Excalibur

"For the honor of the Round Table!"

- Merlin

Excalibur
Date available	January 27, 2010
Category	Zen Originals
Based on	The legend of Excalibur
Designed by	Zoltan Vari
Plunger mechanism	Straight into orbit
Skill shot type	Plunger strength (regular)
Number of return lanes	4
Number of flippers	5 (3 on main playfield, 2 on mini-playfield)
Outlane protection	2 time-limited diverting kickbacks
Number of main missions	5
Wizard mode type	Score reward
Number of side modes	10
Number of multiball modes	2 (1 mandatory, 1 optional)

Excalibur is one of the early Zen original pinball tables, originally released as a standalone table in Pinball FX, and combined with Epic Quest as part of the 2-table Medieval pack in Pinball FX 3. This table is inspired by the British legend of the enchanted sword Excalibur, said to be obtained and wielded by the renowned King Arthur - legendary figure and leader of the Knights of the Round Table. It was remade with Unreal for a Pinball FX release on December 7, altogether with Epic Quest as part of the Charity Pack.

Table overview

The upper half of the table and the Camelot mini-playfield

The upper left corner of the table contains a raised platform resembling the castle Camelot with walls and towers at its corners. It is a simple mini-playfield with a figure of the upper half of a rival knight, armed with an axe and shield. In front of him are 3 targets, marked with spear icon lamps. A ball enters the mini-playfield from its back right corner, and leaves through an outhole at its front end, guarded by two small flippers. The exit drops the ball down the left exit habitrail of the twin habitrail Excalibur ramp described later in this section.

To the right of this mini-playfield are a series of 3 rollovers spelling DUB and accessed from a drop-off at the apex of the table's large right orbit. They drop the ball into a bumper area. Towards the back right corner of the table is a destructible scale model of Mordred's castle, which can be smashed open by a swinging battering ram toy that pivots over to the castle via a gear mechanism placed right next to it. Right next to the DUB bumper rollovers is a VUK that pops the ball into a magic cauldron belonging to the wizard Merlin.

A ramp with a red accent representing Mordred wraps around the cauldron, normally leading to an exit habitrail that sharply curves over the DUB rollovers and leads to the right exit habitrail of the twin habitrail Excalibur ramp described later in this section. Mordred's ramp can be diverted to take the ball inside the castle, and the front corners of its entrance contains two targets spelling the first half of the word TALE. The exit habitrail also has a diverter gate before the sharp turn that diverts the ball to the mini-playfield. The entrance can also rise to expose a target toy figure of a monster like the Cath Palug or a dragon. Right beside this ramp is the right orbit, marked with a blue jewel. A toy model of the Holy Grail, an artifact believed to be an elixir of life, can be seen near the entrance of the right orbit, and a side-facing drop target bank with each target representing a word in the phrase "Holy Grail Quest" is placed before it.

In front of the castle which the mini-playfield sits atop is a moat, but the table's large left orbit passes over it and under the mini-playfield to connect to the farthest rear point of the table near the DUB rollovers. To the right of this left orbit is another lane under the castle called the Siege orbit, which is marked with a red jewel and will trigger the abovementioned siege toy. To the left this left orbit are two sinkholes: one used to start a quest and another that leads to a secret path, but is blocked by a pair of targets placed in a line that can slide sideways to unblock the way. In the very middle of the table is the entrance of the Excalibur's twin habitrail ramp, in which a ball going up this ramp can travel down either one of the abovementioned two exit habitrail ramps it splits into, with a diverter ensuing that each shot up the ramp takes the ball to a different exit habitrail. Each exit habitrail leads to a nearby inlane. The entrance is marked with a green jewel. There is also an enclosed miniloop underneath the entrance of this ramp, and its ends either contain a captive ball or a target, with one or the other appearing on each end. That is, hitting the captive ball on one end causes it to go to the other end, causing the drop target to switch to where the ball once was.

The lower half of the table

A replica of the Round Table is placed directly in front of the Hidden Path targets and sinkhole; every shot through it will cause the table to spin and light up the name of one of five select members, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Kay, Sir Percival and Sir Gawain. Besides this Round Table, to the left, is a mini-flipper used to make cross-shots to the abovementioned Holy Grail Quest target bank as well as a crossramp representing Merlin, a wizard who is an advisor to King Arthur. It leads to a ball locker in the front right tower of the castle, and the corners of this ramp's front entrance also have targets spelling the second half of the word TALE.

