Single table releases - are they going to be the new normal?

[oqvist]

They shouldn´t mix old tables with new if they announce they will do that I can´t afford to dare a season pass. In such case offer two season passes perhaps. You don´t save all that much. I hardly saved anything on Season 2 getting the Season pass. Sure there is some older tables that is still fun like pin bot but could buy them on the side. I do hope they announce the plans before hand so I know if I dare to take the jump or not. Older is not better in term of pinball

But if they can release new tables in true high resolution. I played Pro pinball yesterday at 1280x1024 and was astounded how much higher res it is over any of the FS tables on my Steam version. I can´t even recall how many years it was since release of that one. I suppose things will get better with Season 3 if not due to PC optimization but due to PS 4 optimization which surely should be able to support 1080p. I am sure the workload will be greater implementing better lightning effects etc possible on better hardware so I wouldn´t be upset about single table releases if they are indead of a much higher quality then the past. Even if they are not cheaper. I don´t remember what I payed for the Pro Pinball tables I never felt they where expensive though just getting one at a time...

 

[BStarfire]

If they had a separate season pass for all EM's I'd pay twice the going rate. I could probably come up with a minimum list of must haves that are fun and of fun historical importance. Forty tables In TPA so far (including some of my favorites) but not even the #1 EM yet. Off the top of my head... Slick Chick, Majorettes, Kings and Queens, Atlantis, Centigrade 37, Abra Cadabra, and one or two of the card based ones (royal flush, joker poker... I can't remember which ones are which), and maybe Apollo (never played it but looks good and someone suggested it recently).

Heck, I'd kickstart a hundred or two for that sort of pack. Of course, I still want FT, Comet, and High Speed, but after those I'd rather have great playing classic EM's over middle of the pack solid states. Still room for all I hope.

 

[brakel]

They shouldn´t mix old tables with new if they announce they will do that I can´t afford to dare a season pass. In such case offer two season passes perhaps. You don´t save all that much. I hardly saved anything on Season 2 getting the Season pass. Sure there is some older tables that is still fun like pin bot but could buy them on the side. I do hope they announce the plans before hand so I know if I dare to take the jump or not. Older is not better in term of pinball

But if they can release new tables in true high resolution. I played Pro pinball yesterday at 1280x1024 and was astounded how much higher res it is over any of the FS tables on my Steam version. I can´t even recall how many years it was since release of that one. I suppose things will get better with Season 3 if not due to PC optimization but due to PS 4 optimization which surely should be able to support 1080p. I am sure the workload will be greater implementing better lightning effects etc possible on better hardware so I wouldn´t be upset about single table releases if they are indead of a much higher quality then the past. Even if they are not cheaper. I don´t remember what I payed for the Pro Pinball tables I never felt they where expensive though just getting one at a time...

The PS4 version of TPA is running in 1080p.

 

[Rudy Yagov]

They shouldn´t mix old tables with new if they announce they will do that I can´t afford to dare a season pass. In such case offer two season passes perhaps. You don´t save all that much. I hardly saved anything on Season 2 getting the Season pass. Sure there is some older tables that is still fun like pin bot but could buy them on the side. I do hope they announce the plans before hand so I know if I dare to take the jump or not. Older is not better in term of pinball

But if they can release new tables in true high resolution. I played Pro pinball yesterday at 1280x1024 and was astounded how much higher res it is over any of the FS tables on my Steam version. I can´t even recall how many years it was since release of that one. I suppose things will get better with Season 3 if not due to PC optimization but due to PS 4 optimization which surely should be able to support 1080p. I am sure the workload will be greater implementing better lightning effects etc possible on better hardware so I wouldn´t be upset about single table releases if they are indead of a much higher quality then the past. Even if they are not cheaper. I don´t remember what I payed for the Pro Pinball tables I never felt they where expensive though just getting one at a time...

I'm running TPA on my PC in 1080p with 16x AA, Post-Processing and high ball reflection. The game overall looks fine. The problem is not TPA itself, but the textures they use; they aren't always the highest quality (Victory looks awful).

