So this may come across as obvious to most everyone here but just in case it helps someone I figured I'd post this evening. Ever since I got my JP2 Pro I've had it set up at what seemed like roughly 6.5 degrees. I got it close to that when I unboxed it according to the playfield bubble and it seemed to play well enough. I didn't have a precise digital level to make it exactly right, so I didn't worry about it. I didn't really want it to play faster... so I just left it.
Then the other night I had a particularly bad game, where I became extremely frustrated at my inability to hit the right ramp and orbit with any real consistency. I had one of these 'Do I just suck at pinball?' moments so decided to play a game on my other machine.
Which happens to be AfMr, and out of the box was apparently dead on right at 6.5 degrees. First game I played wasn't great, since Bally/Williams machines play so differently and it takes a little getting used to. Second game I got 10 bn and was a few hits away from destroying Mars. My best ever game was a 26 bn Rule the Universe (that I'm confident I'll never replicate) but nonetheless it reminded me that maybe I'm not that terrible at this.
At that point I remembered that I had ordered some stuff from Marco a little while back, and 'didn't I order a cheap digital leveler?'
Sure enough I had, and I found it. Test the playfield of the JP2 machine and it reads 6.3. I'm convinced that the playfield angle is too flat, and it's making the shots harder than they should be. So I pulled out the trusty harbor freight hydraulic lift I set it up with and spent some time dialing it in to right at 7.0. I figure I'll start there and dial it back if I don't like it.
Let me just say, the difference is immense. To me it doesn't play all that much faster. But my goodness are the shots to the right ramp and orbit massively, massively easier. And perhaps it's placebo but I feel like the extra slope is taking a little bit of speed off of my shots from the flipper and making slightly inaccurate shots work better because it takes a slight bit of the speed off.
Anyway, I feel like an idiot for leaving it as it was so long. I thought I just sucked at the game. And I understand that per the manual it is supposed to be at 6.5. But my goodness. All the other shots are easier for me too. Maybe I'm used to AfMr as such a high speed game so I feel more comfortable? I don't know. But it makes me very curious what other people have their playfield angles set to, because at least to me just a bit of angle changes has made the game play dramatically differently.
Westport, CT
