Round 1: Post your questions for Bobby King

Jeff Strong · May 24, 2012

Bobby King from Farsight has graciously agreed to do a regularly scheduled forum interview, where we get to nominate and then vote on 3 questions for each session!

So now it's time to start posting your questions for Round 1.

This thread will be open for a few days, and then I'll pick several questions (maybe 10?) and create a new thread with a poll for voting on which 3 questions Bobby will answer. If your question doesn't get picked the first time around, don't worry because this will be a reoccurring event, so you can always resubmit your question for the next round.

Thanks to HOW (Andy) for the idea, and another thank you to Bobby for agreeing to take part

Dan · May 24, 2012

Hello, mr. King!

Will operator's menu or some championship settings ever be implemented in TPA? (all tables)
Reason: As I wrote months before TPA was announced, PHOF turned out to be easier compared to the real-life pins.
So let me quote from your Kickstarter project page: "We want our videogame version to play exactly the same as the table played when it was new."
But I am not talking about altering the physics, just all the features, extras and bonuses adjustable from the op menu.
Thanks.

Brian Clark · May 24, 2012

Are early Bally SS games coming soon?

brakel · May 24, 2012

Are you sick of Facebook yet?

RetroBlast · May 24, 2012

I know that online multi-player will be coming to TPA. My fear is that it will work in a similar way to
Zen Pinball Multiplayer in which all the players are playing at the same time. Each Player can only see their pinball table while playing. A goal is set in terms of a winning score. The number of balls each player has is unlimited. Each time a players ball drains, a penalty is subtracted from that players score by percentage, 5%, 25% etc. While playing, each player can see a graphical representation of all the players progress to reaching the winning score.

Many people are satisfied with this type of online multi-player for pinball but I for one am not. Considering you strive to create the most realistic pinball experience without actually playing pinball, I do hope that you will at least offer, as an option, turn based online multi-player in which each player must wait until their opponents ball drains before it is their turn. Each player will see on their screen the pinball table of whoever's turn it is. In addition, live voice chat can be activated so players can talk while playing.

Some have said that this set up is not the best idea because a single ball can last a long time or they raise the question what will be done in terms of extra balls. I am not sure how extra balls are dealt with in real pinball when two players are playing ... I am not sure if they get to play the extra ball immediately when their ball drains, or if they have to wait until the end of all their allotted balls (usually 3) to play their extra balls. However it is done in real pinball, I would like it to be done that way. I for one would not be concerned about how long my opponent kept a ball going and the fact that I can watch them play their ball and speak to them while doing so is very exciting to me. This is how it is in real pinball, so my question is, for the purists, would you consider turn based multi-player with voice chat?

Brian Clark · May 24, 2012

RetroBlast said:
I know that online multi-player will be coming to TPA. My fear is that it will work in a similar way to
Zen Pinball Multiplayer in which all the players are playing at the same time. Each Player can only see their pinball table while playing. A goal is set in terms of a winning score. The number of balls each player has is unlimited. Each time a players ball drains, a penalty is subtracted from that players score by percentage, 5%, 25% etc. While playing, each player can see a graphical representation of all the players progress to reaching the winning score.

Many people are satisfied with this type of online multi-player for pinball but I for one am not. Considering you strive to create the most realistic pinball experience without actually playing pinball, I do hope that you will at least offer, as an option, turn based online multi-player in which each player must wait until their opponents ball drains before it is their turn. Each player will see on their screen the pinball table of whoever's turn it is. In addition, live voice chat can be activated so players can talk while playing. Some have said that this set up is not the best idea because a single ball can last a long time or they raise the question what will be done in terms of extra balls. I am not sure how extra balls are dealt with in real pinball when two players are playing ... I am not sure if they get to play the extra ball immediately when their ball drains, or if they have to wait until the end of all their allotted balls (usually 3) to play their extra balls. However it is done in real pinball, I would like it to be done that way. I for one would not be concerned about how long my opponent kept a ball going and the fact that I can watch them play their ball and speak to them while doing so is very exciting to me. This is how it is in real pinball, so my question is, for the purists, would you consider turn based multi-player with voice chat?

