************************************************************************** * * * STERN PINBALL, INC. * * (C) COPYRIGHT 2019 STERN PINBALL, INC. * * * ************************************************************************** * * * BLACK KNIGHT SWORD OF RAGE - LE/Premium * * * ************************************************************************** HELP US, HELP YOU! If you have any suggestions, questions, need technical advice, find errors or have comments, contact us through our website: http://www.sternpinball.com/contact.shtml or call 1-800-542-5377. You can also email bug.report@sternpinball.com to report any software problems. This text file and all other documents relating to this product, playfield components, features, rules, programming and operation are subject to change without notice (Service Bulletins, if applicable, will be available through our website). Installation notice: This code release is in zip format. The zip file downloaded will need to be unzipped before installing on a USB stick. Update instructions: 1 - Download the zip file 2 - Unzip the file, this will create a folder that contains SPK file(s). 3 - Open folder, copy only the file(s) to the root level of a USB stick. Do not copy the folder. 4 - Power game off 5 - Insert USB stick 6 - Turn on game 7 - After game boots up it will give the option for software update 8 - Volume buttons change options for full or quick update. Enter selects the option and starts the update. 9 - Once update is completed game will prompt user to power game off and remove USB stick. LE V1.00 - July 24, 2019 ========================== Fixed: - Fixed an issue where the catapult lock light show did not always play in sync with the display effect for the lock. - Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented a player from starting super features. - During ball search, the right drop target bank would always try to reset 3 times. This has been changed to try up to 3 times if the bank fails to reset. - Fixed an issue where the Loop Champion high score could not be above 5 loops. - Fixed the formatting of high score entries that did not show score on enter initials screens. - Fixed an issue in Hell Hand mode where players could sometimes have an incorrect number of shots remaining. - Fixed an issue in Lich Lords mode where when multiple shots were collected at once they would not always advance toward a KNIGHT letter. - Fixed an issue where adjustment "Attract Flipper Speech" would not control flipper speech. Tweaked: - Refactored Black Castle mode. - Increased scoring for all shots. - Timer set to 99 seconds. - Black Castle mode requires hitting all 3 center shots, then hitting a remaining outside shot. - After hitting an outside shot, the center 3 shots are lit again with added difficulty to hitting the flail and shield devices. - Once 4 sets of inner shots are completed, as well as 4 outer shots, the shield will raise for a shot to start RAGE MULTIBALL. - Final shot scoring includes a bonus for time remaining. - If Black Castle mode times out, or is not completed, the Black Knight survives and all modes become available once again. - Changed default mode difficulty to EASY for all modes. - After every time playing Black Castle mode during a game, all modes will increase by 1 difficulty level up to the max difficulty level. - Modified super feature timer. Timer now pauses during multiball. - Default super feature time is now 20 seconds. Max time is 30 seconds. Starting a new super feature adds 15 seconds. - Increased the base scoring for WAR Hurryups to 2,000,000. - Changed display effect priority when WAR Hurryups were running so you can see the value of collected hurry-ups when a higher priority mode was running. - Changed the WAR Hurryup final shot display effect to show the value collected at the final shot before going to mode total. - Changed extra ball display effect to wait for other display effects. - Changed Extra Ball is Lit display effect to allow flipper buttons to dismiss. - Changed KNIGHT Spellout display effect to wait for mode shot display effects. - Modified POWER rules. POWER will only last until end of ball, mode completed, or mode timed out. - Changed Black Knight's Eyes to pulse throughout the game. - Boosted the vocals in the Retro and Ransom multiball tunes. - Increased volumes of RANSOM sound effects. - Raised the left drop target any time the player goes into the castle VUK in single-ball play. - Changed rules so upper playfield loops are only added to bonus on that ball and do not carry bonus value throughout the game. - Changed add-a-ball so it can now be awarded on the left drop target. - Changed Black Knight's mask color to green when he announces a ball lock. - Changed Hold Bonus so it cannot be chained together from a previously held bonus. - Added Millions PLUS scoring to Flail and LOOP during RANSOM Multiball. - Changed Macin' Loops display effect priority so it would not show during RANSOM multiball. New: - Added RAGE Wizard Mode. - Started by defeating the Black Knight. - Frenzy-based scoring. - 6-Ball multiball. - Added scoring increases to the base value of modes. - Each mode completed boosts a new mode's starting value by 200,000. - All modes boosted by 950,000 after Black Castle is played. - Additional shots to the