2087 replies to this topic

[ClarkKent]

 

This new windowed fullscreen mode is making me crazy. Since using it (DX9 version and latest rev922) the DMD is suddenly on monitor 2 instead of 3 (position 1836 instead of 3260 on my system). If I manually drag it to the right position, after starting the table again it's on monitor 2 again - it simply does not remember the right setting. It's interesting that if I move the DMD to the right position I can see the right values in the registry but as soon as I start the table again it overrides the values to 1836 again instead of 3260. What can I do?

 

I'm sorry, that's really annoying, but it sounds like a VPM bug or misconfiguration, or maybe it's in the table script. VP itself doesn't ever touch those registry values.

 

The .dll for cabinets works. There is a new .dll for Unity3D (but as far as I know it's also for cabinets), this version makes troubles. But both versions are somewhat fragile. I think VPM is not really good with cabinets at all...

[melon]

 

 

So you see, loads of fun ahead If people want to discuss and suggest other stuff, maybe this is a good time to start the VP10 brainstorming thread? Or it might be too early, I don't know.

 

Yeah, as a table maker I have a lot of suggestions for this step.

So when you the developers are ready it would be great to start a brainstorming thread.

[toxie]

The .dll for cabinets works. There is a new .dll for Unity3D (but as far as I know it's also for cabinets), this version makes troubles. But both versions are somewhat fragile. I think VPM is not really good with cabinets at all...

 

 

there is special code in the VPM cabinet version for window placement that might be missing in this unity3D version.

[arngrim]

Billbox vpm version is not a cabinet version, but in this topic i posted a vpm unity cabinet version, that doesn'thave the problem

[freezy]

 

 

I've tried all your builds but if I remember correctly, only test2 and test4 on the cab in question. Test2 I didn't play extensively, so you're maybe right that this could have also happened with older builds and that the power supply might be the problem. Are you guys all running 600W+ PSUs?

 

Will order a new one if that's the case.

 

 

Actually I run on a laptop

 

The only thing I can think of is that limiting the framerate somehow might help. You could try forcing VSync to On in the NVidia control panel to see if it helps (unfortunately there is no GUI setting for true VSync in VP yet... soon).

 

Also, download some D3D benchmark or another DX9 game to try and see if the problem is particular to VP.

 

That GTX-560 has 500W recommended minimum PSU.

 

 

Put in a 750W Corsair PSU and no crashes anymore. Thanks for the tip!

 

However this was quite a brutal effect of the new GPU rendering. Is the power draw supposed to increase as much? I've tried on my laptop as well and as soon as I start a table, the vents go crazy (without serious game play). I'll fiddle around with vsync to see if it has any effect.

 

Thanks again, and for your incredible work! This will be a game changer.

[arngrim]

here's the only vpm unity cabinet version for the moment

 

http://www.vpforums....=26714&p=254780

[toxie]

However this was quite a brutal effect of the new GPU rendering. Is the power draw supposed to increase as much? I've tried on my laptop as well and as soon as I start a table, the vents go crazy (without serious game play). I'll fiddle around with vsync to see if it has any effect.
 

 

before there were a lot of driver bottlenecks on the CPU side, but now the GPU (and i guess also CPU) is doing a lot more work without all the waiting inbetween. so if you'll use vsync (which will be supported in VP in the next tech beta, for now try the one in the control panel of your graphicscard) it should reduce this effect.

 

@arngrim: i just bumped the VPM team again, if we could get the unity changes into VPM trunk soon, and also have the cabinet changes (optionally) enabled.

so lets see what happens.

Edited by toxie, 21 February 2014 - 01:05 PM.

[arngrim]

toxie, changes are very minimal so it won't be difficult to merge into the trunk

[insx]

 

Will fullscreen mode eventually support VPM and B2S? The 4th test version is not performing very well for me, it seems that fullscreen is better than windowed fullscreen but that might be because I'm not running B2S.

 

I think at least for VPM there's a good chance once the Unit3D changes are merged in. (No idea on the timeline for that.) For b2s, it would take the developer of that to step forward and integrate more closely with VP.

 

Would you mind telling your hardware and average framerates for some tables? I'm trying to get an idea where it performs how.

 

 

These are all running in my 3 screen cabinet, PC specs are quite basic but 9.2 runs surprisingly smoothly on it.

 

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, Windows XP 32 bit, 3GB RAM, nVidia GTS450 for playfield, nVidia
NVS290 for backbox and DMD.

 

I've included version info if I can remember or if it is commented in the script. (I rename my table
files.) Stutter is really hard to quantify but I played for a few minutes on each table and these are my impressions.

 

9.2.1 is running fullscreen, test 4 is running fullscreen windowed (res 1680 x 1050).

 

 

Monster Bash - UncleWilly (not PC Killer)

9.2.1 rev 921
1450 FPS avg, smooth at all times

DX9 test 4
342 FPS avg, smooth, possibly ever so slight stutter (not enough to worry about)


Twilight Zone - Night Mod Megapin 1.0

9.2.1 rev 921
770 FPS avg, smooth at all times

DX9 test 4
380 FPS avg, smooth almost always, slight stutter at multiball start


Attack From Mars - JPSalas VP914+ 2.4 2013

9.2.1 rev 921
930 FPS avg, mostly smooth, slight stutter with a lot of flashers happening

DX9 test 4
400 FPS avg, very mild microstutter most of the time


Diner - Mod 1.0.0

9.2.1 rev 921
760 FPS avg, smooth with the occasional stutter

DX9 test 4
545 FPS avg, generally a bit jerky and hyperpin crashed on exit for some reason (probably a B2S issue)

 

[bent98]

Interesting. Dx7 runs better then Dx9. I wonder if its a driver issue or possibly your GPU is the bottleneck with DX9 vs cpu bound on DX 7. What version drivers are you using?

