title: Recipe: Skillshot (with Lane Change)
Recipe: Skillshot (with Lane Change)
This guide shows you how to build an MPF config for a skillshot with rotating rollover lanes (a.k.a "lane change").
For a description of rollover lanes, see Rollover Lanes with Lane Change
Step 1. Create a skillshot mode and lane shots
Skillshots are a self-contained set of rules, so it's wise to create a separate mode that can be started when a player's ball starts and ended after the skillshot is hit (or missed).
We'll assume that the machine has switches defined in the switches:
config section for each of the lanes, called s_lane_left,
s_lane_middle, and s_lane_right. We'll also use corresponding
lights l_lane_left etc. to indicate which lane is lit.
#config_version=5
modes:
- skillshot_with_lane_change
switches:
s_lane_left:
number: 1
s_lane_middle:
number: 2
s_lane_right:
number: 3
lights:
l_lane_left:
number: 1
l_lane_middle:
number: 2
l_lane_right:
number: 3
shot_profiles:
skillshot_profile:
states:
- name: off
- name: on
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
#! mode:
#! start_events: start_mode_skillshot_with_lane_change
#! stop_events: stop_mode_skillshot_with_lane_change
#! priority: 1000
The first thing our mode needs is shots:. Each lane will count as a shot, and for this example we'll have three lanes "left", "middle", and "right".
#! switches:
#! s_lane_left:
#! number: 1
#! s_lane_middle:
#! number: 2
#! s_lane_right:
#! number: 3
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
#! shot_profiles:
#! skillshot_profile:
#! states:
#! - name: off
#!
mode:
start_events: start_mode_skillshot_with_lane_change
stop_events: stop_mode_skillshot_with_lane_change
priority: 1000
shots:
skillshot_left:
advance_events: advance_skillshot_left
profile: skillshot_profile
switch: s_lane_left
show_tokens:
led: l_lane_left
skillshot_middle:
advance_events: advance_skillshot_middle
profile: skillshot_profile
switch: s_lane_middle
show_tokens:
led: l_lane_middle
skillshot_right:
advance_events: advance_skillshot_right
profile: skillshot_profile
switch: s_lane_right
show_tokens:
led: l_lane_right
Step 2. Creating a profile for the lanes
We can create a shot profile for the lanes that starts with the light off and makes it flash if that lane is lit for the skillshot.
By default, a shot will advance its profile when the shot is hit, but we
don't want that here so we'll set advance_on_hit: false. Instead, we
have explicit advance_events set on the shots so we can advance them
for the lane change.
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
shot_profiles:
skillshot_profile:
advance_on_hit: false
states:
- name: off
show: off
- name: lit
show: flash
Step 3. Creating a shot_group for the lanes
To tell MPF that the lane shots are related to each other, we create a shot group with all the shots in it.
Shot groups are powerful because they control behavior of all the shots together. In this case, we'll use our shot group to rotate the lit shots.
#! switches:
#! s_lane_left:
#! number: 1
#! s_lane_middle:
#! number: 2
#! s_lane_right:
#! number: 3
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
#! shots:
#! skillshot_left:
#! switch: s_lane_left
#! skillshot_middle:
#! switch: s_lane_middle
#! skillshot_right:
#! switch: s_lane_right
shot_groups:
skillshot:
shots: skillshot_left, skillshot_middle, skillshot_right
disable_rotation_events: s_plunger_lane_inactive
rotate_left_events: s_flipper_left_active
rotate_right_events: s_flipper_right_active
The rotate_left_events and rotate_right_events trigger the lane
changes based on the flipper events. The disable_rotation_events will
prevent the player from changing lanes after they plunge the ball, for a
true "skill" shot. (If you want to allow lane changes after plunge,
just remove that line.)
Step 4. Light a random shot when the mode starts
The starting state of the shot profile is "off", so we need to pick one shot at random and advance it to its "lit" state. We'll use the random_event_player: for this.
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
random_event_player:
mode_skillshot_started:
events:
- advance_skillshot_left
- advance_skillshot_middle
- advance_skillshot_right
Step 5. Rewards for Skillshot
When the player hits the lit skillshot shot, they get an award of points. We can use the variable_player: for this.
When a shot in a shot group is hit, the shot group will post an event with the state name of the shot that was hit. By using the shot group events, we can check when any shot is hit, rather than having to check each shot in the group individually.
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
variable_player:
skillshot_lit_hit:
score: 20_000
Step 6. Ending the mode on skillshot hit, or any other hit
After any skillshot lane is hit, the skillshot mode should end. We can again use the shot group to detect any shot being hit, but we'll use a hit event without any state because it doesn't matter whether the shot was lit or not.
We also want to end the skillshot mode if any other switch on the playfield was hit, which we can detect from the playfield_active event. However, when the skillshot is hit the playfield_active event will post before the skillshot_lit_hit event, so if we end the mode immediately then no score will be awarded. Instead, we add a 1 second delay after playfield activation before ending the mode.
##! mode: skillshot_with_lane_change
event_player:
skillshot_hit: stop_mode_skillshot
playfield_active: stop_mode_skillshot|1s
Full Example Code
The full code from this example can be found as a fully-working game template in the MPF Examples repository.
https://github.com/missionpinball/mpf-examples/tree/dev/cookbook/skillshot_with_lane_change
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