918 replies to this topic

[TerryRed]

WOW!

 

Those are some EXCELLENT new features for Future Pinball you are giving us that people have been wanting for a long time!

 

Being able to change the ball texture is fantastic....being able to have multiple ball textures via table script is awesome!

 

 

Just tried the beta.

 

Unfortunately, the ball texture for "default" ball is still messed up (with or without playfield rotation) when using any lighting / rendering modes (Future Pinball, New Light System, etc)..... except for "new renderer". With "new renderer", the ball looks good if there is no playfield rotation, but it looks messed up if there is playfield rotation.

 

The new ball textures however work fine (basketball, etc) no matter the rotation, and they look great! Job well done!

 

If only we can get that default ball texture looking the same way it did in older BAM versions in all the rendering modes. I love using "new renderer", but for many tables it kills the fps, even on a fast PC (I have a gtx 970).

[ravarcade]

...

Unfortunately, the ball texture for "default" ball is still messed up (with or without playfield rotation) when using any lighting / rendering modes (Future Pinball, New Light System, etc)..... except for "new renderer". With "new renderer", the ball looks good if there is no playfield rotation, but it looks messed up if there is playfield rotation.

 

The new ball textures however work fine (basketball, etc) no matter the rotation, and they look great! Job well done!

 

If only we can get that default ball texture looking the same way it did in older BAM versions in all the rendering modes. I love using "new renderer", but for many tables it kills the fps, even on a fast PC (I have a gtx 970).

Lighting modes: Inital BAM release & New Light System are broken from day 1. I should delete it, but i keep it only for compatibility.

"Future Pinball" is as close as it may be to normal FP rendering. In arcade mode it looks different in BAM, because math for geomethy is little different.

"New Renderer" is best. It is only one with correct math, with per pixel lighting.

 

Here are screenshots with and without rotation of default ball:

http://www.ravarcade...mp-VUK-demo.png

http://www.ravarcade...p-VUK-demo2.png

 

I don't see difference.

 

And in old... old .. BAM version shader for balls was terrible broken. I fixed it ~6 moths age, when i rewrite all reflections models.

 

btw did you notice, that all reflections are rotated correctly in New Renderer? Not only ball reflections.

[TerryRed]

I never noticed anything the was messed up with reflections with rotation before (except for the ball), so I can't tell...sorry.

 

I find that no matter what setting or layout, even with "new renderer", the ball looks faded, not as shiny, and not pretty when compared to the normal FP version ball.

 

BAM version 1.296 balls in "new renderer" look beautiful compared the new version and the beta.

[ravarcade]

BAM Update.

 

http://www.ravarcade...s/bam-setup.exe

http://www.ravarcade...AM_v1.3-121.zip

http://www.ravarcade...BAM_for_TPA.zip

 

Updated files: BAM.dll, renderingengine.dll, BAM-Tracker.exe

Added files: Whole "Balls" dir with additional ball textures from miownkhan.

 

Change log:

- Fixed ball drawning when table is rotated. Please enable "dirt marks" to get new balls look.

- You can change ball textures during game with 'P' and 'N' keys. If "Balls" dir with additional ball textures is present. This dir is optional. BAM will work without it.

- VB Script enhancements: Now on table same time can be many balls with different textures and appearance of ball can be changed anytime.

- New BAM-Tracker with completly new communication patern.

- BAM for The Pinball Arcade. It uses BAM-Tracker.

 

How to run BAM for TPA  guide:

 

Video:

https://youtu.be/UQrfAmdO8hI

 

Manual:

How to run BAM with TPA.

1. You need Future Pinball running with BAM with any head tracking method working. 

2. Exit FP and run BAM-Tracker.exe (from BAM dir).

3. Select head tracking method (on this video: Kinect 2)

4. Run Launcher.exe to load TPA in DX9. Play.

Next time you don't need to run FP and select head tracking method.

 

DX11 is not supported.

 

Without BAM-Tracker (and whole FP/BAM stuffs). BAM_for_TPA will work in Static Cam mode. You will be able to setup table possition and camera/viewer position almost same way as in FP/BAM.

 

---------------------------------------

Manual for BAM in TPA.

There is no menu on screen. You need to remember all keyboard keys.

Full list of keys:

F11 - Next preset

F10 - Prev preset

F9 - Turn on/off head tracking

 

F8 - Setup-mode On. Flying camera. (It helps to setup table).

F7 - Setup-mode On. Normal camera (head tracking or static)

F6 - Setup-mode Off. Arrow keys not active.

