I really hope that there is a typo in this article!!

[Jeff Strong]

OK...Since we have received approval to resume petty griping , would it be safe to assume that the Stern/Farsight deal is the "business reason" that cab support is cancelled?

I highly doubt it. It seems more likely the reason we haven't seen cab support is probably the same reason we haven't seen the new UI, head-to-head, difficulty options, etc. If it ain't DLC, it ain't a priority.

 

[chinzman93]

Whew. I can sleep tonight. I didn't last night.

Me too, but I will still have a bad taste in my mouth. However, a five page thread in 24 hours is a pretty big deal around here....BREAKING NEWS.....Nothing here to see...move along!.....

 

[chinzman93]

I highly doubt it. It seems more likely the reason we haven't seen cab support is probably the same reason we haven't seen the new UI, head-to-head, difficulty options, etc. If it ain't DLC, it ain't a priority.

I don't know, in the last podcast....one of the answers related to cab support seemed to indicate that at least one of the manufactures was not a fan of cab support. But maybe that just gave Farsight an out on not delivering one of the many things you listed...

I would also add, that if it wasn't one of the reasons, why even state that it was cancelled instead of continuing to string us along?

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

I don't know, in the last podcast....one of the answers related to cab support seemed to indicate that at least one of the manufactures was not a fan of cab support. But maybe that just gave Farsight an out on not delivering one of the many things you listed...

Well if FS are some way towards a deal to getting new and recent Sterns digitized, I think it's quite understandable that they wouldn't want to see official cab support.

If Stern includes the rights to create a digital version of the table in their licenses, then the licensing issues for FS go away for those tables.

Possibly Stern are re-negotiating licenses on some of their older IPs, too?

 

[Jeff Strong]

I don't know, in the last podcast....one of the answers related to cab support seemed to indicate that at least one of the manufactures was not a fan of cab support. But maybe that just gave Farsight an out on not delivering one of the many things you listed...

Makes sense, doesn't it? They've been stringing us along on cab support for years, same as many other features that were supposed to be "coming soon".

 

[chinzman93]

@Jeff and Eldar: I can see their logic in either scenario....unfortunately....

 

[jrolson]

would it be safe to assume that the Stern/Farsight deal is the "business reason" that cab support is cancelled?

Could be Stern only agreed to let Farsight digitize their tables with the agreement to not have cab support due to the fear of having real table sales decline.

Or it could be that Farsight just pushed the cab support aside to have more time/resources available to work on this Stern deal...

 

[chinzman93]

Could be Stern only agreed to let Farsight digitize their tables with the agreement to not have cab support due to the fear of having real table sales decline.

Or it could be that Farsight just pushed the cab support aside to have more time/resources available to work on this Stern deal...

I would suspect that the former is true, based on Shutyertraps non-answer answer. I am sure there is a lot of legal-ize going on with NDA and so forth. Will we get a real answer from Farsight...I doubt it.

However, the latter wouldn't be an issue if FS wouldn't have committed to free cab support. That was dumb. I would (and still would) repay full season prices, if cab support was done right. Let's just remember that a cab, really isn't that complicated. It's basically, 2 or 3 monitor support with working back glasses and moving DMD, and keyboard support (ideally with a way to call a specific table from a command). (Most of which, FS has already demonstrated on their cab). From that point, the community will take care of itself.

I would think there should be a way to set a flag on any new Stern tables to not allow for cab support, but still allow for the older tables.

 

[mpad]

Cab support won't prevent me from buying all the new Stern tables - I just can't freakin afford them.
It won't prevent me from going to an arcade and put coins in them - those places don't exist anymore (in Germany).
So it would basically be the only way for me to play them in a realistic way at all (if we forget about VP).

So put a damn phrase in the EU LA "for private use only" "if you ever come across a Stern table you are obliged to put at least ten bucks in it" and we are good.

P.S. I wouldn't even care about pinball anymore and had it long forgotten if it weren't for digital versions.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

There are only a handful of Stern tables in TPA. I see no reason why they couldn't develop a cab view for the other 90% of tables in the game and just omit the Sterns.

Now, if it was WMS, then I could see that as a reason to cancel cab support.

 

[Pinballfan69]

Read the article wondering where it said they would work with ZEN. Then saw the edit.

