stephen

I need some help getting started. I expected to be able to just open the build the XDMD SLN. I get the same error in VS 2010 and VS 2012. Was this built with VS 2008? Error 7 'PLAYER_STATE' is not declared. It may be inaccessible due to its protection level. C:\xdmd\XDMD\XDMD\Device.vb 978 95 XDMD It looks like the Demo is a VB app, that references the VB DLL, which in tern references the native DLL. When I look at XDMDNative in Object Browser, I see PLAYER_STATE. In C# I'd need something like a "using" statement to reference the external enum class. I don't know how this is done in VB.

Cool. I'll look at it tonight. Thanks.

OK. That's cool. So, instead of interacting with HyperDMD, I COULD build my own DLL to display the DMD, and provide an object model to access it. This DLL could be customized for use as a table scoreboard. Right now, HyperDMD requires some messaging to achieve what I want.

Cool. I know this was built so VP cabs could display useful info on their DMD (or DMD monitor) while in PinballX. I could make a Williams, Bally, Gottlieb, etc animation or static image, and have it displayed while browsing my tables. I am building an original VP table. Last night I added HyperDMD for the attract scene, and started working on the scoring scene. I presume I can do the same with XDMD, right? If so, can you tell me a few things that I will be able to do with XDMD that I can't do with HyperDMD?

I'm going to give it a go over Thanksgiving. I don't even think I'm going to be able to get the high score on my own machine, let alone the high score here.

OK people, unless I contract Billy Mitchell disease or something, there will be no three-peat for the GTOM honors. Adultery, if there is a big score posted this month, it won't be mine. So I wanna see what you can do with Popeye.

Woohoo! It's good to be the king. Of course, with Popeye as November's GOTM, there is going to be a new King next month (or Queen, if there are any ladies in this competition). BTW, I am proud of my new sig. Thanks for putting this together and making it fun.

Ahh. I see. So instead of selecting the table, then deciding Normal or Night, I would instead select Normal or Night, then scroll through the games. Is that right?

There is an effort under way to mod some vp tables and create a night mode version. Can PinballX treat those differently, so there aren't twice as many tables? Maybe it can be two different 'start' buttons, or a popup on a table with a night variant.

I agree that picking up the eggs quickly is important. However, good practice is to NOT pick up the eggs on the first level (or two). Let them hatch and hover over after they hatch as the rider is getting on. It's an easy kill - as long as there are no other jousters nearby to endanger you. Also, if you are able to catch the egg as part of the kill, you get a bonus. I think you can easily double or triple your first wave score by doing these two things. After all, you may as well start with 8000 points on the first level, instead of 3000. Also, try to start a wave from the highest level near a teleporter. As long as you're standing near it, the jousters won't come out there. Once all jouster have appeared for the wave, you can drop down to the middle section to pick them off (until one of them sneaks up to the top), or you can hang out and guard the two openings and let them come to you. I think it's better to take the fight to the enemy. Besides, if you wait too long, the pterodactyl will come for you. Once you get pretty good at jousting from the top, practice starting from the bottom level. There will be times where you have to be proficient down there. If you die up top, chances are you'll respawn down below - and there will be a gauntlet of jousters preventing you from getting back to the top. So you're better off jousting from the bottom level. Just make sure you hang out under a rock ledge, or they just drop down on you. I don't know if these observations are obvious or not. Let me know if this helps. BTW, I found this on youtube. THIS is why the Twin Galaxy rules limit the pterodactyl kills. FYI, I did not know about this trick until now. I don't know how easy it is to induce. You have to be in the condition, where there is only one enemy jouster left, AND he has to be in this perpetual "lava monster grasp". Also, once the enemy jouster gets away from the lava monster, or you get knocked off the ledge, you are pretty much guaranteed to die - with MANY pterodactyls flying around. I won't be trying this technique. I think it's cheating.

BTW, even though it is not allowed for this competition - I challenge everyone to try to kill 10 pterodactyls in a wave.

>>Extra Men Every: 0000 Does this mean NO extra men? Or is it a typo. The default is "extra mount every 20,000 points". >>Men For 1 Credit Game: 5 >>Difficulty of Play: 5 >>Special Rules: This is a Single Player Only Variation! You cannot kill more than ten [10] pteradactyls per wave or the score will be disqualified on grounds of point-scrabbing. I did NOT kill more than 10 pterodactyls in any wave. Edit: In case it isn't obvious - STF stands for Stephen, and my score is 148,850.

I forgot to upload this. I improved my score a bit.

Itchigo, if you have any tables published somewhere, I'd like to load them up and play them.

Level 3 is easier than level 2, in my opinion.

I just realized the date on that. Haha. Still, the sentiment remains.

I used to live in Moore OK. Tornadoes are bad news. Good that you avoided the worst of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programmers'_Day

I knew all that video game playing in the 80s would pay off some day.

A ViewSonic PT813 21" CRT monitor. It is perfect for an arcade. However, it is a monster, and would be very expensive to ship. So you must be willing to pick it up in the Seattle area.

I finally got my machine back up and running. Per the rules: score: 111,230 settings: Default settings mame version: 149

Somewhat related: I heard that there are efforts to eliminate cursive reading/writing from the educational system in the US. This doesn't SOUND like a big deal; but without cursive, the next generation won't be able to read many original historical documents: Declaration of Independence, hand written letters, etc.

Have you seen the "Servo Stik" http://www.ultimarc.com/servostik.html Apparently you can have your cake and eat it too. I personally have four joysticks. The two primary joysticks are UltraStik 360s. It's really nice to have them programmatically switch from 2 way, 4 way, 8 way, and even 4 way diagonal. HOWEVER, in one game that I consider myself somewhat of an expert player, I have to say I believe there is a very subtle delay in response. So for that game, I use the other cheaper switched joystick. It may all be in my imagination. That said, I wouldn't trade my UltraStik 360s.

Right. Like I said, I wasn't so much looking for the answers to my questions, as much as pointers to resources where I could find my own answers. I was not aware of VPUniverse. That one looks to have the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks.

I convinced my company to buy a Mame machine after a pretty big milestone. We are now thinking that a virtual pinball machine would be more unique. But unlike an arcade machine, it is difficult to understand the nuances of what would make the ultimate virtual pinball machine. Two of us have pinball machines (Williams Monster Bash, and Sega Mary Shelly's Frankenstein). We want to make sure it FEELs like a real pinball machine. I know there are all sort of solenoids and shakers to provide force feedback; but what and how many are needed etc? I'm hoping the experts here can give me some pointers and/or refer me to some web sites. I started with these http://virtuapin.net http://www.virtualpinballmachinesrus.com Does anybody have one of these? Has anyone here built a cabinet of their own? One question I have is regarding the play field. Shouldn't the display be recessed? Or does the game display account for that? If recessed, will there be an issue with the glass plus the TV screen? What about the glare in general? Thanks.