DLC Release Date

[infernogott]

Hey,

When do you think the first DLC is coming?

I really hope this or next week.

 

[PiN WiZ]

Hey,

When do you think the first DLC is coming?

I really hope this or next week.

It should be next Tuesday.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

Anyone else have the feeling, there won't be MM and BOP tomorrow.

 

[Ozzpot]

Anyone else have the feeling, there won't be MM and BOP tomorrow.

Well it's certainly disconcerting that there has been no official word on it, no hard date given at least.

I don't know if it's because the game is on so many platforms at the same time or what but trying to find out hard details about this game is like getting blood from a stone. There is rarely up to date news, and what is there is just so vague and/or confusing. Most of the news now is about Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse, so much so that I thought I'd missed the release of this DLC. I hear people talking about it like they've played it already but it turns out it's on Android or iPhone or something, I don't know.

It's just all over the place and there doesn't seem to be one good source of official news that consolidates all of the news and makes it clear.

Look at the facebook page for example. Should be a good, easy way of getting up to date news out to people who are looking for it, right? Well, it's just too bloated with needless comments, poorly organised, and lacking in details. It mentions Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse as "beginning to appear on Pinball Arcade platforms in May". Well that's incredibly vague. Will it be on all platforms in May or will some have to wait until June, or later? And what about the DLC before it? Surely there is a hard date by now. It's already on Android I gather but what about XBLA? There are articles pointing to videos of BoP and MM "being played on Xbox 360" but no damned mention of when it is out for Xbox 360. I feel like I'm going crazy.

So as far as tomorrow goes, well, I know Microsoft's certification process is a long drawn out pain in the a** but if this DLC was out tomorrow they would know about it. I just don't know if they'd have gotten organised enough to tell us about it. It's a mess.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

It's just all over the place and there doesn't seem to be one good source of official news that consolidates all of the news and makes it clear. Something the publishers need to work on I think.

All the confirmed information we know about TPA is located in one place here: Latest NEWS and INFORMATION from FarSight Studios Concerning the Pinball Arcade. Much easier than sifting through the mountains of trolling and ignorance on their Facebook page, and I've never seen the thread here lag behind the official announcements by more than a few hours at most.

 

[superballs]

I would have to say that it would be a smart move for Farsight not to announce a date until they get the approval from MS. If we all remember how irate us plebs got when the launch was delayed but a week, and a lot of folk took it out on FS. I wouldn't expect it tomorrow, and i hope not as I'm still waiting for my powerbrick replacement to be shipped from MS.

 

[ND3G]

Farsight stated that they are submitting an update which includes DLC #1 and #2 this week.

"360 - An update that includes both DLC Pack #1 and #2 will be submitted to Microsoft this week for approval. Improved lighting is scheduled to be implemented in time for the next DLC release."

Was the DLC #1 rejected? I assumed it was submitted weeks ago.

 

[infernogott]

seems so. so will dlc pack 1 and 2 released simultaneously?

or can they still control the release date after approval?

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Oy vey...I know FarSight's doing all they can, but I'm not sure how many more hits to their reputation they can take from these delays, even if it's out of their control. Sure, we're mostly patient, since we like our "real" pinball enough to be willing to wait, but the business side of me sees more casual customers getting discouraged and either abandoning the game entirely or fleeing to Zen. Then again, a significant fraction of the gaming populace is likely to be massively distracted in about a week by Diablo III, so maybe it won't matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Good thing I held onto my Williams Collection disc - at least I can play MM on that while I wait.

 

[Dutch Pinball ball]

This is why i cant understand why they dont focus on pc first. Bring it out, open platform, you choose where and when to download. Grap those important first earnings, and then goto closed, always whining systemstructures like xbox live.

This game is fantastic, dont let it slip by big compangy harrashments.

 

[Butterkins]

This is why i cant understand why they dont focus on pc first. Bring it out, open platform, you choose where and when to download. Grap those important first earnings, and then goto closed, always whining systemstructures like xbox live.

