You start out on a wager screen where you choose what you want to risk, then you get the game screen where you bet and call the computer player a liar. I wasn't ready for it and I kept waiting for the game to end the mode and throw the ball back into play, so I didn't start recording the video right away. I didn't know how to play, but I won.

It doesn't only happen as Davey Jones, he just gives you a Liar's Dice advantage. I think it was ball 2 I played it. It wasn't super easy to light, I was a ways into the game at that point.
As the mode plays now, you couldn't just risk all your score on Liar's Dice, it gives you like 4 options of what you want you can wager or to simply not play at all. Options like 2 tilt warnings, bonus X and such. I'll definitely have to figure out how to play the game for next time now that I know what to expect from the mode.

Keith, I'm really liking the game. Thanks for all you do. I know you haven't put out update notes for the new code yet, but can you quickly comment on how to light Liar's Dice? Lloyd wanted me to try to get to it since it was new in the code, but I don't know exactly what I did to light it. I'm still trying to figure out the game rules overall, I love that there is so much to it.

I don't doubt that this is just a initial iteration of Liar's Dice to get it out there like Keith said. I'm confident that it will be tweaked and added to going forward. I didn't even dislike it as it sits, I just didn't know how to play Liar's Dice and/or what to expect from the mode since it was the first time I had ever saw it. I was expecting there to be some kind of choice timeout, so I was always worried about the ball being kicked back into play and draining on me.

Every time or just once in a while? The one I play does it once in a while when a ball gets up there when lock isn't lit. On that note, should you ever be able to get a ball up in the chest when lock isn't lit or should the ball always go through the chest and feed the upper flipper in that scenario.

It's a really good game. We have literally every new game on route somewhere here and I still choose to play Pirates and it keeps bringing me back. In fact, I could play Deadpool on route for free if I wanted to, but I still choose to pay $1.00 per game to play Pirates instead. In my opinion it is head and shoulders better than what anyone else is producing right now.

Yeah, I've never seen any of those issues. Early on the SS Billiards pirates had ball hang ups on the upper playfield. They sent him something to fix that. Up post wasn't coming up for the mode start and the chest shot wasn't't open when lock wasn't lit to allow the ball through to the upper flipper. Those were easy fixes. I've seen the ball get stuck on the plastic under the upper playfield a couple times. Overall, no major or consistent issues and definitely no phantom scoring problems.

I stopped in to SS Billiards and played a couple games this afternoon and dropped this bomb. I lit all the wizard modes and played through them all, except the final one. I was stuck in a wizard mode and drained my final ball during it, so even though I had the last one lit, I couldn't shoot it to start it. Man, I really enjoy playing this game, so much fun and it's so deep I am still learning different things about the game.

...and I totally understand Liar's Dice now. I played it 3 or 4 times and even won an EB from it.

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Thanks. I learned a lot from watching your guy's stream and from playing with another good player locally and watching what happens when he was playing. It's so hard to look up and try to figure out what to do on the fly in this game. I still feel like there's so much more to learn too which is the cool thing.

I love the live stream stuff. I really wish I had that game on video so I could go back and watch it and see all the stuff I missed while playing. Hopefully someday I'll have a nice portable rig that I can bring places easily to do stuff like that.

If you do ever find yourself in town, definitely let me know. It'd be a good time for sure.

That's how it looks on the Pirates at SS Billiards too. I was just there today and took at a look. Definitely not as fully lit as the other lamps there.

Hogbog Hi Eric, love the game, seriously. I find myself playing it exclusively on route lately now even while I have every other new game available to play. Couple of quick questions if you or Keith could answer them.

1. What purpose do souls have in the game and how do you collect them? Often in Liar's Dice one of the wagers will be souls. I have them, not sure how I got them and I am not sure how important they are. Is it just a bonus thing right now?

2. Do you plan on adding the negative affects of each character to their select screens where it shows the bonus attributes? For the longest time, I didn't realize that each character has a negative attribute that goes along with their specific positive one. I know you can see some of them individually during the information screen when you hold in both buttons, but it would be nice to see in comparison to the bonus attribute when you are selecting a character, especially since there are so many characters to keep track of.

Thanks.

Ahh...ok. That makes sense now. Thanks Keith!

I love how if you wager an Extra Ball in Liar's Dice and lose, it kills the flippers and drains the ball. Really is risk vs. reward.

