https://github.com/fatchit-idleman/seawitch/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Assuming this link works, new version of stern seawitch. Not many tweaks suggested in other Seawitch threads, but added the 2 I found. This rom is packed FULL, there's no bytes free after checksum correction applied (and some casual space saving measures taken.... not as radical as Flight 2000 project at this point).

Zip includes the source code as well if you want to play around with it.

The changes:

Spinner counter. Saves high spins (capped at 99) in previously unused audit 15 so you can reset it periodically. I've found at least on my game that you don't get too many spins on this one, but maybe I need to tweak the spinner a little. Shows the high spins as player 4 when high score to date shown on displays.

Added max credits in audit 19, range 00-99 (setting to 00 would require dip switch to be set for freeplay or you can't start a game)

Free play option.

Added setting to allow only 1 extra ball per physical ball... for tournaments so you can still have EB on but not have someone play forever. This setting would require add-a-balls to be off.

(user request): carry over the spinner lamps once lit (dip settable)

(user request): more score for consecutive loops (dip settable)

Each successive loop up to 5 increases award 1st time 1x, 2nd 2x, 3rd 3x, etc. up to 5x. I've only been able to do it while testing with the glass off but it was requested and made sense to add.... those couple people that have the solid mod to the shooter lane might be able to successfully use this. I never played for points this way I find it far more lucrative to hit all but one drop down in each bank, then go back once blinking to collect the bonus ladder.

versions included for mpu200 board and weebly board. Sorry Alltek, still out of luck as changing their rom chip voids their lifetime warranty.

Of course, I've immediately found an error in my docs.... dip 18 is preserve spinner lamps, dip 19 is allow consecutive loops. (Reversed in doc at github)

Not without adding a switch too easy to cheat it otherwise you could flip to hit the pop

update link

Drop handling bug 2/3 fixed - need to test the fix for the 3 bank. There's a phantom drop switch in there that I didn't take into account.

File will be removed until I get the fix into the game.

OK, corrected version posted.
http://tsqmadness.com/slochar/ZIP/seawitch_V07.zip

I might have to change the way the spinner counts, but barring other bugs, I think this is done. In testing I was spinning the spinner and draining IMMEDIATELY, and the spinner counter would 'stick' on the display (balls still count etc. correctly, just not shown correctly)

but no more phantom drop issues!

I went back to other games I've added the solenoid savers to make sure I didn't make the same error there (it would only show up in multiplayer games) - and I did those differently, in assembly instead of pigs, so they all work properly (still).

http://tsqmadness.com/slochar/ZIP/

going to stop posting the direct links, just look for seawitch_v??.zip that's the current one

Corrected the spinner timeout - it worked about 1/2 the time on a quick drain, so not sure what was going on there. Also added that if you turn the spinner counter over at 100, it will record the top spins in nvram as 99. I haven't been able to get more than 15 spins since adding this feature!! I think I need to tweak the spinner. It's not something I ever went out of my way for, so just never noticed I guess.

The stargazer one I'm testing I'm getting 50-80 spins so I know they work well.

Likely that red jumper near the combo ROM needs to move or come off

still at http://tsqmadness.com/slochar/ZIP/

seawitch is v08 now

no longer posting a direct link since the software changes from time to time

Any rom burning service should be able to do so, using the 512 image/a 27C512 eeprom for the weebly board U1 (current revision, older revisions contact Andrew barakandl as the chip sizes were different on the earlier boards)

If your board has a physical jumper for U1 it's the latest rev.

FWIW I use a cheapie programmer, the TL866. Works fine for the 512 chips and most others. Quench figured out how to get more voltage out of the newer versions that don't program the 21v chips.

I have an ancient data io chipwriter as well which is SLOW, needs a parallel port, and DOS. I have a machine set up for it in the basement but I haven't turn that on in years. (I should see if there's a soundblaster in it and sell that card for big $$$). That burner was the cream of the crop in 1997, but you couldn't edit the definitions and some of them were wrong - you really do "BURN" the chip when you program it at 25volts and it's expecting less. Magic smoke comes out.

Also I had to use floppies to put stuff on.... just a total PITA. I did update it to use a USB floppy emulator, but then you have to format the USB sticks a certain way and I'm not sure where they all ended up.

I think I'm exclusively using the 512 eeproms at this point for games that can take them. I'm going to do some system 7 stuff soon and I dread the 2532's I'll have to use for that. Tried some creative rewiring on a kahout board once since everything's a jumper to get larger chips to work on an adapter but that was a fail. Might have to revisit that. I asked them once if they'd consider doing that and they said no..... something with more license fees per chip when it's as original or something like that. Silly.

no, because of the short time between versions don't have it.

Doesn't matter to me, they were all posted publicly at some point. I don't know why you'd want versions that don't work 100%, and I think it's silly when pinmame adds them (it's one thing to have the original manufacturer's stuff in there, the different versions - they're official - but my stuff is very much a beta work in progress type thing instead.)

