Android - Bug Observed Bugs in Twilight Zone (v1.7.0 BETA)

[jaredmorgs]

I'm making this post separate to the 1.7.0 thread.

1. Because Twilight Zone is such a complex table.
2. Because it should make it easier for Ryan to triage the issues on this table when he returns from Thanksgiving.
3. Read the post before adding your _unique_ bug observation (lets not double-up)
4. You can add a title by clicking the advanced button in the quick reply window.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Powerball Detection Issues From the Ball Trough - TF300T

The outhole trough sensor is definitely not working.

When the powerball pops out of the three-ball trough, the Powerball should be instantly registered, and the powerball tune start.

A ball-lane delivered powerball is only detected on TPA when you shoot the camera, or Piano, because there is a sensor half way down the sub-playfield trough.

Things also get interesting when you include the powerball in a standard multiball. When returned to the trough, the ball is not detected and you need to wait until it is detected by the sub-playfield trough.

Definitely some logic improvements required. Even the table threw up a Service Dot on the DMD after it worked out what was going on.

TESTING UPDATE:

Eureka!! I managed to get the Powerball detected from the shooter lane ball trough. Once...

About that DOT:

See "Clock Logic causing Service Reports"

 

[jaredmorgs]

"Sticky Spot" just above the top-left pop bumper - TF300T

If a ball returns slowly down the left Dead End wall under the Powerfield, it seems to get snagged on something up there.

There seems to be a digital sticky spot there for some reason.

 

[jaredmorgs]

[Sound] JACKPOT sound effect inverted - TF300T

I can't understand how this could actually happen if the sound is being emulated directly from the ROM.

When the jackpot animation moves from the "target" animation to the pulsing and flashing JACKPOT>JACKPOT>JACKPOT>JACKPOT>JACKPOT>JACKPOT animation, for each "JACKPOT", the associated sound is definitely not correct.

To me, it sounds like the sound has been reversed somehow, or compressed.

This is what it should sound like (fast-forward to 34 seconds):

Now earn the jackpot collected animation on your version of the table and you'll notice the difference. Particularly noticeable if you are playing with headphones.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Powerball Ball Texture doesn't make it appear like it's spinning.

The Powerball ball texture is not distinguishable enough from the other pinballs (perhaps this could be an issue with the non-resetting ball skins that seem to be affecting all tables in v1.7.0). have a hard time visually spotting when the powerball is in play, particularly considering the other reported issue about the trough sensor not working correctly.

The Powerball has a particular irregularity that makes it easy to spot when it is spinning around the playfield. From what I've seen on the TF300T, the ball looks like it has absolutely no spin animation at all. It needs a few speckles on the ball texture so you can see it spinning.

Otherwise it looks like it is being "pushed" around the playfield, rather than rolling around.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Significant slowdown during multiball

Serious slowdown (60fps to 30fps) occurs when in multiball. No matter what the multiball mode.

I had to pause and resume about 5 times during a game to get the framerate back again on the TF300T.

This issue could be exacerbated by the custom ball texture issue. I don't seem to be using the usual high-shine chrome pinball anymore, and can't reset it.

 

[netizen]

re: Powerball + Skin

I am having none of the Powerball issues you report jaredmorgs. My Powerball comes out of the gumball machine a noticeably different colour and texture, it is an off white and non reflective, and there is a flashing POWERBALL notification of the HUD while it is in play in addition to the POWERBALL announcement.
When the Powerball sinks it takes 2 balls before it comes up in the plunger.
As soon as it is in the plunger the HUD flashes POWERBALL, and the Announcement plays.
When I had a multiball with the powerball I had the POWERBALL announcement trigger anytime I scored with the Powerball.

The one thing I did notice with the Powerball that I am not sure if it is a part of the rule set in TPA is that in "Beat The Power" it isn't responsive. Is this to simulate it being a ceramic ball like on the real table?

I haven't experienced any slowdown during multiball, no matter which one I have activated, but I don't do a FPS display during play either.

