Even though it looks like the game has no ball-to-ball carryover features, it sounds like a *MAJOR* project. Taking the multi-player related guts out of another machine, adding the second set of reels, getting a lot of that to fit in the existing head, working all that into the existing circuitry etc. etc. Especially when the alternative is to simply let two players take turns playing their 5 balls and see who wins in the end. Just doesn't sound like it's worth the effort to me. Would be a bitch even if there was a 2 or 4 player offshoot of Triple Action, which I don't believe there was.

Just about impossible... if there were only someone who would prove that it could be done! (Looks at original poster...)

This isn't quite as big a project as building a pinball from scratch, but it's along the same lines. Heroic dedication required, with the result being something that you'll never get your money out of.

You could fix lots of EM pinballs, enjoy them for a while and offer them for sale and make money in the same time you would devote to this extremely ambitious project... But if you love the machine, and NEED it to be two player on a very personal level, I'd say follow your obsession.

(shakes his head) It's a big job.

Williams 1974 "Star Pool" is a four-player game which is very similar to "Triple Action".

I was thinking of doing the opposite. I was entertaining the idea of making a single player wedgehead version of "Pleasure Isle". I think that would be easier.

I agree that converting a single player game to a two player game would be pretty tricky if you were going to try to keep it all electromechanical. However, if you were instead going to convert the control circuitry to solid state with an arduino or similar microcontroller the problem would probably be more straightforward. The inputs would be the playfield and cabinet switches while the outputs would be the score reels and non GI lights. You'd have to find a bulb to distinguish player 1 from player 2 (or use the credit wheel to indicate the player up), but you could share the score reels between players by restoring the appropriate score when the ball drains.

Then you'd have a game where you wouldn't need most of the relays or score motor.

/Mark

Yeah I didn't see it because IPDB didn't mention it within the single player descriptions, only the other way around. Still some differences in the bonus multiplier and a few other little things.

Imagine a 2 player conversion of a 1P that DID have carryover features like a game-length sequence kept track of by a big relay bank. Then you'd HAVE to do it with solid state stuff.

The Retro Pinball version of King of Diamonds is the most concrete example of taking an EM 1-player and making it into an electronic 4-player, and it can even be set in Add-A-Ball mode!
.................David Marston

Williams 8-ball (1966) and Gotllieb Scuba had a split bank carry over feature. So certain achievements scored by each player were "saved" and applied when it changed players.

Ball count unit is going to add some complexity.

This sounds smart. Yeah, basically find the guts for a 4-player WMS (I'm not sure if you could fit all the score reels in the single player head.., it's possible you could reposition some other head mechanics underneath which would be extra cool ), and then use that Star pool schematic to shoehorn everything together. I really don't see this approach being that difficult... most of the effort might be in the aforementioned work around the head etc.

Perhaps with the extra relays you could add some features. I really love these sorts of EM projects. If you have the will, there is most definitely a way.. and when you get in the EM mindset, it's a ton of fun!