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The Pinball Arcade |OT| play them all from Soho to Brighton
- Thread starter AMUSIX
- Start date
Good lord FarSight. So torn on you.
The tables themselves... so solid. I've bought every single one and have spent dozens of hours with them. In fact if I could somehow keep a running tally, Pinball Arcade might be my most-played game of 2012.
And yet it's just problem after problem after problem.
Latest is with their account system. Some of my high scores are under my actual name (Justin Davis) while some are under my Game Center name (ErrorJustin). I have no idea why.
I have very healthy scores on lots of tables (141M TotAN, 165M MM, 2.5B ToM) but I still have a 0 for my Hall of Fame on all these and most other tables. My table goals also got wiped... had to re-do the Standard goals on most tables.
The leaderboard problems are a huge issue since this is a high-score driven experience, but then there's all the other small problems as well. Re-downloading tables with no warning (I often play when I'm not around a net connection, so I get locked out of tables), Star Trek stuck in landscape, Scared Stiff still broken, a "new" UI that's terrible, and so-on.
And all of this is on iOS, which seems to be the "lead" platform. People on Vita, Android and elsewhere have their own big list of issues.
Like everyone else, I really, really wish FarSight would just take a month to button everything up and then come back strong in Feb. 2013. Maybe even with another Kickstarter for something like Indiana Jones or Addams Family.
Still though,for all my complaining, I almost defeated all the castles in MM fo the first time today during a work break and it was intense and fun-as-hell. How upset can I really be?
The tables themselves... so solid. I've bought every single one and have spent dozens of hours with them. In fact if I could somehow keep a running tally, Pinball Arcade might be my most-played game of 2012.
And yet it's just problem after problem after problem.
Latest is with their account system. Some of my high scores are under my actual name (Justin Davis) while some are under my Game Center name (ErrorJustin). I have no idea why.
I have very healthy scores on lots of tables (141M TotAN, 165M MM, 2.5B ToM) but I still have a 0 for my Hall of Fame on all these and most other tables. My table goals also got wiped... had to re-do the Standard goals on most tables.
The leaderboard problems are a huge issue since this is a high-score driven experience, but then there's all the other small problems as well. Re-downloading tables with no warning (I often play when I'm not around a net connection, so I get locked out of tables), Star Trek stuck in landscape, Scared Stiff still broken, a "new" UI that's terrible, and so-on.
And all of this is on iOS, which seems to be the "lead" platform. People on Vita, Android and elsewhere have their own big list of issues.
Like everyone else, I really, really wish FarSight would just take a month to button everything up and then come back strong in Feb. 2013. Maybe even with another Kickstarter for something like Indiana Jones or Addams Family.
Still though,for all my complaining, I almost defeated all the castles in MM fo the first time today during a work break and it was intense and fun-as-hell. How upset can I really be?
Yep, I enjoy the tables so much I'm not joking when I say that I would pay for a "polish-the-experience" (substantially, and would have to be done by a third-party since FarSight have proven themselves incompetent here) Kickstarter.
added_time
Member
GitarooMan
Member
I have lots of issues with the interface, but man playing Star Trek TNG is so awesome. The voice samples and missions are so great.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I would open a vein to give for a kickstarter towards building a new virtual arcade in which to place your owned machines and walk around in, with custom soundtrack support to line up a playlist of 80s music.
Ye gods, just port the virtual arcade from PHOF: Williams and add some new floors -_-
Ye gods, just port the virtual arcade from PHOF: Williams and add some new floors -_-
plagiarize
Banned
The only tables around here are in such awful condition. There's a T2 at a hotel my wife leads one of her Weight Watchers meetings and I was almost tempted to try and balance it myself. That wouldn't have helped the deep scratches in the playfield that redirected balls though, but at least the ramp shot wouldn't have been practically impossible.
I wish I had the money to buy, restore and maintain my favourite tables. Until then, Pinball Arcade it is. I hope they get the Wii U version up soon. It isn't getting any easier to hold off buying DLC.
