131 replies to this topic

[endeemillr]

I finished Tiki Bob.  Did away with the FlexDMD folder and had to add a few sound effects.  I am most proud for my system of using a spritesheet to add animations in 1 sec chunks which will be super helpful in the future. I've been in touch with the author who gave some good ideas for extra animations, who should be including this in an update, but we'll see.  In the meantime, if anyone is interested, here is the file so far.

https://drive.google...?usp=drive_link

[freneticamnesic]

I've just discovered all this, I'm having a great time. Thanks for presenting this idea scutters and sharing what you've learned. I appreciate you compiling the list of mods and tables that have had this implemented, I just grabbed a bunch of tables I probably wouldn't have know about otherwise.

 

endeemillr cool mod to Tiki Bob as well as Gorgar. Thanks.

[scutters]

Space Station (Williams System 11B)

 

 

https://www.vpforums...&showfile=18562

Edited by scutters, 20 August 2024 - 08:15 PM.

[Ltek]

Hi Scutters and team!

Your info on FlexDMD is amazing but I'm in over my head, hoping someone could help with the Fallout table?   I have very basic display working but when I try to do something more interesting, like you did with Aliens 2.0, I'm in over my head. Would you be willing to help and at the same time I can learn?   the ROM is Swords of Fury (Williams)

 

Please LMK as we are updating Fallout over the next week or so... VR goes in today/tomorrow and nFozzy/Fleep soon after.

 

tia!

[scutters]

 

Hi Scutters and team!

Your info on FlexDMD is amazing but I'm in over my head, hoping someone could help with the Fallout table?   I have very basic display working but when I try to do something more interesting, like you did with Aliens 2.0, I'm in over my head. Would you be willing to help and at the same time I can learn?   the ROM is Swords of Fury (Williams)

 

Please LMK as we are updating Fallout over the next week or so... VR goes in today/tomorrow and nFozzy/Fleep soon after.

 

tia!

 

 

Swords of fury is a system 11B so the code in space station a couple of posts up might help (and it does have an effect similar to the Aliens dmd with the background)

If that doesn't help send me a message and i can have a look. If you already have a wip you can share with an idea of what you want it to do and what's not working then include all that info with a link to the table file. Hopefully we can get it working!

[endeemillr]

It will help to know what "more interesting" means. Start with the ultimate fantasy goal, and then figure out the small things in between you'd like to add for fun.

[Ltek]

 

 

Hi Scutters and team!

Your info on FlexDMD is amazing but I'm in over my head, hoping someone could help with the Fallout table?   I have very basic display working but when I try to do something more interesting, like you did with Aliens 2.0, I'm in over my head. Would you be willing to help and at the same time I can learn?   the ROM is Swords of Fury (Williams)

 

Please LMK as we are updating Fallout over the next week or so... VR goes in today/tomorrow and nFozzy/Fleep soon after.

 

tia!

 

 

Swords of fury is a system 11B so the code in space station a couple of posts up might help (and it does have an effect similar to the Aliens dmd with the background)

If that doesn't help send me a message and i can have a look. If you already have a wip you can share with an idea of what you want it to do and what's not working then include all that info with a link to the table file. Hopefully we can get it working!

 

Sending you a DM. thx!

[Ltek]

Reference Code for 2*7 alphanumeric + 2*7 numeric segment to FlexDMD display

 

Tested only with ROM swrds_l2 from table Swords of Fury (Williams)

 

code... https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

video... https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

 

thanks to @scutters for his work making this happen, without him, it would not have gotten done properly!

 

 

Edited by Ltek, 17 August 2024 - 05:51 PM.

[Roadblock]

Hi Ltek,

 

I tried adding your code to the Fallout table but I got this error:

Line: 1308
Could not find a part of the path 'C:\VPX_108DX\tables\Fallout.FlexDMD\udmd-f6by12.fnt'.

 

Can you share the Fallout.FlexDMD folder?

 

Thanks, Roadblock

[scutters]

Hi Ltek,

 

I tried adding your code to the Fallout table but I got this error:

Line: 1308
Could not find a part of the path 'C:\VPX_108DX\tables\Fallout.FlexDMD\udmd-f6by12.fnt'.

 

Can you share the Fallout.FlexDMD folder?

 

Thanks, Roadblock

 

It was still a wip and part of a new table file.

 

Now released - https://vpuniverse.c...on-20-ltek-2024

 

It's a reskin using the Swords of Fury rom (Williams System 11B).

 

Of most note to this thread - Ltek's included a couple of extra bits of functionality;

• Option for 128x32 or a 256x64 FlexDMD to display rom data
• Table script includes changing some alphanumeric rom text to custom text (better fitting the the table theme). 

Both of these may be of use/interest to others. See the table script for details.

