South Seas is now complete as well! 29 left on this playfield.

....and Monaco - down to 28!

Monaco brings back two super cards, but adds the ability for the super cards to score separately from the main card. All docs missing for this one, so I have guesstimated. The portioning doesn't really change much from game to game, except where they pull out a bunch of features, like on Monaco.

Next up will either be Bally Beach Beauty or United's Brazil... decisions.

Both have a semi-confusing feature... I know how the Bally game works (I think), but I'll have to see if S/I cards are available for Brazil to confirm functionality that I'm seeing on the schematic.

Looks like Brazil's spotted line feature is an extension to the spotted number feature - when the stepper steps beyond a certain point, it will trip the first two columns. The top row will be lit (or possibly the middle and bottom). All rows move their spotted number at the same time. Since the numbers are independent on each row, you can spot up to three numbers at once!

Pretty cool feature!

All docs available, so we'll see what portioning does to this. It looks like it might be hard to earn the middle and bottom rows, but additional columns may be as easy as additional numbers on the spotted_number unit.

Brazil is done, and it's an odd game - you can spot up to three numbers at once in one of five columns. Unfortunately, lighting more than one at a time is very costly. As are the Lite-A-Name feature and rollovers. Rollovers light the first extra ball automatically, so I guess they tried to make that a rare, fun event.

I'm interested to play this rarity on real hardware... it seems very challenging.

The next game is Bally's Beauty Beach. And it has an unusual feature - depending on the lit elements, you can spot any number on the backglass. In process, you lose a ball.

The weirdest thing is that the time tree doesn't exactly apply - if you pocket the needed number, the game will allow you to move the ball around...

I think I can handle this by reviewing the last element in the list of lit numbers --- if 123 or 4567 are last, I can grant a reprieve until the ball count increases (maybe). An example of a game is self.holes == [3, 9, 12, 15, 22]. When you turn the dial, that '3' turns into a different number and is appended to the end. The trouble comes in the time tree - the game times out the feature after four balls are shot. What happens if you land in #3 on your fourth ball? It allows you to reposition #3 until you shoot ball #5.

Now, let's say that ball #5 lands -- you can reposition that one, too, supposedly... but I wonder... why would Bally allow you to move the number into a position that allows you to score more? Perhaps that is why there is no separate super card replay counter unit in this game. The maximum you can earn are four corners and an inline score. You cannot earn a four in a row from the super card and a four in a row from the main card.

As far as portioning goes, this game is relatively simple. I also have the graphics separated, but not aligned. Should only take a day or two.

It is a rarity, though, and looking at the schematic, it appears that you can light either 123 or 4567 on the same game! I've reached out to a few people and have not been able to confirm.

The score and instruction cards say 'OR' instead of 'AND' so I'm thinking that it shouldn't be possible. Electrically, I don't see anything in the way... but who knows? That's the nice thing about this project, I can always fix and change things if I get them wrong.

Beyond that... probably Miss America '57!

Stared at this for a while tonight. Nope! You can't. It will pick one or the other. Writing that feature now, but graphics and portioning done.

Beach Beauty is done! Cool game! The spotted numbers feature is pretty interesting and very unique.

I wasn't sold on it until I could see it in action. Wow! It's pretty powerful. You have a HUGE risk/reward factor. "Do I shoot for #1,2 or 3 for the ability to re-position my number for a four in a row, or do I go for the safe three in a row?

The fact that it allows you to re-position the numbers even if you achieve the wild pocket on an extra ball is pretty cool!

Imagine hitting it on your 8th ball - you just need that elusive /one more hole/ for a 5 in a row. You got it! Will be an incredible feeling on real hardware.

Next, I'll be working on Miss America '57, then moving on to the other Miss America games.

Open invitation - just shoot me a text or give me a call if you're local and want to see it. I'm happy to entertain if our schedules mesh.

The open invitation even applies to zimjoe ! Thanks for your kind words as always. I think with a few more sessions, you'll be able to walk others through the games too. Let me know when you need a bingo of your own to practice on.

So, I didn't describe the bug, but here's the gory details:

I recently modified the mixers and spotting motors to move a certain number of positions with each 'spin'. Unfortunately, I took a shortcut and set up the double double motor and the magic number motor as subclasses of the spotting disc. This allowed me to spin up to the max number of positions on the motor before stopping previously, but now forced a stop on a rivet that didn't exist. Made a new motor class that behaved as the old one did, changed the two motors to use the new class in each game and was good to go!

Hopefully that made some kinda sense to someone.

Definitely. This game isn't gonna make itself!

What's better than writing a search to encompass 25 numbers that can move 3 positions? How about 50 numbers?!

All portioning, search and gameplay logic written... now for the graphics.

Miss America (1957) is complete! Whew! Lots of lit elements to set up - took a while!

The gameplay on this classic game is fantastic. Five horizontal magic lines allow for the possibility of putting the same number on a single card in multiple lines.

And two cards!

Quadruple deck scoring (red, yellow, green and white), corners score red 5 in line, extended time tree, extra balls, and rollovers extend time tree make this a complete package. Rollovers will alternate with each coin or replay played when lit.

