PINBALL ARCADE XBLA - Xbox One 11/26 Release

[quote name='BustaUppa']I'm debating whether to get this for XBLA or PSN. This seems to be the main thread for the game for all intents and purposes, so I'll ask here. I heard about some sort of lag on the PS3 version... is there any legitimacy to this claim or just a bum rumor? I generally prefer 360 for games, but for a DLC-heavy title like this I might go PS3 and try to get a long-term gameshare going.[/QUOTE]

you don't need to ask people. there are demos for these games since they're digital downloads. go download them! :D
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']you don't need to ask people. there are demos for these games since they're digital downloads. go download them! :D[/QUOTE]QUITE true, I've downloaded the XBLA demo and I'll give the PSN demo a shot as well. However I worry that my senses can no longer be trusted. I might think I'm feeling lag simply because it was suggested in rumor, sort of a psychosomatic thing. So if there's a more definitive word on the subject I'd gladly listen to it. :)
 
I'm going crazy trying to get Harem multiball. I always get the damn ball lock eating up my chances. sp8001 is crushing the leader boards.

BustaUppa haven't played the PS3 version. Did you check out Farsight's Facebook page? I'm sure if there was lag in the PS3 version there would be plenty of complaints there.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']QUITE true, I've downloaded the XBLA demo and I'll give the PSN demo a shot as well. However I worry that my senses can no longer be trusted. I might think I'm feeling lag simply because it was suggested in rumor, sort of a psychosomatic thing. So if there's a more definitive word on the subject I'd gladly listen to it. :)[/QUOTE]

that's silly. If you think it has lag after playing it and you've spent some real time with it, it has lag to you. You don't need people to justify what you feel.
 
hmm... maybe I'm missing something but I don't see a demo on the PSN store anywhere :whistle2:?

EDIT[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']BustaUppa haven't played the PS3 version. Did you check out Farsight's Facebook page? I'm sure if there was lag in the PS3 version there would be plenty of complaints there.[/QUOTE]Good call, I checked the latest post and there are a lot of people mentioning PS3 lag in the comments. Bah I think I'll wait this out a bit. Might as well see how the dust settle after the impending update to the 360 version.
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']What is the impending 360 update?
Ah...finally got the Harem multi goal.[/QUOTE]

Hopefully it fixes Black Hole.

Had a good run at Ripleys earlier today, ended up with 84 million but missed the Atlantis goal.
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']What is the impending 360 update?[/QUOTE]They're supposed to be adding the dynamic lighting that is currently only in the PS3 version. I'm guessing they'll time this update with one of the DLC releases.
 
[quote name='BustaUppa']They're supposed to be adding the dynamic lighting that is currently only in the PS3 version. I'm guessing they'll time this update with one of the DLC releases.[/QUOTE]

show a link about this dynamic lighting being missing from the 360 version. you and sp are the only people I've ever heard mention this.
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']show a link about this dynamic lighting being missing from the 360 version. you and sp are the only people I've ever heard mention this.[/QUOTE]

I had a hard time finding a lot of info on it, but after digging around, it's been talked about on different message boards and Farsight has mentioned they were learning how to implement the lighting during development and such. This board talks about it and people there speculate the PS3 lighting was tweaked after the 360 version was submitted, which is why it has a more updated appearance, and why the 360 needs the patch for it:

http://pinballarcadefans.com/forumdisplay.php/24-General-Game-Discussion
 
The Farsight employees also post on that board...one of them wrote this:

When we started working on Medieval, the artists and I came up with some new ways to do the lighting to make it look better. So Medieval and Bride had those treatments. Then about that time the PS3 post processing was working, so the lighting on the launch tables on PS3 needed work, so they applied those techniques to those tables for PS3. Unfortunately those techniques didn't make it to the 360's launch tables because of the lengthy submission process which we were already in.

The artists have been working on it, so in a future update you should see those changes and improved lighting. All DLC tables will have that treatment out of the box.

http://pinballarcadefans.com/showth...graphics-(XBOX360)?p=2857&viewfull=1#post2857
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']show a link about this dynamic lighting being missing from the 360 version. you and sp are the only people I've ever heard mention this.[/QUOTE]

This is the best thing I can find...

http://forum.zenstudios.com/showthread.php?t=4011

The first post has all the information you need. It was written by A Patch of Blue, one of the best digital pinballers out there. He knows his stuff.