There are 4 return lanes, 2 rebounds and 2 main flippers. The left inlane is marked with an icon of a yellow diamond and the right inlane is marked with an icon of a siege tower. The outlanes are marked with the word "Special", and are each guarded by a time-limited diverting kickback representing lancers guarding the kingdom. The rebounds are modeled off of the pauldrons of a knight, and there are score multiplier ramps near the flippers. The right apron is also textured off of knight armor and the left apron is wooden, with a green banner covering part of it. The uncovered part has a toy model of a catapult installed, with a VUK nearby loading the ball into it to shoot Mordred's castle.

The plungers

Running along the left side of the table and its left apron is the shaft of a left plunger operated by the launch button, and a figure of a jousting knight on horseback appears near it. This area is the jousting mini-game in which knights duel by charging at each other on horseback with a lance to knock down the opponent. Along much of the shaft are a line of drop targets (of which only one can erect at a time) that pop up and collapse one after another to symbolize the moving position of a charging knight in the joust, and in front of each target is a lamp representing the knight controlled by the player. Like the drop targets, only one of such lamp can be lit at a time to indicate the knight's position in the joust charge. When the launch button is used, the ball will always hit the advancing drop target and fall into a hole at the plunger that returns the ball back to it, or back into play.

The primary plunger is a spring-loaded mechanism, themed off of a catapult, which launches the ball up a straight shaft and drops the ball into the right orbit. A plastic transparent bridge over the shaft holds a figure of Merlin. The goal of the skill shot is to guess the correct amount of strength that will launch the ball and drop it into one of 3 lit DUB bumper rollovers, whose position can be cycled with the flippers as always.

Objective and missions

The goal of this table is to relive the tales of five of the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Kay, Sir Percival and Sir Gawain and experience the legend of Excalibur through five missions. Each mission begins by spelling TALE through hitting the four targets at the corners of the entrances to Mordred's ramp and Merlin's crossramp with the same ball, then shooting the ball into the leftmost sinkhole. If the Round Table is spun after TALE is spelled, a random Tale can be targeted to start once that sinkhole is shot. Each mission must be completed without losing the ball and can be repeated multiple times, but all of them must be completed successfully at least once to earn a final wizard reward.

The following five missions must be completed to earn the final wizard reward:

• King Arthur: King Arthur must wield his powerful sword Excalibur to defend his kingdom. The player must shoot the Excalibur ramp 10 times without allowing the 15-second timer to run out. Every shot will reset the timer, freezing it if the player can chain together consecutive shots up the Excalibur ramp. Scores 10 million for completion.
• Sir Lancelot: Lancelot is on a quest to rescue King Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere, but must also rescue some damsels in distress along the way. The scoring display will show three locked doors that can be opened by shooting the left orbit, the Excalibur ramp or Mordred's ramp respectively from left to right on the display. The door with the biggest lock contains the damsel; shooting it will save her and count as progress towards the mission; shooting the wrong door awards a small score reward. The player has 90 seconds to rescue 4 damsels, before having to finally rescue Guinevere herself. Scores 5 million for completion.
• Sir Kay: Sir Kay must hunt down and slay the monstrous cat known as Cath Palug. To do so, the player must find and attack it twice. To find Cath Palug, Kay must find its footprints before they disappear along 3 consecutive paths. To follow each path, the player must watch the scoring display to determine whether to go on the left or right, make sure the captive ball at the Excalibur ramp is in the indicated position and then shoot the Excalibur ramp. (The player has only a 15 seconds to make each ramp shot before the footprints on the scoring display all disappear, resulting in mission failure.) After following 3 series of footprints, Kay must then attack Cath Palug in battle by shooting its target at the raised entrance of Mordred's ramp 3 times within 60 seconds. Scores 10 million for completion.
• Sir Perceval: Sir Perceval discovers the crippled Fisher King and must find the Holy Grail to heal his condition. This is a 2-ball multiball mission in which one ball will be glowing, and the player must shoot the constantly opened hidden path sinkhole 3 times with the glowing ball to heal the Fisher King. There is no time limit and the mission will continue until it is completed successfully or either ball is lost, resulting in failure. Scores 5 million for completion.
• Sir Gawain: Sir Gawain, seeking a honorary axe that can be granted to whoever participates in a game in which one beheads another, who then returns the favor one year and one day later, beheads the Green Knight and must chase down his rolling head. The player must shoot the left or right orbits, or the siege orbit 15 times within 30 seconds to help Gawain collect the head before it rolls away. Repeated shots to either orbit will freeze the timer and count as two, three, four, etc. shots towards completing the mode. Scores 5 million for completion.

