I’m a new pinball player and was wondering if this game might be too hard for me ?

Is it good for newbies or better leave it for the more experienced

I just got a Godzilla and it’s hard for me I heard JP is harder

My first NIB Stern was GZ. Prior to that game I had only owned 90's Bally/William's machines. Liked GZ so much and got caught up in the Elwin FOMO that I ordered a JP. Love my JP. Love it. Much harder game. After a few weeks of JP ownership I gravitated back to GZ for a many months. Now it's reversed. I play JP for the challenge and the learning curve. GZ is just fun and everybody loves it. Two completely different games. My advice is to seek out and play a bunch of games on location. See what you like to play. Don't just buy on hype. But. But. You can't lose with JP.

Wow thank you so much for this insight this is of great help appreciate you!

So I've spent weeks fiddling with the truck, trying to get it to play smoothly and just stumbled upon what my issue might've been for anyone else who might be experiencing the same thing.

So when the truck was pointed to the left (with the newton ball to the right) it moved as smooth as butter and would always drop as long as the newton ball is 180° to the right. When the truck was pointed to the right (with the newton ball on the left) it was very sticky and would frequently just stick and never drop to make contact with the playfield ball.

I cleaned the post, the washers, and the thrust ball bearings and sprayed silicone lubricant onto a microfiber cloth (as suggested much, much earlier in this thread for these issues) and lightly wiped it onto the washers and the post to try and resolve the issue. But it seems no amount of lubricant would make the truck fall smoothly on the left. I finally thought to adjust how tightly the truck was attached to the playfield and that seems to have resolved my issue. It looks like over time the truck was tight to the playfield and the plastic ring that goes through the playfield wore down on one side - causing some resistance. After the change it always falls to make contact with the playfield ball, so hopefully this may help anyone else who might've had this problem.

I've been playing pinball at least 35 years, consider myself a above average player and this is by far the hardest game I've owned, albeit playing on a old code. I already know the wife and few non pinball friends who stop by will not appreciate it after 2 days of playing it. If I'm bricking a tonne of shots, newbs are going to do the same.

If the theme is of your liking, jp has got to be one of the best strategy and shooting games with the cleanest presentation of all time. It feels like a board game with different objectives as u climb the ladder with little surprises along the way.

The shots all feel great and personally i love the 180 ramps and the missle shot, Get good at those and the game is a stand out with how you cab continously chain so many shots together.

With that said, don't feel shy in dialing in the game. The shooter lane hitting the 180 clean, every time, the side flipper alignment, dialing down the strengith of the flippers, pops and slings, making sure the truck works correctly,

Im sure this has all been said before, but take this as a gentle push since godzilla has been out..

I have a topper on back order just wondering if you are getting yours

I have GZ and a few others but I have really wanted to pickup JP. Maybe in 2023 when they run them again. Crazy I can’t find a used one anywhere.

Too bad we weren't closer. I think I'm going to try and trade mine for hopefully a Metallica or AIQ. Longshot would be a Godzilla!

Hey I see your in Colorado. My wife and are very kind and up for a road trip anytime

Yeah would have a deal for AIQ. Even new to me with fresh mods it would be a trade or at least we cross loan!

It’s not a topper, but instead an incredibly nice gift! I’m guessing they sent to all pin buyers. I just got a shipment today. Very nice!!

If it's on location, maybe the back legs are raised too much high, I have a godzilla for some months, and last week I played on a godzilla in a bar, the back legs where raised in a way that was way off level, the right ramp was almost impossible to make even if the flipper bats were full power, all the shots where very hard to do.
But at normal level JP doesn't have very hard shots. Maybe the C shoot is a bit difficult, the H shoot needs a bit concentration to do it but it's not that hard. For the rest they are ok I think.

Getting back in the club. Can you show me the post that outlines the problem and the solution? Thx!

Upper flipper post, align the flipper bat as in my picture.
The face of the bat is straight with the ball guide that feeds it. The post should offset it to the left just a bit as per the marker dimple on the pf

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Use the alignment dot in PF and confirm that the ball will roll down the flipper bat and hit the post slightly. If you have changed flipper rubber with something thicker or thinner it may require an additional adjustment.

Or you are taking part in Secret Santa and the gift came from them.

The Cointaker gifts are definitely not on their website for purchase. Don’t know how to add a spoiler tag, but I do want to share Cointaker’s promotional move here as it was very classy and rewarding!

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That’s amazing, they just won more of my business!

Others should do this and heck imagine if a location operator reach out just to that their top 10 paid playing customers. It’s the small things that make the largest difference.

Thx!

