[APP] NukeLauncher - NukeFX for (Pinball FX2)

[time299]

NukeLauncher is a Pinball FX2 launcher that automates the table selection menu and adds many other options for running the game through various front-ends and the command line.

NukeLauncher is fast, flexible, efficient, super smart, has more features than any other launcher I can find, and it poops rainbows. Yea, I know that sounds like I'm bragging (I guess I kinda am) but it's true. You'll see. Take a look below at some of the features.

It uses smart movements to go directly to the table you picked, instead of moving the selector back to the top left position and then to the table you selected.


it's self aware and auto-detects Steam / PC / Xbox Live versions base on path and registry checks.


It has full use of all the football tables and sub menus, where most launchers don't support football tables at all.


Smart close features added with three different exit options kill, savekill and saveexit


Then we decided that you could use the DMD border hiding support baked in, so we did that too.


We thought it would kick ass if you could add new tables from the ini, so when Zen Studios rolls out a new table release you just update the ini. Done!


We added Pause and In game Instruction support. Press "P" for pause or "I" for Information press again to go back to your game. keys are changeable in the ini of course.


NukeLauncher supports vertical or horizontal layouts. Just update the ini file with your grid dimensions and you're ready to go. You can also adjust all aspects of timing from inside the ini file, including StartDelay / ScreenDelay / MovementDelay.


Next we added support for single or hotseat 2 / 3 / 4 player preference selection in the ini file.


It even has a pinball title guessing engine that will try to match your unique game names from your XML database and order them like they are on the Pinball FX2 table selection menu. This makes setup much easier. No more renaming all of your files to fit with the launcher!


Built with the future in mind so everything that can be changed is editable by you or automated for you.

And it's free!

http://www.nukelauncher.com - Download link is on the home page and in the support section. Please read the documentation first.

Here is a quick note to the people that were beta testing NukeLauncher.

You need to replace your ini with the one from the download. so back up your old one if you want and then download and overwrite the old files with the new ones and then edit the ini and make sure the XMLFile = line is the same as your old one, now run NukeLauncher and let it discover your tables. It's much better at that now. It will tell you if it succeeded or if it had a problem.

I hope everyone really enjoys it, I have been busting my ass on it for months and my wife misses me.

Please donate if you can.

And thanks for the feedback testers.

Jeff / Time299

[nullPointer]

Thanks for your work on this Jeff! I'm looking forward to trying it out.

[andyco]

tryed new new 1.6, and few things not working for me the killsave not working cus when i exit the table and then exit pinballx, pnball fx2 still runs plus the dmd still shows on backglass. and also its not picking the right football table,

[Tom Speirs]

Nice work Time. You have just been promoted to contributor.

[time299]

Download and replace the exe and see if that helps. The code targets Pinball FX2 Specifically, so i'm not sure why you were having that problem.

[andyco]

update got football working its just the exit now not killing the dmd and pinballfx2 when you exit the Kill is ok but the other 2 r not working for me.

[rockyrocket]

Thanks for the release!, things just got much simpler - well done!.

PS works fine in GameEx aswell!.

[time299]

The different methods of exit are not for everyone, use the one that works for your setup.

They were added to allow many different configurations.

They all function exactly the way I outline in the documentation. See below directly from the documentation.

ExitMethod=

This changes how the exit key works, available values are kill, savekill, saveexit.

"kill" will simply send an ALT F4 and that will close Pinball FX2.

"savekill" will enter the key stokes to exit the table you are playing and give Pinball FX2 enough time to save your progress and then send an ALT F4 to close Pinball FX2.

"saveexit" will enter the key stokes to exit the table you are playing and give Pinball FX2 enough time to save your progress and then move the pointer to the exit button inside Pinball FX2 and close the program through it's normal mechanism.

They many not work well with the front end you are using, but most front ends like PinbalX have "LaunchBeforeWaitForExit" and "LaunchAfterWaitForExit" scripting to help with different type of exiting.

You may want to look into this type of configuration if you want to use one of the other exit methods.

I hope this help clear up your question.

[wvstarship]

Where is the NukeLauncher.ahk file? It is not included in the download zip.

