PinballX Enhancements/Features Requests

[MrGrynch]

For justification, please see: Display Underlay Only in System

For setups that only have a few systems, the default behavior for the system list looks quite bad.  For example, in my setup I only have PinballX and MAME.  On the wheel, it shows PinballX, MAME,PinballX, MAME.... and so on.

What I did was to create blank versions of the system image to suppress the display, instead showing the system info on a background.  Then I turned off the wheel underlay.

This is fine for the systems list, but I would like to have the wheel underlay displayed when I actually select a system (in my case, PinballX or MAME).  Currently, there is no way to show an underlay only on the individual systems without it also showing up on the system list.

I am requesting that an option be added to suppress the underlay on the systems list.  This is a very narrow request to what I feel would be a much larger improvement to PinballX.  I will detail that in another request as to keep this request from getting "muddied"

Thank you!

 

[MrGrynch]

Currently, the Loading Videos and Images are global to all Systems, resulting in media for ALL configured systems residing in one area.  This is very untidy.  Similar to attract mode media, why can't the loading videos and images be moved to within the system folder?  This creates a logical separation between the systems and their associated media.

The global media folders would be used if no media was defined in the system. 

Thank you!

[SixOfTwelve]

A humble feature request for future versions:

 

Would it be possible to add an option to turn off menu visibility as long as an instruction card is visible?

I've had people confused on what to do (namely, press exit to quit the instructions) because they think the menu is still operable (it's visible, just not responsive).

Or perhaps an option to display an overlay of choice (even if it's just a black screen) while the instructions are shown?

 

Thank you!

[AndyMcDandy]

I know it has been requested a couple of times already, I to would like to see an option to not hide mouse cursor.  Even if it is a manual change in the pinballx.ini file.

With more and more people looking to add backgrounds to their DMD to fill in the empty space, mouse cursor is needed to resize/locate scoring.

[barretop27]

Hello, I would like to have a menu item to return to system wheel when I enable the one click launch.

My request is the same from post 

 

 

[lm_shaker]

4 hours ago, barretop27 said:

Hello, I would like to have a menu item to return to system wheel when I enable the one click launch.

My request is the same from post 

 

 

I'm still hoping for this feature. In the mean time I use the workaround:

a) I *think* I had to change the settings to use the same key for "Close Table" and "Exit PinballX".

b) Use the "End Program" Setting to have PinballX re-launch itself when it closes.

 

This comes with the following disadvantages: 

1) You can't automatically start PinballX with Windows, or there will be no way to get out of PinballX.

2) After pressing the Close Table/Exit PinballX key from the Table Menu, you will have to chose "Exit" from a Pop-Up Menu to confirm.

3) Once PinballX is running, the only way out is to use Cntl-Alt-Del and restart Windows.

4) When PinballX is closing, you will see a flash of the desktop before it reloads (and again shows the System Menu).

   - Mark  

 

[scutters]

Feature request;

Add an extra field to the database xml to allow custom launch parameters by table (that get appended to the system launch parameters on table launch).

Primarily this would be for VPX tables where a feature was added in V10.6 to turn on/off table options at launch using the GetCustomParam command within the table's script.

 

On table launch the normal VP cmd line parameters is like;

/play -"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]"

If the new xml field is added (free format text), the launch cmd would look like;

/play -"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" -C1 optionA -C2 optionB 

where the new field is set for a table as  -C1 optionA -C2 optionB 

If the field is empty then nothing is appended to the table launch command and the table is launched as now.

[Tom Speirs]

On 6/10/2022 at 12:12 AM, AndyMcDandy said:

I know it has been requested a couple of times already, I to would like to see an option to not hide mouse cursor.  Even if it is a manual change in the pinballx.ini file.

With more and more people looking to add backgrounds to their DMD to fill in the empty space, mouse cursor is needed to resize/locate scoring.

This is addressed in the latest version. If you launch from one of the gane managers the mouse is not hidden and you can configure everything. That is how I tackled it.

[Mike_da_Spike]

Can filters (INI files) be showed to the system wheels as well (maybe with a switch per ini file) ?
To add media for it, the media for the ini file in the specific system folder has the same naming convention as a normal table, except that it has a prefix with "filter_". So the media should looks like    "filter_<INI FILE NAME>.<ext>". These media files are in the same folder as the other media files

For default filters like 'Favorites', 'Recently Added' etc a sub folder in the '/Media' directory can be created with the same naming structure as a normal system and these can contain videos/images for the default filters that are already in the 'Lists' menu.

Why I request this?
My 'Lists' is too long to display all my created filters, and some of my grandkids can't read yet, but understand icons. 
I also want to separate my VPX tables from EM and SS. Best way to do this is via a filter file, instead of moving all over to sperate folders and create a separate system. This is better manageable to just have all my tables in 1 folder

I hope this is do-able and that you want to spend time on it
You will make me and my family very happy with this  

[jrl]

I have been working on the B2SServer the last months. A small feature I have added is that it is possible to have comment lines in the screenres.txt files.

