333 replies to this topic

[gigalula]

Wow that's a good progress in a short period of time.

 

Agree with you Ben the ramp and drop of the ball at the end of the race is really well done.

[Kaan]

With due respect, Kaan, why be so hard on Unit3d? Those guys have a great WIP platform. I'm not criticizing you personally. I've just seen so many creative people offer something up for free, only to bail out after receiving what they perceive as too much negativity. If Unit3d hangs in there, they'll develop into a really strong offering.

 

Sorry, it's mostly to do with my dislike against unity and love for unreal engine. 

[Ben Logan]

I get it. Thanks for explaining, Kaan.

[atarian]

Fish tales progress does look great. Looking forward to seeing more.

[tmek]

Improved Flipper Physics

 

Some of you may have noticed while playing the recent alpha builds that engaging the flipper when the ball was closer to the flipper axis would result in a weak shot.  I've been focusing on fixing this over the past few days and after carefully going through many things step by step I believe it is now solved.  Props to jimmyfingers for being the first to call me out on this inaccuracy.

 

This video below shows much improved shot strength when launching the ball from the middle of the flipper or closer to its axis (aiming up the middle of the playfield) compared to the last one I posted.  

 

With that said, my overall flipper strength isn't dialed in quite right yet.  What I'd like to do is get some data taken from a real world solid state era pinball machine.  From an existing source if there is one or figure out a way to capture it if not.  I recently posted the following on reddit's r/pinball ...

 

Any pinball owners have ability to measure angular velocity of the flippers? (self.pinball)

 

I'm continuing work on "Pinball Labs", my VR and virtual cabinet pinball simulator, editor and API. Realistic physic simulation is priority number one for me. My flipper physics are accurate but I'm wanting to dial in precise angular velocities taken form a real world machine. I understand these will vary across machines but I'm just looking for something from the solid state era (if I got to pick, Fish Tales would be perfect). Given that someone with a real pinball table likely has a lot of equipment and tools for electronics and mechanical tinkering I figured one of you might have a high speed camera, stroboscope or some other device that could be used to accurately capture the angular velocity of the flipper. I would need both the positive angular velocity when the flipper is engaged and the negative angular velocity when released.

 

 

 

Edited by tmek, 11 October 2015 - 10:17 AM.

[lodger]

I havent gotten around to trying this out yet- how do backhand shots feel with this engine? to me it was one of the big things that broke Pinball Arcade IMO

[tmek]

I havent gotten around to trying this out yet- how do backhand shots feel with this engine? to me it was one of the big things that broke Pinball Arcade IMO

 

Hi lodger,  It's all still a work in progress but here's me doing some backhand shots and I was able to pull off a couple of post passes too.

 

Edited by tmek, 11 October 2015 - 01:06 PM.

[blashyrk]

This is shaping up nicely

[atarian]

They do look realistic. It is good to hear jimmyfingers has given you some feedback. You won't probably know but pre-VP10 he produced a few tables with some of the best physics to be seen in VP - eg: he tuned Fuzzels Centaur which plays great. This was accomplished by him writing some routines to override the standard VP physics at the time. I know he spent months and months perfecting tables so as I said a good person to get feedback from.

Edited by atarian, 11 October 2015 - 02:15 PM.

[Ben Logan]

I havent gotten around to trying this out yet- how do backhand shots feel with this engine? to me it was one of the big things that broke Pinball Arcade IMO

FYI Lodger -- You'll be pleased to know that Pinball Labs is far and away the easiest alpha to get up and running: Super lightweight, nothing to install. Just download and run. Also, agree with you about TPA physics. The games look so nice (especially with new dx11 lighting). But the gameplay is just so predictable and "algorithmic" feeling, due to the physics.

tmek - Atarian is right: You are indeed getting some feedback from some of "VP's finest" (myself 100% excluded!). It's cool to see.

