loving this game so far. such a deep experience and i feel like i've barely scratched the surface.

i've also noticed 'unfair' drains from the chapter select post drop and the tortuga mystery kickout that seem to get worse the longer the game is played. takes some serious nudging to avoid them sometimes. just wish it was consistent.

yea the pulse works about 90% of the time on the machine i've been playing. the SDTM drain only happens occasionally but its maddening when it does. as mentioned a simple 2 second ballsave would completely alleviate the issue.

the tortuga kickback issue is more prevalent in my experience. i'm not sure if its just a matter of the coil getting weak after getting played a bunch but once it starts happening its pretty much a 100% chance of a drain out of the kickback unless you nudge the machine right as the kickback is happening. i've seen a bunch of casual players just toss their hands up and call it 'cheap' after draining this way. seems like it could be fixed easily with another 2 second ball save or possibly toning down the kickback strength so the ball just falls to the right flipper.

cripes. not a single wizard mode has been reached on the machine i'm playing on location. granted its not getting a work out like it would if it was at the club but just getting to those modes seems so difficult unless you pick tia and just tunnel focus a color. and even that is a major accomplishment imo.

i'm a little miffed that there isn't a minor wizard mode from reaching all the multiballs but i suppose that isn't exactly the toughest thing for a good player.

on the upside, i've finally managed to figure out a perfect nudge/timing to completely make the tortuga kickout a non-issue. so that certainly helped my last series of games! had my best at ~1.3 billion. obviously still a LONG ways to go.

i've noticed that shot being extremely tough on the machine i've been playing (in public, not home use). definitely have to give the machine a little forward nudge to get the ball up into the lock when shooting from the right flipper.

if you keep hitting a flipper when not playing the game the menus should eventually get to a page that has several wanted poster photos that detail all of the top scores, scores of the day, individual character scores and other misc 'high scores.'

there are several 'solutions' in the thread already but i'm not sure if any of them are 100% effective.

amazing how something that should be so simple is causing so many issues. i can't recall ever having an issue with the action button on any of the stern machines.

Finally feel like i'm understanding this game after probably putting in 100+ games and I STILL feel like I haven't seen close to everything. Mostly still focusing on stacking MB's and multipliers and bringing in as many chapters as I can with everything rolling. Add a tortuga multiball on top of it all and its crazy fun. Pretty much every shot is good to go. The bonus multiplier is sneaky good on this game. I think I saw a 300,000+ bonus on a ball today.

I think I ended up having a ~10-15min first ball using this 'strategy' and put up a decent GC for our location.

IMG_2513 (resized).JPG

On the downside... the cannon shot into the Dauntless is pretty much not working. I think I've made the shot into the ship 1 or 2 times in all of my games and everybody else I've talked to is convinced its just broken. Guessing its an alignment issue. But it definitely makes the Black Pearl part of the game much more tricky.

very interested to see this!

any 'patch notes' come with it?

I think this one is the toughest to get. Especially with any other MB's going

From the manual:

-Shoot inner loop for a Jackpot

-Shoot through the chest then around the inner loop for a Double Jackpot

-Shoot the right orbit and then around the inner loop for a Triple Jackpot

-If you collect all three Jackpots... shoot the inner loop again and the up-post will capture the ball and if you hit the up-post with the other ball and 'newton' the captive ball back around the inner loop you will be awarded a Super Jackpot.

that seems to be the extent of all the modes. i'm hoping via code updates they can add some more varied objectives. plenty of targets on the game to leverage.

yikes. machine was having some serious display drop-outs tonight while playing. full blown black screen 'searching for source' type of stuff. i'm guessing there is a connection that is loose. anybody else seeing this?

I feel like this happens to me sometimes too. The Black Pearl skill shot will advance things one step but it does seem like there are times where the game 'spots' you a step when accessing the ship during normal gameplay (not via the ramp though). Code/rules are so deep in this game I'm guessing there is something that triggers it that I'm not paying attention to.

Or it could just be a bug I suppose!

Best I've managed over the break and on the new code. That guy who has 13+ million on the other page must have had an INSANE game that went on forever.

