His game looks unlevel, too low on left. Therefore he should extend the left rear leveler and see if that fixes yo issue, homes. Then he should come back here and tells us what worked.

Cool found it. Your machine has got to be dialed in to the max.

Maybe that estimate is based on receiving missing inventory and clearcoated, cured, dimpled, drilled playfields in the meantime. Really hoping it happens as planned and that JJP can “restart“ production on CE’s. Sure November sounds good. Cause nothin' lasts forever. Even cold November rain.

I hate when both sides of cabinet have the same art. Especially on the CE model there is no need to be lazy. Add the semi-naked chick to the right side or something. If the left and right sides of CE art had been different, I’d have given it more consideration. As it is no way.

The pro also suffers the same fate, although maybe expectations for the SE are lower so ok. The LE however has different art on both sides, many different posters are shown. That is a great reason to select the LE and it was one of mine. Unique side images against the red armor backdrop is a win.

Hobbit LE is JJP’s best example of doing cab art justice with unique sides, and now,we have GNRLE. JJP did this on all WOZ versions and should have tried it on Wonka CE, but missed that opportunity. JP premium is my favorite Stern title with this. It joins SWLE. Spooky has ACNC and R&M.

Anyways nicoy3k must not have seen MezelMods new game room kit for those with limited space at home.

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The GNR SE is for you. Start a game and peer to the right, peer to the left and plunge your balls.

One obvious thing too, designers only spend the time to use unique side art when the art is good. So when you find it, chances are the art is pretty good. See my post above for the handful of games this has been tried for. I only went back ten years and was relying on my memory banks.

Of course taste is subjective and there is at least one game with unique art that I don’t care for. But generally it adds to your experience because you have more of something good.

JJP should include a complete set of spare rubbers (at least high impact areas and slings) to their GNR goodie bag. Rubbers gong to rub and a spare set to replace existing ones when they’re gone is a win for everybody. It would be the first useful thing I’ve pulled from a goodie bag, other than an occasional game manual.

Jean-Paul de Win has rocketed JJP animations to another galaxy. He rocked GNR animations, too.

I’m disappointed with the LE numbered plate because it should include the name of the game and how many units will be made . Nobody prefers a generic plate that says JJP that could be removed and put on another JJP game and still make sense. After all, the item being memorialized is JJP’s GNR machine and it is machine # X of 5000 games. How about redesigning your numbered plate and mailing them to early Buyers JJP?

WTF - why do pinball maunufacturers of hot pinball titles continue to send early games overseas by ship? In this age where nobody flies, the airline industry is ramping up their cargo business and offering competitive rates. Instead of shipping two containers by sea to a single depot and taking 2 months. Manufacturers should fly these games directly to the correct countries and games could arrive at distributors and homes in a week. Comparatively it takes a few minutes to send money, make a deposit or pay in full and then wait. Would this be an improvement to the current practice?

Does anybody know CURRENT pricing (within past few months) for air shipping 100 pins to AU/NZ or 100 pins to EU? Sure this will cost more up front, but when you figure in lost time and similar import duties, it can’t be too much on a per pin basis. Numbers don’t lie - real quotes, not generalizations are needed to discuss viability.

Pretend you are JJP and wanted to arrange international shipping of 100 pins to 10 countries in EU AND ship 100 pins split between AU and NZ. Using your numbers, the total shipping quote would be $264k. That seems like a lot of money, any lower estimates? How much would an international shipper charge to fly 200 pins to 12 countries and clear customs in 7 total days?

Then how much would it cost to ship 200 pins to 2 countries and clear customs and some train to 10 more countries in 75 total days?

The second case is what happens now and it is included in the purchase price. The first case is what needs to be paid to airship. The difference is how much more the customer would need to pay.

If you’ll recall, last week JJP was on track to reveal their production plan to distributors and to direct customers. This week we have heard multiple responses but no answers. None of these responses indicate production is shut down, in spite of no new signs of life. A pic of 60 games for overseas when 100 games were rumored to have been built before the announcement does not float my boat. Especially when that should be one week’s production. And why are they sitting there, instead of shipping them out already? Are they trying to produce another 30 or 40 pins before shipping the load? That shouldn’t take a half week and it’s time to get those games on the water. I’m committed to giving things until Dec 15 before freaking out. Is JJP aware people have no idea when final balances are due nor when their games will arrive until they announce their actual plans. Maybe a good time for a podcast to cover the topic. Come on Ken Cromwell - use JJP’s Free-Radio to interview the Chicago plant manager and to broadcast their production plans. JJP has created the confusion and they alone can clear it up.

