5 weeks ago, I helped a friend buy his first pin...a Bally Radical! After a 3 hour drive we were shocked to find that it had been horrifically abused in its past. After the GI connector had burned up at some point, a previous "technician" proceeded to absolutely MacGyver in an old battery charger in to supply the 6 volts to the GI. There was exposed 220v wiring everywhere, factory wires cut, stuff hanging, everything wired up with lamp cord, extra relay boards screwed to the cabinet...but we were not deterred. After 5 weeks of work, he and I have brought the pin back to its former glory. She is back to 100% factory condition with all evidence of the past horror removed. A new connector was soldered to the interconnect board, new connector crimped to the wiring, game got new LEDs, new rubbers, all 4 flippers rebuilt, and will get an NVRAM soon. Always good to see it all work out in the end, and just like my first pin was for me...I'm sure it's a confidence boost for Boosterfive to have resurrected his own pin! She's not perfect, but pretty radical if you ask me. Now I've gotta find one for myself so I can join the club too!

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Looks good

DuffysArcade those before pics looks SCARY.

Yes, Radical! is the best game from 1990 and my favorite System 11 now. Picked up a nice one a few weeks ago. Hard to believe they made so few of them.

Can you name that movie? Came on a week ago so I took a snapshot.

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Congrats. I can't name the movie but I guess, looking at that sign, you are skating skating away from a mountain lion or being mauled to death? Seeing Gator in that poster reminds me of his documentary, Stoked. It's interesting but sad.

Movie is Thrashin' from 1986. Featuring a very young Red Hot Chili Peppers performing live. Never saw it before, but blew my mind when I saw that Skate or Die poster. Not really that out of the ordinary because at the time it was a popular catch phrase. Just that it was so long ago.

Or as I told NimblePin upon acquiring Radical! "Now I am truly gleaming the cube".

Ah! I was just thinking about watching that again. I haven't seen it since I was kid.

Does anyone know under what conditions the tail sliders diverter is activated?

I'm not quite sure. On an initial plunge sometimes the ball will go all the way around and exit the ramp at the bottom of the right inlane. But sometimes the tailslider diverter will activate and a tailslider session will start. I'm trying to understand why.

It is a good thing when it happens. If you didn't get spotted the second A or the L then you can potentially make 3 letters off your first plunge, by hitting a second tailslider.

as far as i know, it should never be disabled on plunge. maybe am issue with your side ramp switch being flaky?

Hmmm, not sure. What I've observed is when the tailslide lamp is lit it always works. When it is not, it does not. It is not lit on first ball first game after power on, but can be lit from a previous ball when starting a subsequent ball or game.

That said, I really think Radical is underrated because of it's rarity. This is a great pin with a rad theme.

I totally agree. As a System 11, the only thing I can come up with that might have affected production numbers or sales was the Bally back box at the time with the speakers mounted on top. Doesn't and never did bother me, but to some it might have been an oddball kind of thing.

Certainly more to do, and more fun than some of the higher production Williams System 11s of the same time.

The backbox style lasted up until Dr. Who which was changed to a normal wpc style at the last minute. The only games that might have been limited due to hardware would have been banzai run and atlantis.

The most important decals "RADICAL" triangles are all missing the underline. In some cases it's very obvious as the thick line continues on either side on the playfield. Did you ever fix these?

Anyone know where you can get a good set?

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Radical-D (resized).jpg

It's looking like I'll be joining the club and definitely excited. A few questions:

1) what are the main differences between the original Rom and the Soren ROM and where can I get it?

2) the prism decals on both spinners need replacement. What's the best way to remove the existing decals and residual adhesive so I can install new ones?

3) if I wanted to change out the color of the t-molding (the machine has black t molding and I'd like to swap out for red) I'm curious if that's a pain in the ass

I believe the custom rom caps the jack-pot at 4 million . Not sure about the decals but might be easier to just put brand new spinners in.

I bought some of those too. Thankfully those inserts don't need replacing. Maybe trim around the letter and just apply that?

A few more questions:

1) Can anyone point me in the right direction to get soren's latest tons?

2) could someone provide pics of the retro refurbs side blades installed?