I've have never had this issue on the one at SS Billiards. I did play another JJP Pirates that wasn't set up as well where it happened a few times. What I did to get around it is the same thing you do on TWD if your prison magnet is dropping it right down the middle. Hitting both flippers will end the animation and pulse the magnet so it doesn't happen. As soon as your movie mode is chosen on the game, you can do it. Post drops and magnet pulses which sends the ball out a different angle instead of just letting it drop.

I found out the other day that you can stack the wizard modes with Tortuga MB. I'm surprised I had never done that before by accident. Potential for some big points playing the wizard modes with a multiball.

Shoot. I thought that may be the case. It seemed out of place to have Tortuga stack with them. Now I wish I would have done more with it when I got it.

The Wizard Modes are very difficult, I think I have only completed one of them a couple of times at most. Got close a few other times, but they certainly are intense single ball experiences that are very challenging.

If you want to focus on getting to one, probably the easiest way to get to a wizard mode is choose Tia Dalma so you can pick which active mode you want to do and then focus on the green chest modes. Shooting the chest happens a lot so normally that mode is almost always active, but it doesn't always get chosen since that part is random among all the active modes. With her, you can choose the green mode all the time which should help to get through all 5 green modes since you won't be randomly playing other movie modes that way. It does get a little crazy to try to choose your mode though when you are in a multiball. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil what that one is exactly, but it is pretty fun (think Johnny Mnemonic's power down wizard mode) and it is definitely difficult.

I don't think he meant clear barrels, I think he meant the letters to be clear or milky plastic as an insert in the barrel instead of the letters just being cut out of the barrel itself.

It does that when you get all 5 multiballs and Tortuga stacked together.

Hogbog I was playing today and I think I ran into a bug. During my game I played 4 wizard modes and actually completed two of them (Chest and Left Ramp). I had never completed a wizard mode before and I know that there is maybe only one other person that has ever completed one that plays the machine that I play on route. Anyway, when it was over, I was Will Champ, but nothing else. The left ramp current wizard mode champ is only 300k and I can't believe I didn't pass that when I completed the entire mode. I did well in the chapters and didn't time anything out, so values should have been at least decent. Same thing with the chest, not a very high current champ value, but no champ initials opportunity when my game was over. So I'm thinking that if you complete a wizard mode, it may not let you be the champion of it. I could be wrong, but I think it is worth checking. Can you guys take a look at that? Thanks.

Thanks Eric. I know that scoring can vary wildly depending on what you have done. I would have thought in these cases though that my values should have been pretty good. Thanks again for checking on it.

I've had all 5 lit and 4/5 started, but drained out of the wizard mode I was in before I could start the final one that was already lit. I should have timed it out and went for the 5th one, but I played it and paid for it.

The big distinction here for me is will you have to just *play* them all or will you have to complete them all for Break The Curse. If it's complete them all, good luck. Keith can take his sweet time because no one is going to be seeing that legitimately for a long, long time.

I'm absolutely ecstatic to say that I joined the club this weekend. Put my old Wrestlemania Pro towards it as partial trade and drove just under 4 hours each way with my kids yesterday to complete the deal. Came with an unused brand new plastic set and extra ship motor too. I loved JJP Pirates from the first time I played it, but I never thought I would be picking up one of these anytime soon. Super excited to have it in the lineup, it will keep me entertained for a long time to come.

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The ship wasn't moving as well as as expected. I was told that they got the issue fixed via text support but by the time that happened Jersey Jack had already sent out a replacement motor to him.

Not sure, maybe this was a long time ago or the story I was told wasn't how it actually happened.

