like there's difference between activating it with your finger and having the ball trigger it.
--Ted

I will verify. Thanks Ted Let this game go once and I am so happy to have it back. 2.96 is crazy fun! You have to stop making these awesome games, Ted, I am now on the lookout for a Demolition Man!

Is there a setting in the menu you can go to, to stop games being started once you are playing, I keep hitting the start button with my knee and adding extra games.

Any way to stop modes from starting while playing smaug mb? I rather not have to keep in pressing the ring

Also it would be cool if beast mb had its own music....

I thought Smaug shots override any mode shots that were currently going. I just tried it and modes were going during smaug multiball but it didn't seem to affect any of the jackpot shots. It's all new to me so I'm not sure.

Also I finally got Into The Fire last night and it let me put my name in as champ but today when I turn the machine on it has Thorin as Into The Fire champ is that normal.

Thanks. The modes add more balls and then there after call outs related to the modes and a countdown.... It's just too much. I was hoping to just have smaug mb to focus on like we now have just beast mb by itself...

Ok so I've put maybe 100 games on my Hobbit so far. Going to give a few early impressions and seeking feedback.

One of the biggest draws for me to enjoy a game long term is scoring. I can't quite wrap my head around Hobbit scoring just yet. On medium difficulty, no center post and difficult outlanes - a fair game for me is around 300k. I'm not sure how to blow up this game except for linear progression through smaug multiballs and a wizard mode. At any point I don't feel like there is an opportunity for any mind blowing scoring shot.

What does super x do? I don't seem to have much control over that.

Help me understand.

I don’t believe there is a huge jackpot super duper shot, other than killing Smaug. You have to kinda hack away at things. Treasure hunt during Smaug multiball and the victory laps after into the fire/barrels/ 5 armies are also pretty good scoring, but there’s no major 1 shot “JACKPOT!!!!” like say the piano shot in TZ multiball

My son said to me this morning “I really like that game...” which he has never said to me before about ANY game

From what I've seen of the newest code and postings here from Ted, the scoring advantage is in completing the harder modes and "completing" more or all of them, not just playing them. If you complete a 5 star book mode you will earn more points than a 1 star book mode when you play in the "Into the Fire" wizard/mode as so on down the line progression. If you play all of the book modes, you will get a wizard mode - the more book modes you "complete" (and higher stared difficulty ones), the more points you will get. If you are good, there are ways to "blow up the score" by just completing the harder book modes before going into the arkenstone modes. I think I even read that if you complete multiple map quests, the multiplier goes up - but could be wrong on that.

Like posted above I’ll add.

I’ve been to the the final wizard mode and didn’t break 4 million.

Then the game after that I completed a 4 Star mode and took that to Into the Fire and got over 2 million.

Biggest scoring opportunities I see is making sure you are taking at least a 3 Star mode into the arkanstone modes.

That's a known bug that I think Ted said he fixed for 2.97. Hopefully it comes out soon. It was supposed to come out in the beginning of August but it looks like they are on to something else and working on TH whenever they can. Too bad, they are so close to the finish line...

The game is all about mode completions and mode combos plus mode multipliers.

It's the strategy that draws me in.

If it were as simple as "Hit this big flashing light for big points", it would get old real fast.

The beauty of this game is that no 2 games will ever be the same and I find out more everytime I play.

I just got this game back after a 7 or 8 month hiatus, and I am enjoying it WAY more than Houdini and Dialed In; I hope there are some updates soon to those two awesome games, but Hobbit is SO improved it is just incredible. You said it, no 2 games are the same, and I can’t think of another game that so well blends story and goals so well.

For example, I love all 3 games mind you, but Dialed In is great for story but it is very similar game to game, Houdini has lots of goals but I find it lacking in any sort of meaningful progression that ties it together. They are all fun but IMO Hobbit ties it together expertly

"treasure hunt during Smaug multiball and the victory laps after into the fire/barrels/ 5 armies "

Can you explain how to get these and what they are?

You have to complete the stuff on the screen for into the fire (rescue 15 companions, hit 4 wargs, etc) and in Smaug you have to hit through all the fire-colored targets, and eventually it will turn to treasure hunting mode

While we’re on the topic, can somebody refresh my memory on how to kill Smaug?

