39 replies to this topic

[Johngreve]

Hello all,
I'm just learning to animate B2S backglasses.
I've been reasonably successful but have a problem getting some tables to play through the wheel.
I make the necessary script changes and make sure the B2S and table are names exactly the same thing. At this point I'm able to hit "play" in the editor and I can see the animated BG come up on the backglass and I can actually play the table here. I exit out of the editor to save my changes and open Pinball X.
Pinball X opens and I select the game through the wheel and try to play it.
Sometimes the table boots up and plays with the animated backglass properly, sometimes it boots up and I still have the static backglass load rather than the animated back glass. When this happens I've learned by trial and error that if I go back into game manager and select a different table under the "Game" line, save that change then try to load the game again it'll boot with the animated backglass. Not always but most of the time.
So....if your still with me, what do I do to get the table with the animated backglass to load when I have tried all the tables available and it still doesn't load?
I would of thought that when I rename the table to match the B2S file I would of had to select that table for it to load properly but that hasn't been the case. I'm missing a piece of the puzzle here.......
Why do some work and some not this way? I've fiddled around with this for hours and am stumped as what to try next.
Thanks for your help.

Edited by Johngreve, 27 October 2015 - 11:05 PM.

[allknowing2012]

If you can .. edit the .xml database file and check for any & signs .. they can mess things up. You mentioned renaming things, of course if you change the table name, you have to change it in game manager but that isnt likely it.

Check the <pinballx>/log directory. That is usually pretty helpful. If need be attach it here for others to see.

[gtxjoe]

Here is how I think it works

To get the directb2s backglass to work in VP, the b2s file name needs to match the table file name. Which is what you are doing

To get the backglass to work in Pinballx the B2S filename needs to match the Pinballx description name not the table name

So either make a duplicate copy of the backglass and name it the same as the description or if you only want one copy of the b2s, rename the table and b2s the same as the description

Edited by gtxjoe, 28 October 2015 - 01:57 AM.

[Johngreve]

Thanks Allknowing......though I'm not sure at this point where to go to find the .xml database when I do find it you are saying to remove any "&" symbols if there are indeed some. I will indeed attach what I see here once I figure out where to find it. I'm pretty green here and am wading my way through this.

[Johngreve]

Thanks gtxjoe.......
If I understand you correctly, in Game Manager you are saying that I should rename the " Description" line to match the B2S file name?
The "Game"line doesn't necessarily have to match?

This kinda makes sense to me because most back glasses animate even though the "game " doesn't match the B2S file name.
I'll try this and report back.

Space Station and Space Shuttle are giving me fits in this regard and absolutely refuse to run animated back glasses through Pinball X and the wheel.
Frustrating .....

[allknowing2012]

That seems backwards to me .. the description field should be free form. The directb2s should match the table name & hence game field. What I do is click Add Game, click Select next to *DESCRIPTION*, this pulls in the description from pinballx database & populates the other fields for you :-) year, manufacturer, etc. Now click Select next to the Game, this will show you what you have in your tables directory. Select your game.

Now go over and click Import for wheel, Import for instructions (if you want), Backglass (if you cant do these yourself) and then playfield.

 

In settings there is a sometime tricky setting "File Matching" - set that to yes - but it means you MUST have your directb2s match your tables or you get funny things like "Space Shuttle" backglass for "Space Mission" :-) since both start with Space. [Watch out for spaces between the tablename(and the year) ]

 

Check that logs directory .. pretty sure the problem will be obvious once you look there.

 

Right click on your pinballx shortcut - see the properties.. find out where you have it installed. Likely c:\pinballx the log directory would then be c:\pinballx\log\ and the file log.txt

Edited by allknowing2012, 28 October 2015 - 01:47 PM.

[Johngreve]

Thanks again Allknowing,
I believe your on to something here.......I've been having fits getting the right backglasses to match up to the correct table.
I end up with SpaceInvaders BG and the Space Shuttle table Same goes for Space Shuttle BG and the Space Station table.

I'm probably going about this in a convoluted manner by using the Visual Pinball editor but I have to go in there anyway to change the script. I'll certainly try using the method that works for you in Game Manager.

This morning I was able to get Star Trek (Bally 1979) and Sorcerer animated with no problems.....just as described in my original posting. Sorcerer by the way is a spectacular animation job!

I'm beginning to see a pattern here and that is that the pre-DMD tables are the ones that give me grief. You know, late 70s and 80s tables. The DMD tables are pretty much trouble free and straightforward to get the animated backglasses up and running. Not exclusively but for the most part.Maybe it's just beginners luck
I want to thank you for taking your time to help walk me through this. At some point I'd like to be proficient enough so that I can offer advice and help out the newbies like myself.
Ok, I'm off to try your suggestions.......I'll report back with my results
Thanks once again

[Johngreve]

Allknowing,
Ok....I checked my settings and file match is set to yes already.

