-= Medieval Madness (pinball) =-

--------------------------

Medival madness - quick guide:

I find that if you look after your extra balls, the rest of the game largely looks
after itself. You can get 5+ chances in a typical game :

It's important to understand 'trolls' and multiball madness, but I'll cover that
later.
So, extra balls:
1) Castle Multiball EB:
Score 3 lock shots (left of the main gate, over the moat, through the castle
wall) to start castle multiball. Then get 5 ramp shots (dragon or peasants), then
hit another lock shot to light 'extra ball' at Merlin. (remember to collect it
there (Merlin)).
2) Second Castle EB:
Destroy the second castle (smash the gate) to light 'extra ball' at Merlin.
3) 'Hurry UP' EB:
Cash in 10 'hurry ups'. Hurry ups are activated by re-completing a quest.
That is, if merlin is already ready to reward a player for their first 3 jousts,
and the player scores an ADDITIONAL 3 jousts, they will get a hurry up. Hit the
castle to 'cash in' the hurry up. Alternatively, while the hurry up is active,
re:completing ANOTHER quest that had already been done will reset the hurry-up
timer, massively add to the score (1mil -> 3mil -> 5.5mil -> 8.5mil -> 12mil etc).
Make sure to hit the castle to 'cash in' all the hurry ups before the timer runs
out. At 10, you light extra ball at merlin.
4) Royal Madness EB:
When Merlin rewards a quest, the player gets multiball madness (complicated,
read more below). After that, Merlin will wait for ALL quests to be (re)completed
before giving 'Royal Madness'. Once started, the objective of Royal madness is to
satisfy every major shot: 2 jousts left and right, 2 catapults, 2 trolls, 2
peasants, and 2 dragons. The lock shot gives whatever the player needs most (often
a catapult, since it's the hardest). Each time a set is finishied (trolls,
catapults, dragons etc) the 20-second timer is reset. Once all shots are made,
Ex.ball is given (don't need to visit Merlin).
5) Save the children EB:
You get save the children by lighting 'fire' (the inlanes/outlanes) 10 times,
then visiting Merlin WITH MANA. (The merlin mana requirement puzzled me for ages!
Hit those far-right targets to restore his mana, or plunge a ball! He can't start
video mode if he hasn't got a spell ready for you. (note: no table lights show that
save the children is available, you have to read the text display and pay attention
to your 'fire' count). During save the children, use flippers to steer your
pitchfork villager, saving babies from eagles. 1 troll bomb can be used here to
'nuke' the screen ('launch ball' button), V.helpful once things get too busy to
pitchfork you way through! Halfway through this endevour, an extra ball floats by:
stab it! If you're stuggling to beat 'save the children', direct almost all of your
attention to when the birds swoop - If instead of trying to get under birds all the
time, you only pay attention to when birds swoop, the minigame is made far easier.
6) Merlin's Magic EB:
Pretty much random. There is a setting that has the machine make this a 5%
from Merlin's spells, but the default behaviour of a factory settings machine is to
skew the odds to try to make most balls average a 25% chance of extra balls.
In practice, this means that with any half-decent players active, the odds of
Merlin casting an extra ball spell under factory settings will be pitiful. (ie, if
the average player gets only *1* extra ball on this machine, Merlin will not reward
an extra ball!)
Aside from learning how to get 5 chances at extra balls every time you play, the
second most important detail that I find noteworthy is that it's best to start the
'multiball madness' round only after 'trolls' is active (hit 8 troll targets - the
little yellow 'shields' to the sides of the castle main gate), but NOT 'troll
madness'. This is because if you enter multiball madness with 'trolls' active, you
get a chance to kill 2 trolls (which is really easy even without bombs), and
killing both trolls will instantly add 'troll madness' to your current multiball.
This increases the 'level' of the current multiball madness (multiball madness
offers 10x more score from all the targets during the round if the player has the
most, vs the least, 'madness' missions active). Not only does it add troll madness
instantly, it ALSO 'refreshes' the current multiball madness entirely! - that means
refilling any balls that have been lost back to the multiball 'max' (usually 3),
and also refreshes the 'grace period' of the multiball (all the multiball events
begin with this 'godmode', which is about 10 seconds where balls lost are given
back. Obviously, reloading your multiball, resetting your 'god mode', and adding
another madness level is incredible - it's pretty much just getting an instant
second, better, multiball madness after this one.
So in short, have trolls ready, and you'll get more than double the multiball
madness.

