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Pinball Rule Sheets

A repository of rulesheets for pinball machines

Led Zeppelin

Game Information:

Led Zeppelin was Steve Ritchie’s final game designed for Stern Pinball, released at the start of 2021. Using the music and some of the motifs of the famous band, this game was hindered by several licensing issues but has unique rules featuring dynamic lit shots synced up to the band’s catalogue, as well as many different multiball modes and a unique “Icarus X” mechanic that can be built up by capping combos at the targets.

Rules Overview:

Layout:

| Premium/LE: | Pro:
| — | — | | |

Skill Shot:

After selecting the song mode you want to play, plunge the ball so it hits the lit LED target, which moves from left to right and back every few seconds. Skill shot scores 500k + 5 seconds of ball save.

Song Modes & Records:

Song modes are chosen at the beginning of every ball and run continuously throughout the ball, even during multiballs and wizard modes (excluding Top of the Charts), until the song has ended. When a song ends, that song mode ends, and the next song and song mode on the list at the back of the game will start playing.

Your goal during each song mode is to collect 5 gold records to complete the song, and/or go platinum by collecting 10 gold records. Completing the song lights the right orbit for “Change Song” and scores Band Boosts. Record sales are collected by keeping the ball moving and shooting the lit arrows that change with different musical sections of the song. Each 100,000 record sales awards 1 gold record. White “cue” lights will blink briefly between sections to show you where the next shot is prior to the section change, and each lit shot made - and record earned - adds to the values for subsequent shots. The sequences, and lengths, for each song mode are listed below:

Good Times, Bad Times (2:42): Shots alternate between “easy” and “hard” shots.

Communication Breakdown (2:28): All shots start lit and then break down in half until solo at center ramp.

Whole Lotta Love (5:28): All shots lit during chorus and ending. Roving shots during drum solo. Center ramp is lit during guitar solo.

Immigrant Song (2:22): Outer shots start lit, shots added on each side as song progresses and then reset.

Kashmir (8:25): Shots can be merged into one and repeatably hit in some sections.

Black Dog (4:45):Shots alternate between left half and right half until the end.

Ramble On (4:43): During verses, shots slowly move around playfield. During chorus, all shots are lit.

Rock and Roll (3:35): Shots alternate between ramps, orbits and all shots. Center ramp lit for guitar solo for about 35 seconds.

Trampled Under Foot (5:32): Shots alternate from ramps to orbits and then all shots lit during clavinet/keyboard section.

The Song Remains the Same (5:27): Shots slowly added one at a time.

Completing five songs qualifies Mothership Multiball, completing all 10 songs qualifies Top of the Charts, and going platinum during all 10 songs qualifies ?, all started at the right orbit.

“Change Song”:

After collecting the required 5 gold records during a song mode, the right orbit lights for “Change Song”. Changing to a new song allows you to progress through the game, increases the song award value, and awards 2 Band Boosts.

Once you shoot the right orbit to change songs, the feature will unlight until you score another 5 gold records on whichever song you select. (Getting 10 platinum records in a song will permanently allow you to instantly change songs whenever you play that song.)

Tour Modes:

Tours are started at the left eject when the green arrow is flashing. Qualify a new tour by shooting the right ramp an increasing number of times (+1 for each additional tour, by default), except during wizard modes.

Upon shooting the left eject, you get to choose which tour to play by using the flippers and action button. Each tour has a different set of objectives and a different associated multiball; subsequent tours during the same game add one objective to the list and 1 ball to the following multiball, up to 4 objectives and 5 balls. In this way, each item you collect on a tour is a “tour lock”, with the final “lock” being when you’ve completed all items and shoot the left eject to start multiball.

The objectives for each tour are as follows: |Tour Name|Objective #1|Objective #2|Objective #3|Objective #4 |—|—|—|—|—| |US 1975 Tour|Ramps|Switches|All target banks|Combos| |US 1977 Tour|Bumpers|Targets|Left ramp|Icarus target| |Earl’s Court Tour|Spinners|LED & ZEP targets|Right ramp|Combos| |UK 1971 Tour|Orbits|Ejects|Center ramp|Side shot|

Tour Multiballs:

After completing every objective required for the current tour, the next shot to the left eject will start the tour’s corresponding Tour Multiball. These range from 2 to 5 balls, depending on which order they’re played in, and all four multiballs have different ways of lighting and scoring jackpots. All jackpot values are carried throughout and between tour multiballs.

Balls can be added during all four Tour Multiball modes by shooting the Icarus target three times.

Play all four Tour Multiball modes to qualify World Tour Multiball at the left eject.

Main Multiballs:

Zeppelin Multiball:

Shoot the left ramp three times to lock 3 balls and start Zeppelin Multiball. On subsequent Zeppelin Multiball attempts during the same game, the ROCK target bank must be completed to light the locks.

Zeppelin Multiball starts with 4 jackpots lit, each marked with red arrows. Hitting one unlights it and lights a timed double jackpot (about 10 seconds) marked with a faster flashing red arrow at a shot you can combo into:

Once all four jackpots have been made, and all double jackpots have been either timed out or collected, the super jackpot lights at both the left eject and the upper flipper shot for the sum total of all jackpots and double jackpots achieved since the last super; the side shot scores 2x the value of the less difficult left eject. Completing the LED, ZEP, and ROCK banks while the super jackpot is lit will add a +1x multiplier to the super jackpot, up to 4x.

Balls can be added during Zeppelin Multiball by shooting the Icarus target three times.

