835 replies to this topic

[Thalamus]

@wiesshund : Yes, for regular Original is is fine.

[Outhere]

Is it possible to control the size and location of a UltraDMD table that Is controlled by FlexDMD?

[Thalamus]

I expect that there is. But, since I have a real dmd, this isn't something I've tested. If you look in top of "Sons of Anarchy"

https://raw.githubus...l 2019) 1.2.vbs

 

Look just after the sound constants.

 

Sure, that is UltraDMD. Maybe it is called the same for FlexDMD ? Should at least work if run as a replacement.

[mrjcrane]

Outhere (I have the same question), it seems like there are X, Y, Height and Width registry settings back in the Original UltraDMD, since FlexDMD kind of hijacks the UltraDMD stuff it seems like if we could pass those registry entries forward, you could control the shape and the positioning of the UltraDMD (I used to do that for JP's Minions and GB Slimer before I upgraded to Flex). Can someone who worked on the FlexDMD project let us know if it is passing these ULTRA registry entries forward? Many thanks.

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\UltraDMD

Edited by mrjcrane, 18 July 2020 - 03:23 PM.

[mrjcrane]

Outhere, revising my previous answer, I remember in a more recent version of Flex/Freezy it added a little pull icon on the lower right corner of the DMD, so you can shape and position it with that (Use with Minions as a test).  For games that have a Rom Registry entry, when you click inside the DMD window it will give you 3 options.

1) Save DMD position Globally

2) Save to specific Rom (table specific positioning)

3) Ignore Aspect ratio. (I use this because I like a specific shape, size and position for all my Dmd windows)

For the Rom based games I see it updates the rom registry but I cant tell where or how or where it is saving the global positioning for UltraDMD based tables like Minions & Slimer.

For my desktop PC, I like to throw the Backlass and DMD window to a single 1024x768 monitor to the left of my playfield monitor (Negative X positioning,dmd_pos_x = 4294966273, decimal value in the registry). The BackGlass is sized with 1024 x 568 dimensions, then I use the remaining 200 of the Y space (568 to 768 vertical) to size the DMD at 1024x200 (position starts at 568 on the Y axis) 

Edited by mrjcrane, 18 July 2020 - 03:50 PM.

[Outhere]

I expect that there is. But, since I have a real dmd, this isn't something I've tested. If you look in top of "Sons of Anarchy"

https://raw.githubus...l 2019) 1.2.vbs

 

Look just after the sound constants.

 

Sure, that is UltraDMD. Maybe it is called the same for FlexDMD ? Should at least work if run as a replacement.

It would appear You can control the UseFullColor and DMDColorSelect by that, Not the size or location --- But thanks for the Response

 

Outhere (I have the same question), it seems like there are X, Y, Height and Width registry settings back in the Original UltraDMD, since FlexDMD kind of hijacks the UltraDMD stuff it seems like if we could pass those registry entries forward, you could control the shape and the positioning of the UltraDMD (I used to do that for JP's Minions and GB Slimer before I upgraded to Flex). Can someone who worked on the FlexDMD project let us know if it is passing these ULTRA registry entries forward? Many thanks.

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\UltraDMD

mrjcrane - Hopefully this helps
With those 2 games you mention you can use the updated scripts that come with flexdmd  (flexdmd-master)
Then add a separate location (Or with Freezy 1.8 you right the dmd) to the DmdDevice.ini for the game[minions]

Games that are scripted with flexDMD you can right click the DMD and save location for their particular game

You have to do something like I did with the sons of anarchy game below Then you can right click and save for a particular location

[minions]
virtualdmd left = 0
virtualdmd top = 0
virtualdmd width = 506
virtualdmd height = 173

I decided to do a little more experimenting
For the game Sons Of Anarchy
I used the info from the metal slug script that comes with (flexdmd-master) and put that info in sons of anarchy and it now works like minions

And this is how sons of anarchy looks now

'Sub DMD_Init
   ' Set UltraDMD = CreateObject("UltraDMD.DMDObject")
   '' If UltraDMD is Nothing Then
    '    MsgBox "No UltraDMD found.  This table will NOT run without it."
    '    Exit Sub
   ' End If