I just installed the update on Android (Nexus 7).
1. ST:TNG won't rotate to portrait if I launch it in landscape.
2. If I rotate the tablet to portrait before launching ST:TNG, half the time the screen goes black except for the Android soft buttons. I have to swipe the app off the task list and relaunch it to try again.
Dammit, Farsight! Test your stuff before you ship it.
I'm not buying ST:TNG until they release a fix.
1. ST:TNG won't rotate to portrait if I launch it in landscape.
2. If I rotate the tablet to portrait before launching ST:TNG, half the time the screen goes black except for the Android soft buttons. I have to swipe the app off the task list and relaunch it to try again.
Dammit, Farsight! Test your stuff before you ship it.
I'm not buying ST:TNG until they release a fix.
I'm hoping that with both of the Kickstarter tables and Christmas (almost) out of the way, they'll work on polishing it up for the (hopefully) inevitable PC release and when it's released as a free game for PSN+ users.
Seems plausible!
It really, really, really is.
Here's a gift for you and everyone else in this thread: An excerpt of an interview with Steve Ritchie on IRC from September '95!
Full transcript here.
See, that's what I love about it. You can tell it's something he really loved which is why he pushed so hard for it and put in so much effort.
The other thing I love about it (and most Steve/Mark Ritchie games in general) is that there's a great flow to it. That brief mention of smoothness... it's why I love his games. IMO it's the difference b/w playing against the machine and playing with it. You won't want to play a game that constantly feels like it's defeating you, but when there's a machine that makes you feel like you could do a little bit better, that's what it's about. Think about how often you cradle the ball in (for example) most Lawlor games (specifically Addams Family/TZ) in order to aim for specific targets that the ball just hits and drops, losing momentum. There's too many. But with a good Ritchie table, they're more about flow and keeping the ball moving, so even watching someone else play well is almost like a zen experience (probably not unlike watching someone play ping-pong, there's a distinct rhythm to it).
Oh, and the sound. That music gives me goosebumps, it's just so fucking majestic. And it doesn't sound like the voice actors phoned it in much either, like they actually put in effort (mostly). Picard at the start of the last ball where he whispers "Good luck" and the "The probe has discovered noth..." "THANK YOU MR. DATA" bit.
Honestly, it's like the one game I can think of where they've truly spared no expense and it's all been spent to make the machine better (rather than add tacky gadgets and shit that don't make a difference). There's nothing on the table that doesn't matter. It's like they've managed to make a table with some semblance of a story that actually does a good job of making you feel a part of it, despite the fact that you're really only just flicking a ball around a machine (the other one I'd say does a good job of that is Bride of Pinbot).
Also, as another present, here's the promo video for ST:TNG that Williams sent out. Look up others on YT as well, they're all hilariously bad.
Like I've mentioned (or if I haven't, you've probably gotten the idea) I'm not really a massive rap for TAF. I can see what people like in it, but it never really sucks me in.
Minsc
Gold Member
Going by this, Terminator 2 is next up for Kickstarter treatment. I wouldn't complain if we saw more like you mention or other big names show up in addition to T2 though (maybe even LotR alongside the 2nd Hobbit release, but that's probably too new to happen).
Another Ritchie table! *dies*
Yeah, the TAF table was ultimately a little disappointing. The real fun ... well, I'll get to that in a minute.
The table was one I'd seen at a local pinball shop, I believe. I recognized the aftermarket hacked-on accoutrements to replace originals that were gone. And, it appears that it has some problems mechanically under the table somewhere. It's ok... I enjoyed it. The last time I got to play it, probably 15 years ago (holy crap, I'm old), I didn't really get pinball. Now I do. I'll be far better prepared now when I do meet a good-condition table!
The fun part? I had my kids with me, and they were fascinated by the real table. They've watched me play hours at home on Pinball Arcade and they've even played some themselves. It was interesting to watch them make the connection between virtual and physical. Too bad it wasn't a perfect table, but they had a blast anyway!
