For me some scoring balance where I don’t feel like I worked the shit out of it even hitting my shots but walk away with my tail between my legs. Keep in mind I suck at games with a lot of multi balls or long ball times for some reason, and I usually dump them but GnR is staying. My high is only 21m but in my defense I took a lot of time off and never really played it till a couple weeks ago so still learning. At this point I cringe when I get slash solo or another mode like the car race and hate that I feel that way. So my strategy at this point is to just get booster multiballs then start a song. Even obtaining patches is more challenging for me then it should be so I must be missing something. If I concentrate on locking a bunch of balls prior to a song it never works out as good as it could lol. I’ll keep at it and play better, just want some balance for us shitty players.

Nothing like having a 20m applause jackpot expire with your balls stuck in power cord lock. Fuck me would have taken my grand champ from a friend back if hit. Didn’t even get a chance to flip.

After my wife got me the Funko Pop! Deluxe Album: Guns N' Roses collectible I thought it would make a great topper. Then I decided to spruce it up a bit to represent all of the albums in the game, scaffolding and some lights. Before someone says that I should have tied into the stage lights all I can say is that I got a D in my engineering class and couldn't figure it out so I tied into the hot rails which was much more straight forward. I have a 40 LED strip tied to the left hot rail on the bottom and 5 LED circles (12 LED per circle) for the top tied to the right hot rail.

Some pics and a video to show the lights, bottom light goes left to right and top circles goes right to left.

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Slash solo is an awesome mode but it is way too high risk, low reward. Needs some serious tweaks or stackable with other modes/objectives imo.

Locking balls prior to a song is risk/reward. GNR is a pretty tough table single ball; use your boosters to help with ball locks and patches. Then, during a song; learn to plant balls in the locks and use the Duff ramp to refresh the timer. Also use your loops and pops to buy time while controlling other balls. Don’t be afraid to trap up in multiball; the meter doesn’t decrease too rapidly and you can always get the T-shirt and poster patch set to buy more time with the meter.

You may want to think about increase the time a ball stays in a powerchord (super lock). Default is 15; bump it to 20 or 25. This also helps scoring balance as you’ll have a better chance of getting a powerchord jackpot. Just be ready for the release

Lastly, I’d recommend lowering the qualification timer for album modes to the lowest setting (30 secs); this substantially increases your album mode levels so you get more single ball play modes with high pay outs. Helps balance scoring.

Haha! Awesome job man!! It's a 1-of-1 for sure and personally I love the circle LED effects you added, looks great!

To go or not to go

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Are you talking about the mini wizard modes like the bike race and bad robot? Can you explain more what you mean by increased album mode levels?

Great job man! I've got that same collectible hanging on the wall next to my gunner ... If I didn't already have the topper I'd consider doing this.. well done

Yes. The album level, much like the song level, is an indicator of how big your scoring potential will be. Higher the level, higher the scoring.

Album level is really hard to increase, while song level have all sorts of ways to increase it (patches, boosters, ball locks, etc…) whereas album level increases on how well you do during a song. A huge complaint on the game is how low scoring album modes are. If you lower the qualification time from 3 mins down to 30 secs; this makes it much quicker to increase album level during a song.

Is the left loop supposed to drop right into the sling? I tried adjusting but no luck so guessing yes?

It is not. Try adjusting the orbit guide a bit.

When it is adjusted right, it should feed the left flipper and you can hit the orbit over and over again if you hit it just right.

