My family have mostly ignored my pinball hobby, but because of the theme they’ve put more time on this machine than the rest of them combined. Bottom line is they enjoy it, but they don’t really have much of a baseline to compare it to. They were surprised and disappointed about a few voices, but I don’t think they enjoy it any less because of it.
I’ve learned a lot from the experience of owning a new machine. I’ve had trouble getting into most of the newer sterns and I wasn’t sure why until now.
#1. I had been playing games when they first come out with initial code and didn’t know the games were improved and didn’t go back and try them again.
#2. Most of the shots don’t feel attached to the action the shot is supposed to represent. The best way for me to explain this is by comparison. Why is medieval madness regarded as one of the greatest machines of all time? The sound, play field, and dmd animations all tie the shot together. The orbit plays a jousting call out and animation. This is comparable to T2’s motorcycle on its semi-orbit. The orbit doesn’t feel like anything on GOTG. The drawbridge and moat shots make sense. The catapult makes sense. Saving the damsel makes sense. Guardians of the galaxy as of this post, the only shot that feels connected with the sounds and video is Groot. Addam’s Family is another great example of making shots feel relevant to the sounds and animations. I love Baywatch, but couldn’t put my finger on what is missing. A couple shots feel connected, but most don’t. Most newer sterns have felt more like baywatch than medieval madness. I think the trick is going to be tieing the shots in with call outs without slowing the game down. I think that’s the dividing line between most pinball fans; speed and story. I think understanding this should allow designers to cater to both.

I dont think so. It's too quiet without it.

Absolutely do not want any song to be the game over song, other than orchestral. You need as many songs as possible when the modes end to keep it from being too repetitive.

Sanctuary was broken in this patch.Everytime i go inside groot the balls gets lost. Triggers ball search, and doesnt find it. If you complete the mode, it locks the ball for multiball. Otherwise it just launches another ball when the mode times out.

EDIT - Messed with it somewhere. The problem isn't sanctuary it's bonus multiplier mode. It did it to me any time i had 2x scoring.

Ok this update fixed the issue I posted about earlier. Thanks, Stern.

Mine has the bubble between the lines. It's hard for me to imagine being able to put it shallower than that without the ball hanging up too much, is that not a problem for you?

The orbit, and there’s another spot on the right side that I can’t remember off hand, and I’m away from my machine for a few days.

I like the game. I own the game. I own 11 other machines. Played at least a hundred games on it. The shots are tight. That by itself doesn't mean the game is bad.

Is this based on anything at all?

My right flipper is sticking already. Hopefully I can learn how to fix flippers. It's the only problem I've had so far.

Does stern have an official fix for the orb target not dropping when a ball is behind it? I have one on location and I had to disable the orb drop target and unless I’m missing something the game isn’t smart enough to treat the rear target like the orb drop for orb multi ball. It takes a lot away from the game.

No, I'm not at the machine right now, but that seems vague from memory. Hopefully it makes more sense to me when I can make it back there.

Did it not even attempt to drop? Mine seems like it tries, but a mechanical problem makes it pop back up as it’s going down.