Possible new owner here...I need to work out the cash part of a trade for my 2010 IM. I *loved* my IM, but I’ve had it for 6 years, and it’s time for a new tough game. Sounds like there are still some code problems in GOTG even with the .90 release, but the new rules sound pretty cool.

Seems like the Ulek protectors are a no-brainer for this game - they look factory, and this game is an airball speed demon.

I’ve put about 20 games on mine after setting it up today. I’m getting a lot of cheap drains:

1. Right orbit feed hits right sling and slams the ball into left outlane
2. Rocket sends ball SDTM about half the time
3. Yando shot drops ball onto wireform and it bounces out

The scoop eject is also way more dangerous than the one on my AS. I’m used to new games needing time to “settle down”, but mine has 820 games on it already. Any recommendations for tweaks to make this less like a bucking bronco?

I changed the scoop eject power to 28, and it’s much better now. I also just played a 100M+ game with 8 Rocket kickbacks and none of them drained, so maybe I was just unlucky before. GOTG seems faster and meaner than the IM I traded for it. But once you get some good flow going, it’s a lot of fun! I’m looking forward to digging into the rules tomorrow night.

I closed down the outlanes and got myself dialed into the shots, and now I’m having a blast with this game. I’m being fully serious. .

EDIT: Finally got Cherry Bomb MB and a 252M score. I may need to move the outlane posts back out.

[Edited for niceness] I can understand being frustrated with GOTG when the code was new, but it’s a very solid game now. I hope your buyer appreciates the game more, or at least doesn’t complain as much as you did.

What happened to the negativity leaving? This was over a month ago.

I feel confident in comparing GOTG 0.90 to my Aerosmith now that I’ve put about 30 games on GOTG, and at least 300 on AS. I never experienced the early code, so 0.90 is my first experience with GOTG. From a rules standpoint, GOTG feels like a complete game at this point, while AS still needs some more meat on its bones. The modes are a lot more differentiated in GOT than in AS. Mode completion is more important in GOTG, due to 5x Groot jackpots and Cherry Bomb Multiball. The action button is integral to the gameplay on GOTG, but on AS it’s only good for aborting multiball. Groot multiball is pretty much identical to Toys in the Attic multiball, but other than that the games feel very different to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love AS, and it’s not going anywhere. I do find it a little annoying that some of the AS guitar riffs were reused in GOTG, so I’ll be changing those out. Once I do, I think they’ll be very complementary pins. I just hope AS eventually gets the same treatment that GOTG did with the 0.90 release.

I just had a 600M+ Orb MB, and I have no idea how - I think I stacked RAMPAGE and a shot doubler on the Orb shot. I finished with 891M. The super modes are lucrative, definitely worth playing with a shot doubler. Man I love this game. I just wish they’d let the music play uninterrupted when you’re not in a mode. No fanfare for Groot or Orb lock, just let the Awesome Mix music play on.

GOTG has only been out 6 months. I bought MET right out of the gate in 2013, and I think it took over a year to get to this level. Kudos to Stern for picking up the pace AND adding variety to the modes.

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

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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.

@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.

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!

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.

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.

Another huge update!! Here are the key changes from my perspective (in order of importance to me):

*** Normal Gameplay
- Increased the size of the current player's score to make it easier to read.
- Added a Hadron Enforcer Limit adjustment, default= 3. This limits the number of Hadron Enforcer 'shots' you can have in reserve.
- Fixed a bug where the Hadron Enforcer was allowed to collect the first jackpot during Orb Multiball.
- Increased Groot Multiball base jackpot scores.
- Decreased Orb Multiball base HurryUp scores.
- The first session of Quill's Quest is a 2 ball multiball. If both balls drain before the mode is completed the next ball will make mode select available instead of putting the game back into Quill's Quest.

*** Super (Secondary) Modes
- Now Secondary modes, i.e. Yaka Arrow 2, Sanctuary 2, etc.. persist until the end of the ball or until all of their associated points have been collected. Starting a new mode at the right scoop no longer stops Secondary modes. (!!!!)
- Added rules for Quill's Quest 2, a HurryUp centric rule. Shot the right scoop to collect a HurryUp award that starts at 10% of your score. (!!!)
- Changed rules for Yaka Arrow 2, i.e. a super pop bumper centric rule. There are 50 Yaka Arrow Pop Awards. Collect 1 at a time for each pop bumper hit, or, collect all of them at once by shooting the Yondu Lane/Target.
- Added rules for Sibling Rivalry 2, a Gamora right ramp centric rule. Shot the right ramp to collect all of the points earned during Sibling Rivalry. (!!)