[endeemillr]

I am working on a Christmas theme to use with all my themed tables:

Ice Age (skateball mod)

Christmas (arkon 1980) Playboy mod

Charlie Brown

JP's the Grinch

 

Ice age and Christmas are both rom based and they have a similar LED update routine that is different from the tables I have that work with these flex dmds. The commented lines are the original and I replaced them with the script below. With ice age this works except it kills the leds in the desktop table and my flippers get stuck or don't respond!  Is there an obvious fix?  The main difference between the two is the original does not use the "num" variable. I don't understand the routine at all, or how it controls LEDs. If there is not an obvious fix, can anyone help if I share the files?

 

'Sub UpdateLeds

 '   On Error Resume Next

  '  Dim ChgLED, ii, jj, chg, stat

   ' ChgLED = Controller.ChangedLEDs(&HFF, &HFFFF)

    'If Not IsEmpty(ChgLED)Then

     '   For ii = 0 To UBound(ChgLED)

      '      chg = chgLED(ii, 1):stat = chgLED(ii, 2)

       '     For jj = 0 to 10

        '        If stat = Patterns(jj)OR stat = Patterns2(jj)then Digits(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue jj

         '   Next

        'Next

    'End IF

'End Sub

 

Sub UpdateLeds

    On Error Resume Next

Dim ChgLED,ii,num,chg,stat,obj

ChgLED=Controller.ChangedLEDs  (&Hffffffff, &Hffffffff)

If Not IsEmpty(ChgLED) Then

For ii=0 To UBound(chgLED)

num=chgLED(ii,0):chg=chgLED(ii,1):stat=chgLED(ii,2)

If UseFlexDMD then UpdateFlexChar num, stat

For Each obj In Digits(num)

If chg And 1 Then obj.State=stat And 1

chg=chg\2:stat=stat\2

Next

Next

If UseFlexDMD then FlexDMDUpdate

End If

End Sub

[scutters]

 

Ice age and Christmas are both rom based and they have a similar LED update routine that is different from the tables I have that work with these flex dmds. The commented lines are the original and I replaced them with the script below. With ice age this works except it kills the leds in the desktop table and my flippers get stuck or don't respond!  Is there an obvious fix?  The main difference between the two is the original does not use the "num" variable. I don't understand the routine at all, or how it controls LEDs. If there is not an obvious fix, can anyone help if I share the files?

 

 

This looks like it might work as a like for like replacement (i don't have the tables so it's untested)

 

Sub UpdateLeds

    On Error Resume Next

    Dim ChgLED, ii, jj, chg, stat, num

    ChgLED = Controller.ChangedLEDs(&HFF, &HFFFF)

    If Not IsEmpty(ChgLED)Then

        For ii = 0 To UBound(ChgLED)

            chg = chgLED(ii, 1):stat = chgLED(ii, 2):num=chgLED(ii,0)

            If UseFlexDMD then UpdateFlexChar num, stat

            For jj = 0 to 10

                If stat = Patterns(jj)OR stat = Patterns2(jj)then Digits(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue jj

            Next

        Next

        If UseFlexDMD then FlexDMDUpdate

    End IF

End Sub

 

If it doesn't work then the main difference remaining is the mask values being passed to ChangedLEDs (the &HFF*** values), which control how much data (LED range) is returned, so you could also try updating them too.

Edited by scutters, 05 December 2024 - 07:18 AM.

[endeemillr]

That is a lifesaver! It is enough to get everything to work, sort of!  The desktop display now works as does the flexdmd.  However there are significant quirks. The flippers frequently do not respond or get stuck, and often the ball does not launch. I think a timer routine must be working overtime or something.  If I may beg for some more assistance, here is the file complete:

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

[scutters]

That is a lifesaver! It is enough to get everything to work, sort of!  The desktop display now works as does the flexdmd.  However there are significant quirks. The flippers frequently do not respond or get stuck, and often the ball does not launch. I think a timer routine must be working overtime or something.  If I may beg for some more assistance, here is the file complete:

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

 

Weird, i played it for 15mins on RC6 without any issue. I did get an error at startup about a missing mp3 which i just ignored, but can't see that being a factor.

 

Does the problem for you only occur when flex is enabled?

 

All i can suggest is maybe moving the 'If UseFlexDMD Then FlexDMD_Init' line to the first line of Table1_Init (before vpmInit me) and/or to move the call to UpdateLeds from LampTimer_Timer to a new timer event with an interval of 40 or something like that which should fix the problem if it is a timer thing.

Edited by scutters, 06 December 2024 - 10:32 AM.

[endeemillr]

 

Wow! I can't believe something as simple as putting the init flex line further up solved the issue! Thanks! Now to add a little animated snow to the background and see if I can transfer everything to the Christmas table too.  That one has a strange display timer as well.  The score display is six digit, but looking below, is it actually outputting 7 digits? I don't know why the tempcount +128 section is in there.

