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

[jaredmorgs]

Getting an accurate Powerball reproduction to include in the game.

When new, the Powerball is very, very white. Over time the chrome dust the ball picks up removes this lustre.

From the pictures I've seen in this thread, it's clear to me that Farsight did not refer to the internet to get a reference point for a Factory New Powerball.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tz-powerball-original

This post shows excellent reference images of what a used and new powerball looks like. Because TPA is all about the "fresh out of the crate" pinball experience, why not reflect the super white skin of a new Powerball the same way?

 

[Carl Spiby]

Shot the ball in to the Camera, it ended up in the exit of the gum ball machine, table unable to find he ball, calling attendant results in a ball no stuck message, pretty annoying when you're on 614 million and have no way of continuing the game.

 

[Nik Barbour]

I've jumped ship and gone back to ver01 TZ beta.

The play speed difference is so obvious when you switch back.
Ver01 plays so nicely without any over clock.
Ball colour and texture is totally different too.
Must be the ball skins causing the performance drop. Hope this will be improved (or given a switch off option).

I actually prefer the portrait camera angles in beta01 too.

 

[Tom]

yeah the previous build felt alot better, i get slowdowns all the time with this build.
and the old ball looked much better, it should be awailable in ballskins

 

[jaredmorgs]

Shot the ball in to the Camera, it ended up in the exit of the gum ball machine, table unable to find he ball, calling attendant results in a ball no stuck message, pretty annoying when you're on 614 million and have no way of continuing the game.

Confirmed!!

This happens *all* the time for me Carl, but the ball doesn't get stuck up there (so that's a new "game stopping" variant which should warrant some direct attention).

There needs to be some Cannon testing on that shot, and some tuning done on the scoop walls so the ball can not fly through the current wall of the Camera Scoop.

I'm sure that is the problem here.

 

[jaredmorgs]

Regression: Performance degredation between BETA 1 and BETA 2

I've jumped ship and gone back to ver01 TZ beta.

The play speed difference is so obvious when you switch back.
Ver01 plays so nicely without any over clock.
Ball colour and texture is totally different too.
Must be the ball skins causing the performance drop. Hope this will be improved (or given a switch off option).

I actually prefer the portrait camera angles in beta01 too.

yeah the previous build felt alot better, i get slowdowns all the time with this build.
and the old ball looked much better, it should be awailable in ballskins

Right, that is enough proof for me.

Issue seems to be caused with ball skins.

Pro Tip: If you want to play BETA 2 version of v1.7.0, then *do not* go and touch the ball skins.

I have a feeling that if you leave them alone, the performance issues do not manifest.

Anyone willing to do a fresh install to verify?

 

[jaredmorgs]

Clock Logic causing Service Dot

Tracked down what was causing the service dot.

Answer: The Clock

During a long game, the clock state seems to go screwy. I've seen the clock sitting at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock a few times, and this is about the same time that the service dot appears.

That clock should always reset to 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock after a timed mode finishes.

The virtual opto's are correctly sensing that the clock has not returned the hands to a detectable position, therefore the WPC throws up an error. Most likely a Clock Motor error, or opto failure.

I don't have Pro Mode installed, so I can't check the pending service reports after these long games. And frankly don't want to have to fork over nearly the cost of a table pack just to verify the bug

 

[netizen]

Tracked down what was causing the service dot.

Answer: The Clock

During a long game, the clock state seems to go screwy. I've seen the clock sitting at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock a few times, and this is about the same time that the service dot appears.

That clock should always reset to 6 o'clock or 12 o'clock after a timed mode finishes.

The virtual opto's are correctly sensing that the clock has not returned the hands to a detectable position, therefore the WPC throws up an error. Most likely a Clock Motor error, or opto failure.

I don't have Pro Mode installed, so I can't check the pending service reports after these long games. And frankly don't want to have to fork over nearly the cost of a table pack just to verify the bug

I have the Pro mode. After a couple game I noticed the dot, and went into the pro menu to check the clock tests.
The thing is though as soon as I went opened the coin door, the clock had already reset itself to 12 o'clock. Which makes any tests sort of moot.

When the clock is set to 12, the opto is virtually highlighted, didn't check for 6.

If there's anything in particular you want to check or see, i can screen grab. Just let me know.

 

[Nik Barbour]

To try out Jared's request (resetting default ball skin - to see effect on lag/frame rate drop).

Done some playing around with file backups, the ball skin settings are persistent, and the data is saved in the 'save data' file.
Having restored ver02 beta and TZ table data, and put a save data file I had from the 15th (pre TZ) fired up TZ and the default had jumped from the zebra skin i'd deliberately saved in my current saved data, to the dull grey patch which I have to conclude is the ver02 default.
It still played with lag despite effectively not having changed the default.
(hope that experiment makes sense).