*** Wizard Modes
- Now mode select is available following the Cherry Bomb Multiball completion/ball draining sequence.
- The Hadron Enforcer is no longer available to collect the final shot during Immolation Initiative.

Also lots of new bug fixes and topper code. Well done Stern!

The "Hadron Enforcer Limit" is going to be controversial. If you leave it at the new default, you'll need to be mindful of when you're about to get another 3 HEs, and use them up before you get the next batch. This adds more complexity and interest to gameplay. I've been guilty of hoarding HEs for multiballs. I need to break that habit.

I'm ass-u-ming that the developer(s) who brought all this goodness to GOTG will move to AS next.

Hmm, a lot of speculation here about who’s doing what at Stern. I don’t think any of us know. Let’s just be glad that the game has become what it is now, instead of smearing someone who worked on it.

Love this little mod. Tucked away like an Easter egg.

He’s a “NECA scaler”, just 9 bucks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XY4K9LX

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Uleks installed and ready for tomorrow’s party. I like them!

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If you disable fast boot in settings, it’ll verify the image.

I did a full upgrade from 0.90 to 0.95, with verify turned on. There’s a definite, disappointing change in the magnet’s behavior in 0.95. It only influences the ball slightly when it comes out. It doesn’t grab it any more. The magnet may as well not be there any more. This definitely needs a setting, like with kickout strength.

It was during the first 2 Orb releases. WAS. I just played a few games and the magnet is grabbing the ball again. But it’s inconsistent. I’ll keep playing and take better notes.

Here’s what I’m seeing most of the time. A few facts:

1. Changing back to 0.90 didn’t help
2. The magnet and core are both very hot now (after about 8 activations)

The magnet core is snug up against the playfield. The loop is loose but that shouldn’t matter.

My new theory: it’s the balls. I’m going to put in 6 brand-new carbon core balls and see if anything changes.

The magnet is definitely working, and if I use my hand to stop the ball roll, the magnet grabs it and behave like the video above.

Same here. Also, I just checked and my playfield is at 7 degrees, a bit steep. I’ll try 6.5 and see if that helps.

I tried this, but it didn’t help. I wonder if wedging the loose ring up closer to the playfield would make a difference. I’m willing to try anything at this point. I may even try a new magnet coil.

At this point, I’m 95% convinced that the “magnet issue” is just one of timing and ball travel. If I nudge just as the ball is coming out, it does the magnet hang/fling thing. I’ll stop obsessing about this and get back to enjoying the game.

I had a 50M+ Yondu2 just now. I think I had the shot doubler going. I kind of like these “1-shot super” modes (the other being Quill). It reminds me of Do or Die on IM.

A dead shot is one that isn’t lit for anything. If it’s meant to be like Aerosmith, you can only collect 1 “dead shot” from each location. So I always start with a mode with just 1 or 2 shots lit. I don’t think this setting actually works on GOTG. Extra balls seem to be arbitrary.

My strategy is similar to yours. My best game (last night) was 449M, with 6 modes completed. I like leading with Sanctuary because I come out of it with 3 HEs, and I can spot that far right target with the (much easier) left orbit. I try to save my MBs for when I have a super mode running alongside a regular mode. Shot doublers are critical for getting the most out of the super modes.

I finished Quill last night with around 400M on the board, and had Quill lit with a doubler while Rocket was running, so a potential 160M shot. I missed it over and over and finally hit it for 3M. Lol.

I’d really love to lift the HE cap from 3 to 9, but then I wouldn’t be able to compare achievements with others. One small change I noticed in 0.95 is that you can’t use HEs to spot shots during super modes, at least not if it’s the only thing going. The HE button goes dark.

Regarding the magnet position...

I’m a EE, and what’s left in my brain of the year of horrible electromagnetism (E-Mag) courses is telling me that the coil’s rotational position shouldn’t matter. A loop of wire with current going through it induces a B field, right hand rule, full stop.

I hate to say it, but I think we’re dealing with the same issue that Whysnow is having with his flippers. Sometimes weak, sometimes strong. It’s Spike2, it’s the new normal.