I love both FS and Zen. I play Zen more. I guess I enjoy original tables right now.

If FS is going to work with Stern I would be ecstatic. Lot's of Stern tables I would love to have in PBA. Mostly the modern ones. LOTR, TRON, Pirates, Star Trek, et all.

 

[9u1d0]

Zen physics are disappointing to me. Even worse than The Gottlieb Collection on PSP by FS.
That was also awfull, while tha graphics and sound emulation kept me playing the Gottlieb Collection, the physics were so much worse than the Williams Collection for PSP.

In a pinball EMULATION or SIMULATION physics is the most important for gameplay. I have seen and played dozens of digital pinball creations, and I love the real machines, but when physics are off, the game plays like sh!t

 

[rehtroboi40]

Cab support won't prevent me from buying all the new Stern tables - I just can't freakin afford them.
It won't prevent me from going to an arcade and put coins in them - those places don't exist anymore (in Germany).
So it would basically be the only way for me to play them in a realistic way at all (if we forget about VP).

So put a damn phrase in the EU LA "for private use only" "if you ever come across a Stern table you are obliged to put at least ten bucks in it" and we are good.

P.S. I wouldn't even care about pinball anymore and had it long forgotten if it weren't for digital versions.

Arcades don't really exist in the U.S. anymore either. The few that do only have "redemption ticket" games for kids, and no pinball at all. Not even Dave and Busters has any pinball machines. Well, they do in some places but I can't afford to drive for 4-6 hours just to play a pinball machine. Used to be that I only had to drive a few minutes to find one, and if I didn't like it, I could find another one (or a few) nearby.

Plus, I can't afford to buy a pinball machine. These legal simulations like Zaccaria, Zen, and last but not least, TPA have been wonderful for me. I left out Pro Pinball because only the old versions are available for PC, but have zero controller support, and I hate using the keyboard. Zen and TPA have spoiled me controller-wise.

 

[Biff]

Zen physics are disappointing to me. Even worse than The Gottlieb Collection on PSP by FS.
That was also awfull, while tha graphics and sound emulation kept me playing the Gottlieb Collection, the physics were so much worse than the Williams Collection for PSP.

In a pinball EMULATION or SIMULATION physics is the most important for gameplay. I have seen and played dozens of digital pinball creations, and I love the real machines, but when physics are off, the game plays like sh!t

Zens physics are not suppossed to be realistic. Pinball FX 2 is not a simulation of real machines.

 

[rehtroboi40]

Zens physics are not suppossed to be realistic. Pinball FX 2 is not a simulation of real machines.

My only complaint with Zen is that nudging is completely useless. Other than that, I like it.

 

[TNT]

Zens physics are not suppossed to be realistic. Pinball FX 2 is not a simulation of real machines.

Haven't played it but just listening to everyone talk about it it sounds more like a video game with a pinball theme than the other way around.

 

[DA5ID]

Haven't played it but just listening to everyone talk about it it sounds more like a video game with a pinball theme than the other way around.

I would say it is very much pinball - the rulesets are definitely based on the spirit of pinball. However zen certainly takes advantage of what you can do digitally without the restrictions of physical real world limitations.

Kind of like doing things in Photoshop that are not possible when working with silver nitrate in the darkroom. Or what apple did with ios7 - questioning why a digital calendar has to function like its real world counterpart. Let digital be digital....

 

[invitro]

Kind of like doing things in Photoshop that are not possible when working with silver nitrate in the darkroom.

Good point... that's how you get Stern Art.

 

[lio]

I got a intriguing reply on Facebook to my comment (https://www.facebook.com/sternpinba...10153581788634244&offset=0&total_comments=211) :

>> Those seem to be computer renders rather than real photos - is this a playable simulation? ;-)

>> Stern Pinball: Keen eye. A hint at things to come...

However this does not look like it's rendered in the current TPA engine - probably some offline renders rather than realtime anything...

 

[invitro]

>> Those seem to be computer renders rather than real photos - is this a playable simulation? ;-)
>> Stern Pinball: Keen eye. A hint at things to come...
However this does not look like it's rendered in the current TPA engine - probably some offline renders rather than realtime anything...

Yes, this is quite interesting. I hope the simulated new tables come in less than five years, though...