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The Pinball Arcade
https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8193
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Author:  Hearthly [ Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:59 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

DavPaz wrote:
I don't about your fancy 21st century pinball games, all I know is that the SNES version of Pinball Fantasies is gash


Yes I vaguely remember renting the cart at one point, when I had a SNES but didn't have an Amiga. (My entertainment choices would vary regularly based on what I'd sold recently to spend on gambling/drink/drugs.)

It was fucking shit. They made the music fairly awful too, which was always one of the best things about these games.

Didn't it scroll horizontally as well? So it made you feel sick too.

Offensive game.

The Amiga A1200 is the way to play this game with the extended AGA version loveliness.

Not even worth renting - 245/1000

Author:  RuySan [ Mon Oct 09, 2017 9:56 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Didn't the PC version have a SVGA mode? I do remember playing it on my cousin's PC and marvelled on how better it looked compared to the amiga.

Author:  DavPaz [ Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Hearthly wrote:
Didn't it scroll horizontally as well? So it made you feel sick too.

I didn't notice at the time, but yes it does. :spew:

Author:  Nemmie [ Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:08 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Has anyone tried the new Zen Pinball 3 release on Steam.

If you have Zen Pinball 2 all your tables will be available and they have all been reworked with new lighting and various other improvements. Also several completely new tables are now available.

Although not based on real pinball tables there are some real gems in there. Particularly a few of the Star Wars tables, Some of the Marvel ones and the fantabulous Betheseda set, featuring Doom, Skyrim and Fallout based tables.

I have spent many hours on the various Android versions and can only see this expanding now I have discovered I can play them all on my PC.

Author:  RuySan [ Fri Nov 03, 2017 16:09 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Nemmie wrote:
Has anyone tried the new Zen Pinball 3 release on Steam.

If you have Zen Pinball 2 all your tables will be available and they have all been reworked with new lighting and various other improvements. Also several completely new tables are now available.

Although not based on real pinball tables there are some real gems in there. Particularly a few of the Star Wars tables, Some of the Marvel ones and the fantabulous Betheseda set, featuring Doom, Skyrim and Fallout based tables.

I have spent many hours on the various Android versions and can only see this expanding now I have discovered I can play them all on my PC.


The Zen Tables work very well on Android. The other day I missed my train stop because of it.

Pinball FX3 has lots of social features and leagues which seem pretty great, but on the other hand, they've put needless grind modes and XP (because every game has to have them nowadays) that bring nothing to the game and are just annoying.

Author:  RuySan [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 17:01 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Some of the latest Pinball Arcade updates broke the game. Now i get a black screen if i launch the game in DX11. Does anyone ever had this problem? I had to revert back into playing in DX9 which looks really crap now.

Author:  Hearthly [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 19:57 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

RuySan wrote:
Some of the latest Pinball Arcade updates broke the game. Now i get a black screen if i launch the game in DX11. Does anyone ever had this problem? I had to revert back into playing in DX9 which looks really crap now.


It's completely broken for all tables in DX11 mode, or just some?

The last time I fired it up was a couple of months ago when they released Ghostbusters, it worked OK then.

EDIT - Just fired it up now, I'm on 1.67.4 DX11, latest table (awful fucking shitty fucking EM fucking turdblast 'Spanish Eyes') loads fine.

Author:  RuySan [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Hearthly wrote:
RuySan wrote:
Some of the latest Pinball Arcade updates broke the game. Now i get a black screen if i launch the game in DX11. Does anyone ever had this problem? I had to revert back into playing in DX9 which looks really crap now.


It's completely broken for all tables in DX11 mode, or just some?

The last time I fired it up was a couple of months ago when they released Ghostbusters, it worked OK then.

EDIT - Just fired it up now, I'm on 1.67.4 DX11, latest table (awful fucking shitty fucking EM fucking turdblast 'Spanish Eyes') loads fine.


I can't even see the title screen. Black screen and then i have to hard reset.

The only way i can load in DX11 is if i choose a sub-native resolution in the launcher or if i force under 60hz (e.g. 59Hz) in the nvidia driver setting. But then I get no sound and borked camera and controls.

Have you tried Zaccaria Pinball? It's in early access but it already works better than TPA, although obviously it only has tables from a mostly obscure italian company and some new recreations inspired on the original designs. Even so, I'm enjoying it a lot.

