The Pinball Arcade |OT| play them all from Soho to Brighton

Minsc said:
The impression I'm getting is it's actually SCEA that has not made the required patch available yet. So blame Sony, not FarSight this time! :)
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FarSight's past transgressions have built up enough blame to last until 2014 or until such time that they get their UI and glitchy cameras straight. So, yeah, gonna keep blaming them until 2020, probably.

twinturbo2 said:
I got the patch notice right now, it'll enable support of table packs 11 and 12. Downloading now...

EDIT: Doctor Dude and Firepower are both showing up for me now. :-)
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Finally!
 
Its unfortunate that a lot of people have a very negative impression of Farsight, and that almost entirely aligns with the platform they play on, specifically Microsoft and Sony. There have certainly been bumps in the road with Android and iOS, but its been a generally great experience which I am sure will continue on the PC/Steam. Fact of the matter is, XBL and PSN were just never set up to allow the quick updating that a game like this requires. Its the reason why free2play is practically non-existent on consoles, the systems just don't give the developers the control they need to update and add content to their game, and that's exactly what's happened with Pinball Arcade.
 
Whaaaat I fired this up again on my Vita in a long time to buy a new set of tables and there was like 1000 new table set DLC. When did this happen :d
 
ThreePiMatt said:
Its unfortunate that a lot of people have a very negative impression of Farsight, and that almost entirely aligns with the platform they play on, specifically Microsoft and Sony. There have certainly been bumps in the road with Android and iOS, but its been a generally great experience which I am sure will continue on the PC/Steam. Fact of the matter is, XBL and PSN were just never set up to allow the quick updating that a game like this requires. Its the reason why free2play is practically non-existent on consoles, the systems just don't give the developers the control they need to update and add content to their game, and that's exactly what's happened with Pinball Arcade.
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I agree this is definitely an issue (and a pretty big one), but they also have among one of the sloppiest Q&A of any developer ever. Things that should never happen, happen all the time. Then they even get fixed, sure, but they'll happen again a month later! Like the unplayable camera angles, there's no excuse to ship a product that has camera angles that are completely unusable, and they've done that multiple times (I'm not even talking about the camera getting stuck during special table sequences like Black Hole, I'm referring to the actual default starting camera lol). Not to mention the sheer amount of other issues people have encountered. So, being able to quickly and routinely patch / release tables is very important, but they've earned most of their hate due to their simple lack of polish and horrible bugs. That said, I still love what they're doing (even if they can be outclassed by a smaller company in mere months), and am hopeful Steam will be a great match for them, along with the future XBLA / PSN which hopefully are written to accommodate the game as a platform experience better.
 
Minsc said:
I agree this is definitely an issue (and a pretty big one), but they also have among one of the sloppiest Q&A of any developer ever. Things that should never happen, happen all the time. Then they even get fixed, sure, but they'll happen again a month later! Like the unplayable camera angles, there's no excuse to ship a product that has camera angles that are completely unusable, and they've done that multiple times (I'm not even talking about the camera getting stuck during special table sequences like Black Hole, I'm referring to the actual default starting camera lol). Not to mention the sheer amount of other issues people have encountered. So, being able to quickly and routinely patch / release tables is very important, but they've earned most of their hate due to their simple lack of polish and horrible bugs. That said, I still love what they're doing (even if they can be outclassed by a smaller company in mere months), and am hopeful Steam will be a great match for them, along with the future XBLA / PSN which hopefully are written to accommodate the game as a platform experience better.
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I'm not going to say the game is without bugs (couple days ago I was playing Whitewater and launched a ball before the game started and ended up playing with two balls the whole game). But using hyperbole like "sloppiest Q&A of any developer ever." is entirely unfair. Zaccaria Pinball is on one, relatively stable platform in iOS. Compare that to 360, PS3, Vita, OSx, iOS, Wii U, Android, and soon Windows for TPA. That's a tall fucking order for a small team and I think they've done a pretty admirable job.

edit - And out of curiosity, since I'm on Android and don't have access to Zaccaria Pinball, do those tables have the complexity of TPA's table? Do they have anything like Black Hole's lower playfield or Circus Voltaire's Ringmaster? From the few shots I've seen they look like relatively straight-forward tables.
 
