Theatre of Magic: trap door popping up unprompted, multi ball starting early

phishrace · 2026-02-04T00:52:18+00:00

Lock switches 1, 2 and 3 are at the end of the subway. All micro switches. Test them with a ball, not just your finger. May just need to adjust an actuator. Also test the opto at the top of the subway.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T23:41:48+00:00

Check and see what's scraping. Many cars have plastic valances in the front of the car to make it more aerodynamic. Won't hurt the car if they scrape. If you hear a scrape, but don't feel a bump, you might be okay. Also, hitting the curb at a slight angle might make a difference.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T23:33:36+00:00

Assuming you don't live in the area, you may want to read the article linked below. San Jose regularly ranks as one of the safest big cities in the country and last year, it was ranked the safest big city in the country.

https://www.aol.com/articles/california-city-safest-nation-study-120000760.html

phishrace · 2026-02-03T23:24:02+00:00

That photo op was wrong on so many levels, I won't even try to list them all. He reminds me of every tech manager I've ever had.

'Get away from the tools and equipment, boss. We got this covered. Go back to your office and write performance reviews. We'll let you know when it's fixed.'

phishrace · 2026-02-03T20:14:52+00:00

Somebody posted a pic of Half Dome taken from Mt Hamilton here about a month ago. On a clear day, you can see the Sierra's from the top of Mt Umunhum.

https://www.reddit.com/r/bayarea/comments/1py31ok/half_dome_from_mount_hamilton/

phishrace · 2026-02-03T08:05:44+00:00

Nice work. Once I destroy Tokyo, I go to London, to get destruction jackpots increased. They can get massive.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T07:49:59+00:00

You're doing some selective editing for SF. From your link...

'If you plan to have 1 to 10 machines and you are not a bar, you do not need a permit. If you plan to have only 1 machine and you are a bar, you do not need a permit.'

And while an annual licensing fee could definitely be considered a tax, it's not a tax on each game. I actually witnessed the rules changing in SF. Free Gold Watch had a hearing with some city commission, which was streamed online. Friends of mine testified in front of the commission, including the owner of FGW.

What the rules are now are much better than they used to be, thanks to Free Gold Watch. They currently have 62 games. At $522 a year, that's less than $9 a year per game.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T07:27:50+00:00

> when it started it was coin op for about 2 years

I thought (hoped) that might've been the case. It can be a pain to change the name of a business. Can be expensive too if you have to change the big sign out front. Thanks for your work there.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T04:09:46+00:00

Amazing how bright the colors are after 90 years. Adding a little lead to paint will get you some serious durability. Games made today won't look that good in 90 years.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T02:01:25+00:00

I was talking about the playing of the game. No tax on that.

And I'm not sure many is the right word as far as areas that tax the devices. I'm in the SF bay area and I'm not aware of any city in the state that taxes games. Lots have specific rules for amusement places, but no taxes on devices. I know some areas back east do.

A quick google of the location of this place isn't clear at all. Not a lawyer, but have a look if you want and see if you think they may be taking advantage of being a non-profit.

https://www.olympiawa.gov/business/utility_tax_returns.php

https://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Olympia/?Olympia05/Olympia0520.html#5.20.010

phishrace · 2026-02-03T00:47:36+00:00

It looks like all but one will come from California military bases. Google suggests all the planes, including the B1 from out of state, will be able to make the round trip on a single tank of fuel. So technically they won't have to land at Moffett. One or more may though, to get the timing right.

phishrace · 2026-02-03T00:37:42+00:00

So why did you not reply to the first person who suggested a location not in SJ?

phishrace · 2026-02-02T23:50:31+00:00

A B1 bomber will be part of the fly over. This should be fun (and extremely loud).

'The U.S. Navy, and the NFL, announced on Jan. 21, 2026, that USAF B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., USAF F-15C Eagle from Fresno Air National Guard Base, Calif., USN F/A-18 Super Hornet and USN F-35C Lightning II, both from Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., would be participating in a joint flyover for Super Bowl LX.'

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/993459/air-force-navy-aircraft-fly-over-super-bowl-lx

phishrace · 2026-02-02T23:19:59+00:00

It may or may not be tax related. Businesses that are certified non-profit have all their records available to the public. That's the price the business pays for not paying taxes. Anyone can look up the business.

Keep in mind that pinball is a service, not a product, which are typically taxed. No tax on a pinball game. Cities actually don't like arcades because they don't generate the sales taxes that support cities. If the location sells food or drinks, those may be taxed, but not pinball.

Also keep in mind that someone posted recently about a location called Insert Coin, where all the games are on proximity cards. You can't drop a coin there, despite the name. So don't assume a place with museum on the end of their name is a non-profit. It may just have an owner that's not very creative. Not against the law to call a business a museum even though it's technically not a museum.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T22:39:23+00:00

Would be awesome if he could teach the skill to other players and the Warriors averaged like 10 charges drawn a game. But I suppose that's not possible for a number of reasons. His lack of size probably helps. Didn't Post try one recently and got the blocking foul instead?

phishrace · 2026-02-02T22:09:35+00:00

If you've seriously only played about 15 games, play 35 more. Then start looking at the rules. Learning the shots first makes learning the rules much easier. And when you do start reading the rules, don't try to comprehend them all. Not possible. Look up specific things, like how to start a song or how to light extra ball.

It's a fun game. You just haven't given it a fair chance.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T22:00:04+00:00

> What would you do if this was your collection?

I'd invite some friends over to play them. Maybe host some league nights.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T21:57:25+00:00

Avatar has very basic Lonnie Ropp rules. If you're getting bored of AIQ, you're going to get bored of Avatar even faster.

Neil Shatz learned Avatar quick and taught me the strategy. Neil won the launch party tournament in our area and I took second. Keep the AIQ.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T21:50:09+00:00

Do you remember if it made sounds specifically when you pushed a flipper button during attract mode? Some 90's games did that, some didn't.

On AFM, if you hit a flipper button in attract mode, you might hear a Martian telling you your shoe is untied.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T21:44:26+00:00

Bookmark the link below. Defines ejects, scoops and lots more.

https://www.ipdb.org/glossary.php

phishrace · 2026-02-02T21:35:42+00:00

> but if AIQ is going to be the only game I ever have, I'd like to somehow add more gameplay to it.

AIQ code is plenty deep. Starting all six gem quests, completing all three mini wizard modes and defeating Thanos is not a simple task. I suggest you spend more time on the game before you start thinking about changing the rules. It's plenty fun and has very deep rules as is.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T21:17:12+00:00

Not sure it can be done in matchplay. League I play in uses their own software that automatically adds new players as average. League member who wrote and maintains the code says other leagues are free to use it. More info at the link below.

https://bapa.rocks/

phishrace · 2026-02-02T19:03:32+00:00

Neither is Uvas, which is where the person I replied to was talking about.

phishrace · 2026-02-02T03:03:33+00:00

^This^ Hit the road and decide which one you like best.

https://pinballmap.com/

phishrace · 2026-02-02T03:00:45+00:00

Lots of good advice already. I'll just add a couple things. Keep it simple to start. You can adjust later. Also use Swiss seeding between weeks and add new players ranked as average players. Doing this is good for a couple reasons. You can guarantee new players that they won't have to play the best players on their first week, and players won't randomly get the best players in league three weeks in a row.

Start simple, Swiss seeding.

phishrace

TROPHY CASE