Version 1.3 – June 2002 by Jim Hicks – jimhicks@justbecauseican.com
Initial version: September 24, 2001
Last update: June 1, 2002
Still to do:
Verify ramp board advances and how Land Grab is started. Check Ripoff and regular multiball jackpot values.
Create non-Word HTML version (version 1.4), Add with pictures and hyperlinks (Version 1.5)
Contributors: Matt Young - matt.young@duke.edu, Jerry Clause - dragster_73@hotmail.com, Bowen Kerins - bkerins@massed.net, Ray Johnson, John Rhodes, Wei-Hwa Huang
This rule sheet may be freely distributed or reproduced in any form, provided the above credits remain. Please e-mail me with any corrections or updates.
The most current version of this rule sheet can be found at http://www.justbecauseican.com/pinball/monopoly/rules.html with pictures to illustrate key points or game areas.
NOTE: There may be some rule variations experienced, depending on the game software level. This rule sheet reflects the most current rule set available (Version 3.01) and will only document major variations between software levels. See the Software Levels section for additional details.
For additional game play and strategy tips beyond what is in this rule sheet, see Bowen Kerins’ Monopoly excellent strategy guide at http://www.justbecauseican.com/pinball/monopoly/strategy.txt
See my Monopoly page at http://www.justbecauseican.com/pinball/monopoly/ for additional pictures and information on the game.
Some additional material is available on the official Stern web page located http://www.sternpinball.com/monopoly1.htm
This document contains the following sections:
1. Overview
2. Credits
3. Artwork
4. Goal
5. Game Instruction Card
6. Playfield layout and basic rule set
7. Skill shot
8. Ball saver
9. Video mode
10. Combination shots
11. Collecting property (modes)
12. Multiball
13. Game Over (High Scores)
14. Game settings (adjustments)
15. Service Bulletins / Bugs / Game Issues / Maintenance Tips
16. Software Levels
17. Game Play sound bites
18. Attract mode ticker quotes
19. Easter Eggs
20. Official Stern Pinball Press Release
21. Trademarks and Legal Stuff
22. Miscellaneous Observations
Sections 2,3 and 13-22 contain additional information on the game and are not directly related to the rule set.
Monopoly is the first game designed for Stern Pinball by Pat Lawlor Design and features a more varied and deeper rule set than the earlier Stern offerings. Sample games were available in September 2001, and initial shipments of production games started in October 2001. The game is bright and inviting and offers a wide variety of shots and modes. Multiple mulitball modes are available and none are of the “newbie-friendly-hit-the-flashing-shots-for-continuous-multiball” modes that have been traditionally featured on Stern pins. Fans of Pat Lawlor’s previous games will find some familiar design elements along with new ones, resulting in a clever implementation of the Monopoly board game theme.
Game Design: Pat Lawlor
Mechanical Design: John Krutsch
Game Software: Louis Koziarz
Display Software: Greg Dunlap
Sounds & Music: Chris Granner
Art: John Youssi
Display Art: Kurt Andersen
Additional Support: Mark Galvez, Keith Johnson, Lonnie Ropp, Dwight Sullivan, Ray Tanzer
Special Thanks: Gary Stern, Pat Schmidt
Backglass:
The backglass, (actually a translite), features the traditional Monopoly game board against a rich blue background, with “Mr. Monopoly” (a.k.a. Rich Uncle Pennybags) striding along the outer edge, with his cane in his right hand and the title card for Boardwalk in his left. There is a wake of houses, hotels, money and tokens trailing behind his right foot. To the left of his front foot, adjacent to the first Community Chest space past GO is a chest open with moneybags inside. Two houses and a hotel partially cover the Income Tax and Reading Railroad spaces. Two dice cover the light blue bar of Oriental Avenue, two houses on Vermont and a large race car token between St. Charles and the Electric Company.
The traditional Monopoly logo is featured at the top, with “Own it all” in italics between the logo and the top left edge of the board. The Pat Lawlor Design logo is featured in the lower left corner and the Stern Pinball logo in the lower right hand corner.
Playfield:
The playfield features a modified Monopoly game board oriented on the diagonal as the major feature on the lower half of the playfield. Mr. Monopoly appears to be climbing over the top right side of the board, with his cane in his left hand, rolling the dice with his right.
Income and Luxury Tax, the Electric Company and Water Works and all but one of the Chance and Community Chest spaces have been removed from the playfield version of the game board, which, as a result only has 32 of the standard 40 spaces. (Compare to the standard board that is depicted on the backglass).
Smaller images of Mr. Monopoly are scattered about the playfield. Water Works pipes are featured under the lower jet area. The top center alley shot to the Roll & Collect lane feature two large dice over a white arrow. There are major areas of yellow/orange, pink, green, blue, orange and light purple. The artwork is bright and inviting and suggests the Monopoly theme very well.
Cabinet:
The cabinet is predominately black, with crisp looking artwork. The lockdown bar is black, as is the speaker panel. The backglass/translite is backlit by a single fluorescent tube located slightly below the Monopoly logo. The front has a standard coin door. The red start button is on the upper left. Directly below it is the GO square offset up from a red diamond. On the right, under the plunger is a similar offset square with a picture of Mr. Monopoly pushing a wheelbarrow. There is a Monopoly logo directly underneath the door. To the left of the logo is Mr. Monopoly holding his cane rolling a large pinball. In the bottom right corner, is the game slogan “Own it all”.