I know many want a code update, but I'm curious what people are expecting in an update. I know some think the code needs to be finished, but it seems pretty complete as is. Every mode is programmed and works. I know the current beta version of the code fixed a couple incomplete things in the code such as the light show in "It's So Easy" and made the special award work. The game has alot of settings in the menu, so the game can be adjusted to address many complaints about the code. I think many want score balancing, and I want that also. A person can do some score balancing themselves in the menu instead of waiting for a code update to do it. The individual songs and modes have difficulty levels that can be changed and the album qualifying can be changed to make album modes worth more. Its possible the score imbalance was intentional to add additional strategy to the game. I know not to play Civil War for example if I'm going for a high game score. I'll play it to try to get a high score for the song, but not for the game. If I'm going for a game high score, I'll try to hit album targets to change the song to a higher scoring one. This goes with the games design of risk-reward. That Appetite target can be dangerous, but Paradise City can have a big point potential, especially with the Gun and Rose patch set.

I don't think a code update will change the fact that most of the points are in the song jackpots. That's a unique thing about GnR compared to most other pinball machines. The main thing about the games scoring is about building that song jackpot. Before starting the song its about building the song level, getting patches and locking balls. Then after the prep work, the next step is putting that effort to use and building that song jackpot up during the song. Then it comes down to actually collecting it. This can be done during the song by completing a stage and getting down to one ball (sometimes intentional) and hitting the scoop to reap the reward of all that effort. Or, pushing your luck and skill to build it even higher while taking the risk of getting none of that jackpot.

Don't be afraid of changing stuff in the menu. That's why its there to customize the game to your liking. It's one of the advantages of owning your own pinball machine (especially a JJP) is that you can play around in the menu and adjust it how you like. Not enough time to collect the applause jackpot because the ball is wasting time in the pops or your not good at hitting that scoop under pressure, just increase the time. I set mine at 20 seconds, I like it better than 15. The balls release too soon from the guitar lock, bump that up also. I did, again to 20 seconds. Don't like loosing a ball shortly after a plunge because the default ball save is very short, increase that time. I did on mine, because I hated loosing a ball after one flip. Don't like Slash Solo? Increase the spins to qualify to max. Don't like album modes? Hold action button to disable, or increase the time to qualify. Want them worth more, then reduce that time so you can advance the albums quicker. I can keep going with examples, but my point is, if you don't like something about the code, look in the menu for an adjustment. Can't find what you want, then ask in this thread and if its possible, someone will let you know what to change.

As for what I'd like to see in a code update, such as a version 2.0:

Score balancing. Make difficult songs worth more. Make easy songs worth less. Make album modes worth more, especially completion bonus.

Do something cool with Slash Solo. I don't think it should be stacked since its a unique mode and should be played as such. It should be worth more points and should add to song level, especially during the victory laps. I saw GnR live and was second row back standing right in front of Slash doing his solo and it was awesome. The crowd was fired up. That mode should boost the song level up a good amount. Rather than it being limited to 60 seconds, I'd like to be able to extend the solo by hitting victory lap shots. It's a shame to have to trap up and time it out when I care about points.

Make sure Band Frenzy is possible in every song. Some songs I'm waiting for a band member shot to light and it never seems to and I cant get a Band Frenzy going. For example, Patience doesn't seem to show drums or keyboards. I have gotten Band Frenzy before with some patches and luck, but other times even with patches I get stuck waiting on one thing that doesn't come up.

Add a short ball save for when a ball is released from the guitar lock. I hate when the ball releases and bounces weird and goes SDTM, especially when its in single ball play.

Integrate the shaker better in the songs. Some songs the shaker works great and others I don't think it works at all.

Don't allow a mystery award to start song. I think it'll say light song and it starts anyway. That's fine if it lights the song, but don't start it. I'd like to be able to disable the song like I can for album modes.

Add song level to the status screen before playing the song so you know what the song level at.

Move the "Jackpot Increased" animation out of the way during a song. Often times I look up to see what the jackpot value is and its blocked.

Add a high score for "Jackpot Lost". I wont feel as bad about loosing a 100 million + jackpot if I can put my name in for it. I'd also like to know what the jackpot was at after draining out of a song.

