LOTR V8.00 released
Keith P. Johnson
links will download the correct software) is LOTR V8.00. The changelist is
included below, but probably everyone will want to upgrade for the new flipper
code.
If you have any problems, please mail me AT WORK and not at home. I'll be far
more helpful that way.
keith
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CPU Release 8.00
Date July 13, 2004
Game ROM 1M U210 $94FF 8.00 lotrcpu.800
Game ROM 1M U210 $AEFF 8.00 lotrcpul.800
- *** THIS CPU RELEASE REQUIRES DISPLAY VERSION 8.xx ***
- Flipper code rewritten. The game now uses the EOS switch where available
to turn off power to the flippers earlier. This should generally result in
the flippers staying MUCH cooler over a longer period of time and reduce
player dissatisfaction on a heavily-played game.
- 3 adjustments were added to control the flippers. YOU SHOULD NOT CHANGE
THESE WITHOUT CONSULTING TECH SUPPORT.
- Standard Adj 53: Specifies the minimum flipper fire time in ms.
- Standard Adj 54: Specifies the maximum flipper fire time in ms.
- Standard Adj 55: Specifies extra fire time after reaching EOS in ms.
- Hopefully fixed multiball devices waiting for the Palantir Lit display
effect.
- Fixed Cave Troll jackpot value not being initialized properly.
- Changed bonus scoring so that scores would end in odd 10s digits more often.
- Changed Ring opto dispatches so they won't score during Destroy the Ring so
that ball search can occur if it needs to.
- Added Feature Adjustment 35 "DESTROY RING # BALLS". Can be set to 1 or 2
(** default is 1 **). Setting this to 2 will allow the ring to hold a ball
and let the player try to knock it out with the 2nd ball. Setting this to
1 will cause the magnet to just hold the ball for a second then let it go,
requiring the player to make a clean shot through the ring to win the mode.
- Install Director's Cut has been changed to set DESTROY RING # BALLS to 2.
- Added Destroy the Ring Champion. This is awarded to the person who
completes Destroy the Ring in the shortest amount of time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISPLAY Release 8.00
Date July 13, 2004
Display 4M Rom 0 $3C88 8.00 lotrdspa.800
Display 4M Rom 0 $03F9 8.00 lotrdspf.800
Display 4M Rom 0 $48CA 8.00 lotrdspg.800
Display 4M Rom 0 $C13A 8.00 lotrdspi.800
Display 4M Rom 0 $96AF 8.00 lotrdspl.800
- *** THIS DISPLAY RELEASE REQUIRES CPU VERSION 8.xx ***
- New Adjustment support added.
- Destroy the Ring Champion support added.
Bigd849498
destroy the ring code.
Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You
Derek
Manic
(add more fawning comments here:)
You sure do raise the bar for design and support.
"Keith P. Johnson" <keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote in message news:i2pbf057kvi0bhgs9...@4ax.com...
Aron Boag
Thank you, Keith! Looks like you got to add the DTR Champion that you
wanted...excellent.
Aron
Rather Play Pinball
Thanks Keith! You're a big reason for Stern's success.
Jack
- - -
"Keith P. Johnson" <keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote in message
news:i2pbf057kvi0bhgs9...@4ax.com...
Daniel Goett
"Rather Play Pinball" <1...@123.net> wrote in message
news:10fbs8g...@corp.supernews.com...
Martin Hirsch
A couple of questions regarding this statement:
"The game now uses the EOS switch where available"
Did some games not have them and the ones that did; were they not used?
Martin Hirsch
OK one more question:
How many chips will be required to upgrade?
John Wart, jr
4 meg for display, 1 meg for CPU
--
http://www.myhomegameroom.com
"Martin Hirsch" <martinhirsc...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:d4oJc.485$ml.29@lakeread05...
mark french
to turn off power to the flippers earlier. This should generally result in>
the flippers staying MUCH cooler over a longer period of time and reduce>
player dissatisfaction on a heavily-played game.>>
So is this just a tweak to an existing interval from eos switch closure to
power reduction? Or is this some totally different way of how the full power
on-time is controlled than before? I thought I understood how the old system
works but I guess maybe I don't.
> - Standard Adj 53: Specifies the minimum flipper fire time in ms.
> - Standard Adj 54: Specifies the maximum flipper fire time in ms.
> - Standard Adj 55: Specifies extra fire time after reaching EOS in ms.
Related question, are these timing intervals that were designer-adjustable
before, and have just been made user-adjustable, or were they just set to fixed
values in the code, or is this all new 'stuff' as far as flipper power timing?
Since you give a warning not to just mess with these willy-nilly it sounds like
these were made just for tweaking LOTR? Or will these be standard on future
games? And are the factory settings of these new adjustments appx. equivalent
in flipper power timing to a LOTR with the old code, or are they beefed up?
Hey I'm a programmer, I gotsta know! (Ok so I write Cobol, I'm a geezer! ; )
)
> Setting this to 2 will allow the ring to hold a ball> and let the player
try to knock it out with the 2nd ball. Setting this to> 1 will cause the
magnet to just hold the ball for a second then let it go,> requiring the
player to make a clean shot through the ring to win the mode.>>
That's a cool one, makes the shot 100% doable by removing the magnet power
drain, and the need to whop the second ball, and you don't lose anything of
substance. Combined with the flipper power adjustments to make this and other
shots even more tweakable (makeable) this should make LOTR pop back onto a lot
of buy-lists.
