Welcome to the club!

Oh yeah! First thing I did!

How are you liking your new game?

Very well so far!

Two issues:

1. The ball is hitting the sling and activating it when coming out of the pops. One game at TPF did this, and it's very annoying. The GOTG at our local arcade plays perfectly, with the ball dropping right to the flipper. Anyone know how to fix this?

2. Sometimes the ball gets stuck in the left ball guide, right above the pops. This is minor, but I can't see what's causing it.

My ball gets stuck behind the orb drop target some times and it doesn't lower initially as it is supposed to. It usually lowers after a ball search. I figure there is some minor adjustment somewhere to fix this but not sure what it is. When I lift the play field I can raise and reset the target flawlessly in test mode. Any ideas?

hi all. joining club the friday of pinfest when i am picking up an le. any words of advice would be appreciated as far as protection, mods, tweaks out of the box, ... i definitely know from the thread to update immediately to the newest code. thanks in advance.

Top three mods in my opinion:

Ronan's Hammer (A Must)
ULEK 'Do Not Use Gantry' (this one is simple but satisfying)
ULEK Plastic Protectors

Both of these happened on mine, and I have corrected it a couple of times by adjusting the level/pitch of the game. And by quick clean of the play field (I do not think I waxed the playfield).

I have my game on carpet, and as i move or bump it around even a little it can change the game play enough to notice, as the carpet/pad/and sliders all compress or not.. There is a sweet spot on mine somewhere between 6.5 and 7 pitch..

I’ve got a lot of mods, shaker, code etc. my top two are listed.

1. Cleland code. Play the stock code for a few days, then load Cleland. You will really appreciate the difference.
2. Mirror blades, they look great on this game.

Got the mirror blades. May put them in tonight.

I'll wait on Cleanad's mod till the next update later this month. Like you mention, I want a good feel for the game before upgrading it.

I adjusted the right sling to be less sensitive. You can also ease the ball guide out a smidge - I’m going to try this tonight.

BTW, you can adjust the scoop kickout so that it always lands on the right or left flipper. Or SDTM if you’re a masochist. I’ve got mine ejecting to the right flipper now, 18 I think.

I’m not much of a topper guy, but this would look pretty amazing for about $400. Someone else please do it so I can admire it.

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/15233

CF3DED6C-575C-494A-BE49-3FA6B617E3B3 (resized).jpeg

Game play question - sorry if this was brought up before. If you’re going for Immolation Initiative, do you cradle the ball and time out each mode after the little fanfare that says you qualified it for II? It’s one of the few modern DMDs I’ve played where you can do that, and it seems like that would be a problem for tournaments. I can just see some wise guy waiting out a 107 second timer during qualifying.

On a different topic, the Hadron Enforcers are huge, best use of standup targets on any game I’ve ever owned. Huge risk, huge reward! And leads to many different scoring strategies. Save them up for a monster Orb MB, or use them to finish modes and advance to Cherry Bomb MB.

I agree with your comments on the Hadron! Sometimes I'm hitting that thing like I'm shooting Tie Fighters on Star Wars on slow ball drains before going in the trough so I can complete the mode (if I'm close) before the next ball starts. Two modes lights that extra ball!

It's a setting. I think by default, the time stops after a few seconds of no activity. Star Trek was the same way.

As a setting, a physical change?

Sling sensitivity can be changed by either:
adjusting the leaf switch behind the rubber, further apart is less sensitive - or
moving the leaf switch nearer to the rubber (by bending)
changing the rubber around the slingshot

You can change the power of a slingshot in the settings (or by changing the actual coil) but I'm pretty certain that's for both slings.

It always puzzles me that people want every feed to be perfect and go to a cradle, rather than hitting the slingshots. IMHO that's how you get better - by learning to deal with the randomness.
I've played people's machines who have them set up so that every feed is perfect and they can get massive scores - as soon as they get to play a location or competition game they just can't deal with it and complain that the "machine's not set up right".