flail before starting the mode will boost the starting value of the mode. - Added U-Turn scoring. U-Turns are lit by shooting an orbit shot. U-Turns are started by making another orbit shot and will open the gates. Making U-Turn shots in succession without hitting another shot will increase scoring and progress toward Extra Ball (Default 25 U-Turns.) - Added Catapult Lock difficulty adjustment. - On Hard setting, a player can only light 1 more lock than they already have locked. - Competition install sets Catapult Lock difficulty to MEDIUM. - Added an adjustment to keep left drop target raised during multiball. - Game Adjustment #29 DROP TARGET UP IN MBALL defaults to YES - Display Effects - Added text to mode award display effects showing shots remaining for KNIGHT letter and shots remaining for mode completion. - All modes when completed now have a (monster name) defeated display effect. - Added a Triple Knights lock status screen to instant info. - Added the pending super jackpot value to the game interface. - Added Black Knight Sword of Rage game logo to power on display. - Added U-Turn high score entry. - Added a Black Knight icon to diagnostics menu. - Lamp Effects - Added a light show for building Sword of Rage power at the right drop target bank. - Added additional light effects to indicate when POWER is active during a mode. - Added skill shot and super skill shot lamp effects. - Added KNIGHT spellout letter award light show. - Sound Effects - Added mode complete and mode timeout sound effects. - Added new Black Knight speech to mode progression after a few modes have been completed. - Added speech to KNIGHT spellout display effect. - Added sound effect for upper playfield lock kickout warning. Note: - Score balancing has been updated for this release. Scores earned on previous releases will be reset when moving to v1.00.0. Moved to System 2.31: Updated to nodeboard firmware v0.49.0 Added Service Menu selection UTIL->ENDGAME. This selection is only available when there is an active game. When selected the operator will be prompted to confirm that they wish to end the current game. Once confirmed and upon exiting the Service Menu, the game will be in attract mode. Added Standard Adjustment "ALLOW LEFT+START TO END GAME". Values are: "NEVER", "FREE PLAY ONLY", and "ALWAYS". Default value is "NEVER". During an active game, if the LEFT FLIPPER+START BUTTONs are held for two seconds, the game will be ended. Added Standard Audit "TOTAL PLAYS ENDED", which will track the number of times a game is ended via the Service Menu or FLIPPER+START BUTTONs. Added Standard Adjustment "CREDIT FORMAT". Values are: "ACTUAL FRACTION" and "REDUCED FRACTION". Default value is "REDUCED FRACTION". For a USA coindoor when inserting three quarters: "REDUCED FRACTION" would display "1/4", "1/2", "3/4" "ACTUAL FRACTION" would display "1/4", "2/4", "3/4" LE V0.97 - June 19, 2019 ========================== Fixed: - Fixed a timing issue which prevented players from getting credit for another lock or super jackpot when the ball was released from the catapult lock and quickly re-locked. - Fixed an issue which could infrequently cause the flail to move at a slow speed when it should have been in the open position. - Fixed an issue where catapult multiball would not award KNIGHT letters. - Fixed an issue where the Ball Saved animation could show when the ball was not saved. Tweaked: - Improved handling of outlane ball save during situations where multiball ball saver is active or in grace period. - Modified the Extra Ball light show to keep all the GI on. - Modified the Triple Knights lock light shows to include backbox lamp effects. - Changed the relight shots in Lich mode to the same color as unfreeze shots. - Changed the rules for WAR and RAGE lanes to keep the same lanes lit for a player on their next ball in play. - Reduced the amount of time the flail stays in open position after being hit in Catapult Multiball. - Volume Adjustments and Tweaks. - Install Competition Mode sets - LAST CHANCE MODE ENABLED to NO - PLAY BLACK KNIGHT INTRO to NO New: - Added RANSOM Wizard Mode - Lit by spelling KNIGHT a second time in a single game. - Started by shooting the left VUK. - Classic Black Knight 2000 Sounds, Speech, and 14-Segment Display. - Timed 60 Second 3-Ball Multiball. The ball saver does not expire. - +5x Bonus - FLAIL = MILLIONS - ORBITS = 750,000 - WAR = MILLIONS - EXTRA BALL IS Lit - EVERYTHING IS LIT - Added LAST CHANCE feature - To Qualify Last Chance: - Player must be on their last ball in play. - Player cannot have played a Catapult Multiball. - Player must drain down the left outlane with no ball save lit OR - Player must drain down the right outlane and press the magna-save button before the ball drains. - Timed Mode where the goal is to re-lock balls in the Catapult Lock. - Lower Flippers are Disabled. - Player gets unlimited balls served for the duration of the mode. - Player controls the launching of balls into play. - Completing RAGE lanes adds time and builds jackpot base. - Shooting the Light Locks target adds time and builds jackpot base. - Player must lock 3 balls in the Catapult Lock to start SUPER MULTIBALL. - Time remaining gets added to the jackpot base. - If the player cannot lock 3 balls, their game ends. - Added SUPER