ThreePiMatt said:
But using hyperbole like "sloppiest Q&A of any developer ever." is entirely unfair. Zaccaria Pinball is on one, relatively stable platform in iOS. Compare that to 360, PS3, Vita, OSx, iOS, Wii U, Android, and soon Windows for TPA. That's a tall fucking order for a small team and I think they've done a pretty admirable job.
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I think it's fair to say that FS has the most inconsistent QA of any current multiplatform developer focusing on just one set of releases ever. Not too down on them considering that I own all available tables for X360 and PS3, but it's entirely fair to bitch about their lack of being able to fully deliver on these two platforms, patch after patch over the last year or so, and that's with just one of them being actively supported while the other has fallen off of the face of the planet since last August unless you're counting all those X360 shots of upcoming releases (like some kind of fucking constant troll). Yes, that's a complicated legal issue, but it's not exactly endearing fans of their console releases. FS totally deserves props and regular lashing for their product.
 
ThreePiMatt said:
I'm not going to say the game is without bugs (couple days ago I was playing Whitewater and launched a ball before the game started and ended up playing with two balls the whole game). But using hyperbole like "sloppiest Q&A of any developer ever." is entirely unfair. Zaccaria Pinball is on one, relatively stable platform in iOS. Compare that to 360, PS3, Vita, OSx, iOS, Wii U, Android, and soon Windows for TPA. That's a tall fucking order for a small team and I think they've done a pretty admirable job.

edit - And out of curiosity, since I'm on Android and don't have access to Zaccaria Pinball, do those tables have the complexity of TPA's table? Do they have anything like Black Hole's lower playfield or Circus Voltaire's Ringmaster? From the few shots I've seen they look like relatively straight-forward tables.
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If you disagree on the bug testing, I don't know what to say... maybe you just don't follow the bug reports closely enough. They managed to produce a blue screen of death on iOS, the game instantly crashes in the last three or four builds if you have it set on swipe to nudge whenever you try to swipe, the UI is absolutely hideous and fails to notice updates when queried, the whole slowdown issue on the PS3, the inconsistencies in texture/table quality across different tables on the same platform, the game really is just all over the place. Then there's the issue of the kickstarter redemption which was a nightmare of nightmares on iOS. You had to manage a login for purchase done through iOS (the normal way of things), and also a separate one for redeeming the Kickstarter done through FarSight's servers. OK, that doesn't sound so bad, until you find out logging in to the FarSight server erases all your purchase tables from Apple, and logging back in to Apple's erases FarSight's. Maybe their options are limited, but it's still a horrible solution and leaves a poor taste, along with constantly giving out the wrong redemption codes on PSN and so forth. I'm sure the list goes on for like 10 more paragraphs lol.

As for Zaccaria Pinball, yes it's true they are just on one platform now, though they are looking to expand, so we'll see how it hurts the product when they do lol, but I would say overall the graphics, UI, and features (in 1.2) surpass what is present in Pinball Arcade (comparing iOS to iOS), and they've had a lot less time on the market, so if you give them another 12 months it'll be even more in their favor. Maybe the tables are less complex (I haven't spend much time on it to know), but they are scripted either way, so that's a negative. But, I really wasn't comparing the emulation or complexity, more the overall package.

Edit: Also just remembered they released the Mac OS X version without the ability to bind keys and the flippers set to arrow keys! lol. Pinball games have always used opposing shift or similar keys, this is the sort of example of sloppy stuff they have done all the time.
 
For those who haven't bought the Vita edition of table pack 11 yet, be warned: Dr. Dude runs like hot garbage. It appears to be moving at 50% full speed and even then it constantly drops frames.

While I do have a PS3 so I can play the table on that, I think I'm getting just about done with Farsight. Their recent audio interview kind of sounds as if they're backing away from supporting the Playstation build of the product due to supposed troubles updating it with Sony. (Unless they could create a hypothetical Pinball Arcade 2.0... which I wonder if they'd just skip PS3 and Vita and put on PS4.)
 
I honestly hope FarSight gets bought out by a big developer. They can get extra resources to polish and release everything, maybe get a dedicated QA team to make updates smoother, and if said publisher has a mobile division, then they could take over development of the iOS/Android/Kindle Fire versions.

Just a thought. I love love love what they're doing and support them, but getting bought out would be good for them.
 
Kai Dracon said:
For those who haven't bought the Vita edition of table pack 11 yet, be warned: Dr. Dude runs like hot garbage. It appears to be moving at 50% full speed and even then it constantly drops frames.

While I do have a PS3 so I can play the table on that, I think I'm getting just about done with Farsight. Their recent audio interview kind of sounds as if they're backing away from supporting the Playstation build of the product due to supposed troubles updating it with Sony. (Unless they could create a hypothetical Pinball Arcade 2.0... which I wonder if they'd just skip PS3 and Vita and put on PS4.)
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And yet it's heavily rumored slightly confirmed its a free ps+ game this month.

By the way you are dead on with Doctor Dude. Runs like shit on the vita.
 
I don't have any problems with Doctor Dude on my Vita, odd.

