DLC Release Date

[Emmanuel Papillon]

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.

Actually, when you see the "experience" Farsight has as a developer, it makes a lot of sense... they haven't really shined in the past.

 

[Krzysiek Grzelak]

Its painfull playing on 7'' Tab instead of 50'' KURO ....
-Farsight, get ur s**t 2gether and give us some DLC!

 

[Daniel Osborne]

Krp500a here, kuro rocks!
I'm leaving the pinball arcade alone for a while till its sorted out a bit more.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Its painfull playing on 7'' Tab instead of 50'' KURO ....
-Farsight, get ur s**t 2gether and give us some DLC!

That's probably exactly what they're doing now - getting all their ducks in a row so that they (and we) hopefully don't go through the multiple-rejection hell like the last title update did. And apparently you can only title-update an XBLA game a limited number of times, so FarSight probably needs to let DLC pile up a bit so that multiple packs can be released under one title update, instead of burning an update per table pack and running out of updates later on.

 

[Richard B]

The fact that FS hasn't said anything about this yet makes me suspect the worst.

 

[Nik Barbour]

I'd really like a Farsight update on the situation. Even if it's not what we want to hear.

 

[Richard B]

I'd really like a Farsight update on the situation. Even if it's not what we want to hear.

If they've abandoned the platform, I will be pissed, but they should just give us the bad news already, rather than drag it out.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

If they've abandoned the platform, I will be pissed, but they should just give us the bad news already, rather than drag it out.

While I could certainly understand the temptation to abandon ship, I haven't seen or heard anything that would cause me to think FarSight intends to drop support for the 360.

 

[PiN WiZ]

FarSight IS NOT abandoning the Xbox 360. They are merely trying to avoid the problems the PS3 is experiencing with DLC Tables Pack #4 while at the same time using their limited number of Title Updates wisely.

 

[Jeff Strong]

So how many updates are they allowed?

 

[Richard B]

While I could certainly understand the temptation to abandon ship, I haven't seen or heard anything that would cause me to think FarSight intends to drop support for the 360.

Their lack of releases since August, removal of even general time frames, and the silence on the subject as to why that has happened tells me they have really bad news. If they didn't, they'd let us know the reason for the delays, as well as at least a rough time frame for release, like they have always done in the past. They don't want to lie to us, but they also want to delay reporting it for as long as possible, as it will kill sales of the already available games and tables, and they could really use the money.
I'm already contemplating which platform I will be playing TPA on. I can't afford another system, and I'd sell my 360 and use the money for a PS3, but I have too many downloaded games that I'd lose, so that's out. PC? If they're shutting down 360, maybe they can give us some consolation by announcing a release date (even a loose one) for the PC. Otherwise, I'll be shut out of TPA.

 

[PiN WiZ]

Their lack of releases since August, removal of even general time frames, and the silence on the subject as to why that has happened tells me they have really bad news. If they didn't, they'd let us know the reason for the delays, as well as at least a rough time frame for release, like they have always done in the past. They don't want to lie to us, but they also want to delay reporting it for as long as possible, as it will kill sales of the already available games and tables, and they could really use the money.
I'm already contemplating which platform I will be playing TPA on. I can't afford another system, and I'd sell my 360 and use the money for a PS3, but I have too many downloaded games that I'd lose, so that's out. PC? If they're shutting down 360, maybe they can give us some consolation by announcing a release date (even a loose one) for the PC. Otherwise, I'll be shut out of TPA.

I don't know where some of you are getting your information from, but once again, FarSight IS NOT abandoning the Xbox 360. Their lack of updates is nothing new and people should not be taking this as a bad sign when in actuality, it's the complete opposite.

 

[ClaudeHenrySmoot]

Their lack of updates is actually something a lot of us have been BEGGING for. I've made it clear on a few occasions - "please stop announcing dates when you can't control 100% of the process". So I applaud FS for keeping quiet and being vague.

We know the tables are coming... they've already been built and displayed. We also know FS has been having trouble with the Xbox approval process, not to mention they're working hard to squash all the bugs. Seems completely logical there are delays - we're just going to have to be patient. The Xbox is their primary development platform - any talk of abandonment without some sort of comment/evidence from FS is crazy-talk IMO.

I have to be honest... (and this is in no way rubbing anything in the faces of Xbox owners, because I "am" one, and I think TPA is 100 times better on Xbox than iPad) but re: the iPad tables... I'm a bit overwhelmed right now. I only get maybe 30 minutes a day to play TPA, and this last batch of tables leaves me with more content than I have time to appreciate. I've been meaning to go back and spend some time working on my TOTAN/ToM scores, and I can't even focus on that due to the new tables/rules I've got to pick up. So I think we're getting to the tipping point when new tables will be a pleasant distraction for a lot of us.

 

[Matt McIrvin]

I have to be honest... (and this is in no way rubbing anything in the faces of Xbox owners, because I "am" one, and I think TPA is 100 times better on Xbox than iPad) but re: the iPad tables... I'm a bit overwhelmed right now.

My other platform is Android, and there, the new tables have actually been coming out at a nice steady pace, if not bug-free. TPA is starting to feel huge enough that I think about getting more selective about what I buy... but whenever a new pack pops up, my attitude is that it's two new pinballs on my phone for the cost of a sandwich, and it's hard to resist.

I'm certainly itching to see Creature, Taxi and Party Monsters on my XBox screen, though.

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

I'm not aware of any plans to drop the Xbox 360. As soon as we have some actual news to report we will.

 

[Kaos]

There we go, news from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I do have to hand it to them, for all the problems they've had with DLC and updates on the 360, they've been more communicative then almost any other company I've seen.

 

[Nik Barbour]

I'm not aware of any plans to drop the Xbox 360. As soon as we have some actual news to report we will.

Thanks Mike.
Is any dlc or updates in submission yet, or is it still in the 'optimization' stage?

 

[Worf]

My other platform is Android, and there, the new tables have actually been coming out at a nice steady pace, if not bug-free.

That's the problem. Microsoft expects developers to test and test and test and test and test and ensure that for the most part, the game doesn't have obvious showstoppers.

Balls cannot get stuck, balls cannot disappear, and the game should be playable without running into obvious game-stopping bugs like that. Once it's up in the store, Microsoft expects few updates to it - it should be good to go.

It's probably the nicer part of the Xbox - updates are few and far between - unlike my PS3 where I dread starting it up only to be confronted with an hour's worth of updates before I can play. I can start my Xbox, start TPA and play (maybe 30 seconds for an update).

Of course, for modern developers that are "ship a beta, fix bugs as the public finds 'em" it means the Xbox version keeps getting kicked back to the developers. And Microsoft charges $40k to run a complete test on the game (partly to pay for the test resources, partly to serve as a punitive measure so people don't half-ass updates). Which unfortunately, most developers are - just ship what compiled.

Unfortunately, I don't think FarSight's in Microsoft's good books as a reliable bug-free developer. (Given the time when MM didn't work because of no playfield lights on iOS...). Doesn't help either when we call on them to please just fix bugs this cycle.

 

[xNiCeGuYx]

Microsoft doesn't care about game bugs like stuck or disappearing balls.

 

[Gordon]

I'm not aware of any plans to drop the Xbox 360. As soon as we have some actual news to report we will.

What do you mean "As soon as we have some actual news to report we will" ? Update and DLC date ?