I thought fellow Pirates lovers might like this. This is my first JJP game, so I was always used to information and pricing cards on the apron on my Stern & Bally / Williams games. I like the graphics on the Pirates apron, but thought it looked a little empty down there, so I figured I would try something that was inspired by the signature card on the new Wonka CE and wouldn't break the bank. The game is basically the Joshamee Gibbs show with him being the narrator and all, so I thought it would be fun to have something from the character or the actor down there. The actor Kevin McNally is English and it doesn't look like he does a lot of conventions or anything in the states, so getting something personalized from him was out of the question in the short term. I went out to see what his autograph goes for and it was very cheap, so I got this index card signature from a reputable seller for $8.25 plus shipping. I liked how it had the signature, but also had his picture / info from the movies in a simple nice looking format, plus the size was a perfect fit. Then I went to a local collectible shop and got a hard plastic index card (3x5) holder for the signature card for $.27. I came home, pulled a crappy magnet off the fridge we had duplicates of that we got from some parade or something and used permanent double sided tape to adhere it to the bottom of the plastic holder. Since the apron is metal, the magnet works great to keep the signature card in place and makes the signature card easily removable without any game modifications. All said and done I now have my custom JJP Pirates of the Caribbean Joshamee Gibbs SE pin for an additional $12.52 and 15 minutes worth of a trip to the store and effort.
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I wondered this myself. I've had all 5 lit and played 4 of them. Drained out playing the 4th one when I told myself I should just time it out and play the next one. This was a while ago, so I didn't know at the time that Break The Curse wasn't in the game yet so that makes me feel better about draining. In this case I think it will be lit after playing the 5 mini wizard modes, unless Keith is really feeling cruel and makes it so that you have to complete all 5 mini wizards which would be damn near impossible.

I just got my lighted star field and chest opening mod in the mail today. I'm going to try installing them the weekend, although I have to admit I am a little intimidated with the prospect of installing the chest opening mod from all I have read.

One of the best games ever. Top 3 or 4 for me for sure. I've never heard anyone even hint they thought the code was incomplete as it sits. Deep, challenging, complicated...absolutely. Only thing really absolutely missing right now is the main wizard mode and depending on how Keith sets up qualifying for it, it's a decent bet that next to almost no one would ever have qualified it up to this point anyway.

I wonder if Chow Yun Fat had a special deal that made him more difficult. I always thought it was odd that some minor characters like Scrum, Cotton and Marty were included but Sao Feng wasn't.

You shouldn't limit yourself to an LE/CE IMHO. I've played both versions extensively and I ended up buying an SE. I saved a lot of money that way and I am extremely happy with it. There aren't really any gameplay differences minus the star map and honestly hardly anyone understands and/or uses it anyway. And to compensate, it shows you the shots on the playfield to replace it. In fact, as far as LE features, I would go as far as to say that the color changing GI in the LE is a negative for me. Having the GI light up the whole game neon pink and all colors of the rainbow on the LE works on a theme like WOZ, but just honestly doesn't fit a darker Pirate themed game well. All the inserts still color change on the SE anyway.

The SE has the LCD screen in the apron.

Avengers for sure. Possibly Mustang, although no one bought either of those versions.

Good game? It's better than a good game. Top 4 all time for me easily. I consider myself very lucky to have been able to pick one up like I did. And yes...much better than Hobbit.

The multiple spinning discs were hard to read, didn't really affect the ball differently than a single spinning disc and weren't reliable. The single disc is just fine. Had it never been shown with multiple spinning discs, no one would have cared.

I'll repost my opinion on this from earlier in the thread...

"You shouldn't limit yourself to an LE/CE IMHO. I've played both versions extensively and I ended up buying an SE. I saved a lot of money that way and I am extremely happy with it. There aren't really any gameplay differences minus the star map and honestly hardly anyone understands and/or uses it anyway. And to compensate, it shows you the shots on the playfield to replace it. In fact, as far as LE features, I would go as far as to say that the color changing GI in the LE is a negative for me. Having the GI light up the whole game neon pink and all colors of the rainbow on the LE works on a theme like WOZ, but just honestly doesn't fit a darker Pirate themed game well. All the inserts still color change on the SE anyway."

That said, I am not a big cosmetic mod guy, some people are. I wouldn't pay anything for upgraded glass, it's just not necessary in my experience. The powercoat is just black instead of chrome, the topper is nothing special and I already said the color changing GI isn't worth it to me. I don't need an external headphone jack, etc. Back when the difference between a NIB SE and LE was $1000 I could definitely see the value there for some people, but now it seems like the difference is $1500 between the two models on the second hand market and that definitely wasn't worth the extra cost to me on a game that already greatly exceeded my normal pinball machine spending range.

I agree with you. As far as upgrades go for an LE and value, it blows most other games out of the water...for those that value cosmetic upgrades. For someone like me who does not put much value in them and tends to be more thrifty buying games, when I can save over $1000 and get the exact same playing game as an LE minus the star map...I'm going to save the $1000 every time.

About 10k when I was looking.

