OK, eddy sensor question. My left eddy sensor magnet catches the ball fine when in Hocus Pocus, and it holds the ball for the required time, but it doesn't ever stop the ball from moving and it swings around a bit. So when it releases the ball half the time it outlanes. When my right eddy sensor magnet catches the ball, it's solid and the ball stops moving completely so it always drops into the inlane like it should.

Is there anyway to tweak this so the magnet catches the ball and stops the movement? Replace the magnet?

Aww, I love digital pinball!

I think you can turn down the frequency that it appears in the settings.

Adjusting the level a little one way or the other can also help. On mine I just have to lean my weight on the left side of the machine when the trunk releases so that it hits the flippers. I'm sure they're all a little different. Sucks when you lose the ball on MM, but I guess it's a risk/reward kind of thing.

Ahhhhhhhh, guys, Theatre is killing me. I can't get the trunk to stop shutting down during a game. I've tried everything: aluminum interrupter, new opto board, took the gearbox apart, cleaned and relubed it, finally gave up and put a whole new gearbox and motor in it... but same problem. It moves smoothly and perfectly, passes all trunk tests, and then (usually during a really good game) the ball hits the trunk when it's moving and that tiny fraction of a second of lag time when it reverses direction is enough for the software to shut it down for the game - and there's no way to get it started again without cashing the current game.

I love my Theatre but this is ruining it for me. Anyone have any fixes that I haven't heard of yet? I wish the ROM could somehow be updated to be a little more generous with the changing directions lag - literally nothing wrong with the trunk, but the software thinks there is...

Thanks for the suggestion, but no, it's all wired correctly and works as it should during the test and during play - just on those occasions when the trunk is moving toward the open/start illusion position and gets hit - in those cases, it will start the illusion like it should and reverses the trunk to try and recover the correct position for the illusion, but occasionally disables it during that reversal. Hoping for something I haven't tried.

Do you mean the trunk eddy or the opto board itself (on the trunk shaft)? I know how to mess with the eddy, but don't know how to desensitize the opto. I feel like the hits are registering correctly, but maybe that's something I could try all the same.

Yes! This is exactly the problem and the type of fix I've been looking for. The technical side of this is beyond me, but I'm looking forward to reading up on this when I'm less tired. I'd definitely pay for a small board fix like this.

No, I replaced the original with the Great Lakes Modular version (TM-TOB). Didn't seem to make any difference, so my original one was probably fine.

Thanks for the ideas, guys. Seems like a frustrating problem that needs a real work around.

Line up the trunk as perfect as you can moving it by hand (it will move, just not easily against the gears), and then loosen and realign the interruptor under the playfield, making sure that the notches for the optos are perfect. If that doesn't work, you might have to go deeper to make sure that the arm on the gearbox shaft is lined up where it should be.

Sometimes the trunk plastic is pretty warped too, so even if the mechanism is lined up well it can look off.

Impressive. I topped out at about half of that. Grand Finale is only worth, what, a billion+ points? So to get 6 billion you'd pretty much have to go around the horn twice...

My left outlane magnet has the same issue. It's common, and as mot says, seems to be related to the power coming from two different sources. I just got used to mine being that way. Extra challenge.

Only thing that increases the Theatre Jackpot that I know of is hitting the ball into the pop bumpers - but it doesn't increase it much, maybe a couple million if you hit it in there a bunch.

Theatre seems to have pretty balanced scoring - no real scoring loopholes. Do well in all modes, hit as many jackpots as possible in multiball and keep the multiballs coming, max out shots on midnight madness, and of course, hit all the shots in wizard mode, which adds up.

Dayum. That is one tricked out ToM. Nice!

There is not currently a code fix for it, but there is a very easy to install hardware fix made by Ingo at german_pinball. Check out: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tom-trunk-error-leons-fix-anyone-done-this

Shoot the right orbit 6 times (advancing the clock to 6 o'clock) and extra ball will light. Shoot left orbit to collect it. I think this is factory settings, though may vary depending on how its set up.

