[Minsc]

I'm disappointed by how bad the Vita version is. Literally every visible light on the playfield is "lit" by simply changing it to a white color. It's incredibly distracting.

At least they've said they're making a patch for it, so it will be back to normal. Besides, the more problems they have now, the less problems they should encounter later. Logically, now that this happened and will be patched, you should never have to worry about it again! :)

[Shaneus]

New update is out for iOS, Monster Bash and Gorgar!

Still hanging for Firepower though... cannot believe we've had ZERO Steve Ritchie love. I'd have thought that was literally impossible to do in a collection this size, but there you go. Apparently there are some other fixes as well (which sadly, probably means some other stuff has been broken, too :( ).

Fantastic... already found ANOTHER camera bug, this time with Monster Bash. Despite having it locked on camera 4, for some reason, during the multiball mode the camera zoomed up on the top 1/4 of the screen... and didn't move until all balls were drained... even after multiball had finished. Fucking hell, guys. I found this less than 5 minutes after playing it. Surely a playthrough before releasing it would've revealed this?!?

[Minsc]

Fantastic... already found ANOTHER camera bug, this time with Monster Bash. Despite having it locked on camera 4, for some reason, during the multiball mode the camera zoomed up on the top 1/4 of the screen... and didn't move until all balls were drained... even after multiball had finished. Fucking hell, guys. I found this less than 5 minutes after playing it. Surely a playthrough before releasing it would've revealed this?!?

Table looks great! Can't wait to see all these tables with the lighting at high res on a larger screen.

So much for the theory of not having to deal with recurring bugs lol!

[Remy]

I had the same Frankenstein camera bug. Obnoxious.

On the other hand, hit MoR mode on my third play through and was at the top of the leader board for a short while.

[Shaneus]

Table looks great! Can't wait to see all these tables with the lighting at high res on a larger screen. So much for the theory of not having to deal with recurring bugs lol!

It said in the update that there are other minor fixes as well, but none of the tables I'd already download had redownloaded (which always happens when there's a table update, regardless of what new tables are out).

It's literally like they haven't done any testing at all. That bug took less than 5 minutes to appear. In my first game. At this point, I'd be happy to forgo *any* new tables until they get all previous tables (the lack of texture on the castle door in MM, anyone?) as well as their QA process spot-on. Not forgetting that all tables are getting submitted in the same state, except with XBLA and PSN there's a greater turnaround so if there's a bug, it takes a good month longer to get them fixed.

[Agent X]

What if the Android/iOS version are the most profitable?

They probably are more profitable right now, but much of that is predicated by the console versions being so glitchy that they've already carved out a negative reputation on those platforms. The Vita patch downgrading the graphics is contributing to the domino effect. It's essentially turning into a self-fulfilling prophecy. At this point I practically expect them to abandon the console versions due to disinterest, but that disinterest is their own doing.

Before The Pinball Arcade was released, I was extremely gung-ho about the prospect. I loved FarSight's work on the Pinball Hall of Fame games. I was eager to get the game and the DLC packs that would follow. Naturally, based on the (previously) sterling reputation of the developer and their games, I bought The Pinball Arcade the very day they released it on PS3 & Vita without hesitation.

But then it all went downhill from there. Right from the start, the game had major bugs (the PSN trophy sync glitch...the only thing they fixed so far). Then there was flipper lag...then camera bugs...then balls not feeding (forcing an exit and restart)...then various non-working targets/goals...the problems just kept piling up.

After that, I figured I'd keep my money in my pocket on DLC until they ironed out the problems with the base game. Here we are, more than two months later, the PS3 version is no better off than it was on the week of release, and the PS Vita version actually got worse. So do they expect me to buy the DLC "on good faith" that they'll fix it all "real soon now"?

Like I said, word spreads quickly. One of my other friends who bought the game on PS3 & Vita is also holding off on DLC, for exactly the same reason. Another friend hesitated to buy the game on launch day, but as soon as he heard about all the problems I experienced, he held off on purchasing the game at all. I can't speak for my friends, but I assure you that as soon as they clean up the glitches (if they clean them up), then I'll be back on board and ready to open my wallet for the DLC. But not until then.