Conclusion :- ver02 beta ball skins, even in default setting have caused performance drop and I suspect are maxing out my gpu causing frame rate drop.

Back to ver01 for me!

 

[netizen]

Random 2 Player Game Starts

Bug: Randomly starting a 2 player game

Frequency: <5%

Description: Start a regular game. The end of ball screen shows immediately at the plunger screen, displaying a score of 0. the only choice is 'continue,' when selected the voice over announces "Player Two." The screen now shows the ball in the Trough with the plunger in the ready position and the HUD showing a 0 for player 1 and the score flashing for player 2.

During my most recent run of games this was happening 2 of every 5 games, but I hadn't seen this particular event happen before.

The only thing different in my set up is that I had the hardware acceleration disabled during this run to see if I could reproduce the game slowdown that has been reported; no dice so far.

 

[jaredmorgs]

I have the Pro mode. After a couple game I noticed the dot, and went into the pro menu to check the clock tests.
The thing is though as soon as I went opened the coin door, the clock had already reset itself to 12 o'clock. Which makes any tests sort of moot.

When the clock is set to 12, the opto is virtually highlighted, didn't check for 6.

If there's anything in particular you want to check or see, i can screen grab. Just let me know.

Were you able to press the Enter button inside the coin door once, and view the reported issue, or was this impossible because of a game state reset after the coin door was opened.

You should hear 5 ”bongs" if there is a service dot, and there should be a flashing message on the DMD.

 

[Nik Barbour]

Just had the gumball feeder jam bug. It delivered out the Powerball but kept camera on gumball, couldn't nudge it loose so I called the attendant, Powerball must have drained (couldn't see) attendant timer counted down and I ended up with 2 balls at the plunger - had to quit the game - grrrrrrr 250mill ball 1 2 extra balls

This is playing beta ver01.

Edit :- YYYYYEEEEEESSSSS!
Activated LITZ at last! Feels awesome!

6 ball multiball - no slow down or lag using ver01 beta, not bad on a single core 1ghz 2yr old phone Ryan! Just need to get round the ball skin slow down as found in ver02.

Had the gumball jam 3 times now, however - new technique - each time the gumball loads, as balls descend, give it a good nudge, hasn't happened since I've been doing that!

 

[netizen]

The Dot and the Clock

was this impossible because of a game state reset after the coin door was opened.

As soon as I open the coin door it resets the game state.
This is the nature of the volitile memory that every thing seems to be written to. I have asked, as in it is a feature that needs to be changed, for this to be something that gets overhauled across the entire application.

You should hear 5 ”bongs" if there is a service dot, and there should be a flashing message on the DMD.

I will have to try playing with Pro Mode enabled already, and then see if I can reproduced this now that I know what to look for i'll keep my ears peeled.

Oddly enough, lol, I was playing around with TZ last night and got the service dot after I had engaged the clock, but hadn't made the clock shot. Clock goes spinning didn't hit the bumper between the ramps before I sank, or time ran out; no puns intended.
SO, just for laughs I made efforts, score be damned, to make the clock shot when the clock was activated. It seems rather strange to me, rule sheet is huge and all, but so long as you get the clock shot(s) that trigger the animation of the little robot dude zapping the clock and end the clock (can't remember the name) phase, then the opto seems to reset itself and the dot goes buh bye.

Not sure how repeatable this 'fix' is for everyone, but if you can try it, please do.

ETA: repeated the error with pro mode already enabled so I could open the coin door and generate the error message/tone, but now I am way out of my depth. Reading the manual will occupy a portion of my day along with grocery shopping, and making some art of plunger views.

here's what I see

ETA: I performed some Google Fu. From what I am reading this problem with the clock and the powerball detection in the trough etc are related, and are directly from the ROM and physical wiring etc that is being emulated. FS needs to test their physical machine for these exact problems to determine if they can be repeated there and if so then there is a much deeper issue than we are experiencing.

Here's some links to read:
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Twilight_Zone_Eddy_Boards
http://www.iobium.com/twilight_zone_switch_26_eddy.htm
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-twilight-zone-switch-26-fix

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Power Ball (PB)

TABLE: TZ
BETA 2

Okay.

I don't think this is a show stopper, but in keeping with the FS goal of producing accurate recreations ...

(and ignoring the RL white PB vs. the TPA many-shades-of-gray-depending-on-your-device PB observations)

I found this specification on the IPDB regarding the power ball (PB)

http://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?gid=2684

The "Powerball" is a ceramic pinball about 20% lighter than a steel pinball, much faster, and not affected by the game's magnets.

