pinballx settings Very cool bingo pinball simulation site

[ttrenkner]

Hi joyrider,

BingoGameroom recently added a new Bally table called Mystic Gate and also upgraded their general app. It appears that unlike all the other tables, Mystic Gate can’t be launched from it’s own folder, but must be launched from the general app and doesn’t work with your ahk. BGR has now created their own method of integration with PinballX, which they explain in the general app’s help section, but so far I just haven’t been able to get any of their tables to exit back to PinballX using their system. I’ve mentioned it to them and am waiting to hear back.

Tom Trenkner 

[joyrider3774]

where or how did you get the new general V3 App ? their site still mentions 2.0.b21 for the download section. Or does the launcher autoupdate itselve. It could be they do not like the way we start the applications outside of main program not sure. Will have to get that mystic gate table first before i can look at it. It is possible they have changed the way tables are launched or EXE and Folder are not named the same anymore in which case the script would not work

[ttrenkner]

Hi joyrider,

I think the new app is a download option when you go to their tables download/open page.

[Randy823]

Yes ttrenkner is right

The new version pops up when you go to bingogameroom update.

I have it previosely on  my win 7 computer running bingogameroom and the update was buried in with the 

icon games as an version update.

Mystic Gate is the new version game V3.

[joyrider3774]

i see it also now i get following message:

Will try the new pinballx support out and see how far i can get

edit: Ok tried immediatly mystic gate using the new pinballx support first time it showed me a nag screen when i tried and stayed on there. Also quiting the application did not work with me but it seems to be because this command that is being used in the launch after script takes waaay too long on my pc.
 

Taskkill /f /fi "modules eq OpenGLCanvas.dll" 

I'll investigate further to see if i can't just kill the table exe in the launch after script my guess it's being used to try and kill any applications running with such module loaded but just takes way too long if you got many exe's running

edit 2: got table exit working using different batch script BingogameroomExit.BAT

Taskkill /F /im "%1.exe"

and my settings look like this (you need to pass table parameter to batch script) so it will kill [tablename].exe (do note if its working for you set hide window to true)

 

Using this setup it seems i can both launch v2 and v3 tables and exit table functionality is working so my script is actually not needed anymore as bingo game room supports everything out of the box.

You might need to run some of the tables once to get rid of the nag screen although i'm not sure i only had it shown once the first time i had launched mystic gate. I'll test some more now but it seems it's working fine for me like this

@ttrenkner can you verify my exiting system to see if that works for you ?
 

edit3: I still have problems with nag screens that remain shown in v2 tables but maybe we need to wait until all tables are v3 with mystic gate i don't have the nag screen problem it seems well not anymore i did have it the 1st time i launched the table.

edit4: i emailed author with my findings about table exit and will see what he says. I also asked about the nag screens upon table launch as they block the game when launching from pinball x as it seems some tables keep showing the nag screen while others don't so i'm not sure how this is handled now.
Also my script will become obsolete and we should start using the new system the author created once a few quircks are fixed like the nag screen and perhaps table exit or maybe it just needs updated tables to v3

edit5: i also solved the nagscreen problem using an autohotkey script that waits 3 seconds then presses enter key (so it expects the nag screen, if any, to be shown in under 3 seconds end then will send enter key which makes it press the continue button on the nag screen.
BingoGameRoomNagScreen.exeBingoGameRoomNagScreen.ahk

Launch it in a launchbefore batch file with BingoGameRoom Launch before.bat

start BingoGameRoomNagScreen.exe

this is my final setup with above changes added and i can now use the build in support on my cabinet without problems. Given i had changed the way it quits tables in launch after script and given i launch the little nagscreen return key press send ahk script 

[ttrenkner]

Thank you so much for your additional great work on this. I’ll try out your solution as soon as I’m home.

[ttrenkner]

Okay. I've had a chance to try your solution with a few tables, and it worked just fine. As I mentioned, I had also been in contact with the BGR folks who asked me to test two new bat files, one of which hung up on my pc and the other of which did get me back to PBX but didn't actually close the BGR table. If you're good with it, I'll get out of the way now and leave it to you to communicate as you wish. You're obviously both smart and generous, and again I take my hat off to you.

[joyrider3774]

good to know it also works for you. You may reply to them that this system actually works for you (/us) if you want to. I used their contact page to get in contact with them but i guess it will be a while before i might get an email back.

This system with closing the tables will only remain working if they keep using the table name as executable name which currently is valid for all released tables and i'm guessing they will remain doing this for upcomming tables.

[ttrenkner]

I’ll let them know about your solution. Maybe it will help preserve it from harm. It is good to know that they are trying to integrate with PBX.

