Wow, I actually think the rules for Fish Tales are really good. You have the stringer which lights Monster Fish (fun single ball mode), catching fish to start Feeding Frenzy (fun single ball mode), Stretch the Truth to start Rock the Boat (fun single ball mode), a cool physical ball lock for multiball, and perhaps the best Video Mode in pinball. I think the only things I'd change are as follows:

1) I wish there was more skill in the Stretch the Truth. Essentially you have X seconds to spin the spinner as many times as possible. For example, a good hit might advance you from x1 to x3. A second strong shot might advance you from x3 to x5.

2) I might add a little more variety to the tournaments.

Tropical Fishing - Complete X ramp shots.
Fresh Water Fishing - Complete X pop bumper hits, which are access from either orbit.
Deep Sea Fishing - Complete X captive ball shots.

When you lock your third ball to start multiball, you can choose the tournament you want to enter first. During each of the tournaments you can re-lock balls in the reel, this act as a multiplier for the current ball(s) in play, so you can have X2 or X3 playfield value. Kind of like the Snake in Metallica, balls will only stay in the lock for X seconds.

3) Maybe also make it so you have to complete all tournaments, catch four fish, stretch the truth for all four fish, and light all the captive ball awards to light the Super Jackpot.

That might sound like a lot of changes, but really as is Fish Tales is already one of my favorite games. Fairly simple, but still a challenge to master.

ChadH What is the primary barrier that prevents people from creating new rules for Williams / Bally games? Is it something with copyright, really difficult, or something else? I would pay $100+ for improved code on quite a few games. Sometimes, they don't even need to be "bad games". It might just be fun to have options.