I'm sure you are right. This was a few months ago now too that I was looking. I wouldn't sell my SE for $10k as it sits, so I don't doubt people want $11-12k for their LEs.

Maybe it's Sao Feng? I always thought it was weird he wasn't in it when they included very minor characters like Cotton and Scrum.

I asked the question of there being a licensing issue with Chow-Yun Fat since he wasn't in the game, but I don't think anyone ever confirmed there was an issue.
The monkey makes a lot of sense. It's off beat being an animal so it makes sense not to include it by default and I would assume the licensing would be easier. Probably have to do some combination when the icon is on Jack on the player select screen to get him to appear.

Not yet.

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It just wasn't in the build they gave the beta testers. It's probably there in the code update, but the beta testers weren't given access to it. It's going to take a hell of a lot of setup to get to and even light the wizard mode, so they are probably testing that in house with cheat settings to start Break The Curse at game start for instance so they don't have to go through all that setup each time to test that mode.

I've done it once on route at SS Billiards. I'm sure there is someone, but I don't know of anyone else anywhere that has had them all lit in one game. The game is so feature packed and getting all the wizard modes lit is so much more the exception rather than the rule, I don't mind in the least waiting for the code update. Plus, who says that you will just have to play the wizard modes to get to Break The Curse, there was potential talk going round that you might have to actually complete them all to light that in which case I'd say good luck with that to anyone.
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It's the monkey that comes with this figure...

ebay.com link: Pirates of the Caribbean Barbossa Monkey Jack 7 in Figure Series 1

Hey guys and/or harryhoudini , does anyone know how to properly install Harry's Star Field map mod? I have an SE and I bought the lighted version. I assume I just use the double sided tape to adhere the LED plastic to the star field plastic and then bend it into place and install like normal? Only other question is where to pull power for the lights on an SE? I watched the videos so I know the basic installation, but I didn't see that it covers the lights at all, so any help would be super appreciated. Thanks!

On a side note, my Tortgua has started throwing it down the middle the majority of the time. I boosted the coil up to 28 even in the menu and it will still do it. I would like for it to kick out to the left flipper like I know it should. Any ideas for a fix there instead of dropping power to have it go to the right flipper?

Thanks guys! Yes, it was automatic for the longest time going to the left flipper even after I installed the Cliffy. I was probably afraid to crank down too on the nuts too hard when I installed it, so coming loose is definitely a realistic possibility. I'll check it out.

On an SE, the GI is all white like a most pins are. All inserts color change still though, so you can easily tell what Pirates reward you are on.

I played both versions extensively before I bought mine and I ended up buying an SE as I the felt the features lost were not worth the extra dollars in the second hand market. I am extremely happy with my decision and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Agreed. Now would be the time to strike.

I agree. Color changing GI can be okay on a color explosion game like WOZ or Wonka, but on a darker themed game like Pirates I don't think it translates nearly as well. Having a game like Pirates light up all neon pink looks out of place.

Just a quick follow up to this for anyone else who maybe looking for answers. The scoop deflector had definitely come loose on my game. I couldn't believe how loose it was. I tightened down the screws and added blue locktite and that fixed the scoop shooting balls down the middle. Also used the trick where you remove the pop bumper cap and loosen the two screws underneath the pop bumper light board so you can move it to the side to access the scoop deflector screws without removing the entire assembly...very handy.

Also, for the lighted star map mod on an SE version, the power connector is bundled up in the split loom under the playfield, so you have to cut a couple zip ties to get it at and then connect it. Works and looks fantastic, very happy with it. I also used double sided thin tape I had on hand to keep the lightboard in place and then just friction for the star map plastic in front of it. No issues so far.

Doesn't happen on my game and mine are set to factory.

On another note, I'm not an aftermarket topper guy...unless harry comes up with something because I know it will look like it belongs in the game in the first place...but I picked this up at Goodwill for $5. It's brand new and I am going to put it together and see what it looks like. It looks really detailed for what it is. Also, looking it up online, apparently there is a version of it that comes with LED lighting you can put in it and it looks great lit up.