Thanks!....Frenchy
Iain Odlin
<keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote:
>- Flipper code rewritten. [etc]
BEST... REVISION... EVER!
Thank you for your efforts (and for putting up with -- let alone
listening to -- our complaints).
I look *very* forward to (1) seeing this ROM in a game, and (2)
seeing someone post a How-To on adding EOS switches to use this
new software.
-Iain
Keith P. Johnson
>So is this just a tweak to an existing interval from eos switch closure to
>power reduction? Or is this some totally different way of how the full power
>on-time is controlled than before? I thought I understood how the old system
>works but I guess maybe I don't.
It's totally different.
>Related question, are these timing intervals that were designer-adjustable
>before, and have just been made user-adjustable, or were they just set to fixed
>values in the code, or is this all new 'stuff' as far as flipper power timing?
>Since you give a warning not to just mess with these willy-nilly it sounds like
>these were made just for tweaking LOTR? Or will these be standard on future
>games? And are the factory settings of these new adjustments appx. equivalent
>in flipper power timing to a LOTR with the old code, or are they beefed up?
>Hey I'm a programmer, I gotsta know! (Ok so I write Cobol, I'm a geezer! ; )
Like I said, no one should change these adjustments. The main reason
they are there is in case something horrific goes wrong and we need to
have people put the game back the way it originally was. It is
undecided whether the adjustments will stay in or not, though they
probably will. And the way the code works, generally speaking the
only thing you'll accomplish by changing said values is you'll make
your coils hotter.
keith
Keith P. Johnson
wrote:
> I look *very* forward to (1) seeing this ROM in a game, and (2)
> seeing someone post a How-To on adding EOS switches to use this
> new software.
There are no EOS switches to add. I was referring to the case of
games with upper flippers which do not have EOS switches and which the
software cannot support even if they did exist.
Basically it's only the bottom two flippers that are affected, and
they already have EOS switches installed.
keith
JC
drain issues reported--but I've not gotten to destroy the ring mode
yet! Hopefully, I'll never learn what they were talking about! Very
exciting.
Could the folks who service the L*OTR machines at Shoreline and Daly
City Century verify whether those machines will be upgraded to 8.0?
-JC-
Keith P. Johnson <keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote in message news:<i2pbf057kvi0bhgs9...@4ax.com>...
Brannon Morley
THANK YOU SO MUCH, KEITH! You give Stern a good name, you REALLY do.
Commitment like this is not something a company can instill in an
individual - you either have it or you don't. It's wonderful for all
us pinball fans that you take such pride in your work and are
(obviously) a perfectionist! Stern is lucky to have you. Great work.
My two favorite pins: T*S*P*P and LOTR. You are the reason.
Sincerely,
Brannon
(In case others are interested, my home collection consists of LOTR,
T*S*P*P, M*M, C*V, T*S, R*S, D*M, and T*Z.)
Keith P. Johnson <keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote in message news:<i2pbf057kvi0bhgs9...@4ax.com>...
Paul Drabik
One of the actuators on mine had broken and until replaced, I have
been relying on software to turn off high power like in Wms games ...
Is this safe? I think so. The flippers are still going strong for
6500+ games so far ... never had to address the flippers at all.
(same with the Balrog lamp BTW) Weekly cleaning helps much here, of
course.
Sounds like the new software will be even better.
So here is my question:
I would like to put the wms flipper plunger/link on the LOTR since it
apparently does better with consistent strength instead of hunting
down a Stern link (what does that cost$?).
But then I thought I heard that some think it becomes too strong.
Would these new settings allow a better balance of better wms part and
toning down the strength a bit? (am I being clear?)
I will look to obtain this code asap ... unless an 8.01 is on the
horizon<grin>.
- Paul
Stats (v5.0) on my LOTR at Eight on the Break -
No one has WON RotK multiball.
Only 42 destroy the rings ... so I know it works
200 shots to the secret Skill Shot ...(I know I got it but is there a
display when you do? or just a secret boost in score)
Only 4 people of WON the witchking mode. (has this been reduce
No one has started Valinor
Flipper use percentage is about 6:7 for left vs right - which seems to
be balanced overall (I wonder if RBION will be as even when stats
build - FYI been moved to different location for now in Garwood, NJ)
left vs right drains is pretty even.
Neat!
Iain Odlin <i_o...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<3tecf0hfavbojkknl...@4ax.com>...
Iain Odlin
<keith....@sternpinball.com> wrote:
>Basically it's only the bottom two flippers that are affected, and
>they already have EOS switches installed.
Ah! They had them, but they didn't use them? Strange.
-Iain
Ray Johnson - Action Pinball
available. Is Stern releasing these somewhere other than their website now?
Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com
We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!
"Martin Hirsch" <martinhirsc...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:r3oJc.484$ml.61@lakeread05...
Ray Johnson - Action Pinball
Ray J.
--
Action Pinball & Amusement, LLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
Web: www.actionpinball.com
We're serious about pinball. Anything else is just for fun!
"Ray Johnson - Action Pinball" <st...@actionpinball.com> wrote in message
news:C8qdnWiJjdI...@aros.net...
Mike Schudel
> available. Is Stern releasing these somewhere other than their website
now?
If you click and download from the 7.0 link on Stern's website you will get
the latest 8.0 ROM version.
--
Mike S.
Kalamazoo, MI
WCS Owner's List: http://tinyurl.com/39cjo
Gameroom: http://tinyurl.com/dcu4
MB Scoop Repair: http://tinyurl.com/9lfu
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