Multiball madness scoring:

All quests=jackpots. 'Madness' quests=super jackpots. eg: If you have peasant
and catapult madness, then peasant/catapult shots=super jackpots, and
Dragon/Joust/Troll shots=Jackpot. Lock shots give a double super jackpot. Troll
shots are worth half.
Jackpots are worth 100k-175k, depending on how many madnesses were
lit going in (1-4, catapult, joust, peasant, damsell, troll)
Super jackpots are worth 400k-1mil " .
Note that if all 5 madnesses are lit, then *every* quest is a super
jackpot worth 1mil.

Due to the nature of the number of balls, and the way jackpots work, this means
that all 5 madnesses will typically score about 20 times that of 1 madness,
Similarly, going in with trolls & 4 madness lit is *way* better than trolls+
3 madness. (Mostly because of 4 balls)

Why? Average target value leaps up from 170k to 1mil, and mode ends after losing 3
balls, rather than after losing just 1 in the level 1 madness.

My advice: Obviously ALWAYS get 'trolls' before starting a madness round.

Additionally, if you have catapult madness lit, then try to get all 4 (add
damsell, joust, peasant) before starting. But if you don't have catapult, don't
sweat it, just visit merlin with 2-3 madnesses lit and get trolls during the round.
This is because the catapult shot is SO hard and dangerous.

Finally, there is an important situation that often comes up:

You are playing a madness round, and haven't yet killed both 'trolls' to add
troll madness to the multiball madness round (it can pay to delay finishing them).
You only have 2 balls left, and one of those balls enters an outlane so you're
GOING to lose it...
HAMMER the troll bomb!
In this situation, hammering the troll bomb buttom (launch ball) will
complete troll madness, add troll madness to the current multiball, restock your
entire ball count (3-4 balls), and give you a new 10-second godmode! It's
incredible just how much this can add to your multiball, for the cost of a troll
bomb or (rarely) 2.
-= Note for SUPER pro players =-
--------------------------
The 'extra ball' settings ( Default= 4, NA )might not work like you thought (this
surprised me, but I tested and confirmed it)...
Extra balls per ball in play is a setting that defines how many extra balls can
(obvisouly) be gained per 'real' ball. By default it is unlimited. I originally
thought that this must be the number extra balls allowed to be 'stored', but that's
not the case - it's literally how many extra balls can be gained per 'real' ball.
The 'max EB count' setting is one that I originally thought must be the max
extra balls possible to be gained throughout an entire 'credit' (inserting money).
It is not - it's actually the max extra balls that can be 'stored'.
This is to say, a player can absolutely play 'forever' on factory settings
(max extra balls:4, EB's per ball in play: unlimited) if they manage to get one or
more extra ball every time they drain a ball. You can 'lose' 10, 20, 30 ++ balls
provided you get an extra each time.
The reason that was is a surprise (it sound intuitive enough when written down), is
how hard it is to 'play forever' in this way, but rest assured it's possible!
Basically, after a basic 'how hanging fruit' batch of multiballs, the rest are
REALLY hard to get.

