DLC Release Date

PiN WiZ

Mod & Forum Superstar
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Feb 22, 2012
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I was still hoping it will settle in and become more regular personally. If the current 'optimisations' are lighting changes, once this is rolled out, I can't think why releases couldn't be regular and 4-6 wks behind Android and ios.

Because they only have a limited number of Title Updates they can submit and would use them all up in a little over six months if they were to submit one Table Pack at a time, not to mention $40,000 per submission.
 
N

Nik Barbour

Guest
Because they only have a limited number of Title Updates they can submit and would use them all up in a little over six months if they were to submit one Table Pack at a time, not to mention $40,000 per submission.

Yeah, I wasn't sure on the frequency, bi-monthly, tri-monthly. But they shouldn't be 6 months behind should they?

Couldn't one title update contain all table data for next 6 or 12 months.
Then the individual packs could be released, and the game would just recognise the packs as they became available.
 
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PiN WiZ

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Feb 22, 2012
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Yeah, I wasn't sure on the frequency, bi-monthly, tri-monthly. But they shouldn't be 6 months behind should they?

Couldn't one title update contain all table data for next 6 or 12 months.
Then the individual packs could be released, and the game would just recognise the packs as they became available.

If FarSight decides to stick with submitting three DLC Table Packs at the same time, the Table Packs will be 2, 3 and 4 months (respectively) behind Android and iOS when they are released on Xbox 360.
 

xNiCeGuYx

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Apr 16, 2012
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Right now I'm thinking about switching to the Ipad3 version of TPA. I will get tables faster and I like the shorter playtimes because of the more difficult nudging. (which is too easy on the 360 imo)
Does the ipad version has the same physics as the 360 version?
 
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Mark W**a

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Sep 7, 2012
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Right now I'm thinking about switching to the Ipad3 version of TPA. I will get tables faster and I like the shorter playtimes because of the more difficult nudging. (which is too easy on the 360 imo)
Does the ipad version has the same physics as the 360 version?

It took me a while to warm up to the iPhone version, but I have to say now that I'm used to the controls I'm enjoying it.

The biggest difference is that you can't nudge up and down, only left and right.

Basically I feel that 360/Console is much easier than a real pinball table. Whereas the iOS version is a little harder. On console you can just abuse nudging so much without much worry of tilting. On iOS I have to physically move my thumbs from the bottom of the screen all the way to the top, it's more of a "desperate" nudge that often fails, whereas on console I can literally control the entire ball all the time leading to insane scores that I would never be able to achieve on a real machine (well I wouldn't go that far, if I actually owned a machine maybe I could get this good).

Physics? Not sure. Farsight would be the ones to ask. I can't imagine they use different engines for physics between platforms but then again I simply don't know. The ball does seem a little less weighty on my Iphone. It feels good, though.

Graphically, the 360 version is a looker, 1080P 60FPS, nice textures and lighting, high polygon geometry. The iOS version is lower poly, maybe lower texture too (neither version has the best texture work tbh), but it's only really noticable up close. Worse lighting, but an overall brighter lighting scheme, and the retina display just puts this over the top. It's gotta look stunning on an Ipad 3 (I don't have one), because it looks damn good on my 4S phone. The tradeoff is worth it imo, at the end of the day I actually prefer the look of the iphone version. The Ipad is running nearly 4k resolution that has to be stunning, I really do need to get one of these days.
 
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xNiCeGuYx

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Apr 16, 2012
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Thanks and yes, TPA looks awesome on the Ipad3. :cool:
Maybe Mike could help me out with my ball physics question.
 
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lettuce

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Mar 17, 2012
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If FarSight decides to stick with submitting three DLC Table Packs at the same time, the Table Packs will be 2, 3 and 4 months (respectively) behind Android and iOS when they are released on Xbox 360.


The **** will hit the fan then when mobile and PS3 owners get Twlight Zone in November but 360 owners have to wait until Feb or March of 2013!!!
 

Worf

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Aug 12, 2012
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I suspect the big problem was QA issues. After all, the iOS DLC was delayed purely because there were a bunch of issues found (either crashing or other). Given how many requests there are in other forums for "please, no DLC - just fix bugs!" I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft's tests ran into the same problem ($40k is partly to pay for that, partly to pay as a penalty for poor QA).

You can bet every time a ball gets stuck that's not recoverable by "Call attendant" (Taxi has a few of them) it gets reported (because it should've been found during QA).

Android, no QA, so it appears first. iOS only does a minor test (does it run? Can you play a game without crashing?) - it's assumed gameplay bugs were caught during QA. PS3 - Sony's encouraging devs because face it - their security issues are ongoing (and personally, I never buy from Sony because they can't guard personal information (they only found out AFTER they found pirated DLC), nor are their gift cards ever on sale, unlike iTunes and Xbox points). Microsoft's stance has been to basically force devs to do extensive QA - they get one "freebie" but that doesn't mean devs can skip QA.

It's a big problem as most devs these days will prefer to patch freely - oh, a bug fix? Fix it and update the release (which if you're playing games, can often be preceded by "An update is available, download?" dialogs practically daily). Heck, I dread powering on my PS3 for that reason - "update! update! update!" and before I know it, it's time to shut it down and go to bed.
 

Mark W**a

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Sep 7, 2012
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I only have the free version of Taxi, but it's got some bugs that are just baffling, like how 9 times out of ten on a Joyride the camera decides it wants to take a joyride into the insides of the polygonal Taxi cabinet lol. And Black Knight on PS3 speaks for itself.

