- Mar 17, 2012
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EDIT 06/18/2013: There is an updated and far more accurate ruleset available here.
Several forum members have indicated at various points that they find AC/DC confusing because they do not know its ruleset. Since there are not really any rulesets available online, the game does not always do a very good job of indicating what's going on while you're playing it, and because AC/DC is one of two modern Sterns that I (mostly) understand the rules for, I've decided to fill the void with a mostly complete ruleset and basic strategy guide. For more advanced strategy, consult the excellent videos at The Pinball Archive. Qualifications: 182M on AC/DC LE with v1.63 software installed. These rules are based on that machine.
If you are not familiar with the playfield, you may want to bring up a picture (or pause one of the PAPA videos) for reference. Also, this guide is for the Limited Edition of AC/DC. I've never played a Pro, but the main difference is no lower playfield, so you can mentally delete all references to that and probably will come out OK.
Also, all point values given should be taken with a grain of salt. There are a lot of subtle factors (and sometimes not-so-subtle factors, like 3X Playfield) that affect scoring in AC/DC, so when I say a shot is worth 100K, don't be surprised if you see it worth 110K or 135K.
Don't Shoot the Messenger: This guide is incomplete, and probably is inaccurate in some cases - AC/DC is a very complicated machine, enough so to make Twilight Zone look like a Gottlieb EM from the 1960s! If you find errors, or can fill in the gaps in my knowledge, please feel free to post below. Also note that AC/DC has over 120 adjustments to the rules that operators can make, so if your operator has availed himself of these, things might be completely different.
Pay Attention to Detail: I said earlier that AC/DC doesn't do a very good job of indicating what's going on. That's not strictly true, but you have to know what to look for. The songs each have a color associated with them; their shots will be that color. Shots that are flashing are worth more than solid shots; flashing shots that are a slightly different color than other flashing shots are worth even more.
RULESET
Learning the Twelve Songs: AC/DC is very tightly integrated with the twelve songs that appear near the jukebox at the top of the playfield. Each song affects scoring of a particular table shot or feature, so the novice is advised to learn where each such area is. Note that the twelve songs are listed below are in chronological order - this will be important for the Album and Tour Multiballs.
The five shots with the music note insert (left orbit, left ramp, bell, right ramp and right orbit) are used in almost all cases. For brevity, these will be referred to as the "standard shots" in this guide.
The three shots with the devil horns insert (left orbit, bell and right orbit) are used in "Highway to Hell" and "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be". These are called the "horns shots" here.
Also, the descriptions below are simply what must be done to collect the song on the jukebox listing, not what needs to be done when the song is actually running. Why collect songs on the jukebox? Because you need 8 of them to earn the right to change the song.
Playing the Songs: AC/DC's songs are also its modes, but unlike most modes, they are open-ended and continue as long as the song plays (and the songs will loop if by some miracle you keep one going long enough). There are not specific goals that must be achieved to "finish" the modes. Here's how to play the songs:
T.N.T. - This is a hurry-up round. First, clear off the T-N-T targets in front of the detonator target. This lights the detonator for 750K, rapidly counting down. Strike the detonator to score the hurry-up and light the standard shots for the same value. Those shots in turn start counting down after a short delay. Making a shot scores that value and unlights it. Making all 5 shots resets the T-N-T bank and starts a new hurry-up sequence. The hurry-up value counts down to 250K and then stays there, I'm not sure if it eventually times out or not.
Let There Be Rock - Complete the bank of R-O-C-K standup targets on the right. Doing so lights the standard shots. Making all 5 shots lights R-O-C-K again, and so forth.
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be - Shoot the right orbit. (Note that if you choose this song first, a hard plunge counts as the right orbit shot.) This will send you to the lower playfield, where all 5 shots are flashing. Completing all 5 shots lights the loop shots for the remainder of the lower playfield time. After you return to the upper playfield, the standard shots will be lit. Complete these shots to increase scoring. Complete the horns shots to requalify the lower playfield. Repeat. Loops in the lower playfield score 150K+3K, center targets score 400K+8K on the first trip below decks.
Whole Lotta Rosie - Complete the A-X-E lanes. Doing so lights the standard shots, but the A-X-E lanes remain active and will relight the standard shots whenever they are completed again. In essence, both lanes and standard shots run simultaneously. A-X-E lane scoring increases slightly with each completion, and more significantly when the standard shots are completed.
Highway to Hell - Shoot the right ramp. Doing so will put the ball in the cannon temporarily and activate the lower playfield with the loops flashing. Complete both shots to light all 5 shots for the remainder of the lower playfield time. Once you return to the upper playfield, if the cannon is lit, you will be allowed to fire it for whatever it's lit for. If the cannon is not lit, the cannon will auto-fire at a random angle - beware! In either case, the standard shots will be lit. Complete all of them for increased scoring; complete the horns shots to requalify the lower playfield on the right ramp. Repeat. Also, while the lower playfield is not qualified, shooting the right ramp will light left ramp and left orbit for combo shots and increased scoring. Loops in the lower playfield score 150K+3K, center targets score 400K+8K on the first trip below decks.
