Fremont, CA
OK, I am late to the party, but I just found a nice HOU machine, now 'in-transit' to me in the SF bay area. I look forward to diving in...
(Topic ID: 219714)
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RollerCoaster Tycoon
Stern, 2002
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1 week later
Out of nowhere I find the pictured post sitting in the right Outlane area near the play field insert with “special” marked on it. It appears to be 2-1/4 inch long, no threaded hole at top. On the manual page 69, it’s the post #12 pictured at top, third from right.
I can’t find where it goes anywhere. Anyone recognize this post?
image (resized).jpg
Quoted from Pinballlew:Is it the pop up post near the A lane at the top left of play field? Normally flush with the play field connected to a solenoid to pop up and stop the ball.[quoted image]
Good guess as it appears to the same, but that one was intact. With a fresh night sleep, I looked again and I did just find it. It's the post on the right side of the right ramp staring me in the face! (the left side of the ramp has a yellow narrow stand-up target). Looks like an easy fix. Odd that it travelled so far on the playfield before I noticed it, unless it launched with a hard hit???!?!
All good.
Quoted from DaveH:Also looks like a good time to put your hands on every post in the game. If one was so loose that it lost the nut on the bottom, others are loose. Just pinch them all and give them a shake back and forth. If you feel ANY movement, they need attention. The bonus is that a properly tight game plays much better, as you don't lose so much energy when you hit a post.
Its my weekend project...
I have to report that after a couple of weeks with this machine, it has really grown on me. Pat Lawlor/John Youssi team never dissappoints!
I have a question about sound. I noticed there is a minor but noticeable hum/buzz coming from the sound board. I have seen folks adjusting R106 and R110 on other Whitestars (like Monopoly), but haven't seen any reports on RCT. I also found Stern Bulletin Nr. 133 (which talks specifically about a design change related to quiet installations versus noisy arcades.) SB133 was written for Monopolofy and suggests changing two resistor values. I noticed that R106/R110 are 10K and 33K are ALREADY on the RCT schematic as those values and the bulletin suggests simply REPLACING the existing resistors to 10K and 33K respectively. Lowering those values regardless of pinball title has the effect of lowering the gain of the backbox & cabinet woofer respectively. My board already has the 10K/33K combination, so I am considering furthar lowering by adding another resistor in parrallel. (When connected in parrallel, 10K+10K yields a net value of 5K for R106, 33K+33K yields a net value of 16.5K for R110)
Question: Anyone dealt with this mod in RCT? Comments welcome.
Working on a RCT machine I got a few weeks ago. Seem to be having trouble with the three-target drop bank. For some reason the center target falls on its own a few seconds after it has been raised, regardless of any ball hitting it. I looked underneath and there is a tiny coil mounted right below the middle target. Not sure what that one does. Anyone have some experience with normal operation of this mechanism would be welcome.
Also, it looks like removal of the entire bank requires some switch connectors to be removed, and then the two coild to be un-soldered. Is this correct?
Thanks in advance...
Quoted from planters49:Has anybody made a replacement "EAT" plastic yet? And a full plastic protector set that includes the EAT plastic protector?
Quoted from GLSP3022:Pinball center overseas sells the EAT plastic, but they don't ship to the US. If you contact Pinsider Zitt, he is doing a group buy soon. You can get on the list to order that very plastic.
They are out of stock on it right now as well. (But get on their waiting list as I think the number of waiting list people determines when they fund another run of repro plastics.)
Quoted from GLSP3022:The target is supposed to fall. It prevents a ball from getting trapped behind it. The center target only stays up in a couple modes.
ohhhhh, that would explain what I see! Thanks. ( I need to watch it in action a bit more to know what to expect ).
Has anyone on this thread run across a source for a repro RIGHT RAMP on RCT? Mine could used to be replaced at some point. I put Cliffy's protector on it which covers the whole thing anyway, but I think the ramp itself would be great to swap. Let me know if you have seen it online anywhere.
1 month later
Quoted from caseyj:How hard is it to swap the Display to a color display from the monochrome? Or is it even possible?