All you have to do is go back one page in this thread and check out the screenshot I posted of the PS3 version. It looks much better than the 360 version. Hopefully the update will come soon and fix this. Another bug that needs to be fixed is the 10 billion limit on ToM. I want to improve my score, but I want it on the leaderboards as well lol.

Well done getting Harem Viva... and thanks for the recognition. I don't know if I would describe it as "crushing"... lol but I've def had a few good games. Black Hole just kept giving me extra balls. I don't know if there is a limit to how many you can get.

I was literally 3 shots away from visiting Atlantis for a second time and overcoming crunc's score on Ripleys. Oh well, another day perhaps :D

Really looking forward to Medieval Madness. Most likely the best machine ever made ;)
 
I think you can earn 2 free balls each ball in Black Hole. I had 1.2 million on my first ball (not counting the free ones earned) before ball #2 then my wife said she's ready to go out and I screwed up the rest. Thought I might have a high score that would have lasted a bit then I saw your new high. :hot:
 
[quote name='sp8001']Really looking forward to Medieval Madness. Most likely the best machine ever made ;)[/QUOTE]

Medieval is a great game, but in the Medieval Madness vs. Attack From Mars fight, I pick AFM as the better game. Plus I never get any letters in "Attack From Mars" swapped. LOL.

I haven't played for almost a week I think. Hopefully I'll fit some time in on the other games this weekend. Hopefully tonight!
 
^ Luckily we're getting them both :D! I've never had a chance to play AFM... I've heard so many good things though. Can't wait to spend some time with it in TPA ;)
 
Hopefully they will add a closer view. I love pinball fx view 2.

Waiting for

Star trek
Lord of the rings
South park.

Favorite pinball games
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']Anyone else here beside me looking forward to some EM pins? I really dig the older SS and some EM ones.[/QUOTE]

Can't say that I am. I've never really liked anything pre-80s. I just struggle to get into them.

I much prefer the DMD machines with missions and objectives.

I am 100% sure I feel that way because I grew up in the nineties.
 
[quote name='confoosious']It's pretty much a given that because of licensing we will never get Terminator 2 and Addams Family, right?[/QUOTE]

why would it be a given?
 
[quote name='confoosious']It's pretty much a given that because of licensing we will never get Terminator 2 and Addams Family, right?[/QUOTE]

I read some where one of the folks at Farsight saying they'll try to get a lot of the licensed stuff but each particular one's difficulty in obtaining can vary wildly.
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']I read some where one of the folks at Farsight saying they'll try to get a lot of the licensed stuff but each particular one's difficulty in obtaining can vary wildly.[/QUOTE]

They licensed Creature from the Black Lagoon, so it CAN be done. They've also said, though, that licensed tables might be a little more $$. Wonder if they'll splurge for a big license just to see how well it sells.
 
[quote name='phantomfriar2002']They licensed Creature from the Black Lagoon, so it CAN be done. They've also said, though, that licensed tables might be a little more $$. Wonder if they'll splurge for a big license just to see how well it sells.[/QUOTE]

Ripleys was an license and they managed to get that.
 
I imagine those two licenses had to be much cheaper and easier than some of the other ones mentioned. I hope they can just keep cranking out the pins.... after they fix the issues with the current ones.
 
^ Exactly. I think once you start having to license a celebrity likeness and voice it starts to get more expensive and more complicated. Hopefully they can work something out with the great licensed machines... TZ, T2, TAF, IJ, Dracula and The Shadow.
 
I suppose getting the Indiana Jones table would be a challenge.

Maybe they could do some old EM tables at reduced cost, I would love to play 'Harlem Globetrotters' again. And the old 'Spiderman'.
 
[quote name='sp8001']^ Exactly. I think once you start having to license a celebrity likeness and voice it starts to get more expensive and more complicated. Hopefully they can work something out with the great licensed machines... TZ, T2, TAF, IJ, Dracula and The Shadow.[/QUOTE]

Music and sound effects are also a big problem. I mean, the last Star Trek game on the consoles didn't even have the main Star Trek theme, presumably because they didn't want to pay royalties on it! I can only imagine dealing with Paramount on that, or with CBS on Twilight Zone, etc.