Had been looking for the rom as well. No dice

Soren's Rom makes the jackpot cumulative within a given game for each player. 4, 6, 8, 10 million.

Below is an old copy of the readme. I no longer have the patch files as the game has left my stable.

Release note

Changes

RADICAL progress is never lost.
Lock made progress is player individual (no hard lock stealing). And never lost.
New status report page: RADICAL lights lock -> Lock lit -> RADICAL lights multiball -> Multiball lit.

On tilt, a locked ball is only ejected in the case of both balls ending up in the lock trough.
Lower drop target bank reset omitted from ball search.
Pops added to ball search.

Menu adjustment 50 changed from "Display AU01-04" to "Contest game". Options: "No" and "Yes". Default: "No".
When Contest game selected: The lock trough kicker is omitted from ball search.
When Contest game selected: The X ramp diverter is omitted from ball search.
When Contest game selected: Snake run awards follow a fixed sequence. Cross balls, player individual.
The Snake run sequence: Million, Vertical, Skate, Tail, Million, Vertical, Skate, Tail, Mystery, Mystery,...
When Contest game selected: Snake run "next award" is indicated on the backbox translite.
When Contest game selected: The Snake run Mystery award is 100K.

The Mega-millions jackpot follows the fixed sequence of 4M, 6M, 8M, 10M, 10M,... Increment on collect. Player individual.

Ball tracking and handling are cleaned up.
No multiball false start.
No incorrect end-of-ball, when draining down to one ball-in-play.

A bug where Bust-a-move ramp shots would not register on fast combos, fixed.
A bug where Tail slide ramp shots would not always divert the ball, fixed.
Buggy X ramp diverter control with multiple up/down/up cycles on open, fixed.

Better postpond ball search handling when balls are held by the game.
A bug where Mega-million would go to last chance (timing out) on ball search, fixed.

A bug where the lower drop targets would stay down with no Spot letter option, fixed.
A buggy light show procedure related to the lower drop target bank, removed.

Tail slider start level is harmonised at level 2 for all players.
A bug where Tail slider mode would carry half baked to next player, fixed.
Tail slider exceeding level 15 no longer freeze the ball in the lock.
A bug where Tail slider would start on last "A" achieved as Spot letter on the ramp, fixed.

Messy logic regarding RADICAL progress and RADICAL shots indicators are cleaned up.
A bug where on tilt, the game would not shut down lights and music, fixed.

A bug where the kickback could be unlit but active by mistake in multi-player games, fixed.

Why it rocks

Lost progress is unfair.
Too severe random elements. Snake run, to some extend. Mega-million, most certainly.
Lock stealing now off the board.
Progressive jackpot.
Reward for skillful strategic play regarding the Skate-or-die Snake run trumph.
Ball search and tilt no longer mess up game states.
Proper handling of two balls in the lock trough by mistake. And two balls in play by mistake.
Both states may occure on even a top condition machine due to the dynamics of the wonderful lock trough mech.
Bug fixes. A lot of them.

Note

Lock made status sustains through a ball removed from the lock by opponents or a tilt.
Soft lock stealing only. Relock necessary, but opponents will never benefit a players achievements.

If Skate-or-die is lit, a Skate-or-die at the Snake run will award the Mystery instead.
The buggy diverter control would occationally make a diverted Tail slide ramp shot register as a Bust-a-move ramp shot.
The fixed diverter control allows plunging the ball to lock/start multiball, when lit, at start-of-ball.

Tail slider mode is lit on (radicAl) "A" collected. Re-lit on a spinner shot and at start-of-ball. Mode lit does not time out.
Once the mode is started, the Tail slider indicator runs on a 12 seconds timeout. Reset on a Tail slider collected.

The European ROM defaults to the hard pre-set. The mod, based on the US ROM, defaults to the medium pre-set. The medium pre-set is recommended.
Spot RADICAL on inlanes (adjustment 32) stops when the score exceeds 4M.

If anyone has the patch files then please PM me as I have someone that can burn ROMs

Thanks!

The Radical I picked up has about 20 pieces of mylar slapped all over it, covering almost everywhere, but all the edges now look ugly and dirty so I decided to lift them and redo it properly.