Hell's Bells - Shoot the bell. This lights the other 4 standard shots. Completing these shots will increase the bell scoring. The bell itself remains active throughout.
Back in Black - Drop the bank of A-C-/-D-C targets on the left to light the standard shots. The targets reset as soon as they are completed as well. Each completion of the target bank increases scoring slightly, each completion of the standard shots increases scoring more.
You Shook Me All Night Long - Hit the pop bumpers 15 times (number of times is operator-adjustable and also increases at higher bumper levels). Doing so also advances the pop bumper "level", bumper scoring increases slightly with each level and awards are given at certain levels. Completing a level also lights the left and right orbits for reasonable scoring. During this song, shots to either orbit will not loop around but instead will stop in the A-X-E lanes to feed the pops.
For Those About to Rock - Shoot either ramp to load the cannon. One of the AC/DC targets will flash for "For Those About to Rock Award" (500K), hit that target to increase the value by 30K and light all standard shots for that value. You can continue to make ramp shots to reload the cannon, each made AC/DC target will increase the shot value by another 30K. Completing all standard shots increases the value by more. If the cannon is lit for anything else when it is loaded, you are given the opportunity to shoot different target(s) for those award(s).
Thunderstruck - A shot travels between the three thunder targets. Hit the traveling shot to light the standard shots with a twist: one of those shots also travels (it is a very slightly different color and strobing pattern than the others). Hitting that traveling shot scores 2X the value of the other shots. The traveling shot at the thunder targets continues to move, hitting it while the traveling standard shot is still going adds another multiple to its scoring (so 3X, then 4X, etc.); hitting it while no traveling standard shot is going relights any unlit standard shots and starts a new traveling standard shot. (Confused yet?) Completing all standard shots increases the thunder target scoring.
Rock 'n' Roll Train - Shoot the left ramp for 130K-ish points. This lights the right ramp and right orbit for combo shots and increased scoring (450K-ish). Make either combo to light all standard shots for the combo value and increase the combo value slightly. Complete all standard shots to increase the combo value more.
War Machine - Spin the left spinner 15 times. Doing so lights the other 4 standard shots for scoring. Completing all standard shots increases the spinner value, as does hitting the spinner itself enough times. The spinner starts the song at 15K/spin, increases in increments of 5K/spin, and maxes out at 50K/spin.
Collecting the Song Jackpot: While a song is running, any points scored by shots associated with that song are also added to the song jackpot. For example, if T.N.T. is running, your shots to the T-N-T targets, the detonator, and subsequent lit standard shots are all added to your song jackpot, but points for completing the R-O-C-K targets would not be. The song jackpot starts at 1M and accumulates until collected or until the ball drains. Song jackpots do carry over between songs, so don't be afraid to switch songs if you have a high jackpot.
Also, completing all standard shots (but only when they're actually lit) for a song adds 2.5M to the song jackpot. This can be repeated any number of times.
Collecting the song jackpot is done in one of three ways:
General Rules for Multiballs: All multiballs are started from the right ramp and include an initial cannon shot followed by the autoplunging of 1 or more additional balls. Multiballs start with a fairly generous ball saver and a generous grace period after the shoot again light goes out.
In addition, completing all 5 standard shots (they flash) will add a ball, once per multiball. There is a important twist: If the standard shots are lit for something else, say a song, shots that were completed for that mode stay unlit, and do not need to be completed to add a ball. For example, if you had the standard shots active for Whole Lotta Rosie, and the left ramp was the only flashing shot left when you started multiball, you do not need to make the other 4 shots to add a ball. The first left ramp shot you make will add it. This can be good or bad, depending on when you want to take your add-a-ball.
Super jackpots become available after making a certain number (and it's a boatload) of regular jackpots.
All songs continue to run during any multiball and associated shots will continue to score and add to the song jackpot. This may not be very evident as anything multiball-related seems to take precedence on the DMD over song animations.
Jam Multiball: Jam Multiball is a 2-ball round. The first Jam Multiball is qualified by shooting 6 ramps. The second one takes 8. Later Jam Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Jam Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for). Jackpots are the ramps. The thunder targets will increase the value of the jackpots slightly. Super Jackpots light after a certain number of regular Jackpots are made.
Album Multiball: Album Multiball is a 3-ball round. The first Album Multiball is qualified by completing 3 target banks (you do not have to do 1 of each, you can do 3 T-N-Ts if you want). The second one takes 6. Later Album Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Album Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for).
Jackpots are the target banks; you must complete them to score the jackpot. In addition, after each jackpot an album from AC/DC's discography will appear on the DMD, starting with the oldest and proceeding forward. If the currently playing song first appeared on that album, you score the song jackpot in addition to the regular jackpot. Your position in the discography is remembered between Album Multiballs.
