What do you get for the free version?

[-$ilver-]

I heard on mobile devices you get just one free ball, but there is no time limit. I read on Steam you only get 30 seconds... is that true?

Edit: Upon further reading, unless something changed or the reviewer was mistaken, you get one table free, another if you join the community and the rest you can play until you get to a certain score. But what is the score though? For example only 100,000 you can rack up easily and only in a few minutes?

[Mart]

In the free version on Steam the following content is free:

- Time Machine Solid State
- Time Machine Retro Table (if you join the steam group)
- Story mode
- Trial on each table (tables have a score limit so you can play until the score limit is reached)

Hope that helps.

[-$ilver-]

Originally posted by Mart:

In the free version on Steam the following content is free:

- Time Machine Solid State
- Time Machine Retro Table (if you join the steam group)
- Story mode
- Trial on each table (tables have a score limit so you can play until the score limit is reached)

Hope that helps.

But what is the score limit? I'm sure it's different per table, but like I mentioned if it is 100,000 points and on average anyone can hit that in a few minutes is too quick.

[Mart]

The nice part with the score limit is that you can keep playing the table as long as you want (just restart the table and you can have another go). There is a score difference between the different table section such as remakes, solid state etc.

If you want to remove the score limit you can buy the table.

[Erbkaiser]

A very rough estimate is that each table will give you around a minute of play with the score limit, longer if you aren't that good at it yet and shorter if you are. But as Mart writes there is no limit to how often you can start a table so you can get a good idea of how the table plays with the trial.

[-$ilver-]

That is a real bummer. A one ball limit would of been preferable.

[NPC_CO8ALT]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

That is a real bummer. A one ball limit would of been preferable.

No, because if you are a skilled player, you could exploit that to have a long, high scoring game, which wouldn't be fair to those who had to pay for the table.

[-$ilver-]

That is neither here nor there. You pay to get three balls or more. You don't pay you only get the one. Having a ridiculously low point ceiling to shut the game off is counter intuitive. You might not as well even offer the feature. Unless something changed that is how the mobile device is set up. So there is no reason not to have the same for the Steam version. Unless the mobile device is overloaded with ads just for that one ball.

[Mart]

@Silver

on Steam you pay to get full access to a table, that means it removes the scoring limit and you can play as long as you want (until you drain the ball of course). You also unlock all the other extra game modes such as lamp hunter, 90 seconds, survivor etc. Having the table also gives you access to Arcade and Simulation mode. In the trial it only plays on Arcade mode.

The score limit feature is there to just get a taste of the table, most other pinball games either do not allow you to try the table or there is a timer on it where it stops playing after X time. Zaccaria (talking about the Steam version as we are on Steam and not on the mobile) has in that area a good offer as you can play the table over and over again.

[-$ilver-]

Firing up a table only to have to restart it in a couple of minutes or even less at no fault of your own is not really a saving grace. I understand all other features are locked and I could understand if it was a one ball limit even. But a low cap just takes the fun out of it. Another pinball game on the mobile has it timed. I suggested let it be totally free as in the long run, the ads that would occur between games would bring in more money then the short term of a couple of bucks for the whole table up front and they are thinking at the very least of trying that out. Now how that equates to a Steam game where ads, as far as I know, are not prevalent I do not know. But a very low score ceiling is a turn off.

[Satai_Delenn]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

Firing up a table only to have to restart it in a couple of minutes or even less at no fault of your own is not really a saving grace. I understand all other features are locked and I could understand if it was a one ball limit even. But a low cap just takes the fun out of it. Another pinball game on the mobile has it timed. I suggested let it be totally free as in the long run, the ads that would occur between games would bring in more money then the short term of a couple of bucks for the whole table up front and they are thinking at the very least of trying that out. Now how that equates to a Steam game where ads, as far as I know, are not prevalent I do not know. But a very low score ceiling is a turn off.

What ads? Steam has no ads. I consider myself lucky to have been given the ability to play any table at all, though yes, the score limit got frustrating just as I was getting into the table, but that's the point, isn't it? The developers want to make money, so if they give the table away for free for one ball, as others have said, those who are excellent at pinball make it unfair to those who shelled out real money to gain full access to the table since again, those who are excellent at pinball can exploit the hell out of that one free ball. The score limit gives you an idea of the table and then (as others have said) you decide if you want to buy the table or not. If you do, great, you get everything associated with that table, if you don't, you can just keep replaying the table until you hit the score limit. If you find that frustrating, well, I guess the developers have done their job since again, if you want to be able to fully play the table, you should shell out the few dollars (it's like, what, two or three dollars per table? Pretty reasonable to me) to buy the access to the full table.