I fear that they might not understand the real reason why console owners aren't buying the game, chalk it up to "console owners are apathetic and don't want our game", then leave us high and dry while they move on to iOS and Android. Believe me, I've already played the game on Android. It looks marvelous on the screen, but the touch controls (with no tactile feedback) are absolute trash. If the controls were better, then maybe I would've bought that earlier instead of waiting for the PS3/Vita versions...but now, after the experience I've gone through on the PS3/Vita, I wouldn't buy the Android version even if it sold for a frickin' dime and came with 500 tables.

Neglecting releasing new tables is a horrible idea anyway, it defeats the whole point of the program.

It's a horrible idea, but it's an even more horrible idea for them to release the game in the condition that they did. It's also a horrible idea for them to hit up Kickstarter while the base game remains in such a buggy state. It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to solve this mystery and deduce the reason why I'm keeping my money in my wallet.

DLC is the only thing that brings in money, if they stop releasing DLC, they have to start firing people.

Then we might be approaching a stalemate. I would like to buy DLC, but refuse to do so until they patch up the game that I've already paid for. If they won't patch up the game, then I'm not buying DLC. Not this DLC, not that DLC, not any DLC. If that's keeping bread off the dinner table, then I'm sorry, but I won't be throwing good money after bad.

[DukeTogo1300]

Really dissapointed with the Vita update. I like that the table displays now look more like an LED grid, but the rest did not benefit at all. I wish I hadn't updated, and I will be waiting for others to verify it doesn't break anything before I download any future updates.

Medieval Madness does in fact seem to skip frames, even after a hard reset.

[dkeane]

Have the iPad version - how do I get the new tables?
No updates are appearing in the store and the new tables aren't showing in-game.

[Minsc]

Then we might be approaching a stalemate. I would like to buy DLC, but refuse to do so until they patch up the game that I've already paid for. If they won't patch up the game, then I'm not buying DLC. Not this DLC, not that DLC, not any DLC. If that's keeping bread off the dinner table, then I'm sorry, but I won't be throwing good money after bad.

Well, I can't deny you have the more down to earth approach and you've put it forth very well written and reasoned out. I'm just going to stay optimistic, and believe that in another 6 months, things will all be turned around, they'll have a good 20+ tables out, and bugs will be seldom. And while I'm at it, the PC version will be released as well.

Have the iPad version - how do I get the new tables? No updates are appearing in the store and the new tables aren't showing in-game.

Sometimes updates take an extra day or two to show up via your device, it seems sorta random. You may or may not have better luck searching for the update directly from iTunes... something to do with what servers it accesses when it checks.

[Shaneus]

I've actually noticed that the free version doesn't seem to be updated. Maybe it's just hit the people who bought it when it first came out?

[jvm]

I've actually noticed that the free version doesn't seem to be updated. Maybe it's just hit the people who bought it when it first came out?

My iPod Touch version, which is just the free version, I believe, has updated at least twice, as I recall.

[Shaneus]

But has it received the most recent update? That's the one I'm referring to. When I last checked, it was still on the Cirqus Voltaire icon.

[jvm]

But has it received the most recent update? That's the one I'm referring to. When I last checked, it was still on the Cirqus Voltaire icon.

Ah, sorry. I took you to mean the Android version doesn't update, not that it hasn't gotten the latest update. Mea culpa.

[Plinko]

Anybody see the latest information on their Facebook page?

They were at the big licensing expo in Vegas and said they are extremely close to acquiring the necessary licenses for a "very popular top 10 table."

Outside of Twilight Zone, that leaves ST:TNG (although I can't imagine they'd talk about this when they're already collecting money for this table), Terminator 2, Indiana Jones, and The Addams Family.

[jgkspsx]

Given that they showed the Sony booth, I am pretty sure they're hinting T2. Of course, Paramount, which owns the other three, is also in the picture.

EDIT: Although T2 isn't in the iPDB top 10...

[Shaneus]

Oh god, I hope it's Indy. Need moar Superpin.

[Triz]

Oh god, I hope it's Indy. Need moar Superpin.

If its Indy I'll be surprised...

[Plinko]

Oh god, I hope it's Indy. Need moar Superpin.