CATAPULT Multiball - 4 Ball Multiball, with new display art and lamp effects. - Base value of multiball jackpots set during Last Chance. - Locking a ball in the Catapult Lock sets jackpot multiplier to 2x until the ball is released. - Locking 2 balls in the Catapult Lock sets jackpot multiplier to 3x until the balls are released. - Added light shows for War Hurryup shots and War Hurryup Complete. - Added speech for Extra Ball, Extra Ball is Lit, and Shoot Again. - Added additional speech calls for mode intros. - Added light show for Match sequence. - Added shaker motor to the game intro when the Black Knight screams. Moved to System 2.30: Update Italian translation of "ENTER INITIALS" to "INSERISCI LE TUE INIZIALI" LE/Premium V0.94 - May 29, 2019 ========================== Fixed: - "INVALID" could sometimes show as a tease award during mystery but could not be awarded. This has been corrected so "INVALID" will never show. - Fixed an issue where sometimes the ball search would not raise the shield for long enough to free a ball trapped behind it. - Mystery Award: Light Ball Save now actually lights ball save instead of advancing the ball save. - Fixed an issue that would set shot values to 0 points during grace period. - Fixed an issue where the wrong color would show progress on Black Knight bashes later in the game. - Fixed an issue which caused some display effects not to play from the beginning on a jackpot shot or mode award. - Fix an issue where orbit shots were not awarded while the ball was launching on Premium/LE games. - Fixed an issue where modes would be randomized at ball start, even if the realm was locked in. - Award the jackpot shot in Triple Knight's Challenge on either the drop target or the castle VUK. - Fixed an issue that could cause the ball to sit in the Castle VUK if the VUK shot was the final shot in a mode and it would also start Retro Multiball. Tweaked: - Modified the rules for Catapult Multiball: - Changed the rules for catapult multiball so that every lower playfield shot always stays lit during the multiball for a jackpot. All jackpots build value of super jackpot on the upper playfield. - Added double, triple, and quadruple super jackpots to catapult multiball with appropriate lights and speech calls. - Adjusted scoring. - Enhanced the upper playfield loop base scoring. - Added bi-directional stacking to Catapult and Triple Knight's Challenge Multiball. Either multiball can be started and stacked with the other. - Added warning lights to upper playfield lock release. - Made relighting locks for the 2nd Catapult Multiball easier. - Added the upper flipper to ball search when ball search occurs outside of gameplay. - Changed catapult multiball default color to orange. - Pause the game timers while certain display effects are running. - Exclude shoot again light from knight bashed and realm ready light shows - Changed the skill shot behavior so the shield is not repeatedly activated during skill shot. - Changed default Modes complete for Extra Ball to 1. - Changed Mystery and Triple Knights Multiball locks so mode lights are not hidden while a multiball is running. - Super Features now light more frequently. - Increased the duration of the magna-save hold. - Modified the rules for Deep Freeze - Red shots collect all red shots on the playfield with a bonus added for each shot that it lit. - Added scoring increases for all Cyan shots. - Added scoring increses for non-seal shots in Hydra mode. - Added adjustments for default ball save time for all multiballs. - Changed default times for multiball ball savers. - Add time now adds 3 seconds on a hit to any target to start the timer and 12 seconds on a completion of the Add Time target bank. - Lowered base scoring for spinners. New: - Modified the behavior of the 5 main modes. - Modes now continue from ball to ball if a player drained while the mode was running. - Modes continue with the time the player had left when they drained. - If a player drained with little time left, modes continue with a minimum of 12 seconds. - Modes are only marked as completed if a player beats the modes. Modes that are started but not completed can be restarted from where a player left off. - All 5 modes must be completed (not just started) to play Black Castle mode. - Added additional shooter groove tunes for all modes. - Upper playfield loops now boosts the scoring of the running mode. - Upper playfield loop target now spots a shot during running modes. - Added flail behaviors to Catapult Multiball. - Added grace period to all multiballs. Catapult and TKC Multiball can restart each other from grace. Add-a-ball can restart all running multiballs. - Added Glowy font treatment to retro multiball score font. - Added light shows for: - Ball Save - Add-a-ball Lit - Add-a-ball Awarded - Game Over - Knight 1 Locked - Knight 2 Locked - Added shaker effects for: - Bonus - Ball Save - Mystery - Added Magna-Save bonus scoring and displays. - Added Loop Bonus to bonus screen. - Competition mode sets the starting mode to SAND WORM for all players at first ball. - Added attract mode game tutorial videos. Moved to System 2.28: Updated to nodeboard firmware v0.48.0 Coin door interlock switch support for Spike2. LE/Premium V0.93 - May 2, 2019 ========================== - Initial release.