scutters

@Mike_da_Spike cheers mate... you're just as lazy as me so I hope it's of use to you!

********** EDIT - This functionality now superseded by PinballX v4.50 Filtered Lists - https://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/25021-news-pinballx-450/ ************ I've been aware of custom lists for a while but have never really used them because of the work required to create them initially and then to keep them maintained after adding tables - i'm too lazy for that and i wanted a 'set and forget' solution where i could quickly select EM, SS or Original tables from my Visual Pinball X system without the maintenance (i had actually considered splitting them out into their own systems but again was put off by the work required, i.e. the same lazy reason). So, here's what i came up with as a method to create and maintain the custom lists i wanted; Downloaded xml starlet from http://xmlstar.sourceforge.net/ and copy the xml.exe onto the cab (i have attached the file in case of link changes, but the attached version probably won't be the latest) Made sure that my Visual Pinball X xml file had the Type field correctly populated for all non Original tables (i leave blank for Originals) in Game Manager Backed up my current database xml files (just in case i screwed up somewhere!) Created a batch file to call xml.exe to create my custom lists. The batch file is just a notepad file saved with a .bat extension rather than .txt. The batch file contents are; REM set to folder where you copied xml.exe set XMLexePATH="c:\CustomScripts" cd %XMLexePATH% REM set database xml source and output names set SOURCEXML1="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\Visual Pinball X.xml" set OUTPUTXML1="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\VPX Solid State.xml" REM create outputxml file ECHO ^<menu^> > %OUTPUTXML1% xml sel -t -c "/menu/game[type='SS']" %SOURCEXML1% >> %OUTPUTXML1% ECHO ^</menu^> >> %OUTPUTXML1% REM set 2nd database xml source and output names set SOURCEXML2="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\Visual Pinball X.xml" set OUTPUTXML2="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\VPX Electro-Mechanical.xml" REM create 2nd outputxml file ECHO ^<menu^> > %OUTPUTXML2% xml sel -t -c "/menu/game[type='EM']" %SOURCEXML2% >> %OUTPUTXML2% ECHO ^</menu^> >> %OUTPUTXML2% REM set 3rd database xml source and output names set SOURCEXML3="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\Visual Pinball X.xml" set OUTPUTXML3="c:\pinballx\Databases\Visual Pinball X\VPX Original.xml" REM create 3rd outputxml file ECHO ^<menu^> > %OUTPUTXML3% xml sel -t -c "/menu/game[manufacturer='Original']" %SOURCEXML3% >> %OUTPUTXML3% ECHO ^</menu^> >> %OUTPUTXML3% .. which is pretty much the same thing repeated 3 times as i'm creating 3 custom lists using xml.exe. The main things to note are the paths which need changing to suit your build, xml.exe location etc and the xpath queries (the xml set -t -c lines). Added the batch file as a Startup Setting in Pinballx (i named the batch file xmlstarlet) so that the batch re-runs every time i start pinballx so that the lists are recreated (adding any new tables [assuming i've populate Game Manager correctly!]) ; And that's it, i now have custom lists for SS, EM and Original Tables under the Lists menu option in PinballX which are maintained automatically. I may revisit later and update my VPX tables in Game Manager so that i enter Type as SS LED or SS DMD rather than just SS and then amend the batch file so that i create different custom lists for each. You might want different custom lists on your setup and the batch file can be amended to suit your requirements. You could create your own decades lists if you wanted (going further back than the default pinballx lists) by using syntax like "/menu/game[year>=1950 and year<1960]", or match all tables with a common description part with syntax like "/menu/game[description [contains(text(),"star wars")]]" (which could be used for different systems and then combined into a custom group to show all tables of that type for any system in one list), or split visual pinball tables by versions if you're using the <alternateexe> tag in your database files. The syntax for queries can be tested by pasting you database xml and query into https://codebeautify.org/Xpath-Tester More advanced use would be to create your own tags for playlists and enter them for your games in the description or type fields and then use them to build custom playlists. I haven't covered the basics of custom lists in this topic deliberately, if you don't know what they are or need more info on how they work check out the custom lists and custom groups section in the pinballx documentation; xml.zip

Could be non pinballx related. Was a virus scan or backup running?, is drive full or fragmented?, did you reboot? etc @susoarkangel more information is needed. Are tables slow to load only when launched from pinballx?