I hope so too but I doubt it.

My guess is that it's Addams Family.

[Shaneus]

Yeah, same. I'm just not as much a fan of TZ and TAF as I am of T2, Indy and ST:TNG etc. Always feel a little more gimmicky and less based on skill, I guess. Will definitely buy TZ and TAF, but the love won't be there.

[Remy]

Latest FB update, bold is mine:

We have nothing but good news to report today! For iOS (iPhone and iPad) we've fixed some bugs in the new tables, including the Monster Bash Frankenstein multiball camera problem and the Gorgar leaderboard bug. Apple has granted us an expedited review for both the paid and free versions of the app so they should both be available in the next 24 hours. We finally have a date from Sony for the European version on the PlayStation3 - it will be released on June 27th! The European version on Vita is back in submission with Sony and we will announce a release date when we know it. Thanks for your patience on those! We have had reports of users on Android not getting access to tables they've purchased. This actually turned out to be a Google problem, but we've engineered a workaround and we will be posting a new Android build today. As announced previously, Table Packs 1 and 2 will be released for the Vita in North America on June 26th. Today Sony granted our petition to move the release date for Table Pack 2 on PlayStation3 up to match that of the Vita, so it will also be available on June 26th (instead of July 3rd). So let the record reflect that sometimes we're early instead of late :) The new tables for the Xbox 360 are moving through the approval process at Microsoft. We will announce an availability date when we know it. And we're still working on getting in-app table purchases released for the Mac and the PC version. Thanks again for your support of the Pinball Arcade!

[Shaneus]

Hopefully they'll fix bugs in their other tables, too. Speed still doesn't feel right in MM :/

But, at least they're fixing stuff *quickly*. Hopefully it's a trend that continues (and hopefully they've learned their lesson re: testing before releasing so they never have to do it again!).

Thanks for the update, Remy.

[FoxSpirit]

MonsterBash is great, easy and fun. And crashed on me on my Galaxy 2 when I got into "the monsters are assembled" multiball. Sooooo buggy :-(

[FlashFlooder]

Apologies if this has already been covered, is there any way around having to redownload all my IAP tables every time the app updates on iOS? Really annoying.

I'm using the "Free" version of the app, btw.

[Shaneus]

Depends on the table. If the table itself is updated, you'll need to download it. Not necessarily for every app update.

[FlashFlooder]

Depends on the table. If the table itself is updated, you'll need to download it. Not necessarily for every app update.

Are you sure about this? It seems like I've had to manually re-d/l every table (I own all of them) with the last 2 app updates (before this latest one).

Maybe they actually updated all the tables with those particular updates?

[RetroGreg]

So is there any news on a PC version? To be honest there is so much talk about bug fixes I may have missed it in the thread.

[Minsc]

So is there any news on a PC version? To be honest there is so much talk about bug fixes I may have missed it in the thread.

The most recent news we have is in post 1120, where Farsight talks about releasing DLC for the PC version, maybe they released it and didn't tell anyone lol.

[Remy]

iOS update is allegedly out, and...well, things are going to get confusing for a week:

We're happy to announce that the update of the Pinball Arcade for iOS (iPhone and iPad) is now available in both free and paid versions. We're also very excited that the paid version will become the iOS App Store's Free App of the Week for a week starting tomorrow! We hope this exposes many new people to our obsession with classic pinball. At Apple's request we will remove the free version from the store for a week during the promotion to avoid confusion. Apple says that our customers who have previously downloaded the free version will continue to have access to the update and in-app purchases during this time, but they didn't seem too sure of themselves- we recommend that everyone using the free version update their app (and buy the new tables if you want them) sometime today just in case you loose the ability to do so for a week. And if you've been on the fence about joining our community on iOS then this next week will be a great time to do so- you'll get the paid version of the app (along with the great Tales of the Arabian Nights table) for free!

What is this I don't even...

[RetroGreg]

The most recent news we have is in post 1120, where Farsight talks about releasing DLC for the PC version, maybe they released it and didn't tell anyone lol.

OK, thanks. I saw that post and was confused - then went to the developer website and still no PC version so I figured I better ask.

