Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

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Agent X
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Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 4:35 pm
Location: New Jersey

Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by Agent X »

I got Atari Flashback Classics on PS Vita as soon as it was released. I've enjoyed it greatly so far, and I thank you for making it available on this system.

The most recent update from a few days ago has affected the performance of the Atari 2600 games in the collection. All of the 2600 games I've tried so far seem to run noticeably slower than they did prior to this patch. The pre-patch performance seemed closely match the timing of the "real deal" hardware (as far as I can remember), but post-patch they appear to be 10% to 20% slower. This is most noticeable on anything that has a "rhythm", such as the background sounds in Asteroids, or the end-of-level missile tally in Missile Command.

I saw from the recent Twitter post that there is an "improved Atari 2600 flicker filter". My guess is that this has something to do with the issue. I normally play using the default "Authentic" setting (both before and after the patch), but just for testing purposes, I tried changing to the "Filtered" option, and this seems to slow things down even more.

On an unrelated note, even before the recent patch, I've been unable to post any new high scores to the arcade Tempest scoreboard for a while. My current online score is around 45,000 (which was from one of my earliest play sessions), but since then I've beaten that score several more times. I broke 80,000, then broke 90,000, and most recently topped 100,000, but none of those scores would register. I've tried this on both PS Vita and PSTV, and neither would update my online score, even after leaving the system on for more than 30 minutes (thinking that would be sufficient time to refresh the scoreboard).

What's the best way for a user to ensure that a high score is submitted properly? Is it safe to shut down the game after I quit out and see the "saving" animation in the corner of the screen, or should I continue to keep the game running for 5-10 minutes and manually check the scoreboard every minute or two?

I hope that you'll be able to investigate these issues. Thanks for a great product, and keep up the good work!
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CodeMystics
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 3:22 pm

Re: Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by CodeMystics »

Scoreboard issues are usually a server issue on Sony's side. We've seen them periodically on a variety of games. You don't need to do anything special aside from being online to post a high score, and nothing has changed with the leaderboard configuration. All we can advise is to give it a few days and try again. Sometimes the server starts ignoring scores if you post too many.

We will investigate the slowdown.
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CodeMystics
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Re: Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by CodeMystics »

We have isolated the cause of the slowdown you report. It appears to be connected to the audio fixes. We'll be issuing a correction ASAP.
Agent X
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Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 4:35 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by Agent X »

Thanks for responding. I'll have to give Tempest another whirl soon.

It's good that you have identified the cause of the slowdown. I look forward to putting some quality time into the 2600 games after the next update is out.
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CodeMystics
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Re: Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by CodeMystics »

The patch correcting the slowdown should now be live in North America. We'll be releasing it in Europe, too, as soon as Sony has approved it there.
Agent X
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2019 4:35 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: Atari Flashback Classics PS Vita problems with 2600 games & Tempest scoreboards

Post by Agent X »

I finally got around to trying the game again a few days ago, with the latest patch. I'm happy to report that the speed is back to normal. Great work!
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