Anyone who has played 1.20 code want to share their thoughts on it? My game is being delivered Tuesday and super excited to play it!

KPG do you know when the new code is going to be released to the public? Also, thoughts on the new code? My machine was delivered today and I get back in town on Thursday, so was hoping it would be out by then!

== Version 1.21 ==
==============================================================================

=== Game Code

* Change Game Over music.
* Vastly improve Into the Fire choreography.
* Improve Gollum ball save choreography and execution.
+ Gollum Difficulty adjustment. Can be set from 1-6 (default 3). Sets the
relative difficulty (subject to in-game modifiers) of the "save area".
+ Gollum Save Limit adjustment. Can be set from 0-9 or unlimited (default
unlimited). Controls how many Gollum saves a player is allowed in a game.
* Update Smaug Edition UI.
* Mode instructions should always be on screen while a mode is running now.
* Changed ending of stage 1 of Into the Fire.
+ Arkenstone fragment audits.
+ Into the Fire stage audits.
* Fix Book Mode difficulty adjustment.
* Add-a-ball after each Into the Fire stage completion.

=== Core Code

* Fix Daily HSTD bug.

=== OS

==============================================================================
== Version 1.20 ==
==============================================================================

=== Game Code

* Fix playfield audit names for MAN targets.
+ Beorn multiball ball saver.
+ Daily HSTD to attract mode
* Grace periods added to super spinner, Feast Frenzy.
* Feast Frenzy scoring bumped.
* Improved choreography during Smaug MB.
* Added lots of speech to modes.
* Mirkwood now plays failed movie on bad shot.
* Fix logic error in Riddles.
+ Player added sound effect.
* Fix captive ball Erebor award going off the map.
* Jailbreak now engages right magnet when bumpers are needed.
+ Gollum attempt and success audits.
* Suppress flipper/start buttons until HSTD intro is over.
* HSTD intro only plays once.
* Smaug MB shaker choreography added.
* Improve Windlance choreography.
* Fix obscure barrel bumper crash.
* Improve Feast Frenzy choreography.
+ Arkenstone Mode qualifiers.
+ Arkenstone Mode: Into the Fire.
+ 2+ mode starts audit.
* Change Smaug MB music.
+ Added a couple of tunes to play when Attract Mode Music is set.
* Jackpot calls removed from beasts during Beast Multiball.

=== Core Code

+ Daily HSTD: 4 table entries, no defaults, valid time = 24 hours.
* Add delay to adding players.
* Coil test default mode is now MANUAL instead of RUNNING.
* Fix ball serve generating bogus ball saved calls.

=== OS

* Fix image display program showing a relatively small picture in the upper
left instead of fullscreen. (This affects things like the now updating
screen.)

Not yet, Keith said hopefully sometime tonight.

Main additions are the Into the Fire mini wizard mode and then the Beorn add a ball during multiball which is very useful. The shot call outs were much needed and also a nice addition.

When I play on mine at home, the first thing I've noticed is how hard it is to get extra balls. I have about 10 games over 1.2 million and have only earned an extra ball on one game. Am I missing something? I have my extra ball settings on 4, which I believe is default. Other than that, only 3 ball games.

Anyone want to explain the mode qualifiers? I know the ELF, MAN, DWARF, Gandalf, Radagast, and Bilbo qualify most of them. However, I don't believe that's all of them. I do remember Keith mentioning something with combining some of these in order to light some. Do they carry over from ball to ball?

You're in for a treat, the wait was 100% worth it. I absolutely love this pin and what it offers. The code has developed nicely, the Into the Fire mini wizard mode is so well done. The call out, "Out of the Frying Pan, and Into the Fire" is epic. Can't wait for the other two Arkenstone modes to come in as well! I find The Hobbit has one of the most interesting multiballs in pinball. Waiting for the beast mechs to drop at certain times to hit jackpots is fun and the frantic 5 ball double (beast and smaug) is wild. Debating whether or not to bring in beast frenzy to smaug mb is a tough dilemma as it makes it harder to progress through Smaug, but the add a ball and ball save received from starting beast frenzy is oftentimes important. Killing Smaug and hitting the drop target at the perfect time was a huge rush of adrenaline.