[jaharr01]

Hey guys this version is much better than the original. I tried several times and Jeff (software creator) tried to help me get it going. I had almost given up and I decided to try once more. This time with (1.6).This time it set the .ini up almost perfectly with the names. The only issue was four tables were out of place. I corrected them and it still wasn't working. So I read through the directions again and changed the starting table to 1 instead of 12. I then went to the chosen table almost every time.Everyone must remember it is still a WIP.

The negatives-

1. Still a few bugs, even though it is set up properly, about 1 in 10 times it defaults to the walking dead table.Possibly a timing issue.

2. Exiting is a problem. I tried all the different methods from kill immediately, to save and exit. Steam and pinballFX2 never closed. I don't find this a large problem.It is most likely a scripting issue or a timing issue. There are multiple steps in the software to get steam and pinballfx2 to shut down and return to pinballx.

3,Documentation is still a bit of a problem, in that everyone has different setups, which makes it very complex to write the instructions.

4. There are still some grammatical and spelling errors on the webpagedocumentation.

The positives-

1. This is a very good software for the users who aren't so scripting savy.Most of the scripts on the forum are vague and scattered out. Just about anyone who can follow directions with minimal windows knowledge could set this up.

2. It is a very good software for this type of program that is difficult to access, because of lack of command line support in Pinballfx2.

3. this software could be tweaked along with the documentation to be an almost flawless gateway into pinballfx2.

4..Its free so no one should gripe. just give feedback

5. The author (Jeff) returns emails and follows up with posts on a timely manner, which is very helpful.

What I think could be done to make it better.

1. Have different versions, one for each platform. i.e. Steam, windows 8, xbox etc. That way the user wouldn't have to weed through what they don't need to set up the program.

2. Possibly a video. It's very easy to follow someones software setup via youtube.

3. integration of the software for pinball arcade. It would become more of a steam wrapper than a launching program.And there are no really good solutions for pinball arcade.

4. This may be out there but possibly a way to make LED animation on the start and exit of pinballfx2.

Summary-

This is a software in its early stages (alpha), give it about 2-3 months to truly be able to judge it fairly.The software still takes a bit of tweaking but it is a 1000 times better than the others I tried. Overall I give it thumbs up.

Jay

**Update<<< In regard to the exiting problem it is not Jeff's software or pinballx it is a known steam bug. I will keep working to resolve this. After finding out it was a steam error and not a error with nukelauncher i give it 2 thumbs up

Jay

[wvstarship]

I cannot get this to work at all thru Pinballx. The documentation states that you need a script file, NukeLauncher.ahk. I presume you still need it? If so, as I stated above the ahk file is NOT INCLUDED in the download zip on the Nukelauncher website. Can anyone please tell me where to download this script?

[Draco1962]

I cannot get this to work at all thru Pinballx. The documentation states that you need a script file, NukeLauncher.ahk. I presume you still need it? If so, as I stated above the ahk file is NOT INCLUDED in the download zip on the Nukelauncher website. Can anyone please tell me where to download this script?

SInce you posted your initial request just yesterday evening I would recommend some patience as I am sure the application author will respond. Have you considered sending Jeff a Contact Request from his website?

[rockyrocket]

I cannot get this to work at all thru Pinballx. The documentation states that you need a script file, NukeLauncher.ahk. I presume you still need it? If so, as I stated above the ahk file is NOT INCLUDED in the download zip on the Nukelauncher website. Can anyone please tell me where to download this script?

The AHK file is not needed for operation, it was included only for the testers feedback purposes.

NukeLauncher.exe is the compiled version of the AHK file.

You should only need the .EXE, the .INI and your pinball FX2 .xml from pinballX.

[nullPointer]

I cannot get this to work at all thru Pinballx. The documentation states that you need a script file, NukeLauncher.ahk. I presume you still need it? If so, as I stated above the ahk file is NOT INCLUDED in the download zip on the Nukelauncher website. Can anyone please tell me where to download this script?

Dude I can virtually guarantee that the NukeLauncher.exe is in fact the compiled version of NukeLauncher.ahk. Have you worked with AutoHotKey before? The scripts get compiled as executables. That way the end user doesn't have to install AutoHotKey in order to run AHK scripts (all this means is that the scripts are compiled at runtime, and that you could debug them if you want to). Long story short you don't need the script, and having a compiled executable rather than a script actually makes things more convenient for users. It looks like there may be an error in documentation though. All the same, it's often necessary within the world of emulation (where documentation is often lacking or even non-existent) to simply be bold and just try something out. Follow your hunches!

