Vic, I remember you told me about that and I took your excitement to heart. Several of the other folks have told me about Dude Ranch and the special place it sits in their hearts and collections, so I was excited to get a chance to play one!

I've gotta say that I think there are many standout titles from 1951-53, and Dude Ranch is pretty incredible. I've play tested it on the cabinet quite a bit and have a hard time stopping to play a different game. I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback on this game.

During play testing today, I've been fixing more minor bugs, mainly with new features of the new games.

The '8 balls next game's of the rodeo 1 card is only the second game with a carry-over feature. I changed the order the game reset and suddenly: no more 8 balls. Simple stuff like that.

I am now working on the sixth ball feature in Mississippi showboat. I have it reliably lifting ball 6 now (that was a struggle - I mentioned this some time ago, but the last ball lifts when you press the search button, and can only score on certain cards.) I have to change my search algorithm to check the state of a fake 'searched' relay I put in - if it has been searched and the selector unit is > whatever card number for the sixth ball, it will score. Otherwise, has to pass it by.

Part of the challenge of this and many other sample only or rare games is the lack of paperwork. I have implemented these games as I 'think' Bally or United might have implemented them. There are only two other unproduced games that I know of: Bally Apollo Ball and Bally Continental (reskin of Miss Universe). I will implement the other Continental. As to Apollo Ball, no information has ever surfaced.

The game is working very well, I have a few minor tweaks to make (wrong rollover lamp goes out on certain games, stuff like that), but it's pretty much show-ready.

I spent some more time playing it very rough (for me). Tilted a lot, and found an issue: if you don't wait for the lifter to settle before shooting your next ball, it can(!) lift an extra ball. This happens if you are basically plunging them as fast as they are served. I fooled around with the lifter logic quite a bit today, nothing really helped that. I think I will need to add another hardware switch to fix it, but I am hesitant to do so. We will see what happens at York.

Thanks NoQuarters! There is still much to be done, but I'm excited by how far it has come in a short time.

Lunchtime: rewrote Mississippi Showboat search algorithm by creating a copy of the list of active holes at ball count 5, then referencing to see if there is new activity at ball count 6.

My dev workstation cannot track this properly (which is why this feature was broken), but I should be able to test it tonight.

Sure do!

Here's the full list of six cards (quickly pulled from my menu - pardon the underscores):
bright_lights
holiday
frolics
showboat
bright_spot
fun_way
lotta_fun
fun_spot
lite_a_line
barrel_o_fun_61
hole_in_one
stock_market
ticker_tape
wall_street
blue_chip
bull_market
high_flyer
nashville
dixieland
continental
mississippi_showboat

This is only 21 of the forty games that will be available at the show on the multi alone!

Hours of enjoyment for a dedicated player.

Mississippi Showboat reworked search algorithm worked perfectly! Very neat.

An interesting game, for sure. I wish a better backglass photo existed. For now, we can play and enjoy. Ava and Sophie came down to help test.

Testing going very well indeed.

I have a few hardware improvements to make before transporting the game. Next I'll get those set.

Lunchtime: Finished up the hardware improvements that I think are realistic to make... now I have to produce/print/cut a nice instruction card for between the S/I screens!

Testing continues to go well. I played a lot of Rodeo 1 card, Dude Ranch, Showboat and Circus. I had a good series of games on Circus and Showboat. I love the bell sound on Circus when you win replays.

Current menu 9/12/16:

Thanks fellas! I'm excited to bring it to the public. I'm working on a camera setup so I can actually film real gameplay. Doing that in all my 'free' time, haha!

...and to the surprise of no one, between hardware fixes and other tweaks to prepare for transport and public consumption (cleaning/waxing, etc) I am working on another game. I have source images ready to work for many of the remaining fixed-number games. Only 83 games left!