Tour Multiball: Tour Multiball is a 2-ball round. The first Tour Multiball is qualified by completing 8 orbits. The second one takes 10. Later Tour Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Tour Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for).
Jackpots are the orbits. In addition, after each jackpot a ticket from one of AC/DC's tours will appear on the DMD, starting with the oldest and proceeding forward. If the currently playing song was first played live on that tour, you score the song jackpot in addition to the regular jackpot. Your position in the touring history is remembered between Tour Multiballs.
Double Multiballs: Any two multiballs can be qualified and then started together. If this happens, shooting the right ramp will start both simultaneously. All Double Multiballs are 4-ball rounds. The cannon will select two targets for Double Jam/Album/Tour Jackpots. Both multiballs then proceed according to their sections above. Jackpot values are doubled (but not the song jackpot).
Triple Multiball: All three multiballs can be qualified and then started together. If this happens, shooting the right ramp will start all three simultaneously. Triple Multiball is a 4-ball round. The cannon will select three targets for Triple Jam/Album/Tour Jackpots. All three multiballs then proceed according to their sections above. Jackpot values are tripled (but not the song jackpot).
In addition, there is a special Triple Multiball Jackpot available. After you collect one Jam Jackpot, one Album Jackpot and one Tour Jackpot, the bell will light for Triple Multiball Jackpot. Shoot the bell to collect. You can do this any number of times during Triple Multiball.
Pick Up Yer Balls and Load Up Yer Cannon! The game starts with the cannon lit. After that first shot, you need to spell F-I-R-E a number of times (it starts at 2 and goes up from there) to relight the cannon. Whenever the cannon is lit, a shot to either ramp (on LE machines) will load it. At least one of the AC/DC targets will be lit for awards, shoot such a target to collect its award. The DMD will advise you of which targets are lit for what before the cannon starts moving. The status report will tell you how many F-I-R-Es you need to light the cannon, and also the yellow inserts above the drain will flash when the cannon is lit.
If the ball somehow gets in the cannon when it is not lit (usually from "Highway to Hell" stashing the ball in there while the lower playfield is going), the cannon will auto-fire the ball at a random angle. However, during "For Those About to Rock", the cannon is always enabled for the song's shot.
The cannon is quite powerful; you can easily shoot the bell, the left ramp, or the left orbit with it. If for some reason you do not shoot the cannon yourself, the game will yell at you and fire the cannon itself in a random direction.
Hell's (Giant-Ass) Bell: The bell is an important part of AC/DC, as hitting it 3 times at any point during play starts 2X Playfield for 20 seconds. Hitting it a fourth time during those 20 seconds resets the timer. Hitting it a fifth time before time runs out resets the timer again. Hitting it a sixth time starts 3X Playfield for 20 seconds. Further hits just reset the timer on 3X Playfield.
The bell never gets harder throughout the game, so you're always three shots or less away from 2X Playfield. The playfield multipliers double or triple everything, including song jackpots!
"Super" Minor Modes: There are four super mode inserts at the bottom of the table: Super Loops, Super Combos, Super Lanes, and Super Targets. Hitting enough of the indicated shot will start the round. I'm not sure what some of these do, but:
Skill Shots and VIP Passes: The skill shot is the standard get the ball through the flashing lane affair. The difference is you can shoot the scoop and then just rotate the lane with the flippers to wherever the scoop ejects it, so not much skill is needed. Making the skill shot awards 250K+25K, adds +2 Bonus X and awards a VIP Pass.
The super skill shot is activated by holding the right flipper button in whilst plunging, which directs the ball to the flippers, after which you need to make either orbit, either ramp, or the bell very quickly. Making a super skill shot awards 350K+50K, adds +5 Bonus X and awards 2 VIP Passes.
VIP Passes are used with the FIRE button in front of the player. During single ball play, they will make one of the shots called for by the current song. During multiball, it will score a jackpot (and I think it scores one of each kind in Double or Triple Multiball) and also spot one of the flashing standard shots toward add-a-ball. VIP Passes are awarded by skill shots and every so often from song requests. (One at 25, one at 50, then every 50 thereafter.) A "song request" just means a shot that lights a song on the jukebox list. It has to actually light the song to count as a song request.
Encore! Encore! Encore! If you complete all 12 songs, the jukebox lights for Encore. Shoot it to begin the wizard mode.
I have never actually gotten this far, but from what I understand, you play the songs again, in the order you played them. Each song has a small task associated with it (like complete A-X-E for Whole Lotta Rosie, or shoot 4 left ramps for Rock 'n' Roll Train) that you must complete to advance to the next song. Each completed song in Encore awards the points you scored in the main game for that song over again (minus any song jackpots). In addition, the song jackpot itself becomes available under certain conditions in Encore, but I do not know what those are, nor how the value of the song jackpot is calculated in Encore. If you complete all 12 songs in Encore, the bell lights for Encore Super Jackpot. This starts life at 100M and supposedly increases under certain conditions, again I have no idea what these are.
