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scutters

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Posts posted by scutters

  1. FX3 works for me launching directly (not via steam) with pbx v3.30

    My settings;

    [PinballFX3]
    WorkingPath=C:\Program Files\Pinball FX3
    Executable=Pinball FX3.exe
    Parameters=-applaunch 442120 "-table_[TABLEFILE]" -offline
    Process=Pinball FX3.exe

    Not much different there so check path as previously suggested.

     

  2. @Mike_da_Spike you made me curious so i re-enabled highscores in attract mode...

    They only started working again when i removed EnableAttractModeHighScores=True (deleted the line totally) from my pinballx.ini - I think this must be a bug in how that flag is handled, changing it in settings.exe changed true/false but it had no effect and high scores weren't displayed until it was removed.

    I confirmed that when working they appear in attract mode after table displayed for 15secs, scores scroll up for about 10secs then dmd video returns (assuming you have a high enough display game for value set). All my VPX tables are under 'other system' so which list you add games to is not a factor, i'm also using virtual dmd rather than real but don't think that'll affect anything.

    The scores as far as i can tell come from databases\statistics.ini as that file only holds 3 high scores whereas the highscores text file contains 4 high scores and the DMD only shows 3 high scores - although that could be coded in somewhere to only read the top 3 i suppose..

    Seems a bit of a mystery as to how this should & does work and how it can be configured differently (if at all). Will probably need a dev to confirm.

    ... i think i'll just go back and disable high scores in attract mode for now!

  3. In the [AttractMode] settings you don't have an entry for EnableAttractModeHighScores=True (but this might be because it's the default value so a False entry is only created when you disable it in Settings.exe).

    It's not a feature i use myself but when it was enabled i was under the impression it was only activated after the attract mode started (so start pinballx and wait for 1 minute) and then only about 15secs after attract mode selected a table, so if you had a ShowFor value less than that you wouldn't see it anyway. 

    It did appear regardless of DMD videos being present though, so you got 15sec of DMD video and then high scores. It might be you just have to wait longer to see them, and maybe just in attract mode as well

  4. 6 hours ago, Malinas said:

    3. Made the KillPup.bat with TASKKILL /F /im "pinupplayer.exe" /T  and in LAUNCH AFTER it is

    Yes
    C:\Pinball\PinballX\Scripts
    KillPup.bat (Shortcut to it with administrator priviliges)
    (empty field)
    no
    Yes

    The PUP fields not closing anyway when i CLOSE a pup game ;/

    What happens if you run the bat file manually (after exit out of pinballx with a pup window still showing)?, Also try running pinballx.exe with admin rights if not already and you might not need the shortcut which may be the issue.

    1. I'm not sure if you're trying to use backglass videos or the actual backglass, follow @Mike_da_Spike suggestion and use videos / disable B2S by changing your ini file then import backglass videos via game manager if you already have them.
    2. Think vpauto should handle that?, but should only happen on first launch of table anyway. Needs the log file attaching
    3. In launch after bat file add TASKKILL /F /im "pinupplayer.exe" /T 
    4. Maybe  try support thread https://vpinball.com/VPBdownloads/aliens-fx3-pup-pack-bg-topper-ssf-movie-music/
    5. Try changing this ine in ini file to False, AutoPositionPinMAME=True
  5. Are you running FPLoader / vpinballx.exe as admin?

    If so try running pinballx.exe as admin (via right click->properties). Probably worth a try either way.

    Other thing to try from a cmd window, what happens if you try 

    C:\Pinball\FuturePinball\BAM\FPLoader.exe /open "C:\Pinball\PinballTables\FuturePinball\LightSequencerDemo.fpt" /play /exit /arcaderender /STAYINRAM

  6. Sorry, patch was a typo - should have been path (now corrected)

    You don't have a StarTrek_V100 fpt file in the FP tables folder so that table won't work. I think PinballX comes with 3 (or 4?) example table entries (and that's one of them), but not the related table/emulators so either uncheck Enable for those or delete them in Game Manager if you're not going to load the tables on.

