BlahCade Podcast #21: BlahCade Theatre w/Bobby Pt 2

[jaredmorgs]

RSS/Stream: http://shoutengine.com/ThePinballBlahcadePodcast/21-forum-questions-part-2-12099

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pinball-blahcade-podcast/id815882416?mt=2

With thanks to our sponsors, Wizard Amusements, we're back again with the 21st installment of the BlahCade.

This month we get to hear Bobby King answer the second part of your questions in the BlahCade Theatre.

Along with that, you get all the other things you know (and maybe even love) about our Hour of Power:

• 2:45 TotM
• 11:30 Pinball League discussion and the "awesome house
• 15:45 Real Safe Cracker vs. TPA Safe Cracker
• 17:20 Bobby Interview Part 2
• 44:45 The TAF Gold debate
• 49:40 Festering the NBA
• 59:30 Commercial break
• 60:40 Whoring for commercial sponsors!
• 1:02:40 Bloom County is back
• 1:06:11 Goodbyes

 

[jaredmorgs]

This is my first time using/editing with an Apple Macbook Air.

I went with a Mac because of this podcast, and knowing that audio editing and "creative" stuff is what this OS is famous for. I do it all for you (cost me a bloody fortune though).

I'm really loving the experience so far, after 6 years using Linux and battling with a lack of decent Audio editing stuff. There are some solutions on Linux that are "functional" but none quite as nice as what's baked into OS-X natively.

 

[mpad]

Great show, thanks for doing the interview.
Too bad about cab support, but a lot of promising news to compensate.
I think they screwed up the cab support by going public with their plans for a commercial v-cab. It is a whole other thing if you make it just for private use. And the concerns of the pinball companies are so like "video killed the radio star". Uber vs taxi.

 

[pm1109]

Thanks for this.
Can't wait to listen to this after work.

 

[Gorgar]

Good interview. I really liked the explanation about why some shots are impossible.

I don't like Bobby's logic regarding Addams Family Gold. What about the people that got screwed pledging $100 dollars for the Pro menu on the Twilight Zone kickstarter (It was given free to anyone that pledged $5 or more)?

For the record, TAFG was $100 for one copy and $400 for all platforms. Also, the leaderboards for AFG actually show 2,000 scores, so it is WAY more than 30 (even after taking into account people having different IDs for mobile and PSN.)

And I would probably take the $100 dollar deal, although that price would seem pretty ridiculous to casual fans that don't realize that was a kickstarter award. $100 is better than nothing.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

It was $150 for all copies not $400. As for numbers, I think the KS page is still there with everything on it.

 

[Gorgar]

It was $150 for all copies not $400. As for numbers, I think the KS page is still there with everything on it.

You are right. It was $100 for one copy and $150 for five.

If they are obstinate about not selling TAFG, they should at least offer it at the $100 tier on whatever the next kickstarter is.

And my guess is that the five Sony licenses are:

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Ghostbusters
Starship Troopers
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Last Action Hero

 

[TNT]

Good stuff as always. Converting analog physics to digital physics isn't exactly simple as Bobby indicates.

A couple of questions. Bobby made it sound like the Kickstarters are fine and generate interest and publicity but some negative connotation about splitting the pie? Wasn't sure what he meant.

Also his comment about the Stern tables coming. Was he referencing digital-only pins or their standard tables? If he specified.

 

[Fungi]

Also, the leaderboards for AFG actually show 2,000 scores, so it is WAY more than 30 (even after taking into account people having different IDs for mobile and PSN.)

Well, at one point, FS screwed up and TAFG was made available to all on the PC. I played it once and put up a score. Then like a mirage... it was gone the next day. But my score's still there.

 

[Gorgar]

Good stuff as always. Converting analog physics to digital physics isn't exactly simple as Bobby indicates.

A couple of questions. Bobby made it sound like the Kickstarters are fine and generate interest and publicity but some negative connotation about splitting the pie? Wasn't sure what he meant.

Also his comment about the Stern tables coming. Was he referencing digital-only pins or their standard tables? If he specified.

The whole pie thing was about how much profit they make on each table. In addition to the money funded for the kickstarter, they have to share a percentage of sales to the pinball manufacturer, movie studio, creator of source material, actors, record labels, etc. So they are cutting the pie of profits into pieces so small that they don't see much of it.

And I think the Stern thing was just hinting at things to come without giving too much away. To me, it sounds like Sterns will be a big part of Season 5 and possible future seasons. If Stern starting putting a clause in their contracts with their licenses that allow Farsight to make digital versions of tables, they might be able to do them once they solve the SAM system emulation.

 

[invitro]

If Stern starting putting a clause in their contracts with their licenses that allow Farsight to make digital versions of tables, they might be able to do them once they solve the SAM system emulation.