Pretty sure I was playing for 30ish minutes on this one. I think the key was a well timed Arrrr Frenzy and a Super X on the playfield. Still haven't made a 666666 mode yet.
IMG_2549 (resized).JPG

true. i always assume everybody just plays 3 ball usually. with the way this game gives out extra balls on a long game sometimes a 3 ball game seems to play more like a 5 or 6 or 7 ball game haha.

There are a couple ways from what I can gather.

- Complete Constellation shots. I believe the easiest way to show these is hitting the "Jack/starmap" shot and the current constellation shot will flash white.

- Light Extra Ball will be a PIRATE outlane reward after completing several rounds of PIRATE rewards.

- Light/Collect Extra Ball also seem to be available via random Tortuga Mystery and Spinning Map rewards.

I can't think of another method but I wouldn't doubt there are other triggers for an extra ball.

Arrr Frenzy is definitely the secret MVP if you are looking for high scores. Combine it with multiball(s), a playfield X and some serious spinner action and the scores just BLOW UP!

Super X is the playfield X bonus. Awarded via PIRATE outlane reward after hitting the little bonus X standup targets next to the ramps (target depending on the value that is available). It can also be awarded via Tortuga or Map mystery award.

IMO its the #1 key factor into putting up a good scoring game.

Tortuga kick out is pretty inconsistent on the machine I play on too. Not that its the most elegant solution but I've found a quick forward nudge on the machine when the ball kicks out is enough to never worry about it draining.

I can agree on this one. Its usually when the ball exits cleanly without bumping a post on the way out of the starfield/jack area. On the upside its usually pretty easy to spot when its about to happen so a little lateral nudge on the machine is usually more than enough to prevent a straight drain or kick it into the GOLD target area.

Hundreds of games so far and I can't say I've ever seen this one.

Another one I haven't seen but I've had it happen to me on Indiana Jones and its BEYOND infuriating.

I mean... yea you have to play them once. But you also have to go through all of the Chapters before the wizard mode gets activated. Which I've found is the hardest part (for me at least - but I rarely pick Tia as my character).

I kind of enjoy the fact that there is so much multiball madness going on in this game. I've had tons of people come up and watch while I'm playing because they get sucked in by seeing 4+ balls flying around the playfield for long stretches of time. And most comment after I drain on how fun the game looks.

Maybe its too easy and not 'skillful' enough for 'pro level' type of players. But I'm sure there will be some tournament-type settings that become standardized to take away some of the randomness, plundering and easy multiballs.

i've also been feeling a bit similar to this. i know Tia is available to alleviate the selection process but I have way too much fun just playing Blackbeard games. i know its possible to stack up some good values focusing on chapters but it seems much more exciting going for big scores via stacking multiballs. really the best 'mode based' games i've played usually result because i'm getting chapters going with the multiballs going and the shots just happen naturally.

i'm hoping with some code updates they can add some more dynamic modes a'la The Hobbit (the moving targets, shot progression type of modes, etc). maybe a little score balancing between chapters and multiballs too.

Interesting changes. I figured something would be done about plundering, liars dice and the character selection process. but maybe they are doing 1 player games? other thoughts...

Lightning Flippers
oh god no.

Tilt set to PER BALL
YES. this should be a default setting

Virtual locks on
what are virtual locks? does this refer to the chest not actually keeping the balls inside until multiball?

Increased Dead Men Tell No Tales Multiball Progress
Increased Nine Pieces of Eight Shot Difficulty (At World's End)
Increased On Stranger Tides Difficulty
totally agree with these. it would likely be way too easy to get these rolling for tournament-skill players.

granted i only play on location but...

it sure seems like this game has more than 5 balls. i swear i've seen more than that in stacked multiballs but i suppose that could just be my mind/eyes playing tricks on me.

amazing! i guess once 4+ get out on the playfield it all starts to turn into a blur.

it definitely should move right enough to roll a ball overboard from the deck of the ship.

i noticed the machine i play on would have coil strength issues after playing a few games in a row. like you said... the strength of the kick back would really start to get variable.

after a little trial and error and i've found that a simple nudge forward while the lights are flashing to indicate the kick back is coming is enough to tame a bit of the randomness and usually deliver the ball to your right flipper or right inlane(s). once you get the timing down you'll rarely see a SDTM again from this VUK.

yes. i realize its not the most elegant solution nor does it solve any issues you might be having with your coil. but its simple and works until a more concrete solution is found.