The side art features a colorized version of the traditional Monopoly logo, with a pinball flying away from Mr. Monopoly, as if he pushed it away. Just above the top left of the logo is a large “Own it all.” Below the logo for the length of the cabinet is a repeating pattern of four game icons (Water Works spigot, The cop, Electric Company light bulb, Free Parking car), linked on the diagonal by dice, across two rows.
The head side art features the Monopoly logo at the top, drawn as if Mr. Monopoly was rolling two dice toward the viewer, over a background of alternating black and multicolored squares. The colored squares feature Water Works, Electric Company and Railroad icons. A red border frames the checked pattern.
By default, each player starts the game with 1500 points (the same amount of money each player starts with in the Monopoly board game). Each player moves around the Monopoly board, attempting to collect all eight of the property groups. Once all the property groups (monopolies) are obtained, LAND GRAB is started. LAND GRAB is a timed, four ball multiball mode where the object is to build houses and hotels to acquire points. As the game says, your goal is to own it all!
SKILL SHOT The Water Works hole collects Skill Shot
COLLECT PROPERTY Shoot for ROLL & COLLECT when lit. This will move you
around the board & collect any property. When you collect any property watch the display
for instructions on how to play that mode. ROLL & COLLECT is RE-LIT on RIGHT RAMP.
EXTRA BALL Extra Ball is awarded by getting the ELECTRIC COMPANY to a higher power %.
The upper POPS (bumpers) raise the ELECTRIC COMPANY’S power.
BONUS X Awarded on the outer loop shots when lit or when completing the A B C lanes.
MULTIBALL Advancing around board to GO lights LOCK. LOCK 2 balls by shooting for the
center ramp. Then start MULTIBALL by shooting up the RIGHT RAMP.
CASH GRAB The LEFT RAMP closes the bank door. Hitting the closed door spells “B-A-N-K”. This
starts CASH GRAB. IN CASH GRAB, ALL RAMPS WORTH BIG POINTS!
JACKPOT While in MULTIBALL shoot for the LEFT RAMP or the ELECTRIC COMPANY.
The TRAIN ramp RE-LITES JACKPOT.
CHANCE Shoot for the left CHANCE ? CARD scoop
when lit for random awards.
HINT: Collect all property to play LAND GRAB!
Note to Beginners: To score better, shoot at the ( FLASHING SHOTS ) !!
Be sure to LOOK UP at the Dot Display for instructions when possible.
(Major
playfield areas, targets or shots, more or less clockwise from the bottom
center of the playfield)
OUTHOLE / FLIPPERS / BONUS – Main flippers are here in standard position, above Mr. Monopoly in a pile of money. On games exported to the United Kingdom, Mr. Monopoly’s head is the center ball save post, activated by the second set of flipper buttons. Standard left and right sling bumpers and inlanes. The SHOOT AGAIN lamp is directly above Mr. Monopoly’s head and five Bonus Multiplier lights (2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X + Light Extra Ball), each in the side of a hotel, are arranged in a row above that. The Bonus multiplier is advanced by completing A-B-C lanes or making outer loop shots (when lit). This multiplier is applied to the bonus awarded at the end of each ball, which is calculated using the number of times you’ve been around the board, the number of railroads collected and the number of monopolies (property groups) owned. The minimum bonus award is 5000 points.
MONOPOLY BOARD – Animated game board, rotated 45 degrees, with the GO! space centered between the flippers, is directly above the Bonus Multiplier inserts and occupies the main open portion of the lower playfield area. The board has fewer spaces than the board game, with only 9 spaces on a side (32 total space, rather than the normal 40). The “Income Tax”, “Electric Company”, “Water Works”, “Luxury Tax”, all but the first “Community Chest” and last “Chance” spaces are not represented. All other property groups, railroads and the four corner spaces (GO, Jail/Just Visiting, Free Parking, and Go to Jail) are depicted as in the standard American version of the Monopoly board game. Each space and the Chance and Community Chest card locations in the center of the board are lit and are animated as each player moves around the board.
Landing on a property scores 1000 times the listed purchase price (e.g. New York Avenue with a purchase price of $200, awards 200K points). If the property group is unlit, the appropriate mode will start (see section below) and the entire property group will be lit (i.e. you own the monopoly). Collect all 8 monopolies to start LAND GRAB.
Landing directly on a corner space other than GO (“JUST VISITING”, “FREE PARKING” and “GO TO JAIL”) starts a multiball mode. See the Multiball section for additional details.
Each time the dice are rolled, you hear the token move accompanied by a flashing light moving across the board spaces on the playfield with animation of Mr. Monopoly hopping across the dot matrix display (DMD). The effect on the playfield is particularly well done. The dice roll is also shown on the ELECTRIC COMPANY display. If you watch carefully, you will notice that the dice rolls aren’t exactly random, but “rigged” to favor the player. For example, the roll is weighed to land on a property in an unowned group if there is one within range. If there is no unowned property group within 2 to 12 spaces, the roll will likely result in landing on an unowned railroad or one of the corner spaces (which starts the corresponding multiball mode). And, unlike the board game, you don’t get to roll again if you roll doubles. J
LEFT OUTLANE – Special is available here (when lit)
JAIL – Multiball lock area to the far left of the playfield. Accessed when the left ramp diverter is active. Balls are dropped from the ramp and physically locked here.
