Ordered!

Good thing I just got the CCR module too, to keep me busy while waiting.

The new 2.0 code for CCR is really sweet - whole new game from what I had played last year at Pintastic.

Great time to be a P3 owner! Cooped up in the house, with my new Cosmic Cart playfield and the 2.0 beta release, as well as Heist ordered and on its way.

Hmmm, UPS shipping notice from Texas in my email...

I’m going to qualify my remarks by noting that my playfield was damaged in shipping. I’ll be getting a replacement once this virus mess is done. I’ve been working with the support team, which is outstanding as always, trying to make it somewhat playable in the short term.

That said, I’m not really enjoying it at the moment. Shot pathing seems very bad, with way too many center drains on required shots. My right orbit shot exits from the left side and probably 80% go SDTM. The left inner loop shot, essential to starting a heist, drains close to 90% of them. This makes any progress near impossible. In fairness, the orbit rails were bent in shipping. I’ve straightened them as best I can, with help and advice from tech support, but they’re not right. The inner loop looks as-designed though. The only possible adjustment I see is bending the outer rail at the exit but that would expose the rail edge to ball impact, so that’s a no-go. I actually try and avoid anything that requires an inner left loop shot - not much fun. I’m reasonably confident an undamaged playfield will solve the orbit issues, because the other playfields have no such problems, but I’m less confident about the loop. If that doesn’t flow better on the new playfield, and I don’t see why it would be any different, this module will probably sit in the box most of the time. It’s that unenjoyable as it is now. I’ve checked the machine again today and it is level and at a normal pitch.

My crane bash target also registers poorly, missing most direct hits and getting only some of the more-glancing shots. This makes most of the crane modes unfinishable. We’re working on that too. It appears to be mechanical, not electrical. I had the head apart today and now it’s having trouble picking up balls from the ramp. I guess I’ll try recalibrating it later.

I’m reserving overall judgement for now until whatever time I can get the module replaced but first impressions are iffy for my tastes. Your mileage may vary.

It’s certainly possible a new module will solve the issues. I hope so. The damage was pretty bad. Interestingly, the box had no external signs of damage but inside, you could see it had been moving around. The right orbit rail attachment screw at the exit was sheared off, and the rail was bent and had gouged the artwork. One of the wireform mounting screws was found in the bottom of the box, and it’s threaded spacer was bent back out of place. The left VUK tube was bent such that when first installed, the game saw balls only on VUK 4. The left orbit rail end was bent in sharply and both orbit rails blocked the outer scoops and walls. With much help from Gerry and TJ, the rails have been straightened enough to clear the scoops and mostly work. The trough issue was fixed with a piece of foam tape on the ball stop, moving the balls to the right a bit so the optos pick them up. That will work for now.

The inner loop, on the other hand, appears undamaged and that concerns me. The geometry there just seems off. I do hope I’m wrong and that the problem is specific to this module but we’ll see. That left inner loop shot is critical to progress in the game and right now I am loathe to take it.

A quick follow-up posting. I've been making small adjustments to flipper and VUK coil strengths and that has helped a little. I will be doing more with that tonight. I also lowered the slope from my usual ~7 degrees to more like 6 degrees and that also helped. The ball does not now drop so precipitously on exiting the left inner loop. The left orbit rail I tweaked by bending the rail a bit to direct the ball more to the right. It doesn't lie flush with the side target rail, nor had it before, but it's not far enough out to be a problem now either, so while it isn't the right curve any longer it is mostly playable.

I wasn't clear that I do like the game. The rule set is excellent, the art and music is my kind of style and the gameplay is rich, varied and strategic. It's a flagship game for the platform, no doubt. I don't want anyone thinking I hate the game. Watching Gerry and Nick's streams of gameplay again, it is clear that whatever is wrong is isolated to my module's condition. Once this virus business is past and this module can be replaced, I'm confident the problem will be solved. I did have a concern on the inner loop geometry but watching the streams has eliminated it. I probably should have watched them more closely before posting.

I guess my frustration got the better of me. I'm a P3 supporter from the time I first saw it. I didn't make the first production run, but I did make the second, so I'm all-in. I like the company and I like their products, both the P3 and the P-ROC series. Nobody else is innovating like them. Apologies to the Multimorphic team for going on a rant. They've been nothing but helpful, especially so in this difficult time.

Having now been able to play some, here’s some thoughts.

I like the character modes. Each is a little different and are challenging under time pressure. The side jobs are cool and clever and I like that they are optional. The lane donuts are a fun idea and challenging on the separate button.

The game has a nice variety of multiballs that are well-integrated into the story and the fun events like the Armored Car and Police Patrol also fit right in.

Some things I’d like to see or am not sure of...

I’d love to see a sub-mode where the spinner counts for more score or bonus. It’s used well now for objectives but a good spinner rip for points would be satisfying.

I’m not sold yet on the starting of Crane Multiball in the middle of a character mode. It seems distracting to me right now but it’s not a deal breaker. It is a cool multiball though.

It may just be that I haven’t gotten enough donuts yet, but I’d love to see opportunities for more bonus multipliers if that’s not already there. Currently I’ve only seen 2x.

It’s going to be fun seeing what comes in the main heist wizard mode as the code comes up to v1.0

The backbox display is a fabulous upgrade in my personal opinion. Best thing I ever did to mine. I am glad to see they will be now including it by default. The system was made for it.

It saves me from having to buy translites for each module or game that I own, which is wonderful. The different games do offer unique data displays in most cases, while in-game, and that will only get better now that designers can pretty much count on a P3 having one. I do believe there's a lot more that can be done there. Think digital versions of things like the Scared Stiff spider or even small minigames on the backbox eventually. I only wish they had digital side art

Go into Diagnostics and select Under Playfield view. See if all the balls show up on all the VUKs.