The entry for Joystix is for Pac-Man Fever Fridays, first and last Friday of each month. Honestly, it’s closer to a recurring private event than something like The Game Preserve which is actually open every day except Mondays and some holidays.
There needs to be a separate field for hours of operation, which for advanced users could be specified using something like OpenStreetMap’s opening_hours syntax which can easily cover cases like this.
I agree I’d be really bummed if I missed that bit about Pac-Man Fever Fridays and just showed up expecting to play. But there is still Little Dipper not too far from there with four great games
Pull requests welcomed! It’s a bit of work to set this up. Right now the Joystix description on the map says that it’s open first and last Friday of the month. Joystix’s website says the hours of this event are 9:00 PM – 2:00 AM. How is this “closer to a recurring private event”? It’s seems fairly accessible. Just pay an entrance fee and you’re in.
One thing that bothers me lately are venues that are essentially private collections, but they hold leagues and tournaments and the descriptions say, “Message us on facebook if you want to visit at a non-league time.” This seems quite inaccessible to me, in large part because facebook is not an open means to contact people. Places like this get submitted to the map regularly.
Apologies if already brought up earlier in the thread, but I was curious if there was a way to narrow search results for game versions? If I were to search for any game with basic, premium, and limited versions it will return all results even though you choose between them in the search bar. It would be nice to see what locations have limited and premium on location without needing to scan through results yourself.
Seems as if this has more limited resolution in the app than online. Online shows the whole world results, but the app needs to be zoomed in to a couple hundred miles? Trying it out on Android
We’re working on increasing the “zoom level” in the app when there are filters applied. Though it won’t be worldwide.
Yeah, on the website if you don’t have a value in the “Near” field you can see the whole world. This use case of “see all the machines of this make/model in the world” is not a primary use case of the map, though. Most people want to see machines near them (or in specific areas). On the website, it’s mostly just “fun” to see worldwide.
I appreciate the map. Can understand the limitations. While it may seem a bit odd to travel to see a new game, I don’t think it is beyond what some might plan.
As for worldwide view I do think there’s some novelty to see in how many places worldwide that you could play a specific game. Though I would also probably zoom more to a nation level.
Again, I think the map is awesome, so thanks for making it!
On the app right now, we currently load venues that are within a radius of you (or the centroid of the current map extent or whatever). But since our phones are rectangles, this results in a lot of venues “loaded” off the map (you might not see the map markers, but you’ll see the venues listed under “List”). So basically, if we allow you to zoom out pretty far in the app (like 500+ miles), then a very large amount of data that you can’t even see will load with it. I’m talking data many states away, which is not only wasteful, but it makes the “List” view worthless.
We have a solution to this: we added an API endpoint that instead of a radius uses the coordinates of the map at the corners of the device’s screen to determine which locations to load. Next we just need to have the app use this endpoint, and then we’ll be able to have the “max zoom” in the app be much further out without being super wasteful.
Various Pinball Map app updates released in 2023 so far. Feature-wise:
Added a button on Location Details for viewing all the updates/activity at that location. Shows machines added, removed, machines comments, high scores, and line-up confirmations.
Added radius options to the Recent Activity screen, so you can see recent updates that are further away (helpful for rural or more sparse areas)
And have pushed out lots of bug fixes, and quite a few design changes.
More to come. If anyone is experiencing a bug with the latest version, please let us know!
We’ve also pushed out many code updates to the website. Too much lil stuff to list.
New app release that fixes a pretty significant bug. There was an issue with the splash screen getting stuck when the app is first launched. The issue was due to the “your location” request not resolving. The latest update (5.2.23) fixes this. Sorry about the issue! Please update if you’ve been having problems.
Next up we are adding Google Place autocomplete for new location submissions. This will ease the burden of submitting new locations. When you start typing in a business name, you’ll see suggestions of businesses from Google Places. Once you choose one, most of the form’s fields will be auto-filled in.
Couple more app releases. Bug fixes and also a new feature: the location submission form now uses google places autocomplete (just like the website does) to help make submitting locations easier.
Additionally, people often ask us for fliers that contain a QR code, so operators and stuff can put them at venues to spread the word. We do have a flier that you can print out yourself, and we just updated it to have a QR code. Promote Pinball Map
That page is optimized for printing (when you go to print, it should strip out all the other html elements on the page - and it will look like trash if you view it on your phone).
@ROM Thanks for the great app! I have a feature suggestion. Since the list of machines on a venue doesn’t show anything other than the machine names it’s a hassle to get a sense of the condition of the games. It would be nice if you could also tag a game with a status or condition. I’d suggest
Working well
Minor issues
Major issues
Not playable
That status (or a corresponding icon) could be displayed on the list of games so it’s easier to see without drilling into each machine’s page.
I’m sure this would be a hassle and likely would annoy operators but I figured I’d at least put the suggestion out there.
I honestly don’t think there’s any way for comments/tags/anything in the app to consistently reflect the current condition of a machine. Machine conditions frequently change multiple times per day, and many comments are no longer relevant very shortly after they are left. Comments lag behind actual conditions.
Given this, we have been moving in the other direction: de-emphasizing the “latest” comment by a user (which is why the latest comment is now tucked away with all the rest of the machine comments). The tag you’re describing would be a latest comment that is relatively subjective and, given our experience, would probably result in operators and regular users battling each other to tag machines.
By showing all comments together, one thing we want them to communicate is an idea of whether the machines are totally abandoned or are regularly maintained. So like, the “ball is currently stuck in some place” comment is not as important as the log. This runs into problems when operators have a tendency to remove/re-add the same machine in order to clear out comments that annoy them.
Regarding annoying operators - annoyed operators are a very real thing that we are exposed to regularly. It is challenging to serve the conflicting desires of different users. One of our main goals is to strike a nice balance and not get yelled at.
Some annual and total stats. And then also a write-up highlighting the one main issue that we experience as pinball map maintainers and how we hope to better manage those interactions in the future (it’s regarding operators complaining and demanding we change a lot of things).
Bummer to hear about the operators acting up over comments. We have more operators now who are also hobbyist than there’s ever been, but there are still a few odd ones out there. Time served (how long you’ve been operating games) doesn’t give you the right to call BS on legitimate issues.
You folks rightly backed a local player (OPS ironically) recently when an operator questioned his comments. That long time op doesn’t do a great job and OPS is knowledgeable both as an excellent player and technically. Y’all nailed it. Thank you all once again. Going forward, I’m going to word my comments more carefully. Report the issue, then maybe add a short attaboy on the end.
It’s a bit of work to set this up. Right now the Joystix description on the map says that it’s open first and last Friday of the month. Joystix’s website says the hours of this event are 9:00 PM – 2:00 AM. How is this “closer to a recurring private event”? It’s seems fairly accessible. Just pay an entrance fee and you’re in.
