It's Jan. 7th 2018 & SPA for iOS still has a huge, ugly joystick overlay from Nov. 2

[HotHamBoy]

It's Jan. 7th 2018 & SPA for iOS still has a huge, ugly joystick overlay from Nov. 2

Over two months and there has been no update for Stern Pinball Arcade to fix this glaring and, frankly, embarassing error.

Of course, Ghostbusters is still totally borked with missing textures and mode lights not working and such, but this stupid joystick overlay effects ALL the tables, which I'd already bought.

And btw, Don't Cross The Beams, the video mode for GB, is UNPLAYABLE because the framerate drops to 1fps and inputs lag severely.

Where is the respect for the customers that support Farsight and digital pinball?

Oh, but I hear that Switch version is great so I guess I should spend another $40 on that one instead of playing on my iPad.

Look, I don't know what it costs to issue an update on iOS but when you do something dumb like this just eat the cost instead of forcing your customers to deal with your mistake for months because you want to wait until you have another (broken) table to sell in the patch.

Then, maybe next time you'll catch something as obvious as leaving a joystick overlay toggled on before rushing out your content. Does FS even have QA?

 

[Gorgias32]

I'm starting to feel the same way - how many MONTHS do we have to wait to get this <relatively very expensive> game fixed? The joystick overlay is a pro feature that they apparently accidentally turned on and left on in the release. It can't take more than FIVE MINUTES TO FIX THIS.

The horked up colors in Ripleys is annoying, but I have that table in TPA as well so it's not killing me. Just irritating that it got deployed this way in the first place. And making us wait 2+ more months for Ghostbusters to be finished, well what's a few more months when everyone has already been waiting for over a year for any new content.

But the joystick overlay is something that should have, in my opinion, been fixed a day or two after the Christmas break when they were back to work. I understand that doing even a simple release to the app store takes time and effort, but it's not like Farsight has a time-consuming internal QA cycle to go through, they clearly don't have one.

Sorry if the frustration is showing, I'm just starting to feel like the iOS platform is getting disrespected. And my investment ($20 into SPA) has been a mistake. At what point do we start asking for refunds? 3 months broken? 6?

I spent the first few months with SPA on iOS playing AC/DC and Mustang obsessively, I absolutely love them, the implementation is fantastic. For the last few months, I don't even play anymore because I have to put my left thumb in an awkward position to avoid hitting the joystick overlay, it messes up nudging, etc.

Maybe only the squeaky wheels get the grease - in that case, please consider the iOS SPA to be officially squeaking.

 

[HotHamBoy]

They don't have any incentive to fix GB when many of the people who bought it got it through the bundle A YEAR AGO.

 

[Kolchak357]

They won’t just do a fix for that is my guess. Probably fix it when they finally fix the Ghostbuster issues. Hope it’s soon.

 

[HotHamBoy]

They won’t just do a fix for that is my guess. Probably fix it when they finally fix the Ghostbuster issues. Hope it’s soon.

As I said in the OP, it's obvious they just don't want to pay to patch the game if they can't bundle as much as possible with the update.

At this point I'm convinced they are either really struggling with getting GB running right (hence the 9 month delay for its release) or they are just going to make us wait until the next SPA table(s) are ready to release.

 

[tyche]

There is no extra cost to update iOS apps. It just has to go through store approval once submitted.

 

[Kolchak357]

There is no extra cost to update iOS apps. It just has to go through store approval once submitted.

Correct, but they don’t submit an update every time they fix something. That’s what we were getting at.

 

[Phil_194]

Hmmmm... I am getting really fed up now, quite frankly. I have an iPad and I think this issue should have been fixed almost right away, or at the very least update the game with a notice or something. I am having doubts about the integrity of FarSight now... sorry guys
I guess when specific issues relating to the tables you play continue to affect you, you then start noticing the lack of support. As a pinball fan I am forever tied to their games.. but I feel disrespected. From now on I will spend my money more carefully. Maybe FS strives for a bigger picture, maybe in the end all will come right. But right now, I’m not particularly pleased to be honest.

 

[Gorgias32]

Yes, I have an itunes gift card for $25 that I have been holding on to for purchase of the Ghostbusters pack in SPA. It expires in June, so I need to use it, but at this point I'm starting to wonder if we'll have the patch to Ghostbusters by then. You let one or two months slip away and all of the sudden it seems like you don't need to service that platform anymore, the bugs get stale, etc.

There are two other pretty impactful (but not show-stopper) bugs in the iOS SPA that have never been addressed, they have been there since day one - AC/DC instant info has never worked (and on this table it's kind of important, to know how many shots away from various multiballs you are). And the left ramp insert on Star Trek never lights up in any mode. This is not as big a deal but it makes it hard to know when you are trying to complete level 2 or 3 and need to know which shots count, if it's not lit you don't know if it is active or not.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Me, to Farsight:

 

[Rayder]

If TPA got the Star Trek table, then it would be easy for me to quit SPA. I didn't particularly care for Mustang or AC/DC. TPA already has all the other tables.

 

[HotHamBoy]

You act like TPA doesn't have a hundred of its own issues.

 

[Gorgias32]

Ok, now it's February 7th and SPA STILL has the joystick overlay. Any plans for an update this month?

I honestly, honestly expected that this would be fixed within a couple of weeks of the introduction of the issue back in November. I guess I got burned.

I tried playing AC/DC the other night and as before, the joystick interferes with both flipper and nudging (it swallows commands so the flipper/nudge don't fire). It genuinely interferes with gameplay if you don't use a controller. This is not just a minor issue to ignore for a quarter of a year.

I spent $20 on the table pack, and I am not able to enjoy it for a quarter of a year now due to a frankly stupid mistake (leaving pro mode turned on when deploying) that can't be difficult to fix. I know these guys are spread way too thin, but this is an entire platform of SPA that has been severely impacted for three months now.

Maybe I'll come home tonight and find an update to SPA waiting for me on my iPad...

 

[Crawley]

Maybe I'll come home tonight and find an update to SPA waiting for me on my iPad...

 

[Extork]

Damn. If only I had one of those a month and a half ago before I’ve had 2 cars get wrecked.

Or.... the fact that Microsoft Outlook sucks all the balls while trying to view insurance information on my phone...

 

[Kolchak357]

I have been told that the ball control joystick as well as many other SPA bugs will be addressed in the next SPA update. So they are aware of the issues. I don’t have a date for the next patch, but at least we know the fixes are coming. So now we must just be a little more patient (which is not always easy).

 

[heberts811]

There is an update on IOS up now!No idea what is fixed but it is there.

Gary

 

[DA5ID]

There is an update on IOS up now!No idea what is fixed but it is there.

Gary

ghostbusters and ripley's download when you launch them (SPA doesn't have a manage tables function like TPA)
can't speak to ripley's but GB is near perfect
pro joystick removed
missing textures fixed
dmd brighter
mode insert LEDs corrected (not blown out)
AWESOME UPDATE - ready for the new tables!

 

[HotHamBoy]

Good stuff, finally.

Will buy Ghostbusters now.

 

[Gorgias32]

I can also confirm that Ripley's is fixed as well - happy to finally have this update. I will also be buying Ghostbusters now.