[Shaneus]

To echo sentiments posted in the iOS gaming thread, there seems to be a severe issue with PA in how it runs in the background... in that, it still seems to be running and processing EVERYTHING. If I leave it in the background while listening to music and browsing the web or Twitter, so long as it's not pushed out of memory then it seems to continue using as much CPU as if it was active. The phone gets warm and over the course of 30 mins this morning (while listening to music, NOT playing the game) it chewed through 25% of battery. Pretty sure it doesn't even use that much when I DO play it.

So guys, just be aware.

4S, btw.

[Dreamwriter]

That's not really possible, because in iOS apps rarely run in the background, because Apple doesn't like them to. If you want your app to run in the background, you have to specifically program your app to stay alive when it is shut down (and for full multitasking, you have to set a time limit for that, up to 5 minutes). For 99% of all apps, when you press the Home button it is shutting the app completely down and saving its state, not continuing to run in the background. Then for a while it remains cached in memory so it can relaunch quickly.

Apple does a good job of pretending to do multitasking, but aside from Apple's own apps, it's rare that something actually does it.

[Shaneus]

That's not really possible, because in iOS apps rarely run in the background, because Apple doesn't like them to. If you want your app to run in the background, you have to specifically program your app to stay alive when it is shut down (and for full multitasking, you have to set a time limit for that, up to 5 minutes). For 99% of all apps, when you press the Home button it is shutting the app completely down and saving its state, not continuing to run in the background. Then for a while it remains cached in memory so it can relaunch quickly. Apple does a good job of pretending to do multitasking, but aside from Apple's own apps, it's rare that something actually does it.

Well, something's definitely possible, because it's doing it :/
I'll charge it tonight, fire up PA, exit and see how long it lasts/how much battery it uses. Just to get a more solid idea of exactly what time period it takes to use how much, but you know something's up when your phone is warm and barely charging whilst plugged into mains.

[Minsc]

Well, something's definitely possible, because it's doing it :/ I'll charge it tonight, fire up PA, exit and see how long it lasts/how much battery it uses. Just to get a more solid idea of exactly what time period it takes to use how much, but you know something's up when your phone is warm and barely charging whilst plugged into mains.

I don't notice any issues with my iPhone 4. I played it for a few mins after the update, and phone drained 1-2% overnight (normal amount) while it was off. If it were a real issue, the Touch Arcade thread would have a bunch of members commenting about it too, being mostly iOS focused.

I have seen the problem you're describing in the past though, with other apps, it always happened at random... like an app that was never a problem I started to suspect draining the battery, then a few weeks later, the issue disappears. I always chalked it up to something awry in iOS.

[CecilMcW00t]

To echo sentiments posted in the iOS gaming thread, there seems to be a severe issue with PA in how it runs in the background... in that, it still seems to be running and processing EVERYTHING. If I leave it in the background while listening to music and browsing the web or Twitter, so long as it's not pushed out of memory then it seems to continue using as much CPU as if it was active. The phone gets warm and over the course of 30 mins this morning (while listening to music, NOT playing the game) it chewed through 25% of battery. Pretty sure it doesn't even use that much when I DO play it. So guys, just be aware. 4S, btw.

Have you tried calibrating your battery (let phone drain to 0% and shut itself down, then charge up to 100%)?

[added_time]

Meanwhile on XBLA:

[Dreamwriter]

Well, something's definitely possible, because it's doing it :/ I'll charge it tonight, fire up PA, exit and see how long it lasts/how much battery it uses. Just to get a more solid idea of exactly what time period it takes to use how much, but you know something's up when your phone is warm and barely charging whilst plugged into mains.

