Head to Head Public Beta

[dave950lam]

No, you can play h2h in the current build. However, there are bugs. Sometimes matches are made.

Not ready for prime time, yet.

Yes, if you want to play a certain table - select it then 'find a match'. Just clicking find a match will either select the table of who is paired with you (the table they selected), or the first table listed alphabetically, which is TOTAN.

Also, very excited for head-2-head. This is one of the reasons for the month off.

 

[thebarnman]

Tried again today; saw one in queue, and selected "Find a Match." Nothing, so I clicked on "High Score" to change it to "5 Minute..." Nothing. So I clicked on it again and changed it to "10 Minute," nothing. Clicked on it again to change it back to "High Score..." within seconds; my name was showing with someone else's name, and there was a notice the game was starting. And then...nothing. If it was going to work at that point; I have no idea how long it takes for the game to actually start. So I tried again with one in queue. No matter what I did; I still could not get a game to start. I clicked on Gorgar to find a game, and nothing. I knew clicking on Gorgar would make it less likely a game would start...unless maybe someone was joining me. Anyway; while writing this; a game did start. The big hint was the fact I could hear the music of Funhouse playing. Funhouse by the way was a game I played on my own between searching for games...so I wonder if that had something to do with it. Anyway I played in what I thought was a 10 minute game. I saw the countdown clock going, and at 7 minutes left; I finished my 3rd ball, and the game ended with the score of both showing in a display. I really don't know if it was set for 10 minutes or high play, but at least it worked in some way for the first time.

Now as I'm still writing this, there is 0 in queue. I guess if I pick a game like Gorgar and "High Score," and wait...it might show 1 in queue for someone else, and someone might join me for a game of Gorgar. I'm thinking out loud as to how all this probably works. I'll leave it like this for a while and see what happens.

 

[shutyertrap]

Just to clear up confusion, there is the h2h beta that's been going on for months, and now there is a new h2h beta being tested where there are only 8 tables to select from and you wager tokens or something to play.

I've yet to play anyone in this new mode, I plan on logging in at 2pm Pacific if anyone wants a go.

 

[thebarnman]

Just to clear up confusion, there is the h2h beta that's been going on for months, and now there is a new h2h beta being tested where there are only 8 tables to select from and you wager tokens or something to play.

I've yet to play anyone in this new mode, I plan on logging in at 2pm Pacific if anyone wants a go.

In AZ I'm in the same time zone as you currently because at this particular Mountain time zone; we don't go forward or back hours like most of the country. So 2pm for you will be 2pm for me. Unfortunately; I don't have the h2h beta your talking about, but I would like to hear how it goes for you.

As an update; I do want you guys to know...I'm now fully read up on this entire thread, and have a good understanding how far h2h has come. It seems to me the biggest hurtle is getting the matches to actually start working. And of course; it would be nice to know how many number of people are actually in the lobby. It can't always be just one or none. And when it does show one; for some reason the system usually does not connect the players together...even though it says there's one.

One question that was never answered; is if someone ends up being selected for a pinball game the other person does not own...will it still work? With Xbox Live; car racing tracks I don't own do work when someone else is hosting with that particular track they do own.

As far as TPA; I could not get any matches to work last night after one successful attempt earlier that same night. At this point all I can say is I'm really glad the team is taking off a month so they can catch up on some things...TPA being one of them. It seems like a couple major issues have been a roadblock since the beginning. Hopefully that will finally get fixed within this month. Then of course; they can start working on refinements...such as extra features, and how it deals with notifications etc.


PS: Even though it says I posted at 2:29pm; it's really 1:29pm. There is no Arizona time zone to select from (like other forums have.) Instead I had to pick Mountain time (which only makes it correct 1/2 of the time per year.) If this forum can add a Arizona time zone to select from; then all would be good!

 

[thebarnman]

Hey Dave, we connected, but the game is not starting. I'm Goldendollarguy on TPA by the way. At least it was interesting having a match found between the two of us.

For the first time I saw there was 2 in queue. In trying to get something started; I exited out and came back in, and the program crashed. When I came back; it said 0 in queue. Oh well...hopefully they'll get this worked on.


By the way, the thing I've been meaning to mention is if I select Gorgar and try to find a on-line match; I've found there is no way to deselect Gorgar without having to first exit out of Pinball Arcade and selecting Online Play again. Doing this is usually how the game crashes...(though not every time.) It would be nice if there's a way to switch certain pinball tables without having to exit out of the lobby, and back in again.

In one thought: I wonder when it shows 1 in Queue; if it's not in fact indicating that it's me (another words counting me as being the one in Queue.) If there's a glitch with that part of it; that might be a big part of the issue of no games connecting.

Also asked of us is our connection speed earlier in this thread. According to speedtest.net the Ping 1ms; Download 166.49Mbps, and Upload 12.04Mbps. So in this case connection is probably not an issue.

An interesting point I'm discovering is if there is one or two in queue; I've found if I totally exit out of Pinball Arcade, and then restart it; I then find there is 0 in Queue. That makes me wonder if when it shows one or two in queue...if it's just old information not yet updated? The Queue information may not be accurate.

 

[shutyertrap]

Yes, if you see 1 in the queue, that's you. Also, the queue does not seem to update that often to accurately show how many are in it.