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It is pretty crazy looking. Dimensions show it as 2ft tall, so it may be a little big, but I was going to put it together anyway for fun so we'll see if it would look decent on the game when I'm done.

https://www.amazon.com/CubicFun-Puzzles-Revenge-Sailboat-Children/dp/B07W7Z74LV/ref=sr_1_2

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I'm so glad I have this pin when we're all stuck inside. It is so much fun to play and just doesn't get old to me at all. I have cliffy's and the chest opening mod to install but my game works so I don't want to take it apart and roll the dice right now of it not working when I put it back together. My favorite way to play right now is look at the character high score list and play with whichever character currently has the lowest score overall. Last night it was Cutler Beckett and I ended up taking him from the lowest to a new Grand champion score. It's so much fun to take each character and see a high you can go with them. How is everyone else playing it?

I can't backhand that shot like that either. On mine, with a perfect shot I can barely make it through the gate to register the shot and have it come right back down to the right flipper. What a nice advantage it would be to be able to do that consistently to set up your Pirate awards.

God I love this game, but I swear there is not another game in existence that is so difficult to string together multiple good balls in a row or even just in a game. When you have to really start focusing and shooting for specific things (like in Wizard Modes and later on during play), this game is unforgiving. I've never seen another game like it in that regard. Case in point, played Gibbs since he was low on the totem pole score wise. Ball 1...3.5 million with 4 more balls to play. Everything was working. Play on, get another EB...and still end up with only 4.5 million for the game...5 balls later. I of course missed my hold bonus that was lit, so I missed out on countless points over those balls by not being able to carry over bonus and I had the Dead Man's Chest wizard mode running with 6x scoring, hit 1 shot and drained. I have seen this so many times on this game. It's like the game says, "I gave you 1 ball, that's enough of that." and you get pops right to the drain or a dribble off the gold targets down the left outlane. She's a beauty, but what a cruel mistress.

Yep, corrected. If I was dropping 3.5 billion on the game I could live with a few bad balls.

No, factory settings. I play all my games on factory settings, I like to play the game how it was designed to be played and see how good I can do. I had gotten 2 EBs on ball 1 so I had 4 balls left after my first ball.

Holy sh!t I love playing this game. Just took Henry Turner from the bottom to the top with 6 mil. During the game I know I saw some kind of a scoring bug during the Fountain of Youth Wizard Mode during this game. I had 6x playfield going during it and had hit all the major shots for the first round. I was way into the wizard mode and hit a lit Tia Dalma Bayou shot and the screen showed a 22,222,227,xxx jackpot. I only looked up to see how much it was because I thought it was going to be big, but I didn't think it was going to be that big. It didn't give me those points though because I ended up with 6 mil for the game.

Also, one question about Don't Betray The Compass wizard mode, what the hell do you do in that? I had hit all the shots for the first round I thought and was progressing nicely. I thought I was way into the mode when I hit a shot and it ended it and my mode total was only 200k even. I play this mode so rarely I still am up in the air on it. The screen shows all the shots on top of the compass image and it looks like hitting the 9 pieces of 8 shots are what you want to do at first. I remember though having that wizard mode going one time in the past and hitting the map shot first shot and it ended the mode and my mode total was only 50k. Anyone know the strategy here?

With a perfect shot, I can backhand the right ramp to just get it up there enough to qualify the shot and then return to the right flipper. I cannot backhand the chest shot when lock is lit with enough power to lock the ball, nor can I simply hold up the right flipper and trap the ball everytime on a ball return to the right flipper like Karl does. That auto trapping would be super helpful.

No one has figured it out that I know of. I'm not sure it's in the game yet, might be coming with the code update. I asked about it and the way my question was responded to makes me believe it is real and coming in the code update, but they couldn't discuss it.

I finally took off my Black Pearl to install the rest of my cliffy set and give the game a good cleaning. I removed the vuk in the back right hand corner and noticed my vuk doesn't have a wire gate on it like Modfather's did in his Black Pearl removal video. My game seems to play perfectly. Any ideas what that gate is there for and what issues could pop up with out it?

That's a tough draw. I'd take JJP Pirates over every other game in the Elite 8 without hesitation. Coincidentally I sold my LOTR for $$$ and space to pick up JJP Pirates and I don't regret it for a second.

Can someone take a quick overhead picture of the area between the chest and the chapter start area?

I tore down my game for cleaning and to install the rest of the cliffys and when I put it back together it works and I had no extra pieces but my chest seems too leaned to the left. A locked ball shoots down to the chest arm and the arm holds it in the chest, but it really flexes it more so than I remember before. I think I may have stacked the metal chest connector tab on the top of the plastics on the right when maybe it should have gone underneath so I wanted to double check what that looks like. Thanks!