Here's a full list of games that will be available at York on the Multi-Bingo:

1) Bright Lights
2) Broadway ('51)
3) Coney Island
4) Zingo
5) Leader
6) Spot-Lite
7) Holiday
8) Atlantic City
9) Miss California
10) Palm Beach
11) Stars
12) Long Beach
13) Circus
14) Rodeo (1 card)
15) Frolics
16) Showboat
17) Bright Spot
18) Bally Beauty
19) Beach Club
20) Rodeo (3 card)
21) Yacht Club
22) Dude Ranch
23) Fun Way
24) Lotta Fun
25) Fun Spot
26) Lite-a-Line
27) Barrel O' Fun '61
28) Hole In One
29) Stock Market
30) Ticker Tape
31) Wall Street
32) Bali
33) Super Wall Street
34) Blue Chip
35) Bull Market
36) High Flyer
37) Nashville
38) Dixieland
39) Continental (six card, solid state)
40) Mississippi Showboat

Some of the above are incredibly rare (only one has been found), some of the above are fantastic players, some are interesting from a historical context - really a little something for everyone to enjoy.

Four different manufacturers - Keeney, Williams, United and Bally. Four different methods of evolution. Forty different play-types, mechanics and methods of rewarding a skilled player. All in one game.

Find your favorite or try something new, press the button to turn it on, and away you go. Press the red button (in all cases) to simulate coin drop or replay play, and the balls drop, settle, and a ball lifts to you. From here, press the red (or other) buttons as many times as required to set up your perfect game. When you shoot your first ball, the shutter closes, next ball lifts and you're ready to skillfully steer your balls to the best scoring holes (or the ball return).

When five balls are shot, you can play for extra balls (up to three - if the game supports them) by pressing either the yellow or green button (marked on the instruction card).

When you've finally hit your big winner (or succumbed to the agony of defeat), either reset your replays (with hidden knockoff switch), return to the menu (special key combo) or play another round.

Beautiful mechanical sounds of the replay register, shutter and lifter motors, knocker and bell and simulated sounds of steppers, searching, and spotting.

It was a lot of work to get it this far, but I still get the same 5-in-a-row thrill from this as I do from the real thing. I think I'm on the right track.

I'll be making a bingo row post, as I did last year, and will update this thread too with folks' impressions and how it went. Expect fewer updates as I finish preparing the game, and prepare for various travels before the show.

I've started streaming a bit of gameplay to give folks a little taste of how to play and features of games available (plus I don't have to feel like I'm talking to myself all the time while playing, ha-ha!)

I just used some of the equipment I have lying around for the podcast and an old webcam.

Here's the latest:

I didn't realize (since I'm using the computer's built-in webcam as a second one) there was no audio until about 33 mins in. woo!

I show off Bright Lights, Broadway, Coney Island, Blue Chip, Lotta Fun, Lite-A-Line, dixieland, continental, and Mississippi showboat.

Absolutely! I'm busy scrubbing various games and doing some maintenance in preparation for the show, so no time to stream or test.

Yacht Club is such a hard game (to me). I have real trouble picturing the diagonals. Also, I think my representation built off the schematics might be a bit stingier than it is in real life, which makes it all the more frustrating (when you're not a good player).

Show report: huge success and great feedback. It went over about as well as I could have hoped. Lots of folks played Bright Lights and the Rodeo 1 card as well as Dixieland. I will be posting in the bingo row 2016 thread with specifics and will link here later on.

Thanks NoQuarters! It was all worth it! I couldn't have asked for a better reception.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bingo-row-at-2016-york-show

Hey! Miss me? I'm still working on the Multi. I have been spending time building up various playfields.

I've cleaned and built up a Surf Club, Double-Up, Shoot-A-Line and Galaxy playfields.

I am still puzzling out the flipper mech on Mystic Gate. Once I have the basic idea of it... I should be able to assemble it easily enough. There are two moving parts that attach to the flipper. One is a small pawl, attached by a spring.

The other is a MUCH larger pawl, and is attached via a MUCH larger spring. I am not sure of the way this is assembled, but I'm working on it. How many ways would it be possible to assemble this? I've found about four so far... none seem to be working.

Once I have that resolved, I need to figure out the shutter board setups on Mystic Gate and Galaxy. I think Galaxy uses a ball return similar to Surf Club. Maybe. Mystic Gate I believe uses a standard 20 hole shutter.

I have a spare 25 hole shutter board, which may be usable... I may need to route out a triangle and screw in one of those circles like on the Surf Club shutter board.

I also fixed the display that failed during York (drive completely filled with logs) and everything is playing well.