I just did it with both a PIN2DMD and a COLORDMD recently. Easy either way!!! Intially I tried the Pin2DMD to save some $$$, but the colorization file for RCT in the Pin2DMD approach has a few bugs. That said, the coloring for the ColorDMD is a bit lack-luster, but it doesnt have any bugs. Neither is 100% perfect but I ended up going with a ColorDMD and it looks great. Either way, takes 20 minutes to install. Fits right in place.
ColorDMD is $400, Pin2DMD is $200. Both are plug and play, both mechanically fit right in.
PM me for help if needed.
1 week later
Quoted from ThatOneDude:Just picked one up. Haven't even had time to set it up.
[quoted image]
Nice job. There is something kind of addictive about it... The soundtrack will be bouncing around your head after you play a few games. One note: You'll probably want to due the R106/R110 mod on the sound board as the amount of idle 'hum' is pretty noticeable on this whitestar. Just grab a couple of 5K-10K resistors and its a 5 minute solder in place.
Enjoy!!!
Quoted from ThatOneDude:Just picked one up. Haven't even had time to set it up.
[quoted image]
Five more things to consider:
1) cliffs sells a set of protectors for the right ramp. Not the surface protectors he is known for, but actual standup ramp shield sides for the right ramp entrance which is more than likely fairly damaged.
2) the two narrow standup yellow targets usually get crooked based on getting pounded on the sides. PBL sells a standup bracket replacement that essentially locks the target straight up.
3) Mr_Tantrum sells a set of custom 3D decals for all the targets which add a bit of cushion to the ball hits. Perfect compliment to the game theme.
4) colorDMD and Pin2dmd both offer color displays compatible with RCT.
5) if you get tired of the troll hair color, there are a bunch of other choices on eBay for $12 or so. It is a standard 3 inch troll by Russ, but has the arms bent inward with a heat gun.
Quoted from ThatOneDude:Had the middle bumper coil melt and smoke up the machine Friday night. Happened to have a couple of Williams 26-1200 coils, so that was OK. Pulled the board and replaced the transitory with a mosfet. Went through a night of heavy play with no other problems.
It does occasionally hang on the back orbit. Can't see anything that would cause it, so I'm a bit mystified.
Where in the back orbit is it hanging? I have only seen it hang once on top of the up-post (due to mis-height alignment) and once on top of the post between A and B (replaced the post rings).
4 weeks later
Just an FYI for RCT owners with a right ramp that is getting beat up (nearly everuone has this issue over time). Cliffy has a fix!!! It's not like his traditional playfield mounted scoop protectors, it's a fairly meaty protector for the SIDE WALLS of the acrylic ramp itself. It comes with mounting screws and everything to install over the top of the ramp itself. Here's a picture from cliff's site.
http://www.passionforpinball.com/rct.htm
RCT-prot (resized).jpg
Quoted from pinballlarry1:My Cliffy package arrived today! I bought every item he had for RCT. His products are top notch, I have used them on other games.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
The ramp protector kit fits and looks pretty nice! You will likely have some difficulty with the TOP screws on each of the metal protectors which are supposed to be drilled into the ramp itself. On my machine, the left ramp was very inaccessible so I could drill it, and the right ramp hole would have been in direct conflict with a screw directly in the exact same spot under the existing ramp. I ended up using Gorilla tape to adhere the top points on both ramps, and the rest of the kit on the lower contact points.
Good luck...
1 month later
Quoted from usul27:Having a problem with mine now. It behaves a bit strange. Sometimes, when starting a new games it says "Ball saved" and auto-launches the ball - even though no ball had been played. Also the fun modes get activated and started randomly.
Switch test show no strange behavior. All switches that I could think of seems to work well. Any idea?
P.S. I updated the display ROM, but I wouldn't expect that this has any impact on the game itself. But I might still try the old ROM instead if nobody has a better idea.
Put the old ROM back in and try it. The ROMs (game and display) usually need to be matched, and if you have old ROMS, you probably want to spend the $20 to get Matt's Basement to ship you a new set (two chips) anyway...
2 weeks later
Quoted from roboclan:Has anybody done a backboard graphic what do you think of these for the back
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
I am not aware of any available alternate translites, but would be curious what could be done and consider one.
Quoted from roboclan:Not a translite but the board at the back of the Playfield its blue you know the typical stern background
Ohhhhhh… hum. I never really thought about that. Mine is solid blue.