When do you get your pin?

Did the game ship with 1.01 or 1.10 code?

If you want high scores, proper use of the third flipper is key in my opinion. Small things like relighting kickback makes a huge difference. During multiball, it can be easier to hit the captive ball with the upper flipper because of all of the pop ups being up most of the time.

Keith has fixed this in the next code update. Idk when that will be.

Same exact feeling for me as well. I got like 3.4 million and played Into the Fire three times and just felt like there wasn't much else to do once playing Into the Fire. I'm sure the next code update will add Barrel Escape. Really hoping the completion bonuses for the modes are implemented soon as well.

Thanks! Really starting to come together quite nicely! Really all that's left is Battle of the Five Armies and then maybe a final wizard mode? Then not sure on completion bonus for modes or not. Great job by Keith and his team. If I remember correctly on the stream yesterday, Jack said it's about 95% done right now and it should be completely done within a month. I'm sure over time, there will be some bug fixes along the way as well. Can't complain one bit about JJP and code support.

I've had similar trough issues but not to this extant. I have yet to make any adjustments to mine as it is off and on. Most games it has no issues and other times it takes 5-8 times to get out. Definitely can be extremely frustrating though.

Thanks for doing this! I really enjoyed the live stream and I think the game was set up properly. Hopefully people on the fence will watch this video and end up deciding to get one. JJP has a lot of good things going on right now, I'm hoping they keep cranking out Hobbits and show Lawlor's pin sooner rather than later.

Played new code once, but didn't get very far. I'll try more tomorrow.

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You don't have to beat Into the Fire to qualify Barrel Escape. So anytime you played Into the Fire twice in the previous code, that would have equated to Into the Fire and Barrel Escape in the new code.

To qualify Barrel Escape, you must do the following AFTER playing Into the Fire:
1. Start Smaug MB
2. Start Beast Frenzy
3. Start Feast Frenzy
4. Beat 1 mode (maybe 2 not sure, but probably a difficulty setting)
5. Advance to Erebor (shoot enough spinners)

Did you get past stage 1? I butchered it big time lol

If you wanted to, I guess you could. Into the Fire is worth a good number of points. I'm sure Keith has plans of a final wizard mode which would probably mean defeating all of the movie wizard modes and defeating Smaug. I'm not sure if completing all 31 modes is even doable. Who knows though, I'm thinking Keith will try to have a mode similar to Valinor in LOTR in terms of difficulty to get to.

Good point, I should never say anything is not doable. Just very hard. But knowing there is an end mode for completing all 31 modes would definitely give everyone something to shoot for. The main question then becomes if you don't complete a mode, can you play it again? I think that currently you are locked out of modes that you play but don't beat. This might be different with the code update and the hexagon boxes that was mentioned in the read me file. Lots of stuff for Keith to think about, but I'm sure he will come up with something awesome.

You can start the next mode. Essentially a free ball in play at this point.

Wow nice find! Well this sure gets very interesting. If Jack is right about code being close to 100% done by next month, then I guess we will find out soon enough. I think it is very safe to say that it is one of the deeper games in pinball history as all Keith Johnson games usually are.

Yeah that would be interesting as well. I think Keith will have a final wizard mode where you have to beat all movie multiballs, kill Smaug, and beat all 31 modes. The movie multiballs are not easy to complete the first time and there will need to be ways to be able to get back to them without qualifying all five arkenstones again. So my thought after all three movie multiballs have been played would be to use your suggestion of every 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 modes completed to be able to re-qualify any one of the three movie multiballs. Once qualified, the inserts should all flash and the ring button would be used to change which one the player wants to play. If a movie multiball is beaten, then that insert would remain solid on the playfield.

Maybe that's what Keith was getting at when he said there would be reasons to play certain modes in order.

