Round 2: Post Your Questions For Bobby King

[The Doctor]

1. What are the chances of seeing Dr. Who?
2. What are the chances of seeing Dr. Who?
3. *points to avatar*
4. What are the chances of seeing Dr. Who?

 

[The Doctor]

How are sounds from the tables (e.g., the table-specific sound effects, voices, music, etc.) digitized into your software? Do you use the original 'master' audio files, or do you record the sounds with a mic? Is there any possibility of improving the sound quality of the tables? I have never played these in real life, so I don't know what they really sound like, but I suspect the sound quality is compressed for the game- true? Or are the files lower quality to begin with?

wouldn't the sound come from the arcade board itself, thus the ROM?

 

[Rudy Yagov]

wouldn't the sound come from the arcade board itself, thus the ROM?

Yeah, the ROM emulation takes care of the sounds. What you hear in the game is what you would hear on the real machine. The only exception (for now) being Black Hole, which currently doesn't use emulation.

 

[starck]

That's what I was guessing. I suppose then, that if it does, my question is- is there any way to get higher quality sound in this game, or are we limited to the quality based on hardware/software of the period that the machine was using. Certainly they must compress the sound files for TPA though...?

 

[Actionball]

-Remove annoying Facebook question ('or play as guest') at start-up, please! Mark Zuckerberg is a genius but I don't want to have anything to do with FB, leave me alone FB, leave me alone! I bought TPA and I am not just a guest!

Seconded.

When this splash screen popped up on my first play (on PS3) I was frozen in fear of having to join that cesspool as a condition of play. As it is when you back out of it (every time you play) the PS3 treats it like you have broken or unpaid for content rather than just simply not wanting to use Facebook. If you could opt out and have that decision remain in your saved game file that would be nice. I really feel bad for mobile users who have no choice but to submit to the "mark of the Book" if they want to be counted on the leader boards.

 

[Richard B]

That's what I was guessing. I suppose then, that if it does, my question is- is there any way to get higher quality sound in this game, or are we limited to the quality based on hardware/software of the period that the machine was using. Certainly they must compress the sound files for TPA though...?

I wouldn't expect the quality to be better than the original machines, though I don't think compression is that necessary, considering that these tables use 20 year old technology. Addams Family and other pre-DCS machines use around 1 MB or less. DCS machines, like STTNG come in around 3 MB, and the last of the Stern Whitestars come in around 5 MB. That's pretty miniscule compared to the sound files on most modern games.

 

[Jan Duin]

Does Farsight acknowledge there is a lag issue on the PS3 with certain tv setups and are they working on a solution?

 

[Crush3d_Turtle]

Does Farsight acknowledge there is a lag issue on the PS3 with certain tv setups and are they working on a solution?

I second this question. The trial version on the 360 plays fine on my tv (game mode, HDMI) yet the PS3 has a very noticeable flipper lag (same tv, gamemode, HDMI).

 

[Sir_LANs-a-lot]

In respect of the PC version:

What would the optimum spec be for running TPA?
Would it benefit from a CUDA enabled graphics card?

 

[Kevlar]

I would like to know how long the total process of converting a table takes, and how many tables are they working on at a time?. If you use The Twilight Zone as an example, they are saying to expect it in November and the kickstarter ends middle of June so either they aren't going to start working on it yet or its actually going to take upwards of 4 months. Now if tables do actually take 4 months of hard work but they are releasing 2 tables every month then obviously they can't keep up that 2 tables a month schedule. I'm guessing they don't take 4 months but they are dropping TTZ into the schedule and have a handful of tables at various stages so TTZ will be sat there for a while. Oh and how long/how many coffee/cigarette breaks they are allowed? this number needs to be reduced .

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

First, the obligatory question for the pile:

Will we be able in the future to adjust physical options on the tables, such as the outlane post positions, playfield pitch, tilt bob sensitivity, etc.?

Oh and how long/how many coffee/cigarette breaks they are allowed? this number needs to be reduced .

As a software developer myself, I feel obligated to tell you that it is exceedingly dangerous to deprive a coder of his customary allotment of caffeine and/or nicotine. The black magic to make the electrons dance in the proper ways to produce software requires vast amounts of energy, and we get very unhappy when we are asked to perform on an empty tank!

 

[Richard B]

Will they continue with kickstarters to fund expensive licenses, or will they devise other ways to get the money?

 

[Kevlar]

As a software developer myself, I feel obligated to tell you that it is exceedingly dangerous to deprive a coder of his customary allotment of caffeine and/or nicotine. The black magic to make the electrons dance in the proper ways to produce software requires vast amounts of energy, and we get very unhappy when we are asked to perform on an empty tank!

Thats easily sorted;

 

[Richard B]

I would like to know how long the total process of converting a table takes, and how many tables are they working on at a time?. If you use The Twilight Zone as an example, they are saying to expect it in November and the kickstarter ends middle of June so either they aren't going to start working on it yet or its actually going to take upwards of 4 months. Now if tables do actually take 4 months of hard work but they are releasing 2 tables every month then obviously they can't keep up that 2 tables a month schedule. I'm guessing they don't take 4 months but they are dropping TTZ into the schedule and have a handful of tables at various stages so TTZ will be sat there for a while. Oh and how long/how many coffee/cigarette breaks they are allowed? this number needs to be reduced .

I wonder about this too. My guess is that they start much earlier than 30 days, and there are probably several months of tables in various stages of completion, but it would be interesting to know precisely how long it takes from start to finish.

 

[Sean DonCarlos]

Well played, sir...but an IV drip is not quite what I had in mind.

 

[Brian Clark]

Are there any plans to do Bally's Star Trek? Would it be as expensive to license as TNG?

 

[RKade8583]

I've got a compliment and questions. First off, thank you for swinging Gorgar (relatively) early. My questions are simple: When we's gon' get some on the 360 side? Is there any kind of an eta from MS?

 

[PiN WiZ]

Are there any licenses you are currently pursuing or have recently acquired that you can share with us?

 

[Jeff Strong]

OK, thanks to everyone who submitted questions this week! I'll work on the poll and post it up sometime this weekend.