168 replies to this topic

[Shockman]

The Bonus countdown and Auto bar bump now diminishes in delay time. 1/12 of a second per holes above 3. Doesn't seem like much but it adds up fast for good players and doesn't stomp on beginners.

I don't want to eliminate the possibility, but I want to make rollovers not an every game experience. 

 

There is no bottom end, so there is a killer screen, I just don't know where, I would guess somewhere between half way up level 3 to somewhere in level 4.

Edited by Shockman, 07 April 2015 - 02:49 AM.

[xzotic]

The bezel option is now in, but it doesn't do any good until the playfield graphic is colored in behind the bezel.

 

Excellent. Would it be too difficult to resize the play field to fill the entire screen when the bezel is turned off? That way it maximises the screen real estate and you don't need to worry about 'filling-in' where the bezel was?

[Shockman]

I'll check. I know I can do full scale to the monitor, but keep it set to maintain aspect ratio. I just don't think it's possible to change that in game. Without the bezel it can get bigger vertically and keep the aspect ratio I think. It needs to have some of that area though or it would not all show up under even a real bezel. How much space are we talking about, between the monitor and the bezel?

[xzotic]

 

OK so I've done a quick mock up of how it could look. Left is the current version, middle is the proposed settings option (without bezel) and last is a mock superimposed real bezel (actually 'faked' real bezel just to show how it would work out). 

 

Of course there would need to be a bit of investigation getting the right sized monitor for the real bezel however that shouldn't be a big issue. 

 

The really nice thing about having the no-bezel version of ICB running (using max screen real estate) is when placed under a real bezel the width from the edge of the monitor to the real outside edge isn't huge so the cabinet can be made nice and tight without having monster bezels. This would be even worse if the play field wasn't resized when showing no bezel as you would need to get an even bigger monitor with a lot of wasted black space on either side (hope that makes sense). 

 

In terms of how this could be implemented (if you can't resize the play field within the game). How about the ability to set the option (save the setting to a file), restart the emulation, it reads the file and selects the appropriate graphics based upon the setting. I don't know anything about 'game maker' but I'm hoping that it can save and read an external settings file to achieve this?  

[maceman]

This is awesome! So much aggravating fun

My kids will love this!

Cheer,

Maceman

[Shadowsclassic]

 

OK so I've done a quick mock up of how it could look. Left is the current version, middle is the proposed settings option (without bezel) and last is a mock superimposed real bezel (actually 'faked' real bezel just to show how it would work out). 

 

Of course there would need to be a bit of investigation getting the right sized monitor for the real bezel however that shouldn't be a big issue. 

 

The really nice thing about having the no-bezel version of ICB running (using max screen real estate) is when placed under a real bezel the width from the edge of the monitor to the real outside edge isn't huge so the cabinet can be made nice and tight without having monster bezels. This would be even worse if the play field wasn't resized when showing no bezel as you would need to get an even bigger monitor with a lot of wasted black space on either side (hope that makes sense). 

 

In terms of how this could be implemented (if you can't resize the play field within the game). How about the ability to set the option (save the setting to a file), restart the emulation, it reads the file and selects the appropriate graphics based upon the setting. I don't know anything about 'game maker' but I'm hoping that it can save and read an external settings file to achieve this?  

Just curious, how do you plan to get the bezel?  Are you going to custom make one or do you already have an old ICB laying around?

[xzotic]

Just curious, how do you plan to get the bezel?  Are you going to custom make one or do you already have an old ICB laying around?

They come up occassionally for sale but shipping is always a problem. So if I can't source one I'll get the graphics made and create a custom one. There are plenty of places that could do this. You can already get recreation side art and the panel overlays.

I have recently bought an original complete ICB control panel with the controls intact so once I work out a bezel I'll then create a custom 'bar top' cab around it (to suit the space I have).

[xzotic]

Found some glass bezel reproductions for $350+ship here: http://phoenixarcade.com/art.htm#ICE_COLD_BEER_ 

[Shockman]

I don't think an external file would be needed, or would help for that matter. Scaling the graphics is not an option. It would be like scaling the playfield of a real one. The holes would not line up to the mech. The AN display would not line up to the cutouts.

 

There are a couple of ways around this, and you can rest assured that either one would give you what you mocked up as far as display.

 

The one most likely used would be two viewports  using their own controllers. The only difference between the controllers would be the position of the alpha numeric display, and the physical boundaries ( the coordinates of the bar stoppers and some ball position checking).

 

It's not really viewports. Game Maker uses Rooms. A non bezel game would be played in one room and a game with the bezel in another. The room without the bezel will use it's own playfield graphics and have the physical holes and lights aligned.

 

It's really a piece of cake, I think the scaling of the playfield  when used without the digital bezel displayed should be just a little less that full and have what you would see from an angle, but not straight on there. Look at your picture set and imaging looking at an angle, peeking under the bezel. In the world of your mock-up you will see the monitor case, even without effort. That would probably actually be whatever surface a decased monitor is encased in.

