avengah

Yeah, it's really interesting stuff because I never bothered with club machines. There aren't many members' clubs near me but I was always scared of clubbers and had no desire to play them. The one time I did as I explained before proved my fears right, and I may have been slightly drunk when I made that oh-so wise decision to have a stonk on it. I remember intending to just play one board, but I think I got a trail bonus that gave me the best start. As a result I got an amazing board and I think the feature I was offered was called "Super Reel Match" or similar. It was two off JP I think. I knew if I didn't take it and died it might not come back, but I didn't know the machine at all, other than the basics I'd read online. So I had no idea whether I had a chance of potting it, and felt I had to take the risk. Club machines are far too dangerous to take on blind without learning as much as possible in advance. Of course the local muppets will occasionally pot it and that's what keeps them playing it - but it's not a good chance. By playing it blind your chances wouldn't be much better than the muppets'. From years of playing AWPs I learnt so many little things, many of which I can't describe because they're more like an instinct. Things like the length of a spin or the length of a short pause before a spin can mean something, for example on Vivid's Fifty Fifty (shit machine but anyway), if the number starts spinning instantly with no brief pause upon pressing the button (for either a hilo gamble or a spin which changes the number), that means the next gamble will lose. If you're forcing it, it's not important but if you're collecting wins or going for afters or something, it's useful information that helps you maximise your boards. I'll definitely watch those videos. I saw them before on Degsy's channel and was going to watch them but forgot. Thanks for the reminder!

I went back to the saved RAM a few quid before the pot was due to spin in. This time it didn't, but it gave me a large top that went up to £149 then struck out with £120. Next board climbed out and the top feature went all the way - it was noticeably different as it kept spinning in huge wins on the Gold Run. So that's £370 out within the space of a few quid. It's still off its tits too, doing good boards, although the cash gamble is stone dead and hasn't hit anything but lose since the jackpot. I do wonder if there are separate pots and how to make the most of things. I also wonder if the JP requires the machine to be forced, or if the JP is saved for steadily and is offered at a certain point regardless of how it's played? Although I think that's unlikely because the cash gamble got tighter after getting the JP or knocking it back. Hmm... I think I'll load the knocked back RAM again and see how far I can push it.

It does not respond well to knocking JPs back. On reloading the RAM it did a slow spin of on, above, on, on and 1 nudge at about the same credit, and this time I avoided it. It hasn't come back yet after about £100, and it tightened up for a bit as if it had paid it out. I wonder if it transferred the untaken JP into a different pot? Or worse - I hope it doesn't think it paid it out!

Yeah. Such a shame, a great loss. The damn machine finally did a slow, careful spin with pots on 1 and 4 and above 2 and 3, and two nudges. So all those attempts to gamble carefully without being forced to collect a medium to big win were pointless and it looks like the way to force it is just to sack the boards off, and exchange cash wins into the board to sack off. Most of the time, the top feature wasn't great, although a bigger exchange resulted in bigger tops; I tried a £120 exchange at one point and got up to about £140 before being kicked off with about £112. I think I'll reload the RAM and try a few more things.

Sorry for the multiple posts - I can't edit after a certain amount of time. So it seems if the reset glitch occurs, the RAM isn't saved. So it's not that it clears everything - it reverts back to before the session. However, the GAM file IS saved, so the long-term meters tracked by MFME will be wrong, having taken the crashed session into account while the machine went back to its state before that session. It looks like an MFME glitch, then. Not sure why it happens, but Ctrl-R and opening the doors causes it if done at the wrong time. It's OK to reset the machine normally; it's only during certain times it responds badly. I don't know what's going on under the hood but it looks like all execution stops - the debug window isn't moving and the only fix, short of exiting and restarting the machine or MFME itself, seems to be to stop and start the ROM. It's safe to Ctrl-R if you're on the cash ladder with an amount too big to gamble but not enough to exchange: e.g. £96 if the exchange is at £100. This can happen if you get a top from the board and gamble the result. The unsafe time to reset is at the end of a top, as it's striking out.

