Digital Plunger Kit v2 unresponsive under PinballX running FP

[lacsusz]

Hello guys,

I'm a PinballX and a forum "newbie" and sorry for not posting my pinballx.ini and log.txt (yet) (see the reason why below). But I'm an active GameeX user (running on my Mame cabinet) and I just love that great piece of software, so first of all: many thanks to Tom and the rest of the team !

I'm having a virtual (3 monitors) pinball cabinet assembled/built from scratch by a guy in the Hungarian countryside who's extremely talented in arcade and pinball cabinets in general (hardware + software). Unfortunately, he has apparently reached his limits when I gently asked him to mount a Digital Plunger Kit v.2 (purchased separately from Virtuapin) in the cabinet. I've been reading each and every forum post for the past week (both here and at the vpforums). I'm stuck and almost want to give up. I'd be very thankful if someone could help or at least orient me towards a possible solution. I posted the same at vpforums.

1. First issue we have is the Digital Plunger Kit ("DPK") co-working with PinballX frontend ("PBX") running Future Pinball. For the sake of clarity: the DPK is working almost fine (see issues 2) and 3)) with FPalone. The problem is with PBX (yes, I checked the PBX forums as well: no luck). There is no way to make PBX "see" the DPK, the buttons properly configured under FP just don't work when running under the frontend. Neither the plunger, nor the buttons. No way to navigate in the frontend and startup a table. No way to "circumvent" the problem by using XPadder: the inputs are not detected by the frontend. The forum threads (and section 6.6 of the PBX documentation) mostly deal with how to use PBX or the DPK under PinballFX2 or Pinball Arcade or how to configure Visual Pinball with the DPK. That is not the issue here. Again, my problem is the "coexistence" of the DPK + PBX + FP.

2. Regarding tables with a launch button (no plunger, e.g. Terminator 2) under Future Pinball (not Visual Pinball, just FP), is there a way to make the DPK plunger "behave" like a launch button or does it require a specific "circumvention" ? It's too late for us to add a new physical switch inside my cabinet. Same for a separate launch button (the cabinet is already "sealed" and painted). Someone at the vpforum (http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=27410&hl=%2Blaunch+%2Bbutton+%2Bplunger ) raised almost the same question and the responses where somehow contradictory (the question was "for the tables that have launch buttons rather than plungers, can you launch a ball with the virtua plunger (like ENTER)or do you have to have a separate launch button?" and one of the answers was "The virtuapin plunger acts just like holding on the launch button. So the answer is yes you can use both. It works for me.").

3. The "nudge" panel is properly mounted and "lit" inside the cabinet (configurable under Windows). However, there is no way to nudge or tilt under any FP table (whether with or without PBX). Any ideas?

Again, thanks very much in advance for any help or suggestion.

[noiseprisoner]

PinballX sees the virtuapin v2 kit as a game controller in Windows. There is a page in PinballX settings to map game controller buttons to different action items in PinballX. You have to map everything very carefully between FP, VP, Pinballfx2, etc. to make sure there are no conflicts. I'd have to check my cabinet settings tomorrow but I'm pretty sure I have the plunger working in both FP and VP through PinballX.

Regarding your question about using the plunger as a launch ball button...I don't know if that can be done. The plunger runs on an analog axis, it's not a keypress. You may need to mount another button for that.

[noiseprisoner]

I just played a handful of FP tables on my cab using PinballX and the VirtuapinV2 plunger kit. I have attached my settings, maybe that will help you. Again, PinballX sees the plunger kit as a joystick so you setup the buttons in that area of the settings. I should probably mention that for FP, I am using BAM to launch the tables.

[lacsusz]

Many thanks, noiseprisoner !

I finally managed to make the V2 plunger kit buttons operate the PinballX frontend. I had to re-install the frontend and clean the registry.

Can you please help me with this: I see that you have your Z-Axis, X-Axis, Y-Axis / gain set to certain values.

Do these settings actually work under your Future Pinball tables ?

Afa the plunger is concerned, I now understand that this is very table-dependent and basically needs a table-by-table configuration.

But regarding nudging, I see no effect at all under any of the FP tables. None of them seems to sense my "jogging/shaking" the side of the cabinet. The V2 board is properly mounted inside the cabinet, it is "green lit" and the "circle" is positioned in the middle under Windows settings. Calibration is set to "default". if I nudge the table under Windows, I can see the crosshair moving but just a little bit (it needs a strong "push" though) but no effect at all under FP.

Again, thanks very much.

[noiseprisoner]

Many thanks, noiseprisoner !

I finally managed to make the V2 plunger kit buttons operate the PinballX frontend. I had to re-install the frontend and clean the registry.

Can you please help me with this: I see that you have your Z-Axis, X-Axis, Y-Axis / gain set to certain values.

Do these settings actually work under your Future Pinball tables ?

Afa the plunger is concerned, I now understand that this is very table-dependent and basically needs a table-by-table configuration.

But regarding nudging, I see no effect at all under any of the FP tables. None of them seems to sense my "jogging/shaking" the side of the cabinet. The V2 board is properly mounted inside the cabinet, it is "green lit" and the "circle" is positioned in the middle under Windows settings. Calibration is set to "default". if I nudge the table under Windows, I can see the crosshair moving but just a little bit (it needs a strong "push" though) but no effect at all under FP.

Again, thanks very much.

Yes, nudging works on FP tables for me. Catch the ball on a flipper, then move the cabinet...you should see the ball move.

I think that's what the NudgeX and NudgeY are for...maybe adjust those?