Got standard goal list #8 (Theatre of Magic) done tonight, btw.

EDIT: Is it me, or did Capcom bail on pinball way too early? I mean, they have a massive back catalog of great video games that could be good pinball material. Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Mega Man, Strider, Ghosts and Goblins... they had the material, they just didn't use it.

(I think Data East did a Street Fighter II pinball table, but I could be confusing it with the Zen Pinball SFII table...)
 
Gottlieb did (for some reason it's under Premier though. Odd.):
8BCGg5Yl.jpg


It's really, really shit. IMO, obv.
 
Someone really didn't know how to draw.

But seriously, Capcom bailed on pinball too early. Imagine a Resident Evil table, what could have been done.
 
Come to think of it, Sega also bailed on pinball too early, too. Why didn't they do the obvious and make a Sonic the Hedgehog pinball table?
 
twinturbo2 said:
Come to think of it, Sega also bailed on pinball too early, too. Why didn't they do the obvious and make a Sonic the Hedgehog pinball table?
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They bailed out around the same time everyone else (bar Stern) did. No money in it.

Just looking them up, didn't realise they basically did all the legwork on Harley-Davidson but only made 67. There you go.
Bet they're worth a mint.
 
So this new table pack (Dr. Dude and Firepower) on Vita is really bad. Dr. Dude runs reallyyy slow. Also just encountered game breaking bug on Firepower. Was playing well on first ball, got multiball or whatever then eventually drained and the score just keeps going up infinitely but I can't stop it or tilt or anything. You just have to quit. lol...

This is within 5-10 minutes of play time. Do they even test this shit?
 
Speaking of Doctor Dude, that's my ninth standard goal list done. I'm wondering if he's a licensed OB-GYN... I'll shut up now...

(But seriously, am I the only one not having any problems with this pack?)

EDIT: I was looking at some Visual Pinball tables, and I see Big Bang Bar and the other Capcom tables were recreated. Why is this one supposed to be a pain to emulate? Custom chipset? Rarity? It can't be THAT hard, can it?
 
I came across a bug in the Vita version while playing Cirqus Voltaire. I got two extra balls in quick succession, activated the Ringmaster, got that standard goalset completed, and the ball just froze in the play field. Calling the attendant did nothing. I had to quit out and lost my progress.

I still got that trophy unlocked, though, since it unlocked after getting that extra ball, so I'm counting it as completed standard goal set number 10.
 
Probably not worthy of a new thread:
PAPA TV: Livestreaming Pinball (Kickstarter)
PAPA TV will broadcast live coverage of pinball tournaments with the professional quality of other sports, including multiple camera angles, live commentary, and interviews. With PAPA TV, we will create a highly visible and entertaining production, bringing pinball to a new and substantial audience worldwide.
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It sounds like a great thing, because the end product is basically free anyway so you're actually backing something so it can get made, not so you can get something out of it.

PS. They've already doubled their goal and there's 17 days to go. Think I'll chuck in just to show my support.
 
Question: Is TPA a cross-buy title on PS3/Vita? I purchased the original 4-pack on 360 but I gather from this thread that the 360 version has shit support. I still want to get into this. I'd be inclined to go the PS3 route instead, if it's cross-buy, as I might also get a Vita in the future.

What's the general take on the PS3 and PSV versions?
 
It is cross buy. I can't play on ps3 due to flipper lag that Farsight says doesn't exist. But it runs great on my vita (except for Dr Dude)
 
Triz said:
It is cross buy. I can't play on ps3 due to flipper lag that Farsight says doesn't exist. But it runs great on my vita (except for Dr Dude)
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I would add that folks like me do not appear to be affected by this lag. I'm not saying it doesn't exist (I have friend who have played in my home who say they are bothered by it) but that YMMV.
 
RadarScope1 said:
So it's unplayable on the ps3, eh? Is this the general consensus? I might have to the DL the demo to check it out myself.
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It's certainly not unplayable. I don't really notice the lag and have no problem playing. Trying the demo should be a good way to see how it is for you.
The Vita version on the other hand is pretty crappy, but not because of any lag.
 
An iOS update out with a ton of bug fixes and no new tables, madness!

What's New:
- New, temporary environment (goodbye space carpet!).
- Two new table menu options: Invert Nudge (on/off) & Event Camera (on/off).

What's Changed:
- Moved launcher button in Star Trek: The Next Generation to the bottom right corner. We will be adding an option to customize the location in a future update.
- Pinball Magazine is now the exclusive sponsor for the Table of the Month.

