Stern Pinball Arcade first impressions

[lettuce]

I think the bad news is: new tables such as Mustang and some others will never be ported to TPA

Shame that both games cant communicate with each other, so if you have tables in SPA then TPA would know this and show up in TPA or vise versa

 

[wolfson]

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?

Snorzel your region is different to us,so we are screwed once again,thanks farsight.not holding my breath on Steam being released before Xmas !!!

 

[wolfson]

Shame that both games cant communicate with each other, so if you have tables in SPA then TPA would know this and show up in TPA or vise versa

lettuce great thought !!!

too simple for the mullets at farsight and stern .

 

[tomwaits]

Is there an official list of which tables/variations are included on the physical release for PS4?

 

[Ben Logan]

Nice taste in music, TW.

 

[Snorzel]

Thank you for the insight [MENTION=4746]zmcvay[/MENTION] and others

About to see if the new update makes tpa run correctly again (frame rate) if it does I will be picking up spa if not I'm worried the fps issues will be in the new game too and just have to wait

 

[Michael Taylor]

I tried the Android version and I already have a few problems out of the gate already:

1. It's laggy and I'm running a decent phone as well (ZTE ZMax Pro)
2. I can't switch to Landscape mode like I can on TPA
3. (Nitpick) The tables that you have in TPA (I have HRC, HD and RBION in Stern terms) should be unlocked on Stern PBA for when you own said tables on said version

 

[Trackball]

I think it's worth noting that our own 45B wrote an utterly SCATHING review on Steam, as of SPA launch day...so I'll link a screengrab in case you can't find it (or it gets edited later).

That hurt to read, because as far as I can tell, it's all true.
Really disappointed in the Steam launch, especially since Star Trek and AC/DC aren't up...

Dang it, Farsight, I've had so much fun with your pinball products. It HURTS to see you screw up this badly.

 

[switch3flip]

Farsight gave me a brand new fu**ing Mustang for christmas!! I can't complain!!! I love it, it looks awesome and plays awesome!!! Thank you so much Farsight and Stern!!!

 

[Pinballwiz45b]

I think it's worth noting that our own 45B wrote an utterly SCATHING review on Steam, as of SPA launch day...so I'll link a screengrab in case you can't find it (or it gets edited later).

That hurt to read, because as far as I can tell, it's all true.
Really disappointed in the Steam launch, especially since Star Trek and AC/DC aren't up...

Dang it, Farsight, I've had so much fun with your pinball products. It HURTS to see you screw up this badly.

If I sounded too harsh in this review, I apologize for my behavior. I play pinball with a keyboard on the computer simply because I'm used to it (ever since the older pinball games on PC), and no keyboard functionality while playing the table day one is an instant deal-breaker to me. Especially when giving first impressions.

It's a shame that I can't use the same key on multiple options. I'm able to use Enter as my Launch button on TPA just fine. Why not in Stern Pinball Arcade?

Arcade flythrough: I expected this to be a console port. Apparently, this is not the case, considering the use of the menu system. If I was a completely new player, I'd keep asking myself "what do these symbols mean on the menu?"

I was streaming this last night to test out this game, and good thing I blackened the screen out before I logged in. Because it actually revealed the password in-game. That is saying something.

Sometimes it makes me wonder why us PC users didn't get to test this out in the first place, or yet label this as "Early Access". Because it certainly feels like a beta at the moment.

In regards to LAH being in its "pre-rollback" mode, it doesn't have the ROM issues the TPA version of LAH now has. No crane sound interruption during "MOVE THE CRANE", no helicopter sound after attempting a skill shot, and the main music doesn't keep playing after Dynamite Feature is activated.

 

[Tron]

Why apologize for an honest review, the release is a complete shambles and as you put it...

Made me laugh when i seen this earlier on.

 

[CycOd3liC]

If I sounded too harsh in this review, I apologize for my behavior. I play pinball with a keyboard on the computer simply because I'm used to it (ever since the older pinball games on PC), and no keyboard functionality while playing the table day one is an instant deal-breaker to me. Especially when giving first impressions.

No apology needed. You gave a fair and unbiased review of your experience (which is spot on, BTW). Too many whiny ass kids out there leaving their "entitled" reviews so it's refreshing to see a fair review.

I can't in good conscious give a review of SPA right now (for Steam). While the release is a complete and utter train-wreck, it will get fixed in time. I can only imagine how Stern feels right about now about the mostly botched release across so many platforms.

I have really enjoyed playing Mustang on Steam at this point, but I was really hoping to play AC/DC and Star Trek. I can fall back on the XBONE version for now (which still isn't patched up to the PS4 level) but it's good enough.