666666 mode happens when you have all 5 of the story multiball's running with a tortuga multiball on top of it (for 6 total multiballs).

i've only managed it a few times in hundreds of games. very nice scoring opportunities when you get all of that rolling!

I haven't managed to find a reference to it from the movies but its been quite some time since I actually watched any of them with rapt attention.

I kind of assumed it was just a cheeky little addition/easter egg for something that rarely happens during 'normal' gameplay.

Seems its a bit of a 'hidden mode' too because I'm not seeing anything regarding 666666 mode in the instruction .pdf.

does anybody know if getting there actually does anything besides the screen animation (and possibly additional audio)? is there an extra multiplier or additional jackpots/rewards?

Hogbog ?

yea it definitely results in some high scores but i can't tell if thats just a result of 'getting there' in the first place.

actually having all 6 multiballs rolling - likely with a stack of bonuses, skull bonuses, pirate rewards, map rewards, etc - is pretty much the holy grail of scoring on the game so its pretty natural that you'll really be blowing the game up at that point. extra bonus or not.

its pretty difficult at that point to pay attention to the screen. so i'm pretty much in the dark as well. hopefully one of the jjp guys can shed some light

Loving the 'free games' on location!

If I had one at home and was playing for 'pure high scores' I'd probably just turn Specials off in addition to removing plundering and Liars Dice. Seems like some seriously random bonuses can be gained from all of the above.

i guess i'm just thinking from a 'purely competitive' aspect where the goal is to remove as much randomness as possible. plundering is GREAT for casual multiplayer games. but its almost been an unspoken rule or gentelmans agreement on our local game that if you are in relatively 'competitive play'... you pass on the plundering every time. but in a casual game with friend... its pirates the whole way down!

liars dice is a little less of an issue but i know i've seen rewards from that in the several hundred thousand point values (values that could make or break a game). whereas other times its just extra tilts, extra treasures, etc. so thats another one that we have just started passing on in games 'that matter' - even though they really all don't matter. its just pinball!

i'm sure eventually there will be an accepted 'competitive play' setting with the code on this game and we'll probably just start playing that way when pride, ego, and 'loser buys the next round' are on the line.

i'm playing mostly on location. we don't really have the option to set the rules to tournament settings whenever we feel like it. so - unfortunately - we have to use archaic methods like the old-fashioned gentelman's agreement... in a game about pirating lol!

1. still haven't figured that one out myself.
2. map targets need to be hit before the map award is lit. i'm not sure if the map targets do anything to the spinner itself
3. the only benefit i've noticed to hitting all 4 gold targets is the ability to add-a-ball during Tortuga multiball.

I think its a pretty good game for weaker players honestly. Yes the rules are super deep but there are some very straight forward things to focus on that result in very fun games. Mostly the multiballs. IMO they are relatively easy to qualify and get going once you understand them. Most of the shots in the game are fair and the ball times tend to be long. Plus you have little things like character selection, plundering and liars dice that can add a dimension of interaction between players that most games just don't have.

I'll fully agree that blowing the machine up takes some pretty deep knowledge of the rules and how to stack MB's, modes, multipliers, etc. But I don't think weaker players will have a bad time with the game whatsoever. Lots of room to learn and grow on a machine like this which makes it perfect for home use.

i haven't found an out-and-out tutorial a'la PAPA or anything like that. Or anything that gets really deep into the rules, stacking strategies, wizard modes, etc.

I think Buffalo Pinball has a "Bro do you even pinball" stream where they do a higher overview of the rules before playing. And some of Kevin's streams of POTC from his house have some rules discussion but not as straight forward as a proper tutorial.

play-wise... i think the single disc probably affects the ball much more than the triple disc. so that might be a change that was for the better.

it is kind of a bummer that you don't get to see your map mystery rewards line up with the triple disc on the playfield but its a pretty minor loss in my mind.

for me its the longest ball time game i've played. very similar to the LOTR/Hobbit imo - especially once you get the shots/saves dialed in.

not a scientific observation but i've noticed on games where i'm putting up decent scores (1-2 million plus) the games can easily run over ~15 minutes - if not much longer. i'm sure if the game was in my house it would suffer from the same issue that LOTR/Hobbit has for some people - its just daunting to start over from the beginning once you've had an epic game.

i should follow up with the fact that i LOVE the game. the shots are absolutely amazing. the game has both great flow and stop-and-go type of play with insanely deep code that is likely only going to get better.

also the game that i'm playing is definitely not setup absolutely brutal so that may contribute to some of the longer ball times - but i don't mind. makes for a cheaper night out at the brewery

Congrats. Nice add to the game room.