The mylar actually lifts easily, except it seems the insert decals have lost adhesion to the inserts, so they lift with the mylar. I tested over less import decals, but nothing really prevents it.

I've thought of scanning the replacement decals and editing them myself and getting those ones reprinted. It's amazing the guy has sold many of these and doesn't bother to fix them, and just keeps selling them that way. He doesn't respond to my message on his EBay sale either.

The other option is paint the stripe on the insert myself before laying the decal. I think I'll give this a try.

Were you otherwise satisfied with the decals? I've had previous poor quality ones with bad fit, or poor blacks that don't block light. That he missed large parts of the graphic make me question how good the quality is altogether.

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-spinner-with-foil-decal.html
Just peel the old one off. A razor blade might help to get it started. Use some Goo Gone or TR-60 and a towel to help get the residual adhesive off.

Still waiting for them

I have joined the club and received my Radical yesterday. I am working through some smaller issues and could use the community's help. Here are my questions and I appreciate your expertise!

1) This is more of a system 11 question. Can someone either explain or perhaps point me to a link that clearly explains how to navigate the menus? This is my first System 11 and I need an education on the 3 buttons (reminds me of the demo man "he doesn't know how to use the 3 seashells?"). I know that the start button selects and it doesn't look like there is a confirm/save like on WPC games. How do I go directly to the diagnostic menu for instance where the switch and bulb tests are located? Once I'm done in the menus, how do I exit back into attract mode?

2) I have 1 credit dot for the "middle man" switch. Based on the manual, this seems to be the one that controls the right orbit gate. It registers fine in game so not sure why I'd be getting the credit dot. I have been to the switch test menu yet, but there doesn't seem to be a need.

3) I'm getting the soren roms today and wondering if there's anything in the menus I need to change once I install them? I'm assuming all current settings and scores will be reset to default.

Finally, I have a set of brand new sling plastics that I'd be willing to trade for a nice/new skate or die plastic if anyone has one.

Thanks!

Here's a video I made playing with the display test on a Space Station. showing the buttons in the upper left. Same arrangement as Radical.

2) I have 1 credit dot for the "middle man" switch. Based on the manual, this seems to be the one that controls the right orbit gate. It registers fine in game so not sure why I'd be getting the credit dot. I have been to the switch test menu yet, but there doesn't seem to be a need.

The middle man switch in the right orbit, just behind the whirlpool bowl. It only indicates to the game the direction of the right side of the orbit. If it's misadjusted it'll never trigger, especially when the ball rolls down through the righthand A gate. If A lights when the ball rolls down from the top, it's not adjusted correctly.

3) I'm getting the soren roms today and wondering if there's anything in the menus I need to change once I install them? I'm assuming all current settings and scores will be reset to default.

yes they will

Finally, I have a set of brand new sling plastics that I'd be willing to trade for a nice/new skate or die plastic if anyone has one.
Thanks!

Good luck!

Should have said L, not second A in point #2.

I am also interested in the Soren Patch files
If someone could share please PM me
I have the earlier version with the fixed 4 million Jackpot but would like the progressive one
Thanks

Thank you for the video. Man, they really improved the menu navigation in the conversation from sys 11 to WPC! Adding that 4th menu nav button really makes things easier. I'm sure this is something I'll get used to.

Appreciate the info re: the middle man switch as well. I'll do a roll test and will readjust it.

If you could also on me, that would be super appreciated.

I actually was able to snag the ROMs already burned so I'm unable to share the files.

I have no problem paying for it. As a software engineer myself, I fully support people getting paid for their work.

Would you be able to tell me where or how you were able to order the roms? I have a rottendog MPU with already socketed rom chips. Would be trivial to pop them out.

No worries. Good that someone is getting some use out of it.

Specifically this is the tailslider gate switch just before the tailslider bowl? If that gate switch is triggered before the gate switch at the beginning of the tailslider ramp, it should not light A? And if it does, this means that the tailslider gate switch is misaligned, or do you mean that the first gate switch at the beginning of the tailslider ramp?

I ask because if the ball comes up the bust a move ramp, but does not have enough speed, it can fall down the tail slider ramp, hitting that switch.