1.30 utilizes the magnet a lot more than 1.21 did. I think the only time the magnets activated during 1.21 was during the pop bumper modes. You would shoot the orbit and the magnet would catch and drop the ball into the pops. I know one of the modes was Gathering of the Clouds. Then there was another mode where the loops and both ramps were lit and the mode wants the player to shoot the ramps. However, if you shot a spinner, the magnet would catch the ball and divert it to a ramp.

In 1.30, it is used for the Book Mode mb's, which happens a lot.

Probably sometime this week. If you want the code, just email Jack and he will send you it.

Pretty much correct. After hitting the ramps, spinners, and holes enough times, the MAN targets will start to flash. You then must hit any of the MAN targets, which then lights ARF targets. Hit any one of those to to destroy SMAUG some more. Then MAN targets will be flashing again so hit those and then the two ARF targets that you didn't hit will be lit and you must hit one of those. Finally, you have to hit the MAN targets again, and the right ramp will light. Shoot the right ramp which diverts it to the left shooter. Press the ring button, and you must hit the stand up target that is flashing red (one of ARF stand ups). It is the only one with the drop target not up depicting his missing scale. If you hit any other target, you must repeat this final step of hitting the MAN targets and loading with right ramp and finally hitting the correct scale.

I just finished a game where I got to Into the Fire and Barrel Escape three times each. Killed Smaug once, but missed the final scale shot 5 times on my second attempt to kill him. This game is so intense!

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In my opinion, it is much easier to defeat Smaug with 2 balls and not in Beast Frenzy. However, starting beast frenzy usually happens and prolongs the multiball making it easier to even get the opportunity of killing Smaug. It can be done with one very good multiball stacked with beast frenzy and book mode mb, but most of the time it takes 2 or 3 separate attempts. Progress is saved, so I'm figuring that killing smaug will be something a player must do in order to get to the final wizard mode once that is implemented.

Nope, they are super tough. I've gotten to victory laps with Into the Fire, but it doesn't happen very often. Skyemont sent me a video of Barrel Escape victory laps which was pretty cool, he still wasn't exactly sure what to do each stage. I flame out every time in the second stage with the U-Turn ramps. I want to say I had 2 more orcs left but drained.

I hope that when all the final wizard modes are in, that your progress for each arkenstone mode is saved and you can go back and beat them in order to get to the final wizard mode.

Great game! I thought there was a big difference between 1.10 and 1.21, but I honestly think an even bigger difference between 1.21 and 1.30. The mode ball lock is a game changer as well as treasure hunt and wind lance awards. It also becomes much easier to complete modes later in the game since the difficulty of the beasts is higher meaning less times you have to worry about them popping up.

Easy from what standpoint? I think the rules yield to very long ball times especially with the addition of Book Mode mb. Then it's much easier to get to Into the Fire and Barrel Escape. But I think beating those two modes is extremely hard as well as beating some of the individual modes. I still have yet to come remotely close to playing all 31 modes in one game, which is rumored to be the final wizard mode.

Yeah I know what you mean. I think going into it you are going to have to accept that it's a grind. I think the modes diversify it well enough where you aren't shooting for the same things all of the time. Here are the different ways I've seen to get an extra ball lit.

1. Mystery award from the mystery target
2. 25 captive ball hits
3. 50 captive ball hits (I think)
4. Kicking over enough barrels
5. Windlance award
6. Qualify all the modes and hit the roaming drop target
7. Treasure Hunt??? Very unsure on this

^^^ Having similar issues

So the kit that will be released soon will contain new ramp flaps? On the live stream, I remember hearing 12 springs for the drop targets and the 4 beast mech fixes.

Smaug is defeated during Smaug mb. Look at my post in the "Hobbit Ruleset" thread for rules.

I was hoping for a ramp flap fix in this kit too, but this will do. Big shout out to JJP for doing this.

I think I explained most of the rules in either this thread or the Hobbit Rulesheet thread. But here are the basics for Into the Fire and Smaug mb.

