Monopoly progress

Got a few little goodies for Monopoly via my Marco order that came via Allentown pickup.  
It's a small thing, but what I was most excited about was just my new little spinner.  I ordered the decals from Action Pinball, where I also  got the spare cop targets.  The spinners come blank and decals were easy enough to get on.

check that warping in the old one on the bottom!

I also got 2 new standup targets, but I am keeping them as spares for the right and left (Free Parking) shots.

I wanted to finish up the under-playfield LEDs, and that meant taking off the Chance / Community Chest scoop.  Like the subway ramps on SF2, this was super dirty, and cleaned up really easy.  Swapped in LEDs for the now-exposed parts of the Monopoly board as well.

sd

you can see some glow brighter, but that's because I ran out of the Warm Whites.  I am just using Natural Whites (the brighter ones) for the corner squares.

While I was under with the power on I noticed that an LED was out on the bank door's opto receiver board.  I am unsure as to what this signifies.  I assumed that opto was out, but I ran edge tests and each one closed separately as a ball went over it.

Mark that down for later investigation...


Right now the big challenge for Monopoly will be to find that LEFT RAMP! 
If you have a spare left ramp, please oh please let me buy it.  :)
I am not going to put much more money in to this machine, beyond standard maintenance, but the last thing to do is replace both ramps and all of the plastics.  I have a right ramp, a full plastics set, I've gotten everything working reliably, and now it's all LEDs. (except for a final few, and flashers)

And mylar, going to lay down some mylar on the damage to minimize any further wear.  Well, not mylar, but a lower tack clear covering.  I was originally going to go for mylar, but then was told about Pinball Pal's Stealth protectors.  Apparently wonderful, but the man running the site has had persistent health problems, and so it's been out of commisison.   We wish him well!
In the meantime I got a recommendation for a more basic product:  Avery Self-Laminating Sheets.
I ordered a pack, and will use that to reinforce parts of the playfield.  I will report back at how successful it is, and how well the ball handles around the edges.  Especially when going slowly.

Monopoly: lots to do!

Monopoly is a player's game, and with them you have to be a bit careful:  you can dump a lot of money in to a machine and never quite get it back.
A player's copy is differentiated with a "very good" or Collector's Quality due to wear, and the main goal is to always just have it play great.
My Monopoly does play great, but I want to at least get it closer to very good.  The playfield has some wear, and new playfields are still available for like $600, but I'm not the person to make that big move.  the cab also has some wear, but Monpoly's cab graphics are kinda meh anyways, and who cares?
Instead, I want to eventually fix all the little things on it, install all LEDs, and replace both ramps.
Right now I want to just document a bunch of little

Electric Company ramp + holy

Stern recommends like 6.5 degrees or something, but I have my machine at 8 degrees.  I was warned by the seller that the ball sometimes gets stuck just to the right of the hole, resting against the post.

yeah, right there near the bottom.

I used some leftover adhesive felt, cut in to tiny strips, and built up padding against the lower wall.
I used my dental tools to apply them with some precision, and now the ball does not get stuck there.
PROBLEM SOLVED!

The drop target had been freshly replaced, so I ordered a cop target and slapped it no.  Almost perfect... no wait, no really...


I also got stickers for the spinner, but I am opting to replace the spinner entirely.   I will have a spare arriving at Allentown from Marco Specialties.  A friend will pick it up down there and bring the whole order back.

The other side has the decal in tact.  This side is just ugly.  REPLACING!

hello there, shitty hot glue gun job

Here is an example of a terribly salved platsic.  In order to eventually replace that lower left bulb I have to go in with an exacto blade to extra it from the glue tomb.
I have a spare of these plastics!  I am even ordering a new plastics set for the ones that I wasn't given as extras.
But you know what?  I have NO IDEA how to remove those bloody rivets, nor find the mounting brackets for this, so it might have to wait.  I want it out soon though, as I have a brand new one waiting, and this is an eyesore.

Likewise I have a brand new right ramp, as the old one is a glue monster as well, but I want to wait until I get a spare left ramp as well before I do a big swap.

left ramp entrance.  The upper guard does a good job of hiding the immense breakage.

A friend of mine also was able to produce these Monopoly ramp flaps out of lexan!  I only got the Free Parking one installed though.  I really want to install the Chance one, but I couldn't quite get the left ramp off to gain access to the screw to attach it with.
And the upper protector will have to wait until I replace both ramps.
I did get the one above Park Place installed.



Here is some of the playfield wear.  I am probably going to be covering it with some Stealth Protectors, as they are removable and easier to work with than mylar.

I have replaced most of the bulbs with LEDs and the game is looking really sharp.
I am not sure the yellow and orange LEDs really pop though.  I will have to try replacing them back with whites.  Is there any consensus on using coloured LEDs when the inserts are already coloured?

This is a great game.  Buckets of fun.
I adjust the skill settings a bit to make it even better:  The default of "Moderate" difficulty is OK, but make the bank HARD, that way it takes a left ramp shot to close the door.  Also don't award a bank letter each ball.  That means you need to use strategy to earn the Cash Grab mode each game, instead of it just handing it to you automatically.
(similar to the way Data East games give an opportunity for multiball on ball 3 if you haven't gotten there yet)

I hope I can eventually find a spare left ramp and do the big playfield fix of my dreams.
I have ordered a spare plastics set, an outhole metal guard, a new upper right target (the current one doesn't seem to register on super hard direct shots,) a new spinner, some new plastics, etc.

