2087 replies to this topic

[aupton]

 

I've only recently become aware of this amazing initiative and its progress. For the past year I've mostly been focusing on Future Pinball tables. Between Unity3D and VP with DX I'm excited to fire up my cabinet again this weekend and test out all the exciting progress!

 

However, please forgive my ignorance, but I'm curious why the focus is on DX9 when DX11 has been out for a few years now and DX12 was just announced by Microsoft? Is it a simpler path from Direct Draw to DX9 or something entirely different? I'm legitimately curious and interested to learn why.

 

Thank you Mukuste and all that have contributed!

 

That's pretty much it, porting from DX7 to DX9 was just easier than going directly to DX11. The main change wasn't really in the rendering API, but in the methodology (from mainly sprite-based to rendering true 3D objects). DX9 is old, but still very well supported and basically does everything we need, so there just wouldn't be much of a benefit to porting to DX11 at this point. Also, DX11 isn't supported on Win XP, which some people here still seem to run.

 

 

Ahh, thanks for the detailed and quick response, very cool! Can't wait to test this out!

[randr]

All i can say is im glad to have people like jimmy fingers, mukuste, fuzzel, unclewilly, djrobx, bent98, jpsalas and all the other people involved in VP. Keeping the level of this program on the cutting edge! People are bound to have differences of opinions.. only shows the level of dedication everyone has to this hobby! 

 

Keep up the good work EVERYONE!

[Sir Cheddar]

I know I’m always now going to be disliked but even knew that was a risk when I started pushing the envelope many posts / items back in this topic

Nah, don't worry. I for one appreciate everything you done so far for us - and you have done a lot. For all that I want to thank you.

 

And anyway, what's VPF without drama? Speaking of drama, this one is lacking. We had better.

[freezy]

I don't think that there's an absence of gratitude from you or any other person for that matter. It's about the tone and the fact that you blamed Mukuste for not taking you seriously enough. As soon as people start arguing on a personal level, things go usually south and this is no exception.

 

Looking forward to the secret project though. With Pro Pinball about to come out and VP going through huge tech updates, this is going to be a great year.

[fuzzel]

Well spoken Jimmy and in my eyes you aren't public enemy no 1, maybe two but not one (just kidding ) I think a smily here and there would have made ​​it clear that you don't want to abuse Mukuste in any way.

 

Back to the topic: I checked these strange white lines again and what we see here is one of the differencies between DX7 and DX9. DX7 had a special render state "COLORKEYENABLED" where you could define a color and this color is masked out from an image. This feature was droped since DX8 because masking parts from an image is easier by using the alpha channel. The compatibility mode of DirectX emulates the color key handling with alpha blending. I made some changes in the rendering code for walls to reduce the white edges. They aren't gone though the compatibility mode seems to do a bit more but unfortunatly there is no documentation how this mode works in detail.

There is a good chance that other VP elements have the same problem because in the DX7 version of VP this color key thing was used nearly everywhere, so please check out other elements like gates, spinners etc. if these white egdes pop up there.

[kruge99]

Just wanted to say I hope no one is jumping down on anyone's heads here - we all want the same thing - an awesome virtual pinball simulator - right?  So thanks again to the awesome work of the devs and the testers!  And jimmyfingers, please remember that I'm getting old (but not as old as Bob5453! ;-) ) so try to use fewer paragraphs and fewer syllables in future posts, I literally, skipped the rest after the first three words because most of your feedback, as important as it is, is way over my head.  mukuste take all the breaks you need to recoup the karmic energies and I too am looking forward to you revealing your secret project!  Have a great weekend everyone; play pinball!!

 

Best Regards,

Todd.

[javier1515]

Hey guys!

I want to thank you for all the work accomplished, if not for you .. VP would not be at the current level.

Any news progress for the primitives collidable in movement? sorry if already discussed this issue ..

 

Again I thank you for all the work they're doing.

 

Cheers, Javier..

Edited by javier1515, 29 March 2014 - 06:44 PM.

[slashbot]

With Mukuste taking a break maybe its time to post this video?