There's a big difference between a scoop throwing the ball SDTM (unacceptable) or throwing it on to a sling (just deal with it), or putting it to a perfect catch (boring)

Thanks, that what I was thinking too, just wanted to clarify.

I'm all for the randomness of pinball, but not at the expense of its original intent. The ball shouldn't hit the sling on the way down, and it can cause some cheap drains. I have a small child and his friends who will play, and that kinda bummer at the start of the game is not good.

Mirror blades installed last night! First time I've done them. Very impressed!

@WJxxxx, I agree. But my right sling would launch the ball into left outlane about 50% of the time, and that’s definitely no fun. I’ve gotten into the habit of nudging as the ball comes down from the pops, and I can usually avoid the sling-drain that way. I’ll probably set my scoop kickout back to factory defaults, because it’s admittedly pretty lame to have it gently place the ball on the right flipper.

That does look awesome but skip to 5:32 and thank me later

I am blatantly honest about my dislike for this game. It has left. Not my taste. Took a loss. Never going to buy another Lonnie game without playing it a ton. I'm going to be very cautious about assets as well as if they do not have the actors voice rights, I'm out. JJPOTC is another example of a game I will not buy because of this. I think a theme needs to be fully integrated.

Whats funny is I was trying to sell on here and people knew I did not like the game, yet no one wanted to buy it at a good price, Instead, I see a lot more people bought it NIB. I do not like the game and like almost every pinball game. There are just major things that are not right with it. I wish all GOTG owners the best.

I'm out of this thread and hope code improves for everyone. Bring on Iron Maiden and Deadpool!!!!!

$3 Stern Speaker or $15?
So much better with a halfway decent speaker. I also replaced the woofer. Total spent about $45.

IMG_0301[775] (resized).jpg

Just ran into my first issue with my Premium. Not sure how this came undone. It was an easy fix once I figured out the problem.

IMG_1899 (resized).jpg

I’m leaning toward a pro. Any real justification for a premium? Spinners and an egg that opens don’t seem worth the extra money. I’d love to hear some LE/Prem owners

I think the premium upgrades are worth it
Full colour changing inserts looks amazing
Only Star Trek Premium can rival it
And I love the Groot arms, like he's coming up from under the play field, very cool

Sadly blocks Left hurry up shot but thats just a mod away from fixed

As it stands, the .90 code is awesome, even without Pinball Browser editing. It already surpasses IM and AS, and pulls up even with GOT. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Guardians. For me, it’s the best adrenaline rush pin of any I’ve owned. Guardians kicks ass!

I’ve always been a Premium guy up till this game. It’s one of the best, if not the best, Pro Stern has made. No mechanical compromises on the main toys.....the ones that actually affect the ball. Compare other games that loose the physical lock, like GB, MET, KISS, Star Wars, etc... Not with Groot. There are only two minor changes that affect the ball: Spinners and 3 magnets vs. 1. Everything else is cosmetic.

I’ll admit I will miss the color changing lights and GI, but nothing else really. Groot’s arms are cool when you first see them, then you realize they are blocking your view. The orb opening up is just OK, but all the cool mods for it are on the Pro only. Rocket recoiling is blink and you’ll miss it.

Went Pro this time, and added the service rails.

Mine was hitting the top of the sling and it would bounce sdtm or just go wild. Was annoying. I bent the rail slightly. Now it feeds to the center of the right flipper most of the time. Depending on the speed. It’s much better and it’s what I believe they intended.

Any advice on bending the rail?

I think I'm running into the "weak" flipper. Sometimes when the ball comes around the orbit fast, when it hits the flipper, it goes just a little limp. Not much, but you can see it.

Wasn't this determined to be a Lonnie code issue, oddly enough? Hopefully it's patched in the release coming later this month.

From Stern maybe, because JJP's full RGB is still the benchmark with regards to lightshows IMO.