Thanks harryhoudini . So is your setup like this I can't quite tell. There's a plastic and then a metal piece that connects both posts and then the metal tab that connects the chest to the plastic. Mine has the metal tab on top but because of how the chest is angled I'm thinking maybe it needs to go underneath. My chest just seems a little too high on that right hand side.

Thinking about it, the two posts closest to the chest are taller than the two posts closer to the chapter start shot. Your posts near the chest have the nuts right near the top of the bolt while mine have a lot of bolt excess showing on top of the nut. I wonder if I mixed those up and the smaller posts are supposed to be closer to the chest? I think I kept them in order when I took them out, but I guess they could have gotten switched.
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Figures. 50-50 shot and I get it wrong. I knew it was too good to be true when everything worked right when I put it back together. Now I get to take it apart again. Fun.

Yes. Likewise though, I never remember to look at it either. Normally when I'm playing there are very few chances to look at anything but the playfield.

Liars dice has more code and rules associated with it than all of Munsters.

https://www.twitch.tv/hogbogged

10 minutes to showtime.

Eric confirmed in his live stream tonight why Sao Feng isn't in the game. He tried to get him in the game, but he said Chow Yun Fat was a dead stop no to any licensing. Money, whatever didn't matter so they weren't able to put him in the game.

If I just raise my left flipper, it will roll over into the right sling and send the ball out of control. I have to make a timed light flipper raise to pass it to the right flipper controllably.

Shooting the depth gives you a skull hold, which are super important for getting really big scores.

After playing (possibly completing in which case good luck) all 5 of the movie wizard modes, the final wizard mode is called Break The Curse and that isn't in the game yet.

I think Keith is asking the question of why people are so eager to have it in the game right now when people aren't reaching the point of where it would be in the game anyway. I know I've never gotten there. I've had all 5 wizard modes lit and played 4 of them, but drained before I could start the 5th. If that is the qualification to get Break The Curse, I've been close, but if you have to finish all the wizard modes to qualify it then I have barely scratched the surface.

One thing I would like to see is some kind of base value for the wizard modes or something along those lines. The wizard modes are not easy to get to and you can definitely maximize their value by planning ahead, but there should be some minimum reward for getting there, maybe 250,000 points for achieving and then whatever you get in the mode. Today I got to the Curse of the Black Pearl wizard mode, played it and didn't even lose my ball in it, it just timed out and all I got was 12,000 points. There is no reason a wizard mode that is achieved and played played until it timed out should only award less than a standard MB start shot.

I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!!!

I figured I'd just go down and play a quick game, little did I know I would end up beating Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time ever. The final wizard mode isn't in the game yet but I got to all five movie wizard modes and played them all and then kept going. With 2 balls left and EB lit, I had the last two wizard modes lit. In perfect fashion, next ball, plunge, bricked the shot and quick drain...also tilted trying to save it and lost 486,000 in bonus to boot which was fantastic. Got At World's End started with 1 ball left and played through it, then drained. Had to collect my EB on my last ball and got Dead Men Tell No Tales started to seal it and then kept going! Ended up with over 15 million. Absolutely amazing game! I can't believe there is still more to come!?!? Thank you Hogbog and team!

So now I could legitimately complain that the final wizard mode isn't in the game because I would have played it, but you know what? I don't mind, take your time, do it right, make it awesome and I'll be back! I love this game!

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That's a good question. I am the second owner, so I don't know if I can check for sure, but I'll look and see. I think the previous owner reset the settings when he sold it to me so maybe it does have my lifetime plays.

It was Marty. There wasn't any strategy to that, he was just a character that had a low high score, so I chose him to try to up it. His advantages are all gold related, so I did set a new gold collector champion too with 759 or something like that.

A box of fun showed up today. I don't need it but I got a great deal on it locally so I figured what the heck. My Pirates is going to be around for a long long time so it can't hurt to have this around too.

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It's the sling underneath the ramp to the black pearl. You have to hit it clean without hitting any of the pops.

Exactly. It's a thing of beauty when you nail it, even more so if you hit it on the fly.

I looked and it was 188.