Hey Rdoyle1978 - I only have about 80 games on my HB, and 50% plus I've never finished the game as I didn't know what was going on or I felt bored.

Haven't installed new code yet, but does it really make that much of a difference? Thx Tony

Stop what you’re doing and install it right now! The new code makes it much more of a shooter’s game, and the beast multi ball which kind of took over the game before is much more balanced. It really does improve the game a huge amount.

I felt that way about the game a while back, liking not loving the game, and installing 2.95 completely changed it, it’s much more of a quick game to get achievements, although you can certainly go for much longer.

The game felt like multi ball all the time before, now you can plan things out better, and the modes are important for good scores. It doesn’t shoot all ultra-smooth like DI does, but it’s not supposed to. I think the latest code still feels like an adventure/journey, and you occasionally feel like you’ve been ambushed and are in the middle of a battle, which is what I think they were trying to convey.

I didn't own this game before the update but I still would like mb toned down a little. Specifically don't put me in a mode with smaug bc my modes will be mb if you lock them via orbit Wich happens all the time. I know you can disable this which is fine but I like them during mode play only. What I want is no modes allowed during smaug or beast. I would also like music for beast but that's not critical.

This game does a better job allowing itself to breath but I would still want it to breath just a little more. Pressing the ring button during smaug to cancel doesn't seem like the best solution either.

Underrated game if the year no doubt though

You don’t think it’s a good idea to stack modes?

Personally, I would never want modes to stop during Beast and Smaug MB. I think it's integrated pretty well and allows me to get through a lot more modes on the way to TABA. It's just enough chaos. Without it, it would take 2 hours to complete a game. If it was easily implemented I wouldn't mind it as an option (that I would never use).

That’s a relatively good description of what the game used to be like actually. I easily put 45 minute games on it before - it was just a bit too much

Not sure what you mean about stacking modes. I was talking about modes and smaug or beast at the same time. I like to focus on one thing at a time.

No one would ever, I mean ever see TABA if you couldn’t play a mode with MB.

Sorry, stack multiballs I meant. Beast MB is a mode too

That's good to hear . I felt so ripped off when I saw my name was gone I complained to my wife about it but she didn't care
And after less than 150 games the spring on the Shooter rod won't even reach the dwarf drop targets that's pretty poor.

Not a fan of stacking MBs too chaotic and takes away from the fresh factor

Did you try stretching it s bit?
Several people went with the next higher strength spring.

I just stretched mine out and put it back on.

Thanks I'll give that a try

I also think there should option to permanently postpone modes during Smaug MB. The game is now orientated towards rewarding the player for mode performance and progression so there should be a choice to stack or attempt to nail it. Sometimes Smaug MB during a mode can be a benefit (Flashback comes to mind) but there are many times it isn't and the mode/mb threads get lost.

You can press the ring button to 'postpone mode' but you have do do this every time a mode is qualified. In the end this becomes a real chore as you're trying to progress the MB by keeping the 4/5 balls in play, watch the LCD, watch the ring button - press the ring button, etc. It's a bit silly and the mode inevitably starts because you miss the 'postpone mode' option. This is the same in Beast MB by the way.

There is a lot of merit to both sides of this.

I slightly agree with the side that says leave it alone.

I tend to use mb to finish at least a couple modes to get to arkenstone modes faster.

Yes, it can affect scores, but I really like to play the arkenstone modes.

They are EPIC!

Actually sometimes when playing the mini wizard modes and Smaug multi ball further into the game, I'm shouting at the playfield as it does feel you are battling the enemy. Great code.. Great game.. Should be a top 10 pin now..

Do you mean the mini wizard modes into the fire/Barrell escape / 5 armies? Or are there others I’m not aware of?

I don't think you can play Smaug or any other mode when the Arkenstone mode (ITTF, BE, BOFA) is going. But I don't think he meant that. It is a great game, top 10 for sure.

Amen. Well said.

I don’t understand. Smaug is VERY easy to follow if running while a mode is. All the shots are that flaming orange. Just ignore anything else but those until the SJP is lit. Then next phase do the same thing. Rinse repeat until you’re ready to load the windlance and take a shot at killing him.

Nice job on your there and back again video have you been able to complete it ?

Haven’t played it since. Haha