Jeff can correct me if I'm wrong here.

Edit: Ninja'd by the inimitable rockyrocket!

Edited October 4, 2014 by nullPointer

[rockyrocket]

The AHK file is not needed for operation, it was included only for the testers feedback purposes.

NukeLauncher.exe is the compiled version of the AHK file.

You should only need the .EXE, the .INI and your pinball FX2 .xml from pinballX.

Ok so I am going to quote myself and just hope it does not rip a hole into the fabric of the universe (like crossing the streams).

But as I feel my last comment came over a bit terse I will throw a bone.

One thing I First did wrong was to place nuke and its .ini into the wrong folder (the PinballFX2 folder within steam) when you need to put it into the root of the steam directory right next to steam.exe.

Now if you have edited the NukeLauncher.ini to point to your PinballFX2.xml (probably in pinballX database folder) and defined the positions of both the football tile and also the starting position in the menu grid you should be ok to test outside PinballX.

Start steam open fx2 then exit it and place the attached BAT file into the same folder NukeLauncher is in.

It should start PinballFX2 and go to the walking dead table.

As marvin would say "don`t panic" if it goes to the wrong table we just want it to start.

Now open up the .INI and check that the order the tables are listed in is the same as in your menu - if not edit your ini until correct.

Now you are in a position to test within PinballX using the settings from the site.

Hope that helps a bit.

Start Walking dead.7z

[jaharr01]

I cannot get this to work at all thru Pinballx. The documentation states that you need a script file, NukeLauncher.ahk. I presume you still need it? If so, as I stated above the ahk file is NOT INCLUDED in the download zip on the Nukelauncher website. Can anyone please tell me where to download this script?

You don't need it with the new version. I just set it up, what kind of problems were u having. I may be able to help.

[jaharr01]

Another problem I had rocky rocket that I finally figured out was I had starting table as 12. it was 1

[jaharr01]

you also have to take a pic or a screenshot of your table locations inside pinballfx2. That way you can get the order correctly if it is wrong with out guessing. Also checkyour xml file to make sure ALL the table names are the same in pinballx xml and in the nuke ini file.

[wvstarship]

First of all, thanks to all who answered. Obviously, I have no experience in scripting.

I just discovered that I had a typo in my pinballx.ini file and that is what was causing Pinball fx2 not to load. Nukelauncher is getting me there, the only problem I have now is that it is pointing to the default football table no matter which table I choose in Pinballx. I figure I'll eventually figure it out .

[jaharr01]

try changing your starting table to 1 instead of 12. 12 is default

[jaharr01]

change it in the ini file

[jaharr01]

hey would this command in a .dat or .ahk file shut down steam and/or pinballfx2.Still having shutdown issues.

Taskkill /F /IM Steam.exe,Taskkill/F /IM Pinball FX2.exe

Jay

[Carny_Priest]

The second one for Pinball FX2 maybe. I wouldn't bother killing the Steam client.

I don't think this is different than Alt + F4, though.

[time299]

1.7 is up. You only need to overwrite the EXE keep your NukeLauncher.ini
The people still having problems are most likely finding that they need to use a different StartLocation or FootballLocation. If you fit into this category this update will make it much easier for you to get things running smoothly, see below.

If for some reason your tables are not in the same order as the picture below. Then you are probably using a hacked or older offline version of Pinball FX2 (for shame) and I don't support such behavior, However some people do this even know they have licensed tables, but they don't want to use the seam client in a offline pin cab. Anyway I will tell you what to do if you are in this position.


Only follow these steps if your having problems and
your main menu looks different than this.

BTW the following is on the documentation page - http://www.nukelauncher.com/item.asp?iid=13#DifferentOrder

First you need to add a new variable called "PinballKey" to your NukeLauncher.ini. insert it just before the "PinballTables" see the example below.