 

[oqvist]

The PS4 version of TPA is running in 1080p.

Same do the Steam version but do they use high res textures?

 

[brakel]

Same do the Steam version but do they use high res textures?

I don't know because the monitor I played it on was about 27 inches. At the distance I was at the PS3 textures and higher resolution textures would have looked the same. I do know that FarSight has said that they are using higher resolution textures for the PS4.

But I was just answering your question about the PS4 being able to run in 1080p. I know that it can because it is.

 

[CC13]

Stern basically has nothing of interest without a heavy license. Maybe monopoly, roller coaster tycoon and a couple others. But those could be expensive too. All their tables are either the early ss or the non live sed dmd's are probably not too high on the request board.

Are you being entirely fair here? After all, Seawitch took 9th place in the Stern/Data East/Sega poll, while Catacomb managed a respectable 14th place. Even if you want to restrict the conversation to DMDs, though, High Roller Casino took 5th place, despite not having any licenses, while Sharkey's Shootout, which only has very light licensing, managed a surprising 8th place. We wouldn't be able to subsist entirely on Sega-East-Stern tables, but they can supplement the WMS decks quite nicely, IMO.

As for my own thoughts on the matter, this isn't the first time I've criticized FarSight's lack of communication with its customers, but this is certainly one of the biggest slip-ups in that regard. Previous statements had led us to believe that 2 tables per pack would be the standard going forward, so if that wasn't the case, we definitely should have gotten at least a few weeks notice of that fact; couple this with the recent lack of communication concerning the WMS negotiations and I would fully understand if somebody on the outside looking in decided they didn't trust FarSight very much. Even if 1 table pack is indeed the new normal, though, not all the news is bad; nobody seems to have noticed that FarSight's announcement came out a week earlier than we would normally expect. If a turnaround of 3 weeks per table is part of the new normal, then I think I could adjust, particularly if the Pro Pack season pass isn't more than about $45 or so.

 

[Bowflex]

Are you being entirely fair here? After all, Seawitch took 9th place in the Stern/Data East/Sega poll, while Catacomb managed a respectable 14th place. Even if you want to restrict the conversation to DMDs, though, High Roller Casino took 5th place, despite not having any licenses, while Sharkey's Shootout, which only has very light licensing, managed a surprising 8th place. We wouldn't be able to subsist entirely on Sega-East-Stern tables, but they can supplement the WMS decks quite nicely, IMO.

As for my own thoughts on the matter, this isn't the first time I've criticized FarSight's lack of communication with its customers, but this is certainly one of the biggest slip-ups in that regard. Previous statements had led us to believe that 2 tables per pack would be the standard going forward, so if that wasn't the case, we definitely should have gotten at least a few weeks notice of that fact; couple this with the recent lack of communication concerning the WMS negotiations and I would fully understand if somebody on the outside looking in decided they didn't trust FarSight very much. Even if 1 table pack is indeed the new normal, though, not all the news is bad; nobody seems to have noticed that FarSight's announcement came out a week earlier than we would normally expect. If a turnaround of 3 weeks per table is part of the new normal, then I think I could adjust, particularly if the Pro Pack season pass isn't more than about $45 or so.

I find the various manufactures compares pretty similar to the current state of College Football. You have one dominant division (SEC) and other divisions that can put up a big show and then get squashed when they play the SEC teams. One point I'd like to make is that of all the various polls, less people voted in the Stern poll than Williams or Bally. Stern was the final poll so they had the advantage of even more time to have awareness for people that cared to vote for Stern related tables. To me, it suggests that less people care about Stern tables as a whole compared to WMS two divisions. If you want to compare total votes, there are eleven WMS tables that received more votes than High Roller with several more having only a handful of less votes.

I do wish to disclose that I voted for Seawitch and Catacomb! I am a fan of several of the Stern tables and I would like to see more Stern related tables represented. I just feel that they can't carry as many votes as their WMS counterparts and I believe much of the data does back that statement.

