For those of us that have just purchased the game (I'm on 2.01), what is the Critic's Cut preset and what does it do?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for taking the time to answer and being detailed...appreciated.

I am getting a red messsage when I turn on the machine. When I go into the menus, it is saing "bad switch on Dragon (Smaug) Limit - Right" then when I go into another screen, it says Check Matrixed Switch #30 Dragon (Smaug) Limit - right (stuck closed).

When the dragon head turns back to the right, it is like the head is skipping, but finally makes it to the end after a bunch of skips.

What should I do? I'm a new user and am not incredibly mechanically inclined and don't want to break something.

Thanks - RW

Ok, and my next step would be what?

Just for reference, for everyone else...I found that the wire at the back of the Smaug head was looped in between the space between the head and the ramp. I pushed the wire down, and now everything seems to be ok. Thanks, RW

Any word on when the next big update is going to drop? Seems like the chatter has dropped off considerably since a few months ago when the board was buzzing about it. If anyone knows dates or a general time frame, I'm very curious.

I've been away from the board for quite some time. I'm currently on Version 2.01.

What's the latest version, and what does it have included in it? I think I read earlier that we're at 2.98 or something?

Does it have a final final mode and if so, what do you do to complete it?

Is there going to be a 3.00 release? If so, when and what will it have in it?

Thanks ahead of time......

All 31 modes in one game? I've had 4.6M games killing Smaug and getting to the final Wizard mode, but even then I was only doing 10 or 12 modes and getting a ton of extra balls.

Wouldn't playing every mode be practically impossible? Has anyone here ever done that in a regular 3-ball game?

So another question about this Final Mode.....do you have to go through all 3 Wizard modes to be able to get to the Final Mode, or is an independent event (i.e. once I have started all 31 modes, it becomes available regardless what else I've done to that point)?

Well guys, just downloaded and installed the new software. Played a few games and on one of them, got on a nice long run.

Got through all 3 wizard modes (didn't kill Smaug though).......I actually got 22 modes open. I still think getting all 31 is going to be practically impossible though. That was my third best game ever, and still didn't get close to all 31.

I love the percent complete status added to the book on each mode. The 3,2,1 countdown is a little annoying, however. Like all the other changes though.

31 modes....just seems impossible. lol

Hobbit_Game_092218 (resized).jpg

I'm sure this has been answered before, but feel too lazy to try and find it.

Where does the game display the number of extra balls you have saved up during your game? Is that a setting I have to turn on?

I never know how many are in reserve.

Thanks.....

Where exactly is this located in the menus? I couldn't find it.

Thanks so much. One further question on this.....I turned it on and see where it's displaying on the screen. If on the first ball, I get 2 extra balls will it show all of those balls or just max out at 3 on the screen? What if I was to get really lucky and get 3 or 4 extra balls on the 1st ball. Will it show all of those? What's the maximum it displays on the screen?

No, didn't mean the setting for how many max. extra balls you could get. Was wondering what the number of max. balls displayed is if you had lots of extra balls saved up, under the Balls in Reserve setting.

Ah cool......thanks for the image. That answered my question.

Ok, so can someone tell me.

How many waves are there in the mini-Wizard modes to actually defeat them? I get Into the Fire on most games, and I fight through 3 or 4 waves, but usually I can't get past that 4th wave. Is that the last one, and you defeat it if you get through it? Or is there a 5th or 6th wave (or even more)?

Same for Barrel Escape and BOTFA....is there someplace that documents exactly what must be done to fully complete those?

Thanks - Robert

Thanks....I'll watch the video when I get some time. Main question though is: Is there no place where it's documented how to defeat each of the mini-Wizard modes and how many waves each one entail? I was disappointed when I got my Owners Manual and how large it was to find out 95% of it was schematics and only a tiny fraction of the game play was actually documented. I would hope (once the final code is dropped) that they would fully document how to progress through different parts of the game (I know there's a flowchart, and there are colors directing you to individual shots, and callouts), but it would be nice to know some of these more advanced game flow questions.

I also have the same issue where the spider isn't dropping quite quick enough before the windlance is shot out. It used to drop right before the ball came out and it was perfectly fine, but now doesn't drop fast enough and the ball ends up hitting the spider.

Someone mentioned bending the beast mechanism forward or backward a bit. Is this the only fix, and is it effective? I'm a little leery about bending anything. Is there any other setting to make windlance delay a bit longer, or the mech to drop quicker?

Is it something JJ is going to fix in the next update? Have they confirmed it is an issue?

Thanks,

RW

Also, I have been noticing really strange behavior as it relates to the Precioussss ball save green light at the right outlane. It used to be given as a mystery award much more frequently before the 2.96 update, at least that was my theory. Tonight I took the glass off and starting priming the Mystery light and seeing how frequently Precioussss gets rewarded when Mystery award light is hit, and it took me about 25 times before it finally came up. Was this an intentional change in the newest software update? I have not been able to get a score over 1.5 m since the new update and I think most of it stems from this one change. All my top 10 scores before the update were well over 2.5 m.