Several points here:

- the "important first earnings" may not exist. The PC is not known for its high sales figures. For every Minecraft, there are literally thousands of apps that don't make any money. The reality is that, whatever you think of it, PC piracy is rampant, and margins are low. Particularly when you're only selling your products for a couple of dollars.

- without a distributor/publisher, it can be very hard to make a dent in the PC market, particularly across markets. Of course FarSight could choose to go their own route, but that takes time, money and effort. Resources that may be better spent on making the products.

- the longer FarSight take on the PC version, (hopefully) the better it will be. Do you really want a barebones effort like the Mac version? (I think not. Besides, I seriously doubt the Mac version would even exist if the iOS build wasn't already available.)

- if you want cabinet support, that's going to take a lot longer than a barebones release.

- tech support for the PC version will dwarf that required for the console versions, yet the ROI may be worse. Think of all the hardware/software configurations out there. All the billion things that can (and do) go wrong on the PC. (Ask id Software about this...) Think of the vastly different abilities of computers (yet all customers want great physics, and fluid HD graphics at 60fps. After all, it's only a "pinball game"; how hard could it be?)

- and after all that, you get PC zealots (who've probably stolen the game anyway) accusing the developer of "console-itis" and "dumbing down" the game because it doesn't run at 60fps (all fx on of course) across their 3 spanned monitors at 1920x1080 x16AA... And, goddamnit, where's the console commands already? And where's the freaking map editor and the mods?

All in all, developing for the PC can be a line-ball decision. I can fully understand why some developers give it a miss entirely.

 

[monkspider]

Several points here:

- the "important first earnings" may not exist. The PC is not known for its high sales figures. For every Minecraft, there are literally thousands of apps that don't make any money. The reality is that, whatever you think of it, PC piracy is rampant, and margins are low. Particularly when you're only selling your products for a couple of dollars.

- without a distributor/publisher, it can be very hard to make a dent in the PC market, particularly across markets. Of course FarSight could choose to go their own route, but that takes time, money and effort. Resources that may be better spent on making the products.

- the longer FarSight take on the PC version, (hopefully) the better it will be. Do you really want a barebones effort like the Mac version? (I think not. Besides, I seriously doubt the Mac version would even exist if the iOS build wasn't already available.)

- if you want cabinet support, that's going to take a lot longer than a barebones release.

- tech support for the PC version will dwarf that required for the console versions, yet the ROI may be worse. Think of all the hardware/software configurations out there. All the billion things that can (and do) go wrong on the PC. (Ask id Software about this...) Think of the vastly different abilities of computers (yet all customers want great physics, and fluid HD graphics at 60fps. After all, it's only a "pinball game"; how hard could it be?)

- and after all that, you get PC zealots (who've probably stolen the game anyway) accusing the developer of "console-itis" and "dumbing down" the game because it doesn't run at 60fps (all fx on of course) across their 3 spanned monitors at 1920x1080 x16AA... And, goddamnit, where's the console commands already? And where's the freaking map editor and the mods?

All in all, developing for the PC can be a line-ball decision. I can fully understand why some developers give it a miss entirely.

Very well said Butterkins.

Now, that aside, I am a bit disturbed that the DLC seems like it won't be coming for another month. Does this mean that we should expect the DLC only once every 2-3 months going forward on the 360 platform?

 

[Kevlar]

It is a bit worrying how many delays TPA has had on the various platforms, to me it just seems to back up what I thought all along, that farsight are too small a company to deal with launching on all these different platforms almost simultaneously. I hope I'm wrong and it all smooths out as time goes on but so far its been a bit of a disaster in relation to announced/expected release dates being missed all the time. Can't fault the product, I've been addicted to it since release on ipad, I just think maybe they bit off more than they can chew with all the platforms and dlc. Surprisingly the one platform I thought they would regret supporting because of its wide hardware scope is Android, but that platform has been the smoothest from what I can see and has the dlc first each time for obvious reasons.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I think what you're seeing in terms of the 360/PS3 releases is this:

-Released on Android, submitted to Apple
-Released on iOS
-Bug reports come in
-Bugs are fixed across all the platforms at the same time
-Submitted to 360/PS3
-Released on 360/PS3

So the versions of the tables that are eventually released for the 360/PS3 should have fewer bugs than the Android and iOS versions, but they take a lot longer due to the bug fixes, optimizations for consoles, and the approval times.