Fair enough, i'm not sure if navigation was any smoother or not for me with it enabled. I might just have perceived a placebo effect initially, but i certainly didn't notice the difference when i went to 3.97 from 3.95 and assumed it was still running exclusive anyway.

Yeah, it's a little bit strange as it's only a small window on backglass, but causes pinballx to minimize when shown. Might just be a windows media player 'feature' with exclusive fullscreen apps.

Confirmed v3.98 is back to exclusive fullscreen for me (and like v3.95 not compatible with media player plugin with visible player, not a problem though as i can just to it pbx back to fullscreen windowed [or set plugin to non visible])

Hmm... 3.97 shows as full screen windowed in the log when my config means it should be exclusive. Reinstalled 3.95 and that is exclusive without any change to settings? Logs etc attached.. PinballX.ini log 395.txt log 397.txt

Win 10, it might be a platform thing. Don't have win 7 to test on though,

Nice work... The family guy one appeals to my childish side!

Don't know what you did Tom, but just tried v3.97 and whatever you did to fix the pause issue also means i can now have the media player in attract mode on top of the backglass with fullscreen windowed set to No (previously pinballx minimized itself) Is there a definitive way to prove if pinballx is running exclusive rather than just fullscreen?

Mute audio in attract mode works for me in v3.97. I'm also using table audio files. Strange.

I gave 3.95 a quick go yesterday in fullscreen exclusive, it was very smooth in navigation - but unfortunately it didn't like having the media player display over the top of the backglass in attract mode (https://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/22325-plugin-pinballx-media-player/), which make sense because it's exclusive(!), but i guess it proves it was working. For me i'll be using fullscreen windowed but i'm sure it'll be great for others, thanks for continued updates Tom.

On the PinballX download page, click the changelog drop down, select a different version and then there should be a download option for that version underneath. I'll check if the mute still works for me later on with v3.97

PluginManager.exe in your pinballx folder. Uncheck the speech plugin

Double posted. Not sure why, deleted this one.

Have a look at pinballx documentation, creating custom groups/lists;

I'm a little confused too... In settings.exe under general, what is set in Table loading media mode? Please attach the files requested previously. Thanks.

Not much!

Nah, just busy... life and all that other pesky stuff!

@susoarkangel I'm not sure if i understand correctly either, i read it slightly differently to mike_da_spike... Are you saying you have loading images and they work ok when launched via a launch key, but they do not work if you select a game and then launch via the Play Game menu option? Not sure what version you're running or your settings (loading folders or playfield image selected in settings?), sp please post your pinballx.ini and log.txt files as well. Thanks.

@Mike_da_Spike Nice!, thanks mate

I should have, but no i didn't .. should be easy enough to match them back though. Let me know what you need. All the fonts are free for non commercial, but for the manufacturer fonts the ones i used for the loading text were 'near enough' - and probably won't stand up side by side if you want to rewrite the logo with them EDIT: here's a few systems FP - coca cola ii or loki cola VP styles - segoe print, alba matter, flottflott, banff FX3 - sf quartzite extended A couple i didn't do gifs for: Bingo gameroom - plaza regular , Malzbies - magneto bold

A load more loading gifs by table. Also included in the zip is a manufacturer subfolder, for tables without a specific gif where you don't want one in system style you can use one of those instead (copy and rename to match table). Avatar Just to be clear - these gifs by table are intended to be used with the derandomiser plugin and need to be named to match the tables or systems in your setup, some are well suited to multiple tables but that will depend on what you have. The DMD style loading gifs will work better as random overlays if you don't want to check the filenames or use the derandomiser. Gifs by table 3.zip

@joyrider3774 It's alba matter (italic). I use paint.net (i prefer the interface to gimps). Created by adding shadows to the text using the drop shadow plugin twice to add to the two 'shadows' (yellow and red), then selected the yellow shadow and added a gradient to white. plugin info;

You're set to use the 'use playfield images' option for loading media - that's why you get the 'wheel' overlay, not sure why it's on a white screen though, it should be over a snapshot of the table video. Update to the latest version of pinballx from 3.82, there were a few tweaks in that area as it was new. If you still get the white screen after that, post your lav filter video config settings as a screenshot (which i assume you have installed from the pinballx homepage?). Cheers