5 Most Used Applications

[nameslot]

What's the 5 applications you use the most?

I use:

1) Firefox on PC/Safari on Mac
2) Windows Live Messenger
3) Adobe Photoshop
4) Microsoft Word
5) Macromedia Dreamweaver

 

[StevOz]

Would you be my valentine ?

Bring it on bitch, no reply, no account here..

 

[StevOz]

Ya see what I'm dealing with here Sleepy.

That Alton bot logged in again to and all, they are trying it on as far as I can ascertain and getting somewhat more clever.

 

[TheMcD]

Well, now their sigs are always related to whatever time of year it is. Alton had "happy new year" and this one has a valentines related one. They always have a pattern.

The McD

 

[sleepy]

I just found this thread.
I had no idea.

 

[faralos]

my five are Firefox. Wavepad, Gimp2, WordPerfect and MSpaint. these are all I need to build pins with and usually are the only programs aside from vp that get opened any given day here.

 

[druadic]

Firefox, PhotoBrush and MSPaint. only 3 programs needed to make a pinball for VP.

Very RARELY do I use Inkscape unless I need decent "layering" of graphics.

d

Glad it's not me dealing with these spam bots.

 

[tiltjlp]

Mine would be VP 9.09, Photo Brush, Pixel, Hoyle Canasta, and Opera Browser.

 

[sleepy]

Inkscape is good for tracing simple bitmaps for outlining and then saving the result as a Scalable Vector Graphic (.svg) file that can be used in a 3D modeler program for creating flippers and parts graphics for table images, EMReels and Decals.

Lately I've been poking around with Dev C++ seeing what I can learn from it. I've tried the Code::Blocks C++ editor, but the DevPaks download plugin for downloading libraries and modules like Allegro (a gaming library which began on the Atari ST) is not working here.

This is just messing around with direct MIDI sound control. It is a short (25 sec. or so sound test that will close when it finishes and uses no extra MIDI .mid file but I really would like to be able to run sound directly through the sound card synthesizer, not the MIDI and not using .wav/mp3, just creating real synthesizer sounds and tunes in real time.

If you try it, let me know if it works/plays/ can be heard.

 

[Shockman]

It sounded fine on my Win7 64 with Realtek HDA

 

[sleepy]

Hey, Thanks Shocky.
For a minute I was thinking the downloads with no feedback were only leaching!
I also need to hear from those who cannot hear the sounds.

Part of it is, I wasn't sure if the dependencies were static (embedded) or, like DX, Dynamic requiring a local installation of a .dll, but I think I've got that straight.

Again, Thank you. :)

 

[sleepy]

Of course that MIDI was a borrowed code snippet, but I changed the parameters.

 

[faralos]

the Allegro base that was used for the St's, is it possible to use an Emulator for the Atari St series? I still play many older games for the Atari 1040 on my pc, ( I used to own an atari 1040 St back in the late 80's) I know there are still hundreds of St emulators out there for the games, would it be possible to use an emulator for that allegro program you mentioned? at least until the coding can be changed to accept the vp programs? I think that is what you are trying to accomplish

 

[sleepy]

Oh no. I'm not even going near translating VP to Allegro.
If I were even thinking it, I would instead try a native C++
pinball program totally built from scratch.

But not yet at any rate.

 

[faralos]

that's what I was thinking too. sorry for that mistake! I just meant if I could make things even back then i should be able to make things now in a 3d object, but not if you aren't gonna' do it yet. it's okay, I can wait it's not like I have nothing to do.

 

[sleepy]

Wait a minute. I'm not Randy. My name is Arnold.

No, there is no need to emulate VP, only VPinMame, but that is already done. There is no reason at all why VPinMame cannot be used with another pinball program because VPinMame exists as a library .dll like Allegro. Allegro is only a library of game functions files for writing a program or game, not a program itself.

To use Allegro you write a program in C++ that include Allegro.h (and may include OpenGL or DirectX .h files) and then call functions from the Allegro library almost the same way as you call AddScore or ActiveBall or the ScoreText box in VP.