[ClarkKent]

here's the only vpm unity cabinet version for the moment

 

http://www.vpforums....=26714&p=254780

OK, I'll try that. Thank you!

 

Nevertheless I wonder how we could prevent VPM changing the settings automatically when using Unity3D as it moves the DMD to the 2nd screen and VPM usually saves such settings, then they are wrong for VP again...

[mfuegemann]

Hi mukuste,

 

- issue playfield is too blurry:

 

indeed, removing the texture limitations did the trick.

 

Thank You

Michael

Edited by mfuegemann, 21 February 2014 - 02:49 PM.

[toxie]

Interesting. Dx7 runs better then Dx9. I wonder if its a driver issue or possibly your GPU is the bottleneck with DX9 vs cpu bound on DX 7. What version drivers are you using?

 

The DX7 version can run faster if nothing is happening on the table (so, for example, ball resting in plunger lane). But the DX9 version is pretty much stable in the framerate, so even if a lot is happening on the table (lights flashing, 13 balls, toys moving, etc) the framerate should only go down by a few percent.

In DX7 VP, this is not the case.

[mukuste]

 

 

Will fullscreen mode eventually support VPM and B2S? The 4th test version is not performing very well for me, it seems that fullscreen is better than windowed fullscreen but that might be because I'm not running B2S.

 

I think at least for VPM there's a good chance once the Unit3D changes are merged in. (No idea on the timeline for that.) For b2s, it would take the developer of that to step forward and integrate more closely with VP.

 

Would you mind telling your hardware and average framerates for some tables? I'm trying to get an idea where it performs how.

 

 

These are all running in my 3 screen cabinet, PC specs are quite basic but 9.2 runs surprisingly smoothly on it.

 

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, Windows XP 32 bit, 3GB RAM, nVidia GTS450 for playfield, nVidia
NVS290 for backbox and DMD.

 

[...]

 

 

Thanks for the detailed report, it's appreciated. Generally, >300 fps should be more than enough for smooth gameplay. If there is stutter, then there has to be some other issue. Have you tried disabling b2s? From the crash it seems that maybe it's not operating smoothly and is interfering with your gameplay. I'll also try to get a max frame time counter into the next release so that we can debug stutter better.

[insx]

Interesting. Dx7 runs better then Dx9. I wonder if its a driver issue or possibly your GPU is the bottleneck with DX9 vs cpu bound on DX 7. What version drivers are you using?

 

nVidia driver 270.61.

[arngrim]

 

here's the only vpm unity cabinet version for the moment

 

http://www.vpforums....=26714&p=254780

OK, I'll try that. Thank you!

 

Nevertheless I wonder how we could prevent VPM changing the settings automatically when using Unity3D as it moves the DMD to the 2nd screen and VPM usually saves such settings, then they are wrong for VP again...

 

i don't have that problem on my build, you don't confirm?

[bent98]

 

Interesting. Dx7 runs better then Dx9. I wonder if its a driver issue or possibly your GPU is the bottleneck with DX9 vs cpu bound on DX 7. What version drivers are you using?

 

nVidia driver 270.61.

 

 

try upgrading to the latest nvidia driver and post your results.

[htamas]

 

try upgrading to the latest nvidia driver and post your results.

 

That may cause some unwanted side-effects on XP, like certain tables hanging or - at least in my case - visible image degradation (less sharp, hazy playfield with the latest driver vs. 270.61 giving excellent picture).

[TedB]

That may cause some unwanted side-effects on XP, like certain tables hanging or - at least in my case - visible image degradation (less sharp, hazy playfield with the latest driver vs. 270.61 giving excellent picture).

 

 

Indeed, I have the hanging issue too with other drivers. Still not sure if the devs know what is the root cause of this problem.

[ClarkKent]

 

 

here's the only vpm unity cabinet version for the moment

 

http://www.vpforums....=26714&p=254780

OK, I'll try that. Thank you!

 

Nevertheless I wonder how we could prevent VPM changing the settings automatically when using Unity3D as it moves the DMD to the 2nd screen and VPM usually saves such settings, then they are wrong for VP again...

 

i don't have that problem on my build, you don't confirm?

 

Your VinPinMAME.dll works! Man, I'm relieved! Now the DMD position stays where it should - on 3rd screen! First I had reservations about the new dll as it was much smaller than the regular one but it seems that this does not matter, nothing seems to be missing...

 

Unity3D moves the DMD from 3rd to 2nd screen (as Unity3D does not support 3 screens at the moment!?). So the values are altered in the registry and the next time I start VP the DMD is still on 2nd screen. This must happen on your system, too. VPM just saves the values every time it loads a ROM. No idea why there is no separate settings menu and the values are not saved when quitting VPM...

Edited by ClarkKent, 21 February 2014 - 05:05 PM.