In a nice touch, the player gets 3 balls to complete Encore. These 3 balls are "extras" specific to Encore; they do not count against the player's actual ball count, nor does the player keep any unused balls after Encore ends.
Extra Balls and Specials: Extra balls are awarded at the jukebox. They can be lit by completing each target bank twice, making 25 Combos (which doesn't require 25 actual combinations; 3-way and higher combos count as a separate Combo for each shot beyond the first), and perhaps by other ways I have not yet discovered.
Special is lit by completing each target bank five times, and collected by completing each bank a sixth time.
Fun with Bonus:
Bonus is a switch hit bonus, to which is added 25K for each song lit on the jukebox, and 50K for each song played (or 100K if all lit standard shots were completed at least once for that song). This total is multiplied by Bonus X, and then is multiplied again if Double Bonus or Triple Bonus was collected from Super Lanes.
BASIC STRATEGY
Song Choice: Know roughly when each of the 12 songs came out, so you can choose songs intelligently. Songs earlier in the discography score less by themselves, but they come up earlier in the rotation for Album and Tour Multiballs. Conversely, Rock 'n' Roll Train and War Machine can be very high-scoring (especially War Machine), but they are last in the rotation. The songs also have different levels of risk. The ramp and orbit modes are the safest, along with Whole Lotta Rosie and You Shook Me All Night Along. The target bank rounds are pretty unsafe, T.N.T. is the worst of those, and Thunderstruck is downright deadly!
Which song you choose to start is also dependent on circumstances. In a competitive game, you may want to start with War Machine and just loop the left spinner a bit to set down a solid foundation of points before trying for fancy multiball/song jackpot/playfield multiplier stacking. Similarly, the lower playfield modes, while lower scoring, are safer as you cannot lose the ball on the lower playfield. In this case, I'd choose Highway to Hell for two reasons: One, the ball saver continues to run while you're on the lower playfield, so it's essentially wasted during Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be. Two, the center shots in the lower playfield are higher scoring than the orbits. In Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be, you only get to make the center shots once each, then it's loops only. In Highway to Hell, you start with loops, then the center lights up for the rest of the time, so you get more shots in on the higher-value targets.
Artillery Handling: The cannon, to be honest, is kind of a death shot. The ball goes completely out of control against the left target bank and can quickly find a drain. Hence, if the awards are not very attractive, you're better off shooting at the bell. The bell is a tight shot from the lower flippers, but the cannon can make it easily. If for some reason you don't want to hit the bell (perhaps you're near but not quite in a multiball whose song jackpot is coming up), aim for the left orbit or left ramp. The cannon is strong enough to make it all the way around either shot.
As of v1.6, it is very hard to shoot the right ramp with the cannon - there were problems with players letting the cannon auto-fire up the right ramp when For Those About to Rock was running, which would reload the cannon, and so on in an infinite loop.
Stacking: If you really want to crack the game open, you need to get 2X Playfield stacked with Album and/or Tour Multiball at the time when the appropriate album/tour is coming up. The PAPA videos explain and demonstrate this better than I ever could, so go have a look there. Keith Elwin got 700M on ball 1 by such a stack. Closer to home, I've managed a 94M cannon shot by racking up a 47M song jackpot value over four songs, starting Album Multiball, shooting the bell with the cannon to start 2X Playfield, and then completing a target bank to collect the proper album and a doubled song jackpot. Considering the replay score usually wanders around 30-60M, this is huge.
Well, that's all I have for now. Good luck, and again, feel free to post corrections/additions below.
Several forum members have indicated at various points that they find AC/DC confusing because they do not know its ruleset. Since there are not really any rulesets available online, the game does not always do a very good job of indicating what's going on while you're playing it, and because AC/DC is one of two modern Sterns that I (mostly) understand the rules for, I've decided to fill the void with a mostly complete ruleset and basic strategy guide. For more advanced strategy, consult the excellent videos at The Pinball Archive. Qualifications: 182M on AC/DC LE with v1.63 software installed. These rules are based on that machine.
If you are not familiar with the playfield, you may want to bring up a picture (or pause one of the PAPA videos) for reference. Also, this guide is for the Limited Edition of AC/DC. I've never played a Pro, but the main difference is no lower playfield, so you can mentally delete all references to that and probably will come out OK.
Also, all point values given should be taken with a grain of salt. There are a lot of subtle factors (and sometimes not-so-subtle factors, like 3X Playfield) that affect scoring in AC/DC, so when I say a shot is worth 100K, don't be surprised if you see it worth 110K or 135K.
Don't Shoot the Messenger: This guide is incomplete, and probably is inaccurate in some cases - AC/DC is a very complicated machine, enough so to make Twilight Zone look like a Gottlieb EM from the 1960s! If you find errors, or can fill in the gaps in my knowledge, please feel free to post below. Also note that AC/DC has over 120 adjustments to the rules that operators can make, so if your operator has availed himself of these, things might be completely different.