I also tried to find my file log.txt and made it as far as c:\pinballx\log , not sure where to find log.txt and to be honest not really sure what I should be looking for once I do find it. I know you said it would be obvious but probably not to me........heck I'm still unsure how to do the whole "add game" from Game Manager. Once you get a rep or two under your belt it gets easier.....it's just that first one.

I was able to get the B2S glasses working on Bronco and Buccaneer but only by selecting a different table in Game Manager. I've found that if it doesn't work with the table already selected I go into GM and select the most generic table, in this case Buccaneer Gottlieb 1976(as an example) and they worked great. I have no idea why,I wish that I did. I see that you are the author of those tables and b2s files. I really like them, the scoring reels are a nice authentic touch.
I owned a Ship Ahoy over 20 years ago......it's the same basic table as Buccaneer and it really brought a smile to my face the first time I played it.(Buccaneer)

[allknowing2012]

c:\pinballx\log -- thats the right spot, there should be a file in that directory .. likely the only thing there.

 

The trick is to be sure the file is named exactly the same as the directb2s.

In windows, I click (or doubleclick :-) ) on the directb2s filename, right click, copy the name then doubleclick on the table name and right click paste. Basically copy the filename from one to the other.

 

The newer era tables are likely newer in VP and hence better setup to handle directb2s stuff. The older authored tables pre-dated directb2s so they are a bit of work to setup.

 

PS .. I have a Bucaneer :-)

Edited by allknowing2012, 28 October 2015 - 10:55 PM.

[gtxjoe]

Ignore what I said earlier, i think the directb2s name should be same as table name.  And you should set that File Matching option to NO

[Johngreve]

Yeah.......I've been renaming the files to match exactly as you described so I know that they match exactly.

So with the names matched perfectly and the script changed the only way I can get most, if not all of those back glasses to animate is to go into Game Manager and select a different table. Almost without exception the table that works is the one that is labeled the most plainly.
This morning I was able to get the Rocky BG to animated by selecting the table "Rocky Gotlieb 1982".All that I know at this point is is that if it is going to animate selecting the table as just described will get it going. Of course there are problems with that as well. When I changed the Rocky table my Wheel name changed to "The Bullwinkle Show" and the bells in the game changed to chimes. As Rosanna Rosannadanna used to say "It's always something"
I was able to get the following tables to animate this morning by selecting a different table in Game Manager as I've just described, so that's a win at this point.(Grand Lizard, Panthera,Meteor and Bram Stokers Dracula)

Here's what I'm doing to try to get to the log.txt file.........please tell me what I'm doing wrong as I sure can't be in the right place.
Right click pinball X shortcut/left click properties/left click open file location. This takes me to C:\PinballX then I click log from a page that opened up with a buch of folders like Config,Databases,High Scores,Log,Media,plugins,Settings and UltraVP. I double click log and that opens a text document which is labeled Log -Notepad.

I have a friend who owns a VP Cab stopping over tomorrow. I'm going to give him a crack at this. He's much more computer savvy than I am. I'll report back at that time.
Thanks again to all trying to help

[allknowing2012]

Would that table be Rocky &&&&& Bullwinkle ???? Remove that dang &&&& from the .vpt file & the directb2s file.

 

" that opens a text document which is labeled Log -Notepad. "   -- sounds right .. whats in there ? can you paste that to the forum?

Edited by allknowing2012, 29 October 2015 - 07:59 PM.

[Johngreve]

16:32:17.5  10/29/2015:  PinballX - Version 2.03
16:32:17.5  10/29/2015:  Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 32-bit (2.9GB)
16:32:17.5  10/29/2015:  Loading Settings
16:32:17.6  10/29/2015:  Initialize Component
16:32:17.6  10/29/2015:  Initialize Display
16:32:18.7  10/29/2015:  Start with windows is set so waiting 5 seconds. Boot Time = 10/29/2015 4:31:56 PM
16:32:27.6  10/29/2015:  Loading PlugIns
16:32:27.9  10/29/2015:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Hiding Cursor
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Hiding Taskbar
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  PinDMD2 Intialized
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Displays: 2
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Load Game List
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Loading Database: Pinball FX2
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Loading Database: Future Pinball
16:32:28.1  10/29/2015:  Loading Database: Visual Pinball
16:32:28.2  10/29/2015:  Finding and matching artwork and videos
16:32:29.1  10/29/2015:  Loading Game Statistics and Scores
16:32:29.2  10/29/2015:  Loading Surfaces
16:32:29.4  10/29/2015:  Finished Loading Surfaces
16:32:29.4  10/29/2015:  Initialize Audio
16:32:29.4  10/29/2015:  Set Keyboard Controls
16:32:29.4  10/29/2015:  Initialize Joystick
16:32:29.5  10/29/2015:  1 Joystick Attached
16:32:29.5  10/29/2015:  Started
16:32:39.1  10/29/2015:  Exiting
16:32:39.4  10/29/2015:  Showing Taskbar
16:32:39.6  10/29/2015:  Unhiding Mouse Cursor
16:32:39.6  10/29/2015:  Disposing Plugins
16:32:39.6  10/29/2015:  Saving Settings
16:32:39.6  10/29/2015:  Bye

the above post is the contents of that text folder

Edited by Johngreve, 29 October 2015 - 09:36 PM.

