Official Announcement.

In case you guys aren't following on Twitter, here's the link to what Arcooda is doing with their cabinet...no glasses 3D. Who wishes they had the money to buy this cabinet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=NsEvaFi3-sA

lettuce said:

Shutyertrap, when you say your disappointed by TPA and it not reaching its fully potential , what are you referring to what would you improve?.......i know one of them is the Frontend as thats just a give and maybe how some of the early season tables now look compared to the later seasons but what else?

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Sure, here ya go...

- Difficulty settings. After the 1st season, we asked for and were told there'd be a choice of difficulty added to each table because the marathon runs were just not remotely what any of us had experienced on real tables.

- Tournament settings. Since difficulty mode came and went, this too was offered up as coming soon. This would take away extra balls and tighten up certain rule sets like PAPA has tables set to. Once more this turned into nothing.

- Beta testing. I have been a part of the beta testing for PC. I would not get my hands on the table until 2 weeks prior to release (maybe less), and only DX9 version. We'd get the DX11 version sometimes only a few days before release. My big thing has always been about how the tables are lit and the dynamic lighting settings slider bars. I'd give my notes but almost never see them implemented, and then there'd be the complaints on release. And while we might be satisfied with how the new table plays, there was never enough time to go through every single other table to see if one of them was suddenly broken. Inevitably we'd get the next table a few weeks later, and my exact same complaints about lighting would be present again. It's rather defeating.

- Head to Head. Pinball is most fun when you are able to compete. I was thrilled when head to head started getting tested, but it was a barely functioning mess. It then got released in a form I'd barely even consider an alpha, let alone a beta. I've never bothered with it since.

- The leaderboards. We have been complaining about the leaderboards since the inception of this game. Black Hole had an exploitable bug that allowed for insane scores, was fixed, but the leaderboards were never reset. Some scores were so obviously fake on other tables as to be laughable, no reset. Finally FarSight started culling some of the glaring offenders, but at the same time some tables were posting scores to the wrong board, causing legit scores to appear in the wrong spot. The simplest solution would be to clear the boards at a regular interval, but FarSight didn't want to offend those that had spent countless hours earning some of these spots. Meanwhile the rest of us just stopped even bothering since the boards were such a mess.

- Local high scores. An update happened that borked the local high scores on quite a few tables. When I see a score that's not just a trillion, but a quadrillion, c'mon. No patch was ever issued to clear this issue, nor was there a way to just clear the local high scores yourself without losing all your data.

- Steam data loss. In any other Steam game, you can switch between computers and all your accomplishments carry over because the data is stored on Steam's servers. With TPA, things are stored on your own PC. That's not a terrible problem, except the moment you open TPA on another PC, it overwrites the data of your other PC the second you boot up the game again. So kiss goodbye those standard and wizard goals. There is a way to recover this data, but it is a royal pain to do and not for the average user to do. FarSight has been made aware of this countless times and for multiple years. They claim they don't know how to fix it, meanwhile a few users have shown them exactly what they'd need to do. It's simply not a priority.

- Graphical updates to older tables. Those first two seasons have the AAA titles in them. They were fine before dynamic lighting became a thing, and before FarSight started using new techniques to capture tables starting in season 3. Essentially the show cars displayed at the front of the lot were covered in dirt and grime while the more utilitarian vehicles looked pristine. FarSight never understood the concept of first impressions (in any aspect of the game), and this has been such a sore spot among users over the years. Tables have been tuned, physics changed, but why in the world does Monster Bash to this day still look so low rez? The endoskeleton skull in T2 only looks the way it does because in beta we screamed bloody murder over how terrible it looked, to the point that artist refused to listen to a single complaint from this forum ever again (he's no longer with FarSight for the record).

-Pro mode. I'm glad the ability to open the coin door exists. I don't like that the second you exit the table, all your settings go away. I don't like that with Scared Stiff the non family friendly version is hidden behind this mode and then you can't play for goals or leaderboards because you are in Pro mode. I hate that the table view function, which in Zen is available while you are playing even, is stuck behind this paywall and not available with the simple touch of a button. FarSight never seemed to realize what could have been done with this mode, instead just letting it sit like a lump.

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That's just a sampling. I get that certain things are the way they are because of emulation. Most of my complaints are with the actual interface and functionality of the game. Once I am playing a table, I have few issues. Things like the table crashing when hitting certain scores were simply because on the real table, those scores were never meant to be reached and the ROM simply couldn't deal. The game itself carries so much data debt that the slightest change in one table can cause major issues in another. Have you ever noticed in Cirqus Voltair you always get the same judges? That wasn't always the case in the beginning, and FarSight has no clue (nor were they even aware the judges changed) what is causing this. Farsight needs to do a complete engine update like Zen has already done twice in the same time frame. With the loss of the Williams license, now would be the ideal time to do it. Lock everyone's game in with TPA, introduce 2.0 with a clean slate. Odds of that happening? Next to none.

