Just to get familiarized PC Version

[enduser2941]

Hey Guys,

I don't yet want to add any bug reports to the PC version until I have had a chance to read up on what is current and what is coming for the PC version. Could you guys point me to the right direction in the forums here on the current and planned changes to this version?

For example, I was given the PC activation code this evening, for which I thank you guys and I have been busy playing and checking out how well this version plays vs. the Android version and I have come across a few things that are more then likely to be addressed in some upcoming releases so I will list them here but if you feel these should be in a bug report just let me know and I will gladly do so.

I have not yet found any severe bugs with the game play though I have found a few things as far as the graphics go that definitely will need some attention. I beleive a lot of this will be addressed when the game is re-linked with DX11 update but just incase, here goes...Short list.

No Anti-aliasing support
No Anisotropic filtering

When you leave the game in the default resolution (which I believe is 800x600) the game looks great but way to small for my 17in laptop screen, as you increase the size of the resolution up to native which for me is 1920x1080, the game is unplayable. The higher the resolution the more trailing occurs with the ball and flippers. As well with the larger resolutions the game can not handle real time movement, meaning with the increased screen size, the slower the ball moves across the screen as well the longer it takes for things like flipper response and bumper response.

Is Leader Board supported and Synced with the my account set up on my Android device?

Again, I am sure that most of the graphic issues will resolve with the re-link of DX11, but I am not sure. I also have not tried overriding the settings in the video settings of my onboard GPU as I did not want to cause any problems with the other games installed right now.

I hope to bring you more reports soon as well as better defined issues should I come across any.

Hardware:
Laptop: Toshiba P875 series
Screen size: 17in
Native Resolution: 1920x1080
CPU: Intel I7-3630QM CPU@2.40GHz
RAM: 8GBs

OS: Windows 8 64-Bit
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000
Driver Model: WDDM 1.2
DirectX: 11

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate the opportunity to help make this game rock the gaming community!


John ~ Enduser2941

 

[Roo]

I had success with the nvidia control panel settings in this thread. You can set them just for this game's exe and not affect other games. They have mentioned they might add in-games settings, though.

However, it also sounds like your laptop is struggling to run the game at higher resolutions. Did you try turning post-processing off? I think some people said that helped.

You may want to check out these threads, too, if you haven't:

http://digitalpinballfans.com/showt...Spec-Laptop-Working-Well?highlight=processing

http://digitalpinballfans.com/showt...-with-the-pc-version-of-TPA?p=99833#post99833

 

[enduser2941]

Hey Roo, Excellent advise, and for that I thank you! I will difenitely check these settings out tomorrow as this is the kind of information I was hoping to receive before I labeled any of these as a "bug" first. I know these the Dev's here have worked very hrd to make this the all time best Pinball Arcade games ever for all OS versions and I love to help out and give back to a community who has done some much for me and has treated me as family since my very first contact with them! So thank you and I hope to make my self know here as a true team player. I know with my past work experience in Software Engineering Support in a multi-platform environment will be of great help, but since this was my first post on the Win32/64 platform, I didn't want to waste time marking these as true bug reports until I could find out what is listed for future releases as well as what is expected to be in the current releases Any documents you could possibly point me too that would allow me to see where we are in the release schedule, I can be a little more diligent in making sure I report only things that need to be addressed and not things that have already been in the list.

Thanks again Roo!

PS - Struggling with the higher resolutions is an understatement, its's virtually unplayable! (

 

[Klopek]

It's noted somewhere in the beta forum that the frame rate is directly tied to the speed of the game play. The frame rate has now been locked to 60fps. Previously, if you ran the game with a 120Hz output, the game would run twice as fast than it should. Likewise, if your system cannot maintain 60fps then your game will play in slow motion. This is likely what you're experiencing as you increase the resolution of the game.

I'm not sure if you have access to an Intel Graphics control panel to try and tweak a few bits. You could try turning off post-processing in-game to see if that helps - or alternatively perhaps the release version will have additional graphical options. Even if they fix the issue which ties game play to the frame rate, you'll still want to try and hit 60fps or higher. This doesn't sound like you're going to be able to have much success with the DX11 version unless it also comes with some serious optimisations that are not present in the current beta.

 

[enduser2941]

Thanks Klopek,

I did note that the game is locked at 60 fps, and I see no way to change that, I would assume that a higher fps might make the issue less intrusive but even at 60 fps, the game play should be alot smoother basing this on other games I have played. Even locking at 60 fps with most games I have player, mainly FPS games, 60 fps is usually just fine. I agree that DX11 may not make much of a difference but I was hoping that with DX11 there would be more optimization in the game control panel to handle things like the filtering etc.. My system can currently handle much higher fps then 60 so perhaps if there was a way, especially in the beta versions, if we could unlock the fps, maybe we could see marked improvement.