Honestly at this point, just let them iron out all the bugs, I just want clean tables, I don't care if they are delayed. The big question right now is Twilight Zone. If they are going to make a November delivery, then that table would have to be submitted by no later than two weeks from now. And the way people are talking, it -has- to make that deadline due to some stipulation within the Kickstarter, no?

Personally if I had to wait until November, but got all 3 packs with less bugs + Twilight Zone I would say that's totally worth the wait.
 

Sean DonCarlos

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Mar 17, 2012
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And the way people are talking, it -has- to make that deadline due to some stipulation within the Kickstarter, no?
Not that I'm aware of. It even says "Estimated delivery: Nov 2012" on the reward tiers.

I'm sure the Facebook horde will go ballistic once they figure out estimates are not promises, but that's really nothing new.
 

Mark W**a

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Sep 7, 2012
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Not that I'm aware of. It even says "Estimated delivery: Nov 2012" on the reward tiers.

I'm sure the Facebook horde will go ballistic once they figure out estimates are not promises, but that's really nothing new.

I guess I was reading into peoples comments too much.

It would not surprise me in the least if we didn't get Twilight Zone on 360 this year. I'm content with packs 4,5,6, and 7 between now and new years. Personally I can wait on TZ but I know people will be outraged if it slips into 2013 on Xbox.
 

Bonzo

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May 16, 2012
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People will be outraged, full stop. If it's late: trolling. If it has even the tinyest bug: trolling. If it costs more than the other tables: trolling. At least on FaceBook. :(
 

Rudy

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Sep 13, 2012
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But that isn't trolling. Trolling is deliberately saying something that will cause an argument even if they don't believe the words they say.

What we have on the facebook page are people who are taking the game at face value, they don't know how the xbox or PS3 DLC stuff works nor how long it takes to go through the marketplace stores. What they see is that the android and iOS versions are on table pack 6 and their console is on either pack 3 or 4 (or in PS3 Europe's case, 1). They may also have heard Farsight giving vague dates of when the DLC was meant to be out and feel lied to.

What's worse, the second that something goes wrong Farsight goes and rips into either the PSN store, the Xbox Marketplace or the iOS store whenever a problem occurs that isn't their fault. Yes, it may not be their fault, but ripping into something else is a little unprofessional and looks like they're diverting the criticism to another area. Also, it's pretty obvious that at least one reported 'submission' has never happened and been used as an excuse to explain a delay.

We are at an advantage at being able to chat amongst ourselves and the developers, but surely you must see how annoying this is to someone who doesn't know about the £40k submission fee, nor the 4-6 week wait between submission dates. We're happy to wait it out for quality DLC because we're kinda aware that this is Farsights first glimpse into a DLC only distribution system... but that's only making it harder to accept as a professional model for other people who aren't as forgiving.

I'll admit that some posts are just looking for an argument, but given the reasons above they're entitled to a little criticism.
 

Bonzo

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May 16, 2012
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OK, that's not trolling by definition. And I can see why people that just bought "some pinball game" aren't satisfied with the delays and bugs. But I fancy common sense and at least some manners a lot (as do most if not all of us here it seems), and to me it seems that this is not the case with at least 75% of the people who post on FarSights FB.
 

Ozzpot

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May 5, 2012
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OK, that's not trolling by definition. And I can see why people that just bought "some pinball game" aren't satisfied with the delays and bugs. But I fancy common sense and at least some manners a lot (as do most if not all of us here it seems), and to me it seems that this is not the case with at least 75% of the people who post on FarSights FB.
I agree with you to a point, Bonzo; I don't use Facebook so I don't know how nasty the comments are, but I know that as much as it annoys and frustrates us, we have no right to attack FarSight about release dates etc. We do however have the right to voice our frustrations at bugs in the DLC that has released and we have paid for.

The truth is that the whole situation with this DLC on Xbox is a monumental and ongoing shambles that eclipses even the farce that was GameRoom a couple of years ago. They promise DLC, show us screens and videos, give us release dates, and then are very, very, late at hitting those dates. That's fine. Can't complain about that. There are some factors beyond their control. But I do feel that they should've got the hang of this by now. I can't think of many other developers that have struggled so much to release content. It gives me an image of Farsight as being two 15 year old boys who have made a game in their bedrooms and are doing all this for the first time, naïve of the process and the problems involved. And I know that is far from the case.

What I feel we have a right to be annoyed about is that even when we do get the release, it is full of bugs and seems so rushed a release that you have to recover your profile after each play because the achievements don't register. It makes me tear my hair out and I wonder how this can happen with a developer so experienced, especially when the Xbox 360 is the lead platform.

I do feel that people who spend most of their time complaining about this though, on here or on Facebook, need to get a life, or at least get some more games. When people talk about "selling their Xbox" because of this I just feel like reminding them that there are other games to play...
 
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Mark Miwurdz

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Apr 7, 2012
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I guess I was reading into peoples comments too much.

It would not surprise me in the least if we didn't get Twilight Zone on 360 this year. I'm content with packs 4,5,6, and 7 between now and new years. Personally I can wait on TZ but I know people will be outraged if it slips into 2013 on Xbox.

Packs 4,5,6, and 7 between now and new years!? You got a link to the DLC timeframe?
 

mark21667

Banned for Multiple Accounts
Aug 29, 2012
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I guess I was reading into peoples comments too much.

It would not surprise me in the least if we didn't get Twilight Zone on 360 this year. I'm content with packs 4,5,6, and 7 between now and new years. Personally I can wait on TZ but I know people will be outraged if it slips into 2013 on Xbox.

Packs 4,5,6, and 7 between now and new years!? You got a link to the DLC timeframe?
 

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