Thanks again for everyone involved and especialy Mukuste who in my eyes lead this project to where it stands now,its realy a big step forward for the community and this all for free. we all hope the best for you.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[randr]

Nice video!


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[vampirolatino2]

group hug?!!!!! yeah!!!!

 

Keep VP alive!

[skinooe]

[DJRobX]

I looked into the Black Rose problem.  This table uses a combination of lights and drop walls to do the fading effect.   

 

This might miss some fading steps, but if you update the FadeMix routine as follows:

Sub FadeMIX(nr, a, b)
Select Case LampState(nr)
      Case 2:b.state = 0: a.isdropped = 1:LampState(nr) = 0
Case 3:b.state = 1: a.isdropped = 1:LampState(nr) = 2
Case 4:a.isdropped = 0:LampState(nr) = 3
Case 5:b.state = 0: a.isdropped = 1: LampState(nr) = 6
Case 6:a.isdropped = 0:b.state=1:LampState(nr) = 1
End Select
End Sub

It looks much better.  I'm not sure how the light was supposed to turn "on" without the "b.state=1" in case 6. 

Edited by DJRobX, 29 March 2014 - 06:13 PM.

[gigalula]

Thanks for all your energy ported to this project and always keep in mind that your decisions must to be proportional to your real fans that follow you daily and seriously you already proved your skill and I wish that you will considerer your decision in function of your real "FANS" supporter because I personally think that DX9 version is overall a big progression.

 

Must of us will probably agree that you deserve to take a break if you wish but please don't punish your fans and come back soon

With Mukuste taking a break maybe its time to post this video?



Thanks again for everyone involved and especialy Mukuste who in my eyes lead this project to where it stands now,its realy a big step forward for the community and this all for free. we all hope the best for you.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Nice man... You always fin a way to touch a small emotion when I watch your video... sometime funny and sometime emotional  

Edited by gigalula, 29 March 2014 - 06:46 PM.

[slashbot]

Can the the fixed tables for dx be posted on a dropbox so it can be shared with other members or is this forbidden?


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[fuzzel]

Here is a small update. I changed the naming back to the revision numbers as this is easier to follow in the subversion trunk. So here is a fresh VP9 DX9 rev977 test version for you guys.

The only "biggest" change which needs testing is the DX7 color key conversion on walls, gates and flashers. The rest are just some small fixes or cleanups.

 

So happy testing!

Attached Files

•  VPinball-DX9-rev977.zip   699.41KB   62 downloads

[M4ttes]

great video. Thank you very much!

[Sunskift]

VP9 DX9 rev977 fails as soon as I try to launch a table. Going back to good old Test 13.

[DJRobX]

Can the the fixed tables for dx be posted on a dropbox so it can be shared with other members or is this forbidden?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Modification of tables is a touchy subject.  Some authors are fine, some are not, some require permission.   Probably doesn't make sense to release mods when the underlying issues might improve with later builds.   Good example of that is the Monopoly light board - in test12 it required a mod, in test13 it works out of the box. 

Edited by DJRobX, 29 March 2014 - 09:31 PM.

[ronaldvg]

The new DX9 version works here perfectly. This in response to the other post which states that it does not work.

[bent98]

 

Can the the fixed tables for dx be posted on a dropbox so it can be shared with other members or is this forbidden?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Modification of tables is a touchy subject.  Some authors are fine, some are not, some require permission.   Probably doesn't make sense to release mods when the underlying issues might improve with later builds.   Good example of that is the Monopoly light board - in test12 it required a mod, in test13 it works out of the box. 

 

 

 

I agree but I do think once we have a final DX9 release the effected tables should be released with the fixes, officially on the site. Possible make a subdownload release sectioncalled modded DX9 compatibility download section. Some new community rules should be put in place to mod the table strictly for compatibility and but still respect the integrity of the authors original  work.  I seem to remember a thread where Naoh did this for some tables that were not originally compatible with the Nanotech plungers way back when or at least talked about planning on doing it. 

Edited by bent98, 29 March 2014 - 10:39 PM.