Sub DMD_Init
    'Set UltraDMD = CreateObject("UltraDMD.DMDObject")
    Dim FlexDMD
    Set FlexDMD = CreateObject("FlexDMD.FlexDMD")
    If FlexDMD is Nothing Then
        MsgBox "No UltraDMD found.  This table will NOT run without it."
        Exit Sub
    End If
    FlexDMD.GameName = cGameName
    FlexDMD.RenderMode = 2
    Set UltraDMD = FlexDMD.NewUltraDMD()
    UltraDMD.Init

    If Not UltraDMD.GetMajorVersion = 1 Then
        MsgBox "Incompatible Version of UltraDMD found."
        Exit Sub
    End If

    If UltraDMD.GetMinorVersion <1 Then
        MsgBox "Incompatible Version of UltraDMD found. Please update to version 1.1 or newer."
        Exit Sub
    End If

    Dim fso:Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    Dim curDir:curDir = fso.GetAbsolutePathName(".")

    Dim DirName
    DirName = curDir& "\" &TableName& ".UltraDMD"

    If Not fso.FolderExists(DirName) Then _
            Msgbox "UltraDMD userfiles directory '" & DirName & "' does not exist." & CHR(13) & "No graphic images will be displayed on the DMD"
    UltraDMD.SetProjectFolder DirName

    ' wait for the animation to end
    While UltraDMD.IsRendering = True
    WEnd

    ' Show ROM version number
    DMD "", "SOA", "ROM VERS " &myVersion, 2000
End Sub

 

[Thalamus]

I would say, your on the correct path here @outhere. It is expected to run freezy with flexdmd so, having the position in the ini ( or registry, if you decide that by setting ) is the right way to go.

[tspeirs]

This is interesting and I can totally understand the need for this project. No idea why he didnt decide to make UltraDMD open source when XDMD was especially since development stopped. I wanted to address the issues with UltraDMD but with no source and no permission to reverse engineer impossible to do.

Edited by tspeirs, 18 July 2020 - 08:50 PM.

[tspeirs]

EDIT: I had a rant about the rudeness of the author not recognizing and being thankful for the original project. I ended up looking like an asshole for it so I edited this.

Edited by tspeirs, 20 July 2020 - 08:36 AM.

[Thalamus]

And to who are you addressing this rant ? Me ?

[tspeirs]

And to who are you addressing this rant ? Me ?

 

No buddy, why would you think that? I am talking to the author from the author,

 

Its just a respect thing, or complete lack of it. Seems to happen alot lately.

Edited by tspeirs, 19 July 2020 - 12:06 PM.

[DJRobX]

This is interesting and I can totally understand the need for this project. 

 

 

When did technical people suddenly get so rude and so charmless?. You obviously loved UltraDMD and PinballX and had great respect for it to copy it. 

 

I can totally understand why you'd be unhappy about PinballY (if for nothing else other than the name).  But this rant is confusing at best, especially given your post right above it.    People have been struggling with UltraDMD performance problems for a long time.   vbousquet finally did something about it, in a way that doesn't obsolete UltraDMD and is compatible with the existing tables.   It was 100% a project created out of necessity and if the UltraDMD author is bothered by it, he only has himself to blame, since he didn't address its issues.  

Not that there's anything wrong with that, either, since this is a HOBBY and we all do what we're motivated to do and are under no obligation to do more.    That's the nice thing about open source stuff, when the original authors burn out someone else can pick up the torch.   

Thank you vbosquet for your hard work on FlexDMD, the community appreciates it!  

Edited by DJRobX, 19 July 2020 - 05:58 PM.

[tspeirs]

The guy should have said thank you or showed some recognition like you just did to him. Simple as that. Not confusing.

Edited by tspeirs, 20 July 2020 - 11:23 AM.

[tspeirs]

Source coee is here by the way and always has been (Nobody bothered to ever asked about UltraDMD it was there. I just found out.) but of course I don't deserve a thank you for XDMD or PinballX, or VPDB, All free and mostly open source. I should not waste my time, right.

 

https://bitbucket.or...dmd/src/master/

 

https://xdmd.info

 

 

 

Seriously, a thank you goes a long way and a FU really demotivates. It is not confusing.