You mean a sweep award? Or just getting them down 4-3-2-1? Very Alien-Pokery. That type of stuff almost has to be something like a 'hidden' award (could probably make the drop bank lamp flash while it's valid, though)

A better skill shot might be short plunge, spinner spins a couple times (so you know it was the first switch activated) and then you do something (either the center bank sweep or the loop) for extra points? Extra bonus? Maybe you get 10k-20k-40k-80k for each drop (right to left) that you get down with the one shot?

The switch handling doesn't really work very well for a sequential/simultaneous downed shot though. In theory it should, but there's a lot of backend manipulation even to get the sweeping working correctly (which it usually does, but sometimes doesn't, just due to back end timing and what else the machine is doing at the time)

You mean the background sound loop? The only difference would be that the game is waiting for spinner to timeout, so the background sound routine can activate during it. I didn't hear anything other than game sounds in your video.

It's kind of a shame that seawitch doesn't have a lot of times when you can hear the background sound wave effect, usually it's being interrupted too often by scoring.

81 spins is really impressive. I still can't get more than 20 on mine.... needs some attention there I think.

Getting to the 'end' of the game and doing victory laps with the 39k bonus collects is what I go for.

Carrying over 6x/7x would be dead easy to implement, although finding a free dip (I don't remember what's left if any) to make it tunable might be the hard part there.

I suppose a drop sweep could be an addition, with the award being the leave the one target up bonus payout if you swept them. I've never swept the top bank and the other banks are challenging in this game to do so. It's no meteor in that aspect for sure.

I don't know how else you could add depth to the game though. It's shallow in a good way I think, but open to ideas.

Can you repost the sound error though I thought I'd listened to it but maybe I didn't get the right one if it was ball 2 instead of ball 1. Any extraneous sound probably is caused by the background sound routine stopping when the ball hits the outhole, but the spinner still waiting to timeout and could probably be tweaked.

Anything else for seawitch or in general? There's always stuff in the fire 'in general' - but unless someone thinks of something that would make sense in seawitch, pretty much done.

Any ideas?

So planned for seawitch at some point:

Maybe a skill shot on the center bank, slow plunge through the spinner, try to sweep as many as you can, extra bonus for this.

Thinking of different sound effects, the 'kapow' sound is used a lot. I'd like to get my favorite classic stern sound, the 25k sound from big game, in there.

I'd like to install some kind of optical spinner but not sure how I'd do it yet. Playing around with ideas.

More of a fan fare for getting the loop more than once in a row.

Ball saver (maybe..... probably just because I'm frustrated at the crappy ball times I had this morning.)

So I just reviewed the code in prep for going back into this, going to have to get creative (hopefully not flight 2000 rewrite creative) to make room for everything. What is it with these classic single ball stern games that have rom sprawl??? I know a lot of it is light shows (the adding to the loop show is pretty long IIRC). Pretty basic game, but like flight 2000 (full), quicksilver (full) and seawitch (full).... hmmm.... all Pfutz programmed.....

Games like Meteor, Big Game, Galaxy, Nine Ball.... lots of empty space. Hmmm.... Galaxy/9 ball, Rob Quinn. Meteor/Big Game, Alan McNeil.

I miss the mpu100 games where you can just double the available romspace easily by going from 2x2716 to 2x2732

Time to get creative again.....

Also, I forgot to remove the 'tilt takes your extra balls away'.... was having a great game this morning and got a spontana-tilt. (I wasn't shaking, I swear!!) and it took my EB away. Booooooooo

Well, there could for sure be 2 skill shots. The top star rollover would have to be made, a timer started, and it drops into the pops and the pop triggers the skill shot. That's a little 'tough'. I'd probably make that reward light all 4 standups for the spinner maybe?

The center bank skill shot would be 10k for one, 30k for two, 50k for three, and 100k for all 4. You rarely get all 4 for sure I get 3 with some regularity.

No, that one I'm not going to do. Bonus advance isn't hard to come by on SW.... hit the drops!! Or hit the star rollover in the return lane. That reminds me.... Probably will prevent that star rollover from being the first 'score'. There are some tournament players that short plunge over and over building the bonus by hitting it before launching the ball. Not so much that that's a bad strategy, it's just that the ones that do it do it UNTIL they have the bonus maxed. So they short plunge for like 5-10 minutes and bring that game to a halt.

If you put the spinner as a bonus advance, it will reduce the game to a 'shoot the spinner' at the expense of everything else game. There's already too many of those types of games.

Really seawitch needs less tweaks than a lot of games of the era - previously I didn't even think it needed anything. Just looking to add some more depth to the rules like drop sweeping (no one is going to sweep bank 3, but banks 1 and 2 definitely can be swept). Probably make the sweep award 2x current bonus so that could be 78k.

First thing up though is making space in the rom. Might have to get radical again on this like f2k's.

And it's in between several other things, as usual, including something really major, so it's going to be jammed in as usual.

Let's see some suggestions. Currently in the existing version is spinner counter, carry over standup progress (dip settable), looping bonus for multiple loops (dip settable), free play, one extra ball per ball in play (dip settable) - (one EB potential per 'real' ball)

Definitely adding: No extra ball take away on tilt. Thought I'd gotten that one already, but nope, still there.
A couple sound effects for the loop bonus as right now there's no way to tell you got it unless you're watching your score.