On the shipping front, a few mentioned getting a shipping notification from JJP. I received one and my LE arrives next week. The log jam appears to be over with the pace picking up. A production update is still sorely absent and multiple stories are circulating about JJP’s plans to build games. Unfortunately all are third hand knowledge. We want JJP to level with us about their plans to build GNR for the next six months and for them to level with their distributors on when their blocks of game are expected to arrive. They need to update their direct customers too, but perhaps those are the games being built and delivered now. We don’t know, and that’s why communication is important.

Look forward to seeing a CE one day. Also excited by thought of seeing a CE playfield in person.

Take a pic of the pic and post here.

I knew mine was in transit, but was surprised by a door knock today. It had arrived and it is glorious. So happy with the LE model and the cabinet art is perfect.

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Anybody getting tired of listening to GNR tunes yet?

Some of the best parts to the code so far can be divided into 10 parts to help you learn the game.

1) collect each band member, lock 0-6 balls, start and collect 0-4 multiball modes - {Light/Pyro/Amps/Crowd} - and start a song at scoop.

2) learn how to select a song using left flipper to switch among albums and the right flipper to move within album.

3) during any song, try to last 3 min to light album. Drain and you must start again at step 1, but the total song time accrues by album.

4) learn how to start 4 insert moltiballs - Light/Pyro/Amps/Crowd - and how to collect JP’s/SJP’s.

5) collect patches and learn what they do. Lies is needed for Patience etc. You can select an active patch at any time with action button and it will stay until changed with button or it is collected.

6) during song you also collect band members in a specific order. This is shown on bottom of main screen - which band member is active AND which one is next. So while you are playing the mode, you will also be collecting members to build your meter and if you collect all members on a single ball, you start encore mode. If you do poorly you are booed and the flippers die and you lose ball.

7) During a song, your primary objectives are divided into modes which are separated by a trip to scoop to collect points, add a ball and/or continue. The mode may involve hitting x shots in any order AND often these shots will cycle. Say the lit shots are on the right and left orbits and the game gives a callout to shoot right orbit. But then the light on right orbit shifts left to right album target and then left again to the right ramp and then to the left album target and repeat. You will not get all those callout or it would sound horrible. The left side lighting is doing the same pattern on the left hand shots. You have multiball going and balls are approaching both flippers.

So your two lit targets on left and right sides are cycling and you are trying to collect lit shots while you are also trying to collect the band members fast enough, not to get booed off the stage. Songs usually have a hurry up shot and a good opportunity to add balls into play during multiball.

8.) After 3 min you’ve qualified an album and it is started at scoop. Learn to play album modes.

9.) try watching the video and enjoying the light shows while playing.

10) Start wizard mode and learn to play it.

It sounds more complicated than it is and it turns out to be intuitive to learn. An example of how logical the game plays is qualifying your first song usually requires 1 hit to each member. The second song you qualify requires 2 hits each etc. You can start with step 1 and have loads of fun. Learn more steps as you want to progress. I haven’t mentioned one word about scoring and it is another whole area of study. This game has it all and it pushes all the right buttons.

The pyro standup target, which starts a multiball, is hidden by Slash’s hat. If you stoop down you can see it. So while it is still easy to hit, you probably won’t think about aiming for it unless you are trying to start pyro.

It catches on the lower edge on my game. You can screw disc higher/lower from the bottom of playfield. I have adjusted mine a few time already and hope to one day have it resolved. The problem seems to be the flexing or drooping of disc if you push on it.

My bigger hangup though is ball wedged against lower pop and metal post with nub. If I am lucky I only lose 2 tilt warnings freeing that ball. The third warning is a tilt. I’ll add a pic of that one for comparison.

Thread needs one of these counters.

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I don’t feel the song list is missing anything or comes up short. All GNR hit songs are included, they are complete songs and they are accompanied by synchronized live performances, live audience and music videos that are displayed in a picture-in-picture fashion. Add custom callouts by all band members to that and the game has everything needed. 100 times better content than any other game to date. In fact for the game to have additional music without matched video would make the added songs not fit the game.

This is only possible because of the extraordinary talent, foresight and vision of A/V Director Jean-Paul de Win. J-P has done more for integration of theme, video and pinball machine than anyone imagined could be done. His excellence in this field qualifies him for lifetime achievement recognition from the pinball industry awards. #Jean-Paul-4-de-Win.

