230 replies to this topic

[toxie]

File Name: Visual Pinball (Standalone EXE)

File Submitter: toxie

File Submitted: 19 Dec 2013

File Category: Essential Visual Pinball Files

Author(s): Randy Davis
Noah Fentz
Chris Leathley
Mark Parris
Jerry Rice
Rolle Cruz
Brian Smith
Toxie
Shagendo
Maddes
Wizard's Hat
Poiuyterry
Fuzzel
Cupid
Koadic
Mukuste
mjr
DJRobX

Standalone EXE, all needed DLLs, changelog, command reference and registry keys for Visual Pinball 9.9.5b

Installation:
Simply copy all of the files in the ZIP into your already existing Visual Pinball directory. Overwrite already existing files there when asked.

Click here to download this file

[jimmyfingers]

Thanks Toxie and Fuzzel for all your work and bringing VP so much further along over this last year or so. I'm curious about this final build and wondering if it was compiled similar to how Destruk I believe did previous official releases. My understanding is that he compiled it in a way that was different than the daily builds and was able to get a bit better performance from the results.  The last official release gave us a nice performance boost over the test builds and I know that FPS is not the end all of smooth game play but this one seems only about the same as the recent daily builds.  I think it was fuzzel that was telling me that previous official releases had different compiling on it with things like a compile that included running the program while loading a few tables and having it analyze some things to improve performance.

 

You guys have improved performance along the way a great deal so where we stand now is great but I was wondering if the final compile process was indeed done in the older fashion that might still gain more.  You know us VP users..we want it all   In any case, thank you both very much for all your time and effort towards making VP better and bringing it to where we have it today.

[bolt]

Wonderful day, thanks to all involved people for Visual Pinball v9.2.

 

regards

 

bolt

[dgriff]

 A big thanks to all those involved in this release.

 

I have been following the development thread (as best as I can) and appreciate the amount of work and time that has gone into this.

 

Great work guys and an excellent early xmas present!.

 

Don

[toxie]

Thanks Toxie and Fuzzel for all your work and bringing VP so much further along over this last year or so. I'm curious about this final build and wondering if it was compiled similar to how Destruk I believe did previous official releases. My understanding is that he compiled it in a way that was different than the daily builds and was able to get a bit better performance from the results.  The last official release gave us a nice performance boost over the test builds and I know that FPS is not the end all of smooth game play but this one seems only about the same as the recent daily builds.  I think it was fuzzel that was telling me that previous official releases had different compiling on it with things like a compile that included running the program while loading a few tables and having it analyze some things to improve performance.

 

We discussed this, yes, but i think we never released something like that (unless destruk remembers differently )..

Maybe he used a different compiler version than koadic does, that could be..

In theory i would want to go for the intel compiler anyhow, but we miss a license so far..

From my own experience these profile guided optimizations you mention are a double-edged sword:

The stuff you load/play there could potentially be faster then, but everything else you don't trigger in these tests might potentially be slower.. Also things that get rarely triggered, but could lead to micro-stutter, might be 'downgraded' by this as it simply happened not so often..

I never saw any real improvements in other projects i did, apart from very very small programs..

 

On the other hand we could also just release a 9.2.1 beta at some point that has both variants and the testers could prove me wrong..

Hmmm..

Edited by toxie, 19 December 2013 - 09:12 PM.

[faralos]

timer for me to quit vp I see as all that  is way far beyond anything I can do with the vp program

I play and build for desktops only and that is going bye bye soon I guess

as almost no one plays desktops any more

it was fun though thanks

 time to scrap the vp8 wips' too since no one runs vp8 either going by the download section

[Shadowsclassic]

Gee faralos there's no need to give up..  As JP and others have stated they build their tables first in desktop and then convert to FS.  In any event it's not hart to convert any of the modern tables from one to the other even I can do that lol.  granted the backglasses can be a bit tricky and when it comes to the EM's that's a whole other story.  As for the tables I do sometimes run the desktop tables but I personally prefer to run FS tables on my desktop, even though the table is sideways as I prefer the look of a real table to the scrunched up version of the desktop.  To each his own.

 

I think most authors will continue to support both desktop and FS and even if they don't I bet they would be willing to let someone else convert it to the other format.  In fact, sounds like that could be your niche, like Arron with the NM's.  With you experience at table building it should be easy for you to convert FS tables to desktop for those tables that are not made for both.  Just a thought, but sounds like that would solve all your problems, getting you all the tables in desktop, and keeping you active in the VP community.

[toxie]

@faralos: I'm also a desktop user half of the time roughly, so no need to give up..

Also most of the new features added to VP always apply to desktop versions, too..

[Aaron James]

Big thank you from me too.

[destruk]

So many optimizations and changes have been made that I don't think the older compiler I was using is going to afford much benefit.  It would be better to try out current compiler solutions, and perhaps put the daily build testers to work on running a selection of tables with different features to see which work best under the various configurations (LEDWiz, Desktop, third displays, etc etc).

[RipleYYY]

timer for me to quit vp I see ...

 

WTF !?

