VISUAL PINBALL GAMELIST

[karetag]

First off, I used MS Access 2003 to create this. I might have to convert it to 2000, but i was getting frustrated with the 6 year old version of 2000 with its lack of features and disfunctional help function, so I chose to upgrade to 2003 when I made the gamelist. So this might need to be converted down to 2000 and then possibly modified. For now, it is 2003, and it works for me. : )

My Visual Pinball gamelist for GameEX follows the naming convention of the dat files set up by Yori Yoshizuki (Yoshi) and Cladio that can be found among other places, here >> http://www.rommanager.com/

However, for games like Harley Davidson, Vegas, and Time Machine (among a few others) that are offered by more than one manufacturer, I had to rename the .VPT slightly so that the gamelist would work properly, and NOT have duplicate names in the GOODNAME filed of the gamelist.

Example:

Vegas (GamePlan) (1979) (Destruk & Lander & Joep & Apocalypse & Inkochnito) (1.1).vpt

had to be renamed......

Vegas_Gameplan (GamePlan) (1979) (Destruk & Lander & Joep & Apocalypse & Inkochnito) (1.1).vpt

so the GOODNAME could to "Vegas_Gameplan",

and of course GOODNAMES for Tatio and Gottlieb versions are "Vegas_Gottlieb, "Vegas_Taito"

It has 2769 GOODNAME's in the list. I still need to get rid of a few more duplicate GOODNAMES and rename a few .VPT files to distinguish between a TAITO version and a BALLY version, etc.

The 6 categories in the list are broken up just like the dats from Yoshi and Cladio are categorized.

Original Tables

Original Tables Flipperless

Visual Pinball Recreated Tables

Recreated Tables Flipperless

VPinMAME Tables

Visual PinMAME Tables Flipperless

It took a long time to get this to a point where I felt it is worth sharing. I will be doing minor fixes as I find them.

Right now all the players are defaulted to 2 and I have yet to fill in a description for each table, but who really reads the description anyway, it is just nice to sort by Catagory, Year, & Manufacturer. I will start filling in the description starting with the VPINMAME tables once I test this some more and get some feedback.

I recommend setting your Visual Pinball config (at least for starters) like this...

REPLACE DASHES = YES

REPLACE UNDERSCORES = NO

CAPITALIZED WORDS = YES

REMOVE TEXT IN BRACKETS = NO

this is what will help distinguish a Gottileb Vegas, from a Taito Vegas, at least it did for me.

I hope this is received well by the community,

Feedback is always appreciated.

Sincerely,

karetag (aka karetagwizard)

p.s. Unzip the file into X:\Program Files\GameEx\DATA\EMULATORS

then choose VISUALPINBALL as the GAMELIST in you Visual Pinball config

VISUALPINBALL.zip

[hansolo77]

Wow good work! I've been hoping something like this would be coming along soon. There are so many tables out there, and I'd love to see a ruleset or something to go along with them.

Quick question; You are mentioning GoodNames. As far as I knew, there were no good tools out for pinball, such as a GoodPB or something. Will you be working with the guys over there and be building a good naming set, and releasing a torrent in that format? I think that'd be great.

Right now, the only way to get tables for VP/FP (besides downloading them 1 by 1 from the website) is to download a torrent file that has them all zipped up. Somebody should take a GoodName format of them, and build a new torrent structure with screenshots in their own folder, tables in another, and the support files where they should go. Make the world a happier place.

ANYWAY! This work you've done is a great 1st step towards reaching that ultimate goal, and is something that I know the community has been waiting on for a long time. Good work and keep us updated!

[karetag]

Quick question; You are mentioning GoodNames. As far as I knew, there were no good tools out for pinball, such as a GoodPB or something. Will you be working with the guys over there and be building a good naming set, and releasing a torrent in that format? I think that'd be great.

I am not working closely with goodtools. Visual Pinball is a tough nut to crack. I wouldn't want the responsibilty. I was however thinking of contacting Yoshi to request that he change a few of his names in his dats. Maybe even convince him of seperating the files into their own folder. As far as I know there are no goodtools for pinball. However, the ONLY naming structure that I know of is in the structure set up in the dats which are offered in torrent form as you mentioned. The gamelist which I made using Access has a FIELD called GOODNAME which is what i was reffering too. I used the naming convention from the torrent and dats for the GOODNAME field in the GameEx gamelist, since the torrent and dat arethe only place that has a desent naming structure and had some thought put into it. Although, I don't like how they are grouped either, they have a name that helps distinguish pins for VP.

Right now, the only way to get tables for VP/FP (besides downloading them 1 by 1 from the website) is to download a torrent file that has them all zipped up. Somebody should take a GoodName format of them, and build a new torrent structure with screenshots in their own folder, tables in another, and the support files where they should go. Make the world a happier place.

I agree with you 100%. I was thinking of taking on that task of making improved dats using Yoshi's names, but I dont know how well received it would be ....esp. Yoshi. I still got all mine actually taken from the 1 by 1 website. But I uploaded Yoshi's dats and followed the naming for this gamelist since i can tell he put some work into it. If I were the one to change the format and seperate them into the correct folders, I am afraid I would be the keeper of updates, and i have enough on my plate. I was thinking of doing the first set, and then handing it off..maybe back to Yoshi. But I would think he would already be doing it that way if he wanted it done that way. I am sure he uploads MAME extras and sees the reasoning. I think he likes them all in one folder so everything is kept together. Just not very Front End friendly.

The gamelist works for the .VPT files, now we need to get the artwork/pics to work as well. As you said, it is a great first step. Thanks for the feedback and the compliment.

[hansolo77]

Well if you wanna know how well it would be received.. I could speak for a lot of people when I say it would be great. I think the way Yoshi is dat'ing now is setup to be easier for him update. If a new table is created, all he has to do is add the files to the correct program folder. The way that would be better IMO would be to have everything unzipped into their respective folders. Everybody who downloads the tables has to unzip them anyway.

Does anybody know of the vplauncher program works by not having to unzip?