[joyrider3774]

6 minutes ago, ttrenkner said:

I’ll let them know about your solution. Maybe it will help preserve it from harm. It is good to know that they are trying to integrate with PBX.

yeah the generate pinball database file is really handy and it fills in the years as well.

oh yeah @ttrenkner in case you had not seen it, i've been doing wheel images for bingo gameroom as well in this topic. Created 3 new ones today but i can't keep myselve doing them all at once i sporadically create new ones as it's tedious work. I hope to get them all done eventually. I currently have done 27 already from the 68 tables 
 

 

[ttrenkner]

Very cool! I was starting to work on some wheels myself, but these are much better.

[joyrider3774]

guys about the nag screen problem, it's not a problem at all.

the nag screen is shown if the table is not run at least once and this is important has exited gracefully so it has saved it's table preferences. Once that is done the nag screen with the continue button is not shown at all. Now the reason i kept seeing it is because how i kill the tables in the exit script the /F parameter for taskkill sends a sigkill command which does not close the table gracefully so the table can not save it's settings and keeps showing the nagscreen the next time. The solution is very simple you just have to start all (and any new) tables at least once from inside bingo game room app itselve and exit gracefully the next time you run the table it won't show the nagscreen with the continue button so the little utility i made is not needed at all you just need to make sure you have run any table at least once normally from inside bingo game room itselve and the nag screen won't come. 

I tried running the taskkill command without /F from inside pinballx when quiting a table but it just does not seem to quit the table then while it actually does work if do the same from a cmd prompt i run myselve. so that BingoGameRoomNagScreen.exe utility is not needed at all you just need to start the tables at least once from inside bingo game room. In the future it could be that the nag screen in tables will auto close after 3 - 4 seconds. The author is willing to add that to tables.

So now i'll be running all tables at least once on my cabinet from inside bingo game room and exit gracefully so it does not show the continue nagscreen anymore when run from inside pinballx

[Mike_da_Spike]

Wow ! Lot of info overhere... Away for a week and changed a lot of stuff

Thanks guys for the tutorial. 

 

[joyrider3774]

@Mike_da_Spike

Things, will change more. I'm in contact with joop (author of bingo game room) and testing (test) versions of bingo game room that won't require taskkill.exe to quit a table anymore he has done changes already that seem to work. I only have a slight problem when ESC is exit emulator key that the table process keeps hanging because of a popup context menu that is shown, but i'm sure he'll solve this soon enough. The good thing is also that tables will close gracefully so settings are saved then (v3 tables eventually). While with taskkill we force kill it using /F flag but without it with current version it does not work

(new / updated) V3 tables will also auto close the continue screen after a few seconds so that won't pose a problem either and normally when the table is close gracefully you should not see it anymore

[Mike_da_Spike]

Awesome.

Can you also ask to have the loader not in user profile but in a directory by own choice? 

I really want to have all under c:\pinball,  this makes my backup much easier 

[joyrider3774]

13 minutes ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

Awesome.

Can you also ask to have the loader not in user profile but in a directory by own choice? 

I really want to have all under c:\pinball,  this makes my backup much easier 

Not sure he'll change that as other files reside there also, appdata is a normal (by windows convention) folder where apps should put data. Even malzbies and pinball wicked put data there too

I think priorities are getting everything to work correctly with pinballx and he's doing a fine job at that.

It's not that hard to add another directory to the backup program i guess...

[Mike_da_Spike]

4 minutes ago, joyrider3774 said:

It's not that hard to add another directory to the backup program i guess...

Well... maybe you know how it goes..

First it is on the backlog for weeks, than the product owner decide to put it n a sprint plan, but takes some months...

And before you know, it is never implemented (just kidding)

Yeak, backup isn't difficult to change, but all under 1 directory make a restore easy... and yes.. I am a lazy IT admin

[joyrider3774]

@ttrenkner @Mike_da_Spike Bingo Game Room 3.0b24 has been released. With this release it is not needed anymore to have a launch after batch file to kill the table. (so the taskkill command is not needed) bgrhelper.Exe handles everything. V2.0 tables will be quit using a hard quit V3 tables (like mystic gate currently) will close gracefully without hard kill so it will save and retain settings while v2.0 tables currently do not. However you do have to watch out if your exit emulator key inside pinball X is set to ESC for v3 tables. In order for the gracefull quit functionality to work you have to launch a table first from inside bingo game room (i would do that anyway after updating) and goto preferences and change the menu key to some other key (for example M) and assign the ESC key to somewhere (best possible case is lift ball). then save and close the preferences / table. You have to do this from inside bingo game room so you are sure settings are saved. If you do not do this v3.0 tables like mystic gate will not be able to close gracefully and will instead show the right click menu and the table process won't quit. That right click menu will also remain visible inside / ontop pinballx. So you have to do this in order to be fully up to date for v3.0 tables if your emulator exit key is ESC (which it is in my case on my cabinet and main pc and i guess with a lot of other people).