Guessing you and the fam enjoy Toy Story with the Disney passes...

...If only there was a certain New Jersey based pinball manufacturer contemplating a Toy Story themed machine.

Very cool! Looking forward to hearing some rule/strategy talk on the newest code.

I kinda wondered if Jack was discouraged from playing machines from other companies these days now that he's kind of the 'face' of Stern but it looks like that isn't the case.

yikes! that seems like a bit of dirty play. for $9500 the damn manual should come leather bound printed on rare parchment.

Yowza. Seems like it would be easier to just print off the PDF and have it spiral bound at a Kinkos.

i agree with you on this. some of the characters could definitely use another round of balancing. having a ball save with swan would be a great choice for single player games and wouldn't be too overpowered in competitive play.

the real elephant in the room is blackbeard IMO. in the hands of a decent player he's far-and-away the best choice for going for high scores. probably a game breaking choice in a tournament. i have a feeling his ball save timer will be toned down a bit if the other characters don’t get some significant buffs or have their negative traits removed.

obviously each one has a different way to qualify. the manual has more in-depth descriptions but here is my quick and dirty rundown.

-----

purple = rip the devils triangle spinner a few times to qualify. shoot into the top of the devils triangle to start

red = shoot the 9 red arrow 'main shots' on the playfield. start with the maelstrom shot

yellow = sink the dauntless or hit it 3 times with the cannon. start at port royale. this can also be instantly qualified by hitting the BP skill shot when the 'load canon' arrow is lit. definitely the easiest way to qualify this mb.

green = hit the standups next to the chest to prime the lock. lock 3 balls and the mb starts

blue = 5 individual orbits through the fountain of youth qualify. start the mb with another orbit shot.

tortuga = collect gold (50, 100, etc) and cash in at the tortuga scoop.

666666 = have all 6 mb's running at the same time for a special jackpot (this is where scores start to blow up)

-----

i feel like stacking multiballs on top of chapters is kind of how they designed this game to be played. in some of my better games i'll have times when i've been in multiball for what feels like 10 minutes straight but i'm still hitting chapter shots and advancing towards wizard modes AND hitting shots that qualify another multiball to stack on top of current ones. i think this game has single-handedly increased my 'gain control and make the right shots during multiball' skills more than any other game i've played to date.

but i'll agree that they probably could have made some of them a tiny bit harder to qualify/start after the first time around.

nice thing about this game is that the code isn't in final form. still plenty of stuff to get balanced.

On the upside.... you don't need to complete any of the chapters to qualify the wizard modes. And you can start more chapters during multi-ball.

All the times I've played the wizard modes its been a result of stacked multi-balls and just always making sure to have a chapter running when the previous one times out or I complete it - regardless of what 'color' it is. Getting a chapter running is more important that some of the Jackpot shots imo. Eventually you'll see that one of your 'colors' is close to being qualified for a wizard mode and then you can laser focus on it during single-ball play.

Or you can just go Tia and try to keep the multi-balls to a minimum (picking chapters with her during MB is another skill in itself) but I never seem to have as much fun playing this game that way.

yea i have to think that TPF is where the next version of the code comes out. i can't recall anything from the Dead Flip stream that stood out as a major change in the code but its been awhile since i watched it.

i'm guessing we'll finally have the final wizard mode, some MB adjustments and likely some character balancing.

- Final wizard mode isn't in the game.

- All multiballs can be combined/stacked. Tortuga can stack on wizard modes

- Super X/playfield X is increased via mystery rewards and PIRATE lane rollovers.

Played in a tournament yesterday and it was the first I've played with Pirates in the lineup and it ended up being played twice by the groups I was in.

Honestly it wasn't even really fair for the other people that I was playing against. The character selection just seems to be way too gamebreaking for an experienced player vs. somebody who isn't as familiar with the game. I can only compare it to something like the shot multipliers on Star Wars.

Picked Blackbeard both games and easily put up well over a million while other players were struggling to break 100,000k. And some of these players are vastly better pinball players that I am.