That's just a guess on my part.

 

[bavelb]

Not sure, that doesnt explain the disparity between 360 and ps3 submittals: They said they are approing DLC1 and 2 at the same time for 360, and DLC1 is already in SCEA hands.

 

[superballs]

I have to admit that even I was pretty miffed when i first heard mention that we would be looking at a mid-June release date.

My support will not waver, I'm glad i have the iOS tables and just hope that the flippers in MM will be fixed, I don't mind waiting for a quality product and still have to:
A) Wait for the powerbrick for my 360 to be delivered
B) Beat all your leaderboard scores (cheeky cheeky)
C) Actually play RBION for some amount of time
D) Must get MM's battle for the kingdom (man I suck at this game)

Take your time FS, when you release the DLC for the 360, I want a choir of angels to sing while the new content is downloading. If I get 4 tables at once, I'm good.

 

[Dutch Pinball ball]

Several points here:

1- the "important first earnings" may not exist. The PC is not known for its high sales figures. For every Minecraft, there are literally thousands of apps that don't make any money. The reality is that, whatever you think of it, PC piracy is rampant, and margins are low. Particularly when you're only selling your products for a couple of dollars.

2- without a distributor/publisher, it can be very hard to make a dent in the PC market, particularly across markets. Of course FarSight could choose to go their own route, but that takes time, money and effort. Resources that may be better spent on making the products.

3- the longer FarSight take on the PC version, (hopefully) the better it will be. Do you really want a barebones effort like the Mac version? (I think not. Besides, I seriously doubt the Mac version would even exist if the iOS build wasn't already available.)

4- if you want cabinet support, that's going to take a lot longer than a barebones release.

5- tech support for the PC version will dwarf that required for the console versions, yet the ROI may be worse. Think of all the hardware/software configurations out there. All the billion things that can (and do) go wrong on the PC. (Ask id Software about this...) Think of the vastly different abilities of computers (yet all customers want great physics, and fluid HD graphics at 60fps. After all, it's only a "pinball game"; how hard could it be?)

6- and after all that, you get PC zealots (who've probably stolen the game anyway) accusing the developer of "console-itis" and "dumbing down" the game because it doesn't run at 60fps (all fx on of course) across their 3 spanned monitors at 1920x1080 x16AA... And, goddamnit, where's the console commands already? And where's the freaking map editor and the mods?

7 All in all, developing for the PC can be a line-ball decision. I can fully understand why some developers give it a miss entirely.

I numbered your points to answer, ;-).

1. It may be not many earnings, but every pound is a pound. Plus I think you underestimate the brilliants of this game. This is not some 1 out of hundred thousands app... This is a great game, which will sell itself.

Its the best pinball emulation ever. Yes, margins are low on pc, as on any other console, ipad etc.

2. their own route cost time and money? Setting up a server to download a game, and make a pay infrastaructure is something you can set up in 24 hours and does not cost a large amount of money. But you are right, it does cost some, not much. I think its cheaper than bringing it out on xbox live.

3. why would i want a bad pc version? Off course i dont want that, i want a great version. But thats not the point, cause i will not buy pc version myself.

4. i dont need cabinet support.

5. that is a very valid point, in fact this points is so clear you convinced me.

6. hmm, not sure i agree. Yes, there are always whiners, but i dont think you can think of a way to do it and have no whiners.


7. i can understand now, cause of pount 5.