 

It all depends on the distance between the surface of the monitor and the bezel glass. The buffer zone might be small, but it should be there.

 

I'm awaiting a new graphic set that includes a playfield without a bezel, and a bezel without a playfield.

 

Maybe this much, also a dirty fast mock-up

[xzotic]

Excellent. Interesting about the 'rooms' in game maker - that sounds like the perfect way to go. Excellent.

 

I agree that there should be a buffer around the edge so you can't 'peek' in the edges to see the monitor casing.  However as you mentioned there really won't be much of a gap between the monitor glass and the bezel glass (if any). If the monitor is not decased then sure there will be a couple of mm. It won't hurt to allow a buffer area though as one of the challenges will be to get the right sized monitor anyway, so some tolerance around the edges is appropriate. 

 

Why not base it on an actual ICB play field? I've attached a pic. The tolerances are larger on a real machine as the space is bigger of course between the playfield and the front glass. But this would allow for any potential issues in getting the right size monitor (i.e.: You could make the space bigger between the play field and the front glass if the monitor is a bit too big and the play field will still have enough 'edging' so that people can't see the monitor itself when looking at an angle. 

 

[Shockman]

As each cab might be different in that respect, perhaps a configuration 'room' would also be in order. The playfield would have a larger buffer zone, based on an actual board, but part of the configuration would be a zoom. The zoom would be an actual viewport and basically zoom the game, not just the image. I'm pretty sure that would work. In fact I have used zoom in Lunar Gravitar and Slotcar Circuit.

Edited by Shockman, 08 April 2015 - 02:48 PM.

[xzotic]

Genius. That sounds perfect!

Edited by xzotic, 08 April 2015 - 03:40 PM.

[Shockman]

Updated to 2.1 in sig. and first post of thread.

 

It is awaiting graphics replacements, but is ready to test 

 

The physics are slightly improved. I got rid of the ball climbing the stopper bars on the ends. The ball does not meld into the ends as bad. You can still loose a ball if the bar is very steep, and the ball melds down into the bar, but in playing conditions the physics are greatly improved on the ends of the bar.

 

An exploit related to the above has been fixed. The ball will no longer be able to miss the left most holes by going left of them.

 

Rotation is proving difficult. The code is in but disabled because the entire game does not show when rotated. Further, the fact that this is not 4/3 or 16/10, or even 16/9 meaning there is no marching monitor resolution, Certain changes that need to be made in the structure, can't be while still having the upright display. There may need to be a portrait version separately. 

 

Turning off the bezel works, but would have little if any use in this upright on a wide screen, Press F11 to turn it off and F12 to turn it on. The game is scaled up with it off, in readiness for the FS mode.

 

Cursor left and right while game over in the game screen will lighten an darken it.

 

Any of these settings could be edited directly in the ICB.ini file

 

There is now three skill levels. Hard is unchanged, Normal replaces Easy and adds just a bit more friction, Easy is relatively very easy with quite a bit of friction. Changing these resets high score

 

The bonus count down and auto bar raise is sped up a bit and gets faster as the game goes on.

 

When I first made this, when the ball went into a small hole it would rattle quickly about and you would see it fall in. You could also see it fall into the larger holes. I can't get that effect to work after Windows 8 and I decompiled it to work further on it. I continue to work on that.

 

Let me know of any problems you encounter.

Edited by Shockman, 12 April 2015 - 11:54 PM.

[vampirolatino2]

Shockman, this version if def a LOT better than the 1.0, but I have a little problem with sound. When I keep the for example A key to get up the bar, the sound start to increase in volume. I have to tap it.

 

Hope I been clear lol, my english is getting worst.

Oh and Thanks a lot for your work done!!

[Shockman]

I don't know what could cause that. It doesn't happen here. Lets see if someone else has the same problem.

[vampirolatino2]

I don't know what could cause that. It doesn't happen here. Lets see if someone else has the same problem.

  ok thanks. Will try it in another PC. Windows 8.1

[Shockman]

I want to make it work with what you want it to work with. There might be something I can do about it, even though it isn't a global problem. I'll check about adding a stop sound after each bit of racket. It's just a short loop that should be playing out by the time the timer tells it to play again. This apparently is not trustworthy.

 

EDIT,

- I fixed the animation of the ball falling into the small holes lit or not. Now I need to fix it for non-score holes. It's a small effect that goes a long way.

 

I tried a sound fix that I think might work, but it made it have no sound for the bar movement in joystick mode. Still on it. 

Edited by Shockman, 13 April 2015 - 05:27 PM.

[Shockman]

Version 2.2

 

-Changed the way the bar movement sound is handled.

-Ball drop into holes animated.

 

 

https://www.dropbox....er 2.2.exe?dl=0

[vampirolatino2]

Dude, duuuude. Now is all fixed. Loving it, like Macdonalds

 

A cold ice beer to ya

[Shadowsclassic]

Ball animation looks great!  Table is sweet but there is one problem. You fixed the ball getting up on top of the bar but now it actually falls through the bar if you tilt it too much.