Hi all-

I am convinced now that I am a total idiot.

I have installed VPinMame and some roms as well as sound. Cant get the thing to work!!  Have loaded tables, can see them but not start the play. I am using Windows Vista Home Premium if this matters.

Somebody please help!!

Since I am hoping to eventually get some more tables (not virtual ones), thought it would be really helpful to try them in the virtual world, especially since I did not try many in the 90's when they were in arcades, etc.

Thanks!

Did you install using the Visual Install Pack (VIP)? http://www.pinballnirvana.com/UpDownload-req-getit-lid-1558.html. I found that to be the easiest. I'm using Vista as well but have noticed that most but not all tables work for me.

Good luck!

press 5 then 1 ?

PLEASE dont be a WIMP and use the VIP !!


which game are you trying to play?

Gonna get off my frikken' iPhone now and give it try on the computer. Hopefull let y'all know if it works. Tried just any old game , nothing special just to try and get it to work. Ideally want to work thru all the "A" list titles to see what I really might want to buy on a real machine. Seemed pretty complicated how you have to load sounds and unzip andload Roms and unzip. Thanks... Hope this works.

Warren

What have you done so far? Have you unzipped Visual Pinball 8.1? It's an exe file, and when you open it, it looks like a pinball table editor (because that's what it is). You will use this program to load the tables you download (from vpforums.org), and then you start the table by pressing 'F5' on the keyboard. But for this to work, you need to also set up another program, vpinmame, first. Download and unzip it into its own directory. In that directory, you'll find a 'setup.exe', run that. Choose the 'install' option (or something like that) so that visual pinball will know where vpinmame is. In this setup program, you can also set where you should store your ROMs. Download the ROMs for the table you're trying to load, and place the zip file into the ROMs directory that you set up in vpinmame. You do NOT have to unzip the rom file! You DO have to unzip the table file though.

1) Get visual pinball, extract it.
2) Get vpinmame, extract it, run setup.exe, 'install', set your directories
3) Download table file, extract it to a 'tables' directory, doesn't matter where.
4) Download ROM file for the table, and place it in the ROM directory you set up in 2, do NOT extract it.
5) Open visual pinball, file->open, choose table, press F5, cross your fingers and enjoy!
6) '5' inserts a coin, '1' starts a game, [7,8,9,0] correspond to the four settings buttons in a WPC, 'end' will open the coin door (needed for some games)

Quoted from Mrhide

PLEASE dont be a total idiot and use the VIP !!

Wow, that's nice; noted.

Because you're obviously so intelligent, Mrhide, please explain why am I a total idiot for using VIP?

Started last night but was to tired to finish. This makes sense, and puts it into a clear sequence. Wonder why none of the websites I visited on the subject seemed so clear.

Thanks a ton, Im sure I will get it to work tonight.

Quoted from wbradley

Wonder why none of the websites I visited on the subject seemed so clear.

Did you visit this website? http://www.vpforums.net. Just about everything you need is there, including tables and roms.

Full installation instructions for 'Idiots' (Thanks for your contribution, Mrhide) and Experts are here: http://vpforums.org/index.php?automodule=downloads&req=idx&cmd=viewdetail&f_id=24

Future Pinball is nifty as well: http://www.futurepinball.com. The installation and adding tables is a little easier to do. The program itself is technically more advanced using real-time 3D rendering, however, there are fewer tables available and tend to focus on the simpler EMs and early SS pins. I don't think the software supports roms at this time. Definitely worth exploring.

If you need any more help PLEASE be sure to get Mrhide's opinion first as I'm sure he'll be quick to offer nothing useful or constructive !!

Quoted from Mrhide

press 5 then 1 ?

Troll.
  

Otto,

Sorry man ... you're right.  I actually have a grudge towards phoenix ( the "author" ). wanna know the best part? I'm the one who actually help him wrote it. ( it was called the EZIK  ( easy install kit ) back then ).

my contribution to visual pinball? ... hmm .. I'll let you do your research!

Mr. Hide wants you to know that he helped with the Rollergames table, but he's too humble to come out and say it himself.    

Mr Hide also helped with a gazillion tables via supplying quality pics.  Mr Hide was a bit too abrupt today but I figure Mr Hide deserves a break for his contributions to VP, one of the unsung heroes who's background work help VP prosper back in its infancy.

Tried again last night to install. First downloaded and unzipped Visual Pinball, it opened OK. Then VPinmame. Set all the directories properly. Then downloaded a couple of tables, which I unzipped into a Tables directory which I put wherever (it appears that the location is not vital since you are sppecifying locaation folder when you open new table in VPinball). Next downloaded what I think were corresponding ROM's saved in ROM folder left zipped.

So, when doing the VPinmame install steps windows says it may not have installed properly, do I want to try again optimized for my computers settings. I tried both yes and no options, but it repeats this dialog box.  

VPinball opens the tables OK. Test mode in VPinmame opens a window with a black background with some script in red font when I select a game rom.

However, when presssing F5 VPinball does not open table, says I need a specific .VPT file in same folder as table and have undefined fields.