3 weeks later
Quoted from pinballlarry1:All good once again! Yes the shooter lane switch diode was broken on one leg, easy solder fix. Also found the "A" lane upper rollover switch diode leg broken, fixed also. Two ball traps also fixed. One under the yellow ramp on the left outlane, added a 1/8" plastic spacer to raise the ramp a bit. Second in the snack bar hole if the ball rolled back down the ramp for the skill shot, sometimes the ball would land just right to sit on top of the edge of the plastic subway and the left side of the playfield wood.[quoted image]It actually landed here 3 times in just a few games.
Added a small self stick black rubber bumper on the side of the playfield hole, it seems to push the ball just enough to keep it from getting trapped. [quoted image]We shall see.
when I showed the granddaughters the "secret message" on the dmd, they said "that face is the Roller Coaster Tycoon guy"! Are they correct??
Check the installation of the plastic subway channel below the playfield. I just looked at mine and significantly less of the upper 'corner' on the left is visible from the top. There is no way for a ball to get stuck on mine. Perhaps your subway was replaced with an 'unusual' repro or the screws were put in at an angle causing your whole subway to be shifted towards the front of the playfield?
Quoted from Ricbec:1st Question guys
I have been motivated to change out some of the white LED's in my RCT and came across a socket behind the "EAT" targets, without a globe in it, there are 2 sockets behind there, 1 is a #44/47 type globe socket and my empty socket is much larger......does this larger socket actually get used and if so, at what point in the game does it activate?
That's a pretty important bulb! It is used to indicate that a ball is getting ready to kickout of the scoop. Anytime the ball goes under the playfield, that bulb will start to flicker a second or two before the scoop ejects it. You'll want to replace that bulb and see what you are missing! It's supposed to be a #89 incandescent bulb (not sure what an LED bulb would look like flashing as it does. LED may be too distracting)
I had started to create a mod that would install above the yellow ramp to create a platform for a scale roller coaster car to be mounted. It ties into three of the existing mounting locations and allows the ball to travel underneath it with good clearance. I never finished the mod, but have the clear plastic that was CNC'd and fire-polished along with the alum spacers and wood screw for the right rail (and a metal coaster car at the right scale) if anyone wants to give it a go on their machine. I have just one set of the parts, so let me know if interested. PM me.
3 weeks later
Quoted from pinballlarry1:Yes, right now the game will not physically lock ball one ever, the ball is shot out immediately. That is the switch that is not registering. The left lower diverter does function correctly and sometimes the Chicago loop sends a ball into the left lock lane. Found Cherry DA3 switches at Pinball Wizard in Salt Lake City, I placed an order. Not widely available.
For future issues, you can buy the generic wire switches from Marco and bend the wire to match the original. They have the wire and ribbon style of diy switches. When you replace the switches, be careful not to overtighten the mounting screws which will deform the switch body itself and cause failure again over time.
Quoted from pinballlarry1:I saw the various other styles of micro switches, but want to keep using the original wireform and just transfer it to a new Cherry DA3 with the pivot posts. Upon further inspection, it appears that a previous tech reversed the white/red and white/orange switch wires. My old eyes can still distinguish between red and orange using a magnifying glass and my good reading glasses. Switch matrix chart shows upper switch 42 being white/red and lower switch 43 is white/orange. My switches are wired white/orange to upper and white/red to lower. Perhaps when the lower switch failed, it caused the game to go into ball search every time a ball entered the lock lane. Changing the switch wires would probably cause the game to think there were two ball in the lock and instantly eject them as programmed. That might be why I get the sound "oh no, not two at once!" whenever the lock lane shoot the single ball out. Some what expedient fix for a field tech, game still playable, but no 2 ball multiball from the lock lane. After I get the new switch installed and the wires moved back, I will test everything with the glass off and see what happens.
Yes, if a previous tech reverse the upper and lower wiring, then you would get very odd behavior probably as you described because the first locked ball would always be interpreted as a second ball, but in many cases the play field ball count logic would have a conflict. Not sure how it would respond. Anyway, The top switch is #42, white red. The bottom is #43 white orange. See page 5 for the visual ID of those two switches.
9 months later
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