 

same for me, until my PC is powerfull enough (specially on the cab), i follow the up-to-date, but if not, no prob, there are enough tables to enjoy yourself while remaining with an older VP version (with 9.1.6, must have +/- 300 beauty on the cab, and more than (all included) 1.000 on the DT)

 

and than, tanx for the release

[faralos]

my problem now is getting it to run without any stutter which it does big time!

all pins in the newer revisions for me are truly unplayable due to the stutter

so yeah I can still work on them I just can't play any of them!

 the newer rules that the dev team put in are unusable for me

(I am lost when it comes to learning new stuff due to a few learning problems I have)

hell ask Wizards hat who taught me almost everything a few years back when vp was only a vp8 program!

it literally takes me months to learn new stuff and I am still stuck on the b2s thing that has been out for some time now

I also had to free up about 18 gigs of free space on my hard drive just to get them to run at all

 I filled up the 80g drive last year maybe that has to do with some of the stuttering but not all of it

I only have 1g ram so maybe that is the reason it stutters?

I am not giving up just am a tad lost on all the newer stuff put into vp

gonna' be going over it slowly over the next few months to try to learn it though

 as I still love making pins and really don't want to give it up

I still can't get myself to like the cab look though it still looks like a flat cartoon to me

but if that is the future of vp then I guess I had better learn to build them for you guys

I really do like the desktop look more though as it has depth something I find the cab looking ones don't

[jpsalas]

@faralos:

 

The good thing, faralos, is that you can continue making the tables the way you used to make them. And VP9.2 is faster than before, so you will notice that your tables play even better than before. And people will play the tables you make even if they don't have fancy flashers.

 

And about the desktop tables: I play only desktop tables, and I build always desktop tables first, and then I rotate them for the FS version. But I have never made a B2S or similar, since I only use one monitor and I haven't a clue how to make them I know a lot of people play only desktop versions, but in the forum you usually only hear from cabinet users, since most of the problems come from all the different configurations. Desktop users have almost no problems with the tables, so you don't hear very much from them

[biomii]

Faralos is right; desktop is going dinosaur; That's because desktop-PC's are being replaced by tablet/smartphone.

The majority desktop-version downloads were just the wannabe pinball players who probably never touched the real machine in their life.

Those people moved on to mobile now; That's why they are silent in the forums.

The real pinball enthousiasts who want emulation to be as close to the real thing can't settle for anything less than FS/cabinet.

That's also the reason cabinet users report the most problems; they actually play the games they download.

Edited by biomii, 20 December 2013 - 06:49 PM.

[BlackrXI]

Hi Fellows, first time posting here. Please be kind!

 

I just upgraded to this new release, I did not tried all my tables, but my favorite, Whitewater desktop by Jpsalas, get stuck at rendering table and wont load. Anyone can point me out why? Thanks.

[faralos]

first of all welcome to the forums BlackrXL

now what type of setup are you going for? desktop or the rotated ones (fullscreen with multiple monitors?)

vp9 right? windows xp or win7 or win8?

did you do the full install complete with vpinmame or just the basic one

does it need a rom and did you download it and put it UNZIPPED into the rom folder?

please post with a bit more info so we can help ya' better

 what type of video card ya' got too?

and actually biomii back in the earlier days of vp6, vp8 and the early versions of vp9

 most of us only had one monitor so we made the desktop versions since at that time FS pins did not even exist

 look over at pinball nirvana there you will find tons of older pins to play made with programs as old as vp6

but it was only recently that the program could put up with multiple monitors so that took off like a rocket!

and hence the cabs came into being I really don't like their look so will continu to make my desktop ones

 I can always convert them to fs if need be and hopefully one day I can learn the back glass programs too

 so to better incorporate them into my pins and make them FS for all to enjoy

[BlackrXI]

Hello Faralos, thanks for responding.

 

Up until now, I was using VP 9.1.5 and it was working fine. I just upgraded to to 9.2.0 today, and used full install (wrong thread, I know)...I run on windows 7 x64. So it is the desktop 1.1 Table with the corresponding rom (ww_l5), ZIPPED in rom folder.

 

Finally, as for the video card, it is an ATI Radeon 5700 HD. As for Vpinmame version, I just upgraded to the one included in Unit3d Pinball.

 

Just like I said, it runs fine still in 9.1.5, but I wanted to try it in 9.2.0, specially for the phisycs options. In the meantime, I'll try to see if I change any other options in the config.

 

Regards

Edited by BlackrXI, 20 December 2013 - 08:59 PM.

[UltraPeepi]

Faralos, you ever tried Future Pinball?  There's a platform that is guaranteed to advance in very small increments at best.  BAM is cool and all, but certainly not required.  The other changes are just tweaks to the physics - which make no sense to me.  It's like putting lipstick on a pig (the pig being the physics, not the FP designer - the designer is very well done). 

 

If I were you, I'd be the KING of retro pinball.  While everyone else is pushing the envelope with 3D models and trying to achieve photo realistic lighting, you can continue the tradition of retro-stylized, fun to play games.

 

Have fun with it.  It beats the heck out of stamp collecting.

 

BTW, you need to add another digit to your Klingons vs Romulans scoreboard. 

[Zeiram]

Install was a piece of cake, and it's working fine with the tables I've cracked open so far.  Awesome!

[faralos]

Ultra  I first started on Fp then switched over to vp four years ago (damn has it been that long already?)

 since for me vp was the easier of the two programs to learn

and my eyes can't adjust too easily to the various colors used in fp scripting

also vp let me use more of my own input for actual toys on the play field

 and the physics (back then anyhow) were much better on vp than fp

well I can always make that pin harder too with less points given out or a tougher high score to attain

 much easier than trying to add another scoring digit to it in the coding!

thanks for playing it though as it seems not too many people liked it  too much going by its download counter