A workaround seems to be quitting MFME or using the Stop and Start buttons in the ROM loader. It seems to remember your credits and bank this way, as long as you haven't pressed Ctrl-R or opened the door.

Well damn. A £120 exchange this time, and it only went to about £116. It was still going down but I hit reset at £104. Looks like gambling or nudging it in are the only realistic ways to pot it... EDIT: There is one way to sack off a big win without plugging it, if it lets you: Exchange and take one shot, then collect. If lucky it won't hit £25 or Gold Run... I don't know if it's a bug with MFME or a quirk with the actual machine, but it really HATES being reset during the top feature. It often requires a hard restart and wipes credits and bank.

Sometimes you get in a position where it's very difficult to avoid wins. I find the best strategy is to transfer the odd quid strategically to aim for £60-62, as £63+ can't be gambled, and exchanging for the top is very risky. The other option is transfer then gamble the rest, but if it loses (which it usually will), that also sets it back. All sub-£10 wins except the £3, £5 and £6 go up in powers of 2, so if you hit £16 or £32 that's a good time to transfer £1. £24 may look good but if it hits x3 you're screwed with £96 you can only transfer close to £40, or exchange for a top that autocollects.

I've been asleep for a few hours after being up all last night.Back on the clubby, I exchanged £96 and got a £123 top before striking out. I hit Ctrl-R when it was at £105, not sure if it was still going down but thankfully reset it in time to void the win - so I don't have to stonk it all back. Still trying to suss it out but I am trying to get opportunities that don't risk being forced to collect medium wins.

So you only get one "gamble session" per credit. Not only does the top feature bank without allowing a gamble if you exchange a big win to it... it also banks sans gamble if you exchange a smaller win for the main board and get four kebabs. No, it looks like forcing is quite tricky. I'm basically gambling all wins out, and sometimes you have to bank a couple of quid just to be able to gamble the rest. The highest win I exchanged for the top so far was £64ish. I might try and get a £100+ win to exchange and see if anything changes. EDIT: DIP Switch 2 of Bank 2 makes the game play faster. It does those special spins like you sometimes see on AWPs when they do things like Let 'em Spin and Hold Second Reel etc., except it does them every spin, making the game play a lot faster.

No extra life so probably not gonna be able to do it here. But this is how it started. Not had a press yet and it's 13 away for £150. A few extra nudge hexagons off the bonus might just do it. Didn't get it. But next board started 8 away! (I took one nudge already here...)

I forgot to finish the Club Drac story. So after stonking the best part of £300 into it, the guy eventually decided he wanted to shut. He promised me - proper swear down type promise - that it would not be played until the morning, and if I make sure I arrive by whatever opening time, it would be saved for me. Lies. It was over £200 light at the start of the first session, which means probably someone potted it but didn't take the afters that ended up being the false sign I saw. It was full at the end of the night. The next day, no longer full. The barman was a different guy and he was understanding. He let me key it to assess the damage because I couldn't afford to get shafted again if it had been potted. Turned out someone took £60ish. I had to chase the pot after being so involved. He even said staff aren't allowed to play it. So someone lied or broke the rules or both. At the very end after I finally potted it and got my afters, the barman tried saying I had to become a member. He soon shut up after I said the guy from the previous night was quite happy for me to lose my shirt in the bandit without becoming a member! I was still a good £100-150 down. I learnt an expensive lesson about untrustworthy staff, not going in unprepared and not playing things I didn't fully understand (basically clubs). The daft thing is, I kind of had a feeling my big board near the start was someone else's unclaimed afters. But it was a case of just one more press... it might pot... Game Over. All that could have been avoided if I had prepared and learnt the machine. Experience would no doubt have told me it was afters not a potential JP... Some places ban their staff from playing the machines, as I said. I hated that when I worked at Wetherspoons; there was a £15 Spin On It at one point, and a £15 Jackpoteers another time - which was horribly loud. Before they banned staff from playing, I was able to keep an eye on my Spin On It and take the value when on my break. I was gutted when one of the local addict muppets got Note Tote and it went for £30, with a Super Feature board next... The ban came because some muppets started complaining that it was unfair as we could watch the machines all day.