Can somebody else confirm this behavior I am seeing? I would think the community would want to keep it the old way, as the Precioussss save is quite an enjoyable reward.

Since no one else seems concerned with this change, I was wondering if there is a way to set how often a particular mystery award is given out in the game menus? Not having the Precioussss light very often is really annoying to me now and shortens the game considerably. I'm still not convinced this was a intended change for the good in 2.96.

I just hate that can't get anywhere close to progressing through the game like before, nor touch my prior top 10 scores. It is severely limiting how much I can get done in my Hobbit 'journey', which is frustrating. I'm surprised others on the forum aren't experiencing the same frustration.

I definitely would appreciate this being looked at. The Gollum Save behavior in the previous version was much more fun and fair. Now, it's much more difficult to progress in the game and you hardly ever even get the chance at the blue Gollum Save meter, because it's off practically all the time.

Thanks - RW

So now I'm even more confused than before. So to get the Gollum, you have to light Mystery, Thorin and Windlance without actually collecting them, otherwise it starts all over from scratch?

Btw, I had 2 friends over tonight and the three of us played 5 games each and the Gollum light only came on a grand total of twice across the 15 games. Before the upgrade, it came on way more than this and helped extend games. The game plays extremely hard now, in my honest opinion.

Thanks so much for the explanation and changing it back to previous behavior. I miss my Gollum. Loved the way the meter blue target got smaller and smaller each attempt. Just haven't seen it much since the update. Looking forward to the next update.

So for us newbies, will the instructions for a "full install" be the same as when we're doing an upgrade (like from 2.00 to 2.96)? Or do we have to do something else prior (like uninstalling something)?

What are the step-by-step instructions to:

1) Back up settings
2) Boot the new Iso image - (I'm used to just grabbing a file to a USB off the JJ site and then letting the pinball machine install the upgrade)

Sorry, just want to make sure I don't screw anything up

Ok...got the instructions for a full install on page E-12 of the manual. Many thanks for that reference.

How about the instructions to backup and restore the settings? Is there an instruction page somewhere for that process?

Nevermind...just found it inside the machine setting menus. Thanks.

$31 for a few stickers? Wow, I bet that's some good profit for that seller.

Do we have any clue as to when the 3.0 code drop might be?

I have a pinball function at my house tonight, and really wanted to get the 2.991 code but see that the link has expired. Has anyone posted this anywhere else to be able to download? Any help would be appreciated.

Question,

In preparation for installing the 3.00 full release, I backed up all of my settings using the menu options inside the machine onto a USB. After I install the 3.00 full release and restore my settings, will the high scores still be there (restored from the settings) or does that need to be done in a different way?

I'm just happy the Gollum Save light is coming on with the frequency it used to be prior to 2.96. Thanks Ted.

I did read on the other forum that Ted says he glitched the Smaug fireball over the playfield at the end of the game.

That's a beautiful scene that I hope would never go away.

Does this mean he will eventually put out another 3.01 patch at some point to fix that?

Ok...I've read others post this really bad problem with 3.0, so thought I would report it too. Playing along in Smaug Multi-ball.....the machine just stops dead, black screens and reboots to the green screen.

This is a terrible bug......

Ted, is this in the works to be fixed?

I'm finding that after the latest update, I can no longer get anywhere close to my original high scores (pre 2.96). All my original high scores range from 2.5M to 4.7M. I guess I need to play it even more now, just to make sure....but I'm having a hell of a time even breaking 1.5M after the upgrade. The game is much, much more enjoyable to play, but the scoring seems a lot harder now.

Ok, just so I understand this....

If I complete a tier 1 mode first for the book mode arkenstone, and then complete a tier 3 mode sometime before I get Into the Fire, will it be scored at the tier 1 level or the tier 3 level?

What about Barrel Escape - What if I complete a tier 1 only between ITF and BA, but still had completed a tier 3 back before Into the Fire.....Will the tier 3 carry over into Barrel Escape, or will it be only the tier 1 I used to qualify for the book mode Arkenstone for Barrel Escape?

I've had my brand new LE for about 8 months. Probably have played about 500 games on it.

I'm noticing that every now and then (maybe every 1 in 100 shots) that the flippers seem a bit mushy and won't flip with full power, especially when trying to make a ramp to the same side of the flipper.

I'm not mechanical at all, but was wondering.....do the small springs inside need to be replaced regularly and if it's not that is it something more involved?

Really dumb question, and I probably already know the answer but.........

I rushed when putting my name in on a #4 high score and the last letter was inadvertently entered incorrectly.

Any hacker ways of correcting this faux pas?

(crossing my fingers)....lol

The 'F' drop target goes up, but once up it will not go down when the ball hits it, and the tests are showing it malfunctioning too. Any easy fixes for a non-technical guy like me?

Is there a trick at getting the far end of the spring put back where it belongs without dis-assembling the entire drop target bank? The hole to get back there seems way too small for my fingers.

I haven't been on the board in quite a while, and was needed a reminder on how to do something. How do you upload a photo to the Hobbit machine? I did one a while ago, but it somehow got erased. Can someone give me information on how to do that?

Thanks.