The CE art and powdercoat pics always looked great to me. The LE looked ok until seeing it in person; where it turns out to look fantastic. The SE left a negative impression at first, but it is starting to grow on me. Compared to the other two models it looked inferior, while to many Sterns, it shines. It is not even as boring as Wonka art packages either. So while I still haven’t seen the SE in person, I think it will fit well into any lineup. The main thing helping it become acceptable was watching it’s use in desert demolition mode. All art styles are incorporated into an album mode, and while they are so different and contrasting, they don’t seem out of place.

I am so excited for GNR CE owners and want to see pics of the them being unboxed all over the world soon. Lots more LE’s and SE’s over the next few years too.

The first one hour is probably the best available video of GNR and could be used as the game reveal. Watching that hour and hearing the songs play uninterrupted should top the list for anyone interested in learning what GNR pinball is about. By then, you’ll have a decent idea of what game play is like and whether it is for you. What strikes me while watching this game, is how immersed you can get playing it and how much fun there is at whatever your level of interest. Same goes for all JJP’s and is especially true with POTC also. Start simple and peel back the layers as you can handle it. Carl is practically a pinball wizard on GNR after one week, while most mortals will remember the frenzy and feel like they are barely in control.

If you are going to add the playfield protector, one of the first steps is to remove all playfield parts attached to the topside. That can be pretty daunting on this game. Sure many areas are no problem but others may not be. So my question is why not cheat in the few hard to reach areas by cutting the protectors with a blade to fit around the interference? You still want to install decal on dust free surface, but if you aligned the cut edges at install, they would be sealed. Say you made the cuts in strategic places. I am wondering about that approach for other games too. It is not ideal but would it be so horrible? That would encourage more people to be willing to do it themselves.

Well, it is a one time effort. So presumably you could spend a day fiddling with it and be playing the game the next. That might require you make a shortcut to get game back together, or maybe not.

The more I thought about it, I’ve decided :
If you don’t have the experience or knowledge to do something right,
If you don’t have the skills or interest in learning something,
If you don’t have the right tools or equipment for the job.
If you don’t have a general plan of attack or the attention to detail needed,

Do not start the project. Run and hire someone who can do it, or forget about it. So how much should someone charge to install a playfield protector on a brand new GNR? Exclude the effort to transport the game and assume the protector costs $300. Just labor, o/h and profit is ... ???

Of course the holy grail would be for JJP to offer them as an option to be installed at time of payment. Not too late for that. I guess they’d need to absolve themselves of deficiencies caused by the product or it’s installation. But it shouldn’t be difficult for them. Come on JJP. CE owners are a picky bunch. Offer to install a playfield protector for a fee and give these 1%’ers a present for 2020.

Merry Christmas, Pinside!

Multiple times. Finally stretched it out a bit and threaded wire all the way through the bracket hole. You want to be sure and thread the wire far enough so the switch leaf will fall into far end wire and that it rotates smoothly.

In time for the new year ... print and attach your official GnR badge to a lanyard and wear it 365/24 once you receive your game. Never take it off.

Any time you hear a GnR song in public you are licensed to nod your head and say aloud,”they are rad”. If you catch someone looking, grab you laminated badge and proudly say, “I’ve got a GnR pinball machine”. What could be more satisfying?

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Hard to find anything to criticize about this game. I believe more meat will be added to collecting cities plus the missing wizard mode.

As to whether to playing a song to completion is a strategy, yeah it’s real. I do it and have completed encore five times now and feel it is a worthwhile goal. My only issue with the game code is that I think it is too hard (impossible) to start wizard mode. As it stands you need to have played 4 albums plus Tour and Slash. Currently when you qualify an album you must start it at the scoop. You cannot skip starting it and you cannot start building to another song. So you must (play song(s) -> play album) x 4 + play Slash and Tour. I do not think that is possible, prove me wrong. And if you did it, was it because you were good and it ain’t no thing, or were there 30 mph winds blowing in your direction?

There is a Hail Mary strategy to starting Wizard mode now from playing Patience. I played it today and was 4 minutes into the song and lost the ball. It distributed 1 min per each album. If I had played 4 seconds it would have distributed 1 second per album. So in my mind that should count in the current rules as having played all 4 albums, without a need for a change (other than adjusting software to work). I had already played Tour and Slash and after getting 1 minute unto each album, it didn’t work as expected. If so, it should have blinked at the scoop to start the wizard mode.