Though it is rather cosmetic, I believe it helps to clarify what the different lines actually mean.

So they can now look like this:

# This is a ScreenRes file for the B2SBackglassServer. 
# From release 1.3.1.1 comment lines like this starting with a "#" are supported. If you use tools not supporting comments (or old releases), you need to remove these lines.
# Playfield Screen resolution width/height
800
600
# Backglass Screen resolution width/height
800
600
# Backglass Display Devicename screen number (\\.\DISPLAY)x for the Playfield or screen on position (@x) or screen index (=x)
1
# x position for the backglass relative to the upper left corner of the Playfield screen
0
# y position for the backglass on the selected display (Normally left at 0)
0
# width/height of the DMD area in pixels - For 3 screen setup
600
130
# X/Y position of the DMD area relative to the upper left corner of the backglass screen - For 3 screen setup
700
300
# Y-flip, flips the LED display upside down
0
# X/Y position pos when StartBackground is active, relative to upper left corner of Playfield ("Small" Button in the Options)
800
0
# width/height of the backglass when StartBackground is active 
800
600
# C:\path\Frame = The path to the location where you have the background image, it is called "small" button in the settings.
C:\path\my_bezel_for_EM_or_grill_for_dual_screen.png

Would be cool if PinballX would ignore these lines (while reading) so that it does not get anything wrong because of this? If PinballX also writes these files, it would of course be nice if the comments would be left in the output...

Jarr3

[Tom Speirs]

10 hours ago, jrl said:

I have been working on the B2SServer the last months. A small feature I have added is that it is possible to have comment lines in the screenres.txt files.

Though it is rather cosmetic, I believe it helps to clarify what the different lines actually mean.

So they can now look like this:

# This is a ScreenRes file for the B2SBackglassServer. 
# From release 1.3.1.1 comment lines like this starting with a "#" are supported. If you use tools not supporting comments (or old releases), you need to remove these lines.
# Playfield Screen resolution width/height
800
600
# Backglass Screen resolution width/height
800
600
# Backglass Display Devicename screen number (\\.\DISPLAY)x for the Playfield or screen on position (@x) or screen index (=x)
1
# x position for the backglass relative to the upper left corner of the Playfield screen
0
# y position for the backglass on the selected display (Normally left at 0)
0
# width/height of the DMD area in pixels - For 3 screen setup
600
130
# X/Y position of the DMD area relative to the upper left corner of the backglass screen - For 3 screen setup
700
300
# Y-flip, flips the LED display upside down
0
# X/Y position pos when StartBackground is active, relative to upper left corner of Playfield ("Small" Button in the Options)
800
0
# width/height of the backglass when StartBackground is active 
800
600
# C:\path\Frame = The path to the location where you have the background image, it is called "small" button in the settings.
C:\path\my_bezel_for_EM_or_grill_for_dual_screen.png

Would be cool if PinballX would ignore these lines (while reading) so that it does not get anything wrong because of this? If PinballX also writes these files, it would of course be nice if the comments would be left in the output...

Jarr3

ill take a look.

Thanks,

Tom.

[DBrown67]

Posted this earlier in general forum, but was advised this is the best place by Mike...

I like the additional info box where I can show manufacturer logos, dates and my ratings. But can it be moved from the playfield screen to my third monitor?

I like the recent option to change the wheel to be flat, which shows more of the playfield. But the additional info box also covers the top third of the playfield. My 3rd monitor is currently not used in my frontend and that would pretty cool I think.

I can't make my mind up whether to use the Statistics plugin to show trivia from IPDB on the 3rd monitor, or go like this if it can be done. First option would be a lot of work though getting the info into the xml file. :p

[SixOfTwelve]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:40 PM, scutters said:

Feature request;

Add an extra field to the database xml to allow custom launch parameters by table (that get appended to the system launch parameters on table launch).

Primarily this would be for VPX tables where a feature was added in V10.6 to turn on/off table options at launch using the GetCustomParam command within the table's script.

 

On table launch the normal VP cmd line parameters is like;

/play -"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]"

If the new xml field is added (free format text), the launch cmd would look like;

/play -"[TABLEPATH]\[TABLEFILE]" -C1 optionA -C2 optionB 

where the new field is set for a table as  -C1 optionA -C2 optionB 

If the field is empty then nothing is appended to the table launch command and the table is launched as now.

 

I second this request.

For some reason, PinballX crashes when I set my VPX tables to forced fullscreen and try to quit them back to the frontend. There has been at least one thread about it, I never figured it out. I just turned forced fullscreen off and life was good.

However, some tables do play a bit smoother with forced fullscreen on, and most of them also quit back to PinballX without incident.

I guess a workaround would be to create two VPX databases, one for forced fullscreen and one for windowed, but it sure would be cool to be able to add -EnableTrueFullscreen or to the command line in the database.

It might also be useful for a lot of other emulators too, I guess... :-)

[scutters]

Hi Tom,

The latest version of Database Manager added some optional extra fields to the database xml for supplemental data from IPDB. It would be great if you could add some of these fields (probably MPU, DesignBy and ArtBy) to the active filters in PinballX so that lists could be made filtering on them where they are used.