[allknowing2012]

Okay .. the file is recreated each time you start pinballx. From the looks of the file you didnt run a game??

[Johngreve]

No......just fired it up and did the copy and paste. Sorry....wasn't aware that didn't help you.

Ok.....I'll start it up and play a game that doesn't animate the BG, exit out,copy and paste. Hopefully that's what you need?
I'll get this tonight or tomorrow.
Looks like I stand to learn something here.

[Johngreve]

06:48:25.0  10/31/2015:  PinballX - Version 2.03
06:48:25.0  10/31/2015:  Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 32-bit (2.9GB)
06:48:25.0  10/31/2015:  Loading Settings
06:48:25.0  10/31/2015:  Initialize Component
06:48:25.1  10/31/2015:  Initialize Display
06:48:26.2  10/31/2015:  Start with windows is set so waiting 5 seconds. Boot Time = 10/31/2015 6:46:45 AM
06:48:35.0  10/31/2015:  Loading PlugIns
06:48:35.1  10/31/2015:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Hiding Cursor
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Hiding Taskbar
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  PinDMD2 Intialized
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Displays: 2
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Load Game List
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Pinball FX2
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Future Pinball
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Visual Pinball
06:48:35.3  10/31/2015:  Finding and matching artwork and videos
06:48:36.0  10/31/2015:  Loading Game Statistics and Scores
06:48:36.2  10/31/2015:  Loading Surfaces
06:48:36.4  10/31/2015:  Finished Loading Surfaces
06:48:36.4  10/31/2015:  Initialize Audio
06:48:36.4  10/31/2015:  Set Keyboard Controls
06:48:36.4  10/31/2015:  Initialize Joystick
06:48:36.5  10/31/2015:  1 Joystick Attached
06:48:36.5  10/31/2015:  Started
06:49:25.9  10/31/2015:  Launch System
06:49:25.9  10/31/2015:  Waiting for threads
06:49:25.9  10/31/2015:  Disposing display
06:49:27.3  10/31/2015:  Extracting: C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\Tables\Pennant Fever (Williams 1984).zip
06:49:27.7  10/31/2015:  C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\VPinball.exe /play -"C:\Users\VPC - 001995\AppData\Local\Temp\Unzipped7-Zip\Pennant Fever (Williams 1984).vpt"
06:49:27.8  10/31/2015:  C:\PinballX\vpauto.exe
06:49:33.6  10/31/2015:  Found PinMAME ROM: pfevr_p3.nv
06:49:33.7  10/31/2015:  Hidden Visual Pinball Editor Window
06:49:43.8  10/31/2015:  Exit System Control Pressed
06:49:46.7  10/31/2015:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
06:49:46.7  10/31/2015:  PinDMD2 Intialized
06:49:53.1  10/31/2015:  Exiting
06:49:53.2  10/31/2015:  Showing Taskbar
06:49:53.4  10/31/2015:  Unhiding Mouse Cursor
06:49:53.5  10/31/2015:  Disposing Plugins
06:49:53.5  10/31/2015:  Saving Settings
06:49:53.5  10/31/2015:  Bye

 

ok here is the file for Pennant Fever which animates just fine when i hit "Play" in the editor but cannot get to animate when i try to play through the wheel.

[Johngreve]