 

I will start. DJRobX thank you for all your amazing work, I am dumbfounded by your inrecible talents,. I have incredible respect for you. You can set me straight whenever you like. That is respect. Although you got it wrong.

 

Not hard to understand my point is it? Its not confusing. I was not asking for a lot. These rules apply to tables and everything in life so why not me? Just say thank you or pay a little respect

 

I realize I am not helping the authors motivation much either and I am sorry for that but I have a valid point and this "is his own fault". A thank you goes a really long way. I need to say it more too. it needs to be heard to make up for the negativity we get and don't deserve.

 

Its just a respect thing (or complete lack of). If you think I am unhappy with the project, think I have an ego or want to compete with this  you don't understand at all, and its not like you know me so I wouldnt expect you too.

 

I hope that clears up why I got upset and most people would be the same. Any more confusion?

 

I only stand up for myself when I need to. I don't waste efforts or mince my words..I'm old enough not to care too much if you don't like me.

 

 

I've said what I wanted,, I was not wrong and now I am moving on. To everyone, please be a man about it and move on too.

Edited by tspeirs, 20 July 2020 - 04:14 PM.

[tspeirs]

Moving on and back to business. I have access to the UltraDMD source now as you can see and I see no licence restrictions and I tried to fix the issues with UltraDMD back in September: https://www.vpforums...showtopic=26602

 

 

Now I have the source and its probably quicker for me to do it than anyone else due to familiarization - is it worth me doing anything and fixing the issues in UltraDMD or should I let this project take over?

 

 

I don't particularly need the extra monkey om my back if its not worth it but it wouldn't take me long to at least fix the performance issues and a few other rgings and make it compatible with the latest XDMD (supports 64 bit and .NET 4 and dmddevice,dll).

 

I am completely up for it and probably only take me a couple of days but is it worth it? I would also move the source code to the same repo as XDMD.

Edited by tspeirs, 20 July 2020 - 05:04 PM.

[tspeirs]

Working on it. Will have something for you shortly. Will move over to the UltraDMD thread. Sorry if I was an ass. 

[Outhere]

There are quite a few tables that use UltraDMD and a lot of people that still use UltraDMD - So I'm sure it would be appreciated

[fourbanks]

Moving on and back to business. I have access to the UltraDMD source now as you can see and I see no licence restrictions and I tried to fix the issues with UltraDMD back in September: https://www.vpforums...showtopic=26602

 

 

Now I have the source and its probably quicker for me to do it than anyone else due to familiarization - is it worth me doing anything and fixing the issues in UltraDMD or should I let this project take over?

 

 

I don't particularly need the extra monkey om my back if its not worth it but it wouldn't take me long to at least fix the performance issues and a few other rgings and make it compatible with the latest XDMD (supports 64 bit and .NET 4 and dmddevice,dll).

 

I am completely up for it and probably only take me a couple of days but is it worth it? I would also move the source code to the same repo as XDMD.

i for one would be very grateful for a ultra dmd update  

[tspeirs]

Okay, I have made some progress.

 

Continuing this in the UltraDMD WIP topic.

 

https://www.vpforums...c=26602&page=25

[wiesshund]

I seem to be having a bit of trouble with this.

I had not troubles registering it or anything like that
But i grabbed 3 of the scripts recommended to try

legend of zelda, ghost busters slimer and americas most haunted

 

I put the scripts in the tables folder, as directed
 

on attempting to run any of those 3 tables
All of them error at line 6, the error is Expected statement

Line 6 is 
<!DOCTYPE html>

 

And on Zelda, i get additional errors stating the maximum script line length is 2048
and it spits one of those out for each offending line (4828, 4772, 4732)

 

Since no one else has mentioned this, i am assuming i have done something wrong?

I pulled down flexdmd (already had freezy's DMD extensions)
I put the 3 files in vpinmame folder as it suggested (none are blocked)
i ran the config, i registered it.
I ran the test, but i dont have the diablo table to actually run the animation

All seemed ok.

I got the 3 vbs scripts
unblocked them, and put them in the tables folder as it suggested

then just tried to launch one of the tables
got those errors

Tried the other 2, same errors, with the zelda table giving the additional errors about the lines being too long.

Anyone have some idea of what i may have done wrong?