7 replies to this topic

[ItchyRobot]

About two years ago, I started off building a library of all the Arcade games and consoles I grew up with, using the BigBox (Launchbox) front end. Then I stumbled across the virtual pinball community; and knew I had to include some pinball tables in my build. While BigBox isn't exactly the perfect fit for portrait cabinet builds, it can be used very successfully for Desktop view users. At first I was a bit skeptical if I could get it to work; but with a lot of help from the BigBox community, I was able to get it set up exactly like I wanted. I had to track down all the artwork and add it myself (unlike all the console artwork- this is where BigBox excels), but it was well worth it to keep all my emulation in one build.

In order to get the BigBox pause menu to keep focus on the table when returing to the play field, use the following settings...
Under your Visual Pinball X emulator settings, under the Pause Screen tab, Click the On Resume tab and copy/paste the following into the field...
WinActivate ahk_class VPPlayer

Now click Okay to save.
https://drive.google...jEpc4889lAD0tPs

 

I found some great instruction cards at http://www.pinballcards.com/. Cropped them (.PNG) to only show the rules, so i could quickly bring them up during the BigBox pause screen ('Game Controls' pause theme). Who ever is putting them out is very creative. I also have some pdf's of the generic looking rules; not as cool but still very helpful for new players. I'm starting to crop those down to PNG's too. For quick, full screen viewing.

My VPX build in action: showing off the Pause theme and Instruction Cards

 

Sources: 'Colorful' Bigbox theme https://forums.launc...app.com/file...

'Game Controls' BigBox pause theme https://forums.launc...app.com/file...

Cool pinball instruction cards http://www.pinballcards.com/

Hopefully this helps others that may also want to include Pinball in their BigBox (Launchbox) builds.

Edited by ItchyRobot, 30 March 2020 - 05:23 PM.

[uptown47]

Hi ItchyRobot, this was really useful, thanks for sharing. I'm using BigBox and have a cabinet exactly the same as you. I'm loving VPX and Future Pinball though and find I'm playing those more than the arcade games at the moment.

 

I was just looking for a good "theme" video for VPX when I stumbled across your post. I didn't know anything about "instruction cards" but they're brilliant as I always find I enjoy the pinball game more if I have half an idea what I'm going for (rather than just wildly whacking the ball about).

 

Thanks again for sharing the info (love the tip about Resuming the game too!)

[CitznFish]

I just added VPX and VP9 to my bigbox. How are you guys getting the games to appear on the list? All I see is "pinball" for each game I have. No titles, nothing.  I was hoping there was a clear logo pack out there somewhere for these games but I haven't found anything yet...

 

Edited by CitznFish, 05 September 2020 - 12:48 AM.

[wiesshund]

Not 100% sure, but i think you have to set the title and the image your self for each table

For mame games, nintendo etc, it reads the roms and pulls info based on that
I dont know that they have a pinball DB set up for VPX etc.?
I could be wrong though.
We load VPX/VPT etc files, which there is no standard for, as far as launchbox goes, we dont load the ROMs directly, and some tables use no rom at all
So it can not identify the game titles from the rom or pinmame
 

 

If you have launchbox set to show say 3d boxes
then import wheel images for your tables, and set the wheel image as the 3d box
And while doing that, edit the description.

I tend to think launchbox will be quite a bit of manual setup and customization for VPX, FP, FX3 etc
but you only have to do it one time

[CitznFish]

Not 100% sure, but i think you have to set the title and the image your self for each table

For mame games, nintendo etc, it reads the roms and pulls info based on that
I dont know that they have a pinball DB set up for VPX etc.?
I could be wrong though.
We load VPX/VPT etc files, which there is no standard for, as far as launchbox goes, we dont load the ROMs directly, and some tables use no rom at all
So it can not identify the game titles from the rom or pinmame
 

 

If you have launchbox set to show say 3d boxes
then import wheel images for your tables, and set the wheel image as the 3d box
And while doing that, edit the description.

I tend to think launchbox will be quite a bit of manual setup and customization for VPX, FP, FX3 etc
but you only have to do it one time

I actually got it to work pretty well with minimal effort. on LB there is a zip with 700 clear logos for pinball games. It was made for Pinball FX2/3 but you can use it for VPX as well:

 

https://forums.launc...00-clear-logos/

 

The only thing I do not like is that there isn't much other info when spinning through the wheel. I'll keep plugging away and looking for more stuff to fill it out, but at least it's a start.

 

 

If they have a table sample it will appear, but for now that appears to be a rare instance. 

[uptown47]

It has been relatively simple for me too. I've used the Clear Logos (as linked to by Mr Fish in the previous post). I've also download some other clear logos with a silver ring around them that look really good.