Author:  RuySan [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 10:33 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Pinball FX3 has released 2 new tables, and they are free if you claim them on Steam until 19 December. I still haven't played enough of them to make a good judgement, but they're free, so everyone should give them a go.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/75006 ... d_Legends/

Author:  romanista [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 10:43 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

and pinball fx now on the switch too... with vertical mode..

Author:  RuySan [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 11:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

romanista wrote:
and pinball fx now on the switch too... with vertical mode..


I read somewhere that the Switch version has way too long loading times. Or maybe that was Pinball Arcade or Stern Pinball?

Author:  romanista [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 12:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

That might be one of those.. counted it, 21 seconds from switch menu to pinball in play..

HD rumble works brilliantly with this game btw really feels you are holding something..

vertical mode looks wel, it's a bit that you have to put you left finder of the control stick

Author:  RuySan [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 13:01 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

How's the fps?

One work colleague plays the game on the ipad and it looks great (and loading times aren't that big), so i wonder how does it compares.

Author:  TheVision [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 13:18 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

RuySan wrote:
Pinball FX3 has released 2 new tables, and they are free if you claim them on Steam until 19 December. I still haven't played enough of them to make a good judgement, but they're free, so everyone should give them a go.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/75006 ... d_Legends/


Looks like this is not just limited to Steam. I've seen them for free on the Xbox and the Switch too.

Author:  romanista [ Wed Dec 13, 2017 13:22 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

ah perfect, i wondered what those exclamation marks were;)

Author:  RuySan [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:28 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

The "Son of Zeus" table might be my favourite PFX3 to date. There's so many things right with it:
-Multiple modes (this is something that PFX3 were lacking). There was a time where i was a having a 4-multiball while medusa, vulcano and some harpies were on the table.
-Absence of rubbish mini-games
-Great theme

Author:  RuySan [ Thu Dec 28, 2017 17:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Lord Hearthly, purveyor of Pinball wisdom since 2011, i ask thee:

Is season 5 any good? It's 50% right now on Steam. I shouldn't reward Farsight for their shoddy efforts, when PFX3 and Zaccaria are doing so much better, but still, they have the licences that matter....

Author:  Hearthly [ Thu Dec 28, 2017 17:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

It's a reasonably solid season in all fairness.

It'd get a pass from me on the strength of Getaway, No Fear, Judge Dredd and Frankenstein. A couple of the others are fine, and there are only two or three duffer old shit crap that no one wants to play. (And some people really like F14-Tomcat but it never much did it for me.)

At 50% off I'd say snag it.

And try to beat my score on Getaway.

Author:  RuySan [ Thu Dec 28, 2017 18:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

I like some of that old shit. Sometimes is soothing to play simple tables with uncomplicated rules. I early 80's stuff like Gorgar and Centaur, and sometimes even older stuff like Genie.

Author:  Hearthly [ Sat Mar 10, 2018 10:12 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

BANZAI RUN is the latest table for Pinball Arcade!

BANZAI FUCKING RUN! TABLE BUY!

I've just had a quick blast in DX11 mode and they've done a really good job with this one. Also, one of the best pinball soundtracks ever.

Attachment:
banzaio.JPG

Author:  romanista [ Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:38 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Uturns for zen pinball switch...but it is getting updated now http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018- ... erformance

Author:  RuySan [ Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

My wife sent me a video anouncing that my favourite ice cream store opened another not far from where i work.

Midway through the video i noticed that there was a creature of the blue lagoon pinball machine there and i didn't care about the ice creams any more. I really need to go there as soon as possible and spend every coin in my wallet.

Author:  Hearthly [ Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:58 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

MOVE YOUR CAR!

Author:  Hearthly [ Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:15 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Ha, someone's videoed it all.

Certainly deserves a 'well that escalated quickly'.


Author:  devilman [ Tue May 08, 2018 8:45 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Pinball Arcade will be losing its licenses for all the Bally/Williams stuff on June 30th, meaning it'll go from 95 tables down to 33. If there was a final sale on them all before the licenses were lost, I'd probably scoop up a few, but there's a condition of the agreement preventing it. :(

Author:  Hearthly [ Tue May 08, 2018 9:03 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Absolute turd-buckets!