Now that you have done one machine, you will want to do them all!

True JJP have been hittin’ the full RGB’s & as such Stern have come to the party
Love to own a JJP but not diggin their themes to date
Maybe if they bust out a Toy Story OR even a better Jaws OR Willy Wonka
Yes I’m a 40 something and I want a theme for me
Cmon JJP, Stern knows what I want, let’s go Iron Maiden (three way tie with Judas Priest &
Black Sabbath as Britain’s great metal exports)

Mission statement, to Stern OR JJP, make Jaws!
Not interested in any “boutique” company here coming along, with their cheap 3D props
Want the pros on this mighty fine theme, “we’re gonna need a bigger boat”

I used a pliers. I doesn’t take much.

So if you guys dont know i do custom powdercoat and was thinking of doing a custom GOTG set in a deep Purple metallic and gold hex pattern set. Pattern will be on lockbar hinges, rails etc. Mocking up some designs and lay out wanted your guys feedback. Here is an example of my blood splatter design. Final prodcut will be 100% powdercoat. Decals are for layout purposes only

20180420_111718 (resized).jpg

20180420_111710 (resized).jpg

20180420_111724 (resized).jpg

20180420_114531 (resized).jpg

20180420_114534 (resized).jpg

20180420_114523 (resized).jpg

I'm not crazy about the blood splatter with regards to GOTG but I do like the idea of the purple / hex pattern. Another idea for the lockbar may be to use the orange from the sunburst, or whatever it is that circles the GOTGs on the translite / movie posters.

pasted_image (resized).png

The blood splatter is just to show you what i mean by putting patterns in powdercoat

Ah, I misunderstood you. I've seen your work in your thread (and others) here so I know you do awesome stuff.

Just grab the end of the rail in the middle and give it a little pull?

Before you do that, have you tried to change the pitch? I found that raising the back legs a little changes the orbit paths quite a bit.

Yes. No luck.

One of the things I absolutely love/hate about this game is the way it sets you up for a huge cash-in, then slams your dick in the door right before you can do it. Yesterday I had a 4-ball Groot multiball going, with Cherry Bomb lit and ready. All 4 balls drained simultaneously, craziest thing I ever saw. No Cherry Bomb. Tonight, same deal but with 2 balls going. But I couldn’t help going for the Groot SJP, so I lost 2 balls and missed CBMB again. Argh! It keeps me hitting the start button over and over, that’s for sure.

So I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a GotG. What are the things I need to know/do on day 1 if I go through with it? Going to put up stargate for sale this weekend.

There’s not much to go wrong with this game mechanically. I traded for a Pro with about 800 plays on it, and I haven’t seen any real issues. I did have to adjust the scoop kickout strength to keep it from going SDTM every time. Now the ball hits the tip of the extended left flipper pretty consistently, much better. The feed down the right side to the flippers is a little tricky too. I made the right sling a little less sensitive so that it’s not a chump drain if the ball grazes it on the way down. Adjust outlanes to taste and enjoy!

One other thing to know: GOTG is more on the IM/TWD side of the spectrum than on the LOTR/POTC side. I find myself nudging and slap-saving a lot. It’s not a “lean back and play” kind of pin. The Rocket kickback is ridiculously fast and drains more than the one on IM. I hope they’ll add a 1-second ballsave at some point.

Success! Bent the loop guide just slightly, and the ball drops perfectly now! Very, very happy!

Celebrated by having my best game yet by far, with reaching Cherry Bomb for the first time to top it off!

Love this game!!

Interesting. Rocket and the scoop have been perfect from day one for me.

My issues are:

1. Ball hitting the slings upon entry (fixed)
2. Ball occasionally getting stuck in the left ball guide (not as much when I increased pitch)
3. Ball very rarely getting caught in Groot's mouth when it's down (I'm assuming we can adjust his mouth manually....raise it about 1mm)
4. Occasionally a weak and limp auto plunge (head scratcher on this one)