If it were to have worked, then there is one path to get to Wizard mode. To be more specific, it won’t be achievable to play through and start a wizard mode (without playing Patience) on a regular basis by the top 10% of players, top 5% of players or even top 1%. That is too hard in my book and there should be an adjustment to dumb down results to the masses. I think changing - played albums - to - started song in each album - would put it within reach. Then I suggest making - started song in each album - as the default setting. Played albums - would be available at flip of a switch in the menu, along with a warning. Am I being too shortsighted in my overview?

My only criticism of the design is that the SE model is missing too much without the upper playfield. On SE you shoot left a turnaround ramp instead of the upper playfield on LE. Why do I think that omission is important. The upper playfield is your center for ball handling (think ball fondlers) and decision making. Prior to starting a song, a trip to the top can 1) put (1-6) balls into a physical ball lock and start album mode 2) hit lights target and start a multiball 3) qualify 2 band members 4) spell amp and start a multiball 5) spell GNR and collect patch and 6) spell GNR with short drain. In addition to being able to do these six things, I can pick which one I want to do, an accomplish that one specifically. It puts the player in control. There are additional uses of it during song modes too. I don’t know how the software chooses which of these items to award simultaneously for the SE, but the path to choosing one’s own destiny is taken away with the disappearance of that big, beautiful, upper playfield.

For location play, the SE can be all right, as most people don’t know where to begin. But an LE on location is appreciated by average+ players too. Both seem to be viable products.

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Not normal for questions 1, 2 or 3. Double check side-to-side level and lower the pitch. You probably need to head to the issues thread for these items, and I am interested in hearing the solutions.

Had an interesting game. Made a light shot to inner loop during a mode and the ball seemed to disappear. Then I hear Richard saying ”ah oh, the ball is stuck.” I look up at the inner loop and my ball was resting against the rail, near the arrow insert. There is a post there and a slight bulge at the rail so it was a perfect resting spot. How the hell did the game know I had a stuck ball? It was eerie, but I liked it.

Same thing happens with the six sensors on guitar. I had two sensors going crazy. Went into test and could see 105 & 107 were triggering constantly. They were malfunctioning but they felt secure in place and no wires were broken. I almost started to disassemble the upper playfield but ended up turning game off/on first. Glad I did because the game recalibrated at start up and that fixed the issue, to my disbelief.

How about some clarification on song progress prior to starting album mode? You start a song as vinyl and it takes 2 min until you start silver and win the mode. It takes 2 min to start gold and presumably 2 min more to start platinum and 2 min more to start diamond and finally 2 min more to finish diamond equaling 10 min. However, at cum 3 min of songs on one album, and album is qualified at the scoop. At this point you are unable to qualify another song and if you hit the scoop, you must start album mode. You cannot escape album to select a song. So how can you ever start an album at the platinum or diamond level?? That will require an update to current code to allow one to escape album mode and to start a song. What am I missing here?

Also it looks like there is a second bug in software regarding remembering album progress. Let’s say you qualify a song and play 3 min and start encore and play 1 min and drain. Your song progress should have started to become platinum and album insert should be blinking. Once you start album it uses song progress for scoring but otherwise song progress is no longer important. So you’ve drained the ball, but before you plunge ball ... if you look at your playfield inserts the album insert is not lit and should you enter progress screens, you will see 0 seconds of song progress too. It looks like the beginning of your game. After you plunge the ball and the ball save timer ends, you will now see a solid lit album insert for what you just completed. However, I believe the song is back to vinyl with no progress, sad it seems like it should still show song progress of platinum still for that album. Anyways, there appears to be something non-copacetic about the way progress is shown now.

Oh boy I’m going to try it.

Adding Mini Mode Challenges to GNR would take the best pinball machine on Earth, and make it better. It would push this theme over the top and beyond reality, which is why JJP HAS to do them. Once incorporated into the code structure as a choice at start, the mode challenges will need some tlc to be coded.

Which is why I compare this game to the releases of Hobbit, WOZ and TAF. Each signaled a ratcheting up of what makes a great game, fun. Each integrated technology into game play in ways never before seen. Each expanded the man-mind horizon. If JJP incorporates Mini Mode Challenges into GNR, it will be the greatest game made. I’d say it was about perfect in all regards now, but I can’t unsee the proposed enhancement, so I know it is not perfect. JJP ... Reach for the Stars.

Anybody planning to see GNR this year? I’ve heard the concert experience is like playing a pinball machine. . I may have to see them live.

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