3.5 billion for me. One thing I love about ToM is that the scoring is fair - no real loopholes. To get a good score, you have to play everything well. Completing Grand Finale is worth a sizeable chunk of your score and its pretty easy compared to a lot of wizard modes, but playing the illusions as well as you can really contributes. Midnight Madness can be good, as mentioned, provided you know exactly how your game releases the ball (on my mine I just lean on the left side of the machine and it JUST hits one of the flippers vs. straight down the middle). Jackpots also score pretty well so if you can keep multiball going you can rack up some decent points - and you can start multiball several times in a good game.

There are some insane scores on Theatre out there though. Like guys playing through Grand Finale multiple times...

Mine will very, very occasionally not register a ball going into the trunk (either through the trunk or the loop) and pop it out the trap door when lock is lit. Could there be a switch in the subway that is not adjusted quite right - an opto not working 100% or dirty enough not to spot the ball every time? Mine does it so rarely that I never investigated it - just considered it a quirk of the game. Guess that's not real helpful, but seems like it has to be a switch or an opto fail.

You have to spell MAGIC THEATRE - to get a letter you just have to shoot ANY ramp or orbit. So, pick whatever shot is easiest for you - for me it's the center ramp - and blast away. Pretty basic, but for me I either hard drain just after starting GF or complete it, no middle ground. lol

Nope, if you drain during GF it's over. Everything will be reset on your next ball. Brootal. Heh.

I usually hope for Midnight Madness from the basement, but have gotten it legit, too (LOVE how the callouts for the hours get more excited the closer you get to midnight). The advance clock from the captive ball on the plunge really helps - you can pick up a bunch of advance clocks that way. I always go for Advance Clock on the skill shot as well. But yeah, the right orbit is very difficult to hit. The right ramp is pretty tough too - I usually don't even bother for Metamorphosis because of that.

Would love to see Grand Finale get expanded someday on the ROM. Maybe leave spell MAGIC THEATRE the same, after that lock balls toward a final timed multiball (a new trick maybe, a final escape routine?). And, of course, a better end animation.

Doing all that stuff MIGHT help or fix your trunk problems, but not necessarily. I cleaned the gearbox, relubed it, replaced the motor, replaced the opto board... all that time and money later and the game would still shut the trunk down if it got hit while moving. Leon's board fixes the error 100% plus way cheaper and easier, literally takes about 2 minutes to install (though, yeah, never a bad idea to clean the trunk if it's never been done). The trunk not registering hits while moving is a very, very small sacrifice for a trunk that works perfectly - I've actually come to prefer it that way. Makes the game feel a lot cleaner.

Maybe every 10 games or so. It's what I love about ToM - too easy for some, but for me just right to get to wizard mode every now and then. It really hinges on Midnight madness for me - if I get that on a basement award, I get to wizard mode for sure. If I have to make the right orbit 12 times with a couple advance clock skill shots to get there...doesn't happen nearly as often.

Only bad thing about ToM: wizard mode is weak (bang the middle ramp a bunch and yer done) and the lacklaster ending animation...

A couple of fixes for you:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/if-your-tom-trunk-is-acting-up-clean-the-gear-boxjunk-in-the-trunk

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tom-trunk-error-leons-fix-anyone-done-this

I think this is a known issue that's never really been resolved - maybe others can chime in more definitively. The left and the right magnets draw their power from two separate sources so one is less powerful (?) than the other. Generally the right is stronger than the left. The left sometimes won't slow the ball to a stop and results in a drain even when it shouldn't. My left magnet never slows the ball completely to a stop so it can outlane if you're not careful; right lane comes to a full stop, never drains. Just another Theatre quirk?

3.5 billion is my best. 12 billion is within the realm of possibility, but you'd have to hit wizard mode 4 times and complete it a least a couple of those. 12 billion would be a lengthy game. 111 billion - you'd there all day. Maybe not if you took the glass off though.

Dayum.