The table was one I'd seen at a local pinball shop, I believe. I recognized the aftermarket hacked-on accoutrements to replace originals that were gone. And, it appears that it has some problems mechanically under the table somewhere. It's ok... I enjoyed it. The last time I got to play it, probably 15 years ago (holy crap, I'm old), I didn't really get pinball. Now I do. I'll be far better prepared now when I do meet a good-condition table!
The fun part? I had my kids with me, and they were fascinated by the real table. They've watched me play hours at home on Pinball Arcade and they've even played some themselves. It was interesting to watch them make the connection between virtual and physical. Too bad it wasn't a perfect table, but they had a blast anyway!
OK, it's simply random. The problems (random black screens, etc.) are back. Rebooting the tablet had nothing to do with it.
Sorry for so many posts. I'll shut up now and wait for an update which hopefully fixes all these problems.
Oh man, that sucks. I hate that basically any place around where I live (in Australia) that has pinball machines doesn't really "get" them. They got rid of a fairly reasonable-condition TAF and replaced with a Stern X-Men machine :/
At least they have AC/DC, even if it is the cheapest one.
To fix the 'TNG stuck in landscape mode' bug, hold your device in landscape mode after selecting TNG until the game fully loads up. THEN rotate your device 90 degrees. The game should switch. I played several sessions vertically with no problems once I figured this out.
What's more, this seems to be a bug with ALL the tables, not just TNG. If you try to hold your device vertically before a table has booted up, it often won't load in vertically. But you you wait then rotate, it's fine.
~~~
In other news, I had my first bonafide epic sessions in both Twilight Zone and Star Trek tonight. I'd never played either table in RL before, so as you can imagine it was some damn good pinball.
Cleared Into the Zone (Wizard Mode) in TZ and managed to score 1.27B overall - that's good for 965th on the iOS leaderboards for now.
I'm actually not THAT wild about the table. Obviously it's very good - I mean that in more of an "It's merely great - not best ever" sort of way. It's just very stop-and-go. But the Wizard Mode almost makes up for it. An unlimited 6-ball orgy of insanity. I looked it up and the mode only lasts 45 seconds, but I experienced some SERIOUS time dilation, because it felt like it went on forever. It was that awesome, I guess.
I also managed to clear The Final Frontier (Wizard Mode) in TNG, with a final score of 2.145B.[/B] But what's even cooler is that I managed to develop my own alternate scoring strats for the table. (Obviously anything I try has been done thousands of times - I just figured it out on my own). I learned that the Borg Multiball is INCREDIBLY lucrative, and pretty easy to keep going if you get a good flow going. In a game where I was just fucking around and experimenting I still put up 1.6B just off the back of one good Borg Multi session.
I've really, really taken a liking to TNG. I've "mastered" other tables in PA, or at least learned all their nooks and crannies, but TNG feels like the first I might be willing make a true chart-topping run at. To dedicate the time. It probably involves upping the Warp first, then a good Borg run, then collecting as many Artifacts as possible during the missions. A solid run doing all that would be 10 billion, easy.
What's more, this seems to be a bug with ALL the tables, not just TNG. If you try to hold your device vertically before a table has booted up, it often won't load in vertically. But you you wait then rotate, it's fine.
~~~
In other news, I had my first bonafide epic sessions in both Twilight Zone and Star Trek tonight. I'd never played either table in RL before, so as you can imagine it was some damn good pinball.
Cleared Into the Zone (Wizard Mode) in TZ and managed to score 1.27B overall - that's good for 965th on the iOS leaderboards for now.
I'm actually not THAT wild about the table. Obviously it's very good - I mean that in more of an "It's merely great - not best ever" sort of way. It's just very stop-and-go. But the Wizard Mode almost makes up for it. An unlimited 6-ball orgy of insanity. I looked it up and the mode only lasts 45 seconds, but I experienced some SERIOUS time dilation, because it felt like it went on forever. It was that awesome, I guess.