That sounds like a good idea, but I would like to see head to head for tables that support it. I would like to see online turn based for the turn based games and head to head for games like Challenger and Joust (and there was one game that could link up for MP?).

Sean DonCarlos · May 24, 2012

RetroBlast said:
Some have said that this set up is not the best idea because a single ball can last a long time or they raise the question what will be done in terms of extra balls. I am not sure how extra balls are dealt with in real pinball when two players are playing ... I am not sure if they get to play the extra ball immediately when their ball drains, or if they have to wait until the end of all their allotted balls (usually 3) to play their extra balls. However it is done in real pinball, I would like it to be done that way. I for one would not be concerned about how long my opponent kept a ball going and the fact that I can watch them play their ball and speak to them while doing so is very exciting to me. This is how it is in real pinball, so my question is, for the purists, would you consider turn based multi-player with voice chat?

The typical solution in real pinball is "tournament mode" settings. At a minimum, tournament mode replaces extra balls and specials with point awards (or sometimes nothing at all) and therefore all players are limited to the initial 3 balls. It often also ups the difficulty to the "extra hard" settings and derandomizes any random features to emphasize skill and reduce the element of luck. Using the tournament mode, in conjunction with physical adjustments such as the outlane post positions and the removal of center posts, is how a tournament like PAPA can get dozens of world-class players (who on factory settings might be able to spend 2 hours on a single game) through multiple rounds of qualifying in a day or two.

In non-tournament multiplayer games, a player who has earned an extra ball plays it immediately after his "normal" ball drains. If he has multiple extra balls, he plays them one after the other until he has no more extra balls. Only then does the next player step up. On a table like Ripley's or ToM, where it is relatively easy to earn multiple extra balls, this could be an issue for time-constrained players.

Bowflex · May 24, 2012

brakel said:
Are you sick of Facebook yet?

This!!! Although it probably doesn't need to be asked. If the average fan can't stand sifting through all the ridiculous posts and trolling, I can imagine it's million times worse for them!

superballs · May 24, 2012

Regarding the Kickstarter campaign for Twilight Zone,

There seems to be quite a buzz revolving around whether or not it's a good idea.
If it happens to be effective however, will this be the way that future licensed table's licenses are paid for? Or is this being used as a guage to find out how risky the higher profile licenses are in terms of consumer base?

Dan · May 24, 2012

brakel said:
Are you sick of Facebook yet?

Nice one.

Jeff Strong · May 24, 2012

brakel said:
Are you sick of Facebook yet?

Bowflex said:
This!!! Although it probably doesn't need to be asked. If the average fan can't stand sifting through all the ridiculous posts and trolling, I can imagine it's million times worse for them!

Ha, I thought about posting a link to this thread on Facebook, but then we'd get all kinds of crazy questions, so I thought better of it.

SilverBalls · May 25, 2012

Have you got a multi-screen virtual pinball cabinet in your offices yet, and if so please could you tell us about it. Where it came from, how does the PC version of TPA play on it, and are you tempted to get one for your home too?

Bowflex · May 25, 2012

For a real question, I might want to ask if there is a timeline and any details about voting for table releases, as they had mentioned this some time ago.

ND3G · May 25, 2012

Will the PC version support Cabinet view right off the bat? How about multiple screens and/or real DMDs via the pinDMD board?

HOW · May 25, 2012

Have you spoken to Jack or made any approaches to JJP re. WOZ ?

Jeff Strong · May 25, 2012

Great questions so far, everyone. Keep 'em coming.

Araxen · May 25, 2012

Will we be able to on the Vita to flip the screen the other way so we can use the X and Triangle button for flipper controls in a future patch?

The Doctor · May 25, 2012

"Where my DLC at?"

Dutch Pinball ball · May 25, 2012

- Any chance we see a new Stern pinball plus his virtual FarSight version on the same time?

- Any chance we will get fairly new machines like ac/dc, tron, avatar, iron man, sopranos?

- Any chance you will bring out a mod tool?

Richard B · May 25, 2012

When will the bounciness and other physics inaccuracies be corrected?

Round 1: Post your questions for Bobby King

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