Table Updates:
- Attack From Mars (v6)
- Dr. Dude (v4)
- Space Shuttle (v4)
- Cactus Canyon (v3)
- White Water (v3)
- Firepower (v3)

What's Fixed:
- Space Shuttle camera on iPhone/iPod 5 (was too close).
- Attack From Mars camera on iPhone/iPod 5 (would fly upward awkwardly when ball was near the back).
- Space Shuttle local high scores weren't saving.
- Options menu would select EULA when using arrows in landscape.
- Dr. Dude's game over music would overlap table instructions music.
- Cactus Canyon's music would stop playing in table exploration.
- Swipe Nudge would crash certain devices.
- iCade keyboard would display when no device was detected. Current fix disables the keyboard in the Main Menu and Options Menu, allowing users to turn the option off. Please do not turn iCade on unless you have a bluetooth device connected.
- iCade would crash iOS 5.1.1.
- iCade wouldn't launch the ball when moving the joystick down in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- and various minor fixes.
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I'm really, really surprised with this. From the timing, I'd say that it was submitted shortly after the most recent Skype interview/chat on PAF. Possibly means we won't be far off from seeing the early downloads for KS backers of TZ and TNG?

BTW Everyone should go and check out http://www.geekgamer.tv/ , they have a monthly pinball chat about tournaments, new tables, behind the scenes and all sorts of awesome stuff. The most recent one (filmed 22nd April, I think?) was really good and found myself enjoying the whole thing, despite being an hour and a half long.


PS. Support the PAPA TV Kickstarter!

PPS. Shame those table fixes don't mention anything else specifically, might have to check out PAF to see what else (if anything) was updated about those tables.

PPPS. ***DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE NEW ST:TNG TABLE***
Apparently while the launch button has been moved, the area it was moved *from* is a deadzone and won't recognise a flipper press. I don't know if the button move is the only fix or not but it might be an idea just to hold off on updating that table (or maybe back it up or rename it so it thinks it's the new version and doesn't try to download the bad one).
 
adroit said:
That patented Farsight testing process: compile and ship.

"Testing?!?! We don't need no stinkin' testing!!!"
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I actually have a hunch that it's the same table as the one I could only download after deleting the old TNG. If that's the case, then the problem isn't as bad as I expected.

Still wondering whether they can do table updates outside of app updates. Be handy if they could.
 
Holy shit. Game looks alright (I didn't vote, have no strong feelings for Stern, regardless of era) but F2K (I assume that's the acronym?) was actually designed by Harry Williams, the guy who founded WMS!

No idea how that came about, but it's interesting.

And I'm looking forward to Centaur and Pin*Bot as well. Given that they're both "classics" I can only assume we'll be up for some more DMD games the next batch (:/ ). Centaur will be a bitch to play, too. The lack of depth on the iOS devices (without any shadowing or many reflections) will work against it with it's two-tone art.

Great looking table though. No idea what it's reputation is like for playing, but yeah... it's a looker.
 
Pin-bot?

Sweet!

By the way, can't recall if this has been mentioned, but the rumor is that NA PS+ will get Pinball Arcade for free this month.

I wonder how the general public will respond to the kind of things we complain about in here. :)
 
jvm said:
By the way, can't recall if this has been mentioned, but the rumor is that NA PS+ will get Pinball Arcade for free this month.

I wonder how the general public will respond to the kind of things we complain about in here. :)
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People generally dislike getting free things that are full of purchasable content though. I imagine they will complain there's like 20 tables and they only get 4 of them while the rest cost a ton of money to buy. But maybe PS+ members are more sophisticated than that!

I agree the tables look intriguing Shaneus, I've never played either, so I am looking forward to them. Shame you're probably right about the Centaur artwork working against the more basic graphics on the non-console platforms, the ball is probably easy to lose track of in that field of high contrast black and white.
 
Minsc said:
People generally dislike getting free things that are full of purchasable content though. I imagine they will complain there's like 20 tables and they only get 4 of them while the rest cost a ton of money to buy. But maybe PS+ members are more sophisticated than that!
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Was Zen Pinball (1 or 2) given away for free at some point? I can't recall, because I'd already bought it.

I don't think I heard a lot of complaints about most of the tables being locked off, but then I might have self-filtered.
 
I already have Star Trek TNG on PS3 and Vita. Should I be safe from that glitch? And btw I ended up having to pay for the table, since my Kickstarter code was invalid. They never replied to my email. :-(
 
jvm said:
Was Zen Pinball (1 or 2) given away for free at some point? I can't recall, because I'd already bought it.

I don't think I heard a lot of complaints about most of the tables being locked off, but then I might have self-filtered.
Click to expand...

people definitely complained about Zen Pinball 2 being free but not having any content. it was bizarre to me.
 
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