CHANCE and COMMUNITY CHEST – Scoop located about 1/3 way up on the far left side of the playfield, similar to that found on Whirlwind. There is a sign above with two sections and lamps (“COLLECT CHANCE CARD w/LIT” and “COLLECT COMMUNITY CHEST w/LIT”). When neither light is lit, shoot the scoop to collect Pocket Change (a very small random point award).
CHANCE
Awards 100,000 points and one of the following awards:
· Advance to St. Charles Place (starts Free Money)
· Advance to New York Avenue (starts Tax Refund)
· Advance to Illinois Avenue (starts Board Chase)
· Advance to Pacific Avenue (awards 1M points)
· Advance to Boardwalk (lights special)
· Advance token to nearest Railroad
· Bank Error in your Favor Collect (various point values)
· Bank Pays Dividend 200,000 points
· Building and Loan Matures Collect (various point values)
· Collect Bonus
· Pay each player 50,000 (points)
· Free Parking
· Breakout Multiball
· Ripoff Multiball
· Light lock
· Light Dice Roll
· Light Extra Ball
· Award Water Works Bonus
· Advance Bonus X
· Advance 3 spaces
· Go Back 3 Spaces
· Cash Grab
· All jets to max (check wording)
CHANCE is re-lit by shooting the “Free Parking” ramp.
COMMUNITY
CHEST
For games with software levels lower than 2.33 (games manufactured before late October 2001):
There is no rule implemented, and consequently no scoring, for COMMUNITY CHEST. The COLLECT COMMUNITY CHEST w/LIT light is not lit during regular game play and will only flash during light shows, multiball modes or jackpot sequences.
For games with software levels at 2.33 or above:
A rule for COMMUNITY CHEST has been implemented.
Making the scoop shot when COLLECT COMMUNITY CHEST w/LIT is lit awards a “Land Grab Bonus” (apparently in the 100K-300K range, which may be some percentage of the Land Grab value) that is doubled for each successive successful COMMUNITY CHEST shot.
COMMUNITY CHEST is only available after LAND GRAB has been started and after CHANCE has been lit and awarded at least once. If you shoot an orbit shot before hitting the scoop for the award, you will relight CHANCE and the COMMUNITY CHEST award will no longer be available until the CHANCE shot is made.
COMMUNITY CHEST is not available after the last “Land Grab” ball has drained.
LEFT LOOP – “Bonus X” lamp insert is located between the scoop and the entrance to the Railroad Ramp. This is the left loop shot, which, when made, advances the bonus multiplier value.
RAILROAD RAMP – Located just above the orange property group on the board, the “railroad” is an open silver wire ramp that quickly returns the ball to the playfield just above the left flipper after a very sharp right turn. This ramp shot can be made to either “Relight Jackpot” or “Advance to Next Railroad” when the corresponding light on the sign immediately above the entrance is lit. Shooting the outer loop lights “Advance to Next Railroad”. Collect all 4 railroads to light Railroad Multiball. Shoot the ramp to collect jackpots in Railroad multiball.
LOWER JETS (also called the Water Works jets) – Three jet (pop) bumpers with red caps are located about mid-way up the playfield on the far left. There is a an outer loop shot when the ball follows a path from the lower right flipper through the lower jets up and around the back of the playfield. There is a large lamp insert “5000 when flashing” (check wording) in between the jets. Jets advance token one space for each 5 hits (operator adjustable).
“Free Parking”, upper left or SIDE RAMP – not sure what to call this one – take your pick. This ramp is actually a second entrance located mid-way on to the center ramp, prior to the diverter. At the top of this ramp entrance is the “Free Parking” space and yellow standup target on the far top left of the playfield. This ramp can be made only from the upper right flipper. Shot made advances token 3 spaces around the board and relights the CHANCE scoop. A “Jackpot” lamp insert is located in front of this ramp (all multiball jackpot shots, other than RAILROAD multiball, are made by shooting this ramp.)
FREE PARKING TARGET – a small yellow standup target at the top of the “Free Parking” ramp. Hitting the yellow standup target awards the current “Free Parking” score, which starts at 75,000 points and increases by 25,000 points (for each consecutive Free Parking target hit?), and advances the “Free Parking” multiball jackpot value by 5,000 points. (See “FREE PARKING” under the Multiball section for additional details on the jackpot value.)
UPPER JETS (also called the Electric Company jets) – Three jet (pop) bumpers with white caps are located just below the top left A B C lanes, centered around a large lamp insert labeled “5000 WHEN FLASHING”. Jets advance token one space for each 5 hits (operator adjustable) and increases the ELECTRIC COMPANY power level.
BALL CONTROL POST – A pop-up post located in the far top left of the playfield, just to the left of the “A” lane and just above the left loop rollover switch. The post is raised at the start of each ball to divert a strong plunger shot into the top (ABC) inlanes rather than continuing down the left outer loop. The post remains up for a few seconds after the initial plunger shot. (Not sure if this post is used at other times in the game).