This is frustrating! If I could only actually see it running successfully on someoned computer it would be so easy to build on that!~

*sigh*

run setup.exe in the vpinmame folder, click on install.  DONE.

You need the VBS scripts unzipped in the same folder as the vpt. put those in the visual pinball\table folder!

Load the table, press F5

Please tell us which table you are trying and include screenshots if you can if that does not work

That must be the mistake, the VBS scripts. Wil try again tonight thanks.

Since you have contributed to the development, and youe are very helpful, I will have to try the stuff you helped out on first(Rollergames?)

Whoops my bad, forgot to mention the downloading of VBS scripts. You can find them on vpforums.org too, just unzip them into the folder you're putting your table files.

You end up having to put VBS scripts in one or the other location for some unknown reason. I guess it's dependant on the table where it points to the VBS scripts being. Poor standardization I think. I ended up putting them in both areas. The scripts and the tables folder to cover both bases from what I recall from doing this a few years back.

Followed all directions to a tee and can open several tables in VPinball and load w/F5 but cant start play. Hitting 1 or 5 does nothing. Same with hitting End to open coin door. Must be an issue with the emulator.

Tried VPinmame vers. 8.1 and 9.1

Tried to use proper game ROM's but there are multiple versions of many.

Strange, but when I am on  vpforums my web browser keeps shutting down every few minutes (Safari for Windows). Never ever happens otherwise

Too bad this isnt a commercially packaged program, then it would just be a matter of hitting start.

Is there any good software package I can buy for Vista that has a decent variety of existing machines emulated? At this point I would be happy to pay to avoid further aggravation.

Good grief!

You have to press '3' to add credits in VP and you press '5' for credits in Future Pinball.

No you do not, most games it's 5 for credit, 1 to play. There are some games that can override that but the default is the same in both. Incidentally, there are some games that need to have "S" pressed to start the game, not "1".

If anyone is having problems with running VP/VPM or FP, please provide SPECIFIC details. IE: What table you are running, your OS, etc.  That will make it easier for any to help.

I have an idea-(place annoying smiley here)

Why not have someone who is really knowledgeable in Visual Pinball put up a sticky explaining how to get started...including what additional files needed and what folders and formats they must be placed in.

Maybe even a new topic on the general boards...or under video (if thats the right place).

I wonder who can share their wealth of knowledge with us? Who's the Vpin guru here?????????

Quoted from wbradley

I have an idea-(place annoying smiley here)

Why not have someone who is really knowledgeable in Visual Pinball put up a sticky explaining how to get started...including what additional files needed and what folders and formats they must be placed in.

Maybe even a new topic on the general boards...or under video (if thats the right place).

I wonder who can share their wealth of knowledge with us? Who's the Vpin guru here?????????

There are none really, due to VPForums being fairly complete on these issues...

Sounds like vpinmame isn't being loaded with the table. Do you see the vpinmame splash screen when you load the table?

PM sent with some tips and a recommended front end.

will try the recommendations, and no, there is no vpinmame splash screen....not sure why

Let's go back a bit.

- I talked about the OS earlier.  What OS are you using?  I believe Vista needs administrator rights to run VP/VPM properly (I think for VP, you need to right-click on the VPinball.exe executable and select "run as administrator" or something like that).  Anyway, what OS are you using?

- You aren't at that stage yet but let's assume you do get it working.  You might run into performance issues (some tables can really chug). As well, some video cards have issues with reels where some graphics can look corrupted.  So let's get those two questions out of the way.

What CPU type/speed do you have?
What type of video card do you have?

- What table are you running?  Many Visual Pinball tables do not need VPinmame (VPM), only VPM tables do.

- As mentioned, some vpinmame tables need roms.  Some tables will also need VBS files, some will also need fonts.

- If you are running a VPM table, and you aren't getting the splash screen, then more than likely Vpinmame wasn't installed properly. Make sure you extracted the vpinmame files THEN you need to run setup.exe and ensure all the paths are correct then ensure you click "ok".  Once that's done, you never need to run the setup again, it should load automatically IF, and I repeat IF you are trying to load a Visual Pinball Vpinmame table.

- if you get any errors, you have to let us know exactly as they appear on screen.  That will be a big help to aid us in troubleshooting your issues.

- Visual Pinball tables (whether or not they are VPM is irrelevant) need to be extracted into the tables folder.  They may/may not run out of the folder but that doesn't matter, just ensure you put them there as that's where we do know they work .

- VPM roms (installed in the roms folder/path identified when you ran the vpm setup.exe program) are NOT extracted, leave them zipped.

Outside of tips provided by this membership, either PinballNirvana or vpforums.org will have the info you need on how to get this setup. This is NOT an invitation to not ask further questions, I'm just explaining the info is there for you if you need it; they are a great ressource and just about everyone who's gotten VP/VPM to work has done so using those specialized sites as a ressource.

Please do answer the questions I've asked above, I'm sure if we can localize a bit more the issue, we'll get it working.

You should be getting an error then when the table loads complaining that the ROMs are missing, do you see that?

