Stern Pinball Arcade first impressions

HotHamBoy

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Aug 2, 2014
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So. Guys. Looks like I owe FS an apology. The old tables DO have new flipper physics! *sheepish grin*

Now I regret not buying the Mustang bundle.

And hey, I think Zen physics are okay. Zen designs around them well. I used to like them less but I've come around a bit.

TPA, SPA and Zen all have their physics problems. I don't know that one is necessarily better than the other, just different. I know last night I was constantly live-catching unintentionally (hence the apology...) in SPA.
 

Ben Logan

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Jun 2, 2015
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HA! That was actually ME criticizing FX's physics. ;) It might be hard to tell who's who at times. Mike from Farsight is the one that sounds like he's coming in through a telephone.

LOL. My mistake, Stemage. Thanks for correcting me so graciously. It was indeed a great interview. All three of you guys came across as genuine video pinball enthusiasts. Quite an enjoyable listen.

And I totally agree that pinball fx's physics are worthy of constructive criticism. I'm comfortable with their physics since they're clearly "fantasy" tables (fireballs blasting off, superheroes flying from ramp to ramp, etc.).

TPA and SPA on the other hand market themselves as a realistic pinball sim. I'm looking at the back of my latest copy of Pinball Magazine. FS has a full page ad that reads, "REAL pinball for iPhone, iPad, Android, Steam." The ball physics are (forgive me for being so harsh) ridiculously predictable given their own description of their platform. No backspin, railroads, etc.

I was really excited by the ACDC Kickstarter video when they said they finally planned to address ball physics (but then quickly backpedaled). I only gripe about it often because I believe FS could have a really wonderful platform. Everything else, including flipper physics (minus the fake live catches) is getting great!
 
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lettuce

New member
Mar 17, 2012
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So i just got the news letter email yesterday, and they say their releasing a retail disc version of this game!?, odd that they decided to do this already for Stern Pinball Arcade but never for The Pinball Arcade!
 

HotHamBoy

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Aug 2, 2014
773
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I don't really know why anyone would want a disc for TPA. It doesn't have all the tables so you need to download digital content, anyway. And it's not like it helps for game preservation when the disc is stuck on an old version and still requires a patch.

Really irritating that the LE tables are currently exclusive to the retail disc of SPA.

Great interview, thanks Stemage.

Interesting bit from Mike at 1:07:03 - Talking about future TPA improvements, specifically on mobile graphics - "There's some new technology that we're going to be implementing that should get the tables with dynamic lighting, just like the PC version - might not look as good as the PC version, but it's definitely going to improve the look of the mobile version"

Wonder if that's iPhone/Android or both.

That would be awesome but I'll believe it when I see it. SPA doesn't look graphically improved over TPA at all (on PS4).

I find myself playing AC/DC the most, but I'd play ST more if the lighting was fixed, that's my favorite. I'm feeling pretty lukewarm on Mustang.

Ghostbusters soon, please!
 
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Megahurtz

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Dec 26, 2013
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I tried SPA over the weekend. I haven't touched TPA on PS4 in a long time, but immediately felt like the L1 and R1 buttons on the new DS4 weren't up to the task. They feel like they have too much travel and are slightly mushy. I don't remember them feeling like that when I played TPA with the original DS4, so maybe it is the new DS4 revision. Anybody have both on hand to compare?
 

Stemage

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Jun 4, 2016
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That was a really good interview. Also, while listening, I had the best game of Champion Pub ever. Thanks Stemage.


BTW: @ 1:52:40, there is a piece of music that I know, but I cannot for the life of me remember what game. Anybody have an answer? It's driving me nutz.

Nevermind. I got it. It's Sonic.

LOVE ME SOME PUB! Yeah that's my arrangement of all the music from Sonic 1 into six minutes. Glad you recognized it. <3
 

zmcvay

Member
Sep 19, 2014
356
5
Didn't have much time to play around with it this morning, but got an update on SPA this morning on PS4, lighting is better, a bit too bright at default, and the ball shader looks correct. There's now brightness and ambience sliders in the options, but haven't had time to fiddle yet.
 

thefly0810

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Feb 13, 2014
173
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So, Farsight loads Frankenstein with trophies on the PS4, and have 0 trophies for the paid tables, while on the XBOX 1 they have 0 achievements for Frankenstein and 4 achievements on each of the paid tables.
I hope they add the same trophies per table on the PS4. But keep them bronze so they don't hit their trophy limits for future tables, like what happened on PS3/Vita for TPA.
 

thefly0810

New member
Feb 13, 2014
173
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I am enjoying SPA a lot though. And I do appreciate the quick patch for the lighting. I'm wondering about future table releases. I expect the rest of the tables will be released one at a time for $10 a piece. I'm not expecting any season passes but it would be nice to see that when Ghostbusters is released, that Farsight has the option to buy it as a part of a bundle 3 pass for either $16 for 2 tables or $21 for 3 tables. This would mean that you could get either Ghostbusters and the next table for $8 a piece or Ghostbusters and the next 2 tables for $7 a piece.
 

Snorzel

New member
Apr 25, 2014
1,353
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Are trophies going to be added for AC/DC Mustang and Star Trek? I thought it was an accident they are omitted in the initial release. With the new patch that corrects the lighting issues, is it worth the asking price? Thinking of getting it today but I wonder if any other deal breaker type issues exist. Would like the opinion of those who have the game.

Also, can't you guys without access to the U.S. psn store just order the disk version if you really want it, or is it that region locked b s?
 

zmcvay

Member
Sep 19, 2014
356
5
Since TPA added 0 trophies on PS4 since release, if that's a deal breaker for you, I would say stay away. With the lighting patched, I can't think of any other real issues except the price. I even went in and bought Mustang this last week after the fix. There is no incentive I can think of to repurchase tables you already own in TPA. But if you play on PC primarily, it might be best just to wait for that version if the thought of buying twice bothers you (I'm weak, I admit it...)

I've been having a lot of fun with the tables since release, even Star Trek pre-patch with the lighting problems. It all comes down to how much you like modern Stern tables, whether $10/table is too much, or if you can be patient and wait for a Steam release or PSN sale.
 

Kaibun

New member
Sep 21, 2014
455
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Do the tables even come with goals like PA? It wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me, but pretty disapponting if there aren't any.
 

Byte

Member
Nov 11, 2012
586
1
I think the bad news is: new tables such as Mustang and some others will never be ported to TPA

Well that's the whole point of me buying SPA and both table bundles. It would also make no sense to have Stern tables exclusive to TPA. But TPA can have Bally/Williams/etc. Would be nice if they can also license Atari and some other brands for TPA. And what about that "adult" TPA At Night or something?
 

Ben Logan

New member
Jun 2, 2015
505
0
We have two ACDC tables locally. The slope is brutally steep on both. Playfield is waxed. Lots of bounce off rubbers. These are Speed demons.

What's the slope like on the FS version? Steeper than ever? Or dialed back?
 

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