9 replies to this topic

[DDH69]

DOFLinx Version 3 is released and can be downloaded here.

 

DOFLinx is the new name for DOFFX2.  The reason for the name change, well the utility start life just adding some flipper sounds for PinBall FX2, so DOF (Direct Output Framework) FX2 (Pinball FX2) seemed like a good idea.  Now because it does so much more with so many more emulators the name became misleading.

 

A BIG THANK YOU to TerryRed, GInsonic and doogie2301 for their support, suggestions and testing.

 

So what does V3 do?

• Well there are fixes to the mandatory bugs that added to software by the careless fool who wrote it.  Read about them all in the Update Notes.
• There are minor enhancements
  • You can now force devices to be disconnected from DOFLinx in between when they are in use, this can help if you have multiple programs trying to “talk” to your controller.  (Note SainSmart has always done this as it can only handle one master at a time)
  • New COLOUR_STYLE’s of RANDOM_DIFF and RAINBOW_DIFF
  • A new valid colour is now “Random”
  • KL25Z devices are now working as they should
  • GAME_NAME= can be set via real-time messaging
  • The window is re-sizable for easier reading of messages
  • A few helpful right-click options have been added while in debug mode
  • Sort out non-printable characters in Pinball FX2 window names
  • A complete set of PinBall FX2 colours are in the sample INI file thanks to Vizzini
  • BUTTON_ON_COLOUR= has been added to turn on RGB lit buttons to any colour
  • A “Night Mode” has been added to suppress noisy devices once the family have gone to sleep

• One major enhancement of adding real-time bi-directional messages between Future Pinball and DOFLinx.  This allows for
  • FP tables to be scripted to drive most force feedback toys and lighting …. Wait, “wow” should be the words about now!  Thanks to those smart people who created the Direct Output Framework and Future Pinball and FP tables, this little bit of “glue” now allows FP tables to drive devices and lighting via PacLed64, SainSmart, LedWiz and KL25Z devices all in the same way by device type and without FP needing to know what is connected where, etc
  • FP messages DOFLinx and it then drives the devices for fading and flashing, etc.  This allows for very small time increments (below the 100ms FP effective minimum) allowing for super smooth fading and fast flashing on multiple devices at once.
  • The scripting is done in such a way that authors can ensure that when the link is not active (ie people don’t have a cabinet or toys) that the FP table plays as it always has with local sounds, etc.  As such code can be added and a single version of the FP table maintained.

[GInsonic]

Congratulations to V 3.0, it is a REAL improvement and an ingenious piece of software ! It was an honor and pleasure to help 

[TerryRed]

This is too cool!  

 

So to those who are new to virtual pinball, Future Pinball, VP, DOF or those who didn't bother with either before....

 

Up until now, the only support Future Pinball had for cabinets was Led-Wiz. While it is an awesome thing to have and some tables out there do support it, alot of people with cabinets simply use other hardware and contollers and would not have this option. Now if someone wants to put in the effort and time to add cabinet support to any Future Pinball table... that work can now be enjoyed by ANYONE who has a PACLED64, Sainsmart "USB", and KL25Z! They also don't have to worry about support for possible future hardware needing to be added into the table afterward because of the excellent design of DOFLinx combined with the excellent DOF!

 

That's on top of the excellent support for keyboard controlled feedback and lighting for ANY program out there! That means you can have flipper feedback and RGB lighting feedback for programs like Pinball FX2, The Pinball Arcade, Zaccaria, Pro Pinball, MAME, as well simple keyboard controlled feedback for Future Pinball even without any scripting if you want!

 

These are exciting times, and I am proud to have been able to help and I am excited to see its birth!

 

Bring on the DOFLinx'd Future Pinball tables!

Edited by TerryRed, 13 September 2016 - 12:41 PM.

[sasa12345]

Big tnx

[Vizzini]

Thanks for the update and additional features DDH69!

 

I must be missing something though. V3 does not seem to see the FX2 process. I currently have the ini with only PROCESSES=Pinball FX2. I've tried to comment it out too. FORCE_ACTIVE=0. Files are unblocked and set to run as admin. Log below. 2.4 is working fine. I did a line by line ini comparison V3 and 2.4. If I use FORCE_ACTIVE=1, my toys do come alive. FX2 still not recognized. Windows 10. Set LUA=0 as well. Ideas? 

 

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - DOF Linx for Pinball Emulators - DOFLinx by DDH69

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - Starting up - version 3.0

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - 1 LEDWiz device(s) found

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - DOFLinx device: 1 Initializing as LEDWiz #1 with ID=0

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - DOFLinx device:1 LEDWiz setup with 32 outputs

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - 0 FTDI (Sainsmart) device(s) found

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - Reading DOFLinx.INI startup config file details

14-Sep-16 19:24:52 - Reading DOF config file

[Vizzini]

Working!

 

I had some test GAME_COLOUR= tests for FP I copied over from the 2.4 ini. Once I deleted those it started to recognize the FX2 process and table names.

[BritXpatUSA]

Whoop Whoop!

This is excellent...Congrats DDH69....awesome work...Good to see other jumping in to help also..

Back from travel so managed to get some building time from the wife and children...

will be installing this release over the weekend.....ill report back..

[BritXpatUSA]

Has anyone got any pictures/guide/urls for wiring...
Looking for intimate IO, sainsmart, flashers and programmable RGB info.
I have evything working apart from the RGB and I'm not sure I have the correct wires done on the sainssmart.
Thanks!


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[Vizzini]

DDH69. I had some time to have another go at trying to set up the GAME_NAME= command for use with FP and custom colors. I'm happy to report it is working great as you said it would in the 3.0 release! 3.02 as well. Sweet.

 

Also, I was having the issue of needing to do the LUA workaround to get the exe to launch at startup: http://www.vpforums....=35349&p=353159

 

However, disabling LUA also caused windows (10) to complain about opening media files with an administrator's account...which was getting annoying when setting up table media. I got the exe to launch successfully at startup with LUA = 1 by adding the following lines to the PinballX batch file in the startup folder. A similar approach to that which Carny_Priest suggested in that thread. Hope that helps someone. Just change the path to where your Directoutput folder is, guys.

 

@echo off

cd D:\Directoutput

start "" DOFLinx.exe

 

I haven't had a chance to mess with the flag files or the FP link just yet. I'm sure that will be fun. Thanks again for all your work on this!

[marie]

WOW! Great developments for FP! Thank you all for your great work on this!