Bally took this formula and ran with it for three more games - adding a feature here or there and tweaking the formula a bit, but they got a few things absolutely correct from the beginning:

Relatively friendly portioning (same basic portioning carries throughout the series)
Number layout - remains unchanged for all four games
Multiple, separately scoring lines on each card.
Strategic gameplay.

This first game in the Miss America series has a sounder (knocker) that will fire with each advance of the magic lines unit and advance of the odds steppers. One of the woodrail bingo features I really enjoy.

I think I may be human after all! Had to sleep a little last night instead of working on the game.

...well, I did work on the game a little. I created all the images for Miss America '75, and began the programming tasks - the biggest addition to this game is Double or Nothing scoring added from the 70s six cards!

They also apparently added these units exactly as they appear in a 70s six card, which is pretty cool, as all that has already been written. I merely need to pull it over, and alter it to score on color vs. on card. It's not a direct port (almost like wiring it to the proper units in a real game), but pretty close!

Other portioning is the same as the 1957 version, so I think I should have this one done over the weekend, if not before.

This weekend is pretty well packed, and I may be selling a game to a first time bingo owner, so I may not have much time to work on the game.

Did I mention that with the completion of Miss America '57, I am down to 25 games left on the standard 25 hole playfield?

Thanks NoQuarters! That's what it's all about.

Thanks d0n, I agree! Very reliable, fun games.

Despite my earlier post... game #80 is complete. Miss America '75 is another excellent game in the Miss America series.

Double or nothing added to the two card, 5 magic lines, alternating rollovers and four color odds. Great, great, great.

Next up will be Miss America Supreme. 24 to go!

New bingo owner left very happy with his new purchase. Time to rest my back!!

Thanks - yes, he was very excited! He played a few test games and won the elusive two in the star zones red letter game before we took it down.

I gave him a rundown on all basic maintenance and a thorough explanation of how to reassemble, etc. Should be in good shape! That was the first bingo I ever purchased, and my youngest and I played it together a lot. She was finally starting to grasp the rules (a bit), but luckily I'll have it implemented in the multi before too long.

My wife thought it was a good idea to take a goodbye glamour shot while I was in the middle of putting it back on the door end of the gameroom.

IMG_20161211_122941 (resized).jpg

I have several contenders for the empty space, but I have a System 80 switch matrix to repin... I'll enjoy an open space for now.

Miss America Supreme is now complete! Bally removed the double or nothing feature, and added the Red Letter Game! Cool version of this game, and by default grants that red letter feature very easily.

I'm glad I came up with the method for scoring a red letter game earlier!

And Miss America Deluxe - all done! That's the last of the Magic Lines games. Next, I'll be switching back to Magic Screens - I have four more to finish before those are all done... then it's Squares and Roto.

22 left!

Yep, sure could. Haha! Well, sounds like that was short lived.

Sweet, I guess that means I get to keep my one open bay for a little longer.

No... ooh, High Flyer - the first Bally six card with red diagonals.

I'm set on that game, but that price is excellent. In fact... you have a space opening up!

Regarding Pinbot, I still might take you up on that. That's the first game I remember playing as a kid. But I do need some time with the space for now. I have a few games that may be sold, depending.

Ideally, I'd like to have some space handy to fix other machines. People are always asking to drop games off (to fix) and I just don't have the room to do it, so all my service calls are in-home.

Ballerina completed! One of the great Magic Screen games with the most brain-bending feature ever conceived.

Ballerina has the traditional Magic Screen features (and is one of two games with a Magic Screen 'H'), but includes two oddities:

1) Rollovers, if enabled, actually advance the Magic Screen feature unit... Weird! Unfortunately, it takes two rollover hits to allow you to move the screen one extra position.

2) The 1-7 feature. The feature allows you to flip the first seven holes on the playfield - not physically, but via relay. So the ball remains in hole #6, but lights #2. I have real difficulty when playing this game - I guess I'm just not wired to take advantage of this feature.

With one-off features like this - I often wonder why the feature was cut. In this instance, I think I have a pretty good idea...

Bikini is complete - this was the first game with the Futurity feature. It allowed you to 'bank' your Red Letter game winners (OK winners since there are no red letters) and play them off later.

This features is really quite nice, but it has a flaw: the maximum futurity game has lower odds than the maximum red letter game on other magic screens. I guess that's the price you pay for flexibility!

All the great magic screen features return - 600 for 2 in blue, orange scores as green, triple deck scoring.

Lido is also complete. This is the second futurity game, and has white button play to light the super sections. On this game (and one other), you can light both super sections at once!

Can Can is complete in code, however I am awaiting a good shot of the backglass before I can call it 'finished'. I've got a feeler out for one, and I'm excited to get that game running. I've never seen one in person!

I've been working on Bounty. Thanks to Phil B's backglass scan, the graphics are done, and I've written all the portioning and other code for the skill shot and all other features. Gonna work on positioning then test it out. Bounty is a game I own, so I should be able to see if it is portioning correctly fairly easily!