Quoted from OTTOgd

Did you install using the Visual Install Pack (VIP)? http://www.pinballnirvana.com/UpDownload-req-getit-lid-1558.html. I found that to be the easiest. I'm using Vista as well but have noticed that most but not all tables work for me.

1. Click link above and download program. Install (Right-click > Run as Administrator)
2. Find Roms folder (C:/Program Files/Pinball/ROMs) and create a shortcut to your desktop
3. Visit http://www.vpforums.org to find/download tables and roms (only the ones for the pins you own, of course).
4. Placed zipped ROMs in the above folder.
5. Unzip Table files (.VPTs, .VBSs) and put contents into Tables folder (C:/Program Files/Pinball/Tables)
6. Find 'VPinball.exe' (C:/Program Files/Pinball/VPinball.exe), right-click and create a shortcut to your desktop. Play 'VPinball.exe'.
7. Go to File > Open > *.vpt, press F5 or Play, accept ROM legal. You should see 'Preparing table ...' and PinMame loading windows.
8. Wait for table to load up, press '5' and '1' ... and enjoy.

There have been times when it doesn't seem work quickly enough for me and I reload the table with F3.

You can move the DMDs around and pressing F5 will toggle the size. Just remember to click back onto the playfield after you move it around.  

Don't forget to change the video preferences to your monitor resolution in Visual Pinball: Preferences > Video Options...

Quoted Text

Let's go back a bit.

- I talked about the OS earlier.  What OS are you using?  I believe Vista needs administrator rights to run VP/VPM properly (I think for VP, you need to right-click on the VPinball.exe executable and select "run as administrator" or something like that).  Anyway, what OS are you using?

- You aren't at that stage yet but let's assume you do get it working.  You might run into performance issues (some tables can really chug). As well, some video cards have issues with reels where some graphics can look corrupted.  So let's get those two questions out of the way.

What CPU type/speed do you have?
What type of video card do you have?

- What table are you running?  Many Visual Pinball tables do not need VPinmame (VPM), only VPM tables do.

- As mentioned, some vpinmame tables need roms.  Some tables will also need VBS files, some will ...

I am at work, not home so I cant do much but heres the info:

Using Vista Home Premium
Processor: AMD Phenom Quad Core 2.3Mhz 4Gig Ram
agree there must be something req'd to optimize OS, dialog box on install made reference to this
video is ATI on board 256meg to 1024 max,
My computer/video is pretty fast.

Tried AF but there are many versions, dont know if specific ROMs compatible with specific version tables.
Also tried ElDorado as it seemed like a simpler table

Gonna try again tonight !

I don't believe El Dorado is a vpm table, so it's normal you wouldn't get the vpm splash screen.  For AF (Addams Family I presume?), yeah, it needs VPM.

Your pc is strong enough however you might get some issues with that video card, I believe some ATI cards have problems with reels, where they appear corrupted.  not 100% sure though.

I forgot to add: the rom situation would be clear, when you're running the table, the vpinmame splash screen would appear and/or you get an error message saying you have the wrong rom.  One of both has to happen if you have vpinmame properly installed when you try and load "The Addams Family" pinball.  Once you're into the game, many VPM tables support loading other roms via pressing "F6"  (you can also turn off some features to help with framerate with this).

Ya, it totally blows that a lot of the VP recreations look totally messed up with any video card other than nvidia. The creator should release the source code so someone can fix it, or at least let someone help him fix it.

In a recent interview, Randy (creator of VP) stated he thought this issue was fixed and I think there's a hint there he might try to take the time to do so.

I'm no programmer but I have to admit although I wish VP was open source, I'm sure the feeling of VP being his baby is pretty strong and its hard to let go of something like that.

Well guys, I finally got VPinball working! Loaded TAF, TZ, HS II and everything works great.

Thanks for all the great pointers. Really if I had taken the time to read thru the VPForum it was all doable. Just didnt believe the darn thing could work and its tough following directions at the end of a really long day.  Sometimes it takes a bit for the roms to load but I think I got the hang of it. `

Thanks so much. I too like to share my knowledge, and its always great to put back in.

Quoted from The Loafer

In a recent interview, Randy (creator of VP) stated he thought this issue was fixed and I think there's a hint there he might try to take the time to do so.

I'm no programmer but I have to admit although I wish VP was open source, I'm sure the feeling of VP being his baby is pretty strong and its hard to let go of something like that.

That's totally silly. He wouldn't lose anything by making it open source, only gain. He would still hold the copyright on the code, and it's not like all of a sudden people being able to get the software for free would be a problem (since they already can).

If he open sourced it, it just means other people could see the source code, make fixes/improvements, send those changes to him as a 'patch', and he can decide whether or not to include them in the next version. I have co-workers and friends who run open source projects, and they consider them their 'babies' and use open source as a way to make it better.

Quoted from wbradley

I wonder who can share their wealth of knowledge with us? Who's the Vpin guru here?????????

I think you've earned this distinction. Congrats!

<<earns a new patch for the cub scout jersey!

Quoted from wbradley

Really if I had taken the time to read thru the VPForum it was all doable.

You are NOT an idiot!  congratulations!