105 replies to this topic

[Neal68]

I have several years experience with C++ development and would love to help out where needed. I, too, am also limited on spare time, but I should be able to commit block of time now and then.

Background on me: I am the lead architect for the DevPartner suite of tools. Prior to working on DevPartner, I was a senior programmer for TestPartner, which is a QA automation tool.

One of the features that I would like to see is the ability to launch a table with the edit hidden/minimized.

[highrise]

my thoughts:

I think it's absolutely necessary to move things forward to have someone heading up the project. There is absolutely no point in supporting a system where anyone can release their own changes and modifications. It would be like what happened when table modding was a free for all - all this will do is result in arguments about which version is best with people arguing for their own ideas to be included. We all know how this kind of thing has damaged the community in the past. It's already starting here in this thread and I think it needs to be nipped in the bud.

If anyone wants to go off and play with the code and make their own version, they can do that, but I am all in favour of having an ongoing 'official' community version, endorsed by this site and others if possible, where additions and improvements are discussed and decided by a development team. If people have ideas that are good, they can suggest them, and if the consensus is that this is the way to go, that's what we do.

I don't think anyone has contributed more to VP than Brian has, and I fully support him heading up such a team. He has already shown that he is ready to accept the areas he is not expert in and ask for help. He is always very straightforward and with some good experienced coders behind him we can surely move VP forward in the direction we all want it to go - more efficient, better looking, more compatible, more features, whilst maintaining the great physics and reasonable backwards compatibility.

[Practicedummy]

my thoughts:

I think it's absolutely necessary to move things forward to have someone heading up the project. There is absolutely no point in supporting a system where anyone can release their own changes and modifications. It would be like what happened when table modding was a free for all - all this will do is result in arguments about which version is best with people arguing for their own ideas to be included. We all know how this kind of thing has damaged the community in the past. It's already starting here in this thread and I think it needs to be nipped in the bud.

If anyone wants to go off and play with the code and make their own version, they can do that, but I am all in favour of having an ongoing 'official' community version, endorsed by this site and others if possible, where additions and improvements are discussed and decided by a development team. If people have ideas that are good, they can suggest them, and if the consensus is that this is the way to go, that's what we do.

I don't think anyone has contributed more to VP than Brian has, and I fully support him heading up such a team. He has already shown that he is ready to accept the areas he is not expert in and ask for help. He is always very straightforward and with some good experienced coders behind him we can surely move VP forward in the direction we all want it to go - more efficient, better looking, more compatible, more features, whilst maintaining the great physics and reasonable backwards compatibility.

I am with highrise on this.

[lettuce]

Well i think the time has come for less talking and more action. Maybe one of the forums admin should release a thread with the team that will be taking VP forward and what will now actually be included/updated in VP908. Whatever isnt included in 908 can be included in 909 and so on, so we have an action plan in place, otherwise at this rate this thread will still be going this time next year with no progress, just gum flapping

Edited by lettuce, 15 June 2010 - 02:47 PM.

[BarryS]

I work for a large software company as a Program Manager. I help manage some of our projects (working with Dev/Test, etc). I have a coding background, so I will help where I can.

I would be happy to assist in the management of the project based on what we decide.

[FDSystems]

Well i think the time has come for less talking and more action. Maybe one of the forums admin should release a thread with the team that will be taking VP forward and what will now actually be included/updated in VP908. Whatever isnt included in 908 can be included in 909 and so on, so we have an action plan in place, otherwise at this rate this thread will still be going this time next year with no progress, just gum flapping

A bit of topic.
There is probably much more going on in the background than what we can see following this most fascinating topic.Wait & see.

Now it would be really cool if we could get some informations about what´s going on in the background...

[Noah Fentz]

Well i think the time has come for less talking and more action. Maybe one of the forums admin should release a thread with the team that will be taking VP forward and what will now actually be included/updated in VP908. Whatever isnt included in 908 can be included in 909 and so on, so we have an action plan in place, otherwise at this rate this thread will still be going this time next year with no progress, just gum flapping

There is a forum for the devs to work without interruption or intrusion. Fell free to post in the Development Suggestion or Chat areas, though.

Well i think the time has come for less talking and more action. Maybe one of the forums admin should release a thread with the team that will be taking VP forward and what will now actually be included/updated in VP908. Whatever isnt included in 908 can be included in 909 and so on, so we have an action plan in place, otherwise at this rate this thread will still be going this time next year with no progress, just gum flapping

A bit of topic.
There is probably much more going on in the background than what we can see following this most fascinating topic.Wait & see.

Precisely.