The Jackpot seems to stop gameplay for me temporarily. If I get it with the first ball launced in a multi ball it will stop launching balls until the animation is finished. If I get it during multiball play it will freeze the balls when they go up ramps or when they go into holes etc. Once the jackpot animation is finished everything is go time.

As far as the skins go, for me, to get the regular [default] shiny ball again I just have to select the dull grey looking skin in the extra menu, or restart the application.
The dull grey looking patch is the shiny silver ball skin.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I am having none of the Powerball issues you report jaredmorgs. My Powerball comes out of the gumball machine a noticeably different colour and texture, it is an off white and non reflective, and there is a flashing POWERBALL notification of the HUD while it is in play in addition to the POWERBALL announcement.
When the Powerball sinks it takes 2 balls before it comes up in the plunger.
As soon as it is in the plunger the HUD flashes POWERBALL, and the Announcement plays.
When I had a multiball with the powerball I had the POWERBALL announcement trigger anytime I scored with the Powerball.

That is really puzzling.

The "broken sensor" issue for me was across a few games as well.

The one thing I did notice with the Powerball that I am not sure if it is a part of the rule set in TPA is that in "Beat The Power" it isn't responsive. Is this to simulate it being a ceramic ball like on the real table?

Yes, that is the correct behavior from what I remember. I actually thought that during Powerball, the Powerfield is disabled and the diverter scoop returns the ball from the right ramp to the playfield. Serenseven can clarify this behavior when he reads this post.

I haven't experienced any slowdown during multiball, no matter which one I have activated, but I don't do a FPS display during play either.

Don't worry, you would "know" if your framerate drops. It is choppy as hell.

The Jackpot seems to stop gameplay for me temporarily. If I get it with the first ball launced in a multi ball it will stop launching balls until the animation is finished. If I get it during multiball play it will freeze the balls when they go up ramps or when they go into holes etc. Once the jackpot animation is finished everything is go time.

That is expected behavior. It's so you can enjoy the JACKPOT animation and have a breather during intense multiball action

As far as the skins go, for me, to get the regular [default] shiny ball again I just have to select the dull grey looking skin in the extra menu, or restart the application.
The dull grey looking patch is the shiny silver ball skin.

This just doesn't seem to be *as* shiny as the other ball textures. Perhaps I'm imagining things, but it just didn't seem to "pop" as much as the other tables.

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Tz - power ball (color and texture)

The Powerball ball texture is not distinguishable enough from the other pinballs (perhaps this could be an issue with the non-resetting ball skins that seem to be affecting all tables in v1.7.0). have a hard time visually spotting when the powerball is in play, particularly considering the other reported issue about the trough sensor not working correctly.

I can 2nd this observation. My power ball is just a tad grayer and flat surfaced (not shinny) than the other balls; it is definitely not pale white like I expected.

DEVICE: TOSHIBA THRIVE 10.1" (AT105/32 GB)
TEGRA (2)
ICS 4.04

This is a clean installation of the latest beta, re-downloaded all tables, device shut down and restarted after installation. If I can get a screen shot later, I will post it.

EDIT:

Here is the power ball where its starts out as the 3rd ball loaded according to the instruction set; I cropped and zoomed it to make it bigger, but hopefully you can see that while the size, color, and texture are slightly different that it is not obviously different, and this is sitting still ... when it's out and moving ... it essentially cannot be differentiated by color, one has to register the texture and slight size difference which takes a more focused effort than on the RL table and is quite distracting ...

 

[netizen]

Powerball Screengrabs

I grabbed some screens so you can see what I am seeing in regards to the power ball vs regular ball on TZ. It looks quite noticeable to me; maybe it's hardware (not a Tegra device over here), maybe it's who knows?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83188435/Pictures/defaultball.png
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83188435/Pictures/powerball.png

 

[Pop Sergeant]

As far as the skins go, for me, to get the regular [default] shiny ball again I just have to select the dull grey looking skin in the extra menu, or restart the application. The dull grey looking patch is the shiny silver ball skin.