It was close to an hour. My wife had even sent my 8 year old son downstairs to find me and see what was going on because dinner was ready and I had said I was just going to play a quick game. I told him I was close to beating the game and he said he didn't want his coming downstairs to be the reason I didn't make it because he thought he was distracting me. It was cute. I told him that wasn't the case and not to worry about it...then promptly had that plunge, brick, drain ball. Him being there was good though because it forced me to keep my composure and he got a kick out of being there when I did it. If that had happened and he wasn't there I would have been swearing and probably punching bar stools, but with him there I took it rather well.

For Tortuga drains, it's most likely the scoop deflector has come loose. That's what happened with mine. I added some blue locktite and tightened the two screws back down and it's been fine ever since.

You don't have to take the whole pop bumper off. if you remove the pop bumper cap and loosen the screws underneath you can easily get at both of those deflector screws without removing it completely. I only figured that out after removing it once or twice before that.

Seems like a potential match made in heaven...depending where Yaron is at distance wise.

I've been playing Pirates still with the low man on the totem pole character selection method. I play primarily for completion, but also try to be aware of point opportunities. I've gotten through all the game chapters twice now, my first time with Marty were I got 15 mil and then with Elizabeth but only got 9 mil that time. I had a goal to get everyone over 3 mil and did that and I'm almost at everyone over 4 mil, but it is getting hard as you need a pretty good game to bust 4 mil and with how unforgiving the game can be, even a good start is easily wasted. Case in point, I was just playing Will got a 75k skill shot on my initial plunge and the shot to MAP hole gave me an EB which never happens, so 10 seconds in I'm at 80k with an EB. I had a good game, was climbing the points ladder fast but that changed quick. Last two balls were vintage Pirates, couldn't hit the Dead Men Tell No Tales shot to start MB and drained out both times in seconds, first drain I missed my bonus and skull hold so everything reset on me. Game ended at 3.8 mil. On my Pintel score of 3.982 I tilted out my ball 3 bonus which would have put me over 4 mil which was disappointing. I think I am going to have to start ignoring completion and focus on scoring opportunities almost exclusively to get everyone over 4 mil and then hopefully even 5 mil because it's just not even worth playing wizard modes if you don't have a high skull value and/or multipliers and SJPs. With the game code like it is, there isn't really a point to try to get through them when there is no value. You have to be so focused on holding skull values and bonus, if you ignore it to get further in the game it really becomes a detriment to your game.

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You should be excited about your 1.5 mil game! You could have progressed really well in the game, but just didn't have things going at the right time to get your score way up there, this game is such a game of timing. Scoring can be so varied in this game even with similar progress. I'm finding more and more how important it is to try to set up scoring opportunities because there just isn't many individual big points to be had like in most other games. For me, it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that playing a wizard mode in certain instances doesn't really make sense since normally in other games they are mainly big point opportunities. JJP Pirates is a very involved game with everything going on. I wouldn't claim to know everything there is by any means as I'm still learning too, but as soon as you start figuring out little things and putting them together, that's when your scores can get big, but it's hard. The game can be very unforgiving when you start shooting very specific shots and/or stand up targets that can send the ball out of control. Your best bet for a high single point value is a super jackpot shot, but some of those are extremely difficult to get even 1 or 2 and even when you do they are only around 45k without a multiplier. Most everything else "big" is around a few thousand un-multiplied, so without multipliers, held 6x bonuses and/or multiplied wizard modes it can take really long games to get your score up really high at that pace. It is so rewarding when you can line things up and manage not to lose the ball or the setup while doing it.

Shot X is tough because it's the very next shot and that's it. If you have a MB going it can be almost impossible to shoot something you want and it's so hard to set up. I wouldn't worry about shot X right now and focus on the 6x multiplier first since it runs for 30 seconds so you have more opportunities.

The best shots for the multiplier are the SJPs and the wizard mode shots if you have any value for that wizard mode, but you can get single normal shots up there in value too. One thing I would definitely focus on is the skull value. Each movie shot has a skull value. Base is 1000 and each time you make that shot it increases that skull value until the value maxes out at 10000. Whatever the skull value is for the shot when you shoot it, you get that amount of points for the shot. That means if you have the chest shot maxed out at 10000, whenever you shoot that shot, it's worth 10000 points. On a easily repeatable shot like the chest or the upper loop, this can get very valuable, especially if you have both those shots at a high value and then combo them chest to loop. Add in a multiplier like 6x and you could be getting 60000 for a single standard shot every time. Add in a MB or MBs and you can imagine that scoring can go up really quick in this situation. The thing to remember here is that skull values reset every ball...unless you get them held. Each time you shoot the depths, you'll hold a skull value. Mystery awards can also hold multiple skulls values. This is so key to focus on when you get a high skull value...you can't let it reset, you need to make sure you get it held or you will miss out on so many points.