Anyway, I've been working just as hard each night since I returned, but NO CODE at the moment.

Here's the list of upcoming games (since you've been patient):

1) Keeney Venus
2) Keeney Rainbow
3) Bally Miami Beach
4) Bally Variety
5) Several United games... ?
and more.

I have to build the drawer for additional buttons to get further than Variety. Shouldn't be too difficult to wire in the new buttons.

I also might switch it up and build in the Magic Screen games (except for Ballerina) while I work with Steve on a drawer.

If I can't get any more games done, I will just have to work on the stencil.

Know what this means?

magic_screen (resized).png

First solid code hour (or two) in a little while... I decided to tackle another type of game. Magic Screen games are some of the most complex mechanically.

Even more than the Mystic Lines games which followed after.

I've been a bit scared to try these... because of the complexity, but luckily - I figured out how to move the screen correctly.

I am going to take a little liberty with the search, likely - I read ahead and saw how the search relays are triggered - and I am likely not going to do all that for section winners. I will (at this time) emulate the sequence and winner units, which engage for sectional winners. They also provide the cool sounds when the game searches for a section winner. Subject to change.

I've done my integration with the menu, ensuring that multiple layers of transparency work without delay.

I've written the movement code, which checks two different units and multiple relays with each button press.

Now, I have to write the portioning (award) code and search (winner) code. Then TEST!

Probably another few days unless I get really good really quick.

Ooh, here's an interesting portioning tidbit which I'd never realized...

If you have the red or yellow super sections enabled, and you earn the extra step from the score extra step unit, after portioning to award either red or yellow extra steps, the game will switch to the opposite color to award the extra step. This is absolutely incredible. I honestly cannot believe the amazing level of detail involved in the design. Don Hooker's absolute genius lives on!

All portioning and inline winners/search are written. Now, the hard part is the sectional winners, then it's just testing (just, ha!).

The nice thing is that I can reuse all of the search code for every magic screen game, with only special enhancements for the special sections added later.

Lunchtime - everything written except for the function which calls the replay stepup for section winners. I've written the search for section winners, but replay stepup is another thing entirely. I've actually done away with the winner and sequence units - we'll see if that is a problem shortly.

Because I did away with the search disc setup, I cannot use the winner and sequence units as those are used to count the # of winning holes in the sections. Units reset as the search disc moves.

Instead, I am simply passing the lit numbers, and manually mapping the holes to sections. This is purely because the section winners will require LOTS of computation to change from the mechanical setup to the computerized and I am lazy/tired. Should play correctly, but we will see.

I have to write the graphics routines to light the numbers and odds and so forth, but those are not super hard since this game has many similar lit areas.

Hey! Guess who has a (mostly) working Magic Screen game?!

Carnival Queen is mostly done. Features and various special features work properly (magic screen movement, etc).

Section scoring, however, is not working reliably. I know exactly why, too. Remember how above I posted that I was taking a shortcut? Turns out I shouldn't do that. Someone please remind me of this in the future.

For now, I am continuing down the path described above, since it is already written.

I am having odd scoring bugs, but only in sectional wins... I feel like I'm working on a real bingo.

Edit: I have all sections scoring now (properly, I think) except for Blue. These early games keep track of the blue winners by using the green replay counter unit. I am emulating this, I see that I have two or three in the blue in the search area, but it will not step. YET!

I finished moving and testing Carnival Queen's scoring and so forth. Need to go back and tighten the game up - it is MUCH too easy to earn odds or features. At the moment, I am happy to earn my 192 replays on the super section...

I couldn't contain my excitement for long enough to pause. I moved to another game, and this one is 100% documented (a first for a game with multiple mixers)! I am working my way through the 100% reworked portioning of this game (vs. Carnival Queen), but I am crazy excited to show it off. It looks good, it plays well, it opens the door to so many more future games... wow. It'll happen soon enough - but probably in another week or so, based on how long the portioning is taking me. I am almost done mapping one of the odds steppers now.

Reflex, Mixer #1, Mixer #2 and a portion of Mixer #3 are now mapped. I will attempt to finish through mixer #4 and begin work on portioning the special features of this game. Have I mentioned I'm excited?