Completing all five missions will instantly grant a flat final reward of 100,000,000 points and the progress of all missions will be reset.

Side modes

The following side modes can be activated:

• Duel: Knights engage in duels for honor. After the Round Table is spun 20 times, the next shot up Mordred's ramp will divert the ball to the Camelot mini-playfield where the player duels against a rival knight. To win the duel, the player must hit a flashing target at the mini-playfield to stun the rival knight, then after he swings and sticks his weapon into the middle of the mini-playfield, the player must shoot the jump ramp that forms from the impact to jump the ball and hit the knight. This must be repeated 3 times to knock him out and win for 2 million.
• Invaders: King Arthur must defend his kingdom from robber knights. If the player hits the bumpers 15 times, the next shot up Mordred's ramp will divert the ball into the mini-playfield and the player must hit the 3 standup targets 10 times to fend off 10 waves of robber knights before all 3 lights are solidly flashing and 5 seconds pass. Once they are all down, the player must duel their leader through the same rules as the Duel side mode listed above, for 2 million.
• Quest for the Holy Grail: If the player hits all 3 targets in the Holy Grail target bank with upper flipper shots, the player can shoot the Quest sinkhole at the very left to start a quest for the Holy Grail by shooting a series of 5 lit lanes + 5 per attempt, which may be any of the 3 marked with a jewel: the siege orbit (red), the Excalibur ramp (green) or the right orbit (blue). The player has 30 seconds to make each correct shot. Scores 5 million for completion.
• Joust: Knights are challenged to jousts in which they charge towards each other on horseback with long lances to knock each other down. If the player shoots either orbit or the siege orbit 5 times, a tournament will be available to start at the Quest sinkhole at the left. This will divert the ball to the left plunger, and the player must launch the ball (that is, thrust the lance forward) right at the moment a lance lamp lights right in front of an advancing drop target representing the rival knight to defeat, which will launch the ball and hit the drop target. One well-timed hit will knock out the knight; the tournament ends once 3 opponents are defeated or the player does not correctly time the launch, resulting in the opponent knocking out the player's knight. Defeating all 3 opponents increases the difficulty of the tournament, which can be one of 3 levels scoring 5, 10, or 20 million each.
• Knights' Renown: Every shot up the Excalibur ramp raises the knights' renown level, but if the ball hits the left inlane, the levels gained will be doubled for a limited time. Every 11 levels of renown will spawn a monster that pops up from the raised entrance of Mordred's ramp, which must be struck 5 times within 15 seconds per blow for 5 million.
• Dungeons of Mordred: Mordred is a traitorous nephew of King Arthur and is known for keeping a castle with dark, sinister dungeons. If the player shoots his ramp 5 times on the same ball, the next shot will take the ball to his castle. The player must escape the dungeon by shooting a series of 10 lit lanes, with 30 seconds allotted to shoot each correct lane in the sequence to take one closer step to escaping. If the player shoots an incorrect lane, they will lose all progress and return to the start of the dungeon. Scores 5 million for completion.
• Knights of the Round Table: If the player hits the bumpers enough times but does not shoot Mordred's ramp (which starts the Expel the Invaders two-part side mode above), a hurry-up will begin where every spin of the round table will multiply the value built by the bumpers, which starts at 2,500 points.
• Siege of Mordred's Castle: King Arthur plans an assault on Mordred's castle. If the ball rolls through the right inlane, the player can shoot the siege orbit within 5 seconds to advance the toy battering ram towards Mordred's castle. Repeating this process 3 times will start a side mode where a siege on Mordred's castle begins. The castle can be broken through with 7 shots up his ramp; the first 6 shots trigger 3 shots from the toy catapult at the left apron, with odd-numbered shots loading the catapult and even-numbered shots firing it. The final shot triggers the battering ramp to break the castle door down. 3 more shots up Mordred's ramp will complete the assault on the now vulnerable castle and complete the side mode. Thus, a total of 10 shots up Mordred's ramp will complete it successfully for 5 million and a lit extra ball. Each ramp shot scores 1 million points; every three switch hits will score 50,000 points.
• Hidden Path: Two side modes can be accessed by opening the hidden path with 2 consecutive hits to the right, then the left standup targets in front of it (with the first hit moving the target away and the second hit immediately after a short time locking it in place out of the way). Pressing the left flipper after shooting the ball into the hidden path will start Breath of the Dragon; pressing the right flipper will start Damsel in Distress.
  • Breath of the Dragon: The sorceress Morgana le Fay unleashes a dragon to attack King Arthur. If the player opens the secret path with 2 consecutive hits to each of the 2 targets (with the first hit moving the target away and the second hit immediately after a short time locking it in place out of the way), shoots the ball there and presses the left flipper, the player must escape a dragon by shooting a series of lit lanes, with the distance apart from the dragon indicated on the scoring display.
  • Damsel in Distress: Knights are known for rescuing damsels in distress. If the player opens the secret path with 2 consecutive hits to each of the 2 targets (with the first hit moving the target away and the second hit immediately after a short time locking it in place out of the way), shoots the ball there and presses the right flipper, a video mode will begin where the player must determine the real damsel to rescue among two other impostors: the true one starts at the center of the screen and the three will constantly change position before stopping. The goal of the video mode is to follow where the true damsel is and select her with the flippers and launch button once the 3 stop moving for a score reward. Each activation of the video mode allots only one attempt.

