Tried giving Visual Pinball a shot

[MonkeyGrass]

There is a bit of a learning curve getting VP installed, but in the end it's very worth it.

One thing is to make sure you are running all the VP executables as administrator. That alone fixes most the errors. The rest is just making sure you have the latest everything. I ran into a lot of troubles by not having the latest VB scripts updated.

^^ THIS. Also, you may need to use a compatibility mode on the .exe depending on what OS you are using.

2560x1440. Needless to say TPA looks AWESOME. Maybe my settings aren't right in VP as some tables look good while others look not so good. Of course I have heard folks comment on this board that that quality on VP varies from table to table.

This is the Achilles heel of VP. The good tables meet or exceed TPA's quality. The bad ones are just... bad. There is nothing you can do to clean up source images that are fuzzy and lo-res. Skip them!


I've noticed my play times have seriously changed recently.. about 40% VP, 50% Zacc, and 10% TPA lately. Sad, since I've got $0 invested in VP, and $20 in Zacc, while I've bought every season pack on PC and Android for TPA.

 

[TNT]

I am really starting to enjoy the Back to the Future table. I tried the Apollo 13 table tonight and that seems like a great table.

One question I have. I have noticed on certain tables that the sound effects on the table play at a normal volume but I can hardly hear voices. At first I thought it might be an issue with that specific table but it is happening across enough tables that it is more likely something in my setup.

Any suggestions?

 

[mpad]

You have to open coindoor "end" key and adjust volume up down with 8 and 7 service key (defaults). Just like on a real pinball ;p

 

[TNT]

You have to open coindoor "end" key and adjust volume up down with 8 and 7 service key (defaults). Just like on a real pinball ;p

Ah. Thanks!

 

[TNT]

Definitely a learning curve here. Finally figured out that for my widescreen monitor the "X" value in the table setup "options" and "backdrop" needs to be the "Y" value * .75. After that adjustment tables looked much better and not distorted. Pretty sharp on the really good tables by jpsalas and GRONI. Those guys have talent. Also started to understand the inclination and field of view variables. Definitely a learning curve but as a few have said here but worth it. Changing the X values also corrected the issue I was experiencing previously where the tables looked better in a window with a 4x3 resolution.

A big thanks to Jeff for simplifying the instructions and getting me on the correct path.

Typically I have been playing the tables that aren't found on TPA. Between TPA and VP it's been a great pinball experience the past couple of months.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Definitely a learning curve here. Finally figured out that for my widescreen monitor the "X" value in the table setup "options" and "backdrop" needs to be the "Y" value * .75. After that adjustment tables looked much better and not distorted. Pretty sharp on the really good tables by jpsalas and GRONI. Those guys have talent. Also started to understand the inclination and field of view variables. Definitely a learning curve but as a few have said here but worth it. Changing the X values also corrected the issue I was experiencing previously where the tables looked better in a window with a 4x3 resolution.

A big thanks to Jeff for simplifying the instructions and getting me on the correct path.

Typically I have been playing the tables that aren't found on TPA. Between TPA and VP it's been a great pinball experience the past couple of months.

You're very welcome. Glad it could be of help.

 

[TNT]

One interesting thing I have noticed is that my video card is hardly taxed at all and GPU temps stay very low playing TPA and yet while playing Visual Pinball my video card gets much higher GPU temps even though I have similar video settings on both games.

TPA seems to be optimized very well.

 

[TNT]

Played VP for the first time in probably 4-5 months. With the PC version of TPA getting DX11 lighting and the new flipper physics it is clearly ahead. VP10 may even it again but TPA is clearly better than VP9 IMO.

Any idea when VP10 will move out of the beta phase?

 

[Jeff Strong]

Played VP for the first time in probably 4-5 months. With the PC version of TPA getting DX11 lighting and the new flipper physics it is clearly ahead. VP10 may even it again but TPA is clearly better than VP9 IMO.

Any idea when VP10 will move out of the beta phase?

Did you try the physmod tables? The physics are much better than TPA, but I agree TPA has the better graphics for the most part now with DX10.

 

[TNT]

I assume that improves the physics?

 

[TNT]

Wow. After playing a bunch of tables the physics are fine. And I didn't even try the mod. Should still try it though.

I forgot how much fun VP can be. It's just a bit different than TPA as all you who play know. Have to tweak the sound and video settings sometimes.

 

[Jeff Strong]

I assume that improves the physics?

And better graphics too.

 

[TNT]

Any helpful hints before I go messing around with it? I remember your summary of how to get VP working ended up being much better for me than the thesis they have in the install section.

Edit: Ugh. It looks like most of the tables I have been playing don't have a physmod update.

 

[mpad]

What tables have you been playing ?
Go to vpuniverse.com for the full list of pm5 tables.

 

[TNT]

Tonight I was playing Radical!, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Bad Cats, and Indy 500. All fun tables.

Need to go to bed but I have downloaded Big Bang Bar, The Bally Game Show, and Waterworld after hearing folks talk about them on the board. Look forward to playing 'em.

 

[TNT]

The ball seems to move faster in VP. I have more difficulty playing longer games than I do in TPA.

 

[Jeff Strong]

Yeah, TPA is easier by design so game lengths will be shorter in VP. Also, VP has a lot more randomness with the ball spin and such. Some VP tables are better than others since they are tuned differently depending on who made them.

 

[SilverBalls]

Yeah, TPA is easier by design so game lengths will be shorter in VP. Also, VP has a lot more randomness with the ball spin and such. Some VP tables are better than others since they are tuned differently depending on who made them.

In other words a well-tuned VP table (and there are 100s) plays much closer to the real thing than any TPA table. . Farsight can do something about that, but they don't seem to want to.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I want to get into VP to supplement the missing TPA tables. Where should I start? What are the 20 best tables (in terms of VP conversion) that aren't in TPA? I'm definitely after physmod tables. I play a lot of Zen, too, so I'm used to a heavier ball with spin.

 

[Robert Misner]

Well I think You would start with popular licensed tables..thats what I did.
indiana jones pinball adventure, Tales from the crypt, lotro, AC/DC, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Simpsons, etc