A B C INLANES – Three rollover lanes in the top left hand corner of the playfield. When completed, the Bonus Multiplier is advanced and token moves 8 spaces.
“COP” (drop) TARGET – Angled slightly off-center between the Roll & Collect lane entrance and the Bank door in front of the “B” insert. The target can be made from any of the three player controlled flippers and generally blocks shots to the Roll & Collect lane. Hitting the target in any mode adds 5 seconds to the mode duration. Each target hit (“COP Stop”) scores the current target value, which starts at 125,000 and increases by 25,000 for each subsequent hit to a maximum value of 250,000.
ROLL & COLLECT LANE – Located immediately to the left of the Bank door. Ball guides direct the ball around the Bank, under the left and right ramps and into he Roll & Collect saucer. This shot is also used to collect the Extra Ball when the Extra Ball light is lit. A sign above the Roll & Collect lane indicates whether Roll & Collect and/or Extra Ball is available. The ROLL & COLLECT shot is lit by shooting the right ramp. When ROLL & COLLECT is made, the dice are rolled, the player advances on the game board the number of spaces rolled and is awarded the points for the property landed on, the monopoly itself (if not already owned) and then the corresponding mode is started
(See additional information in Modes section below).
CENTER RAMP - The center ramp, protected by the BANK vault door, has a diverter that allows the ball to be returned to either the left flipper inlane or to JAIL, where balls are locked for multiball. “Build” and “Lock” inserts are located in front of this ramp. Shot made advances token 1 space on the board.
The BANK door is closed by shooting this ramp, except during CASH GRAB.
RIGHT RAMP - The right ramp also has a diverter and will return the ball to either the right flipper inlane or to the shooter lane (to activate Multiball).
“Move 2” (spaces on the board), “Lite Roll”, and “Multiball” lamp inserts are located in front of this ramp. Making the ramp shot collects award shown (lit).
BANK VAULT – A small door that guards the primary entrance to the center ramp. The door is opened when B-A-N-K inserts directly in front of the door are lit, which then starts CASH GRAB. Hit the door to advance letters. On default settings, the “B” letter is spotted at the start of a game and is advanced one letter per ball. The door is closed when the center (?) ramp shot is made.
ROLL & COLLECT SAUCER – Located in the upper right section of the playfield, this saucer can be made from either the shooter lane or the ROLL & COLLECT lane.
TOP RIGHT SQUARE STANDUP TARGET – This target is directly in front of the Roll & Collect saucer and immediately to the right of the right ramp entrance. There are five awards indicated on lamp inserts in front of the target:
“Advance to GO”
“Water Bonus X”
“Power UP”
“Lite Spinner”
“100K”
RIGHT SPINNER – Silver spinner on the upper right of the playfield starts the right outer loop shot, which feeds to the A B C lanes or the outer loop. Normal spinner value is 2000 per spin, Super spinner value (when lit) is 3000 points. “Bonus X” lamp insert located in front of the spinner and indicates the beginning of the right outer loop shot, which, when made, advances the bonus multiplier).
UPPER RIGHT FLIPPER - There is a standard size flipper about halfway up the playfield on the right side (similar to the layout on Whirlwind or No Good Gofers).
LARGE STANDUP TARGET (COP standup) – Large yellow standup target (may be two targets) located on the right side of the entrance to the Railroad ramp entrance. Made from the upper right flipper. “COP” lamp insert located in front of these targets. Shoot this target to raise “Cop” drop target.
ELECTRIC COMPANY - One of the primary shots from the upper right flipper. A small “speed bump” ramp feeds the ball into the lower jets. Each shot into the Electric Company increases the accumulated voltage level by 5% and each subsequent jet hit raises the voltage level slightly. “Roll & Collect” is lit at 15% and 60%, Extra Ball is lit when 30% is reached (operator selectable), and “Special” is lit at 100%. “Super Jackpot” lamp insert is located in front the ramp.
Directly above the ELECTRIC COMPANY is a three position red LED display that is used to augment information displayed on the main DMD. This sign is also used in attract mode to display over one hundred sometime humorous messages. See Attract mode ticker quotes section below.
WATER WORKS SAUCER – There is a saucer immediately to the left of an entrance from the shooter lane, about 1/3 up the playfield from the plunger. A small yellow (orange on sample games) game-controlled flipper continuously rotates over the saucer and can both block the shot or clear the ball once the shot is made. The shot can be made while the ball is in play or at the start of a ball as a skill shot. Scoring is the same for skill shot. (See Skill Shot below for scoring details).
Monopoly features perhaps the most unique skill shot yet in a pinball game, the WATER WORKS shot. (See WATER WORKS SAUCER above).
The WATER WORKS bonus award starts at 25,000. The Skill Shot bonus multiplier starts at 2X for the first WATER WORKS shot made and increases by 1X for each subsequent shot completion. The value of the bonus itself is increased by hits to the water works (lower) jets.
Once the shot has been successfully made the flipper will change speeds and directions. The shot can be harder than it looks, as you have to have both the right touch to make the shot and have timed the action of the flipper movement to be successful.