Years back, when Creature from the Black Lagoon showed up as a "Williams Pinball" Windows CD-ROM, whoever developed that game took out all the music too and replaced it with generic tracks. I hope Farsight did all the licensing for their upcoming version but it'll be interesting to see. Beyond the music (can't remember but I think there were some '50s tunes used in it) there's not much to license with Creature other than the character since the game itself plays out in a drive-in (I always enjoyed the setting -- it's like playing a pinball version of Happy Days lol).

But, ultimately, licensing a property like that or Ripley's is one thing but having to license the voice, likeness of an actor, the music, sound samples, etc. of a certain "ip" is a whole other issue. The more contemporary it is, the more difficult it would be I'd imagine too.
 
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[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']I'm going crazy trying to get Harem multiball. I always get the damn ball lock eating up my chances.[/QUOTE] This is making me nuts. I got all the other standard goals with no difficulty at all, but I just can not get this. I've come close once or twice, but most games I'm lucky if I get to H-A. Got a second Harem sneak-in exactly once.

I think it's bugging me as much as it is because I know the achievements for getting all the wizard goals are out of reach at my skill level.
 
[quote name='Danimal']This is making me nuts. I got all the other standard goals with no difficulty at all, but I just can not get this. I've come close once or twice, but most games I'm lucky if I get to H-A. Got a second Harem sneak-in exactly once.

I think it's bugging me as much as it is because I know the achievements for getting all the wizard goals are out of reach at my skill level.[/QUOTE]

Actually I think the wizard goals are easier. The only time I got Harem multi I don't even know how I did it. It is pretty obvious each time you get a letter in HAREM but when it popped up for me I thought only had 3 letters that I knew of. It was a pretty long game so I could have missed one. I guess that is the only explanation. The advice for it I was given helped. It was hold the ball on the right flipper until Tiger Loop light expires.

Those Ripley's Wizard goals are gonna be super tough for me. To complete Europe do you have to hit each tombstone or just hit any tombstone seven times?
 
Downloaded the demo for this last night and I have to say I like it more than FX2. Can't wait to see what other tables will be out in the future!
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']
Those Ripley's Wizard goals are gonna be super tough for me. To complete Europe do you have to hit each tombstone or just hit any tombstone seven times?[/QUOTE]


Just hit any tombstone that is lit and it will count towards the 7. I think there are only 5 targets?

I cant, for the life of me, get the Ripley's Wizards goals. I got TotAN all done, and am getting closer to earning them on ToM, but the Ripleys seem impossible to me. Havent really messed around with Black Hole. (Playing on Vita)
 
Wish these could all just be in pinball fx. Ah well ... gives me a reason to get these for my ps3 instead. Loved the collections they had on the wii
 
[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']
Those Ripley's Wizard goals are gonna be super tough for me. To complete Europe do you have to hit each tombstone or just hit any tombstone seven times?[/QUOTE]

The nice thing about Ripley's is you don't have to beat each mission to spell Ripley's... you just have to beat 7 missions total. Just keep traveling and trying to beat as many as you can... By the second time you travel the world you should have enough to light up Atlantis.

The harder goal IMO is the frog mode... Collecting all those super jackpots is pretty tough. I love the sound effect when getting them tho. It puts a big smile on my face :D! SUUUUPERRRR JAAACKPOOOT!

The frog mode has a pretty cool "gotcha" moment lol. I wish I could have experienced it IRL. Crunc knows what I'm talking about ;)...
 
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[quote name='Viva Las Vegas']Actually I think the wizard goals are easier. The only time I got Harem multi I don't even know how I did it. It is pretty obvious each time you get a letter in HAREM but when it popped up for me I thought only had 3 letters that I knew of. It was a pretty long game so I could have missed one. I guess that is the only explanation. The advice for it I was given helped. It was hold the ball on the right flipper until Tiger Loop light expires.[/QUOTE]I was wondering if the Tiger Loop light would expire if you just held the ball. I think I tried doing that one game, but I must have gotten impatient and given up before it went out.
 