PS Turning Post Processing: Off has made a huge difference in the game play. I have not yet tried turning the resolution to Native yet, but so far the game play has increased 10 fold. Is this post processing option for debugging / dev purposes only? What is it used for?

Thanks Guys! I sure am loving this game!

 

[vpalmer]

My system can currently handle much higher fps then 60 so perhaps if there was a way, especially in the beta versions, if we could unlock the fps, maybe we could see marked improvement.

you can not see more than 60 fps otherwise you have one of new monitor with 120Hz refresh rate.

 

[Roo]

PS Turning Post Processing: Off has made a huge difference in the game play. I have not yet tried turning the resolution to Native yet, but so far the game play has increased 10 fold. Is this post processing option for debugging / dev purposes only? What is it used for?

Post-processing refers to the additional lighting effects it adds (HDR lighting, I believe). It looks ok and definitely adds some atmosphere, but many have complained it's too bright/bloomed and I tend to agree. It also just looks wrong sometimes (on AFM it looks to me like the lights under the slingshots are coming up through the top and lighting up the face of the slingshots as if there is a spotlight shining down on them). Hopefully this kind of stuff will be improved in the DX11 version, but I'm no expert on these things.

But if you can only get smooth gameplay on your machine by turning it off, definitely do so.

 

[enduser2941]

you can not see more than 60 fps otherwise you have one of new monitor with 120Hz refresh rate.

Yes, this I am well versed on fps and visual limitation so I do agree. Before I got sick and wound up not being able to maintain my true gaming rig, I was huge into FPS games, so I am well aware about the 60fps vs true vision limitation, however, if you can obtain higher fps, you can usually detect a much smoother and more reactive game play. Granted your eyes are pretty much visually locked to not being able see anything greater then 60fps, and t much visual blur can make the game look like it's much slower then it is, however, if ne can match the perfect fps and Hz refresh rate, you can come up with seamless motion. Of coarse this is some what subjective, as some seem to see things that others can't. Again, by no means is any of this a complaint of this game... I think Farsight has dne an amazing job especially when you take in to account how much goes on in each and every frame! It' s wonder that they have been able to get this to scale as well as they have with such a complex canvas! Kudos to the Devs! I hope going forward I can provide much better reports to help the game exceed the amazing job they have already produced and I truly appreciate all the feedback you all have given me on my first post of this kind here! This is a great forum for guys who truly enjoy the best and most enduring games ever, with such a dedicated community that I have had the pleasure to be a part of and hope to continue to be a valuable member!

Thanks!

 

[enduser2941]

Post-processing refers to the additional lighting effects it adds (HDR lighting, I believe). It looks ok and definitely adds some atmosphere, but many have complained it's too bright/bloomed and I tend to agree. It also just looks wrong sometimes (on AFM it looks to me like the lights under the slingshots are coming up through the top and lighting up the face of the slingshots as if there is a spotlight shining down on them). Hopefully this kind of stuff will be improved in the DX11 version, but I'm no expert on these things.

But if you can only get smooth game play on your machine by turning it off, definitely do so.

With my system I have noticed that all the post processing seems to do is make the game, table, and atmosphere look almost fake on my system. Just pretty much overkill. I am not sure of the original purpose of it, but was this created for lower end system? Just curious.

 

[Rooter]

Yes, this I am well versed on fps and visual limitation so I do agree. Before I got sick and wound up not being able to maintain my true gaming rig, I was huge into FPS games, so I am well aware about the 60fps vs true vision limitation, however, if you can obtain higher fps, you can usually detect a much smoother and more reactive game play. Granted your eyes are pretty much visually locked to not being able see anything greater then 60fps, and t much visual blur can make the game look like it's much slower then it is, however, if ne can match the perfect fps and Hz refresh rate, you can come up with seamless motion. Of coarse this is some what subjective, as some seem to see things that others can't. Again, by no means is any of this a complaint of this game... I think Farsight has dne an amazing job especially when you take in to account how much goes on in each and every frame! It' s wonder that they have been able to get this to scale as well as they have with such a complex canvas! Kudos to the Devs! I hope going forward I can provide much better reports to help the game exceed the amazing job they have already produced and I truly appreciate all the feedback you all have given me on my first post of this kind here! This is a great forum for guys who truly enjoy the best and most enduring games ever, with such a dedicated community that I have had the pleasure to be a part of and hope to continue to be a valuable member!

Thanks!

No, he's saying that your monitor will only show 60FPS regardless of how fast the game updates, unless you get a 120Hz monitor.