I don't play club machines. The one time I did I got my arse tanned because the first board went very high (Club Dracula I think it was, the classic Barcrest). Turns out it was nowhere near ready and nowhere near full. I think I was offered someone's afters. That was the first and last time I EVER played a club machine. I vowed never to be so careless in future. Which brings me to MFME. Some clubbers are interesting to play, as something different. There's a nice Red clubber that's basically just the same as a £70 machine with a different name, same sound package and a top that can go for £75ish and occasionally £250. Given the "rules" that apply to club machines, it's much more obvious about giving hints, such as the big "Ahem!" for cancel slowdown. Surprisingly there's no hint for Number Runner holding, or Respin holding either I think. It was interesting to play, anyway. So, Club Grid Runner. When ready, it gives certain signs, including letting you get an Extra Life start from Choose A Trail. The steal is off nudges on the board. I didn't actually pot it this way but I did bring down £150, and it wasn't happy. It went 2 to 1 with life, then killed me the next press after winning on the 1 and nudging in four red sevens. I've had Jackpot closer sometimes, and since it clearly fought hard not to let me get the £150 but fucked itself, I think the same is possible for JP if you're lucky. Something I didn't realise at first: If you exchange a big win for the top feature, it auto collects when you're done, either if you collect or hit the bad square and lose money. To get the chance to gamble the winnings from the top feature, you have to get there from the main board, not the cash gamble. I'll mess about some more with it.

I forgot to mention: Hold Cancel on Super Fast Cash. It helps, a bit. A sign of life is if it naturally holds for a 4-bonus via 2 on line + hold, or even 2+1 on line and hold 1 and nothing - but very occasionally this lets you get a bonus when it's dead; you'll see a slight pause before the spin. So when it's dead, most boards will come from nudging in the 4-bonus or let 'em spins (and the odd nudge win). As it never gets any worse once it reaches a certain point of deadness, you should steadily suck it dry if you play it well. Unlike most JPMs of the £15 skill era, these Reds can let 'em spin and 3-hold when dead. A deliberate choice to ensure muppets feel like they're getting a game even on a dead bandit, but a choice that left it vulnerable. Apparently the unblocked JP gamble was a result of the same deliberate strategy to give muppets an occasional jackpot chance. They just never realised it could be abused. (I knew a guy who worked at Red. He came to visit me when I won a prize on their website. He wasn't a coder so couldn't tell me much about the rechip other than not to bother; at the time I'd seen only one with the slow let 'em spins and asked him about it.)

I loved Lock 'n' Load! The story of how I worked it out is like this: I'd played it loads, even as a £15 machine but it only really got a full release at £25. I heard there was something on it but at the time all we had were rumours. There were times I played happy ones and got a double jackpot, where the second jackpot was off a dodgy gamble on the nudge corner. Anyway, one appeared in a bookies close to home, and I destroyed it one day, so went in the next day expecting it to be stone dead and just to try and scab a couple of wins (High Rise £10 etc.) I collect a few wins and I'm up on it at this point by maybe £10, then what does it do? A nudge setup which I go for, fully expecting it to lose... "Get up!" So I ring my mate and say I think I can empty this, he says don't be daft, you got lucky, I said no I'm serious and I'm going to try, and the rest is history! Unfortunately without a car it was impossible to make the most of it, and I got lazy. When I was addicted I loved playing them, but as a player it became a chore... At some point I'll do my own video of my method, which is slightly better than the basic method some had. Basically the nudge corner was only one way out of 6ish to pot it when dead... Blasts, steps, Gold Run, Key + Bonus (can win hilo then use bonus) and red board (red bonus is invincible as long as you don't use it). Can do a red board if you get good Trail Runs even when dead. Super Fast Cash + bonus, true skill so occasionally can pot this way too if you hit £10 with a bonus, or £5+ with two. Finally, get a feel for when you're going to die and collect things, especially High Rise, steps £10 is often given naturally with good numbers above, etc. Once I knew what I was doing, I soon learnt setups to go for. On Reds, you can hold a pair on a hold after nudges and it still comes in (like some JPMs and BWBs etc.) - this can help with setups. But the machine is programmed to avoid certain setups (a particular one I remember was holding two GMs on 1 and 2, it would sometimes pause and do a longer spin to put reel 3 in a different position). Usually it wasn't worth going for multiple dodgy gambles as it liked rolling 1 or 9 for Cornered. But occasionally if 2 away from JP, a gamble would win to a 3 or 10 and it just gave in, classing it as a winning number and not needing the second gamble. This was rare though. The rechip did slower Let 'em Spins and paid out faster. It blocked hilo gambles for wins above £10 when dead.