Its not for me that i would like pc version. But i want this game to be a great s6, and when i thaught of it last night, i could not quite understand when you start a new franchize, you need money. So, why dont you start at the platform that is the most easy and cheap to bring it online, to get some cashflow your way, even when its not very big, it is a start.

But ok....... all those different setups of pcees, videocards, soundcards, etc etc. So after all, i understand it, and i do agree.

I was not thinking like a costumer, but as what i would do when i was pinball arcade owner. But again, pc setups change the whole story.

Thanks for the reply, ;-).

 

[Ozzpot]

Well it's certainly disconcerting that there has been no official word on it, no hard date given at least.

I don't know if it's because the game is on so many platforms at the same time or what but trying to find out hard details about this game is like getting blood from a stone. There is rarely up to date news, and what is there is just so vague and/or confusing. Most of the news now is about Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse, so much so that I thought I'd missed the release of this DLC. I hear people talking about it like they've played it already but it turns out it's on Android or iPhone or something, I don't know.

It's just all over the place and there doesn't seem to be one good source of official news that consolidates all of the news and makes it clear.

Look at the facebook page for example. Should be a good, easy way of getting up to date news out to people who are looking for it, right? Well, it's just too bloated with needless comments, poorly organised, and lacking in details. It mentions Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse as "beginning to appear on Pinball Arcade platforms in May". Well that's incredibly vague. Will it be on all platforms in May or will some have to wait until June, or later? And what about the DLC before it? Surely there is a hard date by now. It's already on Android I gather but what about XBLA? There are articles pointing to videos of BoP and MM "being played on Xbox 360" but no damned mention of when it is out for Xbox 360. I feel like I'm going crazy.

So as far as tomorrow goes, well, I know Microsoft's certification process is a long drawn out pain in the a** but if this DLC was out tomorrow they would know about it. I just don't know if they'd have gotten organised enough to tell us about it. It's a mess.

I would like to apologise to Farsight for this rant. I would not get so wound up about these things if I had anything better to do than guzzle coke and wait for virtual pinball tables to be released. That's MY problem and I shouldn't take it out on anyone else.

Here's my more considered thoughts:

Farsight have taken on a difficult task in releasing a game, with a constant stream of DLC, on multiple platforms at once. With all the different certification processes and scheduling taken into consideration, it must be an almost impossible task to synchronise releases across all platforms, or to give accurate dates for any of those releases. Not least I suspect, because this is a small development team comprised of creative people who want to get on with the job of creating these delights for us rather than keeping the baying masses updated about every hickup in the process. It seems the devs that do post here are regular members of the team with other things to do, so perhaps there is no "press officer" or "community liaison officer" or something similar, purely to do this job.

Having said that, it still seems ridiculous that a DLC release (MM and PoB for XBLA) could have been thought to be due today (Tuesday, May 8th) as late as yesterday evening, is then inexplicably moved back 5 weeks with such late notice, but I sure Microsoft are in no small part responsible for that.

I have taken note of, and subscribed to, the forum thread which consolidates latest news (thanks for that Serenseven), but it seems like an odd corner to tuck away such important updates. I guess it's something we're just going to have to bear with if we're so obsessed as to want to be kept informed on an hourly basis.

 

[Ammonitida]

I have to wait until Mid-June for Medieval Madness? That's just pathetic. We were promised DLC1 the first week of May. Indeed, we were promised new table packs each month but now a whole month will go bye without DLC1 -- a pack that has been available for virtually every other platform for WEEKS! I want MM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really wish that table had been included in the initial release instead of TOTAN.

 

[superballs]

I have to wait until Mid-June for Medieval Madness? That's just pathetic. We were promised DLC1 the first week of May. Indeed, we were promised new table packs each month but now a whole month will go bye without DLC1 -- a pack that has been available for virtually every other platform for WEEKS! I want MM NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really wish that table had been included in the initial release instead of TOTAN.

No release date was officially given by Farsight...we were never promised a release date...they did say that they intended to release DLC every month but unfortunately there are powers that decide if it releases or not beyond them.