 

F5 - Save current preset to "CurrentPreset.txt" 

F4 - Restore preset. (Remove all changes)

 

F3 - Step = Step / 10; (decress step for every tuned params)

F2 - Step = 1; (reset step to default value)

F1 - Step = Step * 10; (increass step for every tuned params)

 

In Setup-mode (After F7 or F8):

Arrows Left/Right : Table Angle

Arrows Up/Down: Move table up/down.

PageUp/PageDown: Move table forward/backward

Home/End: Scale table (make bigger/smaller)

 

So you have 4 params to tune, used to set in-game virtual table in relation to screen.

That for values i call "preset".

In file "Presets.txt" you may find 3 sets of that values. You may add more or modify it.

 

When you press F5 "CurrentPreset.txt" is created. You may copy values from here to "Preset.txt".

 

When Setup-mode is disabled (after F6, F9, F10, F11) and when head tracking is disabled, camera is paced in user defined position.

You may change that position with PageUp/PageDown & Home/End keys.

 

There is file "Settings.txt" with static camera position. You may change it.

 

------------------------------------------

 

What if you don't have FP/BAM running?

You may use "static camera". (no head tracking).

In that case first look at "Settings.txt". Here you need to enter: your display size and native resolution. If you use BAM/FP headtracking that information is taken from FP/BAM setup.

 

-------------------------------------------

 

Source of BAM for TPA will be available on GitHub soon.

It is based on PinballVRcade by cbdilon.

 

In source code of "BAM for TPA"  you will have all what is needed to:

- calc projection/view matrix for Assymetric Frustum based real world params. 

- communicate with BAM-Tracker to get head tracking results.

 

------------- EDIT -------------

GitHub repo:

https://github.com/r...ade/BAM_for_TPA

Edited by ravarcade, 06 March 2016 - 09:11 PM.

[TerryRed]

Fantastic work! Alot of Pinball Arcade fans will be stoked!

 

Do you need to have The Pinball Arcade in Portrait for this to work?

 

I currently use a "camera mod" to get the DMD on my 3rd screen and to position the cabinet view to be static and proper, but TPA has to be in Portrait for any kind of cabinet view to work.

 

Will Direct X 11 ever be supported, or is it not possible?

 

I will have to give this a go when I get a chance!

Edited by TerryRed, 06 March 2016 - 09:17 PM.

[ravarcade]

....

 

Do you need to have The Pinball Arcade in Portrait for this to work?

 

I currently use a "camera mod" to get the DMD on my 3rd screen and to position the cabinet view to be static and proper, but TPA has to be in Portrait for any kind of cabinet view to work.

 

Will have to give this a go when I get a chance!

I'm not sure.

Look at "Settings.txt". There is param: Rotate. You can rotate table. 0 - 0 deg, 1 - 90 deg, 2 - 180 deg. 270 deg.

In my tests table looks fine. Headtracking works. Only DMD/hud/menu is not rotated, So it may look wird.

If you use other tools to move DMD to other screen, All should work.

 

One more important thing. Don't look at BAM_for_TPA as perfect solution for TPA. There are many things missing when you compare it to BAM:

- no hud/menu. It is not easy to setup all. I realy try to make it as simple as possible.

- no stereo 3d. To implement it a lot work is needed and i don't think it is my job to do it. 

- only DX9 is supported

- some light errors. They are not my fault. They are introducend in orginal project.

 

I don't intend to fix all that stuffs. I spent over 3 years on BAM and don't want to do same things with other program. So i put source code on GitHub. All what is needed to use BAM Head Tracking / "BAM camera view".. All what is need to add that for any programs is in two c++ headers. Very simple stuffs. In onther file is good, documented example how to use it to create view/projection matrix and draw all correct. 

All that may be used in any project. Not only TPA.

 

I believe, that someone already created much better camera mod for TPA with DX11 support and hud menu. For him it should be matter of few hours to make it works with own code.

 

btw. I VP10 team don't add it to VP i plan to do it. (If i find table with all 3d models).

[blisse]

btw. I VP10 team don't add it to VP i plan to do it. (If i find table with all 3d models).

 

 

Dozers and Ninuzzus CV looks quite promising for that purpose?

[ravarcade]

BAM Update.

 

http://www.ravarcade...s/bam-setup.exe

http://www.ravarcade...M_v.1.4-124.zip

 

Files changed: All *.dll and *.exe, exept 2 files from Microsoft.

 

Change log:

1. Few new custom ball fixes.

2. FP script addons: xBAM_BallManager and more. See this thread: http://gopinball.com...php?f=86&t=5583

3. FP script addons: xBAM_MiniPlayfield. See this thread:

http://gopinball.com...php?f=86&t=6098

4. FP script addons: xBAM_Ball, xBAM_BallCloseTo. See this thread:

http://gopinball.com...php?f=86&t=6109

5. All *.dll and *.exe files in BAM are now with "Code signing certificate".

So this first release signed with "code signing certificate". This is my last try to solve that nasty removing of BAM files by antivirus. 