Example xml;

<game name="Lethal weapon 3 (Data East 1992)">
    <description>Lethal Weapon 3 🔊 🎨 (Data East 1992)</description>
    <rom>lw3_208</rom>
    <manufacturer>Data East</manufacturer>
    <year>1992</year>
    <type>SS</type>
    <hidedmd>False</hidedmd>
    <hidetopper>False</hidetopper>
    <hidebackglass>False</hidebackglass>
    <enabled>True</enabled>
    <rating>3</rating>
    <players>4</players>
    <theme>Celebrities - Fictional - Licensed Theme</theme>
    <author>VPW</author>
    <version>1.2</version>
    <IPDBnr>1433</IPDBnr>
    <MPU>DataEast/Sega Version 3</MPU>
    <ProductionNumber>10350</ProductionNumber>
    <DesignBy>Joe Kaminkow, Ed Cebula</DesignBy>
    <ArtBy>Markus Rothkranz</ArtBy>
    <dateadded>1900-01-01 00:00:00</dateadded>
    <datemodified>2021-12-15 18:27:54</datemodified>
  </game>

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Hey Tom,

I have recently bought an Meta Quest 2 VR set.
This is really a difference when playing on a cabinet (well, the VR is connected to the cabinet, so I have the feeling, I'm using a real cabinet as well)

The only thing that I miss is a good front end that can be used in VR.

Is there a way to make PinballX VR aware by using an standard VR output so that VR glasses can use PinballX as front end as well ?

[Tom Speirs]

3 hours ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

Hey Tom,

I have recently bought an Meta Quest 2 VR set.
This is really a difference when playing on a cabinet (well, the VR is connected to the cabinet, so I have the feeling, I'm using a real cabinet as well)

The only thing that I miss is a good front end that can be used in VR.

Is there a way to make PinballX VR aware by using an standard VR output so that VR glasses can use PinballX as front end as well ?

I will have a look. I might need to update the display library to directx 11 which should be doable and was almost on the cards anyway.

[Draco1962]

On 12/29/2022 at 4:15 AM, Tom Speirs said:

I will have a look. I might need to update the display library to directx 11 which should be doable and was almost on the cards anyway.

To tag onto this, would it be possible to have PinballX VR as a standalone FE or via Setup Wizard to select between PinballX - VR Inclusive for those with phyisical pincabs and VR sets or PinballX - VR Exclusive for those without physical pincabs using VR exclusively?

[Mike_da_Spike]

3 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

To tag onto this, would it be possible to have PinballX VR as a standalone FE or via Setup Wizard to select between PinballX - VR Inclusive for those with phyisical pincabs and VR sets or PinballX - VR Exclusive for those without physical pincabs using VR exclusively?

Yeah, my thought too, as I'm using cabinet and VR  on the same system. 

Or a switch in the menu to switch over to VR display.

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Small feature request:

Can there be an event when the Menu is showed and an event when the menu is hidden ?
I'm in progress to setup a single screen PinballX for my VR. and wants to use the great scutters statistics plugin.
it shows fine, but when going to the menu, the plugin should be hidden and return when menu is not showed

See for example :

The orange part is the statistics plugin and not able to see, which list is highlighted 

[scutters]

3 hours ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

Can there be an event when the Menu is showed and an event when the menu is hidden ?

@Tom SpeirsThis would be for plugin code, something like Event_MenuShown and Event_MenuExit would be useful. The nearest i've found is using the Event_Input and checking the PinballXStatus flag but there's issues with that as the flag doesn't change while the menu is exiting (it has changed on the next input event), and the menu can also exit without user input on attract mode start.

[pindapoe]

Hello,

 

I think it will nice if when escape key is pressed, the menu that appears, includes too an option to return to the main menu that shows the systems.

 

Thanks

[Mike_da_Spike]

8 hours ago, pindapoe said:

Hello,

 

I think it will nice if when escape key is pressed, the menu that appears, includes too an option to return to the main menu that shows the systems.

 

Thanks

The text can be modified via the settings.exe and use section Text. Change the 'system'  value to what you want.

See also the pinballx documentation, chapter 4.1.11 

[pindapoe]

Hello,

 

Thanks for the reply, but the Text section, it's for change text, not add and option in the menu (or I´m wrong?)

I meant something like the attached image.

 

Thanks.

[Mike_da_Spike]

6 hours ago, pindapoe said:

Hello,

 

Thanks for the reply, but the Text section, it's for change text, not add and option in the menu (or I´m wrong?)

I meant something like the attached image.

 

Thanks.

Sorry, think I misread it or something. It should make it complex to add systems as well, as there is already a button wen pressing on "Select/Start". 
but thats just my  opinion. Up to Tom to decide if it will be added to the exit menu

[pindapoe]

I find it more intuitive, most of the frontends around when you press escape if you are inside a system, it goes back to main menu and from main menu it really exits, I think it will be better that way, just a minor change.

 

Thanks