Four new pinball software mods (DM, STTNG, HS2, JY)

[Getyourselfahotdog]

I’m looking to add Taxi and Getaway competition Roms to my games. I have no way to burn these, is there anyone out there who does or know who is able to burn these. Thanks in advance for any assistance. Dan

[onetaste]

Are there lists somewhere of all the alternative ROMs that have been coded? A search didn’t reveal anything, just posts like this on Tilt, Pinside & retailers.

[scochar]

Nope, and there are a couple other places as well, like RGP and pinhacks (now closed to new members) - and there are literally hundreds of variations of just homebrew type mods for tournament, or rules changes/tweaks, bugfixes. I used to submit them to IPDB but they aren’t keen on hacked versions (although they have several for lots of games.)

The issue I think is too many hacks with too little documentation - you get someone putting it in a game and it’s marked just u2/u6 - you’ve no idea where that came from, was it official, was it beta test, etc. (especially for older games).

Maybe I’ll start a list of just ones I know about/wrote. Will stick it on a website somewhere if/when it gets done. I guess I’d have to post checksums of the roms so people can compare and see if they have that version as well… I don’t actually have most of the roms though so I’ll have to hunt them down too.

pinmame actually lists a lot of variants as they’ve been ‘bronzed’ into there, although I question where they got some of the info, clearly some of it was truly a beta test version.

[onetaste]

Anything no matter how quick and dirty would be greatly appreciated.

Given what you are saying maybe PAPA could add a list of ROMs they approve in their directors’ guide?

[scochar]

https://sites.google.com/site/allentownpinball/tournament-rom-mods

List is a work in progress as new variants are discovered/found/written.

Includes other rom mods as well, like free play, no battery required, etc.

I will iterate here as well as on that page that I DO NOT have most of the roms. It is merely a listing I have found/perused on the web (a lot of the current listings with the checksums were posted here, on tilt forums.)

[onetaste]

Absolutely brilliant, greatly appreciated! Thank you. I will be downloading some of these.

[G_Money]

I notice this in the list: Bally (classic -17 and -35 boardsets)
Details: No “tilt through” players. (Classic stern style)

I don’t know how many games fall under this category, but I would hope as many as possible. Is this an easy mod?

[scochar]

I forget who was beta testing them… basically any game from 1976-1985, until they went to the 6803 boardset. Those could probably be done as well at some point.

I know you can ‘fool’ the classic stern tilt-through if you have a fast spinner or something registering, it will process that before the tilt. That’s probably why IFPA just does the definitely working skip players 2 and 4 (which also neatly excises the problem on an eight ball deluxe with players 2 and 4 getting extra bonus without a bugfixed rom in there…)

[soren]

Strictly speaking of non-factory mods. There are also the 7-digit and the (combined with) free play Bally ones. Maybe it is wise to keep those on a seperate list to avoid confusion.

There are also the semi official Williams ones, that are long standard. Cirqus Voltaire, Twilight Zone, …? And the not so definitive White Water one.

[scochar]

I kind of like the one stop shopping list - I think I’ll add a ‘type’ field (i.e., tournament, bugfix, 7 digit, etc)

I’ll have to do some research on the official/semi official williams ones.

You’d think I’d remember the 7 digit ones since I helped beta test some of them (and wrote a few…)

[G_Money]

I am actually thinking about Pinburgh which will use 4 player games. How hard is this to install? @PAPA_Doug

[scochar]

It’s just a rom swap, and in most cases, just the OS rom.

[Wizcat]

This is great. Also serves as a pretty decent quick list of known issues that might affect tournament games. Huge thumbs up. Hope you can maintain this

Maybe some more details on the actual bugs would help? Like for example on Dr Who it just mentions there is a tilt bug, but not how the bug affects play?

[glauses]

just curious what patch gui you are using for XD3 extension files the one I have doesn’t recognize that extension

[hisokajp]

I don’t use a GUI, just cmd with xdelta3-3.1.0-x86_64.exe" under cmd. Simple command, xdelta3-3.1.0-x86_64.exe -d -vfs “ROM.ROM” “PATCH.xd3” “Patched Game.rom” then checksum with http://onlinemd5.com/

[soren]

The Demolition Man patch posted here is obsolete.

Please use the new one.

New Demolition Man software mod - version 2

Better implementation of the no re-pick rule of the previous patch released. With fixed Computer award sequence added. Special thanks to Ron Hallett. Demolition Man Rev. LX-4 patch c83f Download link: https://tinyurl.com/uhxp7dq Please read the Readme and follow the patch guide carefully. Demolition Man Rev. LH-6 patch 9a16 Download link: https://tinyurl.com/vzqeg94 Enables coin play. Otherwise identical to the LX-4 patch. Release note Changes New feature adjustment A.2 26 “Claw re-…

[Alby87]

Not sure I understand that . . . if you tilt on a drain, you never loaded the gumball to start Powerball Mania anyway, so there’s no way of getting a Powerball Mania Jackpot.

My comment was in reference to the 50mil PB Mania Jackpot value being out of balance with the rest of the game. The only thing to do with the Powerball when it comes on the playfield is to NOT PLAY WITH IT, reload it as quickly as you can, for the best chance at big points.

Reloading right away would give you a 10mil PB Mania Jackpot. Want to build that up before starting PB Mania . . . enjoy the risk/reward that doesn’t exist currently. Build it up to 200mil if you want before collecting it.

I always tought of this, and I had an idea for a software mod (I already wrote this idea on Pinside).

What if the GumBall shot is disabled when the powerball is put in play? To re-enable the gumball shot, one have to shoot the power payoff target (they are too underused with actual rules) or 3 greed targets. Second time the powerball is in play, and you need 4 greed targets. Third and more, 5 greed targets. When the gumball shot is disabled, the phrase “Put it back” by the Power is substituted by Rod’s unused “Feel the Power”, and when the Gumball is activated, the unused piano riff is played to signal the possibility to shoot to activate the powerball mania.

I also really love the idea of variable Powerball Mania jackpot!

[keefer]

That’s a fun math question: What’s the average Odd Change score? It was honestly higher than I thought gut reaction, but I bet it’s lower than most people think.

So, going back through this thread since it was necro’d, I noticed the answer to my question never actually got published, though the formula for generating the scores did.

(50 + 550 + 5,550 + 55,550 + 555,550 + 5,555,550) / 6 = 1,028,800

Now then, despite the wild volatility, that average isn’t too hard to swallow, is it?

On a random related note, I have reason to believe that during LITZ, Odd Change is always 7 digits. That would average it to 5,555,550 / shot during LITZ.

[soren]

On a random related note, I have reason to believe that during LITZ, Odd Change is always 7 digits. That would average it to 5,555,550 / shot during LITZ.

Confirmed. Hey @scochar.

I am a big fan of Odd change. Always saw it as as quirky-cool as they come. But for competition play I feel the value range is too great. A better soluition is either total gimmick, like sub 100K. Or a decent but more equal bite, like 2M-4M.

[scochar]

How about between 200k and 1m? That’s what I ended up using.

The piano gives you 1m anyway.

It still stings when one person gets 15m and another gets 10. That’s the kind of wild randomness that should be eliminated - sure 15m isn’t a big score in TZ, but it could be enough to lose by and feel ripped off.