New Stern Pinball Arcade: AC/DC Kickstarter is FULLY FUNDED!!!

[Rich Lehmann]

I'm just glad it was a good band and not the many other crappy bands that have tables.

 

[jrolson]

I've decided...
I will donate if they release the promised PS4 sound fix patch and remove the "ghost balls" which were introduced with the 1.12 update.

I just think if I donate to this and the PS4 issues go on ignored. I will want to give up on the whole thing and I enjoy it too much to want to do that.

The idea of playing modern Stern tables in Pinball Arcade is exciting. I just hope they don't forget about The Pinball Arcade.

I feel the same way... I probably wont give any more money until they show the PS4 version some love...

 

[DanBradford]

Farsight is just playing us all for mugs yet again. They should pay their own set up costs as they are a successful company selling a popular product and making a profit from it.

A newer table costs $10 instead of $5? Ok I'm down with that. A table with a really expensive license costs even more? Well...... ok as its a one time purchase.

But the fans pay all the set up costs? Seriously? They are indeed just having a laugh

 

[neglectoid]

if this kickstarter fails, it may the the kick in the a$$ that farsight needs, badly.

 

[spoonman]

Does anyone remember the name of the iOS (and maybe Android) AC/DC Pinball app?
I remember buying it a few years ago, but now I can't seem to find it on the Apple Store.

 

[big_kick]

Wii U is dead already IMO.

 

[danivempire]

Looks like à slow start so far...
But I have a question will axl rose be featured on the pinball?

Envoyé de mon HUAWEI GRA-L09 en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Flipperdeflip]

Does anyone remember the name of the iOS (and maybe Android) AC/DC Pinball app?
I remember buying it a few years ago, but now I can't seem to find it on the Apple Store.

http://www.pinballrocks.com but it seems to be unavailable in the App Store and Google Play Store.
If you bought it, it should be listed in your purchased apps unless it was removed by Apple because of licensing issues.

 

[soundwave106]

Hope it succeeds, if I had to pick a table it would be this or GoT. Kinda think maybe they are going to the well too many times.

It's a pretty big (Adams Family level) license, yeah, and just so recently after Doctor Who.

Assuming that all the post-Star Trek games have digitization licenses built in, I'm kind of surprised they went to the well this early. Even assuming that Stern wants to digitize the slightly older tables first, it would be easier to swallow (say) going with The Walking Dead or Metallica as a launch companion with Star Trek (one of those I assumed is covered), and have people actually see the app before collectively plonking down the $100K for a Kickstarter.

But how many of them are there? Is this a viable business model?

$9.99 per table is not an outrageous price IMHO.

No, you won't pick up the "casual fan" who is used to the "freemium" type of game (basically, the mobile market). However, I've heard some gamers lately grip about how that "$4.99 is too expensive" attitude is why the mobile market is polluted with "freemium" games that are unplayable unless you pay money every now and then to "level up".

 

[karl]

I love TPA. The existence or non-existence of another app doesn't change the enjoyment I get from it.

Actually, I'm looking forward to the modern Stern machines and also think that since most of the high profile DMD's have been done that Stern can fill our fix for modern tables and TPA can crank out some more older tables and EM's. No use having modern games compete with each other. I'll be happy and buy all for both.

Can I give you a hug? Nice post!!! This thread needed something like your post, badly

 

[thefly0810]

Farsight is just playing us all for mugs yet again. They should pay their own set up costs as they are a successful company selling a popular product and making a profit from it.

A newer table costs $10 instead of $5? Ok I'm down with that. A table with a really expensive license costs even more? Well...... ok as its a one time purchase.


But the fans pay all the set up costs? Seriously? They are indeed just having a laugh

I was in the minority here when it was first announced that Stern was teaming up with Farsight instead of Zen. Farsight's support for TPA has been shoddy at best as far as fixing their own product, and they're still going back to the same old Kickstarter well for their new product. I would have liked to see Zen try their hands at recreating an existing table with a new set of physics. And Zen doesn't use Kickstarter for their licenses.

 

[vikingerik]

Nothing is more exciting to me personally than Physics 4.0.

Don't get your hopes up. "Physics 3.0" consisted of two if-then statements for drop and live catches. Nothing else actually changed. All the same railroads still work, so we know there was no change in flipper or ball behavior otherwise.

 

[EldarOfSuburbia]

Don't get your hopes up. "Physics 3.0" consisted of two if-then statements for drop and live catches. Nothing else actually changed. All the same railroads still work, so we know there was no change in flipper or ball behavior otherwise.

Well, who knows. FS have been known to reach out to the VP community for help. Maybe they've gone to that well again to help with a new physics engine.