I also managed to clear The Final Frontier (Wizard Mode) in TNG, with a final score of 2.145B.[/B] But what's even cooler is that I managed to develop my own alternate scoring strats for the table. (Obviously anything I try has been done thousands of times - I just figured it out on my own). I learned that the Borg Multiball is INCREDIBLY lucrative, and pretty easy to keep going if you get a good flow going. In a game where I was just fucking around and experimenting I still put up 1.6B just off the back of one good Borg Multi session.
I've really, really taken a liking to TNG. I've "mastered" other tables in PA, or at least learned all their nooks and crannies, but TNG feels like the first I might be willing make a true chart-topping run at. To dedicate the time. It probably involves upping the Warp first, then a good Borg run, then collecting as many Artifacts as possible during the missions. A solid run doing all that would be 10 billion, easy.
Corleth the Fey
Member
Well the day finally arrives - Star Trek is mine. Thank you Farsight - it's awesome.
Just Earthshaker and Attack from Mars and I can die happy.
Anyone know where the game credits that list the $40 plus backers are? I wanted to show my girlfriend what I'd spent the money on.
Just Earthshaker and Attack from Mars and I can die happy.
Anyone know where the game credits that list the $40 plus backers are? I wanted to show my girlfriend what I'd spent the money on.
Going on a flight tomorrow.
Are iOS scores earned offline every synched up now? It used to be that anything earned when your device was offline was never uploaded to the leaderboards, but I think I read they fixed that? God I hope so. I have the terrible luck of earning my most badass scores on the train or otherwise not connected to WiFi. Would be much happier if I knew that the hours spent in the air with PA weren't "wasted" if I set unattainably high scores.
Are iOS scores earned offline every synched up now? It used to be that anything earned when your device was offline was never uploaded to the leaderboards, but I think I read they fixed that? God I hope so. I have the terrible luck of earning my most badass scores on the train or otherwise not connected to WiFi. Would be much happier if I knew that the hours spent in the air with PA weren't "wasted" if I set unattainably high scores.
Baron
Member
Amazon's Deal of the Day is an HTC One V Android phone. $69 today on sale. I was thinking of picking it up for a cheap way to play Pinball Arcade, but the phone seems to have less RAM than most smartphones - has anyone played Pinball Arcade on one of these and can report how well it ran?
RetroGreg
Member
I can't seem to play any of my tables in portrait mode now after the last update. I'm on an iPad 2. Seriously, can anything else go wrong with this? It's like it's getting worse rather than improving over the long run. I think I'm going to give up on this until a pc version comes out if ever.
I'm sure an iOS update is awaiting Apple's blessing. Google apparently has no review process whatsoever so updates are nearly instantaneous for Android.
One important way to help jack up your scores if you're focusing on shooting for The Final Frontier in ST:TNG is to make sure you grab the artifacts during the missions. If you have a full set of 4, entering TFF immediately grants you a free billion points.
Also is it just me, or does ST:TNG drop a ton of extra balls on you? I swear I've had a couple of 7 ball games, which (if you force the Skill Shot to "Start Mission") means free Wizard mode.
My winning streak on TPA continued on my flight. After clearing wizard mode on twilight zone and TNG the other day, yesterday I finally hit the billion-point shot on Bride of Pin-Bot. I really like that table, even though it's basically one shot over and over. I just like the feel a lot.
Unfortunately the score did NOT upload, as my device was offline at the time
I've learned that HoF scores and table goals completed are saved even when offline, but the score itself is not uploaded. Frustrating! The score didn't seem to save at all. It's not even on my local high-score table. The only proof I did it is in the completed billion-point wizard goal. Makes me not wanna play TPA when I'm traveling.
On iPad no table, including TNG, is stuck in portrait mode. There's an easy fix. Load up the table first in portrait mode, then when it's fully booted, switch your iPad to be vertical. The table will reorient. If you hold your iPad vertically before the table has loaded it'll be stuck and won't change.
I don't know what's considered optimum on TNG, but I've been selecting light lock on TNG, since the mission-start shot is so easy to hit. Felt like picking it for my ball launch was a waste.