SYT, it's great to see you're still here! So many of those issues that you stated here are why I rarely read this board. I like the pinball tables when I'm playing them. Reading about the problems that have never been addressed was making the game not so much fun. And that's not right! ��

brakel said:

SYT, it's great to see you're still here! So many of those issues that you stated here are why I rarely read this board. I like the pinball tables when I'm playing them. Reading about the problems that have never been addressed was making the game not so much fun. And that's not right! ��

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This is literally the only game I visit a forum for. I’m sure a lot of other games I play have all sorts of drama surrounding them but I’ll never know it and just like the games as is. So I think your approach brakel was mentally beneficial to your own enjoyment!

shutyertrap said:

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These are excellent criticisms and I want to get Big Buck's lighting right, the engine can only do so much though (not much) in terms of lighting. Did Banzai come out right in respects to 0% brightness? Also, you all can send me as many notes in any sort of respecting/disrespecting manor, I can handle it.

FarSight_Matt said:

These are excellent criticisms and I want to get Big Buck's lighting right, the engine can only do so much though (not much) in terms of lighting. Did Banzai come out right in respects to 0% brightness? Also, you all can send me as many notes in any sort of respecting/disrespecting manor, I can handle it.

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I do think Banzai got the lighting better. The slider didn't have to be turned down quite so much and you did listen to my point about the inserts being blown out when lit. The artists are just as responsible for this issue as anything. I've often said, it's as if they never took a look at the table in a darkened room where the only lights are that of the machine. It's also hard to judge what they should look like if the table you have got converted to LED lighting.

Matt, I know you get it. I know Rob gets it too. You two need to get one of the artists on board. Now that you aren't doing monthly releases, spend the time needed on BBH and future releases for those fine details. Give it to the beta team with enough time to test, give notes that aren't just about tuning, and see things implemented for further notes before release. And I truly hope Bobby meant what he said in the podcast, that the updating of tables you guys were slowly rolling out to those AAA titles continues even though there's no financial reason especially now. We all would greatly appreciate it and it'd be a true sign of goodwill.

SYT, I really feel you for the Tournament setting mode; this is why I always bought Pro versions even though it is very poorly implemented when it comes to general continuum and overall game.

I would like to add that I would like to see an overhaul of the sliding and bumping, sure you can slide a pinball table and so on so forth but in TPA it is not my flipper skills that keep me going an a ball, it is that I can just slide the ball wherever I want to avoid draining and with no effort except moving my thumb. Whenever I do stuff like that in RL the table Tilts pretty quick and then they don't need to be set that hard, I would say the RL tables are generally set as far as Tilt goes...

Ballspinn might add some chaos to the game too

Could someone Please help, I Wanted to bite in the Apple and Buy Season 2-7 for XBOne but in the Store you can't purchase and ingame only the Info what is included Pops up and no purchase Option, I thought we have until 30th of june

Man, I'm really torn on this.

When I first discovered TPA I was like a kid in a candy store. Discovering tables like Attack From Mars and ST:TNG was an absolute joy. I was so excited to see all the tables they had available but I carefully apportioned my joy after buying season one; trying my best to get as far on one table before I downloaded the next.

But I as I played TPA more and more I found more and more bugs. It would lose my high scores or achievements, the screen would go blank when I rotated my iPad, the camera would get stuck, the ball would get stuck and suggested workarounds for these issues didn't always work. I got as far as buying Season 3 before sending FarSight an email detailing issues in Black Hole, Cirqus Voltaire and possible others. After a week or so I got back an email saying simply that they were aware of these issues.

Black Hole has received updates since then to fix these issues but CV remains pretty broken on iOS. The camera gets stuck in multiball, the judges never change and it won't register the fact that I've completed the goals.

So, until this announcement, I haven't purchased any more tables because it just doesn't seem like value for money. What's ironic about this from reading around the forums is that apparently Season One is still FarSight's highest source of revenue. Maybe it would make business sense to resolve issues like this in Season One to create a good impression with customers so more of them will buy Season Two? But you may as well talk to the wall.

So now I've bought Seasons 4 to 7 because if I don't there's a chance I'll never get to play these tables.

But if the license isn't granted to another dev then I think I'd rather have FarSight rather than nobody working on bringing more tables to the playing public.

shutyertrap said:

Have you ever noticed in Cirqus Voltair you always get the same judges? That wasn't always the case in the beginning, and FarSight has no clue (nor were they even aware the judges changed) what is causing this.

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This is what's so frustrating. With a decent source control tool the devs should be able to easily identify and revert the breaking change. I know there are people working their ass off in FarSight trying to get things right but I think at it's core the company just can't see the bigger picture.

Locksley said:

SYT, I really feel you for the Tournament setting mode; this is why I always bought Pro versions even though it is very poorly implemented when it comes to general continuum and overall game.

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Meanwhile I’ve been enjoying the hell out of tournaments on Pinball FX3. Create one every week (search ‘shutyertrap’ to join in), they just added the ability to limit the amount of attempts people can take, you can turn off extra balls, and a slew of other things. I used to play Zen only now and then but the tourney mode has completely changed that to the point I play it way more than TPA now. As the saying goes, it’s more fun to compete.