LEDs and instruction cards

I mentioned it in the last post, but it bears repeating:
Comet Pinball is my favourite place for LEDs.  
Excellent customer service, and they ship via USPS (United States Parcel Service).  This is huge for people in Canada, since we all know UPS is a spawn of satan company that survives by fucking over customers in every way they can.  ESPECIALLY on customs.
Oh, and fabulous prices, bulk deals, and wide selection!


Also, props to http://www.pinballrebel.com/pinball/cards/ for their great selection of pinball instruction cards. 
Swapped newly printed ones in to Monopoly and Flintstones.

guess which ones are the old ones?

introducing... Monopoly!

Monopoly! 


Gone are Street Fighter 2 and Rocky + Bullwinkle,  traded for Stern's 2001 Monopoly.
I'll review the trade in the next post.

Monopoly:  packed to the gills with playfield features.  It looks like Pat Lawlor got drunk, became Tetsuo The Iron Man, and vomited a pinball paradise.
It looks dense, but it's full of great shots, has some nice flow, and is a really balanced game.
Someone once said that it was a bit of a No Good Gofers knockoff, but that's what turned me on to it in the first place.  NGG?  Oh yes, hello!  OK so there are only a handful of similarities, but it's still pretty great.
The ramp are smooth and pretty easy to hit. 
It has a spinner on the orbit. 
A bash target (the bank) that opens and closes, blocking the left ramp.
A mid-playfield drop target blocking a path. 
A third flipper that can hit the Electric Company hole, a ramp, the drop target, or bash the bank door.
A standup target for awards.
6 pop bumpers!
A variable post in the upper left corner that can redirect orbit shots to the upper pops!
An INTENSE short track railroad ramp right up at the front.
A bonus award hole (chance/community chest).

a few generic things that I love on pinball machines:
- a third flipper
- bash targets that aren't static (and that clear ramp passageways!)
- mid-playfield drop targets that block features
- stackable modes
- ramps shots that are regularly achievable (grimacing at you, Rocky + Bullwinkle)
- pops that entice usage as part of gameplay strategy
- varied skill shots

on the softest plunge, ball will fall back through the notch in to the Water Works hole

Let's start with the skill shot.  From first plunge this game has some great features going on for it.
1) short plunge, time with the spinning mini flipper, to have the ball get in to the Water Works hole. (Skill Shot)
2) plunge a bit too hard and it falls off the metal lane and can roll down to the upper flipper
3) plunge a bit harder and the ball enters the Roll + Collect hole.
4) plunge a bit harder and the ball gets to the Electric Company Pops
5) a full plunge sends the ball through the full orbit and towards the Water Works pops.  (if the post is down.  Not sure yet what controls it)
There you have it, 5 fricking choices just on the plunge! 

The Bank Door is a fun bash feature.  It has a row of optos in front to register the hits, and it blocks the big center ramp shot when closed.  When open, the door somehow manages to barely effect gameplay.  Good design there.
It is used to start Cash Grab, a very lucrative mode.  I have the game on the default "Moderate" (medium) settings, but I wanted to make Cash Grab a bit harder.  Normally when you hit the bank door you get a letter and then the door opens.  You have to close it again to get the next letter, done by shooting up the center ramp.  That was a bit easy, so on the hard setting you have to hit the Free Parking (upper left) ramp via the upper right flipper.
I am also turning off the "award bank letter with new ball" so that the game doesn't help prod us along to Cash Grab.  When I first played this game, getting that was a bit too easy.

The Monopoly board is well incorporated in to the game.  You "buy" a property block by rolling and collecting it, via the straight-up-the-middle shot that goes to a side-right hole.
There are other things to do that award movement around the board, but those don't collect property.  (collecting each property also starts a mode or awards a specific bonus)
Make it around the board to light the locks for the main multiball.  The first multiball is a bit too easy to get, but subsequent ones require lighting lock for each ball, which seems more fair.
The jackpot on the main multiball is hit from the upper right flipper, and that somewhat hard shot becomes damn frenetically hard with 3 balls flailing about.  I like that challenge:  no easy jackpots.  Then, the relight is the railroad ramp.  Good luck controlling the return.  :)

Like The Simpsons Pinball Party would later, there is a DMD on the playfield that can act as a mode timer.  It also tallies the hits to the pops, and X # of hits starts certain modes or bonuses.

When we set it up I put my digital level on and it was 7.9/8.0 degrees.  The manual calls for 6.5 degrees, but nuts to that, I left it with the severe incline and I love how fast it plays.
Only downside is that really hard shots to the railroad ramp returns the ball with such spin and velocity that it hits the left flipper and then JUMPS IT.  I am going to try and put some mylar there (there is playfield wear there anyways) and see if that helps.
If it keeps happening, that will just be part of the risk/reward dynamic.  A hard shot from the right flipper to the railroad ramp will just require precision striking with the left flipper to avoid the jumps. 

The railroad ramp has its own multiball, the railroads are essential to collecting all the property, and railroads also advance you to the next one, so it can be a lucrative way to move around the board.

And we haven't started with the modes yet.  All this to say, there is not much wasted on Monopoly.  Even if the spinning mini-flipper is a bit of a head scratcher.
I want to know more about the spinner and what the scoring is like, especially with the standup awards tied in.  But I am sure there is something.

Many reviews I read were slagging this game and I don't understand why.  Lots of people seemed to dislike the audio in it, but it all seems pretty well integrated in to the theme.
I only wish someone had a ROM editor so I could splice in my own sound cues.  It'd be a blast to mod it to have Mr. Monopoly critique the tyranny of capitalist excesses.