I've also taken a peek at portioning for the next game. It's almost half as complex as Bounty. It's truly amazing how much Bally packed in for Bounty.

Bounty is done! What a great game. Major changes compared to Lido or Can Can:

White button now builds up a separate 'skill shot' game. You get a guaranteed jump with every white button press. Pressing the gold button or shooting your first ball through the gate will spin and select one or two numbers at random. You must land that first ball in the lit holes to score the replays shown on the skill shot counter.

Orange no longer scores as green, however, Bounty is the only game with Extra OK. This allows you to move the screen one more position, setting the orange section to start with #2.

Lastly, it has the Super OK. Super OK will increase your red letter by 2 until it gets to the fourth letter, then it matches back up with the default.

If you earn the Super OK, hope that it arrives when your green odds are very low. Then, win your red letter game and you will get an odds jump in all three colors along with the other guaranteed features (this doesn't happen in any other game).

I wanted to take a moment and publicly thank SteveinTexas for sending me high res photos of his beautiful Can Can backglass.

I received them at just the right time today (right before lunch), so was able to run home and do my (minor) edits and --voila--! I have a running Can Can in the Multi!

Can Can was produced between Bikini and Lido, and was the first Magic Screen game to add the white button for enabling super sections. As with Lido, what makes this feature unique is that you can enable both super sections at once! Can Can switches away from the Futurity feature in Bikini, and re-adds the red letter game from previous magic screen games.

I really appreciate everyone who drops everything and sends me photos of these games. I absolutely could not do it without you. Thanks again @steveintexas!

Thanks Vic! I agree on the artwork and colors of Can Can - beautiful game.

I finished Can Can! Down to 17 games left on the standard playfield!

Broadway, the first Magic Squares game, is complete. This opens the doors for all games through Sun Valley. Home stretch!

Thanks Ryan - this is the beginning of the games I was most hesitant about.

Now, Night Club:

I started work on it (almost a year ago!), then realized just how complex the portioning was, so jumped back to the very beginning to get a better handle on the evolution of the game. Trepidation about graphics and a lingering fear of the portioning made me very reluctant to jump back to the squares games, but I'm happy to say that Night Club is done.

That was the game I started with - what feels like a very long time ago now.

I am especially happy to get this done as Night Club is my favorite bingo pinball machine.

Whereas Broadway had Double and Triple scoring for the red and yellow lines, Night Club added Quadruple scoring and was the first game to feature After 5th!

A fantastic feature - with the Magic Squares, having the ability to move them around after the game has 'ended' may allow for better scoring possibilities, or set up a great 5-in-a-row win with an extra ball.

Parade is complete! Bally added two extra lines which are enabled at random intervals, similar to Miami Beach.

In exchange, the Magic Squares Feature Unit was reduced by one step - removing the spotted numbers.

Behind the scenes, though, there's still a way to randomly spot #2.

Quadruple scoring is retained from Night Club.

Down to 14 left!

Wondered why there was no update yesterday? The machine I'm working on now is fantastically complex.

It's the only machine with two games in one.

The portioning utilizes some of the same circuits for each game, with some variations for runs to the top or etc. It's pretty brain-bending looking at the circuitry, though.

It has Magic Squares AND Select-a-spot.

And from my testing, the portioning is VERY liberal. I'm fortunate to have played another simulation here: http://bingo.joopriem.nl/
and the portioning feels fairly similar to that. Odds are quick to jump, features are quick on game #2, not as quick on game #1.

In playing the simulation, I really like this game (racked up over 1000 credits while writing Coney Island). Hopefully that holds with the fully emulated portioning of my game...

It is one of only two baseball-themed bingos.

Can anyone name this game?

Thank you very much. I am humbled that there are enough people that feel the same to have granted me the title.

I very much appreciate your listenership, and kudos on the Multi.

I know! So many hints... Well, if no one gets it, I'll name it when I finish the game (tonight). I neglected to mention that all the portioning is complete, as well as the graphics. I only have to position one set of numbers on the Magic Squares, then I can begin testing scoring...

I've also finished graphics for the next game. I was debating switching to the next and coming back to this one, but I'm glad I stuck it out - as with most games, initial impression of the portioning doesn't hold with the reality. It's not as complex as it first appeared. Still complex, just not insanity-levels of complexity.

Vic have you ever played a Double Header? How about you Dennis? Did you find that it gave odds jumps fairly easily if so?

The connections to the spotting disc are frequent for each odds level. There's a fair bit of stingy portioning on game #1's run to the top of odds, but game #2 just sails up pretty easily and single steps are quick to come. I think part of that is that the portioning works similar to the lower odds levels of other games, and there are just fewer odds steps. Always good to hear from someone with experience, though!

Forgive me if I've asked either of you this in the past.

I also suspect that there was enough wire in this game that they really didn't want to waste any extra with wiring up additional portioning for odds or features. The Magic Squares feature has no teaser arrows, for example. Don Hooker was very clever in how the portioning circuits overlapped for each game. It makes it fairly easy to 'wire' virtually, too, once you understand what's happening.