I do think it's lighter, or has less mass ... try trapping a steel ball (SB) vs. a PB out of the slot machine ... SB bounces and drops back down to the flipper and can be trapped (100%) while PB bounces high enough to contact the top of the right sling and falls into the right in-lane (100%) assuming you don't freak and try to nudge it.

I do know for a fact (with the RL PB diverter bug being perfectly reproduced in TPA) that the power field magnets have little to no effect on it.

... but ....

Faster?

"Much Faster", even?

If anything I'd say it's slower and more prone to a bad case of the "floaties".

Show stopper: No, to be honest, not really.
Game Play Impact: Minor (Casual Player), End-of-the World (Pinhead on a mission)
Recreation Accuracy: Not so much.

I'm wondering if anyone else shares that observation and/or feels strongly about the recreation accuracy at this point.

 

[Pop Sergeant]

White Power Ball (Source Documentation)

Ryan,

I thought about letting this go because its been previously reported, but I decided I'd be remiss if I didn't at least offer what new information I've found.

And I'm certainly not suggesting this issue is a show stopper. I'm only backing up some of our previous observations that the PB is seemingly not accurately colored/shaded white, but is varying shades of gray with varying impact by device.

I submitted a bug report earlier with a screen capture of the factory issued PB to compare to the TPA digital version, but here is some external source documentation in case there is some internal (FS) need to document a change request with something more substantial than "some random old dude on the fan forum said so" ... LOL ...

By the way, this table is very playable and very enjoyable and you folks did a bang up job on it, if you weren't not paying me to beta test, I'd nary have any complaint at all with it "as is".


TABLE: TZ
BETA (2)

SUBJECT: White Power Ball (Source Documentation)

ISSUE: Power ball appears to be various shades of gray on different devices, but is definitely not white or "pearlesent" as intended by the manufacturer; depending on the darkness of the gray scale (by device) or the dull gray ball skin (when manually selected) it can be hard to distinguish while in play.

CATEGORY: Recreation Accuracy (TPA Mission Statement)

IMPACT:

Functionality/Performance: None
Game Play: Minor to the low end of moderate (Depending on device, native gray scale, and texture)
Recreation Accuracy: Not Accurate

Note: The previous "bug" where the gray ball skin makes steel balls a flat, low-sheen, gray on some devices can make it extra difficult to visually identify the PB in play but it should be noted that this is not the case on all devices where the gray ball skin does not impact the metallic sheen of the steel balls.

SOURCE: Bally(R) Operations Manual (April 1993)
16-50020-101

REF: FACTORY SHIPPED - WHITE CERAMIC POWER BALL

http://www.arcade-museum.com/manuals-pinball/T/Twilight_Zone_OPS.pdf

SOURCE: http://gameroomblog.com/guides/twilight-zone-pinball-prototype-vs-production

REF: USE OF ALTERNATE COLOR POWER BALLS (REJECTED/NOT RECOMMENDED)


Twilight Zone Pinball: Prototype vs. Production


Blue PowerBall™ – When Pat Lawlor first envisioned a gumball machine in a pinball game, he wanted it to dispense balls of various colors. Research into a material that would withstand the rigors of a pinball came up with one answer – high temperature ceramic. Unfortunately, this type of ceramic comes in only two colors, blue and white. (Ordinary pigments are not possible, due to the high temperatures involved in the ceramic manufacturing process.) Pat obtained samples of both colors and the design team gathered to throw a ball into a Whitewater prototype. (Whitewater was just finishing development at the time.) The first reaction was “Where did the ball go?” The dark color of the ball made it hide in the shadows. Add to that the dark blue playfield, and the result was an almost invisible ball. So, the decision was made; white was the color of choice. No games were made with a blue PowerBall™.

 

[netizen]

another trough + gumball error

Still not totally sure on how much the tests in the Pro mode relate to the actual game play, however this one relates to the previously reported Trough and Gumball Machine issues.

Bug: Gumball Machine doesn't fully cycle in test mode

Frequency: 100%

Description: put table into pro mode, open coin door, go to test menu, select continuous gumball test, the balls will unload, but then an errors appears due to the trough not loading any balls. I suspect this is due to the potential problems I illustrated in my previous report about switch 26 and how it affects the trough sensor etc.

ETA: from manual
CANNOT AUTO-LOAD CHECK BALL SERVE
This error occurs during the Continuous Test if the game cannot seem to get the balls from
the trough to the auto-fire kicker.

 

[netizen]

Pro mode - extra ball buy in enabled by default

Another default setting that functions differently in Pro mode than it does in regular game play.

Bug: The extra ball buy in is enabled by default, but only activates at the end of games in Pro mode.