Multiball

There is only one optional multiball on this table, demonstrating the magic power of Merlin. Every shot up the side ramp will lock a ball for this multiball mode in Merlin's cauldron; once 3 balls are locked, a 3-ball multiball will start where lit lanes can be shot for jackpots that start at 500,000 points and increase by 100,000 as more of them are collected. Super jackpots worth double the value can be collected by shooting lanes with the glowing ball; one is available at the start of the multiball, and can be reactivated by shooting the side ramp again. Multiball continues until the player drains down to a single ball.

Perks

The following perks can be activated on this table: (Some perks can be awarded as rewards for beating side modes.)

• Ball Saver: At the start of each ball and multiball mode, a 30-second ball saver will activate. Once it expires, it can be reactivated by shooting the quest sinkhole and then pressing the upper flipper to hit the flashing quest target, or by earning it from a Special award when the kickback isn't active.
• Lancer Kickbacks: Lancers must regularly stand watch and defend Camelot. Every time the switchable drop target at the miniloop under the Excalibur ramp is hit, a kickback will activate with unlimited use for 40 seconds depending on the target's position (it will activate a kickback on whichever side of the miniloop the target was at when it was hit). The kickback timers will pause in between balls.
• Bonus Multiplier: The end-of-ball bonus multiplier, which is only good for the current ball, can be advanced up to 10x by completing either the Quest for the Holy Grail or the Knights' Renown side modes, or from a random Special award.
• Special: If the player spells DUB on the bumper rollovers, a random award will be available to claim once the ball drains down an outlane lit with the word "Special". Specials stack if more than one is collected, but will only be lit at a single outlane that cycles with slingshot hits. Special will always grant a ball saver if it is collected at an outlane without the kickback active, but will otherwise increase the bonus multiplier or score 500,000 points + 100,000 per collection.
• Extra Ball: Extra balls can be lit at the quest sinkhole by completing the Invaders side mode, finishing all 3 joust tournaments, completing the Siege of Mordred's Castle side mode, or completing Damsel in Distress 3 times.

Tips

• Playing to beat all five missions is only recommended for players with serious stamina, as the Round Table frequently gets in the way of the scoop and can change your mission to one you've already played, they must each be completed successfully, and the E target in "TALE" is nearly impossible to intentionally shoot for.
• To easily shoot the right Hidden Path target, hold a ball on the left flipper, nudge upwards, and backhand the target. This is the most consistent way to shoot that target and can lead to repeatedly activating Damsel in Distress, a low-risk video mode that never gets more difficult and scores more points each time it is completed. This mode is key to achieving a big score on Excalibur.
• The Duel & Invaders side modes are similarly not worth going for; while they are easy to start, the standup targets on the mini-playfield will frequently drain the ball and the reward of 2 million points for completing the side modes isn't worth the effort.

External links

• Official table trailer
• Table walkthrough by ShoryukenToTheChin
• Official table theme on Bandcamp