[quote name='Danimal']I was wondering if the Tiger Loop light would expire if you just held the ball. I think I tried doing that one game, but I must have gotten impatient and given up before it went out.[/QUOTE]

I just got the harem multiball for the first time today. Some advice:

ONLY shoot the left orbit. The right orbit does not count towards the objective.

Shooting the bizarre is an easy way for you to hold the ball with the right flipper. After hitting the bizarre, just hold the right flipper and the ball will fall right in.

You can pass the ball from one flipper to the other by holding a ball until it's still, and then quickly letting the flipper go and immediately activating it again. Use that to get a ball from a left hold to a right hold.

If the tiger loop is lit, it usually won't expire until the ball hits something on the table that scores points. Go for a minor target, and then try to re-hold the ball with the right flipper.

If the bizarre gives you a choice, go for the reward that advances the tiger loops. That way, if you do accidentally hit another tiger loop, you'll at least be very close to earning an extra ball, which can give you more time to try to hit the harem multiball.

If you make a mistake and activate the ball lock, just lock the balls and get it over with. Keep in mind that you can also lock balls with the right orbit.


After struggling with this goal for the past few days, I finally got it, and within an hour I beat every wizard goal other than saving the princess. It definitely should not have been a basic goal.
 
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Good tips on Harem, SI. After struggling with that endlessly on PHoF I somehow got it I just a few plays on TPA. My simplest advice would just be to keep going for that left orbit endlessly. I didn't really pay attention to the timing but just got it after shooting for that orbit every time.

Viva, nice job, I noticed that you have the basic goals down for Black Hole. Do you have any advice for the two tough ones there? The 250k I know was one and I think the other was the special? I just can't consistently knock out those letters to advance to special or get nearly enough score on the lower playfield to get to 250k.

Black Hole is the only basic goal achievement I'm missing. I'll have to go work on the Wizard Goals next for the rest. Some of them just get so complicated that I have more fun just playing and seeing what happens as opposed to studying the rule sheet and trying to remember what to do.
 
[quote name='sp8001']The frog mode has a pretty cool "gotcha" moment lol. I wish I could have experienced it IRL. Crunc knows what I'm talking about ;)...[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that was awesome... though for a moment, NOT. LOL.

One wizard goal in Theatre of Magic (complete the Grand Finale) is dogging me. I've only made it to it once, and of course didn't complete it. I did beat your score, though. :)

I've completed the goals in Ripley's and Tales. I have that one left in ToM and I don't think I've even played Black Hole in this version yet (just in the iOS version).
 
^ Nice. From what I remember about the grand finale it wasn't too bad. I think you just have to hit a certain number of ramp and orbit shots within a time limit to spell something. I'm sure you will get it next time you activate the wizard mode.

Ripley's had the hardest goals, with Black hole as the runner up. Medieval Madness has a pretty tough wizard mode. Luckily I have had so much practice with it from PHoF that it shouldn't be a problem. Pinbot was by FAR the hardest in PHoF, I wonder what the goals for BoP will require. I have had absolutely zero face time with BoP. It always looked pretty neat, but I never had a chance to track one down.

I am hesitant to play ToM again until the leaderboards have been patched. The 10 billion limit is pretty disappointing. I scored over 5 on my third or fourth full game. How did that slip thru initial testing? Couldn't anyone at Farsight score over 10 billion on this super high scoring machine?

One more thing I have a gripe about is the complete lack and disregard for statistics. Zen did a great job with their stat sheets. Farsight completely overlooked it. Hopefully it will get patched in. I like to see how many times modes were activated and either lost or beaten. I want to know how many games I've played on each machine, along with the time spent on each machine.

It's just a bunch of little things that Farsight overlooked that could have made their game so MUCH better.
 
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[quote name='gubmccargen']Viva, nice job, I noticed that you have the basic goals down for Black Hole. Do you have any advice for the two tough ones there? The 250k I know was one and I think the other was the special? I just can't consistently knock out those letters to advance to special or get nearly enough score on the lower playfield to get to 250k.[/QUOTE]

What works for me is to get the ball in the lower playfield and do a few quick loops to advance the bonus multiplier, and then when the gate is open drain the ball back to the upper play field. Catch and aim a lot of your shots to get the g-force accelerators. I find Black Hole a pretty good machine to bump to keep the ball in play. Once you get the g-force accelerators just ping it around the lower play field and you'll be surprised how quickly the points add up. You'll want the 5x bonus multiplier and it might be easier than you think. Hope this helps.
 
