DLC Release Date

[Richard B]

where did this info come from?

Mike mentioned this as an example of something stupid that could disqualify a submission.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

hm, so its micro$ofts fault that they find faults in games people want to release on their platform...

and btw, even though i'm really displeased (to put it mildly and politically correct) with all this waiting, i actually prefer teh fact that someone is actually quality testing this stuff

 

[aangel]

hm, so its micro$ofts fault that they find faults in games people want to release on their platform...

and btw, even though i'm really displeased (to put it mildly and politically correct) with all this waiting, i actually prefer teh fact that someone is actually quality testing this stuff

I agree I'd rather wait than the buy it filled with glitches, although this last glitch would only happen to complete idiots.

 

[pinbot-76]

hm, so its micro$ofts fault that they find faults in games people want to release on their platform...

and btw, even though i'm really displeased (to put it mildly and politically correct) with all this waiting, i actually prefer teh fact that someone is actually quality testing this stuff

Yes, I would say that MS is at fault for not pointing this out in an earlier submission. As for those memory card users who happen to pull cards out while trying to fire up a game... they are not worth making everyone else wait.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

wait so this actually happened? i thought it was only an example of something that might go wrong... so is this the latest developement or was this posted some time ago?

 

[PiN WiZ]

This sounds like the "unable to load the game with a guitar plugged into the second port" fiasco, before the core game was approved, all over again.

 

[aangel]

I think it's more to this story than what we are seeing. I wonder if FS rubbed MS the wrong way when they convinced MS to grant them an exception on the 4mb limitation issue and now FS is paying the price for it. Something is not right. I don't believe this is happening because of competition between fx2 and tpa.

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

I found the post on FB so it is true. That is terrible news, but I do understand why Microsoft has these quality control measures in place, it prevents you from getting tables that look like this.

 

[BonzoGonzo]

oh lolzers i'm off to sleep, it's 2.16 in the morning here...

i wouldn't even care THAT much, if there wasn't the improved physics with lightning, and cirqus voltaire/funhouse pack

edit: yeah, quality control is a beeatch

 

[Richard B]

Another month!!!!!!!!!! For something stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Brandon Debes]

But if someone was to chastise you for your choice in being a fan of Hicks, you'd not be happy, would you ?

I literally could not care any less than I do now about who likes or doesn't like Bill Hicks. He's the closest thing I've ever had to a Jesus so I try to keep his memory alive. But I'm not going to get personally butthurt if somebody doesn't like him. I urge you not to care that I don't think much of Zen Studios' so-called pinball video games. To paraphrase Bill, I don't mean to sound elitist and condescending. But I am, so that's how it comes out.

Meanwhile, back on the topic, I am super bummed about the news that the title update was rejected again. In FarSight's defense, it must be said that some of Microsoft's TCRs for XBLA are utterly outrageous. However, loads of studios large and small manage to comply with them every year. So it's hard to have endless sympathy for this type of crap. I'm not sure what FarSight's deal with Crave is, but I would like to think that a publisher could make some resources available to a small dev team when it comes to navigating console cert or even just polishing the more "software" aspects of of their product. From what I can tell everyone at FarSight is focused on the pinball recreation part of this product, which is the most important part, sure. But somebody needs to take a moment to get the rest of the house in order or else just drop support for this platform entirely and stick to those on which they can release updates comfortably.

 

[Richard B]

They'll fix this, then MS will find some other bug, and on and on, until FS gives up and abandons development for the 360.

 

[RKade8583]

Oh god damn it!

 

[Kitten with C4]

What a load of **** Microsoft, there is something going on here, and it doesn't sound reasonable that this so called "bug" is the calling card for destruction during gameplay on your console. i am now furious, its been 3 months (counting rest of july) since we were supposed to have DLC, and one teeny-weeny bug voids the launch of the game update. What a big slap to the face of the people who bought TPA on 360.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Unfortunately it's not going to be this week- we just got word the Microsoft rejected it AGAIN. This time it was for a single "bug"- if you download a new table to a memory card instead of your hard drive and then pull the card out of the 360 while attempting to load that table, the game becomes unresponsive (although you can still exit and restart- it hasn't crashed). This behavior was present in every other submission to them but they didn't flag it until now. We'll try to argue our way out of it, but unless we succeed we'll have to resubmit it once again. We're sorry for the continue delay- we're more frustrated about it than you are!

Next MS will reject the update because the game will not function properly when the 360 is submerged in water.

Seriously, would even the most technology-naive user expect the software to load properly if you remove the device it's loading the table from? What would possibly indicate to FarSight the need to test such a case? Why is allowing the user to exit and restart not an acceptable way of dealing with a condition that obviously is not recoverable without user intervention (to replace the missing memory card)? And what does Pinball FX2 do if you save a table to a memory card and then remove the card while it is loading?

If the PC version were out, I'd gladly consign the 360 to the hell it so richly deserves. Thank <insert deity of choice> I have the iOS version and easy access to real tables to feed the addiction in the meantime, but I feel really bad for the 360-only crowd.

 

[Kitten with C4]

Next MS will reject the update because the game will not function properly when the 360 is submerged in water.

Then it will be the game not functioning properly when the power is unplugged.

 

[Richard B]

We're sorry for the continue delay- we're more frustrated about it than you are!

No you're not!

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

The Pinball Arcade
Unfortunately it's not going to be this week- we just got word the Microsoft rejected it AGAIN. This time it was for a single "bug"- if you download a new table to a memory card instead of your hard drive and then pull the card out of the 360 while attempting to load that table, the game becomes unresponsive (although you can still exit and restart- it hasn't crashed). This behavior was present in every other submission to them but they didn't flag it until now. We'll try to argue our way out of it, but unless we succeed we'll have to resubmit it once again. We're sorry for the continue delay- we're more frustrated about it than you are!

I just wanted to verify this is the case. Sorry for all your disappointment, trust me that I share it with you. I don't think I've ever been so frustrated in over 12 years of game development.

We're working to see if they will waive the issue and let us fix it in the next release.

I found the post on FB so it is true. That is terrible news, but I do understand why Microsoft has these quality control measures in place, it prevents you from getting tables that look like this.

Just so you know, Microsoft would never find the issue in your link. They are only looking at issues with pulling out memory cards and messing with guitar controllers. They don't actually look at gameplay, visuals or to make sure the tables play properly.

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

Next MS will reject the update because the game will not function properly when the 360 is submerged in water.

Seriously, would even the most technology-naive user expect the software to load properly if you remove the device it's loading the table from? What would possibly indicate to FarSight the need to test such a case? Why is allowing the user to exit and restart not an acceptable way of dealing with a condition that obviously is not recoverable without user intervention (to replace the missing memory card)? And what does Pinball FX2 do if you save a table to a memory card and then remove the card while it is loading?

If the PC version were out, I'd gladly consign the 360 to the hell it so richly deserves. Thank <insert deity of choice> I have the iOS version and easy access to real tables to feed the addiction in the meantime, but I feel really bad for the 360-only crowd.

I believe I mentioned before how they fail us for dumb reasons. The stuff they find blows our minds sometimes. I'm glad to hear actual Gamers never think to do the things they test.

The problem we have is we never think to test ridiculous stuff like this, because it would never dawn on us that a person would do that and expect the game to work properly.

 

[Frostyglitch]

I'm afraid the casual younger audience has likely forgotten about TPA on the 360 due to this debacle. I know my nephew (15) barely had an interest in the first place, but bought on my recommendation anyhow. So now I'd be rather shocked if he even noticed DLC let alone bought it...what a shame.