Also starting from version 3.0 tables the continue nag screen is only shown a few seconds and will autoclose. Normally if you start all tables at least once from inside bingo game room and gracefully exit the table it will not show the nag screen anymore. I have tested this and its indeed the case HOWEVER i did find 5 tables that did not follow this convention for some reason on my pc. So i still use BingoGameRoomNagScreen.exe in a launch before script but as soon as all tables are updated to V3 this should not be needed anymore it's only a temporary solution. In case your wondering the 5 tables that seemed to keep showing the nag screen even after launching the table at least once from inside bingo game room were the following:
 

• Bally Double Header 2.0.b24
• Bally London 2.0.b5
• Bally Parade 2.0.b3
• Bally Safari 2.0.b3
• JRs Agogo 2.0.b5

So pretty soon that utility won't be needed anymore. Now everything will work out of the box using just bgrhelper.exe i tested test version during the weekend and today i tested the latest 3.0b24 version on both on my main pc as well as on my cabinet.

All the above information is also available on the author's website here https://www.joopriem.nl/apps/help/BingoGameroom/help2.php?gotoAndOpen=6

If you could update bingo game room and test to see if you get the same results without using a kill script that would be nice. But for me all is working now

[Mike_da_Spike]

Awesome @joyrider3774. Not able to test today. But will check tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes

 

EDIT : Tested this morning. Upgraded to  3.0b24. Started all tables again (looks like it is saved in CBsettings.rbd and/or bingoprograms2.rbd)
And all works like a charm !
Now I only need to have plunger support to get the plunger working  

Thanks Joyrider for all your help with Joop on this !

Not sure if anyone wants this, but made the system logo a bit transparent.

[joyrider3774]

On 10/22/2019 at 7:56 PM, Mike_da_Spike said:

Now I only need to have plunger support to get the plunger working  

 

Not sure thats possible i don't think there is analogue support for the plunger. I have a plunger where if i push it in it acts as a button so i just use that button. And i use flippers and magnasave buttons for nudging but you can not assign (left / right) shift / ctrl keys if i remember correctly, you'll need to use ahk script to remap controls if you have those keys mapped to your buttons

[joyrider3774]

btw i uploaded table image and table backglass for mystic gate to ftp under my directory in the other section. I have noticed they are now also available on media section but i'm not sure i can upload to there (have not tried / don't feel comfortable doing so). So if someone can add the new mystic gate table there as well would be fine. I also updated the database file with the one that bingo gameroom generated itselve (it contains the release years now)

btw @Mike_da_Spike i'm using your logo now as system logo, looks way better. I had done a similar thing for the wheels but did not do the same for the system logo

 

[joyrider3774]

Hey guys,

As some of you probably already had seen bingo game room now uses a subscription model where you either pay monthly recuring / monthly one time (handy if you like to try it out) or a lifetime membership which entitles you to all updates and new tables. I just bought the lifetime membership for 74.95$ even though i don't play them that often compared to pinball tables. Just to support the author as pinballx support is still working fine. You might only need to enable 2 monitors and click the save globaly button and change the ESCape keybinding so quiting tables work. I had it initially that the backglass showed up on my playfield but after doing the previous mentioned thing it seemed to have settled down and backglasses appeared on my backglass monitor. I understand the authors decision to go with a subscription model, he added a lot of tables already and still improves them and add new ones and hosting the downloads can give big costs for bandwith etc especially given the complete download is 2GB if not more (have not checked lately). Not to mention he does it all by his own as far as i'm aware

The subscription works across your lan it seems as mentioned on the subscription page. Basically i had bought the license on my cabinet but since my main pc is in the same network / subnet it seems to be activated on my main pc as well. I just bought it on the cabinet for safety in case the lan thing would not be detected / work but it seems it worked fine. My guess is bingo game uses some internal id based on pc / network or something which is the same if you install on all your pc's in same network and it's enabled for all of them then. But just to be safe buy it from your pinball cabinet if you decide to buy it or try a single month

I uploaded new table and backglass screenshots from the new united tables being:

• UnitedRio
• UnitedBrazil
• UnitedHawaii
• UnitedMexico

 

I still have to finish the docklet wheels some day but it's a very tedious job getting the logo images extracted from the backglasses and i can do a few of them but quickly get bored with it, it's not like creating missing docklets for one or 2 tables each time i update vpx tables cause where logos already exist i still have plenty to go for bingo game room. Ah well we'll see but i still have the intention to finish them just don't know when exactly