21 replies to this topic

[guatoguy]

I use Vista. wasn't my choice but it's what I'm stuck with for now. I have tried Visual Pinball, Visual PinMame, tried every guide (how much longer and more confusing can they be?) and I get nothing. Is visual pinball made to be confusing and difficult to install in order to keep it exclusive? All other emulators you simply download and install as one program and then collect ROMs. Why does this pinball stuff have to be separated into 2 or three programs that have to work in conjunction? Why do we have to download the fonts and sounds separately and make sure we have them all in the right folders? Why can't Visual Pinball be as simple as any other program or emulator out there? I understand it can be used to design my own table. What if I don't care to do that? What if I simply want to play the games? Before you write me off as a complete idiot, consider the fact that I may be a genius with ADD who can't focus long enough to download 4 or 5 different things and do EXACTLY what the tutorials say only to still have issues and not be able to play a damned game. Does there exist a simple emulator that will let me play pinball games without being so complicated and difficult to install or offering me the even more confusing option to create my own tables? Call me a noob if you will but until you make this program more accessible to the general public you will continue to keep both visual pinball and actual pinball an exclusive (and therefore dying) hobby.

[Sabbat]

Chill, its not that hard and you are rude as F***. There is a lot more to Visual Pinball then any other Emulator out there. Serously i've told GIRLS about visual pinball and they set it up no problem...There really is no excuse to not beable to set this program up.

On Windows Vista and 7 make sure you run the program as administrator.

EDIT: Future Pinball is easier to setup but it is garbage in comparison.

Edited by Sabbat Moon, 26 November 2010 - 09:54 PM.

[Rawd]

Chill, its not that hard and you are rude as F***. There is a lot more to Visual Pinball then any other Emulator out there. Serously i've told GIRLS about visual pinball and they set it up no problem...There really is no excuse to not beable to set this program up.

On Windows Vista and 7 make sure you run the program as administrator.

EDIT: Future Pinball is easier to setup but it is garbage in comparison.

Lol. You think GIRLS are stupid or something Freddie?

It is just 2 programs:

Visual pinball and pinmame. Visual pinball runs the table, and pinmame runs the rom (for tables with roms).

Can you be more specific on what the problem is?

[Sabbat]

Chill, its not that hard and you are rude as F***. There is a lot more to Visual Pinball then any other Emulator out there. Serously i've told GIRLS about visual pinball and they set it up no problem...There really is no excuse to not beable to set this program up.

On Windows Vista and 7 make sure you run the program as administrator.

EDIT: Future Pinball is easier to setup but it is garbage in comparison.

Lol. You think GIRLS are stupid or something Freddie?

haha no, but they aren't always the most computer / gaming literate, ya know?

[TheMcD]

I use Vista. wasn't my choice but it's what I'm stuck with for now. I have tried Visual Pinball, Visual PinMame, tried every guide (how much longer and more confusing can they be?) and I get nothing.

Mind going into detail regarding that? Can't help without more exact error messages etc. Also: http://www.vpforums....u...l&f_id=2990 is the only guide you'll need. Refer to paragraph 1 - "Standard Installation" only for now.

Is visual pinball made to be confusing and difficult to install in order to keep it exclusive?

No, emulating pinball is just different.

All other emulators you simply download and install as one program and then collect ROMs. Why does this pinball stuff have to be separated into 2 or three programs that have to work in conjunction?

Two programs only: Visual Pinball - which people create and play tables with - and VPinMAME - which emulates the ROM of the pinballs.

Why do we have to download the fonts and sounds separately and make sure we have them all in the right folders?

This applies to original tables only AFAIK. Even then, it's quite simple anyway - fonts are usually packaged with the table and always go in the fonts folder. Sounds are packaged separately since they aren't necessary to play the table and always go in the sounds folder.

Why can't Visual Pinball be as simple as any other program or emulator out there? I understand it can be used to design my own table. What if I don't care to do that? What if I simply want to play the games?

Guess what? Visual Pinball isn't an emulator. It's a Pinball Construction Kit. On it's own, it can only create pinballs that have coded scripts. VPinMAME emulates the pinball ROMs. The two have to work together to be able to correctly emulate a commercial pinball. Now I don't know if integrating VPM into VP is possible - VP hasn't been open-source for that long, and I think it might violate the MAME license - but for now, you'll just have to bite through it, like every single one that has made it so far. That's what we guys are here for, I suppose. Helping guys like you to get started.

Before you write me off as a complete idiot, consider the fact that I may be a genius with ADD who can't focus long enough to download 4 or 5 different things and do EXACTLY what the tutorials say only to still have issues and not be able to play a damned game.

The first things you should download are these: 1) The VP Installer. It's linked in the tutorial. 2) A table that you want to play. 3) The fitting ROM for that table. That should be enough to get you started. After installing with the VPI, all you should have to do is: Set the VP EXE to always run as Administrator.

Does there exist a simple emulator that will let me play pinball games without being so complicated and difficult to install or offering me the even more confusing option to create my own tables?

It probably won't happen that fast, TBH. VP and VPM has been sticking together for quite some time, it probably won't be merged - reasons above.

Call me a noob if you will but until you make this program more accessible to the general public you will continue to keep both visual pinball and actual pinball an exclusive (and therefore dying) hobby.