 

Sub DisplayTimer_Timer ' 7-Digit output

    On Error Resume Next

    Dim ChgLED,ii,chg,stat,obj,TempCount,temptext,adj

 

    ChgLED = Controller.ChangedLEDs(&HFF, &HFFFF) 'hex of binary (display 111111, or first 6 digits)

    If Not IsEmpty(ChgLED) Then

        For ii = 0 To UBound(ChgLED)

            chg = chgLED(ii, 1) : stat = chgLED(ii, 2)

            For TempCount = 0 to 10

                If stat = DisplayPatterns(TempCount) then

                    aSDO(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue(TempCount+LEDMod)

                    DigStorage(chgLED(ii, 0)) = TempCount

                End If

                If stat = (DisplayPatterns(TempCount) + 128) then

                    aSDO(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue(TempCount+11+LEDMod)

                    DigStorage(chgLED(ii, 0)) = TempCount

                End If

            Next

        Next

    End IF

End Sub

Edited by endeemillr, 06 December 2024 - 03:28 PM.

[scutters]

 

Wow! I can't believe something as simple as putting the init flex line further up solved the issue! Thanks! Now to add a little animated snow to the background and see if I can transfer everything to the Christmas table too.  That one has a strange display timer as well.  The score display is six digit, but looking below, is it actually outputting 7 digits? I don't know why the tempcount +128 section is in there.

 

 

Nice.. glad that worked for you!

 

For the Christmas table, maybe it's one of those roms that has 6 digit scoring and 7 digit scoring versions available?. Anyway give this a go a replacement sub (i've no idea what else is going on in there either!);

 

 Sub DisplayTimer_Timer ' 7-Digit output

    On Error Resume Next

    Dim ChgLED,ii,chg,stat,obj,TempCount,temptext,adj,num

 

    ChgLED = Controller.ChangedLEDs(&HFF, &HFFFF) 'hex of binary (display 111111, or first 6 digits)

    If Not IsEmpty(ChgLED) Then

        For ii = 0 To UBound(ChgLED)

           num=chgLED(ii,0): chg = chgLED(ii, 1) : stat = chgLED(ii, 2)

          If UseFlexDMD then UpdateFlexChar num, stat

            For TempCount = 0 to 10

                If stat = DisplayPatterns(TempCount) then

                    aSDO(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue(TempCount+LEDMod)

                    DigStorage(chgLED(ii, 0)) = TempCount

                End If

                If stat = (DisplayPatterns(TempCount) + 128) then

                    aSDO(chgLED(ii, 0)).SetValue(TempCount+11+LEDMod)

                    DigStorage(chgLED(ii, 0)) = TempCount

                End If

            Next

        Next

        If UseFlexDMD then FlexDMDUpdate

    End IF

End Sub

Edited by scutters, 06 December 2024 - 05:32 PM.

[endeemillr]

Much appreciated! Got my snowfall working and ice age is good to go. Going to try to script the others this weekend.

[endeemillr]

 

Merry Christmas All!  Scutters saved my bacon yet another time by fixing my script for me!

This is a DMD that works for all of my favorite Christmas tables.  Just have to drop the Christmas folder and the 3 .vbs scripts into your table folder and they will work.  The .vbs files need to be the same name as the table file and were designed specifically to go with the tables listed.  The script is flexible and if you follow the instructions in this thread you can apply them to many tables with a little tweaking. This will work with:

A Charlie Brown Christmas feat. Vince Guaraldi (iDigStuff 2023) 1.1

Ice Age Christmas

The Grinch (Original 2022) pinballfan2018

Christmas Pinball (Arkon 1980) MOD v4.1 VPX7.2

 

Please share any bugs, and please borrow and modify the script as you wish. I think this is such a fun addition to any solid state or EM table.

 

https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

[endeemillr]

Had an idea for a Cylon display, not sure there was even a table to go with it!  Sure enough found that Zenonph created one and even better that it was based on Scorpion, one of my favorites!  How can one man be behind so many cool tables?

As usual if anyone wants to use my stuff or modify it you're welcome!

Zenon released my version along with an old one of scutters (I think) Very fun to see everything incorporated!

Edited by endeemillr, 07 June 2025 - 02:12 AM.

[endeemillr]

Another one, this time for the Tenacious D mod Firepower II.  Another variation of @scutters awesome fire digit display.  I felt the need to add balls left and player numbers to this one.  I never felt the need for a flex display to replace a backglass, but rather provide a pretty animation to look at with the most important info. I love how the score display goes crazy on this one when a ball is locked!

https://vpuniverse.c...ous-d-flex-mod/