This is of course the problem with 'commercial digital preservation' as shit like licensing can fuck things up royally. (Another one that springs nimbly to mind is the OutRun games which you haven't been able to buy for a while now as Sega lost the Ferrari licences.)

I expressed concern earlier in this thread about how secure and permanent something like Pinball Arcade would turn out to be in the long term, and now we know the answer.

I'm pretty sure I've already got all the Williams/Bally tables in my collection, but I'll log into Pinball Arcade just to make sure.

One wonders if the game will simply stop working completely if Farsight turn their servers off.

Author:  Hearthly [ Tue May 08, 2018 9:16 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Just logged in to check, I have the full seasons for Seasons 1-6, but have just bought selected tables out of Season 7. There are quite a few Williams/Bally tables in there I'm missing but they're all horseshit 80s tables before they started putting proper sound and music on them.

From The Pinball Arcade's official Facebook page, looks like it was forced upon them.

WMS Licensing FAQ's

1. Why has the license not been renewed? Whose decision was it?

The company that controls the WMS IP chose not to renew our agreement.

2. When will the Williams/Bally tables stop being sold?

June 30th

3. Will there be discounts on the tables before the contract expires? If not, why?

No, our agreement with WMS prohibits there being any sales on their tables before we have to take them off the market.

4. Will there be any updates/bug fixes for the tables before/after the contract expires?

Yes, we will continue to support all of the tables in Pinball Arcade.

5. What will happen to the tables that are already owned (or unlocked, as with the Kickstarter rewards) once the contract expires?

Everyone who owns a WMS table will still own it, and have full access to it. We will modify the game via updates before June 30th on each platform so that players can no longer buy WMS tables if they haven’t already. In most cases, if you don’t own a WMS you won’t be able to see that table in the game at all.

6. Would future hardware (iPhones/iPads, Android devices) be updated to allow the Williams/Bally tables to work correctly, or will there be a time when these are completely unplayable?

We will continue to support all of the tables in Pinball Arcade for customers who bought them. This includes support for users who need to re-download tables they’ve already bought.

7. With the loss of the Williams/Bally tables, what's the future of the app? Will we see it continued with new non-Williams/Bally tables?

Our “Season 8” release will include all of the Stern tables that we’ve done to date for SPA plus a couple more. We will continue to develop and release non-WMS tables. Once the WMS tables are removed from sale, the remaining tables for sale in the game (Stern, Gottlieb, and Alvin G) will be restructured into different packs based primarily on the table manufacture.

8. What's happening with the staff at FarSight? Will there be layoffs?

There are no plans to lay off any FarSight staff.

9. Is FarSight working on other projects?

Yes, in addition to developing many more digital versions of Stern tables, more Gottlieb tables, possibly more tables from other manufactures, and an awesome 2D pinball experience for mobile, we’re working on a couple new cross-platform games that are yet to be officially announced – primarily for console.

10This sucks, right?

We are very disappointed by the WMS license holder’s decision – so it’s not great. But we’ll be working to enhance the players’ enjoyment of all of the tables in Pinball Arcade for years to come.

Author:  devilman [ Tue May 08, 2018 14:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

It's a shame really, as a Nintendo Switch version of all the tables would have been nice, but I guess we're just stuck with the Stern stuff.

Author:  Hearthly [ Tue May 08, 2018 17:34 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Well, DATA EAST/SEGA and GOTTLIEB tables too, of which there are quite a few good ones still to do, but without Williams/Bally licences they've basically been holed below the waterline and the Pinball Arcade ship is well and truly sinking.

I don't much fancy my chances of being able to reinstall the game with all my tables intact five years down the line.

Author:  RuySan [ Mon May 14, 2018 11:33 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

When i saw the news my thought was: "Poor Hearthly, how will he deal with this tragedy?"

I'm tempted to buy some select tables before they go down, but i'm not sure i can trust Farsight to keep them bug free, since Pinball Arcade seems to be getting worse with each update.

I hope someone else more competent, like the developers of Zaccaria Pinball, or even Zen Studios, can get those licenses someday.

Author:  devilman [ Mon May 14, 2018 12:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

RuySan wrote:
I'm tempted to buy some select tables before they go down, but i'm not sure i can trust Farsight to keep them bug free, since Pinball Arcade seems to be getting worse with each update.