If the ball misses the entrance to WATER WORKS when launching the ball, it can make the Roll & Collect saucer or go all the way up to the A-B-C top lanes. Unlike most skill shots, the shot can also be made while the ball is in play and successful saucer shots are scored the same as if made on a skill shot.
There is a ball saver at the
beginning of each ball (if 5 switches are not hit before the ball drains), a
ball save when the Water Works skill shot is made (in case the ball is cleared
out directly to the left outlane) and a very short ball saver when LAND GRAB is
started.
As in all Pat Lawlor games, there is no video mode. After all, this is a pinball game … J
At least one four-way combination shot was added in game software level 3.01.
When made, the DMD will display “FOUR WAY COMBO” and award (unknown) points.
The FOUR WAY COMBO shot sequence is:
- Left Ramp
- Center Ramp
- Right Ramp
- ROLL & COLLECT saucer
When ROLL & COLLECT is lit and the shot is made, the dice are rolled and the player advances along the board (indicated by the flashing light). After landing on an unowned property, points are awaded (1000 times the purchase price of the property) and the corresponding mode or award for that color property group is activated. Once any property in a property group has been landed on, the entire monopoly is obtained.
Some property groups have multiple options (Purple, Green, Blue). For example, in the Blue group, if you land on “Park Place”, EXTRA BALL is lit. If you land on “Boardwalk”, SPECIAL is lit. However, you may only get one or the other the same game
Collect all eight property groups (monopolies) to start LAND GRAB. (property states may get reset once LAND GRAB is reached – need to check this).
Purple: Lower Jets to Max or Upper Jets to Max
Just as the description implies. All three pop bumpers in the corresponding jet group award maximum points (value?)
Light Blue: Token Race
Your token (the race car) races the dog across the DMD display. You advance every time a major playfield shot is made. Winning the race awards 800,000 + 10,000 per major shot for a minimum of 870,000 (?? – check this scoring) and a race bonus of 150,000+ points. Losing the race awards a minimum of 40,000 points. Sparks fly if you shoot the ball into the ELECTRIC COMPANY during the mode (watch the dog!).
Violet: Free Money
Timed mode. Make BANK shot multiple times for Free Money. Each shot locks a digit in the amount of cash available, shown scrolling on the ELECTRIC COMPANY ticker (thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands). When amount displayed, shoot the Bank door to collect.
In addition to points earned, a bonus of 1 million points is awarded if you get three of a kind (e.g. 555, 666, 777, 888, or 999).
The minimum mode award is 1000 points.
Orange: Tax Refund
Starts Hurry Up mode. Award starts at 500,000 points, and can be collected by shooting the BANK door. This shot can be made numerous times during the mode, up to a maximum of 30 (check this) awards. (Shots made while the animation is playing may not be awarded). The minimum mode total is 100,000 points.
Red: Board Chase
Cop chases Mr. Monopoly around the board. The mode starts with Mr. Monopoly saying “I’m too young to go to Jail!” Your token starts on the “Jail” space, heading towards “Go to Jail”. Hitting “COP” (drop) target or right standup target awards 250,000 points, increasing by 50,000 points for each subsequent hit. Each “COP Stop” increases token movement speed and changes token direction (think Clock Chaos in TZ). Mode ends after you reach “Go to Jail” space with quote "You’ve got the wrong tycoon!".
Yellow: Utility Overload
Jets start at 10,000 points for each hit and increase by 5000 points with each completed ELECTRIC COMPANY or WATER WORKS shot. The minimum mode total is 100,000 points. Utility Overload can be stacked with non-multiball modes (e.g. in Utility Overload you can light and collect the dice roll (ROLL & COLLECT)).
Green: Millions
Collect 1 Million points (Pacific), 2 Million points (North Carolina), or 3 Million points (Pennsylvania), depending on the property landed on.
Blue: Light award
Lights “Extra Ball” if you land on Park Place or “Special” if you land on Boardwalk.
When “Extra Ball” is lit (indicated on sign to the left of the Roll & Collect lane), shoot the Roll & Collect lane to collect.
When “Special” is lit, left and right outlanes will alternate. Make the lit one to collect.
CASH GRAB: Started when Bank door is opened. Each COP target hit adds 5 seconds to the mode duration. Shoot ramps, loops, CHANCE scoop, and lit shots to collect displayed values. Value starts at 250,000 points and increases by 25,000 points for each shot made. If no shots are made, 100,000 points are awarded as a consolation.
LAND GRAB: Timed (35 seconds?), four ball multiball mode. Light Roll & Collect after all eight property groups and 4 railroads have been collected and then shoot the Roll & Collect shot to start LAND GRAB mode. Water Works bonus is set to 7X, Lower pops score (xxx) per hit, Upper pop score (xxx) per hit, (list what else is set here).
The object is to build as many houses and hotels as possible. Build houses by shooting the center ramp or 4 houses by shooting the “Free Parking” ramp (this also adds time to the mode). Build a hotel by shooting the ELECTRIC COMPANY. Advance to the next property by shooting the right ramp. A bonus of (???) points is awarded when this mode is completed.