Does this game have a 'tournament setting' in the operators menu? If not, are there any plans to put something in with the 1.0 code? I know its possible to tweak everything to a persons liking but it would be nice to see an official setting from JJP/Eric.

A few simple things that would be nice to see for tournaments.

- Plundering needs to be gone - its easy enough to just skip it, but it ends up wasting a mystery reward

- The same character should be available for everybody to pick

- Character's negative traits should be shown on the character selection screen (some of the guys i was playing with didn't even realize that some of the characters have negative traits)

- Multiball starts and re-starts need to be made dramatically more difficult and possibly remove the ability to stack

Anyways. Just some random thoughts I had while playing yesterday.

Anybody else played Pirates in a tournament setting yet?

most of them are relatively balanced. Blackbeard is the glaring outlier. his trait combined with no negative trait in a such a multiball heavy game is just crazy powerful in the hands of the right player.

this is anecdotal and obviously each game plays different but on the machine I'm playing on not a single one of those scores in your photo would be close to the top 10. on our game #10 starts at 3.8 million and GC is near 5 million. every single high score is a Blackbeard game. the other characters don't even come close.

that is definitely a good start but in my experience it might not even be enough.

i've been thinking that 1/2 scoring throughout ALL multiballs might bring him more in line. and it pains me to even suggest that because i do love blowing the game up with a good Blackbeard game.

i'm definitely interested in the 1.0 code and what balance changes they are going to make.

the leaderboard on the game that i play that completely disagrees with this.

are you regularly putting up 3+ million games on random select characters? because i can almost always get to that point in a decent Blackbeard game (we all have bad games).

fair enough. maybe its just easier to get there with Blackbeard and i need to invest more time in the other characters and figuring out how to exploit their traits.

but for a tournament... i'm still going Blackbeard or bust.

to be fair... compared to a 90's williams game - especially one with extremely shallow code like Theater - seems like an apples to oranges comparison in my mind.

Iron Maiden is the only other game that seems to hold my attention more than Pirates. and mostly because Pirates can suffer from the 'long game' fatigue. hobbit and LOTR are the same way for me.

but i will say... Pirates is quite possibly the best home-use pin ever made.

its not the 'long game' itself. its when the 'long game' ends and you look back at the machine and realize how much work you are going to have to go through to get back to the point you were just at. i've had MANY 30+ minute games on Pirates. after one of those i'm done for a day or two.

games like Pirates can lack that 'just one more game' feeling people like with pinball machines.

i've noticed that most home collectors tend to have a few of each kind of machine because of this very reason. ymmv.

i think its because we've seen plenty of machines shipped with incomplete code with a 'just patch it in post' type of mentality from developers... only to see code updates languish and things never get finished. it didn't used to be like this.

granted... JJP has a better track record in this regard - they took the hobbit from an absolute 'long game' borefest into something that, while still a 'long game,' is much more well rounded and fun to play.

but frankly it would serve them well to possibly take another pass at Dialed In and flesh out the modes a bit more. i think Pirates is in the same boat (pardon the pun). some of the chapters would be much more interesting if they were more progressive rather than just putting up all the targets you need to hit at once. think "aces high" in Iron Maiden for a nice example of a progressive mode that unfolds the further you get into it.

with that being said... i'm totally fine waiting as i've only seen 4 of 5 of the chapter wizard modes so there is still some work for me to do before i start complaining about the lack of a "break the curse" wizard mode.

i've been thinking the same thing. Iron Maiden is an amazing game and Keith's design makes for an unreal tournament game AND a great home game with how deep the code goes and all the late-game wizard modes. just the regular modes alone are a great example of varied and unique design and they help tell the 'story' that fits really well with the theme. zombi yeti art just takes it to the next level. the music might be the only gripe for some people... but Iron Maiden really does make for some good music to play pinball to. if you are a fan of the band its just the cherry on the top.

pirates is definitely a serious contender in my mind and it, along with Iron Maiden, seem light years beyond the other pins up for consideration. one hell of a year for pinball when you have multiple games that can be argued as the game of the year.