I'd like an alternate game where you choose any song and play it from the start. Kind of like the Escape Nublar Challenge on Jurassic Park where you can play just that mode instead of the normal game. This would be fun for non-pinball people. They'll have fun rocking out and flipping the ball around instead of spending most of the time in a building stage they don't understand only to get play the start of a song on ball three and having it end once the short ball save expires. I'm thinking unlimited ball save for the entire song, but you can still get booed off stage. I'd like to be able to choose how many balls would be in play for this. One would be good for the non-pinball people because all six is pretty chaotic even for advanced players. Another way it could be done is starting with one ball with a starting ball save, and a person could add a ball by completing stages or power chords, but without unlimited ball save. Completing a stage would add to the ball save or restart it. There are many ways this feature could be implemented, but I would like some form of a single song alternate game mode.

Thanks, lots of good information to tweak from. It is great to be able to tune it, only negative is it creates inconsistencies across machines for score comparison or tournament play. I get all all games differ but I generally stick to the default rules on all my games minus some extra ball save on TWD. That said I intend to tweak GnR with all the info here.

Pinball machines can vary a bit anyway from machine to machine, especially on older games. Even default settings can have different scoring depending on code version. Of course maintenance or lack there of affects how the game plays. That's where I think the scores are more machine dependent, but I can see the reason for keeping it as close to out of the box as possible for consistency across machines. If the machine is used in tournaments or used to practice for tournaments, then closer to default is probably best. Since this is an owners thread and we all own these machines so we are free to do with them what we want. I'm guessing most of us own them for enjoyment and entertainment. I'd say set it up where its the most fun for you and whoever else plays it. If that means disconnecting the tilt, moving posts for the smallest outlanes, setting to 5 ball, and max ball saver, putting everything in the menu to the easiest then go for it. If that's too easy, then increase the difficulty. I don't play in tournaments and I'm typically the only one that plays my machine. I set it up how I like it and I'm usually just playing for fun or trying to beat a previous score. If I'm trying to set a new high score, I usually don't try for a game high score, but rather a song or mode high score. I started at default to get a feel for it, then made changes overtime. Its quick and easy to make changes and you can always revert back to default. Changing anything changes the color, so its easy to put settings back to default based on color.

So far my code input as a noob is the album modes need to score better or not count as a ball lost during. A typical game for me builds boosters, lock what I can, start a song where I do ok with say 10m then it immediately goes into album and I wish I could turn it off working for my next song. Today I completed the modes twice and scoring was pathetic for what it is. It would be better in my eyes to allow you to turn off the album and build that with more songs if you wanted then have scoring in the mode go up with each. I’m still learning but not a fan of them yet.

You can do that. Hold down the action button and the album mode will unlight

You can disable the album mode by holding the action button. It'll say album mode disabled. You can re-enable it by holding the action button. I'll do this if I intend on playing the album mode, but want to get the patch for it first and/or playing more songs from that album. If you want the album mode worth more, you'll want to play more songs from that album to advance the record. Default is 3 minutes between each level up, but that time can be reduced in the menu making the album modes worth more on average. Getting the patch set of all four albums gives 2x scoring in album modes. If you have more than one unplayed album mode, you can choose which one you play by hitting the album target on each side of the ramps associated with that album, just like changing the songs.

If you look back at my previous posts, I went through the game with the glass off activating switches to figure how the song level is increased. While what I posted might not be 100% accurate, it'll give a good idea of what does what. Depending on skill level, a persons strategy will very. If your going for score, I'd say you'll want to build the song level up some and get some basic patches and figure out which songs score the best and try to play them. Its best if you can have the song preselected by hitting the album targets so you get a song level boost by not hitting the action button and selecting it that way. Then when in the song try to get as many Band Frenzies as you can and while its going, try to hit that center spinner and get the balls into the pops. This increases the jackpot the quickest. Fender patch helps with getting Band Frenzy running by spotting another member when collecting the active one. Vater spots Frank, and Duffs Skull spots Duff, so that's two less shots to get. If I'm going for game score, I'll usually disable the album modes and just not play them. Often I play for fun and will play them, even if the scoring isn't good. The game can get complicated with strategy because you have to prioritize what your shooting and there's always the risk/reward part of the game your faced with.