There are five different multiball modes – corner modes (Breakout, Free Parking, Ripoff), Railroad, and regular multiball (a.k.a Monopoly multiball). Shooting the “Free Parking” ramp collects jackpots.
MONOPOLY – Advance token past GO to light lock (i.e. go around the board). Lock two balls by shooting up the center ramp and then shoot the right ramp. Ball will be diverted to the shooter lane and the autoplunger will start Multiball after a really cool animation sequence starts (A pinball rolls though the board at high speed and knocks some houses down. A second pinball rolls left through the board knocks the dice around. Mr. Monopoly looks left, looks right and then jumps out of the way just as the two pinballs collide at the spot where he was standing).
The jackpot starts at 1 Million points and increases by ??? with each Jackpot shot made. Shoot Railroad ramp to enable Super Jackpot. Make the ELECTRIC COMPANY shot to collect Super Jackpo, which scores 2 Million points.
BREAK OUT – Started when you land on “Just Visiting”. Jackpot starts at 400,000 and increases by 50,000 (??) points for each Jackpot.
FREE PARKING – Jackpot starts at the current “Free Parking” value. This value starts at 100,000 points is increased by 5,000 points each time the Free Parking standup is hit during game play. This value is game-specific and rolls over game to game, increasing to a maximum value of 500,000 points.
Collect Jackpot by hitting Free Parking target. Relight the Jackpot by shooting Railroad ramp (verify). The “Free Parking” value resets to 100,000 when multiball ends.
RAILROAD – Collect all 4 railroads to light. Collect 250,000 Jackpot by shooting Railroad Ramp (increases by ?? for each subsequent RR multiball). Lighting subsequent Railroad Multiballs requires an increasing number of railroads owned (check this).
RIPOFF – Started when “Go to Jail” is landed on. Releases (“rips off”) any locked balls from Jail. Jackpot starts at 400,000 points and increases by 50,000 points for each collected Jackpot.
When all players have completed their games, the game moves to Game Over mode. Unless the operator has disabled them, credits are awarded for each player whose last two score digits match the game selected numbers display.
Operator adjustable credits may also be awarded if any player achieves one of the top 4 high scores. By default, 3 high score characters may be entered for each of the top 10 high scores. During the entry process, a fireworks display is shown on the Electric Company display. After characters are entered, “USE FLIPPER BUTTONS TO CHOOSE YOUR TOKEN. PRESS START BUTTON TO CONFIRM” is displayed and the player can select from one of the following:
· Boat
· Thimble
· Money Bag
· Iron
· Cannon
· Dog
· Horse and Rider
· Boot
· Hat
· Wheelbarrow
· Racecar
The selected token will appear to the right of the characters/initials entered whenever that high score is displayed. The top three high scores are displayed during each attract sequence. The remaining high scores are displayed periodically during the attract sequence.
If you do not have an opportunity to select a token after you enter your high score characters, the game most likely does not have display software at Version 3.01 or higher. (Note that some early production games shipped with a level of display software that supported token entry, so it’s also possible that the display code is back level. CPU and DISPLAY code levels are displayed on the DMD when the game is first turned on.)
If no initials are entered or if there is no token selected with a high score entry, the PLD logo will be displayed instead of a Monopoly token.
The game software allows an operator to make many adjustments for game play settings. Some of these are generic (e.g. “Free Play”) and some are specific to Monopoly. These are fully documented in the Monopoly manual (Stern part number 780-5075-00 in pages 34-42. They will not all be documented here, but some of the more common ones (especially those that may be of interest to home users) are noted here. For typical home use, consider using the “Film Star” setting from the adjustment menu. This sets “Game Difficulty” to EASY and “Free Play” to YES.
Adjustment 33: Free Play.
Default is NO.
Adjustment 34: Custom message
Adjustment 41: Tournament Mode
Default is NONE. Can be set to NONE, IFPA, EXPO, PAPA or HOME. This setting adjusts multiple settings to establish a tournament mode.
NONE – same as factory reset
IFPA – Straight 50 cents play, no replay, no extra balls, no high scores, no match, 2 tilt warnings
EXPO or PAPA – same as IFPA, except that “Free Play” is set to YES.
HOME – Sets game for Free Play, Extra Ball play (i.e. Special awards Extra Ball), No replays, 10% match and 30% Extra Ball (i.e. an Extra Ball will be made available to players approximately 30% of the time).
NOTE:
Setting any of the above adjustments will also reset game audits
Adjustment 50: Bank Difficulty
Default is MODERATE, can be set to EXEASY, EASY, MODERATE, HARD, EXHARD
Adjustment 52: Bonus X Difficulty
Default is MODERATE, can be set to EXEASY, EASY, MODERATE, HARD, EXHARD
Adjustment 55: Electric Company difficulty
Default is MODERATE, can be set to EXEASY, EASY, MODERATE, HARD, EXHARD
Adjustment 56: B-A-N-K letters
Default is 01, can be set between 00-04. Determines how many bank letters are spotted at the beginning of the game.
Adjustment 58: Pops hits to move token
Default is 05, can be set to 00?-06. Indicates how many pop bumper hits are required to move player 1 space on the game board.
Adjustment 63: Electric Company Extra Ball at %
Default is 30, can be set between 20-80. Specifies the required percentage necessary to light Extra Ball in Electric Company “Increase Power” mode.