For all the nonsense and drama surrounding him - Kaneda does have some good information in his podcast and its usually worth a listen if you are interested in pinball news. You just have to take some of it with a grain of salt when he goes into his 'shock jock'/hot takes mode. He usually goes against the prevailing grain so it provides a nice counterpoint to SDTM or Buffalo (which I both enjoy too).

different strokes. you do you.

there are crazy people in every hobby/sport that mankind has ever indulged in, especially when you add any sort of competitive aspect to it.

add the internet to the equation and its dramarama central. such is the world we live in unfortunately. thankfully its easy enough to ignore it and stay above the fray.

Deadpool winning ANYTHING was a tragedy when IM and POTC were in the running. Pirates definitely should have won callouts with the amazing work that Gibbs did for the game... although I do wish there was a little more humor in some of his dialogue but chalk that up to bad writing.

The rest of the awards shook down pretty much as expected. When you get a game designed by one of the best pinball players of all time the rules and layout are going to be top tier.

Yes. They probably should have won for music... especially if you consider its all original compositions David made for the game. Going forward I do think the award should be for 'Best Original Music' and we can just take the band pins out of the mix. Its not really a level playfield.

Rookie of the Year is a tossup for me. Keith is certainly no rookie to the world of pinball... but it was his first design and holy hell what a design it is. Maybe one of the greatest tournament AND casual games ever created and such a fresh breath into Sterns otherwise stagnate catalog.

Frankly if him and Eric would have cut the TWIPY in half and shared it I don't think anybody could really complain. They both knocked it out of the park and I'm really looking forward to both of their follow up games.

yep. i kind of sat in disbelief when Deadpool won that award. I was absolutely sick of the callouts after 10ish games. Juvenile stuff that completely lacks the edgy humor that made Deadpool so funny to so many people. If Ryan Reynolds did the callouts and they let him go R-rated on it... then I can see Deadpool being a contender.

The two voices for Iron Maiden do a fantastic job and they managed to work in some good inside jokes for fans of both pinball and iron maiden.

Getting Gibbs to do the callouts for pirates was a solid pick (unfortunately he's no John Rhys-Davies) and he did a fine job with the material he was given. I just wish they would have written a bit more humor into his dialogue. The Pirates movies are funny and have some great lines and the pinball machine kind of lacks that lighthearted nature.

Woo hoo. Another one with the same issue the POTC I play on has.

Absolutely no clue on how to fix. Its been this way since day one. I think I've managed to score a direct hit on the Dauntless ~3 times in hundreds of games.

At this point I've just moved on to lighting the canon arrow shot on the Black Pearl and then do a skill shot plunge to get the multiball qualified instead of messing around with trying to 'miss' the Dauntless 3x times to qualify multiball. Not the most elegant solution but it works.

in the same room as the bed?

on another note... how is the noise for your neighbors? i've always been hesitant to bring a machine into my condo because I don't want to be 'that guy.'

Seems redundant. This thread is - bar none - the best place for solutions to issues with Pirates. I can't think of an issue I've seen that hasn't been covered in this thread so far.

search function.

if the 'white flash' happens after hitting the starmap/jack sparrow shot - that is the next constellation you need to collect.

basically the game is giving you a hint if you can't figure it out from the actual starmap itself.

I think its getting beyond 'serious issues.' Stuff shouldn't be showing up DOA or require a new owner to break out a soldering iron before they can even play their $9000+ toy. Anybody attempting to justifying that as 'well that's just how pinball goes' has lost their gd mind.

I feel bad for the operators of the one we have on location. Its been nothing but a nightmare to support and we still don't have a properly rocking Black Pearl (i think the wiring harness was too tight and just broke) or a canon that can score a direct hit on the dauntless (an issue that looks like its been solved earlier in this thread). The Malestorm diverter has also recently started tossing balls right out of the ramp back onto the playfield if the ball hits it with too much speed. Likely a minor adjustment needed on that one.

first thing i try to do (unless i'm will turner) is plunge the ball into the upper loop area, rip a few loops and then hit into the G.O.L.D. targets. with enough loops you can instantly have a tortuga multiball ready to go.

after that i just start hitting shots that get you towards qualifying multiballs (chest shots, loop shots, spinner shots, main 'red arrow' shots). i usually don't worry too much about the ship right away unless i plunge the skillshot for it. at that point i'll always try to, at least, prime the cannon before my ball drops off the ship.

