333 replies to this topic

[Ben Logan]

UPDATE (December 16, 2015): Pinball Labs Kickstarter Project has Launched! 

 

Here's the info from Pinball Labs Creator, tmek: 

 

Hey guys! 

 

I'm excited to announce the Pinball Labs Kickstarter is now LIVE!

 

full URL:  https://www.kickstar...79/pinball-labs

tiny URL:  http://kck.st/1YaC8dH

 

Pinball Labs is amazing new pinball simulator, editor and API, featuring highly realistic physics 

and visuals with support for PC, VR and Virtual Cabinets.

 

Most of all, we want Pinball Labs to be a lot of fun! Join us on our adventure to write the next 

chapter of Pinball's time-honored, storied gaming tradition, by making our Kickstarter a reality. 

Make a pledge today and spread the word about Pinball Labs!

 

 

 

Original Post (October 1st, 2015): 

 

Tmek is making a lot of headway on his Virtual Reality pinball project. Amazing progress in a short amount of time for a one man development team.

Here's what Tmek has to say about it over at Reddit:

Hey guys, here's dev update #2 for VR Pinball (now named "Pinball Labs").
In addition to being a full VR pinball simulator the main focus will be:
Easy to use editor for creating and sharing virtual pinball machines.
Plugable API providing complete access to all lights, displays, switches and solenoids for any machine.
The API will enable wiring a pinball machine to scripted game logic, emulators (such as PinMAME), input controllers and rumble devices.
I'm trying to get a few people to try out the demo and gauge how much interest there is. It's not quite a playable "game" yet but it should give you an idea of how the final product would play and look in VR.
My dev machine has a GTX 760 and runs a solid 75 fps on the DK2. It should be playable on a normal monitor as well. I've spent a lot of time focusing on performance (this is stereoscopic VR after all) but there are still some things I can do, like mesh instancing that should help boost frame rates on lower-end hardware. Ultimately I want to have several pinball machines available in an environment at once and not drop frames on most VR capable systems.
One thing that could be an issue is limited resolution. However consider CV1 and Vive will have somewhat better resolution than the DK2. I also think there's a lot that can be done with contrast and lighting to improve on that.
Demo available at:

 

http://pinballlabs.com/download.html

Requires Oculus Runtime 0.7. Will add mirrors if needed.
An in-game TV displays instructions and controls.
permalinksavereportgive goldreply
Here's a video link, showcasing the latest update:

Edited by Ben Logan, 03 January 2016 - 02:24 AM.

[Ben Logan]

Note to Admn: If WIP is the wrong place for this thread, please feel free to move it. Thanks in advance.

[Slydog43]

omg, can't wait to try it out.  .7 runtime has killed most of my previous vr stuff, but really love not having to pick between direct/extended mode anymore.   this looks so cool and I will post back with my FPS as I have a nvida 980 and core i7.

[randr]

Wow!

[Ben Logan]

I'm pretty blown away. Tmek is super friendly. Quite open to suggestion. For example, a few redditors asked for vpinmame support and it looks like he's developing further with it in mind. Exciting.

[ScottyVH]

Wow… That really looks amazing!

[zany]

Wow...this looks amazing!

[STAT]

Nice Promo Vid ...

Oculus ? Why not MS HoloLens

Edited by STAT, 02 October 2015 - 10:34 AM.

[lodger]

wow...That looks awesome. Imagine what that, DOF, and with a really good physics set could do together....

[Slydog43]

I can't believe I didn't try this last night, but after getting up this morning I decided to load this up on my VR rig.  Anyone want to buy a Virtual Pinball cab, but seriously its that incredible!  I can't believe how well it plays, no noticeable flipper lag, really great physics, just incredible looking.  Great job guys.  just nick picking but posts shouldn't have rubber around them when used with slings and such, I can't seem to look away after noticing this.  This project has such potential, but I really think it needs VPM so we can play all the classics.  Are their any plans to include VPinMame in the future?  I just want to hear more about this project.  I hope I could help out with stuff If there is anything I can do.

 

I wish people without an oculus rift could see this in action as its totally incredible!!!!!! 

[Ben Logan]

Great responses, guys. I spend most of my pinball forum time here at VP, but if you're on Reddit too (I joined just to follow tmek's Pinball Labs project), the developer would love to get your feedback. He's very open to suggestion and gets right back to most of us quite quickly with replies. Here's the thread:

https://www.reddit.c...video_and_demo/

[blashyrk]

Noooo I haven't even finished my cab and it's already obsolete this looks very promising indeed

[zany]

Ben...let him know tha he is also very welcome here!

[tmek]

Hi guys!  Thanks for the comments and thank you Ben for the introduction!

 

I'm greatly encouraged by your play experience Slydog43.

 

Here's the current high level overview of how I'm planning to proceed with Pinball Labs.  I think it will answer some questions and hopefully raise a few. 

Edited by tmek, 02 October 2015 - 06:58 PM.

[fuzzel]

wow...tmek tell me when you're done with it and we stop working on VP That is unbeatable! And it's a good reason to buy an Oculus Rift

Edited by fuzzel, 02 October 2015 - 07:19 PM.

[zany]

Tmek...WOW...i'm so excited....and the video above is just AMAZING!

Edited by zany, 02 October 2015 - 07:23 PM.

[atarian]

Looks awesome! I had no desire to buy a VR before, but now that has changed. Look forward to trying the demo (without a VR set ATM of course ).

[dyopp21]

If I'm understanding this correctly, this will be for VR goggles only?  What would the input method be?  Keyboard?  And what about things like nudging, etc?

[tmek]

If I'm understanding this correctly, this will be for VR goggles only?  What would the input method be?  Keyboard?  And what about things like nudging, etc?

 

It will work on a normal monitor as well, but VR does make for a pretty unique experience.

 

Mapping input to keyboard, gamepad, mouse buttons and analog controls will of course work... However, I have created this highly detailed and accurate CAD drawing of a prototype input controller.

 

http://i.imgur.com/SeW11Wl.png

 

This is all getting pretty far ahead of where things are today but conceptually just like VPinMame provides an API that allows reading and writing inputs and outputs to the emulated CPU, Pinball Labs would provide an API that allows reading from and writing to the machine's electric and mechanical parts.  So a plugin for a custom controller module could provide start button and input flipper switches to VPinMame and plunger position and nudge accelerator data to Pinball Labs.  Granted that's all a bit pie in the sky right now.

Edited by tmek, 02 October 2015 - 09:18 PM.

[atarian]

I took a look at some of the earlier videos from the past two weeks and particularly like the darker lighting and more intense flashers (ie: very nice how the flasher reflects of the side of the cabinet).
Eg:
https://youtu.be/jfL-uH-VRig

Will it be feasible to support the adjusting of lighting levels in real time whilst playing maybe with in-game sliders? Would be great to see at some how a table looks in a really dark room.

The physics look very good and the reflections are impressive.

Edited by atarian, 02 October 2015 - 09:21 PM.