There are a number of official Service Bulletins release by Stern that apply to Monopoly. These are available in PDF files available on the Stern service page, which can be found at http://www.sternpinball.com/bulletins.htm
Of the bulletins listed below only number 131 should be considered critical, though all should be reviewed to determine if the information is applicable to your game.
Number 135 - Optional MONOPOLY Butyrate Fix Kit
Number 133 - CPU/Soundboard Modification Low Volume Setting Hum
Number 131 – Electric Company Sign / Backbox J2 Harness re-dress
Number 130 – Tips and Tricks: The Water Works Rotating Flipper
Number 129 – MONOPOLY Playfield Mylar
Number 126 – The Bubble Level is Back !undboard Modification Low Volume Setting Hum
The remainder of this section documents credible, reported suspected software bugs, prevalent maintenance issues and fixes if known. Additional information on other changes can be found in the Software Levels section below.
Number of railroads collected is displayed incorrectly after 9 railroads have been collected.
The number of railroads collected in displayed in hexadecimal (10 displayed as “A”, 11 as “B”).
This is a known bug, which does not affect game play or scoring in any way.
Use of HOME setting disables most CHANCE awards:
When Adjustment 41 is set to HOME, making the CHANCE scoop when lit will only award one of three CHANCE cards, each of which is worth 200,000 points.
This is a known bug in the handling of
tournament rules and is fixed in software level CPU V3.01. To correct the problem when running earlier
versions of the software, take the following actions:
Reset to game to the factory defaults
Set Free Play to YES
Set Match to 10%
Set Extra Ball to 30%
Set Replay award to “Extra Ball”.
First shot to Roll & Collect saucer after game is powered on takes two attempts for the ball to kick out:
The first time a ball lands in the Roll & Collect saucer after the game has been powered on, the game takes two attempts to clear the ball. The game will make a sound as if it’s clearing the ball from the saucer, but nothing happens. After about a second, the sound will be heard again and the coil will kick the ball out.
Subsequent Roll & Collect saucer shots are not affected.
This is a known issue. It appears to happen less frequently when
running game software level CPU V3.01 and above.
Roll & Collect saucer doesn’t clear under some circumstance(s):
Make the skill shot, followed by a shot to the upper right saucer (Roll & Collect). Game plays a small animation. Game made a sound (e.g. trying to eject the ball from the saucer) and flashed the red Flash Lamp above the saucer, but the coil didn't kick out the ball.
Condition is corrected (i.e. the ball is kicked out) by slam tilting or resetting the game.
This is a known bug and has been fixed in
game software level CPU V2.30 and above.
Ball gets stuck in CHANCE scoop:
This is a known bug and has been fixed in
game software level CPU V2.30 and above.
There is a noticeable hum when the game is operating:
There is a “fish tank” type-hum heard when the game is operating in fairly quiet locations, most notably in home game rooms. This was covered in detail on the rec.games.pinball newsgroup in early 2002. For those willing and able to perform a minor change on their sound board, the following has been reported to significantly improve the situation:
“The best combination of resistance can be achieved by connecting the following in parallel (DO NOT put them in series) with the existing resistors that are already on the board. This seems to be the best compromise between idle noise and maintaining the original factory sound, though does not completely eliminate the background noise.”
To the existing R106 (backbox speakers), add 10-15Kohm
To the existing R110 (bass cabinet speaker), add 40-47Kohm
Others have added a 4.7K @ 106 and 33K @ 110 to the back of the board.
Note: The manual schematic shows that both are 22K ohms, but some games were shipped from the factory with 10K in R110, and 22K in R106.
(See additional detail and information here: http://www.paisleypinball.com/Monopoly/eliminate_backbox_hum_and_buzz.htm )
Note: Subsequent to the
development of the fix mentioned above, Stern issued a service bulletin that
recommends a 10K ¼ watt resistor at R106 and a 22K ¼ watt resistor at R110.
This was a design consideration. See Service Bulletin 133 for the official
Stern recommendation regarding this situation.
The COMMUNITY CHEST light never lights during regular game play:
The “Collect Community Chest w/lit” lamp at the scoop is never lit during regular game play. Early versions of the game ROM did not have a rule for COMMUNITY CHEST, so the lamp could never be lit nor an award collected.
This was a design consideration. A rule has
been implemented in game software level CPU V2.33 and above.
Ramp shots are not made or air balls result when balls enter the middle or right ramps.
This is caused by high ball velocity and is more common on the center ramp. It generally occurs when the ball hits the switch assembly or center gate and is more noticeable on new games or those recently cleaned. This is not currently considered an issue by Stern pinball engineering and should be less common once a game “breaks in”.
This was a design consideration. See Service Bulletin 135 for information on
the official butyrate kit to address this.
This situation can be prevented by installing ramp covers to prevent balls from lifting off the center or right ramps. Before Stern decided to issue a Service Bulletin and an official fix-kit to address this problem, Todd George designed ramp covers that can be installed without any modifications to the game as shipped from Stern (i.e. the solution does not require any additional holes to be drilled in any part of the machine and it is completely reversible.) See further details and fabricating instructions at http://www.pinballzone.com/tech/monopolyflap.php
These can be also be purchased as part of an after-market kit. See http://www.thekingofpayne.com/monopoly.htm for additional details and ordering information.