Why it is important for AV programs? Signed exe or dll file has author (person to blame if something goes wrong). Also it has encrypted checksum used to verify if file is modified after release. AV programs for some time like to remove all files from unknow source or with small number of users. You already may see messages like: program, dll, exe has low reputation. Now all my files are "signed" by my and in time i hope to gain some "reputation" for AV programs. In time i hope they stop removing my programs. Not now, but some day. I pay $180 for that certificate. I hope that money is not wasted.

 

6. One more thing: All AV programs don't like my "FPLoader.exe". They think that it may be virus. Cool. So if you don't trust my here is solution for you:

https://github.com/r...de/BAM_FPloader

Source code of my FPLoader. You can compile own. It is current verion i use now.

 

Troubleshoting:

I realy recomend to replace all *.dll and *.exe with new versions. Well they are same as last relase but but with "code signing certificate". So all previous files will still work. Only BAM.dll is realy new.

 

---

Sorry for links to other forum. If need i replace it with links to my site and manuls (when i find time to write that manuals).

[Baronir2d2]

Ravarcade, Hello !!

 

I'm with my kinect x360 running perfectly, but when someone passes me or is behind me the view is totally impaired, there is some version of the BAM or any option plugin to solve this problem?

 

As it is the player can not be around other people because kinect detects these other people and hinders visualization of the playfield.

 

It is possible to solve this with some configuration?

 

Thank you!!

[ravarcade]

 

Ravarcade, Hello !!

 

I'm with my kinect x360 running perfectly, but when someone passes me or is behind me the view is totally impaired, there is some version of the BAM or any option plugin to solve this problem?

 

As it is the player can not be around other people because kinect detects these other people and hinders visualization of the playfield.

 

It is possible to solve this with some configuration?

 

Thank you!!

 

You may try "skeleton" tracking. It is most robust mode. In that mode i rely on Microstoft Kinect lib players tracking.

There is no chance for 100% player tracking stability. When 2 persons stay for a while so close, that they bocome "one body" for Kinect then there is no way to select "head/body". In that case Kinect lib report random head position. When 2 persons touch each other, then Kinect almost always can't determine what part of that "body" belong to what player. Thats way you don't have "twister" type games on Kinect.

[luc]

Hi

i've tryed Kinect, but the plugin doesn't show in BAM....

i've tryed reinstall all...nothing more...

anyone?

thanks.

[Galactus]

hello Ravarcade !!! nice work by the way !! but I got a problem and I cant find any solution on forum...

 

I got lastest version of FP and lastest version of BAM

 

I did the /arcaderenderer thing to the exe + the win xp sp3 compatibility too + administrator too etc...

 

I install everything ( more then 6 times ! )

 

I can play the 59 tables i got in FP and they all work well when I laod the game by future pinball.exe

 

When I start Bam with FPlauncher , FP launch well ... load table in fp well...laod table always at 100% ...but after the table appears , like 1 sec after, FP stop working and crash

 

any advice ?

 

I got a duo core 3,00

Ati X1650

4gig of ram

win 7

kinect 360

 

I know its not a computer from this year... but I think im ok ( if not tell me plz !)

 

Thank you and your amazing work !!!!!!

[ravarcade]

BAM Update.

 

http://www.ravarcade...s/bam-setup.exe

http://www.ravarcade...AM_v1.4-134.zip

http://www.ravarcade.../BAM-OpenVR.zip

 

All recent script updates from beta versions now in full release: Mini-Playfields, Custom Balls, Physics-Sim object tracking.

BAM OpenVR is updated too.

[TerryRed]

Rav, BAM updates have been excellent.

 

I tried the Indy table that uses the new mini-playfield feature. Great stuff!

 

 

However, there is one thing that still needs to be fixed....

 

When using BAM in a cabinet with a rotated view and "FP Original" Light System, the ball is still all screwed up looking. New Renderer looks fine.

 

This is normally not an issue as I use New Renderer for most of my tables.... but there are some tables that run slow with "New Renderer", even with a good video card. With "FP Original", those tables run fine.

 

 

Would it be possible to fix the ball with rotation and "FP Original" Light System?

 

Thanks for all of you amazing work.

[ravarcade]

When using BAM in a cabinet with a rotated view and "FP Original" Light System, the ball is still all screwed up looking. New Renderer looks fine.

 

Would it be possible to fix the ball with rotation and "FP Original" Light System?

Nope. It can't be fixed.

[TerryRed]

 

When using BAM in a cabinet with a rotated view and "FP Original" Light System, the ball is still all screwed up looking. New Renderer looks fine.