IMHO, Bride of Pinbot isn't a great game, but mind you I'll play one when I see it anyway. It's not horrendous, just a bit stupid. :) Hopefully they do the goals right and make it more fun that way. I'll certainly be buying it in PA in any case.

Regarding the 10 billion limit in ToM. That may be a limit of the machine. These are simulations, after all. I'm pretty sure all pinball machines have a score cutoff point, after which they "roll over". What we'd try to do is get as close as possible to the rollover score, then tilt. Closest wins. :) But I realize the leader boards here could keep counting up and probably they should, but I suppose it doesn't bother me too much. I think 10 billion is a challenging score to get to.
 
Great advice Viva... The G-Force Accelerators are the key to big points on Black Hole's lower playfield. Combine those with the 5x multiplier and you should have 250k in no time. One of the wizard goals is to get a 500k bonus from the lower playfield.

Remember you have to spell BLACK and HOLE in order, to get the accelerators. If you miss and knock down a letter early, just finish up the rest of them and they will reappear. Your progess also carries on from ball to ball unless you have both of them active, then they will reset once your current ball is lost.

It's hard for me to believe ToM has a 10 billion point limit on the actual machine with the kind of points it awards. It hands out 20-30 million like candy. I'll look more into it. 10+ billion is a challenging score to get... but definitely doable.

Black Hole only has a 6 digit readout, but the leaderboards work correctly.
 
I am not sure if 10 billion is the rollover score on ToM. May well not be. In any case if the other games carry the score passed rollover, then obviously ToM should too. Hopefully they fix it soon.
 
[quote name='sp8001']It's hard for me to believe ToM has a 10 billion point limit on the actual machine with the kind of points it awards. It hands out 20-30 million like candy. I'll look more into it. 10+ billion is a challenging score to get... but definitely doable.

Black Hole only has a 6 digit readout, but the leaderboards work correctly.[/QUOTE]

From what I read (and who knows the accuracy of message boards), some ROM revisions for Theatre of Magic have the bug and some revisions don't. So if the ROMs in the pinball machine they used to make this game was the buggy revision, they're SOL. They'd have to get a good revision of the ROMs to fix the problem. Or they have to do software workarounds which then doesn't make the game logic authentic.

They should ask someone to borrow their good ROMs from a good pinball machine to rip or buy the ROMs if they're available anywhere anymore.

Reminds me of the days of multiple ROM revisions for MAME.
 
According to a post on Farsight's Facebook page, they expect to have the first new DLC machines out for 360 (and PS3/Vita) some time in May, but they can't give an exact date due to the review process taking an unknowable amount of time.
 
Just announced via Facebook...

Cirqus Voltaire and Funhouse are the next 2 DLC machines. Sounds good to me :)!

I love Funhouse, but this is keeping up with my prediction of the 1 new and 1 rehashed DLC structure. Is it too much to ask for 2 NEW tables as DLC instead of the 1&1?

Nevertheless I am really looking forward to CV! We should be getting them in late May, after BoP and MM releases in the next couple weeks.
 
Cirqus is awesome and I don't mind Funhouse as a repeat - great game. I'm hoping they manage to play catchup and release all 4 current DLC tables in May. Fingers crossed.
 
Update is to be submitted this week and will include both of the first two DLC packs. The lighting improvements will be part of the following DLC update. From their Facebook page:

360 - An update that includes both DLC Pack #1 and #2 will be submitted to Microsoft this week for approval. Improved lighting is scheduled to be implemented in time for the next DLC release.
Click to expand...

I don't know how long the approval process typically takes.
 
I'm surprised someone hasn't posted the vids yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJDXHSlRC8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGAPpy-RUOs&feature=player_embedded

Overall, the new Funhouse looks cool. But it seems darker than it should be. Maybe it was the recording process. But the contrast is pretty strong which makes it more vibrant.

I'm surprised they recorded such a low camera angle for the trailer for Circus Voltaire. Does anyone play pinball at that level? Maybe it makes the video look more exciting.
 
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