38 replies to this topic

[settingsons]

This might be interesting some some. While browsing the Zen forums someone asked if Cabinet mode is going to be supported in the PC version.

The rep said they are working on the PC version and no features are confirmed yet, however another member posted that he got the Windows 8 Pinball FX2 table to work fullscreen by rotating the display in Windows 8. There are screenshots and a video - although they are not very clear it does look like Pinball FX that is running in the cab:

https://skydrive.liv...FDC1A64CE3E!493

and the forum post is here:

https://forum.zenstu...cabinet-support

Lets hope they eventually support cabs officially and in XP.

[jhoff80]

I didn't realize this was under question. Yeah, if you rotate the screen to portrait mode, which I do on my tablet running Windows 8, then it does show a fullscreen layout which would probably work well on a cabinet.

[epthegeek]

I may put the release preview on my cabinet just to try this out. 8)

Update: DOH! Pinball FX2 isn't included in the "Release Preview" version you can get from MS now.

Edited by epthegeek, 02 October 2012 - 12:46 AM.

[epthegeek]

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Attached Files

•  pfx2.jpg   252.35KB   219 downloads

[settingsons]

I didn't realize this was under question. Yeah, if you rotate the screen to portrait mode, which I do on my tablet running Windows 8, then it does show a fullscreen layout which would probably work well on a cabinet.

I had no idea but that is good to know. I forgot that Windows 8 is tablet friendly so that makes sense. Thanks!

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Nice one epthegeek! Thanks for the photo as well- I hadn't heard of this at all and I am surprised no-one including the Zen reps have mentioned it before. So does the PFX2 software actually have a portrait mode in the options, or do you achieve it by rotating the windows display settings?

Also for me PFX2 doesn't give me the true pinball experience like I get with VP and PA, however since the kids got an XBox depending on my mood I do enjoy playing some of these fantasy tables which I am too lazy to get up off the sofa. I turn off the arcade effects like the ball trailing which I can't tolerate - I can imagine that playing it FS in a cabinet with force feedback and a second screen would still be an enjoyable experience so I look forward to an XP version if they release one.

Sorry one more question . What O/S does your cab normally run and does the release preview dual-boot or something?

Edited by settingsons, 02 October 2012 - 05:38 PM.

[epthegeek]

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Nice one epthegeek! Thanks for the photo as well- I hadn't heard of this at all and I am surprised no-one including the Zen reps have mentioned it before. So does the PFX2 software actually have a portrait mode in the options, or do you achieve it by rotating the windows display settings?

Also for me PFX2 doesn't give me the true pinball experience like I get with VP and PA, however since the kids got an XBox depending on my mood I do enjoy playing some of these fantasy tables which I am too lazy to get up off the sofa. I turn off the arcade effects like the ball trailing which I can't tolerate - I can imagine that playing it FS in a cabinet with force feedback and a second screen would still be an enjoyable experience so I look forward to an XP version if they release one.

Sorry one more question . What O/S does your cab normally run and does the release preview dual-boot or something?

You put windows into rotated portrait mode before you start the game. I had win7 on my cabinet before this, and was thinking about redoing it as XP to try to boost VP performance, so I figured since I was going to rebuild it anyway, I'd try this win 8 thing.

One of the zen guys said on their forums that it's windows 8 only for the foreseeable future -- as it's a metro app.

I turn off the floating score junk but left the ball trails on for now.

Edited by epthegeek, 02 October 2012 - 06:23 PM.

[jhoff80]

The only problem for cabinets is that you can't fully customize the buttons being used. It only lets you alternate between a few selections for the controls. Not really an issue, but something else to keep in mind, is that there's only a limited number of tables on the Windows 8 version right now. You can't get all 30 that you can get on the Xbox, just Sorcerer's Lair, Mars, Epic Quest, and four Marvel ones (Avengers, World War Hulk, Fear Itself, and the Infinity Gauntlet). I'm sure that will change as Windows 8 gets closer to general availability at the end of the month. As of right now, Epic Quest and Sorcerer's Lair are the only good ones, as far as I'm concerned, but neither is all that realistic. Also, sorry I didn't see this sooner, but there IS an evaluation version of Windows 8 that can be used for 90 days. However, at the end of that 90 days, you cannot upgrade it to a licensed version, you have to re-install a final version instead: http://msdn.microsof...r/jj554510.aspx Oh, and last thing, Pinball FX2 itself is free, but that only includes the Mars table. The rest must be purchased separately.

Edited by jhoff80, 03 October 2012 - 04:36 AM.

[settingsons]

Thanks for the extra info jhoff80. I didn't realise they are selling extra tables already for the PC version. The motherboard just went on my mame cab and I think I might end up re-installing windows, so I am tempted to give the W8 a test run. Just need to find the time now.....