They still have a lot of work to do on the Steam version, so i wish they would have delayed the release. Damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they don't release it before the new year, everyone is pissed off. They release it before Christmas, and it's broken.

 

[Ben Logan]

I appreciate the honest review, pinballwiz45b. FS is a business, not a hobbyist endeavor. Buyer beware!

 

[HotHamBoy]

Wow, I thought we had it bad on iOS. The PS4 version was all messed up on release, too, but they fixed it inside two weeks. I can't believe the Steam version doesn't have two out of three of the tables. And the best ones, too.

As far as not testing the game goes, I really don't understand how a bug like the initials-entering bug on ioS gets through. Like, it's universal for everyone, they HAD to have known it was there.

It would seem Farsight has no qualms about knowingly releasing busted software and taking our money anyway.

And for those of you saying Farsight is doing us a favor, you got it all wrong. We are doing them a favor. They didn't push this out so we could play pinball on christmas, they did it so they could make money off of the game during the holiday.

 

[DopedToInfinity]

I just bought table pack 1 for ios and it is very rough around the edges, but after playing ac/dc and star trek I am VERY impressed! I can't put my finger on it but it just feels more realistic. It might be the new physics, better quality audio, new mechanical samples, but it just feels and sounds better than TPA. I can't put my finger on it, anyone else know what I mean?

Yes it sucks the first release is a cynical pre-xmas cash grab, but there is no denying there is some serious love gone into the actual tables themselves. Mustang isn't a good example, you really notice how much better it is when you play the purchasable tables.

I'm normally pretty much a nay-sayer on here, but they deserve respect for this. I'm just hoping they can keep on top of the bugs this time round.

 

[lettuce]

Pinballwiz45b, you forgot to mention in your review that none of the graphical settings are save at all and that you need to ALT+Enter out of the game and back in to correct screen resolution!!

Im guessing i could use Nvidia CP to force graphical settings but still

 

[HotHamBoy]

The issues on mobile are not all that bad outside of the initials bug. The problems PS4 had at launch made some tables almost impossible to play without cranking up the brightness of your TV. On Gear VR, the first platform, there still is no Mustang. Worse, though, the performance makes it literally unplayable on my Galaxy Note 5. The framerate takes a lot of heavy hits and multiball is a slideshow. The performance seems to be a problem with the Android version, in general.

The Steam release seems pretty unexcusable, though. They've put the game out before it was ready, knowing it was full of major bugs and oversights, each an every time they've released it.

On top of that, they did nothing to improve older tables. Steam is the only platform where TPA purchases carry over.

I love being able to play the new Stern tables, Star Trek is a favorite. But just because I am glad I can play these tables doesn't mean I'm going to give Farsight a free pass. It's kind of insulting that they are okay with releasing the game like this, especially the Steam version.

Releases like these really hurt Farsight in the long run. User reviews are trashing the game. Those ratings aren't going away.

 

[rehtroboi40]

Pinballwiz45b, you forgot to mention in your review that none of the graphical settings are save at all and that you need to ALT+Enter out of the game and back in to correct screen resolution!!

Im guessing i could use Nvidia CP to force graphical settings but still

I'm so glad this game is currently free on Steam-that's about all this is worth so far. I was expecting it to be at least on par with TPA. Instead, it is so much worse.
Guess I'll wait for the 2017 "12 Days of Christmas" to see if FarSight will finally get around to fixing up the bugs now present in SPA before opening up my wallet.

TPA's Doctor Who:Masters of Time and Gladiators are bugged to hell as well.

If FarSight cannot at least fix seasons one and two, which contains their most popular and best-selling tables, its' days are numbered. I don't know what to make of a potential season 7 (Bring back WMS!!!), and Stern cannot be pleased with how SPA has turned out so far.

 

[paul.strauss]

Has anyone gotten custom keyboard mappings to work with Stern Pinball Arcade? I've had no luck so I can't play any of the games with my virtual pinball cabinet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HotHamBoy]

Edit: Dang it, I hate that so many of my posts on this forum are negative, but I would love nothing more than to sing Farsight's praises. When they do something right, I try to commend them, but they keep letting us down with a fierce consistency. I have given them a lot of money and I guess I plan to continue because digital pinball options are very limited. But they sure do bring it on themselves.

Is it necessary for Farsight to target so many platforms at once to make a profitable return (because it is a very niche game) or is it simply greed?

I honestly can't think of another developer who is so consistently incompetent and has seemingly no sense of pride when it comes to quality control.

The are now charging 2x as much and have not stepped up their polish to reflect that. I think they are stretched way too thin targeting so many platforms between both apps. They could barely manage things and tackle bugs and features when they just had TPA to worry about.