Pay Attention to Detail: I said earlier that AC/DC doesn't do a very good job of indicating what's going on. That's not strictly true, but you have to know what to look for. The songs each have a color associated with them; their shots will be that color. Shots that are flashing are worth more than solid shots; flashing shots that are a slightly different color than other flashing shots are worth even more.
RULESET
Learning the Twelve Songs: AC/DC is very tightly integrated with the twelve songs that appear near the jukebox at the top of the playfield. Each song affects scoring of a particular table shot or feature, so the novice is advised to learn where each such area is. Note that the twelve songs are listed below are in chronological order - this will be important for the Album and Tour Multiballs.
The five shots with the music note insert (left orbit, left ramp, bell, right ramp and right orbit) are used in almost all cases. For brevity, these will be referred to as the "standard shots" in this guide.
The three shots with the devil horns insert (left orbit, bell and right orbit) are used in "Highway to Hell" and "Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be". These are called the "horns shots" here.
Also, the descriptions below are simply what must be done to collect the song on the jukebox listing, not what needs to be done when the song is actually running. Why collect songs on the jukebox? Because you need 8 of them to earn the right to change the song.
- T.N.T. - Drop the bank of T-N-T targets in front of the detonator. Doing so also counts 1 target bank completion toward qualifying Album Multiball.
- Let There Be Rock - Hit the bank of R-O-C-K standup targets on the right. Doing so also counts 1 target bank completion toward qualifying Album Multiball.
- Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be - Shoot the right orbit. Doing so also counts 1 loop toward qualifying Tour Multiball.
- Whole Lotta Rosie - Complete the A-X-E lanes. Doing so also increases Bonus X by 1.
- Highway to Hell - Shoot the right ramp. Doing so also counts 1 ramp toward qualifying Jam Multiball, and loads the cannon if it is lit.
- Hell's Bells - Shoot the bell. Doing so 3 times also starts 2X Playfield.
- Back in Black - Drop the bank of A-C-/-D-C targets on the left. Doing so also counts 1 target bank completion toward qualifying Album Multiball.
- You Shook Me All Night Long - Hit the pop bumpers 15 times (number of times is operator-adjustable). Doing so also advances the pop bumper "level", bumper scoring increases slightly with each level and awards are given at certain levels. Collect Bonus is the first award at Level 8.
- For Those About to Rock - Spell F-I-R-E in the inlanes/outlanes. Doing so enough times also lights the cannon.
- Thunderstruck - Complete the three little "thunder" standup targets next to the ramps. Doing so also increases the Jam Multiball jackpot value.
- Rock 'n' Roll Train - Shoot the left ramp. Doing so also counts 1 ramp toward qualifying Jam Multiball, and (on LE machines only) loads the cannon if it is lit.
- War Machine - Shoot the left orbit. Doing so also counts 1 loop toward qualifying Tour Multiball.
Playing the Songs: AC/DC's songs are also its modes, but unlike most modes, they are open-ended and continue as long as the song plays (and the songs will loop if by some miracle you keep one going long enough). There are not specific goals that must be achieved to "finish" the modes. Here's how to play the songs:
T.N.T. - This is a hurry-up round. First, clear off the T-N-T targets in front of the detonator target. This lights the detonator for 750K, rapidly counting down. Strike the detonator to score the hurry-up and light the standard shots for the same value. Those shots in turn start counting down after a short delay. Making a shot scores that value and unlights it. Making all 5 shots resets the T-N-T bank and starts a new hurry-up sequence. The hurry-up value counts down to 250K and then stays there, I'm not sure if it eventually times out or not.
Let There Be Rock - Complete the bank of R-O-C-K standup targets on the right. Doing so lights the standard shots. Making all 5 shots lights R-O-C-K again, and so forth.
Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be - Shoot the right orbit. (Note that if you choose this song first, a hard plunge counts as the right orbit shot.) This will send you to the lower playfield, where all 5 shots are flashing. Completing all 5 shots lights the loop shots for the remainder of the lower playfield time. After you return to the upper playfield, the standard shots will be lit. Complete these shots to increase scoring. Complete the horns shots to requalify the lower playfield. Repeat. Loops in the lower playfield score 150K+3K, center targets score 400K+8K on the first trip below decks.
Whole Lotta Rosie - Complete the A-X-E lanes. Doing so lights the standard shots, but the A-X-E lanes remain active and will relight the standard shots whenever they are completed again. In essence, both lanes and standard shots run simultaneously. A-X-E lane scoring increases slightly with each completion, and more significantly when the standard shots are completed.
Highway to Hell - Shoot the right ramp. Doing so will put the ball in the cannon temporarily and activate the lower playfield with the loops flashing. Complete both shots to light all 5 shots for the remainder of the lower playfield time. Once you return to the upper playfield, if the cannon is lit, you will be allowed to fire it for whatever it's lit for. If the cannon is not lit, the cannon will auto-fire at a random angle - beware! In either case, the standard shots will be lit. Complete all of them for increased scoring; complete the horns shots to requalify the lower playfield on the right ramp. Repeat. Also, while the lower playfield is not qualified, shooting the right ramp will light left ramp and left orbit for combo shots and increased scoring. Loops in the lower playfield score 150K+3K, center targets score 400K+8K on the first trip below decks.