 

Would it be possible to fix the ball with rotation and "FP Original" Light System?

Nope. It can't be fixed.

 

 

That's a bummer...   would it be possible to use another ball texture as a "hack" for another option for "FP Original"?

 

 

 

Another issue I've noticed....   with the newest version and a clean install (no previous cfg files) I cannot get good per-pixel lighting or shading at all no matter what settings I try with New Renderer (it looks really bad).   If I use an older cfg from a previous version of BAM, then it seems to work fine.  Do you know why that is?

Edited by TerryRed, 19 December 2016 - 10:55 PM.

[byancey]

I built my calibration board and LED glasses (single centered LED) today and setup BAM with 2 PSeye cameras and the HT w/pseyes module.  I've got good calibration, and the tables render with a good 3D effect after 3-point calibration.  However, when I move my head, the movement of the table still doesn't feel natural.  It's much better when I was just using one camera for face tracking, and the table does move in response to my movement...but I can tell the table is moving.  In some of the youtube videos I've seen, the movement is very subtle and natural, which was the effect I was hoping to get.  Is this just normal for BAM, or is there some other adjustment I need to make to get better tracking so that it feels more like I'm looking at a real 3D table? Perhaps I need 2 LEDs on my glasses to get this working better, or some additional calibration steps are required??
 
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Thanks!
 
--
Bryce

Edited by byancey, 09 January 2017 - 07:03 PM.

[byancey]

I built my calibration board and LED glasses (single centered LED) today and setup BAM with 2 PSeye cameras and the HT w/pseyes module.  I've got good calibration, and the tables render with a good 3D effect after 3-point calibration.  However, when I move my head, the movement of the table still doesn't feel natural.  It's much better when I was just using one camera for face tracking, and the table does move in response to my movement...but I can tell the table is moving.  In some of the youtube videos I've seen, the movement is very subtle and natural, which was the effect I was hoping to get.  Is this just normal for BAM, or is there some other adjustment I need to make to get better tracking so that it feels more like I'm looking at a real 3D table? Perhaps I need 2 LEDs on my glasses to get this working better, or some additional calibration steps are required??
 
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Thanks!
 
--
Bryce

 

Replying to my own questions, as I've had quite a bit more time to play around with this...

 

First, lens calibration was a non-issue here.  If your lenses aren't properly calibrated, you won't get good results when you calibrate with your 4-led calibration board.  I had a very good cal number (~2.6).  The default lens adjustment provided by Rafal worked just fine for my PS3eye cameras.

 

Second, 1 LED vs 2 LEDs on my glasses really didn't make a difference that I could see.  I rigged up my glasses so that I can switch them between 1 center LED or one LEDs on Right/ one LED on Left and did some testing.  I really didn't notice any difference in tracking quality between the two...however, with 2 LEDs, you'll lose tracking any time either camera loses view of one of the LEDs.  I found with 2 LEDs I couldn't look as far around the sides of the table as the left most or right most LED would move out of view of one cam sooner than the single center LED would.  Since I didn't see a difference in quality, I'm now running with my glasses set for one center LED.

 

Third, I've decided that what I'm seeing in terms of table movement is normal and expected behavior.  I actually made a video of my own tables, and they look every bit as good as all the other BAM videos I've seen on YouTube.  However, the videos are not completely representative of viewing the tables in person.  When viewed in person, the tracking does not completely fool the eye, and hence, there is a sense of the table moving as you move your head.  That said, as I've played with it more, the effect has really grown on me and I don't notice the movement as much.  It's kind of like the first time you wear progressive lenses...takes a bit of getting used to, but eventually you don't notice.  Same thing here.  As you get into the table, your brain has a tendency to filter out the movement and you get a real sense of depth as you play.  I like it, and I'm definitely glad I designed a spot for the 2 PSeye cams in my backbox!

 

 

Thanks!

 

--

Bryce 

Edited by byancey, 17 January 2017 - 05:38 AM.

[radikal]

To match the 3d effect of the posted videos, try closing one eye when playing a table with BAM head tracking. When you have both eyes open, your brain is triangulating on the play field TV and isn't fooled into seeing any depth. With one eye closed, your brain has to trust what it sees - so the "suspension of disbelief" is much easier to achieve.

-Ron

[byancey]

To match the 3d effect of the posted videos, try closing one eye when playing a table with BAM head tracking. When you have both eyes open, your brain is triangulating on the play field TV and isn't fooled into seeing any depth. With one eye closed, your brain has to trust what it sees - so the "suspension of disbelief" is much easier to achieve.

-Ron

 

Ha. Funny, that actually works.  Great for checking out the play field between balls, probably not so great for actually playing the game though.