Yes! Awesome

Thanks again!!! I’ve got to get to 43m today!

I adjusted the outer loop ball guide. Balls drop to the flipper off it now

Edit-was loopy watching the hockey game lol

Huh?

+1
Oh good, it's not just me.

Never mind…

Does Slash solo boost the next song?

Also does draining after booster multiballs reduce their effect?

Slash solo doesn't boost the song level , if it did , it would be an easy way to make it worth playing .
Booster multi balls "effect" are there until you play a song and then you have to start all over again . As far as I'm aware .

Would you mind sharing how you did this? I followed some advice on here before and it improved but balls leaving the left orbit still hit the sling most of the time.

My left orbit has hit the sling since day 1 - never attempted to fix - what’s the proper technique to move the guide rail a little bit?

I tried just loosening the guide nut at the end and the one next to it then holding it forward while I tightened it back down but that alone did not work.

So I removed the sling plastics, loosened the posts then tightened back down while I held them in position towards the outside of the playfield.

This seems to have resolved it for me with hard shots returning to the flipper, softer ones can still nudge into the sling.

I also cut a blue flipper rubber I had and inserted in the gap of the guide rail end and the post next to it. I did that for tightening so I wouldn’t have to hold it, then decided to leave it in place. It is pictured here.

This held up well for a dozen games or so. I’ll play a bunch next weekend also.

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I believe you can also round the guide a bit. Basically slightly bend it to add some curvature.

Agree and would if I tore down to get to it.

Song level increase from booster multiball jackpots apply to every song the rest of the game. In my testing I didn't see a song level increase from simply starting or even playing the booster multiballs. The jackpots do increase the song level and I didn't see a difference between a single, double, or triple when It comes to song level. Most song level boosts carry over between songs, ball locks don't. So if you cash out of the first song early, don't feel your giving up song level for the next song beyond the ball locks.

I started to focus less on the actual objectives of the actual boosters and more on other things. If a jackpot is lit, I'll try to collect it, otherwise I'm using that multiball to lock balls, hit travel shots (orbits/inner loop), collect patches and collect band members to light next songs. What I prioritize varies depending on what I'm trying to accomplish.

My left orbit used to hit the right sling. At first I adjusted the upper right flipper out so the ball would hit the flipper when it was down and return to the lower right flipper. At that angle I could hold the right flipper up and have it hit the coma target. This flipper angle made it difficult to hit the inner loop. I've since put the angle back close to factory and bent the rail right above the upper right flipper. I used an adjustable wrench to grab the rail and pulled it out. Now it feeds nicely to the lower right flipper. I can hit the left orbit twice in a row now.

If anyone has an issue with the ball draining from the upper playfield and going out the right outlane, I had that problem. I fixed it by installing a larger rubber ring on the post at the entrance of the inner travel loop. This kicks the ball up and it hits the upper right flipper and comes down to the lower right flipper. I have four rings on that post. The bottom two and top one are the standard size. The third one up from the bottom is the larger one. The other three hold the big one in place.

Thanks for this - never occurred to me that the sling plastic could be shifted

Not by much but seems it was enough on mine to make a difference.

After hundreds of games, I got a song jackpot of 160. In that game I got a 900k jackpot and a 1mil+ jackpot. This by far more than any I have ever got. I can’t analyze games like you do, but the jackpots must have been the key to the song value.

Throwing out some of my current wishlist items for code after playing a bunch of GNR this weekend:

1. Allow slash solo to be stackable with other features of the game. ie. Let’s say you start slash solo then lights multiball. Slash solo music will play with slash solo and lights objectives available. This would include collecting patches and advancing cities and on the road too. Just no ability to lock balls because of the slash solo objectives. In addition; slash solo score influences album mode level.