Hell's Bells - Shoot the bell. This lights the other 4 standard shots. Completing these shots will increase the bell scoring. The bell itself remains active throughout.
Back in Black - Drop the bank of A-C-/-D-C targets on the left to light the standard shots. The targets reset as soon as they are completed as well. Each completion of the target bank increases scoring slightly, each completion of the standard shots increases scoring more.
You Shook Me All Night Long - Hit the pop bumpers 15 times (number of times is operator-adjustable and also increases at higher bumper levels). Doing so also advances the pop bumper "level", bumper scoring increases slightly with each level and awards are given at certain levels. Completing a level also lights the left and right orbits for reasonable scoring. During this song, shots to either orbit will not loop around but instead will stop in the A-X-E lanes to feed the pops.
For Those About to Rock - Shoot either ramp to load the cannon. One of the AC/DC targets will flash for "For Those About to Rock Award" (500K), hit that target to increase the value by 30K and light all standard shots for that value. You can continue to make ramp shots to reload the cannon, each made AC/DC target will increase the shot value by another 30K. Completing all standard shots increases the value by more. If the cannon is lit for anything else when it is loaded, you are given the opportunity to shoot different target(s) for those award(s).
Thunderstruck - A shot travels between the three thunder targets. Hit the traveling shot to light the standard shots with a twist: one of those shots also travels (it is a very slightly different color and strobing pattern than the others). Hitting that traveling shot scores 2X the value of the other shots. The traveling shot at the thunder targets continues to move, hitting it while the traveling standard shot is still going adds another multiple to its scoring (so 3X, then 4X, etc.); hitting it while no traveling standard shot is going relights any unlit standard shots and starts a new traveling standard shot. (Confused yet?) Completing all standard shots increases the thunder target scoring.
Rock 'n' Roll Train - Shoot the left ramp for 130K-ish points. This lights the right ramp and right orbit for combo shots and increased scoring (450K-ish). Make either combo to light all standard shots for the combo value and increase the combo value slightly. Complete all standard shots to increase the combo value more.
War Machine - Spin the left spinner 15 times. Doing so lights the other 4 standard shots for scoring. Completing all standard shots increases the spinner value, as does hitting the spinner itself enough times. The spinner starts the song at 15K/spin, increases in increments of 5K/spin, and maxes out at 50K/spin.
Collecting the Song Jackpot: While a song is running, any points scored by shots associated with that song are also added to the song jackpot. For example, if T.N.T. is running, your shots to the T-N-T targets, the detonator, and subsequent lit standard shots are all added to your song jackpot, but points for completing the R-O-C-K targets would not be. The song jackpot starts at 1M and accumulates until collected or until the ball drains. Song jackpots do carry over between songs, so don't be afraid to switch songs if you have a high jackpot.
Also, completing all standard shots (but only when they're actually lit) for a song adds 2.5M to the song jackpot. This can be repeated any number of times.
Collecting the song jackpot is done in one of three ways:
- The first time you fire a lit cannon, and every 3 times after that, one of the awards will be "Song Jackpot".
- Collecting the album jackpot in Album Multiball that matches the current song, or the tour jackpot in Tour Multiball that matches the current song, will award the song jackpot in addition to the multiball jackpot.
- During Encore, the song jackpot becomes available under certain conditions.
General Rules for Multiballs: All multiballs are started from the right ramp and include an initial cannon shot followed by the autoplunging of 1 or more additional balls. Multiballs start with a fairly generous ball saver and a generous grace period after the shoot again light goes out.
In addition, completing all 5 standard shots (they flash) will add a ball, once per multiball. There is a important twist: If the standard shots are lit for something else, say a song, shots that were completed for that mode stay unlit, and do not need to be completed to add a ball. For example, if you had the standard shots active for Whole Lotta Rosie, and the left ramp was the only flashing shot left when you started multiball, you do not need to make the other 4 shots to add a ball. The first left ramp shot you make will add it. This can be good or bad, depending on when you want to take your add-a-ball.
Super jackpots become available after making a certain number (and it's a boatload) of regular jackpots.
All songs continue to run during any multiball and associated shots will continue to score and add to the song jackpot. This may not be very evident as anything multiball-related seems to take precedence on the DMD over song animations.
Jam Multiball: Jam Multiball is a 2-ball round. The first Jam Multiball is qualified by shooting 6 ramps. The second one takes 8. Later Jam Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Jam Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for). Jackpots are the ramps. The thunder targets will increase the value of the jackpots slightly. Super Jackpots light after a certain number of regular Jackpots are made.
Album Multiball: Album Multiball is a 3-ball round. The first Album Multiball is qualified by completing 3 target banks (you do not have to do 1 of each, you can do 3 T-N-Ts if you want). The second one takes 6. Later Album Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Album Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for).