 

[SilverBalls]

If they had a separate season pass for all EM's I'd pay twice the going rate. I could probably come up with a minimum list of must haves that are fun and of fun historical importance. Forty tables In TPA so far (including some of my favorites) but not even the #1 EM yet. Off the top of my head... Slick Chick, Majorettes, Kings and Queens, Atlantis, Centigrade 37, Abra Cadabra, and one or two of the card based ones (royal flush, joker poker... I can't remember which ones are which), and maybe Apollo (never played it but looks good and someone suggested it recently).

Heck, I'd kickstart a hundred or two for that sort of pack. Of course, I still want FT, Comet, and High Speed, but after those I'd rather have great playing classic EM's over middle of the pack solid states. Still room for all I hope.

Same for me. I would pay treble for a pure EM / SS non-DMD season pass if the tables are produced to a high standard. Hopefully these can me offered at a premium rate in the future.

 

[Espy]

Who knows... maybe they'll do something like alternate between 1-table and 2-table packs each month? They haven't given an official word on this yet. They do free up some dev time by getting rid of the PHOF tables, not enough for two tables a month, but unless they start on another project they still have some free time if they only do one a month.

 

[superballs]

Who knows... maybe they'll do something like alternate between 1-table and 2-table packs each month? They haven't given an official word on this yet. They do free up some dev time by getting rid of the PHOF tables, not enough for two tables a month, but unless they start on another project they still have some free time if they only do one a month.

They've stated that they are in fact working on non pinball related projects, which is thinning their resources a bit.

 

[TMOverbeck]

As long as there's a price drop in the tables or the season pass, I guess I can live with this.

 

[dtown8532]

Yup. FarSight said on FB that season three will be single table packs and the season pass will be $29.99.
No mention of individual table prices. I'd guess four bucks and, if season 3 is ten tables, you'd be saving a dollar per pin by buying the pass. Just my guess.

 

[AshleyAshes]

Yup. FarSight said on FB that season three will be single table packs and the season pass will be $29.99.

Still averages to $2.50 per table, I'm pleased. I'll buy the third season up front this month if they'll let me.

 

[dtown8532]

Still averages to $2.50 per table, I'm pleased. I'll buy the third season up front this month if they'll let me.

How does 30 dollars divided by 10 tables result in $2.50 per table? Unless it is 12 tables and then, yes $2.50 is correct.

 

[night]

Yup. FarSight said on FB that season three will be single table packs and the season pass will be $29.99.
No mention of individual table prices. I'd guess four bucks and, if season 3 is ten tables, you'd be saving a dollar per pin by buying the pass. Just my guess.

But why would season 3 have ten tables and not twelve?

 

[PiN WiZ]

But why would season 3 have ten tables and not twelve?

Because seasons have always included only ten table packs meaning a season is defined by ten table packs, not twelve months.

 

[night]

Because seasons have always included only ten table packs meaning a season is defined by ten table packs, not twelve months.

Alright, thanks!

 

[DoX]

This single table idea for a little cheaper price sounds good to me. First, I agree they will have more time to polish the tables and second, players can choose the tables they want to play. It won't happen anymore that you must buy a table you'll never play just to get the other one from the pack, and pay for it of course. So I, for example, ended up with a few EM tables I never play, as they don't interest me, and find them boring. But I had to buy them if I wanted the other ones from the packs. As I started playing pins in 1992, those old EM's don't contain any nostalgic value for me, and I don't really want them.

Single table system would let the player choose exactly what he/she wants to play and pay for, so this sounds much better to me.

 

[dtown8532]

This single table idea for a little cheaper price sounds good to me. First, I agree they will have more time to polish the tables and second, players can choose the tables they want to play. It won't happen anymore that you must buy a table you'll never play just to get the other one from the pack, and pay for it of course. So I, for example, ended up with a few EM tables I never play, as they don't interest me, and find them boring. But I had to buy them if I wanted the other ones from the packs. As I started playing pins in 1992, those old EM's don't contain any nostalgic value for me, and I don't really want them.

Single table system would let the player choose exactly what he/she wants to play and pay for, so this sounds much better to me.

I'm gonna say it now to the chagrin of many. We will see NO EM's in season three. Of course, this is pure speculation.