I'm an iOS game programmer, and I'm telling you Apple makes it really hard to run anything in the background, you have to actively try to do it. In most cases something in your Quicklaunch Bar is just an app that was run recently, not an app currently running. Here's what Apple did when they added their "multitasking" update:

• If you (the developer) do nothing, shutting your app down automatically saves its state, and relaunching the app loads that saved state. The state stays in memory (but not running, it's just the state saved not the entire app) and gets cleared from memory when the system is running low, in the order from oldest state to newest. This is the most common thing apps do
• You can detect when the game is resuming from a saved state, so can do things then like resume the game in a paused state
• You can set an option at compile time choosing to disable the state loading altogether - most online games do this, since they can't resume a connection to their server
• You can call a special function telling iOS to play music in the background when the app is shut down - in that case your app isn't running, it's just been transferred to Apple's background music player
• You can call a different function telling iOS to stream music in the background from a specific IP, again this isn't your app doing the streaming, it's Apple's streaming music app
• You can have iOS activate your app in certain specific circumstances for a short time - such as, a song playing in the music player finishes, or the GPS reaches a certain coordinate, or a certain amount of time has passed. In this case, your app has a very small time in which to do things, take too long and iOS shuts the app down
• You can schedule notifications to happen after a certain amount of time, and allow them to act as buttons that stop whatever the user was doing to run your app
• You can ask iOS to keep your app alive running in the background for up to 10 minutes, true multitasking but for a limited time - any longer than that and it gets automatically shut down
• You can ask iOS to keep your app running in the background indefinitely, true multitasking. If your app does this, you must declare it when submitting the app to Apple, and why your app needs to so it, and they will review your case to determine if it is truly required. They only allow this for a few specific cases, like a VOIP app waiting for a call, and they test your app and make sure it is doing exactly what you said it would and isn't doing stupid things, and is shutting down when it is no longer needed

Of couse jail broken apps can do whatever the hell they want, but only run on jail broken devices

[Shaneus]

Have you tried calibrating your battery (let phone drain to 0% and shut itself down, then charge up to 100%)?

Because of this problem, it's run itself flat more times recently than I care to remember :/


I'll paste what I wrote in the iOS game thread:

Just finished this test off, pasted as I typed it in. All times as PM, given I'm in Australia: *************************************************** Finished playing at 10:10 (approx, may have been a little earlier) Current apps in task switcher: (appearing in this order) Settings, Tweetbot, Pinball Arcade, Facebook. Note: No other apps opened at all during this time. (Meaning I opened Tweetbot and the Settings screen *after* PA was closed) 10:16 - 59% 10:17 - 58% 10:23 - 54% (at lock screen) 10:25 - 52% (at springboard, just entered suspend/lock screen now) 10:31 - 52% still (taken off lockscreen) 10:34 - 49% (@ springboard) 10:36 - 47% (@ springboard, screen *just* dimmed, then locked by itself) 10:41 - 47% (at lock screen) 10:42 - 46% (*just* switched to springboard) 10:50 - 40% (locked a minute or two previously, by itself) Just reloaded PA from the task switcher, and it resumed from the pause menu in-game (not restarted from the splash screen) so it was obviously still running... and running HARD. *************************************************** Just noticed from it being on the springboard page w/o PA running... it's consumed 1% in the last 6 minutes or so. 6x better (give or take) than it was when PA was in the task switcher. So... yeah. Definitely close down PA if you want your phone to wake you up in the morning/save battery!

And FWIW, I'm not running any j/b apps that assist in putting things in the background so it's definitely PA that's doing it. Maybe something else is up with my phone but I'm definitely having this issue and it's definitely PA that's given me the most notable problems thus far. I'll keep on playing around and see if there's something else, though. It's not a great concern, I'm just concerned that it could happen to other people as well.

Edit: Welp, looks like it probably is something to do with the jailbreak. Booting up with nothing in the substrate (ie. nothing running at boot other than the bootstrap for the j/b) it doesn't seem to have this issue (though it was only for 5 mins, I think that was long enough). At least "normal" people can rest easy now! Sorry for the scare, folks :)

[Dreamwriter]

Just reloaded PA from the task switcher, and it resumed from the pause menu in-game (not restarted from the splash screen) so it was obviously still running... and running HARD.

Yeah, this is very easy to do without any multitasking whatsoever. When your game resumes from its saved state, iOS notifies your game of this fact, so you can choose to pop up a pause menu, reconnect to a game server, etc. I've even seen tricky games save the time when an app is exiting, so when the app resumes its saved-state the game advances their events based on how much time has passed.

[Gillian Seed]

Where is Medieval Madness and Bride Of Pinbot on XBL? :(

[FlashFlooder]

So I take it I'm just stuck having to re-dl all the IAP tables everyone the app updates on iOS?? I wish they could fix that.