Jackpots are the target banks; you must complete them to score the jackpot. In addition, after each jackpot an album from AC/DC's discography will appear on the DMD, starting with the oldest and proceeding forward. If the currently playing song first appeared on that album, you score the song jackpot in addition to the regular jackpot. Your position in the discography is remembered between Album Multiballs.
Tour Multiball: Tour Multiball is a 2-ball round. The first Tour Multiball is qualified by completing 8 orbits. The second one takes 10. Later Tour Multiballs take more. After qualifying, shoot the right ramp to start it. This loads the cannon for a small Tour Multiball Jackpot (in addition to anything else the cannon is lit for).
Jackpots are the orbits. In addition, after each jackpot a ticket from one of AC/DC's tours will appear on the DMD, starting with the oldest and proceeding forward. If the currently playing song was first played live on that tour, you score the song jackpot in addition to the regular jackpot. Your position in the touring history is remembered between Tour Multiballs.
Double Multiballs: Any two multiballs can be qualified and then started together. If this happens, shooting the right ramp will start both simultaneously. All Double Multiballs are 4-ball rounds. The cannon will select two targets for Double Jam/Album/Tour Jackpots. Both multiballs then proceed according to their sections above. Jackpot values are doubled (but not the song jackpot).
Triple Multiball: All three multiballs can be qualified and then started together. If this happens, shooting the right ramp will start all three simultaneously. Triple Multiball is a 4-ball round. The cannon will select three targets for Triple Jam/Album/Tour Jackpots. All three multiballs then proceed according to their sections above. Jackpot values are tripled (but not the song jackpot).
In addition, there is a special Triple Multiball Jackpot available. After you collect one Jam Jackpot, one Album Jackpot and one Tour Jackpot, the bell will light for Triple Multiball Jackpot. Shoot the bell to collect. You can do this any number of times during Triple Multiball.
Pick Up Yer Balls and Load Up Yer Cannon! The game starts with the cannon lit. After that first shot, you need to spell F-I-R-E a number of times (it starts at 2 and goes up from there) to relight the cannon. Whenever the cannon is lit, a shot to either ramp (on LE machines) will load it. At least one of the AC/DC targets will be lit for awards, shoot such a target to collect its award. The DMD will advise you of which targets are lit for what before the cannon starts moving. The status report will tell you how many F-I-R-Es you need to light the cannon, and also the yellow inserts above the drain will flash when the cannon is lit.
If the ball somehow gets in the cannon when it is not lit (usually from "Highway to Hell" stashing the ball in there while the lower playfield is going), the cannon will auto-fire the ball at a random angle. However, during "For Those About to Rock", the cannon is always enabled for the song's shot.
The cannon is quite powerful; you can easily shoot the bell, the left ramp, or the left orbit with it. If for some reason you do not shoot the cannon yourself, the game will yell at you and fire the cannon itself in a random direction.
Hell's (Giant-Ass) Bell: The bell is an important part of AC/DC, as hitting it 3 times at any point during play starts 2X Playfield for 20 seconds. Hitting it a fourth time during those 20 seconds resets the timer. Hitting it a fifth time before time runs out resets the timer again. Hitting it a sixth time starts 3X Playfield for 20 seconds. Further hits just reset the timer on 3X Playfield.
The bell never gets harder throughout the game, so you're always three shots or less away from 2X Playfield. The playfield multipliers double or triple everything, including song jackpots!
"Super" Minor Modes: There are four super mode inserts at the bottom of the table: Super Loops, Super Combos, Super Lanes, and Super Targets. Hitting enough of the indicated shot will start the round. I'm not sure what some of these do, but:
- Super Combos - Increased scoring for combos while it runs: 500K for a 2-Way, 750K for a 3-Way, 1M for 4-Way and each higher "way". Each 20 combos, Combo Jackpot is lit on the cannon.
- Super Lanes - One of the F-I-R-E letters flashes rapidly; which one is controlled by the flippers. Making the "F" or "E" awards Double Bonus. If you happen to get this twice in one ball (which is possible through multiball), collecting it the second time awards Triple Bonus. Making "I" or "R" starts a very quick timed shot at the opposite ramp; nail the shot for Big Points[SUP]TM[/SUP]. Each 10 completions of F-I-R-E, Lane Jackpot is lit on the cannon.
- Super Loops - Increases scoring on the orbits to 500K while it's active. Also builds the Loop Jackpot, which is lit on the cannon each 15 loops.
- Super Targets - Presumably increases scoring on the target banks while it's active. Each 10 target bank completions, Target Jackpot is lit on the cannon.
Skill Shots and VIP Passes: The skill shot is the standard get the ball through the flashing lane affair. The difference is you can shoot the scoop and then just rotate the lane with the flippers to wherever the scoop ejects it, so not much skill is needed. Making the skill shot awards 250K+25K, adds +2 Bonus X and awards a VIP Pass.