Every time you shoot one of the movie shots it increases the skull value. Random awards can also add points to skull value. And every time you shoot that shot you get the current skull value for that shot. It doesn't have to be in any mode or multi-ball. They all max out at 10,000 points. The best way to take advantage of a high skull value is to set yourself up for an easily repeatable high value shot like the chest loop combo. Try to have a high multiplier running and bring in some multi balls to keep it going. You can hold the skull value by shooting the depths. every time you shoot it it will hold one skull value. You can get rewards that give you multiple skull value holds randomly.

You need to shoot The Depths scoop to the left of the Devil's Triangle to hold skull values, not the Devil's Triangle shot itself.

When you play for your soul it's ball and character over if you lose. They've talked about how the game doesn't handle it correctly right now. If you play for an EB and you are on your final ball, lose and it's over since you don't have another ball to lose. Your ball will end too if you play for 2 tilt warnings and you lose and don't have to tilt warnings to lose.

On that note, Liar's Dice is so hard. The computer always has ridiculous hands and if I take my hand that has 3 twos in it for instance and just hopefully assume that the computer has one so I bid 4...the computer will call me a liar and I almost always lose. I hate playing Liar's Dice without Davey Jones because it's so often just an excuse to lose all my souls or treasures.

Super X is the most important for getting big scores. Bonus x is good and can be big (400k+), but even if held and you lose the ball right away, 6x bonus can end up only around 150k. Arr Frenzy is good too, but you need a multiplier with it. My best Arr Frenzy is only around 800K, most of mine end up around 100k. Big Points is only good if you have 6666666 running and 3 Hurry Up's light some reward, I can't remember what Keith said it was off hand, but I have never tried for it.

The first time you light super x only the 2X stand up is flashing. The next time 2X and 3X the next time 2, 3 and 4X and so on and so on. You don't even have 6X as an option until that final time you light it. And even if it's lit you can still screw up and hit 2x or something lesser than 6X by accident so it's no guarantee still.

I asked about it in the livestream that Eric did of JJP a month or two ago now in the chat and one of the people that worked on the game chimed in and said 3 hurry ups gave you something, I just can't remember what it was. I guess it must not have been that impressive to me. I can say I've never even tried for 3 hurry-ups myself even after he said what it was, so it couldn't have been that great.

It is 66k.

Yep. Sometimes it will give you an eye patch or a parrot too.

I've done it twice now, but I love the game. I can't get to the missing wizard mode on any consistent basis and there is plenty to still do with all the characters and high score boards so I am personally willing to be patient. I have confidence in Keith that when it does come, it will have been worth the wait.

I agree. The values are probably too low for how hard they are to get, same thing with Treasure Hoard only being 50k...although I did manage to get that with 6x running for 300k once which was nice.

JJP Pirates is no Ghostbusters. You can't just hit a couple of ramps, bounce off some targets and standups and luck your way into a 350mil GB video mode or huge super jackpots and beat someone who is playing through the game with skill. I don't think scoring is unbalanced in Pirates at all personally. You definitely could argue that some things are not valuable enough for their difficulty (666666, treasure hoard, wizard modes, etc) but you aren't going to luck out and get a ton of points and beat someone else on JJP Pirates with a big mystery award or a ridiculous 40x multiplied shot. All the big scoring opportunities in JJP Pirates require a lot of thought and planning with exact shots and timing to make them really pay off, there really isn't much luck involved at all.

F Liar's Dice! I swear to God I never win Liar's Dice on the first time ever and my overall win percentage has to be awful. I would bet no better than 20-25% overall. There is probably a record of it in the menu, I should check. It's so ridiculous. I'll have 2 of something and bid 3 hoping that the computer has just 1 of that number...he never does, calls me a liar and I lose. Then the computer will bid 3 of something that I have none of and I'll call him a liar and sure enough he always has 3 in his hand alone. Damn computer seems to always have a full house of numbers. So ridiculous, it's just an excuse for me to lose my gold, souls or treasure...I should never play it but I keep hoping something will change. That's all, just had to vent.