06:54:44.1  10/31/2015:  PinballX - Version 2.03
06:54:44.2  10/31/2015:  Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 32-bit (2.9GB)
06:54:44.2  10/31/2015:  Loading Settings
06:54:44.2  10/31/2015:  Initialize Component
06:54:44.2  10/31/2015:  Initialize Display
06:54:45.3  10/31/2015:  Start with windows is set so waiting 5 seconds. Boot Time = 10/31/2015 6:46:45 AM
06:54:54.1  10/31/2015:  Loading PlugIns
06:54:54.2  10/31/2015:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Hiding Cursor
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Hiding Taskbar
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  PinDMD2 Intialized
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-4670 CPU @ 3.40GHz
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Displays: 2
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Load Game List
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Pinball FX2
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Future Pinball
06:54:54.4  10/31/2015:  Loading Database: Visual Pinball
06:54:54.5  10/31/2015:  Finding and matching artwork and videos
06:54:55.2  10/31/2015:  Loading Game Statistics and Scores
06:54:55.4  10/31/2015:  Loading Surfaces
06:54:55.6  10/31/2015:  Finished Loading Surfaces
06:54:55.6  10/31/2015:  Initialize Audio
06:54:55.6  10/31/2015:  Set Keyboard Controls
06:54:55.6  10/31/2015:  Initialize Joystick
06:54:55.7  10/31/2015:  1 Joystick Attached
06:54:55.7  10/31/2015:  Started
06:55:12.2  10/31/2015:  Launch System
06:55:12.2  10/31/2015:  Waiting for threads
06:55:12.3  10/31/2015:  Disposing display
06:55:13.6  10/31/2015:  C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\VPinball.exe /play -"C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\Tables\meteor (stern 1979).directb2s.vpt"
06:55:13.6  10/31/2015:  C:\PinballX\vpauto.exe
06:55:19.2  10/31/2015:  Found PinMAME ROM: meteorb.nv
06:55:19.3  10/31/2015:  Hidden Visual Pinball Editor Window
06:56:30.3  10/31/2015:  Exit System Control Pressed
06:56:32.6  10/31/2015:  Created DirectX BackGlass Window
06:56:32.6  10/31/2015:  PinDMD2 Intialized
06:56:35.2  10/31/2015:  Exiting
06:56:35.3  10/31/2015:  Showing Taskbar
06:56:35.6  10/31/2015:  Unhiding Mouse Cursor
06:56:35.6  10/31/2015:  Disposing Plugins
06:56:35.6  10/31/2015:  Saving Settings
06:56:35.6  10/31/2015:  Bye
Here is the file for Meteor which animates just fine when selected through the wheel. Hopefully you see something here that will help you determine what the problem may be.

Thanks for looking and once again apologize for my lack of understanding in your earlier request

[allknowing2012]

Two things .. 

 

06:49:27.3  10/31/2015:  Extracting: C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\Tables\Pennant Fever (Williams 1984).zip

 

Tables should be unzipped and sitting in Tables directory - why did it see a zip file??

 

06:55:13.6  10/31/2015:  C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\VPinball.exe /play -"C:\Program Files\Visual Pinball\Tables\meteor (stern 1979).directb2s.vpt"

It should be playing a .vpt file .. it shows .directb2s.vpt

 

Seems you have files misnamed.

 

In Game Manager .. did you select a zip file when you selected the first one?

and did you perhaps select the directb2s file when you went into "Select" game for the second one?  

 

Go back into game manager -- suggest you delete those 2 entries and do it again.

 

(And vpinball.exe -- just double checking -- is that your vpinball 990 or 991 executabable name?)

Attached Files

•  2015-10-31 10_18_12-PinballX Setup Wizard 2.6.2 - By Ben Baker.jpg   26.82KB   4 downloads

Edited by allknowing2012, 31 October 2015 - 02:22 PM.

[Johngreve]

Yes I did select a zip file as my first table!!......never unzipped things until I tried to animate back glasses.
Everything I've read in the forums as I understood it you leave them zipped and unzip the backglasses.
To be honest I was not aware that they should be unzipped from the start.
Knowing this I can see I have to go back and do as you suggest.

Meteor actually worked ok as named. That was the second file I pasted this morning.

I've had a bit of a meltdown since I sent the above info this morning. Now a good chunk of my tables won't play from the wheel.
I press play and the thing just kicks me out like there is no table selected......like it's only reading the media pack. Half the wheel logos are missing in Game Manager as well. How does stuff like that happen. Flying by the seat of my pants here....and with the help of the friendly folks in the forum.

Never had this type of problem with Ship Ahoy.....


I'm sorry not sure what you mean about vpinball.exe and whether it's executable name is vpinball990 or vpinballl 991 ?

Ok I'm going to try your suggestions and delete the original zipped tables and unzip them from the start,then go to game manager and creat the table. Then I will try to animate the backglass to Pennant Fever( the first file I sent tis morning.
I'll follow up with you with my results,.
Thanks very much......my confidence is rising!

[allknowing2012]

Only rom's stay zipped in the rom directory.

Tables directory contains .vpt & .directb2s files and .vpx files if you have or get VP10 tables.

 

Wheel images may "disappear" if you rename things .. which you are doing.

Once you have the game working .. go to your wheel image directory

 

<PinballX dir>\Media\Visual Pinball\Wheel Images

 

You will have to rename the files to match the game or description .. usually the game just to be consistent.

I prefer to use IMPORT within game manager to pull them in from GAMEX - I think there is a limit to how many you can do per 24hours this way.

Using import it renames things all for you and beats having to search for media packs.

 

 

vpinball.exe - just want you to be sure this is the executable for the latest visual pinball .. hopefull either 9.90 or 9.9.1 and not some real old version like 9.2