An Afternoon At FarSight Studios

[Jan Duin]

Thank you Chris for this special Christmas pinball report!
I love the fact that there are pinball machines all over the place, these guys really love their pinball.

 

[shutyertrap]

The tables are released on the mobile platforms first but are essentially stripped-down versions of the consoles. I wonder if the tables for the iOS and Android would have looked the same if TPA was build for the mobile platforms alone.

No matter what, it starts on a PC with as much info as there can be. So even if they were only building for the mobiles, it'd still start in the same place. After that its a matter of dropping the poly count (they've figured out a base standard they know they can hit and then try to add from there) so that the game play stays smooth. Things like transparent ramps or highly detailed toys can really screw with that. So they ARE optimizing for the mobiles. Remember this though, an iPhone 3G does not have the same performance of a new iPad, yet the game is expected to run on both. One of the advantages to the consoles is their specs don't keep changing. Look at how many different standards there are for Android. I gotta believe FS is gunning for as wide a user base within iOS and Android as they can. So that's why they've set a baseline for not dipping below a certain poly count in general, and then seeing how far above and beyond it can get pushed before they start loosing devices it can be played on.

It's a sucky pill to swallow, but think business first. People on this forum, those on this thread that are trying to guess tables off of the color of a flipper button, you are but a small minority compared to most that buy this game. And I know (cause it was vocalized to me) that it's frustrating to FS to make sacrifices. The opaque ramps on NGG is a major needle to the eye for the guys there, but that is what had to be done. I just don't want you to feel like they are not spending the time to make mobiles as good as can be. One year in, they said they are continually learning and optimizing what can and can't be done. They don't wash their hands of the tables once they're out. I just think there is a larger outpouring for fixes other than the graphics, so that gets bumped down the priority line.

If you'd like them to take notice of this issue though, start a thread, put up some solid concrete examples they can look at, and drum up support from all of us. In other words, be a well organized squeaky wheel. But you're really gonna have to consider the hardware limitations in any argument made.

 

[Fuseball]

I think most of us are pretty realistic in what we can expect from iOS and Android versions of TPA. I can happily forego lighting effects if it means better, smoother gameplay. It seemed pretty obvious to me why the NGG ramps weren't transparent and didn't bother me in the slightest. More annoying are simple things like unlit (too dark basically) slingshots and return lanes - easy fixes that don't impact performance.

Some games are visually presented better than others and that inconsistency in quality is sometimes an irritation. In an ideal world they would all look as good as Taxi or Gorgar.

BK is the only table that really upsets me... And that is all down to the inaccurate scripting. It really is the odd one out and I think greatly inferior to everything else in TPA. And I say that as someone who loves playing the real thing.

 

[Tabe]

First of all, thank you for the article. This was a great story and I very much appreciate the insight.

That said...

For a while now people have been asking for a slider, so they could set how dark the table got. Bobby said they’re looking at having 3 settings; a brightly lit room, a medium, and a dark. I hinted at whether that would solve the way Black Knight looked on the PS3. When I talked to Jason later, he showed me how it looked on his monitor, running the 360 version. It looked like it should. I didn’t quite understand the why’s or how’s, but something happened to it in translation to the PS3, and they’re more than aware.

The above really bugs me. Essentially what you have here is Jason saying "We ran the table through some 360 -> PS3 translator and then not a single person looked at the PS3 version before sending it to Sony and releasing it." If that's NOT what happened, then somebody looked at the table, saw how atrocious it looked, and approved the release anyway.

Either one of those two scenarios sure doesn't say much about their QA process.

Tabe

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Essentially what you have here is Jason saying "We ran the table through some 360 -> PS3 translator and then not a single person looked at the PS3 version before sending it to Sony and releasing it." If that's NOT what happened, then somebody looked at the table, saw how atrocious it looked, and approved the release anyway.

Either one of those two scenarios sure doesn't say much about their QA process.

Or several people looked at the table, saw it looked bad, investigated the issue, realized that it would not be a quick fix, and made a business decision that Black Knight released on the PS3 with erroneous artwork was better than delaying DLC Pack #4.

 

[Rudy]

Maybe Black Knight will be given a much bigger fix if ever they try to make a Pro version of it? A pro mode would most likely need the emulated version of the software, and considering they've said that they managed to get the software working with that kind of pinball table, emulation would fix most of the issues on the table.

 

[canuck]

Great insiders guide! Lot's of info, thanks!