I've declared Pinball Arcade my all time favorite video game quite awhile ago.
It was never about the leaderboards for me.
Day One it was obvious it would be a silly to try to beat, besides, I prefer to just casually play here and there all day while working.
As for Tournaments, I mostly played on a iMac, I don't think it has ever had a tournament.
I've only played in 3 tournaments all together (iOS and pc), and I was just lucky to stumble upon them.
Hopefully they get something better working... then again, I do kinda wonder how they plan working with or without 61 tables down the road for tournaments


My current dilemma with Pinball Arcade:
To go PRO or not....
1-7 Seasons on Steam
1-6 Season on iOS (of course I'll be adding 7 soon)
I never went PRO on anything (*TOTAN)
I will be getting the Arcoodia Pinball Arcade for Steam
But I'm still debating on going PRO or not.
I never got them, because I felt it really wasn't it worth it or needed.
But part of me thinks maybe I should while I still can...
But then again, to go PRO on 7 seasons of both Steam and iOS would be a crazy expense.


What do you guys think?
Is PRO worth it?

While I am still a bit miffed about the whole X360 thing (Only able to play season 1 consistently but after some delete/reinstalls of certain components it restores all the tables but then back to season 1 only the next time i run it), it's time to move on to the XBONE. Speaking of XBONE, are the rest of the S7 tables going to be released before the WMS/Bally tables are pulled?

Shutyertrap, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the game and I understand there are untold difficulties with making it reality, but you are over-eager to hand wave years of broken promises and broken software that came at the expense of fans paying upfront. Massive delays for tables and fixes on consoles. Both apps still have a plague of issues on PC. Features that are promised and never come, or are implemented only to be removed and never return. I stand by my assertion that porting the games to so many platforms has lowered the quality across the board. No doubt they need as big an install base as possible but the headaches for the user are numerous.

Also, to insert the idea that I ever felt Farsight was "ruining my pinball" is pretty insulting. I actually really do appreciate the effort they've put forth over the years to bring us these tables, but I don't think that means I can't be critical either. I have supported them through out. Does the fact that I've purchased every table on iPad (on release as of Season 4!) plus a few seasons on other platforms somehow invalidate my crticism and frustration?

Yeah, I'm mad about what has happened with Switch and if anything it seems like the Switch release was the catalyst of this event. But if I'm mad it's only because I was going to spend $210 rebuying all of these tables on Switch.

If Farsight adds TATE to PS4 I'll probably buy some seasons there before June 30 after all. But I need TATE.

I wonder who owns the rights to the Atari pinball tables. Maybe y'all don't care about them, but I'd love to see Road Runner, Superman and Hercules emulated. (Or at least the Atarians if WB & DC are tough negotiators.)

I did send an email to Farsight about S7 and the XBONE and they said the following: "Yes, we expect to release before the 30th (of June)." I bought Seasons 1-4 yesterday and will circle back to 5-6 next month most likely. There isn't a whole lot in S7 i am dying for, only WCS is a must for me. I already have GB on SPA and while Banzai Run would be nice to have, it's not a must for me.

CycOd3liC said:

I did send an email to Farsight about S7 and the XBONE and they said the following: "Yes, we expect to release before the 30th (of June)."

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That's good to know, I wondered what would happen if you've bought them and not received them yet.

TMOverbeck said:

I wonder who owns the rights to the Atari pinball tables. Maybe y'all don't care about them, but I'd love to see Road Runner, Superman and Hercules emulated. (Or at least the Atarians if WB & DC are tough negotiators.)

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I believe it's Warner.

trying to settle the TOTAN issue for steam. can someone please tell me what version of TOTAN you own on steam when you have not bought any DLCs: is it the standard or pro version? because in my account, i have the pro version. however, i'm not sure if that might be the result of me having bought s1 pro. if that would be the case, i guess i'm good to keep the table after june 30th.

karussellbremser said:

trying to settle the TOTAN issue for steam. can someone please tell me what version of TOTAN you own on steam when you have not bought any DLCs: is it the standard or pro version? because in my account, i have the pro version. however, i'm not sure if that might be the result of me having bought s1 pro. if that would be the case, i guess i'm good to keep the table after june 30th.

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It took me two emails to Farsight to sort out the issue with ToTAN but it looks like we are safe and won’t lose the table on June 30th. See their response below. Also this was in response to my email regarding the game on iOS and Steam but I believe they are referring to all versions.

“We have just talked to our managers and it looks like we will be adding the Tales of the Arabian Nights table as part of the app. It will essentially be tied to the UI so all players will still have this table.”

BostonBuckeye said:

It took me two emails to Farsight to sort out the issue with ToTAN but it looks like we are safe and won’t lose the table on June 30th. See their response below. Also this was in response to my email regarding the game on iOS and Steam but I believe they are referring to all versions.

“We have just talked to our managers and it looks like we will be adding the Tales of the Arabian Nights table as part of the app. It will essentially be tied to the UI so all players will still have this table.”

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Sent a message through Facebook to TPA and this was the response: We have talked to our manager and it looks like we are not allowed to pput it up for sale, but since it is a free table it will be removed. We are very sorry for the trouble.