[Shockman]

There is probably much more going on in the background than what we can see following this most fascinating topic.Wait & see.

And that is what I see as the problem.
Why in the background?

Even if I was inclined to work on the code, How would I know was was needed and what was being worked on or perhaps even finished in this "background"

Holy cow people. There should be a weekly, depending on what the level of effort we are led to believe is going on, or daily work log POSTED.

This don't sound like any community project to me.

[Noah Fentz]

Even if I was inclined to work on the code, How would I know was was needed and what was being worked on or perhaps even finished in this "background"

You would express your interest to be on the team and added to the group.

Simple, really.

It's out of sight simply to allow them to work without interruption. Why the hell do I have to clarify this again?! It was a decision made to allow them to focus on what they are doing and not be concerned with outside interference. Even if it was read-only, the Dev Team would have to deal with bullshit posted elsewhere that I don't feel they should have to deal with when working on improvements.

There's a suggestion topic and a chat topic, if you want to discuss development, but the Dev Team needs a private area to work. When they have something to talk about, they'll post it. When there are changes, a log will be posted, too.

You can get down from your soap box now, Shocky.

[Shockman]

I still don't understand the privacy though. The internet would be distracting to me of course too, so I would not be on the internet and coding VP at the same time.

Are you saying nothing is done yet? Nothing to post or report or even talk about. I read destruk saying stuff like "everything submitted so far has made it in"

Are you just saving it up for a surprise? I could understand that, if'n it was not a community project.

I can even accept that it really is not a community project, but an exclusive club, but I am getting mixed signals.

However you want to control it is fine with me, But I was not even aware that there was a sub section entitled to work on it, with their own sub forum until just now.

I agree with lettuce though. It would be nice to at least know what is going on. If there is a team, say so. If work is progressing, say so, if they are stumped and getting nowhere say so. The same community these people came from is the same community they belong. It would be comfortable to know it's in good hands, and know that all the talent needed is working on it, and that sort of thing.

I think there should be a regular work log report, regardless of how much or little is being done. I would not want to join, just to see that there is a good enough handle on it already, and the little I could do was no longer needed, likewise the opposite.

[Noah Fentz]

Dude, the team is what, 7 days old?

You think maybe you can give them time to get to know each other and what they are each capable of first?

Everything will be posted when the time is right. It's this type of impatience that led me to believe a private forum would be required for this project.

[Shockman]

7 days old.

Thank you.

[destruk]

I don't understand what the deal is - it's open source, it's on sourceforge. Every change that happens is right here as it happens - updated within a minute of the change occurring.
https://sourceforge....jects/vpinball/

Look at the project feed section on that page. Then, if you really are curious about what is being done, browse the SVN and you can pull up the changes to each modified file. In short - Toxie did some code optimizations so it compiles better, I changed a few lines for the version numbering and dead zone for analog controllers, and a few guys have been added to the group. Nothing else has happened yet.

[FDSystems]

Big thank you to all.
Things are starting to move.
This is the nicest new in a long time.

P.S Any hope to get the last VP9 tables playable for the average user, without a sophisticated PC or laptop ?

[Shockman]

I don't understand what the deal is - it's open source, it's on sourceforge. Every change that happens is right here as it happens - updated within a minute of the change occurring.
https://sourceforge....jects/vpinball/

Look at the project feed section on that page. Then, if you really are curious about what is being done, browse the SVN and you can pull up the changes to each modified file. In short - Toxie did some code optimizations so it compiles better, I changed a few lines for the version numbering and dead zone for analog controllers, and a few guys have been added to the group. Nothing else has happened yet.

Yes. Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for. I don't care that it is off site.

What is the most compatible C++ environment to program and compile this in?

[Practicedummy]

I got it bookmarked, and even though I am not a programmer yet, it is nice to look at just to know that VP is being improved on. Thanks for the hard work being put into this Dev Team!

[destruk]

What is the most compatible C++ environment to program and compile this in?

It might work with others, but the main ones are vsnet 2003, 2005, and 2008.
Visual PinMAME can use a lot more IDE's.

[Shockman]

I have vs2008 express. I could not get it to work yet, but I will figure it out

I have not found the source for VP8 though. I don't have much interest in VP9 as I use neither Pinball wizard nor cabinets, and find it more buggy and unstable.

[ynneBBenny]

I don't have much interest in VP9 as I use neither Pinball wizard nor cabinets

Im wondering if it's possible to have VP as just one edition with selectable features of VP8 and 9 combined. ?
Actually I would like to see monitor output options reworked from the ground up.

[destruk]

I'm sure you'll find source code for 8.1 since it's there and downloaded with all the other source code.