Regarding repeating extra balls -

Easy:
- second castle : Can be scored every time a battle for the kingdom is fought!
- Royal madness : Each 'playthrough' can score this once, like second castle.
hard:
- Castle (raid) multiball (lock-shot) - start with lock shot x3,9,15,21 etc. 2nd+
time req. ALL shots for EB, not just 5+lock. *
- FIRE/video mode - 10 first time, 50 second, 90 third etc.
- Hurry up: 10 first time, 50 second, 90 third etc.
- Merlin's random - factory settings adjust it (down to 0%) depending on machine.
Non-factory allows 5%

In reality, the only extra balls that can be repeated with regularity are the
second castle, and Royal madness.
Castle (raid) multiball is twice as hard second time.
VideoMode and HurryUp are 4 times harder!

I find that the 'best' I can expect is 10 balls. This is truly exceptional (3
balls, 2 'second castles', 2 royal madness, 1 castle multiball, 1 video mode, 1
(merlin/castleMB/video). A second castle multiball EB, or a third 'lap' around the
kingdom, isn't really practical for me. Hence 10 balls starts getting very close to
the ceiling for a great game.
In general, expect a game to bell-curve within 4 and 9 balls, typically.

*: On factory settings, first time you get castle multiball (3 lock shots), you get
an extra ball after hitting 5 ramps (peasant/dragon) followed by the lock. Second
and beyond times (9,15,21,27 lock shots) you have to THEN hit both ramps, both
orbits, Lock, and Catapult! This is INCREDIBLY hard, compared to the first time.
 -= Access menu: =-
------------
To access menus, change machine settings etc:
open coin door, use 7890 keys (back, left, right, select) to mavigate
options/menus.

-= Nudge settings: =-
---------------
TLDR: Most VPX 10 and above tables can allow slap-saves from basic/keyboard nudge,
without too much messing up other areas, by setting the following values in the
table's script:

If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 120, 16:PlaySound

SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 240, 16:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)

Since VPX version 10, the VPX nudge physics emulation was changed. While the new
physics are much better than the crazy stuff that verion 9 used to do, they have a
major problem regarding slap-saves not working. Slap saves are a HUGE part of good
pinball play, so they really need to work for good emulation.

I find that the VPX10 sideways nudge strength needs turning up to allow slap-save.
Setting it to a magnitude of 13 was the lowest that still allows slap-save for
middle drains. At 13, even a single pixel closer to the left flipper means that the
right flipper will not work with a slap save under these settings, so you need a
keen eye to detect which side to slap.
In other words, under magnitude:13, only 1 side will ever work for a slap save, so
what looks like a 'perfect' centre ball drain is going to be a 50/50 guess. All
other situations should allow slap saves if the player times things correctly.
The part of the script (accessed in visual pinball using view -> script when
medieval madness is loaded) that defines the nudge power is seen below. The '13'
are the strong side nudges. The '5' is the vertical nudge (powered down here from
default 6. Default settings on this (and most) tables have vertical nudge of
strength 6, and side nudge at strength 5.)

Sub Table1_KeyDown(ByVal Keycode)

If keycode = StartGameKey Then Controller.Switch(13) = 1
If keycode = PlungerKey Then Controller.Switch(11) = 1
If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 90, 13:PlaySound SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 270, 13:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)
If vpmKeyDown(keycode) Then Exit Sub

I wish it didn't have to be set this (13) high, but this is the problem with Visual
Pinball v10 I guess. It's much better than the silly nudge from the older versions
though, where you could 'float' the ball wherever you want with nudges. In VPX 10,
nudges only really do anything if there is something to nudge off. While this isn't
completely accurate compared to real life (the tilt of the playfield allows many
nudges to make _some_ difference even when no obstances touch the ball), it's
closer than it used to be, albeit very different!

Oh, and bang-backs (and even death saves) *are* possible under these settings, but
they require BOTH nudges simultaneously. IE a 'diagonal' nudge, up AND right/left.
Not that this doesn't matter since it's a banned move anyhow!