=and yes... you have to do each chapter individually, you can't stack them. but you can have chapters running during multiballs so that is always a top goal too. basically always have a chapter running if you have the ability, which is pretty easy because the shots you are hitting to qualify multiballs will also qualify chapters.

i believe it shows the current constellation that you need to collect which is shown on the video display on the SE.

The StarMap is a pretty big loss and I'm not sure that can be added aftermarket.

In some way I guess that could be considered a loss on a gameplay level but its not the most critical thing to lose.

This was definitely an issue on the SE that I've played on location. I think a flipper adjustment fixed it because there isn't a kraken mod on the machine.

Not that it matters really but part of the reason I un-starred and stopped following the thread was the lack of discussion surrounding the actual gameplay and strategy of Pirates and how everything in this thread has just devolved into a redundant problem solving and OCD preventative maintenance thread. There used to be some gameplay talk in here and it was nice to hear from others on their experiences - especially on a game with such dense rules and code.

Granted... I play Pirates on location so frankly I don't care about fixing the game or whatever slew of problems #XXX CE has out of the box. And I fully sympathize with anybody looking for some support when their new $9500 toy isn't working. So I'm glad this thread and the great people that post in here have been able to alleviate some of those issues.

But man - I guess I'm just more interested in hearing about how people are playing the game and some of the deeper exploiting of the game code that can be done with the various characters and their perks. I feel like that kind of discussion might actually help the people at JJP when they are looking at updating the code and balancing things out as best they can.

Obviously this is completely anecdotal but I've had the most success attaining wizard modes using multiball focused characters and approaching the early part of my game on starting a multiball and ALWAYS having a Chapter running regardless of the color. And playing extremely safe even if it means timing out a Chapter.

After my first ball I usually look at what Movies have the most Chapters qualified and start focusing more on making that specific shot and then immediately starting the Chapter.

I fully admit that its a bit of a haphazard approach but I have much more success this way as opposed to using Tia Dalma and just picking the Chapters using the interface. I'm sure a more skilled player could take Tia and just run a clinic on the wizard modes with great play that would make me reconsider everything I've just posted. Probably part of the reason I love this pin.

I believe its just a matter of a shot registering on the Black Pearl and then mashing the action button.

Also for any of you home owners. Somebody STILL hasn't posted a comprehensive character perks/negatives chart or table. Would be much appreciated if somebody could take the time to pick each character, hold down the left flipper and take a quick picture and upload to an imgur album.

Things like Will Turner's 5x skillshot multiplier are crazy good in a competitive setting if you know it ahead of the game. I've had 300,000+ point skill shots with him and in a tournament setting that is a healthy head start and often enough to outright win the game within 30 seconds on ball one.

But that 5x skillshot bonus isn't listed on the character selection screen. Kind of weird that JJP didn't just decide to list them all on the selection interface and instead buried them inside the instant info screen once you have started the game.

i believe he has the negative traits listed. im surprised that there aren’t more of them to be honest

yeah. it’s confusing to me why they just wouldn’t put everything on the character selection screen. maybe a fear of information overload for newbie players. and they probably aren’t wrong because i see casual players struggling to even figure out how to pick a character - let alone taking the traits/perks into consideration.

honestly pirates is probably a game that could benefit from the ‘advanced mode’ treatment that stern GoT has available.

Blackbeard my man.

Multiball for days.

Good game!

6x is definitely hard to get unless its via mystery reward. Combine it with a 6x shot multiplier and you have some serious multiplication going on.

I've had a ~1.5 million Arr Frenzy via a 6x playfield and its still one of my best games yet. It was CRAZY fun watching how fast the scores started ramping up.

finally converted to the dark side.

blackbeard for life my man.

once you get that upper orbit dialed in you'll start to see 100 gold on the table from a single hit to the GOLD targets. probably one of the most satisfying shots in the game. good stuff!

Good lord man. That is a stupid good score!

I was going to mention that but even in that case its a pretty amazing score for 'not knowing the rules and things not working 100%'

GG. Time for me to hang it up. LOL.

That is awesome. Some interesting perks in there that I can't believe they don't list on the character selection screen.

Would have never guessed that Swann can't play Tortuga Multiball or ARRR Frenzy.

you have to pick the character and then hold the left flipper during the actual game to get into the information screen that shows all the plusses and minuses of each character. its very cumbersome when they could have all just been listed on the character selection screen in a little text field or grid of some sorts.

its one of those games that gets deeper and better the more you play and understand it. can be brutally fast too!

unfortunately if he/she played it on location there is a decent chance it wasn't working 100% as intended.

weather a rating should be based on that is up for debate... but Pirates is definitely a game that needs to be dialed in to be fully enjoyed.

