Request Roadmap

[Xanija]

Hi,

I read a lot of threads about features or improvements requested and (as far as I know) confirmed to be in development. I'm not talking about any upcoming tables here. Things that come to my mind:

- XBox One Release
- PS4 Release Season 2
- PC DirectX 11 Release
- New Interface (is that still a thing? Haven't heard about it for ages)
- Emulation of scripted tables
- PC cabinet version
- Pinball After Dark
- Working Steam Friend List

There are sure more and I'm happy to add more to the list (only if confirmed by Farsight). I'm aware that:

- Farsight's development resources are very limited
- not every item on the list is being developed by the same people
- plans might change

Nevertheless I'd be curious about some kind of roadmap. Not asking for precise dates, we all know it's just not possible. But more like a list of thing which might (have to) come before others, because they have a higher priority.

Is this something which could be told to the fans? Thanks,

 

[PC.Doctor]

If only I knew, too...

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

I'm still hoping for a Wii U version, though I would've loved to be able to transfer purchases from one system to another. I know it isn't easily done due to legal reasons though.

 

[brakel]

I'm still hoping for a Wii U version, though I would've loved to be able to transfer purchases from one system to another. I know it isn't easily done due to legal reasons though.

What would be this legal reason?

 

[danivempire]

I hope we get the new ui soon.
It's getting crowded in the table area ^^

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

What would be this legal reason?

Transferring purchases from one company's infrastructure to another without a standardized means of doing so. I have the Android version, meaning if I want the full version on Wii U I'd have to pay for it again, which I am certainly not going to do. (I'd still pick up any potential exclusives though.) I suppose this would be more of a logistical reason, but I doubt Google and Nintendo would get along well enough to make a transference of a game from one platform to another.

 

[switch3flip]

I don't understand why so many people can't understand different platform systems. It's like you go to the cinema and watch a movie then expect to get a DVD of the same movie for free at your local video store.

 

[Espy]

I don't understand why so many people can't understand different platform systems. It's like you go to the cinema and watch a movie then expect to get a DVD of the same movie for free at your local video store.

Or like buying a hardback copy of a book then claiming you're entitled to a free paperback copy.

 

[Xanija]

Since this is not something which was ever confirmed by Farsight, I would kindly ask you to leave this discussion out of this thread. It has nothing to do with my initial reuqest. Thanks.

 

[Extork]

Be sure to add these to your list,

-challenge mode for all platforms

-FarSight original designed tables

Good luck getting dates and/or priorities

 

[brakel]

Transferring purchases from one company's infrastructure to another without a standardized means of doing so. I have the Android version, meaning if I want the full version on Wii U I'd have to pay for it again, which I am certainly not going to do. (I'd still pick up any potential exclusives though.) I suppose this would be more of a logistical reason, but I doubt Google and Nintendo would get along well enough to make a transference of a game from one platform to another.

It is logistical and also monetary. FarSight spends money developing the game for every platform and they need to sell their product in order to pay the people who do the work, plus the overhead, plus the per unit license fees that Williams etc. charge per table sold plus profit for the person or persons who invested their money to start FarSight and keep it going.

It doesn't cost less for FarSight to create and distribute the game on the PC just because you bought it on Android. There's no causality there.

 

[Gord Lacey]

The topic of transferring purchases between formats has been covered before in other threads. As Xanija has asked, let's keep this to the roadmap discussion.

 

[Mark W**a]

Transferring purchases from one company's infrastructure to another without a standardized means of doing so. I have the Android version, meaning if I want the full version on Wii U I'd have to pay for it again, which I am certainly not going to do. (I'd still pick up any potential exclusives though.) I suppose this would be more of a logistical reason, but I doubt Google and Nintendo would get along well enough to make a transference of a game from one platform to another.

The idea of doing a Wii U version or an Xbox One version or whatever is to sell the game again to customers who own that system.

That's just how business works. Farsight isn't purchasing expensive Wii U and Xbox One dev kits then spending lots of man hours and money to code the new versions just so existing customers can transfer their game to those systems for free. It's silly (and immoral once you understand) to expect them (or any company, ever) to allow this.

I mean you can take this back 20 years or 30 years, and ask why doesn't my Sega Genesis game work on an SNES. Why do I have to buy the same game twice. The distribution system has changed (digital vs. a physical cartrdige) but the underlying stuff hasn't (different companies, different hardware).

