Stern Pinball Arcade first impressions

[Xanija]

On ST especially, this is WAY too dark. This is a table with bright LED lights. SPA unfortunately doesn't capture that at all and I hope this will be changed.

 

[Trenchbroom]

I haven't posted for a while but I was really looking forward to SPA. I will be voting with my wallet this time. Normally I would trust a company to sort bugs out with patches and buy games which excite me anyway. With farsight's track record on the PS4 already I am just not willing to take that risk, especially with a hike in price for tables.

If the bugs and bad-looking tables ever do get sorted out then I will buy, as I'm not going to deny something I really do want just to make a point, but I would be very surprised if that ever did happen.

My thoughts 100%. I will not buy another Farsight product that is in perpetual beta testing.

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

Well, time to start working on the Master List for this game...

 

[vikingerik]

So you can buy a pack including ACDC for twenty, or ACDC only for twenty? Strange scheme.

It's price anchoring: http://www.priceintelligently.com/blog/bid/181199/Price-Anchoring-to-Optimize-Your-Pricing-Strategy

AC/DC alone isn't meant to sell at all, but it makes the pack look like a better deal.

It's like a small movie popcorn for $5 vs a large for $5.75. Nobody buys the small and they're not intended to, it exists only to make the large look like a better deal in comparison.

 

[Xanija]

No, it's an error

 

[kaworu]

Well, time to start working on the Master List for this game...

exactly as we talk before , i think Xanija or someone else could pin it in SPA main sub

 

[PS Garek]

In addition to all the other problems, I've got the tiny complaint that the flipper/slingshot sounds are pretty bad.

Fingers crossed that any of this is improved by the time it jumps to Steam.

 

[shaderbytes]

Honestly the graphics on this looks bad. extremely bad.

I watched the video posted above and looked at the screenshots on ps store. I mean it looks closer to a 10 year old mobile game. Nothing looks lit properly , the flippers look closer to cell shaded cartoon than realistic. The white is completely blown out. The rest of every thing follows suite.. and the ball still looks like it is made from matt lead instead of polished steel/chrome..

so sad.

 

[dave950lam]

The ball should be silver, not gun-metal grey.....Which can be hard to see on the darker tables (Star Trek). As mentioned before, hopefully the pc version will have the light shading bar.

 

[Crunchewy]

The lighting in general is poor. I mean AC/DC looks bright enough, but it's hard to tell whether some insert lights are lit or not. And yeah the graphics seem kind of bad. BUT the game is fun anyway. Also something that really bothers me is that you can't seem to hold in a flipper to bring up instant info. I really hope they fix that. And no friend leaderboard again. Argh. But the main thing I want fixed is instant info. Then lighting. Then other stuff.

I bought table pack 1. I'll probably buy Mustang standalone. I don't need most of the other repeat tables. Oh, and did anyone mention no trophies for DLC tables? That blows my mind. What a screw up.

 

[mpad]

As expected. No more shortsight low quality bs for me

 

[Tabe]

I downloaded this last night and played only the free table, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I have no idea how the table looks or plays anywhere else as I've never seen it previously. With that caveat...

I liked this a lot. The table sounds a lot better than PS$ Pinball Arcade tables. It looks good - to my eyes, at least. It plays well - I was able to do lots of catches and other things like that. Definitely "feels" better than TPA.

Honestly, my only gripe, at the moment anyway, is the ball. It's waaaaaaay too dark. Looks like a pinball that got rolled in soot. Makes things very difficult to see, that's for sure.

I will most likely pick up the bundle with AC/DC in it (at least).

 

[DA5ID]

Loving the star trek table! Happy camper.

Couple of issues for consideration in future update.
1. brighter table (lighting slider?)
2. brighter ball (ball brightness option?)
3. warp drive extra ball set to 7 warp ramps - should be set to 4 (default)
4. match animation at end is offset to the right.
5. flyer movement controls in the extras menus is backwards - up is down, right is left etc.

 

[kinggo]

i dont want to look arrogant for people who uses mobiles as a main platform to play TPA, but i dont even understand any reason to do this other than just dont be able to play it on pc.

Convinience. I have zero interest in playing TPA or SPA on pc. Add to that how much harder the game is on mobile.

 

[kaworu]

Convinience. I have zero interest in playing TPA or SPA on pc. Add to that how much harder the game is on mobile.

not sure it is "Convinience" when you can not control a ball/table and trying to watch over small display. and it is not a game which is harder - it is just uncomfortable and have physics which even less real.
but any way - it was rhetorical question, i know every pros and cons of mobile and pc versions.

 

[Heretic]

pinball on the bog! dont knock it till ya tried it!

 

[HotHamBoy]

This is Farsight. They will prioritize getting the other platforms out before attempting to fix anything.

Good luck, you guys.

 

[Heretic]

Considering most of us are well used the the devlopment cycle of tpa. are people honestly surprised...most AAA games these days need like 18 months patching to be stable and feature complete after release anyway heh...im not making excuses but come on this was to be expected. as for a price increase i guess thats pretty much on stern themselves. we can only hope that majority of issues get resolved, ive always been fairly happy with most tables after a patch or two..but i guess thats much harder on you console folks.

I guess its hard not to feel burnt out and fed up with it at times. sad to see the negativity (even if its sometimes well earned) i guess one can only vote with yer wallet

 

[mpad]

Well said. I am definitely out until there is a significant change. A change like a totally different company releasing an entirely different pinball game.

 

[DA5ID]

Seriously - are you not entertained?
SPA is a fun game. For $40 I got 10 pinball tables. I can now play Star Trek anytime I want.
I can finally learn the rules for ac/Dc and develop a coherent strategy for next time I play it in a tournament.

Sending positive thoughts for a PSVR add on so I can look around the table and maybe actually see the rollovers behind the car toy on mustang