I think I'm having some tailslider switch issues, but it is hard to tell what is normal and what is not.

I think I could use some confirmation/clarification regarding this switch's functionality as well. I just want to make sure my game is working 100%. I did resolve the middle man switch error...so hopefully that was a win for me.

The top switch here is the middle man:
Middle Man (resized).png

Should activate either way the ball rolls through. This prevents the L (not the second A, my bad) paying when the spinner is hit from behind.

If that switch was'nt there , a left orbit shot will credit the left spinner and roll around and hit the right spinner and give credit for that letter too. That switch just tells the CPU to disable the spinner switch for spotting a letter. Its that simple. If the spinner is giving you letter both ways, that top switch is faulty.

I'm tracking now. Thanks!

What determines when the diverter into the funnel activities? Which switch tells the game to do it?

That is a good question. I always assumed the gate switch that has Tailslider on it would, but if that was the case, then balls from the bust a move ramp that were too weak could diverter there and trigger the tailslider diverter.

I think the correct way it works is the tailslider ramp entry gate switch has to be triggered first and then when the tailslider gate switch itself is triggered this activates the diverter.

On mine this is finicky, and I think that middle man switch discussed earlier might be why the behavior described here is so finicky with me. I think this is also why, sometimes being diverted to the bust of move ramp on too many tailslides does not score the I. Hopefully I'll get a chance to investigate after work today.

After you reached the limit of tail-sliders ,the divertor should go down and send the ball to the ball-lock. How does it sometimes send it back down the busta-move? Unless the divertor doesnt kick and a strange bounce sends it up, in which case , it won't give credit for "I" because theres no switch on that ramp

Hate to beat a semi-dead horse, but are the ROMs available anywhere? If you have a secret source, please dm me.

+1 on the Roms as well
Looking for the Soren ones

Sorry terminology issue. It does send it to the ball lock. I just have always called this whole thing the bust a move ramp because that is always where the ball goes when hit it.

What happens with me is that the I letter isn't always awarded which I thought was always supposed to happen.

Break break,

I too would very much like the Soren Rom. Please DM if you have it, etc.

Just encountered an issue that I'm hoping you all can help me fix. I turn the game on today and the upper left flipper is at half power. I replaced the flipper buttons yesterday and initially thought it was the flipper switch. When I fully press the flipper button rve upper flipper flips but at significantly reduced power. I've only had the machine for about a week and this flipper has been fine until now.

I've checked to ensure the two contacts are completing their connections (light button press for lower flipper and full press for upper flipper). Everything looks good and same as other side where both flippers are fine. I've visually checked the upper left flipper for loose or disconnected wires on the coil...that's good. Also inspected the flipper mech to ensure that it's good mechanically and it is fine.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

It sounds like you may be only using the low power winding on the coil. Make sure your end of stroke switch on the upper flipper adjusted correctly. The switch should be closed until the flipper is almost to the end of it's stroke.

Has anyone here used radical cabinet decals from this place?

https://pinballdecals.eu/shop/radical-pinball-cabinet-decals-set/

If so, how were they quality/color?

The orange is way off. Honestly these look like the cabinet art that vbobrusev in Russia makes. I just got the cabinet art, plastic, and decals from him. All excellent stuff. He just isn't able to print the orange used in the art. If you are restoring a totally trashed cabinet it will be fine, but if you are leaving exsisting art on it will be noticeable. The plastics are near perfect though, as are the decals.

I'm glad I got the cabinet art anyway. It is the best you are going to get.

Love this game! I hope i can find one for sale soon!

The overall quality of the cabinet decals is good though? I’d be doing a complete cabinet so if the orange is way off it might be alright. Yeah it seems as though there isn’t a whole lot of options when looking for cabinet decals.

Anybody can measure the dimensions of the wire gate in the right inlane.?
Thanks

I've never held or seen cabinet art for pinball machines up close before, so bear that in mind. I have no frame of reference. But I think the quality of the decal is stellar. The orange just isn't orange. It is like a darker red orange. If you are redoing the whole cabinet it will look good. It is just that the discerning will know it is not original.