    If the crash you got was on the Tron FP table it might be related to the paramaters for FP,  missing space;

    Parameters=/open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" /play /exit /arcaderender/STAYINRAM

    should be

    Parameters=/open "[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" /play /exit /arcaderender /STAYINRAM

  7. 8 hours ago, DarenHawes said:

    Its worth noting that the tables work fine outside of PBX

    Please confirm the install path of VPX & FP match those in the pinballx.ini, Screen shot of the tables folders might help too. Thanks

  8. Log file shows;

    18:14:03.7  02/03/2019:  Hiding PinMAME Window

    My guess is the ini file setting;

    HidePinMAME=True

    Try False.

    That's if i'm reading the issue correctly of course. And if i'm reading it wrong other option to F1 is try setting up the rom settings in visual pinball\vpinmame\setup.exe -> Test, Game Options

  9. Well, i think i've got an exit time i'm happy with! :)

    Now.png.4c3fbac4a656c83af82468a015375430.png

    What did it?

    5 secs saved by disabling the Show Exit Image in Display Settings

    4 secs saved by removing an errant entry in the Other Systems settings, for some reason i had vpinballx.exe as a 'process to monitor' - probably a forgotten left over from a previous failed attempt to reduce exit table time

    3 secs saved by removing the launch after script (regardless of wait for exit setting), i'd tested this before and noticed no change but it is having an effect now, guess i was looking for one thing to save me 10 secs rather than a combination of smaller things - but what i'm really happy about is the fact i don't need it anymore!. I fiddled with the run as admin settings during investigating the slow exit thinking maybe it was somehow related and found I don't need to use taskill on pinnupplayer, b2s or ultradmd exes anymore, they just close down with vpx, even after rebooting to confirm :):).  For info, i have pinballx running as admin, but not vpx anymore, i'd definitely tried that combination before without success so i'm not entirely sure why, but i won't be touching those settings again if i can help it!

    i don't know why the exit image had such an impact on things, i imagine it doesn't for others as it's enabled by default but i'm happy to live without it for a quicker exit time.

    Bazinga!!

    • Like 1
  10. @joyrider3774 like the thinking, i had similar thoughts and went a step further i basically removed all media for all the tables in the system and launched to default pbx no media images. Tried the table again... not even 1 sec difference on exit!.  I do have to do a purge on the  media folder at some stage though, a lot of the 9GB is related to systems that are now disabled and unused (I've become a a visual pinball nazi it seems! :D)

    @Mike_da_Spike thanks for the log info, rtx2070, very nice. Yep your table exit time is as expected with that compared to my gtx1060!

  11. This is my system from settings.log;

    01/03/2019 08:35:46: OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Version: 10.0.17134
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Build: 17134
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: RAM Total: 16344 MB
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: RAM Used: 1346 MB
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2500K CPU @ 3.30GHz
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Video Driver: 24.21.13.9836
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Video RAM: 4095 MB
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: Sound Card: ASUS Xonar DSX Audio Device
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: .NET Framework 2.0 Installed
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: .NET Framework 4.0 Installed
    01/03/2019 08:35:46: .NET Framework 4.71 Installed

    What I've tried so far to reduce vpx table exit time;

    sfc /scannow - found some stuff, mainly folder ownership - no change

    disabled plugins - no change

    disabled all launch before & after activities - no change

    Looked at taskmanager performance during table exit - momentary spike on gpu 3d, nothing maxed out (inc individual cpu cores) - Nothing there of significance

    Media folder is 9GB - temporaily removed 4.5GB from it - no change

    Reinstall PBX after deleting all files in c:\pinballx , leaving subfolders in place for media & databases etc - no change

    Tried running pbx full screen windowed, and in plain windowed mode - no change

    Tried changing pbx process priority & affinity - no change

    Tried using vpx 10.5 exe instead of vpx 10.6 beta - no change

    Tweaked lav settings, tried hardware acceleration, unchecking / disabling for 8 bit - no change (except not showing video when 8bit options unchecked)

    Disabled Game Exit Images - This actually did something!! yay! well kind of.., exit image was set to show for 2 secs so maybe it should save 2 secs?... wrong, it saved me 5secs (?)