[Slydog43]

I have a fish tales table, but I replaced the lightning flippers with regular williams flippers.  I will see what my photography friend can capture with his equipment.  I want to help anyway I can with this awesome project.  (I also have an oculus rift  

[tmek]

I have a fish tales table, but I replaced the lightning flippers with regular williams flippers.  I will see what my photography friend can capture with his equipment.  I want to help anyway I can with this awesome project.  (I also have an oculus rift  

Awesome. The iPhone 6 has a 240fps slow motion video mode. That might be good enough if you know someone with an iPhone 6. (Also, I am jealous of your fish tales table.)

Edited by tmek, 11 October 2015 - 05:05 PM.

[javier1515]

Improved Flipper Physics

 

Some of you may have noticed while playing the recent alpha builds that engaging the flipper when the ball was closer to the flipper axis would result in a weak shot.  I've been focusing on fixing this over the past few days and after carefully going through many things step by step I believe it is now solved.  Props to jimmyfingers for being the first to call me out on this inaccuracy.

 

This video below shows much improved shot strength when launching the ball from the middle of the flipper or closer to its axis (aiming up the middle of the playfield) compared to the last one I posted.  

 

With that said, my overall flipper strength isn't dialed in quite right yet.  What I'd like to do is get some data taken from a real world solid state era pinball machine.  From an existing source if there is one or figure out a way to capture it if not.  I recently posted the following on reddit's r/pinball ...

 

Any pinball owners have ability to measure angular velocity of the flippers? (self.pinball)

 

I'm continuing work on "Pinball Labs", my VR and virtual cabinet pinball simulator, editor and API. Realistic physic simulation is priority number one for me. My flipper physics are accurate but I'm wanting to dial in precise angular velocities taken form a real world machine. I understand these will vary across machines but I'm just looking for something from the solid state era (if I got to pick, Fish Tales would be perfect). Given that someone with a real pinball table likely has a lot of equipment and tools for electronics and mechanical tinkering I figured one of you might have a high speed camera, stroboscope or some other device that could be used to accurately capture the angular velocity of the flipper. I would need both the positive angular velocity when the flipper is engaged and the negative angular velocity when released.

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome work! 

physical are excellent so I can see in the video, I think you will have many looks closely with your project.

 

I did not read the whole thread but Pinball Labs will have an editor to create or recreate tables?

 

I congratulate you again for your great work and feel free to ask about any questions you have, VPF there are many scholars who can help.

 

 

 

Cheers, Javier..

Edited by javier1515, 11 October 2015 - 06:28 PM.

[zany]

Looks really amazing!
What about dead bounces?

[Ben Logan]

I'd love to see a Javier / Pinball Labs table in the future. We play your tables around the house frequently, Javier. I'm a fan.

Edited by Ben Logan, 11 October 2015 - 08:10 PM.

[blashyrk]

Or how about flick passes?
I would love to be able to perform advanced flipper tricks for even more authenticity

Edited by blashyrk, 11 October 2015 - 09:17 PM.

[Ben Logan]

While we're on the subject of flipper tricks - Things like tap passes that require the flipper NOT to go through the full throw of its arc are so often tougher to accomplish on virtual pinball simply because I find it difficult to release and re-tap the flipper button quickly enough to keep from triggering a full-throw of the flipper. Real pins (especially old EMs) almost seem to have pressure sensitive flippers (though I'm sure this isn't the case) that allow the player to communicate "tap pass intended" vs "full throw wanted" more easily.

Does a remedy for this (assuming anyone agrees with my description of the problem) start with a script that calls for a greater amount of time between depressed flipper release and retriggering the button to deliver full throw of the arc?

Man - I labored to describe that. Hope it was semi-coherent!

Edited by Ben Logan, 11 October 2015 - 09:25 PM.

[ScottyVH]

That's a coherent description, Ben Logan. I think you are describing be "magic "of a pinball machine. Emulating this realism in a virtual machine is a challenge for sure. I'm way out of my league so I'll let the experts comment as to whether or not this is possible. Frankly, half of what I've seen so far I would have thought was impossible!

Edited by ScottyVH, 12 October 2015 - 03:39 AM.

[dboyrecords]

Just tried it out on my cab and I'm really impressed! Can't wait to see where this goes! Thanks

[lodger]

This was a really cool proof of concept- I look forward to seeing what the engine can do with a bit of tuning! I'd love to develop on this platform!