I have to agree with jaredmorgs here again. The gray patch, when selected on my device, produces one of two artifacts (1) a dull gray ball or (2) a transparent ball. Returning to the Extras menu and resetting it has no effect whatsoever. I have to kill the application so that it is no longer running in the background to get back to the silver ball.

I'd really like to see a working CANCEL button or a DEFAULT button that would take the selected skin out of memory and restore the application default texture and color.

DEVICE: TOSHIBA THRIVE 10.1" (AT105/32 GB)
TEGRA (2)
ICS 4.04

I posted a screen capture of the transparent ball "feature" in the parent thread several hours ago if you'd like to check it out.

(By the way, beta test findings aside ... great-great-great table and generally really well done ... I made it to the zone finale while testing ... no idea how I managed it because I was too busy looking for issues ... LOL ... probably never get there again when I'm actually trying!)

EDIT: ADDED POWER BALL SCREEN SHOT TO POST #9

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Tpa tz power ball vs. Rl tz power ball

TPA TZ POWER BALL VS. RL TZ POWER BALL

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Yes, that is the correct behavior from what I remember. I actually thought that during Powerball, the Powerfield is disabled and the diverter scoop returns the ball from the right ramp to the playfield. Serenseven can clarify this behavior when he reads this post.

If the ROM has determined that the Powerball is the only ball on the playfield, the Powerfield will become unavailable. Shooting the right ramp with the Powerball should simply feed the ball to the bridge diverter and back onto the regular playfield. It is still possible for the Battle the Power insert to be illuminated at the right ramp, and it is even still possible for stacks of Battle the Power to be earned from Hitchhikers, the Door Panel award "Battle the Power", or the Red award from Super Skill Shot. (The table will properly keep track of the number of Power battles earned once the Powerball leaves play and the Powerfield is available again.)

That being said, this is one of the most common malfunctions in Twilight Zone, especially if the Powerball was not properly detected in the trough and it gets up the right ramp before going into Camera, Dead End or Piano (to trip the other proximity sensor). If this happens, the nonmagnetic Powerball will head to the Powerfield for Battle the Power. Of course, Magna-Flip will have no effect on the Powerball, leading to a wasted Battle the Power round.

The nature of what exactly causes the condition "the Powerball was not properly detected in the trough" in TPA with its virtual Powerball, virtual (non-)magnetism, and virtual proximity sensors is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Gumball machine (lodged ball)

Ball got stuck behind gumball machine. Wouldn't budge. Wouldn't reset. I think there's another ball back there as well at the time the screenshot was taken.

TABLE: TZ

ISSUE: BALL STUCK IN GUMBALL MACHINE TRAIL

REPEATABLE: YES (1%)

DESCRIPTION:

Just confirming that I've had the same issue, though very rarely, approx. twice in 20 games.

When there are 3 balls in the gumball machine at start up, and a load gumball shot is made with a 4th ball, the bottom ball ejects into play and the 2 above drop down leaving a gap as the 4th remains in the trail (just barely visible), at this point play is unhampered; subsequently, loading the next (5th) ball, it becomes trapped (and fully visible) in the trail above the one that was originally stuck.

You can hear them clicking together.

No amount of nudging or slam tilt will dislodge the original (4th) ball that was stuck so that it can drop into the machine and the other follow.

Once two balls (4th and 5th) become lodged, after an intentional tilt, a ball will be loaded into the launcher but the camera stays focused on the play field.

The ball can be launched by tapping the right side without the launcher in view on the screen but the flippers are inop until it drains.

Note: I was able to dislodge the stuck balls after loosing the relaunch and starting a new ball by hitting the gumball load sequence again.

Seems rare, but it does happen ... and is repeatable.

Of course if this happens on your 2nd ball and you don't have at least one extra ball at that point to be able to afford losing the replacement ball that is injected into play ... this is a game ending bug.