I am going to be swapping in the Precision Pinball flipper bats, so it will be easy to align from the top. If you have the original bats like shown below, you need to loosen the screw below the playfield a bit, find your favorite position, and the tighten it up to lock it in place. Regardless of bat type, on JP, I align the top surface of the bat to be dead on with the dot, which makes the ball just catch the post when it rolls down and makes it travel to the left. On the bottom bats, I also have them sag a TINY bit below the dots as it appears the designer has recommended. With John’s Aluminum Halo bats, it will be easy to adjust these positions anytime I feel the need.
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This is an Allen bolt holding the flipper shaft into the flipper assembly. Just loose that up and you should be able to move the flippers around. you can then adjust the flipper angle to your liking and tighten the bolt back down. Make sure it’s tight so your flipper doesn’t move. Like tighten it almost like you think it’s too tight as long as the Allen wrench is seating properly you shouldn’t really worry about stripping it.

Older game but the idea is exactly the same.

Fixed a wonky trough opto and played a test game.

5M base TRex hit 2X and ran the mb hitting all red shots and nailed the Super.

Love this game.

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Early on Keith posted that the lower flippers should be centered to their PF dots (note the dots are intentionally marked marginally lower such that the flipper bats are slightly drooped from the angle of return lane ball guide, this makes it easier to hit the wider shots such as Lite Escape and 2x). While the face of the upper flipper bat should line up with it's dot (we've taken this to be the bat itself, not the face of the rubber). Of course you can set them up however you like as people vary their PF pitch and every game plays different

Here's Keith's posts
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/welcome-to-the-jurassic-park-le-club/page/96#post-5516155
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/welcome-to-the-jurassic-park-le-club/page/96#post-5516106

Thanks, good to know - I couldn't find it the other day so thought Stern must have removed the option. I find this the easiest and safest method to update a machine

When JP was first released, I recall hearing/reading that Keith had watched people play IM (it doesn't have the post at the upper flipper) where they wouldn't use the upper flipper but rather let the ball safely return to the lower flippers where it could be caught and controlled. So on JP, he designed it sitting a post slightly proud of the upper flipper with the intention that you either attempt to hit the ball with the upper flipper otherwise it'll hit the post, which creates lateral ball movement and variability (depending upon the speed of the ball etc). Thereby incentivising the player to make a shot with the upper flipper, rather than have to regain control of the ball or potentially lose it.

Wow.
Apron, speaker panel, and coin door even!
No compromises for you!

Twd or JP?

This is one of the pleasures of IMDN and Zilla. You can just let the ball glide right past the upper flipper for a chance at either a live catch or a dead flip to opposite-side cradle. On Zilla, if you rattle your left ramp shot and it rejects, you can let the ball come ALL the way down to your left flipper. Numerous SR layouts allow this as well. On IMDN, it’s especially smooth emerging from the right orbit for a juicy live catch on the right - something I can rarely do! This kind gentle return to your flipper vertex is impossible on JP - not because there’s a post there but because the trajectory is wrong. Had Keith *not* put a post there, the ball would constantly exit that orbit and go SDTM.

like going to a vegan group and ask them if they prefer meat or vegetables.
Anyway , JP is way better ( in my opinion of course )

Imdn or JP?

Not sure JP is for me. Zero attachment to theme (never seen any movies) while Maiden was one of my favorite bands growing up. Metallica and AC/DC are my favorite games so kinda leaning towards IMDN but any time I've played maiden on location I just throw my money away. I never have a good game it seems. Will it be the same at home?

Kids got me the best topper

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Still Gotta ask tho, I know some of you guys have both!

I have both LEs and would let JP go before Maiden. It helps to be a big Maiden fan and the code is very challenging. Some of the callouts on Maiden are hilarious and the game taunts you. JP is excellent as well, I need to spend more time on it and dig in deeper. I didn’t care for the movie code that came with it and put it back to the latest factory code and installed Insider Connected. The achievements are fun with IC and the factory code makes it clear what to shoot for.

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Not maiden bro (though that’s on my list too ha) I asked TWD vs JP.

You’re a true Elwin fanboy lol. Nice games dude

Its a tough choice....TWD is probably Lymans best coded game, and is fast, and challenging

Yea I want that code experience but I really dig jp’s shots too!

You should get both too.

I own both (Premium JP and LE TWD) and they are my 2 favorite Stern games. I'd give the edge to TWD just because Lyman's code is an absolute masterpiece and the ball times are less than JP which gets me pushing the start button more often. Jurassic park is an amazing game too though.. you can't go wrong with either.

Eventually that’s the plan!

Both....the only way to really tell is to buy both and play them side by side.....they are very different

Anyone have the power blades art blades for this? Looks super sweet and seems to add to the ambiance.

They look great the JP that I just picked up had a set on it. My wife and I like the look of mirror blades and pinstadiums so I changed them out. I have them in the marketplace if anyone is interested.