I've got the portioning complete for the next game... and it is working absolutely flawlessly. Each coin awards exactly like the real thing.

I still have a couple of new features to write in, and some individual lamp positioning to complete this game, but it will be amazing.

I also got a note on the portioning for CQ - I'll be able to backport from Ballerina for Mixer 3 and 4.

Loving it!

Another major feature complete. The OK game was introduced with the beautiful County Fair. If you earn the feature, you have to put at least two balls in the orange section, then hold the R button for approx 2 seconds.

The game will then dump the balls and start racking up features and odds. It is quite unique!

OK and Red Letter are synonyms. The highlighted letter in red shows you the guaranteed odds and features awarded when you put two or more balls in the orange section when 'OK' is lit on the backglass.

To score, you hold the R button down for ~2 seconds, and all the balls dump and odds and features tick up (like in the video).

http://foramusementonly.libsyn.com/episode-189-1959-bally-county-fair

(I sound pretty sleepy there)

Got up early this morning and fixed the portioning for Carnival Queen. At least to the level of detail which is documented (Phil was able to find another mixer's documentation!). I noticed that the new mixer (mixer #3) was exactly the same as mixer 3 on County Fair. I implemented mixer #4 as on Ballerina (similar to County Fair but with a minor change in two positions).

This made it quite a bit more reasonable, though it still counts up a bit quickly, I think. The screen also awards about the same as I recall it awarding in real life, but it does light a bit more quickly than on County Fair... interesting. In my playing experience, games that pioneer new features tend to light them a bit easier than later games, but Phil's site mentions the opposite is true for Carnival Queen.

Just some rambling for a Monday.

Just finished another game! Sea Island is done. It is one of two games Bally made with an extra red section in position 'H'.

Now, I'm working on a game with pic-a-play. I have the basic backglass image done for two more games (including the one I'm currently working on).

Current game progress: implemented pic-a-play, but replays aren't stepping down. Working on portioning for pic-a-play circuits and finished extra features (including blue replay counter), and orange section winners. Anyone know the game I'm working on? It'll probably be done tomorrow night.

I've been a bit surprised that the portioning is not more different between screen games. It is only just slightly different from game to game for standard features.

Some of the early games had radically different portioning setups. That was probably due to the difference in the number of mixers.

Aww, no guesses?

OK, it was Circus Queen! I love the artwork on this game. Beautiful.

It is one of the first screen games with pic-a-play. I've got that worked out, added the additional logic for features/scores only (including enhanced OK circuitry), and began work on Golden Gate! Golden Gate is almost done, too. I have some additional winner logic to write, but the purple section and golden game relays are implemented and tripping appropriately. Gate will not award when OK is awarded and vice-versa. Tested and works! Love it.

I'll post pics soon.

Demonstrating the Golden Game and Gate feature:

Thanks Dennis - Silver Sails is also done!

Laguna Beach is also done... and another game's artwork pretty much complete.

Malibu Beach also complete - this was the last production Bally bingo.

Check out the interview with Hugh Kown for information about the story behind the last production game, but the short version is that a large operator convinced Bally to re-run a previous title - Bally chose to re-run Laguna Beach, but with a few improvements and a completely changed set of artwork.

What was born was Malibu Beach, and I've heard lots of horror stories from restoration and repair folks about wiring errors - Bally was rushing to get these done before they closed the bingo doors for good.

At any rate, I scoured the schematic, as normal, to see if there were any significant changes in portioning. In particular, Bally implemented a Mixer #2 relay at the time Circus Queen and the other pic-a-play screen games were produced, to prevent you from earning features with your initial (game start) coin/button press.

Well, oddly, Malibu Beach does not have a Mixer #2 relay, so you can earn the OK or a full run of the magic screen with a single coin or button press...... weird! It had been years since Bally found and fixed this issue - the problem is that the red letter game is incredibly lucrative. If you earn it on press #1 - you have 5c into a game that could earn you 300x5c!

All of the single button screen games have this particular issue.

...and now Roller Derby is complete. Doing the art ahead of time sure makes this easier...

I have one other game which has mostly complete artwork. Coincidentally, that will be game #50.

Thanks! I'm still working on game #50, but it should be pretty neat!

Thanks! I feel like I'm getting there!