The super skill shot is activated by holding the right flipper button in whilst plunging, which directs the ball to the flippers, after which you need to make either orbit, either ramp, or the bell very quickly. Making a super skill shot awards 350K+50K, adds +5 Bonus X and awards 2 VIP Passes.
VIP Passes are used with the FIRE button in front of the player. During single ball play, they will make one of the shots called for by the current song. During multiball, it will score a jackpot (and I think it scores one of each kind in Double or Triple Multiball) and also spot one of the flashing standard shots toward add-a-ball. VIP Passes are awarded by skill shots and every so often from song requests. (One at 25, one at 50, then every 50 thereafter.) A "song request" just means a shot that lights a song on the jukebox list. It has to actually light the song to count as a song request.
Encore! Encore! Encore! If you complete all 12 songs, the jukebox lights for Encore. Shoot it to begin the wizard mode.
I have never actually gotten this far, but from what I understand, you play the songs again, in the order you played them. Each song has a small task associated with it (like complete A-X-E for Whole Lotta Rosie, or shoot 4 left ramps for Rock 'n' Roll Train) that you must complete to advance to the next song. Each completed song in Encore awards the points you scored in the main game for that song over again (minus any song jackpots). In addition, the song jackpot itself becomes available under certain conditions in Encore, but I do not know what those are, nor how the value of the song jackpot is calculated in Encore. If you complete all 12 songs in Encore, the bell lights for Encore Super Jackpot. This starts life at 100M and supposedly increases under certain conditions, again I have no idea what these are.
In a nice touch, the player gets 3 balls to complete Encore. These 3 balls are "extras" specific to Encore; they do not count against the player's actual ball count, nor does the player keep any unused balls after Encore ends.
Extra Balls and Specials: Extra balls are awarded at the jukebox. They can be lit by completing each target bank twice, making 25 Combos (which doesn't require 25 actual combinations; 3-way and higher combos count as a separate Combo for each shot beyond the first), and perhaps by other ways I have not yet discovered.
Special is lit by completing each target bank five times, and collected by completing each bank a sixth time.
Fun with Bonus:
Bonus is a switch hit bonus, to which is added 25K for each song lit on the jukebox, and 50K for each song played (or 100K if all lit standard shots were completed at least once for that song). This total is multiplied by Bonus X, and then is multiplied again if Double Bonus or Triple Bonus was collected from Super Lanes.
BASIC STRATEGY
Song Choice: Know roughly when each of the 12 songs came out, so you can choose songs intelligently. Songs earlier in the discography score less by themselves, but they come up earlier in the rotation for Album and Tour Multiballs. Conversely, Rock 'n' Roll Train and War Machine can be very high-scoring (especially War Machine), but they are last in the rotation. The songs also have different levels of risk. The ramp and orbit modes are the safest, along with Whole Lotta Rosie and You Shook Me All Night Along. The target bank rounds are pretty unsafe, T.N.T. is the worst of those, and Thunderstruck is downright deadly!
Which song you choose to start is also dependent on circumstances. In a competitive game, you may want to start with War Machine and just loop the left spinner a bit to set down a solid foundation of points before trying for fancy multiball/song jackpot/playfield multiplier stacking. Similarly, the lower playfield modes, while lower scoring, are safer as you cannot lose the ball on the lower playfield. In this case, I'd choose Highway to Hell for two reasons: One, the ball saver continues to run while you're on the lower playfield, so it's essentially wasted during Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be. Two, the center shots in the lower playfield are higher scoring than the orbits. In Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be, you only get to make the center shots once each, then it's loops only. In Highway to Hell, you start with loops, then the center lights up for the rest of the time, so you get more shots in on the higher-value targets.
Artillery Handling: The cannon, to be honest, is kind of a death shot. The ball goes completely out of control against the left target bank and can quickly find a drain. Hence, if the awards are not very attractive, you're better off shooting at the bell. The bell is a tight shot from the lower flippers, but the cannon can make it easily. If for some reason you don't want to hit the bell (perhaps you're near but not quite in a multiball whose song jackpot is coming up), aim for the left orbit or left ramp. The cannon is strong enough to make it all the way around either shot.
As of v1.6, it is very hard to shoot the right ramp with the cannon - there were problems with players letting the cannon auto-fire up the right ramp when For Those About to Rock was running, which would reload the cannon, and so on in an infinite loop.
Stacking: If you really want to crack the game open, you need to get 2X Playfield stacked with Album and/or Tour Multiball at the time when the appropriate album/tour is coming up. The PAPA videos explain and demonstrate this better than I ever could, so go have a look there. Keith Elwin got 700M on ball 1 by such a stack. Closer to home, I've managed a 94M cannon shot by racking up a 47M song jackpot value over four songs, starting Album Multiball, shooting the bell with the cannon to start 2X Playfield, and then completing a target bank to collect the proper album and a doubled song jackpot. Considering the replay score usually wanders around 30-60M, this is huge.
Well, that's all I have for now. Good luck, and again, feel free to post corrections/additions below.
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