Are Pro versions worth it?

[Espy]

To everyone in a rage about my throwaway comment about Pro Pinball: I was only pointing out the difference between pricing strategies now and then. They were expensive then. They aren't now. There are many reasons for that. But the fact remains that a digital pinball table will set you back £2-3 and I was making the point that I think that is underpriced when you consider the enjoyment I get out of them. That's all!

 

[TripleT]

I buy Pro to support Far Sight, but never use the features. Twiddling with the settings is too much trouble.

I'd prefer something else as a bonus, like more goals or custom balls.

 

[smbhax]

Twiddling with the settings is too much trouble.

I don't mind that so long as I only have to do it once--the thing that kinda annoys me though is that at least on PS3 you have to activate Pro Mode each time you start the game and go back to a particular table--it doesn't remember that you left it turned on before.

 

[netizen]

I'd like to know more on this. I'm a fiend for stats, and extensive stat tracking would be well worth the extra dough for me. How extensive are they?

I pressed reset, and played a quick game in pro mode of AFM to double check the bookkeeping audit menu stats are being collected and these are indeed being saved in pro mode games. Most of the Bally/Williams era games will have similar features, the Gottlieb ones are a bit different, and the alphanumeric games aren't as sophisticated in tracking, but they do have audit menus.
The three main bookkeeping menus have these stats. there are more menus, and there are more stats in the menus I feature here but they are usually to do with earnings, tickets etc.
Bookeeping Main Audits:
Avg. Ball Time
Time Per Credit
Total Plays
Replays Awarded
Percent Replays
Extra Balls
Percent Ex. Balls

Standard Audits:
Games Started
Total Plays
Total Free Plays
Freeplay percent
Replay awards
Percent Replays
Match awards
Percent match
HSTD Credits
Percent HSTD
Extra Balls
Percent EX Balls
Left Drains
Right Drains
Avg Ball Time
Time per Credit
Play Time
Minutes On
Balls Played
Tilts
Replay 1 Awards
Replay 2 Awards
Replay 3 Awards
Replay 4 awards
1 players Games
2 player games
3 player games
4 player games
HSTD Reset count
Left Flipper
Right Flipper

Feature Audits:
Ball Saves
Total Multi Balls
Atk. Wave Start %
Atk. Wave Complete %
Atk Wave EB lit %
Locks Lit %
Balls Locked %
Main M.B. Start %
Main M.B. Jackpots %
Main M.B. Super JP %
1st Wave Start %
1st Wave Complete %
2nd Wave Start %
2nd Wave Complete %
3rd wave Start %
3rd wave Complete %
4th Wave Start %
4th Wave Complete %
5th Wave Start %
5th Wave Complete %
6th Wave Start %
6th wave Complete %
Hurry Up awards %
Annihil. Start %
Annihil. Complete %
Annihil. Jackpots %
Martians Complete %
Martn. Atk. Start %
Martn. Atk. Kills %
Martn. Bombs Coll. %
Martn. Bombs Used %
Martian M.B. Start %
martian M.B. Kills %
5-Way Combo %
Super jets Start %
R.universe Start %
R.Universe Complete %
Skill Shot %
Super Skill Shot %
Bonus x %
Bot. Lane Complete %
Bot. Lane E.B. Lit %
Random awards %
Random E.B. Lit %
Strobe M.B. Start %
Strobe E.B. lit %
Video Mode Start %
Video E.B. %
Video MotherShip %
Video Complete %
Sneak Atk. Start %
Sneak Atk Complete %
Novice Modes %
Buy-In Ex. Balls %

 

[Krooze L-Roy]

That's pretty awesome, thanks netizen. I was 99% certain I'd go with the pro versions anyway, simply to admire the playfield/backglass artwork (too bad it appears you can't do the same with the cabinet art), but those stats clinch it.

 

[norbert26]

I don't mind that so long as I only have to do it once--the thing that kinda annoys me though is that at least on PS3 you have to activate Pro Mode each time you start the game and go back to a particular table--it doesn't remember that you left it turned on before.

same thing on iOS it defaults to operator mode off when you leave / exit the table.

 

[RetroDude]

Didn't they add a new feature to Pro? I'd say it's worth the extra 3 bucks per pack. In Attack from Mars, the line "I enjoy killing these martians" really draws a laugh out of me. It's just hilarious the way she says it. For Scared Stiff, it's a must. Though hiding family settings behind the pay wall was a bit of a con job... #neverforget

And if you're serious about getting better, you can turn the extra balls off, and tweak other settings just for fun.

If you run home tournaments or vs matches, it's a must. When they add tournament software into Pro, it'll be a must buy. Can't wait to run home tournaments on my PS4!

It's kinda annyoing that leaderboards are disabled even when you only change cosmetic stuff like family mode. They should allow to change some stuff with leaderboards still active.

I'd pay a couple bucks as a stand-alone option to turn off the "family" settings on Scared Stiff and still have the scores count. That does indeed suck that just changing the audio without any rules changes disqualifies leader board posts.

 

[Tales from the Crypt !!]

How come you cant get Centaur on the pro tables? Or maybe the reason is on here but i have not seen it.

 

[netizen]

How come you cant get Centaur on the pro tables? Or maybe the reason is on here but i have not seen it.

The short answer is Because.

the long answer is that FS hadn't developed the dip switch emulation for altering settings like they use in the Pro Mode for Flight 2000 yet. Even the Pro Mode in Flight 2000 wasn't finished on release and took an additional 2 months to iron out most of the bugs.

Anything more than that is up for speculation unless you choose to write to support and see if there's new info.

 

[smbhax]

A lot of their tables don't have Pro Mode versions, even ones you'd think would have by now like Monster Bash and Funhouse. I wonder if they're ever going to catch up on those.

 

[Epsilon]

A lot of their tables don't have Pro Mode versions, even ones you'd think would have by now like Monster Bash and Funhouse. I wonder if they're ever going to catch up on those.

Do you know if they've ever gone back and added Pro Mode, aside from TOTAN (which is probably because it's the free table and they want to show off the functionality) and MM (which I think was pretty shortly after Pro Mode was introduced)?

I agree it would be fantastic for some of the more modern pins (which they certainly already have the underpinnings of the emulation for by now) but what makes that a bit tricky is whether those Pro modes would automatically become available for people who bought the Season Packs, and in that case Farsight would basically be doing extra work for no extra money. I really hope that they add these in the future. In fact, I wouldn't even mind paying for them. Lacking the pro functionality is a really big deal when you're used to being able to do the things you can with it.

 

[morenoquinteiro]

Kinda bugs me that the ability to actually look at the table closely is only available in Pro mode - something so basic as being able to read what the inserts say shouldn't be "pro", it's what anyone who has every played any real-life pinball table can do. I understand the Pro mode for access to operator's menu, and any other special features not normally part of the pinball experience.

I do most agree with this post. This should be a standard option for anyone.

 

[smbhax]

Do you know if they've ever gone back and added Pro Mode, aside from TOTAN (which is probably because it's the free table and they want to show off the functionality) and MM (which I think was pretty shortly after Pro Mode was introduced)?

Hm yeah I guess it *was* just those two, now that you mention it.

Back to the original question, I *am* going to pony up for the Pro version of the season one pack when it hits PS4, because it's only $10 ($5 w/ discount?) more, after all.