 

[Fuseball]

Maybe Black Knight will be given a much bigger fix if ever they try to make a Pro version of it? A pro mode would most likely need the emulated version of the software, and considering they've said that they managed to get the software working with that kind of pinball table, emulation would fix most of the issues on the table.

I thought that all early-SS games were unable to be emulated (from Q&A #5). Did I miss a posting about that changing for BK? If so, then emulation would fix everything not artwork related for that game. I would love a Pro mode for that as I like to set multiball to the harder setting.

 

[immortalmindz]

Fantastic write up, really enjoyed reading it. Btw guys the table right of sttng looks like white water to me, as there is a blurry graphic under the flipper which is where bigfoots foot is.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Whats that sheet on Jasons desk? ball skins? and after starring at it more, the edge of the tables graphics arnt blurred and you can clearly see BRICKS! as found on The Championship Pub, even the colors match.

 

[rehtroboi40]

I really enjoyed this article-takes my complaints about PA down several notches. Even more, I'm enjoying the speculation on the boards as to what's going to be available.

 

[immortalmindz]

Whats that sheet on Jasons desk? ball skins? and after starring at it more, the edge of the tables graphics arnt blurred and you can clearly see BRICKS! as found on The Championship Pub, even the colors match.

That table is definitely champ pub, you can clearly see the writing on the apron, I was talking about the table on the other side of the sttng. That's if your post was referring to mine btw.

 

[Russell Bergman]

Here's my .02 on the blurred and future tables. I think the table in the foreground is White Water, even though the color of the flipper buttons don't match the White Water sell sheet and the pinball production release to the arcades. Norman scours Craigslist to get the new tables from owners, and I am sure tables arrive at FarSight with wrong flippers, buttons, modded stuff, etc.... White Water is on my top five tables of all time, so I hope my CSI research is true and that blurred picture is White Water. If it's not, that's ok. I have a good feeling it will be made. The unlicensed tables of the 90's are extremely popular, and I can see FarSight do all of them, if not most of them. Who Dunnit, Junkyard, SafeCracker, The Champion Pub (blurred picture we are guessing), Hurricane, The Party Zone, and Fish Tales to name a few. Heck, FarSight bought one of the most sought after, hard to find pinball machine Cactus Canyon, which is sure to be a true hit! Just typing some of those 90's tables gives me goosebumps! Anyway, back to the tournament and hopefully I can break 100,000 points on Big Shot!

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

Yes the writing on the apron and the design above the score/price cards also I noticed the punching bag isn't turned around revealing the boxer.

 

[SKILL_SHOT]

That blurred blue cab is WHITE WATER if you compare the photo to it and ROAD SHOW you'll see ROAD SHOW doesn't have graphics directly below the flipper thats 2 of bigfoots toes also the left side you can see the top of his head, WHITE WATER is a darker blue than ROAD SHOW also, but those are the wrong color buttons.

 

[shutyertrap]

While I can neither confirm or deny any of the fantastic speculation going on, I can say one of the tables in that room was kitted out in full LED and looked amazing.

 

[Tabe]

Or several people looked at the table, saw it looked bad, investigated the issue, realized that it would not be a quick fix, and made a business decision that Black Knight released on the PS3 with erroneous artwork was better than delaying DLC Pack #4.

Which is exactly what I said - they approved the release anyway.

You agreed with me.

Tabe

 

[BRZ]

Many thanks Chris and FS.
The main thing I got from this article is that I'm going to have to test out TPA on PS3....
May be buying PS3 just for TPA!

I wish they released a different version of the app for iPads and for iPhones/iPods.

Cheers

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I thought that all early-SS games were unable to be emulated (from Q&A #5). Did I miss a posting about that changing for BK? If so, then emulation would fix everything not artwork related for that game. I would love a Pro mode for that as I like to set multiball to the harder setting.

I think he was specifically talking about Bally tables from before the merger with Williams, which used a completely different system. But it's hard to tell.

 

[Sumez]

Or several people looked at the table, saw it looked bad, investigated the issue, realized that it would not be a quick fix, and made a business decision that Black Knight released on the PS3 with erroneous artwork was better than delaying DLC Pack #4.

Which is exactly what I said - they approved the release anyway.

You agreed with me.

Tabe

On the business side of things, there's always "need to have" vs. "nice to have". You need to measure the required means to fix an issue and compare it to the actual priority of said issue. The table not lookin as awesome as its X360 counterpart is hardly a "big issue", and if they have no simple ways to fix it (trust me, compatibility stuff like this can be a coding nightmare), exactly what would you expect them to do?
Actually, don't answer that.