I like will turner because of his extra combo time. seems that you can fumble/brick the loop and get another chance to keep the massive gold stack going with him.

maybe some of the other gold focused characters would be decent too like marty or gibbs.

from my experience that starts to go away the more you play and learn the audio clues and the timer lengths (which are pretty generous to be honest). sometimes its well worth it to sacrifice 5-10-20 gold on the table if the ball is heading into a bad spot. and it starts to get really easy to know how much gold is out on the table simply from the audio clues just because of how well the audio is designed on the game.

beckett is pretty much a 'never pick' at this point in my world. but i'll never discount that he could be utilized effectively in some way. part of the beauty of this game

yep. you have to 'cash in' the loops by hitting the map hole. i've seen skillshots over 500,000 with will so he's a great character if you can dial in those loops. the map hole shot is just a bit earlier on the flipper than you'd normally hit for the loops. it can definitely be a bit tricky when you are in the groove.

I've played the LE but put in way more time on an SE that is out on location and the RGB GI isn't missed in that situation (very good natural lighting).

For home use I think the RGB GI is a much bigger issue.

i think the 'starfield' is in reference to the starmap.

which - honestly - is probably one of the most minimal losses in regards to the other things the LE upgrade has.

I feel like its been 4+ months of radio silence on any sort of update for the game and nothing substantial has really been leaked. Unless they put out machines at events with updated code... wasn't the last we really saw of anything the Valentines Day Dead Flip stream? And from what I remember from that there really wasn't anything that stood out as a major change in the game.

it is pretty crazy how long the game has sat at sub 1.0 code considering they 'announced' in what seems like December of last year.

Fair enough. The thread kind of turned into a mixture of "how many more superficial mods can i stuff in my game?"(no offense @yelobird) and "how can i protect my playfield?"versus an actual thread about playing the game itself/strategy/etc so I definitely haven't been keeping up on it as much as I used to.

so a final wizard mode, some character tweaks and some QOL tweaks for operators. is that the rumors we have at this point?

yikes man. sending good vibes in your direction.

love the game so far and can't wait to see what other stuff you have in the works. health is a priority so please don't stress over it.

i mean.... we are all still waiting on ghostbusters code and whatnot lol!

Amazing. The SE's are the most rare edition of the game LOL.

to be fair... neither of those games has LE and CE versions.

regardless i wasn't implying that SE's are all of the sudden going to be worth more. just that its a bit funny that they are the most limited edition which is likely the exact opposite of a Stern release. just an observation and what have you.

i do agree wwith your overall points but i believe barbossa gets half value on those jackpots though. so there is some sort of negative to him unlike blackbeard who is the GOAT if you are going full-blown multiball scoring.

i'm sure there will be a balance pass on the characters with the next update.

would be very interested to see. especially in that amount of game time!

gg.

there are players that are so far beyond your (and my) skill that its downright unworldly. and they will absolutely destroy on any game, regardless of how its setup, given the chance to get familiar with a machine.

its best to just accept it and move on lol.

Make sure everything is in alignment on both ships.

On the SE version I play on-location the cannon has been out of whack since almost day one - to the point that I'm just qualifying Black Pearl multiball using the skillshot advance once the cannon is primed to be loaded. Much easier than having to make 3 missed shots or the rare chance that the cannon shot actually hits as intended.

Its unfortunate but JJP POTC is definitely a game that needs major tweaking/dialing in before it plays 'right"

yup. this is the progression.

so basically my strategy is just get the green cannon arrow lit. let the ball drop out of the pearl and then lock a ball in the chest to get another skillshot chance and.... voila! a free 'three point shot.'

ezpz Black Pearl multiball.

also thanks to this thread i managed to put up some seriously solid barbossa and norrington games at the brewery tonight (3ish million, wizard modes with norrington, etc).

nice to see the thread have some good old fashioned strategy discussion as opposed to the normal mods/troubleshooting/playfield archival preservation society discussion.

that is some unreal stacking. truly amazing play!

Manufacturing pinball is hard.