Frequency: 100%

Description: enable pro mode, open coin door, press reset to clear any changes you may have made, press back to exit to menu, start a game, play, lose, see the buy in message at end of game.

 

[Pop Sergeant]

Right, that is enough proof for me.

Issue seems to be caused with ball skins.

Pro Tip: If you want to play BETA 2 version of v1.7.0, then *do not* go and touch the ball skins.

I have a feeling that if you leave them alone, the performance issues do not manifest.

Anyone willing to do a fresh install to verify?

TABLE: TZ
BETA(2) FULL UNINSTALL / CLEAN INSTALL

I did as you asked. I haven't even thought about visiting the "Extras" dialog because I know from past experience there is no way to stop it from grabbing the default gray skin at that point.

Guess what?

No more transparent balls.
No significant lag during multi-ball
Power ball (while not white) is a very light gray and obviously not a steel ball and more closely matches what others were seeing.

Conclusion: Looks to me like you and Nik Barbour are on the right track. The beta 2 ball skin (even the default) once activated is persistent and the common factor in many of our issues.

Please excuse me if I don't employ the extras menu for the duration of beta 2 ... that was painful.

Cheers.

 

[McGuirk]

I finally downloaded the second beta a little while ago to see if something I found in the first was fixed. I love the table, but those outlanes must have tiny posts around them, and huge magnets in them. Wow. Anyway, here's my TZ bug.

When the final score screen comes up, I immediately tap continue, followed by immediately tapping Start when I get back to the table main menu screen. The table loads to the plunger cam, but I also get the final score box popping up over it (the final score is 0), with the HoF and Continue buttons. Tapping Hall of Fame quits the game after a second or two. Tapping continue reloads the plunger, and instead of the final score screen, I get the buttons from the table's main menu (start, table options, etc). Tapping start here will start the game. On occasion, it has started a two player game.

I took some screenshots, but my Nexus 7 rebooted from overheating, so I shut it down for the night. I'll post them tomorrow.

 

[Nik Barbour]

TABLE: TZ
BETA(2) FULL UNINSTALL / CLEAN INSTALL

I did as you asked. I haven't even thought about visiting the "Extras" dialog because I know from past experience there is no way to stop it from grabbing the default gray skin at that point.

Guess what?

No more transparent balls.
No significant lag during multi-ball
Power ball (while not white) is a very light gray and obviously not a steel ball and more closely matches what others were seeing.

Conclusion: Looks to me like you and Nik Barbour are on the right track. The beta 2 ball skin (even the default) once activated is persistent and the common factor in many of our issues.

Please excuse me if I don't employ the extras menu for the duration of beta 2 ... that was painful.

Cheers.

Sorry Pop - but I cannot agree!

From yesterday's file moving experiments, I've concluded that the ball skin setting is a persistent setting, and that it's state is saved within the 'saved_data' file where Highscores and goal achievements are saved.

So today's experiment -

With ver02 installed, set ball skin to zebra stripe, close TPA, backup both 'saved_data' & all table files.
In devices app manager, clear data, uninstall TPA. Using root explorer (file manager app) check both saved_data files and all table files have deleted and cleared - they have!
Perform a full clean install of ver02 beta apk.
Start TPA, login to gain access to purchases. Open TZ, the table downloads. Note I am not going anywhere near the skins setting menu.

Start TZ, ball is same colour by default, as it is when you select the dull grey patch in the skins menu (which hasn't been accessed in this install) it is a lighter shiny grey than it was in ver01 beta. Powerball is a different colour to steel balls, creamy white.

Start game, lag / slow down is present, especially around the lower flippers, or when the ball is travelling at speed from a bumper.
Multiball further highlights the slow down and performance drop.
It doesn't feel any different to me (having not changed ball skin settings this time) to as it played under previous install.

To finish up - I exited TPA and restored my backed up 'saved_data' file and table data.
Restarted TPA, started a game of TZ, and without touching any settings, the zebra stripe ball was back!
That means Pop Sergeant, if you have restored your 'saved_data' file after your wipe down and new install, you are not actually playing with an untouched ball skin setting set-up, and your install shouldn't be any different than it was when you felt you had lag.

Just to clarify - the lag experienced in ver02 is not game stopping (like BOP when the thread priorities were altered), it's just a noticeable slow down, which can also be felt in the flippers when it occurs, which is magnified in multiball.

Not game stopping, just annoying after having played 6 ball multiball in ver01 without any slow down on the same device.

Had additional fault while testing.
From left flipper, shot left ramp, ball looked like it lifted from play field and shot clean through the table back. Another ball was then delivered to plunger.

Oh well - back to ver01 beta for me, just hope the skins performance can be improved!