2. AMP - new rule, single ball play: spelling AMP on the far left inlane will light 3 hurry ups (yellow). Hit all 3 hurry ups to light the jackpots.
Single jackpot at scoop = collect + mode over
Double jackpot at inner loop = collect + start a 2-ball multiball that acts just like AMP multiball now.
Triple jackpot under the upper right flipper = collect + start a 3-ball multiball that acts just like AMP does now.

3. LIGHTS - new qualification rule: after hitting the lights target X amount of times to qualify lights multiball, you must hit the fog scoop (Duff bass) to start the multiball.

4. Increase (default) timer for applause jackpot.

5. Kill pops during applause

6. Powerchord jackpot: after collecting a powerchord jackpot, give a 5 sec ball saver and dump ALL the balls at once.

7. Remove skull over jackpot value during song

8. Show song and album levels actively on the display and/or on instant info screen.

Nice wish list man! I like your powercord idea to dump all balls at once with a small ball save and we definitely need to have a way to track our song levels.

SKB, I wish JJP coders would take any of your recommendations. You have been adding great changes to this thread for two years and jjp has not offerred any changes. Don’t understand esp when many of your recommendations make so much sense. Anywho, pls keep offering.

What are people using for the EQ settings with a Pinwoofer system?

For what is worth I joined the club a few months ago and absolutely love this game. I did find the flippers a bit mushy and dropped a pair of precision flippers in over the weekend. I lowered the power a tiny bit on the lower flippers. I feel like I have much more control over my shots and the game is even better now. If anyone is considering I would 100 percent recommend them. I only did the 2 lower flippers. I didn’t feel the need for the mini flipper or side.

Been hearing a lot about them lately, guess I’m still too cheap but maybe one day.

I put them in gz last year made a little difference but not super noticeable. They are night and day in GNR

I've peeked at your collection. It's very nice. Cheap you ain't. Broke maybe, lol, but seriously, your GNR might want those for Christmas if you still have it then.

LOL. I’ve turned the corner sort of speak. Well two corners with 2 college students.

I am interested in trying them before buying but still may grab a set soon.

Edit - they cost less than I thought but out of black so will be waiting.

Yes! All of this!!!

There's two mystery awards for song. Start song and light song. And as you point it out light song also starts the song, that's a bug and JJP knows about it.
I think it's just a timing issue, order of operations in the code where it does not eject the ball from the scoop before it lights the song, so that light triggers the song to start because there's still a ball in the scoop. Just an opinion. I suspect in the code update they tell either fix the timing issue or remove light song, but probably the best would be to remove start song and fix light song. They seem too redundant. At minimum just fix light song.

I never usually mind a quick run of a song for extra points but It could feel more like a penalty than an award if you're awarded to Play civil war for an award when you know in the end it's just going to cost you a ball,..... And that instance I would probably have my go-to award song it's so easy... Etc.

Also what I don't know is if it resets all the prep work you've done for the "real" song when you start it... do you have to start all over spotting members if you're not on ball 3? Do you know? The award shouldn't penalize you. But a free show is ok if you can select a comfortable song, grab some points, stay alive and pick up where you left off... I guess it's notb much different than when you hit that lit scoop by accident on ball three and you're not ready...

Sadly Im considering listing my GNRLE for sale locally in Central PA…I just wish the prices had stayed a little higher. Any interest sent me a PM

2 posts a year apart.. hello and goodbye.
You are "sadly considering" selling because......?

Very good points for an (hopefully not so far in the future ) update!

What I would also like to see:
- Song-Overview in Info screens (like when you you hit the action button for song selction...so the player can see which patch to collect eventually next for increased points in song he wants to play next)
- No Auto-Calibration while you are asked to make your name entry for ranking (like it is on beta 31)

Question: Is it not possible to update directly from beta 31 to beta 33? I only get shown the full update to 1.25? I have to install 1.25 again to get to beta 33?

Greetz from Germany!