I'm confused about something here. If Stern starts putting into this clause, it would affect only their future tables. And their current tables aren't SAM, they're Spike. So solving SAM system emulation wouldn't help at all with tables affected by this clause. Am I missing something? SAM and Spike are different, right?

 

[Gorgar]

I'm confused about something here. If Stern starts putting into this clause, it would affect only their future tables. And their current tables aren't SAM, they're Spike. So solving SAM system emulation wouldn't help at all with tables affected by this clause. Am I missing something? SAM and Spike are different, right?

They are different, but there is a slight chance that maybe they started putting this clause in around the release of Metallica, which I believe is still SAM (but I could be wrong, I am no expert).

I remember when Metallica first came out, someone on Facebook asked about the chances of AC/DC and Metallica. The response was something along the lines of AC/DC - no chance, Metallica - slight chance. But maybe I am reading too much into that.

But yeah, I should have mentioned Spike in my original post.

 

[invitro]

They are different, but there is a slight chance that maybe they started putting this clause in around the release of Metallica, which I believe is still SAM (but I could be wrong, I am no expert).

Sorry for being picky/annoying. Yep, Metallica is SAM. It would be very interesting (exciting?) indeed if SAM/Spike tables became possible both technically and license-wise.

Here's a quote from Bobby King from Part 1: "Stern would like to see more of their tables represented in digital form. Yes, there are plans - but I can't elaborate on the details quite yet. The Spike system is a new challenge, but I don't think it will prove to be any harder than emulating SAM."

(My poor hearing prevents me from knowing exactly what was said in Part 2 until a transcript for it becomes available .)

 

[SilverBalls]

Great recording - thanks fellas.

The cab support. I am so pi$$ed off as they promised it for so long. Oh well VP10 is the future.

 

[Ben Logan]

What exactly was said about cab support? Sorry, haven't had a chance to hear the recording...

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

What exactly was said about cab support? Sorry, haven't had a chance to hear the recording...

The quote is pretty much: "cabinet support is on indefinite hold for business reasons". That was it. No elaboration and obviously no room for follow-up since these were written answers to pre-selected questions submitted via email.

 

[Xanija]

Sorry for all the folks desperately waiting for Cab support. I'm sure it must be disappointing as hell. But to be honest it's better to tell it as it is rather than let the players wait forever and pretending they would still work on it. But, conspiracy theory coming up: Having this question in part 2 of the interview gives the impression of waiting for this information to be released after S5 has been up on Steam. On the other hand, I'm not sure if the impact of cab players not buying DLC any more is big enough to make a huge difference.

Others than that, good questions and interesting answers, escpecially the part about tuning some of the older tables and fixing "impossible shots".

 

[Locksley]

Listened to the Bobby part a day ago and found it interesting all the little tweaks they are doing without putting it into the patch notes.
Happy to hear Bobby feels the lack of ballspinn, hope that will be the next push.

And how about that "getting a new texture artist up to speed"; gawd I hope he is a perfectionist....

Will browse the rest of the show eventually. I kinda agree with both SYT and Bonzo; if you pay for a kickstarter special it should be respected. I do agree they should put in a paragraph of timelimited exclusivity though.

I've allready though that "why don't they sell 'mods' as add ons to the game" and hope they will take this further. More revenue for them and more fun for us.

I also strongly recommend that they do ROM code adjustments! Lyman often states how different the way they update code today when compared to before 21 century. It seldom matters to me as I don't know the 'cheats' well enough to execute them but to those who feel a game is broken when there is really a wide open money shot, they would really benefit getting those holes plugged.

Cheers - literally...

 

[invitro]

And how about that "getting a new texture artist up to speed"; gawd I hope he is a perfectionist....

+1, I hope he's an actual artist, and fast enough to get everything on a table covered in a month.

I also strongly recommend that they do ROM code adjustments! Lyman often states how different the way they update code today when compared to before 21 century.

Hmm. Isn't it trendy today to release a machine with skeletal/non-working code, and promise to update it eventually? I may be very interested in knowing just what's going on with today's ROMs and if there's any good reason for bad stuff they're doing.

I don't see any reason to make any changes with ROMs on current TPA tables. Seems like it'd be fairly detailed work, and we don't want to encourage Farsight to do anything non-urgent that gets in their way of churning out tables at their current super-low prices, right?

 

[Locksley]

Seems like it'd be fairly detailed work, and we don't want to encourage Farsight to do anything non-urgent that gets in their way of churning out tables at their current super-low prices, right?

Right. And for me personally it doesn't matter much, I am not skilled enough to stack modes and remember all the exploits of a table.