 

[netizen]

I have to agree with jaredmorgs here again. The gray patch, when selected on my device, produces one of two artifacts (1) a dull gray ball or (2) a transparent ball. Returning to the Extras menu and resetting it has no effect whatsoever. I have to kill the application so that it is no longer running in the background to get back to the silver ball.

Again i have to wonder if this is a hardware issue. I am not seeing this issue with the same frequency nor in the same fashion as you.

I can use a skin, play the game, end it, go to extras select the grey patch, start a game and the ball is the default, shiny, silver one.
Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" 8GB
TI OMAP 4430 [ARM] 2 x 1.2 Ghz
ICS 4.0.4

I played 8 games, changing the skin from custom to default every game, and never had the ball in play go invisible/transparent until I got the Powerball out of the Gumball machine. It was the Powerball that was invisible/transparent as soon as it came out of the Gumball machine. After it was sunk and plunged again, and in the next game the first ball plunged was invisible/transparent, but it was the Powerball; the next ball to be plunged was a default ball and it displayed properly and was all shiny.

This is my experience with skins on TZ and how they relate to the whole invisible/transparent ball happenings; at least to date. I can't think of anything else to try right now that will potentially have any direct effect on the way the ball renders..

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Again i have to wonder if this is a hardware issue. I am not seeing this issue with the same frequency nor in the same fashion as you.

I can use a skin, play the game, end it, go to extras select the grey patch, start a game and the ball is the default, shiny, silver one.

Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7" 8GB
TI OMAP 4430 [ARM] 2 x 1.2 Ghz
ICS 4.0.4

Thanks, and I sincerely appreciate the comparisons you're providing. I don't doubt at all that it is hardware related. Please know, it wasn't my intent to argue or disprove your observation, only to report my own as a 2nd to jared's. I'm on a Thrive and I believe he is on a TF300T. Hardware or not, so far 2 different devices have a similar issue, so I hope it is a "bug worthy" finding for FS to look into ... maybe there is a software consideration that is impacting the hardware rendering ... I don't know ... I just mash the little silver ball around until my thumbs hurt too much ... LOL ... and, again, sincerely appreciate your comments and suggestions. I've referenced a few of your older posts more than once as a reliable sanity check to what I think I'm seeing.

 

[netizen]

Thanks, and I sincerely appreciate the comparisons you're providing. I don't doubt at all that it is hardware related. Please know, it wasn't my intent to argue or disprove your observation, only to report my own as a 2nd to jared's.

I didn't take your comments, or jared's, as contrary simply for the sake of being different/difficult.
I also appreciate that you both have experienced what you have, and I have no reason to doubt those experiences. I Just wanted to share mine so that there wasn't an assumption by anyone reading the forum that this was the general experience had by all players/testers.

If, by sharing as much info as possible, we can help FS provide a superior final product then I am glad that we have had a supportive conversation, in addition to the amount of pinball geekery I manage to pick-up on the side; all in all I tend to view these bug hunts as a win-win for everyone.

There's no animosity, except maybe towards those phantom Grand Champions on the local High Score lists

 

[Nik Barbour]

Landscape - camera 4 - is zoomed out too far.

 

[karl]

Got the powerball, lost the ball (last ball) and on the next game it started with a transparent ball. I went out into the main menu and it was fine again the next time I started TZ. Playing on a Samsung Galaxy 2 7" Pad

 

[Nik Barbour]

I'm non - Tegra and am also experiencing lag in ver2 TZ beta that wasn't present in ver1.

It's most noticeable in multiball, but also occurs in single ball play.

Only had one game in ver 02, so will try again at another time today (sometimes device suffer slow down during a sync, so shall try at random times)

Edit :- yeah, definitely have lag, especially when ball is around lower flippers. Didn't have any lag in beta ver1. Hope this is due to ball skins and can be fixed!

Also suffering with transparent balls. (sounds painful).