 

[Mark W**a]

Hi,

I read a lot of threads about features or improvements requested and (as far as I know) confirmed to be in development. I'm not talking about any upcoming tables here. Things that come to my mind:

- XBox One Release
- PS4 Release Season 2
- PC DirectX 11 Release
- New Interface (is that still a thing? Haven't heard about it for ages)
- Emulation of scripted tables
- PC cabinet version
- Pinball After Dark
- Working Steam Friend List

There are sure more and I'm happy to add more to the list (only if confirmed by Farsight). I'm aware that:

- Farsight's development resources are very limited
- not every item on the list is being developed by the same people
- plans might change

Nevertheless I'd be curious about some kind of roadmap. Not asking for precise dates, we all know it's just not possible. But more like a list of thing which might (have to) come before others, because they have a higher priority.

Is this something which could be told to the fans? Thanks,

On Facebook, Farsight said that after Xbox One, PS4, and PC are caught up, the priorities shift to Wii U.

It's a shame we have to wait for all that before existing customers get rom emulation we've been waiting years for.

No idea when the UI is releasing but it is coming. Probably soon I'd imagine.

Bug fixes, texture enhancements, lighting fixes and overall polish is something I've asked for in a seperate thread it doesn't appear to be a priority to them, unfortunately.

 

[brakel]

Nevertheless I'd be curious about some kind of roadmap. Not asking for precise dates, we all know it's just not possible. But more like a list of thing which might (have to) come before others, because they have a higher priority.

Is this something which could be told to the fans? Thanks,

I think a detailed road map of priorities is unlikely to be shared with us for a number of reasons. First would be that FarSight is small enough to make changes on the fly as the market changes. The more that they share with us the more people that may be disappointed as priorities change. Second would be failing to roll things out in the order of their road map because of technical issues. Again the disappointment is the possible result. If you just look at the sound threads you can see what I'm talking about. FarSight has found that fixing the sound is proving to be more difficult than they thought. They thought it was a simple fix. Now people are really frustrated that a fix has not been implemented yet. Third would be that they don't want to divulge their entire company plan to the world. Even though their licenses are exclusive, they are up for renewal from time to time. You wouldn't want to let a competitor know too much. I'm actually surprised that FarSight let us know when their Williams contact was coming up for renegotiation/renewal.

I think they are likely to just continue giving us the basics. They're still planning on more seasons after this one. WiiU is still in the making. Just a general scope but not a road map. And I think that's reasonable no matter how much we want to know!

 

[jaredmorgs]

Hi,

I read a lot of threads about features or improvements requested and (as far as I know) confirmed to be in development. I'm not talking about any upcoming tables here. Things that come to my mind:

- XBox One Release
- PS4 Release Season 2
- PC DirectX 11 Release
- New Interface (is that still a thing? Haven't heard about it for ages)
- Emulation of scripted tables
- PC cabinet version
- Pinball After Dark
- Working Steam Friend List

There are sure more and I'm happy to add more to the list (only if confirmed by Farsight). I'm aware that:

- Farsight's development resources are very limited
- not every item on the list is being developed by the same people
- plans might change

Nevertheless I'd be curious about some kind of roadmap. Not asking for precise dates, we all know it's just not possible. But more like a list of thing which might (have to) come before others, because they have a higher priority.

Is this something which could be told to the fans? Thanks,

A roadmap would be lovely.

Roadmap that FarSight would be willing to release:

- XBox One Release <-- When it is submitted to Microsoft.
- PS4 Release Season 2 <-- When it is submitted to Sony.
- PC DirectX 11 Release <-- When it's ready.
- New Interface (is that still a thing? Haven't heard about it for ages) <-- When it's ready.
- Emulation of scripted tables <-- When it's ready.
- PC cabinet version <-- When it's ready.
- Pinball After Dark <-- When it's ready.
- Working Steam Friend List <-- When it's ready.

Here's some general food for thought on this topic, from a guy who has worked both open source community projects, and proprietary projects.

Remember, FarSight is not an open source software project with public contributors. ;-) They have no reason to publish any internal schedule to any one. Honestly, no one needs to know but them.

Small company means the sands of resources are shifting constantly.

A public roadmap would only place unfair demands on staff, and make them accountable to not only their boss, but to the internet at large. Would you want that in your job?

 

[1moreastronaut]

That's where over-promising and under-delivering becomes problematic, Jared. Whoever is making the promises on facebook should probably wait til these things are past the drawing board stage before announcing their imminent arrival.

That said, I agree that a roadmap isn't a feasible idea. Just a pipe dream.

 

[Deltaechoe]

A roadmap isn't going to happen like you want it to, Farsight is just too small of a company to be able to concretely promise times. Software development is one of the stickiest things to give predictions on and with the limited resources that Farsight has it would be a bad idea to just give out promises like that

 

[Xanija]

I wonder how many actually read my original posting. Nevermind.

 

[brakel]

I wonder how many actually read my original posting. Nevermind.

Reading is fundamental.