Into the Fire: Stage 1 = collect enough members to light the super jackpot which is collected at the left ramp. The stand up targets (9 of them), 2 spinners, 2 ramps, left hole, and captive ball all represent a member. Collecting super jackpot adds a ball into play and begins Stage 2. Stage 2 = hit 3 drop targets to raise the Warg. Hit the Warg. Repeat this cycle 5 times. Super jackpot is collected at the captive ball and adds a ball into play and begins Stage 3. Stage 3: hit 10 beasts as they randomly pop up. Every beast but the bottom left will potentially pop up. After hitting 10 beasts, both the Goblin and Orc will both stand up and you have to collect the jackpot by shooting through the two beasts and hitting the captive ball. This collets the super jackpot and advances to Stage 4. Stage 4: shoot a ramp to raise three beasts (warg, goblin, orc). Hit the beasts 15 times total. Ideally, this would mean 5 ramp shots and hitting each beast when they pop up. However, each ramp shot raises all 3 beasts again even if all haven't been collected since the last ramp shot. After collecting all 15 beasts, you then shoot the super jackpot at the right ramp, which adds a ball into play and advances the player to Stage 5. Stage 5: victory laps! The goal is to collect all 15 members at increasing point values. Once again, the 15 members are the 9 stand ups, 2 ramps, 2 spinners, left hole, and captive ball. You will know you are in victory laps when you hear the awesome music and Bilbo and Gandalf flying on the some animals over a valley.

Smaug mb: collect enough of the ramps, holes, and spinners. Then whenever you see the MAN targets lit red, you are close to defeating smaug. Hit any MAN target, which then lights the ARF targets. Hit any of those targets to relight the MAN targets. Hit MAN targets again and then hit one of the two remaining ARF targets. Repeat step one more time. Then finally, the right ramp will be the only jackpot lit indicating that the ball will be diverted to the windlance. The player then must press the ring button and the first switch that needs to be hit is the lit stand up target that is red (one of the ARF targets) indicating Smaug's missing scale. You will know when you hit the right one

If you don't hit the right target, then the player must hit a MAN target and reload the right ramp and try to hit the missing scale. Good luck! Easy to do without beast frenzy going, very hard to do with it going. FYI.

The game is one of the best looking games ever made, the rules are deep and continue to progress, 31 different modes make all games somewhat different, the sound and video integration is quite possibly the best in pinball, easy to learn the basics yet hard to master. I think it is a solid game to pair with Metallica (great game BTW) which is faster paced and all about building up to Crank It Up. The hobbit is a touch slower and is more of a shooters game, it definitely takes you into the Middle Earth feel and is a journey to get to the end goals of the game. Overall, the excitement this game brings during the multiballs is what really makes it special in my opinion.

I have had no issues with build quality or gameplay. JJP customer support is top notch.

I have yet to get much into Ghostbusters myself. I don't care for the mode progression and every one I have played the flippers are too strong resulting in too many air balls and frustrating drains. But I will keep trying!

I want to say the Load Arrow means the next mode that is started, the player will get the chance to shoot the arrow in hopes of hitting the correct MAN targets, which would award either 2x scoring, 2x mode scoring, light extra ball, add more time, or points.

It might shoot out automatically after a certain number of seconds...

Having someone next to you definitely helps, but I also enjoy learning things on the fly while playing the game. I have made it very deep into the game, yet continue to constantly see/hear new things. Good way to keep players coming back. The secret mode lock was awesome the first time it happened.

I know your feeling, good score without playing any of the Arkenstone modes. I just had an opposite experience, 4.2 million, and beat at least half of the modes I played. My goblin stopped working the last 3 balls so that halted any progress to Arkenstone modes. Had at least 10 chances to kill Smaug, but couldn't do it. Beast Frenzy makes it so difficult to hit the correct shot.

Another great update! Battle of the Five Armies is awesome and challenging. Game is very multiball heavy and ball times are long after earning extra balls. I had to stop after ball 1 (including 5 extra balls) of 5.7 million because it took an hour.

Wishlist: Arkenstone modes save progress, pause game feature

Modes are very important now as is end of ball bonus. Great work by Keith and the team!

You don't have to beat a mode to have it show completed. Just have lot beat one mode to advance towards next Arkenstone mode. Very impressive game!