 

[thebarnman]

Yes, if you see 1 in the queue, that's you. Also, the queue does not seem to update that often to accurately show how many are in it.

Well then; that's a big problem. If I would have known the one person in the queue is me; then I wouldn't have been sitting there spending time trying to join myself! What seems to be even a bigger issue is the fact the queue is not accurately showing how many people are in the lobby. How can the computer software match two players for pinball when the queue can't even tell if someone is there or not.

I'm not an expert at this, however...I think the queue issue is the biggest problem they have.


By the way; good luck on the 19th. Let us know how it goes!

PS: Sometimes as you know; it shows 0 in queue. I guess that's incorrect too.

PPS: Earlier when trying to play h2h; a match was set up pretty quickly, and Funhouse started. I then I decided to get my Xbox controller for better control and hooked it up to the computer. Immediately I somehow exited out of the game (out of the lobby area,) and had to click on "Online Play" just in case I'd be able to get back at the start of the game. Fearing I kicked myself out of the game completely; I was surprised when I clicked on "Online Play;" only to find myself at the very start of Gorgar, and started playing that without a hitch. After the competition finished; I wondered if we were originally on different tables. I'll never know, but what I do know...that was really odd.

 

[thebarnman]

When I went to online play today; I saw 1 in queue, and from what I've learned here, that one is me. When I exit out and come back to online play; many times I'll still see 1 in queue. Just now when I exited out and came back; it showed 2 in queue. When I exited out again and came back; it showed 3 in queue. Then I exited out again; came back and now it's showing 2 in queue. I did it again, and it showed 1 in queue. I did it another time, and now it shows 0 in queue. Zero? How can there be zero when I'm in there? I keep exiting and returning and still zero. All this time however, no match game started.

Does anyone know when there's going to be a update for this?

 

[thebarnman]

Why is it every time I get a match for a head to head game; it always ends up being FunHouse?

 

[dave950lam]

When you're in the lobby looking for a match, you have to pick a table. Just hitting 'find match' will default to Funhouse.

 

[thebarnman]

When you're in the lobby looking for a match, you have to pick a table. Just hitting 'find match' will default to Funhouse.

Thanks; I'll try that next time.

By the way from the Farsight Studios customer support. When I emailed them (back on 05-03-17) with the question of when the items will be fixed with Head to Head...the response I received was "We do not have an ETA for the Head to head patch but the next update should resolve the issues. " I'm guessing the next update they might be referring to is when they come back from the break and introduce the new season. At least that's my guess.

 

[dave950lam]

Yes, the update should come with the release of Paragon (if everything is going ok, it will come the 26th).

 

[thebarnman]

Cool. Well; I tried your suggestion and clicked on a game (Gorgar) then clicked on "Find A Match." A match was found immediately however the top area said Random Play; then the next screen said "found match: table: FunHouse, mode High Score. To accept, click the check box. So that did not work for me. Hopefully when the 26th comes around; picking certain games, and the number of people in queue will be vastly improved.

I've got my fingers crossed!

PS; I remember at least one time a month ago or so...I did end up playing a different game rather than FunHouse on Head to Head. Maybe what you suggested only works sometimes (as I do remember picking a game one time before clicking on Head to Head.) We'll just have to wait to see what happens with the update.

Thanks again for the information.

 

[dave950lam]

Ok, when you get an invite to an h2h match from someone, you defer table choice to them. And since FH was chosen, they either selected FH or just hit 'find match'.

 

[thebarnman]

Excited to get new update, but with huge problem. Every time I select "Find A Match" Pinball Arcade crashes in the DX11 version. Doing the same in DX9 causes it to simply close (essentially the same thing, but in a much cleaner way!) In the DX11 version, I see there's 1735574400 in queue. In the DX9 version, there's something like 640 in queue. I tried again (the DX9 version) and now there's a negative number in queue.

So far I have not been able to click on "Find A Match..." without Pinball Arcade crashing. Oh well; hopefully it will be fixed soon.

Windows 7, Professional 64 bit, Steam.

 

[dave950lam]

Same here, hard crash when I hit 'Find Match', no details to show in the error box.

Win 7, Home Premium.

 

[thebarnman]

I just sent Customer Service a note about this. I'm sure they already know, but just in case; I sent an email about this. I hope we don't have to wait a full month (for the next update) to get this resolved. In any case...hopefully this will get fixed.

 

[thebarnman]

Just received a note from Farsight Studios Support Team about the crashing. "It looks like this is an issue on our end, but we have a patch coming to resolve this shortly. "

That's great news! Excited to check it out once they apply the new patch.

 

[thebarnman]

I don't know when they fixed it, (probably soon after the tournament,) but think it's working now. Even though I haven't played a on line game yet; the queue seems to be fixed. When I see "0," I would like to think it's because no one else is trying to play on-line. When I see "1," I think it's me, but that only happens after I've been waiting for someone to join...when I get tired of waiting; I'll back out to a previous screen. When I return; it will say 1 in queue. I think it's just retention...because when I back out again, and go to on-line game right away; the queue will say "0" again.

Of course I don't know if that's really the case or not; I'll just have to wait and see.

Has anyone else been able to play on-line with anyone else since it now seems to be fixed?

 

[thebarnman]

Must not be working now since Head to Head says it's coming soon again. I thought it was working, but I must have guessed wrong! Oh well, hopefully it will be easer to find matches when it's back up and running.