I prefer the term "newbie". Much more neutral. Everyone's a newbie when they start out - especially with programs that go above your average installation process. That's what we guys are here for - helping. But remember: What we need are detailed problems. There's nothing worse than somebody coming in saying: "This doesn't work! Help?" VP has many different ways to show errors, but most of them have a solution.

The McD

[moogster66]

Future Pinball is easier to setup but it is garbage in comparison.

That's harsh dude. Strictly your opinion.

[blur]

guys, guys, there are actually three programs in vp installation, maybe you don't see them all but they are there.

i know it very well because few years ago i was using mame, and then found about pinmame.

pinmame is program that emulates pinball roms, i even downloaded it from pinmame web site and run it but didn't see any way to use it

that's how good instructions are on pinmame site

There is another program vpinmame - visual pinmame - it's actually just an active x control that you use to communicate with pinmame. I installed this also and couldn't do anything with it either. Actually i didn't know wtf is this - those programs have same dir tree go one over the other, should i have just one, both, different dir, same dir, ...

i have read all docs but nada, nothing, there was no link or mention of visual pinball anywhere!!!

few years later i tried again and found visual pinball (so it is third program) don't know how, don't know where but i found it, after i found it installation was easy. i'm not saying installation is easy, it was easy to me, it is not easy in general.

and when i say install is easy for me then you can imagine how difficult it is to find us, cause i was searching for years (well not all the time of course )

as for easiness of installation - answer to the first author - nobody of us cares less if this program is not going to spread so much, or if it's installation is tough, we use it and we love it, that's what matters, if you love it also we will help you to install it

we would love if install was easier, but how do you say - you don't look at gift horses teeth
and you shouldn't either

Edited by blur, 26 November 2010 - 10:09 PM.

[TheMcD]

Oh come on, that's just semantics. PinMAME is included in VPinMAME, so I say it counts as one program.

The McD

[blur]

nope,
as i said they are installed together but vpinmame is just active x control, nothing, interface
pinmame is real emulator like mame
they are in one package, but you can also download pinmame without vpinmame

[TheMcD]

Yes, but there's no VPinMAME without PinMAME. Therefore, if you talk about VPinMAME as a program, PinMAME is always included, because otherwise what's the point? So in an installation, we have 1) Visual Pinball and 2) VPinMAME (with PinMAME instantly included).

If we're just talking past each other, don't bother continuing, I have a tendency to argue about things like this in the evening for the hell of it.

The McD

[blur]

well i could agree on that but if you wanna talk we can talk

any way main part of the post was after counting programs

[destruk]

It's so simple a caveman can do it -- http://www.vpforums....u...l&f_id=2990

And then for those users who require everything to be done for them, with no understanding of what anything does, you can download the EZ Installer kit, or the VP Installer kit here: http://www.vpforums....aller_1_0_3.zip

I don't know what more you expect anyone to do short of coming to your house and clicking the mouse for you.

However, if you are really a genius - check out these websites, - pinmame.sourceforge.net and vpinball.sourceforge.net and show us how amazing you are by making it all a single-click solution.

[FDSystems]

It's so simple a caveman can do it -- http://www.vpforums....u...l&f_id=2990

And then for those users who require everything to be done for them, with no understanding of what anything does, you can download the EZ Installer kit, or the VP Installer kit here: http://www.vpforums....aller_1_0_3.zip

I don't know what more you expect anyone to do short of coming to your house and clicking the mouse for you.

However, if you are really a genius - check out these websites, - pinmame.sourceforge.net and vpinball.sourceforge.net and show us how amazing you are by making it all a single-click solution.

It´s single click: One at a time!

[Rawd]

It's so simple a caveman can do it

What, do you think cavemen were stupid or something?

[kruge99]

...after reading all of this, I don't think guatoguy will be back.

[Itchigo]

Two programs only: Visual Pinball - which people create and play tables with - and VPinMAME - which emulates the ROM of the pinballs.

I prefer the term "newbie". Much more neutral. Everyone's a newbie when they start out
The McD

I'm still a newbie because I didn't know that and I've been here a little while. I thought they were separate (but related). Then again I have very little computer experience. I know much more about the editor than what makes it work. I'll be watching this thread because my new laptop has Vista (@#%!).

Edited by Itchigo, 27 November 2010 - 02:56 AM.

[destruk]

...after reading all of this, I don't think guatoguy will be back.

After reading that he might be working on some fractal theory of the universe and get hit by a bus on the corner.

[pinball buzz]

Suggest these 3 steps if the installer is too much.

1 Buy a Nintendo Wii

2 Buy Pinball Hall of Fame Williams Collection

3 Switch on and play

[GSGregg]

I think we were visited by a prankster who just wanted to start some shit. If so.....it worked, didn't it. He/She managed to at least touch upon every rancorous smidge of pupsod that ever threatened to induce a ban.

.....any way, main part of the post was after counting programs

Maybe what should have been counted is the membership; a few minutes ago, the number of members mentioned on the HomePage was 28,721, while guatoguy checked in as #31,131. Who do you know with the chops to log an out-of-sequence number like that?

The plot thickens.....

[blur]

number of members can be much lower then last member number if you delete non active users