    Before

    exitbefore.png.7f15c13fb3f4321065c692f25fd8985e.png

    Now

    exitnow.png.8bca53586a9522bafd65c781a6d95c26.png

    So now my main delay on table exit now when compared to @joyrider3774 logs is something happening before the launch after bat file, after game exit. When i run pbx in windowed mode i can see vpx closes almost immediately, so what does pbx do after that before going to the launch after script? 

    Am i stuck with an exit table time similar to the load time?, i hope not... but i'm pretty much out of ideas now. Nearest thing i could find in the forums was this, resolved in v2.12 (i tried the exe attached to the thread but it didn't even launch, not sure if we can download older pbx version installers anywhere)

    Anyone got any ideas?

    And no, i'm not going to reinstall windows! although i may consider hooking the cab up online for a windows update if someone has good reason to think it'll resolve this - without breaking something else

  12. Thanks. Looks like i have a gremlin somewhere then.. weird that it rears its head on table exit, load time is a bit slower now but i think that's mainly VP10.6beta (which also seems a bit slower launching outside of pinballx), game play and wheel scrolling are all fine. I have a bit of time tomorrow so i'll have a dig around then..

  13. This has bugged me for a while, i'm really not sure when it started happening,  but from pressing exit in pinballx when playing a Visual Pinball X table it takes some time to get back to the wheel,  anywhere 10-20secs... Is this normal with latest pinballx, or is it something to do with my system?  Cab is offline so defender disabled and no antivirus installed, lav reinstalled but no difference, and SSD used not HD. My visual pinball tables are under 'Other Systems' (approx 200 total tables) but don't think that's a factor, i added one to the regular Visual Pinball list and that had the same slow exit, also the same with & without the launch after batch file.

    Bad (slow) exit example here;

    exittime.png.a19f133adf4258636d8abf05de0901b6.png

    I've looked at some other log files in the forums and they too seem a bit slow around 10 secs, maybe not as slow as mine but still slower than i'd expect.

    So my questions... How long does it take on your system to exit back to the wheel from vpx? and any ideas what could be slowing me down (if indeed i am slow)?

    Thanks for your thoughts!

     

    log.txt

    PinballX.ini

  14. @joyrider3774

    Can't speak for all systems, but i did i few quick tests with visual pinball x, toggling admin on and off on vpx and on pbx. For me at least the one that seems to matter most is admin on visual pinball x, without admin on that the b2s and the ultradmd remain on screen after exiting the diablo table. As soon as i restore admin to that everything exits cleanly again.

    But as you have admin on that as well but still need to run taskkill scripts i'm a bit clueless as to why..

    @Erzak

    Sorry for hijacking the thread a bit there.. but aat least you have a couple of things to try. Admin on vpinballx.exe, and if that still fails joyrider3774's scripts. One of them will work i'm sure!

    EDIT - Well this is crazy, after restoring admin on vpx & pbx and testing Diablo exiting properly ok yesterday... it now appears after a reboot it isn't anymore!. Diablo backglass & ultradmd stay on screen after table exit now despite the same admin permissions as before :wacko:. Nothing else changed!... Aaargh... I'm now going to use bat file too until i can figure out what the flip is happening (don't hold your breath), my two lines in .bat file;

    TASKKILL /IM "UltraDMD.exe" /T /F
    TASKKILL /F /im "B2SBackglassServerEXE.exe" /T

    EDIT2 - Don't ask me how but i now have just pinballx running as admin, removed admin from vpx and ultra dmd and B2S are closing again on table exit without a launch after script. Try that and make sure you don't have admin on b2sserver exe in VP tables folder or ultradmd (probably in vp\vpinmame\xdmd folder. If that fails the launch after scripts will work.

  15. Kind of following on from RustyCardores image theme, attached is the overlay i use on table images for use as loading images by table (using plugin) for visual pinball. The transition from table loading to being ready to play is pretty seamless and pretty darn cool if you use a table image matching your current POV settings. Even better if you don't select Hide Backglass for tables in xml/game manger (assuming no performance impact on your system and you're using a backglass image or video) so the backglass doesn't go to a black screen during load either

    Example loading image;

    36265922_ACDCPremium(Stern2012).thumb.png.f644171f171401868310ec906b0a5cd2.png

    If you're not sure how to create these here's a quick how to of one way;

    1. Use PBX Recorder to record the table images
    2. (Optional to reduce size), bulk upload images to Birme site to change to 1920*1080 (or whatever)
    3. Download zip and extract to working folder 
    4. Select all in file explorer to rotate all images to portrait 
    5. Open loading overlay in paint.net (gimp if you prefer) select all and copy. Open table images one at a time, add layer, paste the overlay, merge layer down and save (keep filename)
    6. (Optional to further reduce file size) bulk upload images to tinypng to compress images
    7. Copy resultant png files into pinballx\media\loading images folder. 