I thought about buying the pack that The Addams Family comes in, but it's £28.99 for ten tables. Sod that.

Author:  Hearthly [ Thu Jun 21, 2018 8:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Ten days left to buy Williams/Bally tables on Pinball Arcade.

I think you could definitely make a case for buying the 'Top Ten Tables' if you're missing a load, as getting full seasons could get very expensive.

The thing we don't know is what the plans are for the licences once they're available again, will they sit on a shelf somewhere for years, or are there active plans to sell them again and get another developer on the case? i.e. If you miss out now, will it be a decade before officially licensed tables are available again? Will they ever be available again?

Even if a new developer takes them on, will their recreations be as good as Farsight's? Pinball Arcade had its problems but the physics engine was pretty good and the DX11 graphics upgrade was great. There was definitely room for improvement though.

Tough one!

Author:  zaphod79 [ Fri Jun 22, 2018 16:25 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Hearthly wrote:
I think you could definitely make a case for buying the 'Top Ten Tables' if you're missing a load, as getting full seasons could get very expensive.


Again though if you like pinball and found a decent table in an arcade or a pub would you have any problem sticking 3 or 4 quid in for a few games ? - on Android and iOS you can still just buy the individual tables you want (although steam now seems to be stuck with season passes?)

I'm just back from a few days at the seaside and played a few aging and getting worse tables (every single one had something wrong it was just a question of how bad) and most of them your paying £1 for 3 balls

Author:  Hearthly [ Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:32 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Oh for sure I think (most) of the Season Passes are very good value, but for those who'd find them a bit on the expensive side to buy them all this late in the day, I was just suggesting it might be worthwhile investing £30-£40 in the best-of-the-best on an individual table basis, as there's no way of knowing when, or if (!), they'll ever be available again.

I've bought the full seasons of 1-6, I might even get 7 just 'because', despite the fact the Williams/Bally tables in there aren't ones I'm fussed about.

What would give me some confidence at this point is a commitment from Farsight to patch the game so that it'll work independently of their login servers in perpetuity, so if they go bang, the game can always be reinstalled via Steam, with all your purchased content, and be playable.

Author:  TheVision [ Tue Sep 04, 2018 16:00 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

https://twitter.com/nintendolife/status ... 3215963138




This sounds interesting.

Author:  zaphod79 [ Tue Sep 04, 2018 16:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Very interesting

Zen studios games are often 'fun' but did feel more 'video game' like than real tables (which was always the advantage that TPA had)

The question is will they re-do them / use the license to make their own creations / or what ?

Author:  Hearthly [ Tue Sep 04, 2018 16:53 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

Well I'm not buying them all again. *


* Except I probably will if they do a better job than Farsight, who were a bit inconsistent, truth be told.

Author:  Hearthly [ Sat May 11, 2019 10:09 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

I installed Steam and Pinball Arcade on the media centre PC last night, to give it a go on the big 4K telly.

It's actually Mrs Hearthly's old PC, so it's not really 'media centre' style specs, but it is a few years old now.

Specs are i5-4690 (3.5GHz quad core, no hyper threading), 2GB GTX960, 8GB RAM and a couple of SATA SSDs.

Anyway, it runs Pinball Arcade beautifully at 1080p with plenty of anti-aliasing, so it looks peachy on the 4K telly in DX11 mode.

Obviously native 4K is off the cards but I was very impressed with how it looked, solid 60FPS which of course you really want for a fast game like pinball.

Not exactly earth shattering news but it does demonstrate that even a slightly older PC can run it all maxed out and perform perfectly well.

(I played MAME, Pinball Arcade and Hearthstone all night. The XB1X, PS4 Pro, Switch and my main gaming PC aren't really getting a look in at the moment. Apart from Peggle 2 on the XB1X. I think this may be the beginning of the end of my love affair with big, modern style games.)

Author:  myp [ Sat May 11, 2019 12:51 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

So you’ll probably never buy a new console or PC again

Author:  Hearthly [ Sat May 11, 2019 13:06 ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pinball Arcade

I certainly don't think I'll buy a new PC this year, which I was intending to do, and factored into my Wongawatch prediction for 2019.

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