Unfortunately the score did NOT upload, as my device was offline at the time
I've learned that HoF scores and table goals completed are saved even when offline, but the score itself is not uploaded. Frustrating! The score didn't seem to save at all. It's not even on my local high-score table. The only proof I did it is in the completed billion-point wizard goal. Makes me not wanna play TPA when I'm traveling. On iPad no table, including TNG, is stuck in portrait mode. There's an easy fix. Load up the table first in portrait mode, then when it's fully booted, switch your iPad to be vertical. The table will reorient. If you hold your iPad vertically before the table has loaded it'll be stuck and won't change.
I don't know what's considered optimum on TNG, but I've been selecting light lock on TNG, since the mission-start shot is so easy to hit. Felt like picking it for my ball launch was a waste.
That's awful. My wild guess is they try to upload the score, fail (because you aren't on the Internet), and erroneously skip saving the score locally too. As if the two sections of code (remote and local high score saving) are nested in the same exception handling block or something.Unfortunately the score did NOT upload, as my device was offline at the time
What looks to be a GREAT article/post on a PAF regular getting to visit FarSight Studios, answers some questions re: licensing etc. and an insight into the studio in general.
Looks awesome and definitely a must-read (so far... I've only just started reading it, hence the "what looks to be").
Looks awesome and definitely a must-read (so far... I've only just started reading it, hence the "what looks to be").
Mmmn, very enlightening. Really, really waiting for Addam's Family to become a reality, but it seems to be one of the most expensive licenses to acquire.
I don't think it's necessarily expensive, just a bitch to get all the licensing sorted. I believe the main roadblock is Raul Julia's likeness.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
There's a great deal of speculation about the Julia estate, much of it stemming from long running talk about how he (allegedly) expressed to his family that he didn't want his image vampired from beyond the grave and used in new products. Negotiating the pinball recreation may be tricky, as it both is and isn't a new product: it's a simulation of an existing object Julia authorized while alive.
plagiarize
Banned
The Wii U version has been upgraded from 'announced' to 'coming soon'.
http://pinballarcadefans.com/showth...e-Pinball-Arcade?p=46530&viewfull=1#post46530
I look forwards to it being upgraded to 'has an actual release date'.
http://pinballarcadefans.com/showth...e-Pinball-Arcade?p=46530&viewfull=1#post46530
I look forwards to it being upgraded to 'has an actual release date'.
Baron
Member
I have the Vita/PS3 versions. It looks great and plays great on Vita. Don't hesitate to buy it, especially since you get the PS3 tables for free when you buy the Vita versions.
I do have some minor issues with it, most notably the limited control options. You can only use the front touch or the triggers to activate the flippers. The triggers are uncomfortable to hold perpetually for long pinball sessions, and the touch screen obscures part of the image with fat fingers. Not to mention fingerprints. And I can't even recall if you can play it in landscape mode - I'm mixing it up in my head with Zen Pinball 2.
Playability wise it is actually a downgrade from Williams Hall of Fame on PSP, which let you play in landscape (vertical) mode and also let you use the dpad and face buttons for the flippers. But graphically it is quite nice.
Cool, thanks for the info! I don't have it for PS3 yet, but I recently got a vita, so I'll probaby grab that version then. It'd be nice if you had more control options, but I suppose they might add it in a later revision.
Still waiting on Steam Greenlight :/
Baron
Member
The latest Farsight newsletter cited a poll for an upcoming table - Centaur, 8-Ball Deluxe, and Fireball. Of those 3 I looked up, Centaur looks incredible, Fireball, eh, and 8-Ball, forgettable. That's just aesthetics I suppose, I've never played any of them. Centaur's got an 80s metal/Mad Max vibe, which is awesome. It also cited January 22 as the soonest date the next tables would release on PS3. Dammit.
Baron
Member
For the love of all that's good and wholesome, give me Firepower. I will be happy when everything on the Williams collection is finally out for Pinball Arcade.
Haha, yeah, I wish they'd release Firepower as well. It's my favorite table from Hall of Fame. Matter of fact, I'm going to bust it out right now for some late-night pinball.