     

    LoadingOverlay.zip

  16. Here's a pretty simple plugin for pinballx to control the loading image used, so that you can have custom loading images by table or by system name. 

    What does it do? 
    As pinballx selects a random .png image to use as the loading image from Pinballx\Media\Loading Images folder, the plugin on pinballx startup will rename all .png file extensions in loading images to .pbu (i used pbu to indicate PngBackUp). When you select a game it will rename one file back to a .png for pinballx to use based on matching criteria. If a file is found matching the table name then that is renamed to .png, if a file is found matching the system name then that is renamed to .png, otherwise it'll just rename the default Loading image to .png (so it does assume you have this file in place even if no others). Pinballx will then use the one renamed .png file as the loading image as no other .pngs are in the folder. 

    Example
    I have 3 images in the Loading Images folder, Loading.png, Star Wars.png & Visual Pinball.png. On pinballx startup all files are changed to .pbu. If i then launch Star Wars the Star Wars.pbu is renamed back to Star Wars.png for use as the loading image. If i launch any other table under the system name Visual Pinball then the Visual Pinball image is renamed & used, and if I launch anything else the default Loading image is renamed and used as a catch all.

    Install

    Extract the contents of the zip file into your pinballx\plugins folder, unblock the dll file if required (https://www.limilabs.com/blog/unblock-dll-file) and then enable the Loading Image Changer plugin in plugin manager and you should be good to start adding png files to your loading images folder, named to match a table or system name (don't forget to leave a Loading.png file in place), table images,instruction cards, whatever..

    Thanks to @chergaand @simbamame for help testing the plugin on their systems. Also thanks to @Tom Speirs and @Adultery for pinballx and the plugin template i used.

    Notes

    • By default the plugin has logging enabled (log file in the plugins folder) once you're confident things are working you can disable it if you want. Please post the log file along with pinballx ini and log files if you do have issues.
    • In the plugin config screen there is an Undo Changes button, this renames all the .pbu files in Loading Images back to .png. I could have done this on each pinballx exit, but this seemed cleaner. This can be used at anytime but most likely uses would be if you've created multiple new loading images and are about to copy them across, or are installing a new version of pinballx to prevent duplicates (the plugin will not work correctly if you have a Star Wars.png and a Star Wars.pbu in the same folder as the rename operation will fail) or if a future version of pinballx supports loading images by table/system name natively, or any other time you may want to disable the plugin and go back to random loading images.
    • Plugin will also match files on table description to loading image file name. Order / hierarchy of matching is Table Name, Table Desc then System Name.

    28/02/19 V1.0.1 Update

    Default now is to change all file extensions back (from pbu to png) on pinballx exit rather than via the button on config screen. As file extensions are being changed and no file copying taking place this shouldn't carry much overhead and reduces the chance of copying duplicate files into loading images. This can be disabled in config which will re-enable the manual undo button. Replace/Copy both files in the zip to your plugins folder and install as above.

    29/04/19 V1.0.2 Update

    Support added for JPG format loading images following issue reported by @qcol in this thread. Loading images supported by the plugin are PNG, GIF and JPG. You can use a mixture of these formats, which will enable you to have up to three different loading images for one table or system (PinballX would then use one of the three randomly). Personally i'd stick to one format and one loading image per table / system.... but it's up to you!. Replace/Copy both files in the zip to your plugins folder and install as above.

     

    05/09/2019

    *** This plugin is for versions of PinballX up to V3.60 - Please use V2 for V3.60 and later ***

    https://www.gameex.info/forums/topic/23127-plugin-pinballx-loading-video-image-changer-de-randomiser-v2/

     

    PBXLoadingImage.zip

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