(In my opinion, since the Stern kit requires drilling, the after-market kit is the better option, though both solve the problem effectively.)
Fuse F21 (50V solenoids) blows
This is not known to be a common problem, though there have been reports of fuse F21 blowing. When this happens, the game was tilted and the ball was stuck in the Chance/Community Chest scoop.
If this occurs, look under the playfield at the Chance/Community Chest metal scoop assembly. In one reported case, the edges of the scoop assembly were physically touching the exposed end of the lamp sockets for the feature lamps under the purple properties (States Ave) and light blue properties (Connecticut Ave). The lamp sockets lightly touched the scoop intermittently in two different places causing fuse F21 to blow. You may see char marks on the scoop assembly. A piece of electrical tape can be placed over the sockets involved as a temporary fix.
All rule sheet information based on the most current code levels:
|
ROM |
location |
version |
Date |
|
Game |
U210 |
3.01 |
1/29/02 |
|
Sound |
U7 |
1.00 |
8/21/01 |
|
Voice 1 |
U17 |
1.00 |
8/21/01 |
|
Voice 2 |
U21 |
1.00 |
8/21/01 |
|
Voice 3 |
U36 |
1.00 |
8/21/01 |
|
Display |
ROM 0 |
3.01 |
1/29/02 |
For additional information on current game ROMs, see http://www.sternpinball.com/rom.htm#8
To download a zip files with the ROM images, see http://www.sternpinball.com/rom/monopoly.zip
When updating game software you may have to update both the game software and the display software, depending on the level of code available at the time your game was produced. At this time, there are no updates to the sound code.
BEFORE YOU REPLACE THE CHIP(s), take note of the location and direction of the notch in the chip(s) involved. Each notch on a replacement ROM must have the same orientation as the one on the chip it replaces. For a comprehensive, illustrated overview of how to replace ROM chips, please see Ray Johnson’s “ROM Chip Replacement Instructions” page at http://www.actionpinball.com/tech/rom_inst.htm - make sure to read both sections.
If you do not have the ability to burn chips, updated ROMs can be obtained from your distributor or many pinball dealers, including Action Pinball.
See http://www.aros.net/~rayj/action/roms.htm for additional information.
For the best Monopoly experience, you should run the latest level of software in your machine.
Software Release 3.01 – February 5, 2002
NOTE: Proper function of this software level requires that the Display ROM level 3.01 or higher be installed
* Player can now choose a token in high score to date (HSTD) entry
* Added some speech to Token Race mode.
* Added quick ball saver activated if Water Works sends the ball out the left outlane
* Fixed bug where installing Home installed tournament settings.
* Fixed extra ball show when replay is set to EB
* Fixed stray lamp glitch on ROLL AND COLLECT lamp
* Fixed some glitches in HSTD entry sounds
* Fixed A-B-C inlane lamps and award effects
* Fixed bug where Water Works flipper would sometimes freeze
* Fixed Chance so only one Special lamp is lit when “Advance to Boardwalk” awarded
* Restored missing BALL SAVED messages and speech
* Disabled flipper buttons during ball search at Game Over
* Changed broken coil messages to be consistent with those listed in the manual
* Improved coil drivers for bank to prevent coil and fuse F21 from overheating
* Fixed credit handlers to be friendly to a $5 bill acceptor
* Updated coin tables for proper Euro coin support
Display ROM (level 3.01) – January 29, 2002
* Required updates to support Version 3.x game code
Software Release 2.51 – November 13, 2001
* Fixed Tilt handling during Land Grab
* Fixed Breakout and Ripoff Multiball score displays
* Improved broken dice eject and lockup detection and handling
* Fixed hotel display in Land Grab
* Improved speech during Match
* Improved ball search to jiggle Cop target
* Fixed interaction between Chance and the quick multiballs.
Software Release 2.50 – November 8, 2001
* New dispatch edge routines should help do a better job of knowing which edge they are really on and help fix the missing coin problem.
* Stopped ball lock and dice eject fail messages if the door is open. The device is probably working, just powered off!
* Fixed tilt handlers to correctly handle tilts when bonus is underway. Music would improperly update and tilt would hang forever if a ball was in the lock.
Software Release 2.41 - October 29, 2001
* Fixed gaff problem in left outlane
* Entering initials show on LED also
Software Release 2.40 - October 25, 2001
* Fixed coin switch debounce problem to prevent coins from being missed.
* Custom message now also displayed on Electric Company sign.
* Fixed Free Parking multiball jackpot to score correctly
* Fixed dice roll display on LEDs to match display.
* Fixed player carryover problems with Land Grab Bonus
* Fixed plunger to kick ball away at multiball start.
* Fixed property count for post-Land Grab play
* Fixed "award all players" card scoring in Chance.
* Changed Land Grab to move player to next unfilled property instead of just the next property when the right ramp is made.
* Fixed bug in A-B-C carryover between players
* Fixed rare crash in dice roll eject lane.
* Improved waterworks flipper compensation code
* Improved ball search to prevent ball from getting stuck behind bank door at the start of a ball.