 

For Future Pinball, I put all the games in folders named as I want them to show up - for instance, the folder would be The Addams Family and the .fpt table name would remain the same (so I can tell what version etc I've got).

 

Then, in Launchbox, go to import ROMs and open your main folder and search for *.fpt to only show the tables. Select all of them and add. DON'T bother asking it to harvest media from the database (as there isn't any) but the main part is select "Use Folder Name for ROM" or something similar (can't quite remember the exact wording) on the last page of settings before importing. 

 

For FX3, VPX I have had to edit the titles myself, but not a biggy as, once it's done, it's done forever.

 

For the video snap and images - Launchbox now has a built in feature using OBS Studio. I have it set up to my F12 key / F8 key. So I just start the table - press F12 and play the table. Then press F12 again and press F8 (screenshot). Then exit the table and it asks if I want to save the video and associate it with the table and that's it!

 

So, making videos is now as easy as just playing each of your tables (or there's video snaps available on the net - OR you can sometimes just download them from YouTube).

 

Hope that helps.... (all these frontends - Hyperspin / Launchbox etc end up being a bit of a labour of love but, in my experience, Launchbox/Bigbox is definitely the best).

[ItchyRobot]

I just added VPX and VP9 to my bigbox. How are you guys getting the games to appear on the list? All I see is "pinball" for each game I have. No titles, nothing.  I was hoping there was a clear logo pack out there somewhere for these games but I haven't found anything yet...

 

I manually add each table, one by one. It sounds crazy tedious, but I found it to be good for me. It teaches me better how to use Launchbox/Bigbox, and also slows me down so I get all the tables set up exactly like I want instead of a bulk import that can get screwed up in all kinds of ways if files and such are not named correctly. Here is my work flow ...

1. Download a table from one of the pinball sites.
2. Download a backglass from one of the pinball sites. (even though we cant see these with one desktop monitor, I download them anyways with the intent to eventually build a full sized table).
3. Download a transparent wheel logo from one of the pinball sites.

4. Place the table and backglass in the VPX tables folder.
5. Set up the table in VPX, tweaking the inclination, brightness, etc. I also record a quick video of me playing it to use in Launchbox. Once I get the table and DMD setup like I want, I then place the VPX clear wheel image and video I created in the Launch box folders  (image goes here... Z:\LaunchBox\Images\Visual Pinball X\Clear Logo ... videos go here ... Z:\LaunchBox\Videos\Visual Pinball X). Make sure to name the image and video the same as the name of the table... see next step about naming.
6. Open Launchbox, go to your Visual Pinball X platform, then drag and drop the pinball table from the VPX 'Tables' folder into the Launchbox/Visual Pinball X platform window. You probably can use the tool bars to do this too. When the Launchbox prompt asks, choose to leave the rom (.vpx) file in its current location. The last Launchbox prompt will allow you to edit the table name ... I usually shorten it to something logical, like Mata Hari... instead of the MataHari_Bigus_MOD (or what ever the author named his table file).

 

The only issue I have with BigBox is that sometimes it does not want to display the DMD on top. If it does that I just hit F3 and it fixes it. Most of the time it works fine, but sometimes it will get weird and I have either alt+tab to get the DMD on top, or if that does not work, F3 like I said before.

Hi ItchyRobot, this was really useful, thanks for sharing. I'm using BigBox and have a cabinet exactly the same as you. I'm loving VPX and Future Pinball though and find I'm playing those more than the arcade games at the moment.

 

I was just looking for a good "theme" video for VPX when I stumbled across your post. I didn't know anything about "instruction cards" but they're brilliant as I always find I enjoy the pinball game more if I have half an idea what I'm going for (rather than just wildly whacking the ball about).

 

Thanks again for sharing the info (love the tip about Resuming the game too!)

You are welcome, and I am glad it helped you. I figured it may help someone, instead of jumping through circles and asking questions in 4 different forums to get answers. I got a lot of help in the Launchbox forums, so this is basically all someone else's work, but summarized in a quick video I made.

I hear you about play time... I set up Launchbox/Bigbox mainly for Arcade (MAME) and a few consoles (Retroarch and Dolphin) I grew up with, but ended up spending most of my time playing the pinball VPX tables  =)
I am officially a pinball addict now.

Here is my latest build...

Edited by ItchyRobot, 09 September 2020 - 08:33 PM.

[uptown47]

Wow!! Your setup looks superb!! You can see the work that's gone in to it. You've done brilliantly.

 

I'm still working on mine. Trying to get each emulator set up with all images and all games working before moving on to the next.

 

My first cabinet I just imported loads of stuff in to it and ended up with lots of emulators that didn't work - or I didn't know what buttons did what etc.

 

With this build I'm trying to be a lot more diligent. Just, as I see, that you have been.

 

Nice work matey :-)