OK. I was a player but had quit during the £70 era. As a result I had not been keeping up to date with the emulation side of things. Last time I was around, I used JPeMu to practise Shoot 'Em Up for an unchipped 20p / £15 Arcadia at a fair (damn carnies plugged Kinky Bab just as I potted it...) I was already quite good but needed that little bit more practice, especially for the fast reel. As far as layouts go, my contributions were Jackpot Justice, G.I. Dough and possibly Red Hot Chilli Steppa (can't remember if I did that one). As regards GID, the reel is a horizontal band with three visible positions, and the reel has SPIN icons above the middle number in some cases. I mention this because the current layout did it as a vertical dual-number reel like Spin On It. Funnily enough, it works both ways! For example, with this layout they forgot the SPIN icons above the numbers: Here is an example of doing it inaccurately but it still working: Here is the actual reel. I don't know if the Spin icon is correct, but it is definitely in the right place. I did have the actual machine at one time, so I reckon it was at least close. The archive I found my old layouts in has multiple versions of each. Some are different sizes and others are just improvements to the layouts. This was done on an old Desktop PC with a higher resolution. Unfortunately JPeMu doesn't support scroll bars or resizing. To be honest this layout was abysmal. Part of me just wanted to do it because it was a rare machine, so I wanted to do it for posterity. This as well as RHCS may have failed test; hence their rarity. And it is Start Position 9, I think. I have a couple more fixes for layouts. I hereby ask general permission to upload them. Any objections, please let me know. And as a courtesy I'll try to locate and ask the original creators. In some cases my fix is rough, but it is better than no fix (e.g. I fixed a non-working exchange light on Nitro DX, and since the actual bulb graphics were absent I copied a nearby bulb that matches almost perfectly. But a close gander reveals the ruse. With Maverick's new cards, they might be too wide for the box. I would have preferred to use simpler cards like the layout used (but using the correct suits). My final touch-up is not done yet but, since the cards on the reels are so tiny and impossible to make out, I thought about replacing them with these - while maybe less accurate to the real game, it's a decent compromise between accuracy and visibility / ease of use / helpfulness. There absolutely are times where knowing a card's suit is beneficial, such as when using a No Lose and trying to fill the matrix. Sometimes it can be better to use No Loses and/or Change Cards differently if trying for the matrix. So I intend to change the feature cards on the reels to these: As I said, these cards are not perfect and they don't completely fit.

Matt Davis from Buxton. Actually, Red Gaming disco buttons might start at position 8. I'm not sure without looking at a real machine. Position 8 is 12:00, position 9 is 1:00. Either one is close enough for now.

OK, sorry I didn't know. That's all I've changed, anyway.

I can't post this in the releases section so it's here. For future reference, Red Gaming disco buttons seem to use settings 64, 16, 8 and start at position 9. Lock 'n' Load updated.zip The same problems are with the DX so I might fix that in due course. Basically, the middle lights are 180 degrees wrong and I don't think the disco button was implemented.