Pfft, you try talking with 3 or 4 balls in your throat.

I’ve definitely seen coils broken like that. It’s not cheap, it’s just pinball - things break. Glad Stern took care of you.

There’s an awesome sound that happens when you light the right outlane save. I’m going to use this sound or something like it for “mode qualified for II”. I’ll find something new for the outlane save sound.

I’m not going to bed tonight until I reach Immolation. I’ve been 1 mode away 3 times in a row. I wish that holding both flipper buttons in for 10 seconds would end the current mode, so I can start a new one. Timing out modes is tiresome, but necessary to reach II.

I think I found a bug tonight. I had Yondu lit for double scoring, played a multiball, and when it ended (down to one ball), the shot was unlit! Not cool man, not cool.

Now you’re just trollin’, dog.

Wel, I finally got to II and it was like rolling up to Wally World with the gates closed. I only got 56M! You guys with your 1B+ Immolations, geeze.

Yeah, a few ball save and outlane insults would be nice. One of my favorite things about AS is when Jacky says “Is this your first time?” and “Are you gonna try scoring points now?”. And in MET when you drain and someone says “No!!”. Classic.

Actually a great one for GOTG would be teenage Groot saying “I am Groot” with a heavy dose of sarcasm in his voice.

Yep, mine does that a lot. Also, sometimes the ball hits the stationary target fast enough that the ball bounces out before the drop target can pop up and catch it. Usually followed by a drain.

Wow, mine isn’t that bad, it doesn’t “machine gun”. Yours looks like it’s not catching at the top of travel. A new drop target might fix that. Everyone, does your drop target “knock down plate” (for the smaller coil) have 1 spring or 2? BTW, I’m glad that shots to this drop target don’t seem to brick as much as they do on MET’s first drop.

Argh, that drop target! I had Cherry Bomb strobing at the scoop, but for some reason I shot the Orb shot. The ball bounced off the Orb stationary target and came straight down the middle. I don't even think the drop target was triggered. I lost my Cherry Bomb to that damned drop target! And yes, it awarded me the Orb Lock as the ball drained.

Does anyone see the drop come up and catch the ball 100% of the time? I can't figure out whether it's a code problem, or an adjustment problem on mine.

Fact or speculation?

Stolen from the SW thread...I made my GOTG quiet for under $40, with no power supply mods. At medium speed, these fans pull 14CFM and are under 10dB. They pull enough air through the power supply that the PSU fan never turns on. The 12V/1A adaptor plugs into the aux AC outlet in the back box, so it doesn’t add any burden to the PSU.

https://www.quietpcusa.com/AcoustiFan-DustPROOF-Premium-Quality-Ultra-Quiet-Computer-Fan-70mm-AFDP-7025B-P63.aspx

https://www.amazon.com/Signcomplex-Supply-Transformer-Switching-Adapter/dp/B074HQ722Z/ref=sr_1_8

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I recently remembered the right hand rule from my college days: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-hand_rule. I think this means that flipping the magnet coil upside down (which changes the current between clockwise and counterclockwise) has an effect on the direction of the magnetic force F. That could be the simple fix that was eluding all of us. I just landed in Philadelphia for work, but as soon as I get home I'm going to try this.

That’s what I was just telling my friend, who may join the club. It’s just as challenging as IM. I had IM for 6 years and didn’t really want to let it go until it has a worthy successor. GOTG is worthy.

Immolation is kind of a letdown, but in a way I’m glad. It’s so annoying to have to time out modes after you qualify them, especially the ones that go on for 2 minutes. My next bogey is Save Xandar. I’ve had a few games where I only had a few modes left to complete, so I know it’s reachable. I do wish there were 2 extra ball opportunities, like AS.

I played my friend's GOTG and now I can't wait to install a shaker in mine.

AS isn't done but I still enjoy it just as much as GOTG. I don't want to wait 3 more seconds for multiball to start just so Groot can say "I am Groot". We know that already.

GOTG is ahead of where MET was a year in. I love MET, and I agree that it’s an all-time great, but it certainly wasn’t born that way. I’ll check the version history, but I could swear that after a year there was no CIU. It was worth the wait, of course.

EDIT: MET was released April 2013, and the 4 Crank It Up modes were added March 2014, 10-11 months later. We’re just 7 months in on GOTG. It’s still no MET, but it’s getting there.