Cheers
Vic

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Nice one epthegeek! Thanks for the photo as well- I hadn't heard of this at all and I am surprised no-one including the Zen reps have mentioned it before. So does the PFX2 software actually have a portrait mode in the options, or do you achieve it by rotating the windows display settings?

Also for me PFX2 doesn't give me the true pinball experience like I get with VP and PA, however since the kids got an XBox depending on my mood I do enjoy playing some of these fantasy tables which I am too lazy to get up off the sofa. I turn off the arcade effects like the ball trailing which I can't tolerate - I can imagine that playing it FS in a cabinet with force feedback and a second screen would still be an enjoyable experience so I look forward to an XP version if they release one.

Sorry one more question . What O/S does your cab normally run and does the release preview dual-boot or something?

You put windows into rotated portrait mode before you start the game. I had win7 on my cabinet before this, and was thinking about redoing it as XP to try to boost VP performance, so I figured since I was going to rebuild it anyway, I'd try this win 8 thing.

One of the zen guys said on their forums that it's windows 8 only for the foreseeable future -- as it's a metro app.

I turn off the floating score junk but left the ball trails on for now.

Shame about it just being W8. Yes - the floating scores are a must go.......now just need to remove the characters walking around the table and then it will be more like real pinball

Edited by settingsons, 03 October 2012 - 06:09 PM.

[jhoff80]

Thanks for the extra info jhoff80. I didn't realise they are selling extra tables already for the PC version. The motherboard just went on my mame cab and I think I might end up re-installing windows, so I am tempted to give the W8 a test run. Just need to find the time now.....

One last thing you might want to consider is that you can install to a Virtual Hard Disk, a file saved on your physical hard drive, that can just be deleted whenever you want to get rid of Windows 8. It's a slightly more complicated process, but it's described well here: http://www.hanselman...alHardDisk.aspx (Despite being instructions about the consumer preview, they still apply to the final versions).

[settingsons]

Thanks for the extra info jhoff80. I didn't realise they are selling extra tables already for the PC version. The motherboard just went on my mame cab and I think I might end up re-installing windows, so I am tempted to give the W8 a test run. Just need to find the time now.....

One last thing you might want to consider is that you can install to a Virtual Hard Disk, a file saved on your physical hard drive, that can just be deleted whenever you want to get rid of Windows 8. It's a slightly more complicated process, but it's described well here: http://www.hanselman...alHardDisk.aspx (Despite being instructions about the consumer preview, they still apply to the final versions).

Nice idea - I will take a look at that - thanks again

[rob046]

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Hey how can I get this? Is there any possible way to install the exe on windows 7? Or, if I do choose to try windows 8, until now I thought they only had Sorcerers Lair playable. But your screenshot shows Avengers. What is going on with this game?

[epthegeek]

Full win 8 will be out on the 26th. The standard "Release Preview" doesn't have the game with it, nor does it show up in the store. It's metro only, so it won't run on win7. The marvel tables, and a few others are available for purchase - only 'mars' is free.

[rob046]

So how do I get the game like you & everybody else are talking about? I guess I can wait til the 26th.... but I'd rather not!

[FrankT]

Well, I had no idea they'd packaged Pinball FX 2 with an earlier Win8 release!!

[mucpin]

Have you successfully bought additional tables? I'm using the german RTM version of Windows 8 and the purchase fails all the time.

[epthegeek]

Have you successfully bought additional tables? I'm using the german RTM version of Windows 8 and the purchase fails all the time.

Well it let me buy that avengers table I used in the picture. That was the only one I tried.

[settingsons]

I have still yet to try and set this up in my cabinet - haven't managed due to lack of time. I really want to leave the current XP config as is because everything is running so well and I don't want to rock the boat in case it sinks.

Has anyone got else got Pinball FX2 running under Windows 8 in a cabinet, and how are you managing it? Pure W8, a dual boot setup, virtualisation, booting from USB drive, etc. Would be great to hear some experiences.

I just bought a copy of W8 for 30 euros using the upgrade option. It sounds like you need to have a existing valid licence in XP or W7 to install it though (as it is an upgrade), but I don't want to mess around with the cabinet XP install, so I think I need to re-install the XP on another drive, and install on top of that. I tell you what MS don't make it easy....

[settingsons]

a couple of more posts can be found over on the Zen forums below. Looks like a 'proper' PC version with cab support may surface next year....

https://forum.zenstu...cabinet-support

[Sir Cheddar]

a couple of more posts can be found over on the Zen forums below. Looks like a 'proper' PC version with cab support may surface next year....

Boy, do I hope so. I don't see how HyperPin could start a TIFKAM application. Also, dual screen support...

[Joe]

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

Managed to wrangle up a RTM version of Win8 from a developer friend of mine. The portrait mode PFX2 works just fine on a cabinet. Still plays like PFX2 of course *cough* but it works fine. The only bummer about it is navigating the menus you have to use the mouse/keyboard.

I have a full copy of 8 in a VM don't like the new UI and VM's are poor at 3d video.