[Minsc]

So I take it I'm just stuck having to re-dl all the IAP tables everyone the app updates on iOS?? I wish they could fix that.

Only if there's updates to the table. I was able to start a game last night after the hot-fix MM update without it re-downloading the table.

[FlashFlooder]

Only if there's updates to the table. I was able to start a game last night after the hot-fix MM update without it re-downloading the table.

oh, OK. Thanks to you and sorry for doubting the previous responder.

[Minsc]

oh, OK. Thanks to you and sorry for doubting the previous responder.

Yeah, I think the dot matrix update might have required every single table to update, if the code is part of the table, and then there was a recent update for the iPad 3 which enabled some sort of completely broken advanced lighting, which might have also required every table to be updated. If that's the case unfortunately, they may continue to require every table to update when they improve/tweak the lighting engine. But updates are good! They mean mostly bug fixes and improvements.

[FlashFlooder]

Yeah, I think the dot matrix update might have required every single table to update, if the code is part of the table, and then there was a recent update for the iPad 3 which enabled some sort of completely broken advanced lighting, which might have also required every table to be updated. If that's the case unfortunately, they may continue to require every table to update when they improve/tweak the lighting engine. But updates are good! They mean mostly bug fixes and improvements.

yeah, I don't mind updating all the tables if I'm actually getting a benefit. I just don't want that to be a standard thing. On my iPad, for example, it's a pain because it's WiFi only. So I'll update the app unkowingly, then when I go to play the game I don't have any tables and I'm out and about.

[RadarScope1]

Where is Medieval Madness and Bride Of Pinbot on XBL? :(

They've been saying for a few weeks now on Facebook that it's in the MS cert pipeline. Who knows when we'll see it...

[Shaneus]

Yeah, I think the dot matrix update might have required every single table to update, if the code is part of the table, and then there was a recent update for the iPad 3 which enabled some sort of completely broken advanced lighting, which might have also required every table to be updated. If that's the case unfortunately, they may continue to require every table to update when they improve/tweak the lighting engine. But updates are good! They mean mostly bug fixes and improvements.

I wish there was a way to force that advanced lighting on the 4S. Actually, maybe there is, given I can tinker with the game files because of the jailbreak. If I look into it and find out how, I'll post about it here (though it'd really only be beneficial to 4S users as I'd imagine the 4 would struggle pretty severely).

[GDJustin]

I'm REALLY loving Monster Bash so far. Never played or even seen the table in real life before. Strong theme, funny (but not overbearing) humor. Lots of options for how to tackle the table.

Only cons are that 1) Wizard Mode seems to be a bit easy to reach. Although this isn't really a con since the game actually has a great compromise with two Wiz modes (with and without instruments). 2) Multiball options a little flat/infrequent compared to something like MM or Cirq. Give me some 2-ball multiball for something like Bride or Mummy or something.

Still, overall I'm loving it more than some of the PA tables that are supposedly higher rated. Although they're all very highly rated so it's mostly subjective.

[Shaneus]

Yeah, I quite like it too. I probably like it out of all the George Gomez tables, but man... there are so many tables from that era that are so damn similar :( If you've played Medieval Madness, you've played Attack From Mars. You've also played Monster Bash and Theatre of Magic.

All great, but you can't play them back to back... need to break it up with drastically different ones, like any of Steve Ritchie's (WHICH WE STILL HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF YET, like T2, The Getaway, Firepower, No Fear...) would be perfect. Some fast, flowing tables, please.

[Plinko]

Yeah, I quite like it too. I probably like it out of all the George Gomez tables, but man... there are so many tables from that era that are so damn similar :( If you've played Medieval Madness, you've played Attack From Mars. You've also played Monster Bash and Theatre of Magic. All great, but you can't play them back to back... need to break it up with drastically different ones, like any of Steve Ritchie's (WHICH WE STILL HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OF YET, like T2, The Getaway, Firepower, No Fear...) would be perfect. Some fast, flowing tables, please.

The Getaway would be fantastic. Love that table.

[ToxicAdam]

Yea, I've played MM so much (probably 50-70+ hours) that I just can't get into Monster Bash.