# Merlin's Arcade
## v0.8.7 - The Grail Run

Version `0.8.7`, adds a large round of gameplay tuning, better end-of-game presentation, more callouts, expanded settings, and a lot of polish aimed at making the machine feel more reliable.

## Gameplay And Rules

- Merlin multiball was reworked to be more accessible. It now has a restart path, better first-lock handling, clearer lock feedback, and fixes for lock logic and stack-size edge cases.
- Knight battles gained a dedicated ball save, along with several improvements to battle flow, timing, and multiball interactions.
- Grail Save interaction was expanded. Players can now toggle it with the flippers, and Lady of the Lake can award Grail Save when LOFT is already lit.
- Combo flow was rebalanced by removing ramp shots from combo qualification so combos are easier to sustain intentionally.
- Spinner and arcade scoring received several tuning passes, including pausing the 1M spin timer while the spinner is still spinning.
- Scoop behavior was cleaned up so it stays more consistent during overlapping modes.
- Battle and duel cleanup bugs were addressed repeatedly across the update to reduce edge-case hangs, stale lighting, and bad stack transitions.

## Match, Leaderboards, And Shared Play

- A full match sequence was added to the end-of-game flow.
- Final-score presentation was reworked so the player-score layout can be reused cleanly during the new match scene.
- High-score and leaderboard presentation was updated to better line up with leaderboard rewards and post-game flow.

## Audio, Presentation, And UI

- Audio content was expanded significantly with new callouts, music, and sound effects across the game.
- Ball locks now have stronger presentation with additional callouts and servo movement so the moment reads more clearly.
- Maintenance charts were refreshed, with fixes for display issues.
- Lighting behavior across the game was updated to support smoother and more flexible effects.

## Maintenance, Settings, And Operator Experience

- The utilities and maintenance pages were reorganized to feel less cluttered and make important actions easier to find.
- Maintenance flow picked up additional cleanup, listener-management fixes, and confirmation-modal improvements.
- New hardware tuning was added for pop bumpers and flipper power.
- Credits can now be stored between restarts, with an option to disable that behavior if needed.
- A new in-game mini service mode was added, allowing certain service actions without fully leaving gameplay.
- Diagnostics and startup messages were improved to make service and support easier.
- A new hardware setting was added to control whether holding Start and the left flipper can end a game.

## Stability, Performance, And Reliability

- Ball handling, locks, ball serves, and jam recovery all received major reliability improvements.
- Auto-launch and auto-fire behavior were cleaned up to reduce rare edge-case failures.
- A wide range of smaller fixes and polish updates were made across gameplay, UI, service tools, and presentation.