I'm wasn't really content with this setting though... Slap saves NEED to be
possible, but this side nudge value is so high, a player can nudge the ball from
one flipper, through the inlane on the opposite side! This makes it trivial to hit
inlane rollovers (spell 'fire' in medieval madness) if a player exploits it.
I decided to change the angle, to stop this exploit. Turning the angle down towards
the bottom of the table prevents this abuse, while barely harming the slap-save
goal of this high value in the first place. This first try (45 degree downwards
diagonals) was too extreme, but I tested it:

If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 135, 13:PlaySound

SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 225, 13:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)

My GOODNESS does that stop the overpowered 'pass' effectively! In fact it just
makes the attempt immediately plunge the ball! Probably too extreme! Let's try
'flattening out' that angle a little, into 120 and 240

If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 120, 13:PlaySound

SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 240, 13:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)

Ok, that's more reasonable. It actually feels extremely similar to the 'default'
nudge of 5 horizontally!
However, the changed angle means that slap saves are no longer possible in the most
'central' drain cases. The reason this isn't ideal is that, in real life, pretty
much ANY centre-drain ball can be saved by slapping the machine hard enough.
Because of this, I want any middle-drain to be salvageable in VPX. So next, I want
to try upping the magnitude even more, to ensure that it still allows slap saves. I
know that 13 horizontally can save the central drain, so according to basic
trigonometry, a triangle with a base of 13, and angle of 30degrees, would have a
hypotenuse length of:
15.011
=(13/cos30)
So let's try 15 under these settings!

If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 120, 15:PlaySound

SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 240, 15:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)
I know that this magnitude 15 might seem really extreme, but in reality a down-
diagonal nudge is never really going to have much apparent effect in the way VPX
version 10 simulates nudges. Gravity ensures that any time this downwards force is
significant is a time where the ball was just around to bounce off a surface
downwards anyway! As such it should result in simply allowing great slap-saves
without being exploitable elsewhere.
I'm going to experiment over tons of games to see whether that are odd occassions
that spoil this idea, but assuming there are not, this is a great way to allow slap
saves in today's VPX without chaos elsewhere, and this script tweak will apply to
most VPX table scripts if you want to introduce slap saves to your VPX version 10
gameplay.

(Extra note - the 'nudge time' setting in the 'properties' window (physics tab) in
VPX is simply the graphical effect. Ie: how much the screen shakes when nudging.
Additionally, there's the the 'preferences' tab -> "configue keys, nudge, and DOF"
This tab allows a player to change nudge settings, but unless we tick the
"legacy/VP9-style non-realistic keyboard nudge" checkbox (which makes nudges work
the silly way they used to), none of these settings override the script settings.
They are for either tilting your table (rolling balls around analogue-style), or
VP9 settings.
Obviously, these are of little interest to us, so I'd suggest keeping the table
properties -> physics -> nudge time low (4?). For the 'preferences' tab ->
"configue keys, nudge, and DOF", just ensure that the "Legacy/VP9" box is NOT
checked, and the rest should look after itself, but for completeness, I have mine
on X-Max=100, X-gain=100. Y-Max=100, Y-gain=100.)

After some significant testing, this setting is definitely too weak. Slap saves are
too hard. Let's try 17!
Update - 17 felt better, but still not quite enough. Promisingly, the accidental
effects of this HUGE setting didn't seem to matter much at all! The side nudges
just felt like weak side nudges, so I'm moving up to 20 to allow slap saves. My gut
is telling me that this is high, but knowing that in real life, slap saves WORK if
you hit the machine hard enough, I want a setting that works, provided the correst
side for the slap save is selected (slap left+left flipper, right flipper a few
milliseconds later, or vice versa). Let's see how 20 works!

If keycode = LeftTiltKey Then Nudge 120, 27:PlaySound

SoundFX("fx_nudge_left",0)
If keycode = RightTiltKey Then Nudge 240, 27:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_right",0)
If keycode = CenterTiltKey Then Nudge 0, 5:PlaySound
SoundFX("fx_nudge_forward",0)