Outdated physics compared to PS4

[Fungi]

Oh I hope they're working on turning off the GI lighting so we can get a decent "Strobe" and "Neon" multiball.

 

[swift]

so will anyone make a comparison video?

 

[Shaneus]

so will anyone make a comparison video?

I tried to find conditions on the PC version that are notably different to PS4 so I could capture them, but it's hard to do when you're only going on "they just feel different somehow" :/

I wish someone at FS would play the iOS, PC and PS4 versions back to back so they can see the difference we're seeing. Sucks that we have to try and prove there's a difference when we can all see it.

 

[TomL]

If you can't capture the difference in a video clip, how exactly do you expect the programmers to fix it?

You can't realistically expect them to fix the "feel of the ball" based on your intuition.

 

[swift]

here's a recently uploaded ps4 gameplay i found, and i also feel there's a different feel to the ball than that on the PC version, it seems more realistic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1sG6rOzxNo

 

[mpad]

It just looks so much better with the lighting so your mind gets tricked to think it plays more realistic.
Awesome graphics are everything, I knew it
Really about time for this to arrive for pc, then all the physics differences will be gone

 

[AshleyAshes]

There's another possibility: With different lighting effects and other visual effects, a game could 'feel' better in terms of gameplay, even if gameplay is identical. I recall with some first person shooters I used to play, by replacing certain weapon sound effects that were more 'satisfying' me, I seemed to perform better with them and they almost seemed like their ability to kill an enemy were improved. ...But it was all in my head.

 

[Shaneus]

If you can't capture the difference in a video clip, how exactly do you expect the programmers to fix it?

You can't realistically expect them to fix the "feel of the ball" based on your intuition.

No, but I can expect them to investigate it. Not being able to capture it isn't exactly an inexplicable thing. It's like saying one driving game handles better than another and trying to show it in a video. A lot of the feedback you get is in playing it, not just trying to capture footage of it.

 

[rehtroboi40]

At least tables and fixes get regularly released on the PC version.

By the way how are the physics of the PS4's season 2 tables?

I hear crickets.........

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

When I play on PC, Xbox 360 or PS4 they all 3 feel the same to me. Only difference to me is I'm not a fan of the PS4 controller. I prefer the Xbox 360 controller.

 

[Crawley]

Another possibility for the two seeming different may be due to PC specs. I saw a video recently of someone playing TPA on a computer where the ball was moving around slow as can be. Basically playing on a computer that couldn't handle the game fully. If your computer isn't offering smooth gameplay (e.g. The game isn't playing at max fps) then the experience of playing on a pc vs ps4 will differ. I imagine the ps4 version plays smoothly - I only played it briefly and it seemed the same to me in the few games I tried.

No idea if that's the case here but throwing that out as a possibility.

 

[superballs]

I've played the ps4 in a limited fashion and only cv on the demo. I've played extensively on other platforms and it does feel a bit less bouncy and the flippers feel a bit more realistic.

 

[Shaneus]

When I play on PC, Xbox 360 or PS4 they all 3 feel the same to me. Only difference to me is I'm not a fan of the PS4 controller. I prefer the Xbox 360 controller.

That's really bizarre, wish I could explain what I'm experiencing, then!

Apologies for the vagueness up to this point. Perhaps there's someone who works on one of the other platforms who can shed some light on it (as I understand, you mainly work on the base/PC version for building/testing the tables?) as I'm positive there's a difference, and not just in the controller method (and I too much prefer the 360 controller!).

Another possibility for the two seeming different may be due to PC specs. I saw a video recently of someone playing TPA on a computer where the ball was moving around slow as can be. Basically playing on a computer that couldn't handle the game fully. If your computer isn't offering smooth gameplay (e.g. The game isn't playing at max fps) then the experience of playing on a pc vs ps4 will differ. I imagine the ps4 version plays smoothly - I only played it briefly and it seemed the same to me in the few games I tried.

No idea if that's the case here but throwing that out as a possibility.

I'm playing at full framerate on my PC (60fps), so I doubt very much it's that. I also suspect I'd notice the difference if either PC or PS4 didn't run at full speed.

I've played the ps4 in a limited fashion and only cv on the demo. I've played extensively on other platforms and it does feel a bit less bouncy and the flippers feel a bit more realistic.

Yeah, I noticed in the demo before I bought the first season on PS4 on sale. It's more of a reason why I bought it than the lighting, to be honest. "Less bouncy" is a good way of describing it... the ball definitely feels like it has more weight to it somehow compared to the other platforms, and that's despite the generic sound effects being seemingly lower quality (which could contribute to the feel of it as well).

Edit: Maybe that's the key in trying to capture differences. Not in where the ball goes when doing certain replicable shots, but how long it takes to settle afterwards (say, holding up a flipper after doing a full plunge, or how long it takes to drain after a full plunge).

 

[rehtroboi40]

I've just played some MM on my 360. The ball physics have really come a long way since the 360 version was last updated (I haven't noticed outlane drains to be nearly as fast in the PC version.)

A question for Mike: is the 360 version you're playing more up-to-date physics-wise than the version much of the public has access to? Just asking!

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

I've just played some MM on my 360. The ball physics have really come a long way since the 360 version was last updated (I haven't noticed outlane drains to be nearly as fast in the PC version.)

A question for Mike: is the 360 version you're playing more up-to-date physics-wise than the version much of the public has access to? Just asking!

The 360 build I have has the same physics code as PC (and any other platform). So any improvements done in the past 2 years are in it.

 

[rehtroboi40]

Another possibility for the two seeming different may be due to PC specs. I saw a video recently of someone playing TPA on a computer where the ball was moving around slow as can be. Basically playing on a computer that couldn't handle the game fully. If your computer isn't offering smooth gameplay (e.g. The game isn't playing at max fps) then the experience of playing on a pc vs ps4 will differ. I imagine the ps4 version plays smoothly - I only played it briefly and it seemed the same to me in the few games I tried.

No idea if that's the case here but throwing that out as a possibility.

For me the PS4 version was faster. I did notice some ball breakup on several tables like TZ, Funhouse, EATPM. And yes, my PC version sometimes has moments where everything slows to a crawl (happened on El-Freakin'-Dorado the other night-I guess my computer can't even handle one-ball play LOL!).
But it's still worth it IMO to get major bugs addressed more quickly, and hey, I can always upgrade my computer.

Now it's just a matter of when FarSight will get around to DX11, and what it will do for the PC platform.

 

[Stephen Snow]

The physics in the ps4 version are no different than on any other platform

 

[Kratos3]

The physics in the ps4 version are no different than on any other platform

Shhhhh. That's a secret.

 

[Shaneus]

The physics themselves might not be, but could something like the rate at which physics are calculated be different? Or maybe it's a matter of having louder ball rolling noises that make it feel different.

If it was just me I'd be happy to brush it off as me just being weird, but that numerous other folk can "feel" a difference kinda makes me think there's something else going on.

 

[netizen]

When I can play the exact same table on 2 different platforms and watch things like how much the ball bounces off the flippers be different then I have to question how much the physics are the same.