From the description of the new engine, it seems they're dropping emulation and all that messy overhead for essentially scripting tables, but in a far more detailed and less guesswork way (i.e. by actually running the same code as the tables). Maybe that can come with an increase in frame-rate. Allowing tables to run at 120Hz or 144Hz is going to improve the granularity. Ideally you just want a physics model where everything is emergent behavior. Things like live catches just "happen", as a result of ball velocity and spin.

 

[Kaibun]

Eh, I thought Stern would back up the costs for every single one of their tables, but seems like it isn't the case for this one. Well, I'm fine if the license expired, I'll gladly help Kickstarting this one to life(it's my first time!).

Leaves me a bit worried for the other music-based tables, though. Aw well.

 

[shutyertrap]

I think we all "hoped" Stern would pick up the costs, but knew that was not likely. This just confirms the depressing truth.

For those wondering what FarSight is getting out of this deal, it seems pretty clear to me. They get the unlocked version of the game code, which eliminates the need for emulation. This is the advantage Zen has with how efficiently their tables run. FarSight also does not have to worry about licensing costs for current release games as digital rights were added into the license Stern made. Without that, FarSight would have to kickstart every single modern Stern title, which wasn't going to happen. Lastly, FarSight gets the CAD files and image files directly from Stern for building the tables, rather than them having to get a physical machine, depopulate the play field, photograph and build all the objects digitally themselves. This should speed up the process, make it 100% accurate in looks (no T2 endoskeleton issues), and allow them to instead concentrate on the physics of how the ball moves.

Hopefully we as players can expect Stern to be sticklers for a polished finished product, as their name is in the title and reflects on them too. I also really hope FarSight will be able to update the table ROM as Stern comes out with patches.

 

[Ben Logan]

Don't get your hopes up. "Physics 3.0" consisted of two if-then statements for drop and live catches. Nothing else actually changed. All the same railroads still work, so we know there was no change in flipper or ball behavior otherwise.

I'm hoping for a complete physics overhaul. I wish Farsight would reach out to Barnstorm games with an offer to license Pro Pinball's amazing physics. Or maybe consult with them for a fee.

It's a sad irony that the most heavily financed, high profile pinball emulation has the most cartoony physics (forgive me if you disagree). I can imagine the various proprietary physics guys loving an opportunity to pool knowledge.

 

[lettuce]

So let me understand something:

TPA is developed for FOURTEEN different platforms, and they are targeting 8 platforms for Stern Pinball Arcade, including VR. On top of that, they now have to develop two table at the same time if they are going to support both apps concurrently.

How are they going to manage this? Does this mean TPA won't get the polish it needs on all those platforms? Does this mean older tables won't get the much needed updates within TPA? Can we write-off VR support for TPA. Will TPA be phased out?

I really don't see how FS can stretch themselves so thin, this is ridiculous. AND there's a kickstarter? Why not wait til the app is out for a kickstarter? AC/DC can wait, they should just do a different table that won't require the same licensing expenses. They are asking for more money on an untested, unproven new app while their current app still needs a ton of work on every platform it's on.

Edit: Also, why Wii U? That platform is dead. NX comes out Spring of next year, why not target that instead? I don't see that listed. It seems like a waste of resources. Is this app coming really soon or what?

To be fair its not like there going to be releasing tables for the Stern app every month if they dont have the licenses for the older tables!?. If the digital license starts with Star Trek then they have what 5-6 table currently they can make, i highly doubt that this app will get a table every month and they will concentrate mainly on TPA and updates???


EDIT: Quick question does this mean we will get the anniversary edition of Spiderman that was release a few months back?

 

[karl]

EDIT: Quick question does this mean we will get the anniversary edition of Spiderman that was release a few months back?

Since the VE edition of Spiderman came long after Star Trek, and since it is no longer based on the movies, I would say that there is a big chance we could get in on the new app.

But everyone's guess is as good as mine

 

[shutyertrap]

Since the VE edition of Spiderman came long after Star Trek, and since it is no longer based on the movies, I would say that there is a big chance we could get in on the new app.

But everyone's guess is as good as mine

Stern made mention of having to redo the license agreement for it, so yeah, good possibility.

 

[Tann]

Let's just hope the Stern App doesn't mean the death for TPA.

Seems so. Or at least, TPA new table releases will be more spaced. And given the fact that SPA will be a complete technical/graphics/physics overhaul, TPA will maybe look dated once SPA will be available. Not good, not good at all. Game over, man, GAME OVER.

Don't get your hopes up. "Physics 3.0" consisted of two if-then statements for drop and live catches. Nothing else actually changed. All the same railroads still work, so we know there was no change in flipper or ball behavior otherwise.

Hmmm... You forgot what was the Physics 2.0. ^^

Balls are heavier and a lot less bouncy with Physics 3.0. On consoles, we still have the "chance" to play on the majority of tables (+50) with the old physics. In this month tourney, there is T2... and OMG, the ball is a rubber ball, with no weight at all. '