Electric Magic Multiballs (Prem / LE Exclusive):

On Prem / LE models of the game, completing the LED and ZEP target banks, followed by making any lit shot, will cause the Electric Magic spinner to raise. Subsequent Electric Magic modes require additional completions of LED and ZEP. Once the device is raised, shoot the spinner to charge it up. Once it is fully charged, shoot it again to start one of two Electric Magic Multiball modes:

Other Scoring:

Target Banks:

The four target banks spread across the playfield are all associated with different features. Completing them as regularly as possible is an integral part of high scoring on Led Zeppelin.

Combos & Icarus X:

Collect combos by shooting lit combo shots in quick succession, and increase their values by completing target banks. While the combo inserts are lit, hitting any of the four target banks on the playfield - whether lit or unlit - will “complete” the combo, or you can use a Band Boost to complete it instantly. Completing a combo ends the sequence and increases the target bank’s multiplier by +0.1x times the length of the combo.

Icarus X is built up by completing combos as described above. Each set of targets has their own multiplier insert shown under the tour lock inserts - the lower the multiplier’s color is on the rainbow, the higher the multiplier. The actual value of Icarus X is equal to the product of the 4 multipliers you’ve built up. Once all four target banks have been completed, the Icarus target lights for 15 seconds of timed playfield X + 5 seconds for every side flipper shot you made either before or during the timer. While Icarus X is running, any shots to the Icarus target itself will recalculate your current multiplier, and increase your playfield multiplier value if necessary.

Band Boosts:

Band Boosts are an easy way to complete combos and are used by pressing the action button when flashing green. Each game starts with 1 Band Boost qualified, and more can be earned by completing or changing song modes. Up to 5 Band Boosts can be saved at a time, and saving up 3 will enable Super Band Boost (flashing red). During single-ball play, Band Boost will instantly award 5x the current combo value and complete it at the target bank with the lowest current multiplier; while Super Band Boost awards 10x the current combo value and completes the combo, albeit adding the multiplier to 2 of the target banks (the two lowest) instead of just one. Band Boost spots a hit to the Icarus target during multiballs, while Super Band Boost instantly adds a ball.

Zeppelin Awards:

Every shot to the side flipper shot starts a super feature in the following order:

Side flipper shots also add 5 seconds to the Icarus X timer. Collecting 8 Zeppelin Awards lights the left eject for extra ball.

Extra Balls:

5 Extra Balls are available on default settings, and can be collected at the left eject after:

If disabled, extra balls score 10M and can be multiplied by the playfield multiplier!

End-of-Ball Bonus:

Bonus is determined by the combos you made that ball, plus gold and platinum records you’ve collected during the game, multiplied by the bonus X which is increased by completing ROLL at the inlanes and maxes at 50x.

The lit ROLL lanes can be moved with the flippers, but the lane change is temporarily disabled if the center ramp is shot three times in a row. Lane change is re-enabled once a different major shot is made.

The base bonus is calculated as:

Wizard Modes:

Mothership Multiball:

After completing 5 songs, the next shot to the right orbit that lands in the eject will begin Mothership Multiball. Mothership Multiball is largely influenced by the currently active song, as this is used to determine jackpot shots:

World Tour Multiball:

After playing all four Tour Multiball modes, the next left eject shot will begin World Tour Multiball. This mode starts as a six-ball multiball, with all major shots and all target banks excluding the ball save target bank lit for City Jackpots. Collecting a City Jackpot removes it from the possible shot selection, and to light the next City Jackpot, you have to collect miles by shooting around the playfield. After enough miles have been collected and you land in the next city, the remaining City Jackpots you haven’t collected yet are lit. Collect one to score city jackpot worth (# of city jackpots collected x Tour Jackpot Value) and go back to collecting miles. Every 2 City Jackpots collected adds a ball to the multiball, and scoring 5 City Jackpots lights the extra ball. Upon collecting all 10 City Jackpots, super jackpots are lit and stay lit for the remainder of the multiball.

Top of the Charts Multiball:

After completing all 10 songs, the next shot to the right orbit that lands in the eject will begin Top of the Charts. This mode acts as a last-ditch effort to get all of your songs to platinum if you haven’t gotten them there yet. A bonus is scored at the start of the mode determined by how many songs you have gotten to platinum.

At the start of the multiball, the song you are closest to going platinum on will be started. The 7 major shots are lit to add sales to the current song; red shots will add 2x the sales and boost the sales of shots going forward. Locking a ball in the left eject makes sales and scores 2x for a limited time, and lights the top eject to increase the multiplier to 3x. Once you reach 999,999 sales, all shots turn off and the left eject lights to “go platinum”. Go platinum in every song you haven’t done so in to win the mode and light ?.

The mode can end prematurely if any song comes to an end, or if you drain down to 1 ball without having gone platinum. If this occurs, a sudden death timer will start - you must go platinum within this time or else the mode ends.

?:

Upon getting all 10 songs to platinum, either by collecting 10 gold records during them or getting them to platinum during Top of the Charts, the next right eject shot will begin “?” - Celebration Day Multiball. If platinum was achieved on all 10 songs without needing to play Top of the Charts, “?” will instantly begin in its place and award 2x the normal starting bonus.

During Celebration Day Multiball, all shots are lit for song jackpots based on the total # of song shots across all songs played; shots to the left ramp score the current Zeppelin Multiball jackpot, and right ramp shots score the current Tour Multiball jackpot in addition to the song jackpots. 10% of all jackpots during the mode are added into the super jackpot, which can be collected at the side flipper shot.

When you drain down to 1 ball, super jackpots are lit on a timer at all major shots and all target banks excluding the ball save target bank. Scoring a super jackpot unlights it and increases the super jackpot multiplier by +1x, while shooting the left eject during the super jackpot phase relights all shots and resets the super jackpot multiplier. Draining or running out of time ends the mode and scores a diamond record that multiplies end-of-ball bonus by an additional +1x.