Next open a text editor and make a text listing of all of your table names in the order they appear on your version of Pinball FX2 separate each one with a comma "," and paste them in the Nukelauncher.ini file on the line "PinballTables", Don't skip the Main Football table it may not be in your XML but it's in the main menu of Pinball FX2, I use SFX but you can name anything it's just a place holder.
More info on Manually adding tables can be found here. http://www.nukelauncher.com/item.asp?iid=13#ManuallyAddTables

Then take that same list and paste it to the new "PinballKey" variable you added in the first step. See below for and example.

In the example below I will put four dots to represent the rest of your table names just to shorten up the examples.

Lets say your top left table is "SWHS" instead of the normal "TheWalkingDead" and your "TheWalkingDead" is the last table.

Don't Include the quotes.

Normal Example: There is no line called PinballKey to start you will add it as sown in the example belowPinballTables = TheWalkingDead,SWHS,SWD,....,Tesla,Dorado,v12,Sorcerers,Will change to the following:PinballKey = SWHS,SWHS,....,Tesla,Dorado,v12,Sorcerers,TheWalkingDead,PinballTables = SWHS,SWHS,....,Tesla,Dorado,v12,Sorcerers,TheWalkingDead,

Then when you relaunch NukeLauncher it will re detect your tables in the new order you specified and you should be good to go.
If your starting table or football tables are not in the normal position "12" you will need to update those values as well.

Explanation: You don't need to read this it just helps illustrate why this works and why you don't need it if you have the retail or steam versions of the game.

NukeLauncher uses that variable (PinballKey) on the back end to get an array of the main menu order and the possible variations of names.

This is the actual value in the compiled NukeLauncher.exe

PinballKey := "TWD|Walking,SWHS|Han|Hon|Solo,SWD|Droids,SWANH|Hope|_4| 4| IV,SWMF|MOTF|Masters|Force,ROTJ|ROJ|Return|Jedi|_6| 6| VI,SWSA|Fighter|Assault,SWDV|Darth|Vader,ESB|Empire|Strikes|_5| 5| V ,SWCW|SWTCW|Clone,SWBF|Boba|Fett,SFX, GG|GOTG|Guardians|Galaxy, DP|DPool|Deadpool, DS|Doctor|Strange, CA|CaptAmer|Captain|America, FF|F4|Four|Fantastic, CW|Civil, TA|Avengers, FI|Fear|Itself|It self, IF|InfGau|Infinity|Gauntlet, WH|WWH|Hulk,Thor, MK|Moon|Knight, GR|Ghost|Rider, XM|X-Men|XMen, BL|Blade, IM|Invincible|Iron, SM|Spider, WO| WR|Wolve,PVZ|PvsZ|Plants|Zombies,MSpl|Splo,Earth|Defense,Mars,Excal,Para,Epic|Quest,Secrets|Deep,Biolab,Pasha,Rome,Shaman,Tesla,Dorado,12,Looter|Sorc|Lair"The | symbol basically means orThe , symbol separates the main menu locationsSo it reads location 1 should contain TWD or Walking and location 2 should contain SWHS or Han or Hon or Solo and so on.This is the main basis for my guessing engine it uses parts of game names to figure out where the game name from your XML belong in the main menu order.

But if your order is different then what is in the official retail or steam versions of the game. My code it not going to have the correct order.

So all you have to do is add your tables manually in the order they appear on your main menu and everything will work just fine. Here is a Link to the "Manually Add Tables" section of the documentation http://www.nukelauncher.com/item.asp?iid=13#ManuallyAddTables

Most people were not having problems, but the ones that were I found out through private messages were using the (Alternate version) some with walking dead or the football at the end of the main menu and some with 3 or 4 games missing from the menu. I am guessing older versions.

Anyway this should help out that group.

Also: You guys are correct the AHK is not supposed to be in the download you don't need it NukeLauncher is the compiled version of the AHK when I was alpha testing I was including the AHK so people could send me feedback. I removed the NukeLauncher.ahk reference in the documentation to help clear that up.

Thanks,

Jeff / Time299

WOW, I just re-read this post and fixed some spelling and grammar issues, I really need to stop posting stuff at 4:00AM

[Draco1962]

Thanks for your contribution, Time! This should help simplify adding Pinball FX2 tables to PinballX setup for many!