[-$ilver-]

Originally posted by Satai_Delenn:

The score limit gives you an idea of the table and then (as others have said) you decide if you want to buy the table or not. If you do, great, you get everything associated with that table, if you don't, you can just keep replaying the table until you hit the score limit.

The score limit gives you an idea? I have literally pulled the plunger, let it go and watched the ball bounce around and then the score limit was reached. That is no more than watching a demo. You did not essentially play anything.

This argument isn't even for me anymore. I just play the app version which does it right and I enjoy it immensely. They have the free one ball with no ads. And then the full three or five balls with a thirty second ad. If they can do the free one ball on the cell phone with no ads mind you, why can they not do it here? By your reasoning and others, the same thing could happen, the player could be a wizard. So what is the real excuse? To frustrate and drive the potential buyers away?

[Mart]

Originally posted by -$ilver-:

Originally posted by Satai_Delenn:

The score limit gives you an idea of the table and then (as others have said) you decide if you want to buy the table or not. If you do, great, you get everything associated with that table, if you don't, you can just keep replaying the table until you hit the score limit.

The score limit gives you an idea? I have literally pulled the plunger, let it go and watched the ball bounce around and then the score limit was reached. That is no more than watching a demo. You did not essentially play anything.

This argument isn't even for me anymore. I just play the app version which does it right and I enjoy it immensely. They have the free one ball with no ads. And then the full three or five balls with a thirty second ad. If they can do the free one ball on the cell phone with no ads mind you, why can they not do it here? By your reasoning and others, the same thing could happen, the player could be a wizard. So what is the real excuse? To frustrate and drive the potential buyers away?

Almost the entire history of PC gaming is based on buying something and playing the product. There are not that many games who have advertisements here on Steam and decide ads are a major aspect for generating income.

Each platform has a certain audience, and expectations how things work on that platform.
On mobile, ads are standard and a strong portion of the apps work that way, on Steam it is not a standard practice, Steam itself is also a different platform than Google Play, they work different and have different guidelines (and different players). Having that said, the infrastructure is already organised here on Steam, making such a big change on the system need to be accepted by all current players, and we could lose what we have build all these years.

[-$ilver-]

Originally posted by Mart:

Almost the entire history of PC gaming is based on buying something and playing the product. There are not that many games who have advertisements here on Steam and decide ads are a major aspect for generating income.

Each platform has a certain audience, and expectations how things work on that platform.
On mobile, ads are standard and a strong portion of the apps work that way, on Steam it is not a standard practice, Steam itself is also a different platform than Google Play, they work different and have different guidelines (and different players). Having that said, the infrastructure is already organised here on Steam, making such a big change on the system need to be accepted by all current players, and we could lose what we have build all these years.

By adding one free ball with no limits?

[X-Vector]

I think a time limit system similar to Pinball FX3 would be far more useful; at least then prospective customers would have the opportunity to test the tables equally.
As it stands some tables can be tried out for several minutes, while the fun on Nautilus can be all over in fifteen seconds.

[XtremeDeformitY]

Wow this is a weird discussion ...

I see the possibility to play all the tables up to a certain score as a really good demo. Perhaps the score limit could be adjusted on some tables, if as you say the limit is reached without even touching the ball with the flippers, but besides that I don't see the problem with this model.
You get to see the table in its full glory, the layout and its features, and you get to try it out for a short time. It's a demo, not a full version. I'd consider even one ball until it drains as overly generous, since that would be a third of a full three ball game. Are there many other games you get to play a third of for free?

And please spare me from ad-driven games. I avoid them like the plague on my phone. Too many mobile games are so clearly designed around stuffing as many ads as possible down your throat before you get fed up and uninstall the game. If Zaccaria has gone for that model on the mobile version, good for you I guess. May it never show up on Steam!

I've paid for the full package both here and on Android, well worth it in my opinion. I've seen too many attempts at making pinball games on different platforms, most give up after a while since there's obviously not a helluva lot of money in this compared to other types of easy cash grab games. Zaccaria Pinball is definitely among the best out there, they keep releasing updates and new high quality tables. They deserve the support.