13 replies to this topic

[TAB]

L'Hexagone VP9.1x



Version: 1.0.1
Category: VPinMAME 9.x Recreations

Author(s): Destruk, TAB

Description:
4:3 vpm table
Manufacturer: Christian Automatic, of Montgeron, France
(1984-1986) [Trade Name: Christian Tabart]
MPU: Gottlieb System 1
Type: Solid State Electronic (SS)
Production: 150 units (confirmed)
Specialty: Conversion Kit
Notable Features: Flippers (3), Pop bumpers (2), Slingshots (2), 4-bank drop targets (2), 3-bank drop targets (1), Star rollovers (5), Standup target (2), Spinning target (1), Kick-out hole (1), Captive ball (1), Ball return lane behind upper right flipper.
Notes: This game is a conversion kit for Gottlieb's 1979 'Genie'.

Claude Verpy, a collector in France and a good friend of the manufacturer, passed along this information:

Christian Tabart told me that the "Brain" of L'Hexagone was Gottlieb's Genie and that he had 150 machines made. The design and the new rules were his own work, and the games were assembled and decorated in Italy by someone called Castagno in Milan for the technical part and by Baldazzi [The Pinball Shop] in Bologna for the art. All that was used from the original game was the prom, part of the wiring, electronic cards, and whatever parts that could be reused. All the rest of the necessary parts were available in Italy.

Shown in this listing are two stickers which Tabart affixed to the aprons of the machines he operated in bars to identify himself as the owner and to advertise his company.

View File

Submitted by TAB, on Oct 2 2011, 06:21 AM

Edited by destruk, 02 October 2011 - 07:21 PM.

[Sabbat]

TY Tab for this rare game

[JAM0]

Man this game really keeps me on my toes! Really cool unique design -- wide open PF. Love the captured-ball-drop-targets on the right. Feels great to finally get those all down! I have to be at my best to score well on this. A lot of fun! Beautiful job TAB, thanks

Edit: I just played the vp8 version to compare and it doesn't have the captured-ball. That drop-target bank makes more sense with the captured-ball.

Edit2: Checked the IPBD picture and the captured-ball is there.

Edited by JAM0, 02 October 2011 - 11:27 AM.

[serpiko]

very interesting machine !
nice and thank TAB and DESTRUCK.

I had played.........A long time ago.the sounds are coming back into head.music is terrible!

[Sabbat]

i thought the sounds and music were funny, though bad

[JAM0]

I like the sounds because of their uniqueness. They fit with the table to me.

Edit: I guess they can get annoying after a while, LOL. But the sounds get better as you start to score a lot of points.

Edited by JAM0, 02 October 2011 - 11:46 AM.

[Pin-Pete]

Thanks for releasing this rarity,TAB.

[destruk]

Updated to 1.01
Fixed the following 'issues'
when Bumper2 was hit the bumper ring for bumper 1 would move.
The LaunchBall Trigger was visible in the shooter lane - changed to invisible
Bumpercaps had 'can drop' checked which showed the ball when it was under the bumpercap - unchecked
Right target bank had the image showing up on the side of the target, changed control points and disabled autocoordinate so the sides of the targets are clean.
Adjusted locations of center bonus lights slightly to closer match the playfield image.

[TAB]

Sorry - not seen
Thanx Destruk for updating.

[destruk]

No problem my good friend.

[humid]

Thanks for bringing us another unique table TAB, and the tune-up Destruk. The music available through the rom adds deeper ambiance to the French theme.

Glad you've mentioned the Genie connection, it helps to make sense of the bonus multiplier function. A very entertaining rarity that deserves the VPM treatment.

[sast05]

Don't know if this is a "cheat" or a "bug" but if you nudge the table, the captive ball will score points and drive up the bonus even if your ball in play is just sitting idle in the shooter lane. Great way to get a replay if you are close to a replay level and don't want to risk losing it!

Edited by sast05, 15 October 2011 - 05:44 PM.

[destruk]

Don't know if this is a "cheat" or a "bug" but if you nudge the table, the captive ball will score points and drive up the bonus even if your ball in play is just sitting idle in the shooter lane. Great way to get a replay if you are close to a replay level and don't want to risk losing it!

There's not much you can do about that - lower the nudge strength, move the rollover triggers up a bit so nudging won't push the ball over them, or try to use the captive ball class to send the ball in a direction out of a kicker only when the invisible wall is hit from the bottom. Or/easy solution is to disable the two rollover triggers but then you don't get scoring from them at all.

[sast05]

Don't know if this is a "cheat" or a "bug" but if you nudge the table, the captive ball will score points and drive up the bonus even if your ball in play is just sitting idle in the shooter lane. Great way to get a replay if you are close to a replay level and don't want to risk losing it!

There's not much you can do about that - lower the nudge strength, move the rollover triggers up a bit so nudging won't push the ball over them, or try to use the captive ball class to send the ball in a direction out of a kicker only when the invisible wall is hit from the bottom. Or/easy solution is to disable the two rollover triggers but then you don't get scoring from them at all.

To keep the scores at a reasonable level, I'll try the solution of moving the rollover triggers up a bit. It may make the table a little less "true to the original", but should make gameplay more "fair".