Corleth the Fey
Member
You can play PA in both vertical and landscape on Vita.
Corleth the Fey
Member
Got the newsletter. New version of Xbox PA will hopefully be submitted next month, and January's games are -
Genie and Attack from Mars! Swoon!
Genie and Attack from Mars! Swoon!
This I am excited about. However, I am not excited about the fact that it will be months before I play it on 360 or PS3 and an indeterminate amount of time (if at all) until I get to play them on PC.
It's hard to get excited about playing a pinball game with a fucking touchscreen.
MightyHedgehog
Member
Centaur is awesome! I hope that it makes it, though I've never been a huge fan of 8-Ball Deluxe, it is a nice table for its time. Fireball, I've never played. From the screenshots, I'd rather have Firepower. (Fireball II, however, looks pretty nice.) Saw that Genie and Attack from Mars is next up on the list of table packs. Wish they'd prioritize 80s tables since there are so many classics that straddle that line between nuts 'n bolts early pin design of the 70s and before with the modern 80s advancement of many objectives and multiple progressive score features and modes.
You and me, both. We should be best friends. I'd love to see anything from the alpha-numeric tables (ie. High Speed, F-14) and earlier as they had to rely solely on audio (something you don't need to shift focus from the playfield to be able to experience, not like a DMD) and game mechanics and didn't use the display as a crutch (which I find with a lot of DMD games).
Hell, I'd love to see what could happen if someone had the time to reprogram the odd DMD game into an alpha-numeric. It'd be hard as hell (I guess) but interesting to see.
Also, I just found this, some may find it interesting. I haven't listened to it yet:
Music Life Radio 054 – Back in Black: Steve Ritchie
Edit: Holy shit, if you fast forward to around 29 minutes or so, Ritchie talks about working at Atari and how every Friday at the end of the testers bench were pot brownies and EVERYONE was eating them, even the head of Atari :lol
Farsight posted a Wii U video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USR5zzi2XOg
I'm not sure if I'll like the DMD on the gamepad. I'll have to look away from the screen to look at it.
I'm not sure if I'll like the DMD on the gamepad. I'll have to look away from the screen to look at it.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
If it lets you play with the pro controller, you could put the U pad to rest in front of the TV and thus have a physical DMD bordering the playfield, much like a real machine. Hmm.
I have a feeling this is what they're going for, makes the most sense. Can't remember if I actually suggested this as what they should do before on here, but I remember talking about it with SOMEONE on here.. I would assume they're going to allow it to be on the main screen if you want to, though.
plagiarize
Banned
I'm just glad that it's close enough for them to show it off. It's looking pretty great. Hopefully it hits soon, and hopefully they'll be pretty quick to catch up with the DLC releases. I'm going crazy here. I want PA on my Wii U badly.
Baron
Member
Would be neat if you mounted the tablet pad next to your display off to the right or above it. Depending on how well the Wii U versions turn out, I may be tempted to buy a Wii U to play Pinball Arcade.
...
Naw, that's crazy talk. I promised no more multi-console ownership. In theory, it's great, but in practice, when you have kids, the time just isn't there, and new games sit untouched for months. I shed a tear for my avid gaming years.
...
Naw, that's crazy talk. I promised no more multi-console ownership. In theory, it's great, but in practice, when you have kids, the time just isn't there, and new games sit untouched for months. I shed a tear for my avid gaming years.
plagiarize
Banned
actually one of the best things about the Wii U is not needing to be tied to the TV. being able to grab the pad and have a quick go, or play on the TV when I can, is one of the things I'm most looking forwards to with the Wii U version.
though it's probably not worth buying an entire system for it.
Possibly me. I definitely remember talking about it.
Know what would be rad? They have multi-device games for iOS (I know Real Racing lets you use an iPhone for a controller and iPad for a display) but if they could get the DMD showing up on an iPhone while you played on the iPad (possibly using the iCade mod I posted earlier) that would be the shit.