On mine the grab is weak, but it's there. I'd check your magnet in coil test.

Very doubtful. It has to be a mechanical issue.

My magnet is randomly working very well this weekend. Weird.

Now PW79 has to buy one!

The “play” in the magnet coil makes no difference to the magnetic field induced in the core, and the air gap is probably better for the playfield in the long run. The brackets look identical, unless I’m missing something.

I think they just forgot. Fortunately it’s an easy fix.

Agreed, but the coil is not the “magnet”. The metal core is.

I played 1.0 on location tonight and blew away my old scores, without even starting Cherry Bomb. This definitely sets the bar higher - my goal now is 1B.

I hit 1.4B after upgrading this morning, but my outlanes are nerfed (all the way in). I’ll move them back out now that there are 2 extra ball opportunities.

I discovered today that the real super skill shot is to plunge hard enough that the ball goes around the orbit, bounces off the flipper and into the scoop, or if I’m a little too soft it hits the lower right Hadron target, which is even better!

I lose way more balls to that middle left inlane wire than I do to Rocket. And usually it’s a slow-moving ball, which makes it even more painful.

You don’t get any points for it, but your mode is immediately upgraded. That’s worth more than a few million to me.

Yes, I think I’ve seen that with Groot multiball.

I played with the settings on mine a lot. I settled on letting it hit the leff flipper and sometimes hit the right sling. You can make it gently eject to the right flipper, but that’s pretty lame IMHO. I’m just happy that mine doesn’t eject SDTM anymore.

I added a shaker and a 10” Fipper Fidelity speaker to my game last night. Huge improvement in sound, and the shaker integration is really good in GOTG - better than AS, which I also upgraded.

Sadly even with this help, I only got HS #3.

Has anyone seen their bonus scores shrinking after a few dozen games on 1.0.1? Seems like my first few games, I was getting 100-200M in bonus. Now, it’s rare to get over 50.

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If pin layouts were songs, they’d mostly be 12-bar blues. Meaning, there’s only so much you can do with 2 flippers and 12-15 shots. Fortunately, the designer can differentiate with magnets and playfield mechanisms. Then layer in rules, art, music and callouts and it becomes a completely different game, even if it has the same basic shots. I never feel like MET and Guardians are too much alike, and both are keepers for me!

I feel better after seeing Jack miss that scoop over and over again, just like I do. That 2B in one shot was something else.

If I'm away from GOTG for a few days or a week, I have to endure at least 10 games under 20M before I start to get back to good scores. The left outlane is a killer, even when it's closed down.

I want some of them trinkets that I can spread out on my dashboard, uh, backbox. Time to hit the Google!

Public service announcement: try Klasse All-In-One instead of Novus. It’s non-abrasive, cleans great and leaves a nice shine. I clean my rubbers with it too.

https://www.amazon.com/Klasse-ALL-IN-ONE-Polish-10-oz/dp/B00CZD7QOS/ref=sr_1_1

I got the rare opportunity to play against my teenage son the other day. I’d had 2-3 beers and on ball 3 the score was something like 162M to my ~50M. Long story short, I finished with 512M (most of it was Cherry Bomb). I must be an asshole because I enjoyed watching his expression change from joy to sadness. I’ll see if I can get him to go best 2 out of 3.

Same here, I have all three. I’ve never had the feeling that one played too much like the other. AS in particular is just a whole different animal.

The super modes can be really lucrative, especially with a multiplier. If you finish Yandu’s mode and then hit his shot with a multiplier, it’s 70-80M total. I really love hammering the orbits during MB when I've just finished Drax or Ronan. And the Gamora ramp seems to be worth a lot after Sibling Rivalry (green mode). Half the fun is trying out different scoring strategies.

Hmm. AS holds up to those games in terms of layout and gameplay for me. And the art is fantastic, still my favorite even with IMDN out now. It suffers a little from the Jacky callouts and basic rules, but hopefully the next release helps. I just like hearing classic rock when I’m playing and drinking beer.

I would start by checking the connector and the coil resistance. No fuses on these Spike games I think, unless you consider each node board a fuse.

I like Sanctuary too. Super skill shot to pick off the target under the scoop, then flail to hit the easy targets, left orbit to clean up. But it’s all-or-nothing, so that’s one big drawback.