The problem with creating a program isn't that it can't be done. The problem is that there is not a lot of pinball game-specific instruction out there, only general documentation and examples and you have to know what to look for and what to use.
It is just like looking up the correct spelling of a word in the dictionary. How do you do that when you don't know the correct spelling to begin with?

But in time it can be done.

The current version of Allegro 5 is recent, is almost completely redesigned from scratch with nearly no relation to the old Allegro 4, is now closer in language to M$ Windows with HWND commands, and is lacking documentation. The Documentation is the dictionary/ encyclopedia of the computer language that describes how to use it.

 

[sleepy]

But if you mean to emulate VP so that the tables are playable in a new and different player, I would wait to see what Cupid is working on.
Then if his update of VP is not compatible with the average user, just like Future Pinball was not compatible with the average system at the time of its initial release, then I would consider the idea but, without input or consent, expect wide disagreement from the Visual Pinball community and authors.

Black took a lot of flak when people unjustly accused him of ripping off Visual Pinball to create Future Pinball. There was a firestorm over it.

 

[Shockman]

VP was not open source at the time. It is now so it would be different. However, Blacks' boarding was not supposed to be just for Black. He used VP to create his F1 while at the time was cleared by Randy, and expected by all, to release VP7 to the community.

Black got no unjustified flak. Black was unjustly spared all the flak he did not get.

 

[sleepy]

But...at or around the same time (we can't know for sure),
Black was served some kind of cease and desist for using trademarks in the F1 project and I am assuming this was around the same time that Ultrapin was in some kind of negotiation because businesses do not start up overnight. They usually begin a couple of years or so before they make themselves known to the public.

Me, I'm thinking Black was blindsided by the F1 experience and at the same time, remember when he said Randy didn't care.
Maybe that was about Ultrapin? If so, Black may not have been at liberty to discuss matters and if so, he might have been feeling pretty useless about things like fixing the ATI EMReel bug, or even prevented from doing so, but we don't know that.

 

[Shockman]

I read the text. It was not about UltraPin. He was both cleared and expected to release VP7. It was indeed after all the whole point of the joining as well. It of course raises doubt if it was ever Black's point in gaining access, but we have history and the motives are a mute point.

Whether the code was needed or even very helpful in the creation of FP is neither here nor there. I suspect it would be, but there is nothing wrong there. I was the most frank and up front though in what I did see as wrong in the situation and did characterize it as a hi-jacking of VP, which having read posts that were deleted in short order, it's a know, not a conjecture.

I believe Chris could have built FP if in a bit more time without VP code for reference of the mechanisms, but these mechanisms are just part of the work that went into the real-time 3D Future Pinball. It does still leave the keeping of the results of his work on VP to himself a mystery though. If it was not for F1 it could have been portrayed as abandoned, or even a failing or left a WIP, but with F1 came proof of a fruitful and at least somewhat stable result.

He did C&D on distribution of F1, and I imagine on request and not order, but I don't know how it could be characterized as being blind-sided. I have no doubt it was unexpected though. It was after all a single mine in a large minefield we created that got stepped on. It was of course not a VP issue though, but an F1 table issue.

Black has a good name as far as I am concerned. This was not the only issue I would have gone to blows over if it would have prevented it though, in fact it is not even number one. His idea of dumbing down VP was (no active ball, no ramps that were not his idea of ramp size, etc. etc. etc.). No one is all good or all bad, and the degree has to be way off kilter to judge, and Black has done a lot of good. FP as it stands now is good. I don't think it is something that has failed. I do think it could be made better, but I think it is in good form and order for that. Unlike VP that though was coded well enough, it is not coded for what we are running it on today. Modern DX, openGL, and such things would require so much work. Patching has had too limited a success in my opinion. They say it would be very hard to make a keyboard nudge routine. If that is hard, then what can be expected, really?

 

[faralos]

I agree totally I never knocked FP! Actually when I first started to lurk on there, long before making my presence known there, I used FP. I loved it for the built in objects, very easy for a beginner to pick up and use! The physics however, he could have worked on better. They are decent for the most part but certain laws are broken at times and makes it feel like a rushed product. But he did a good job with it, whether he really used the coding from vp or if that is just the only way to program the laws that go into a pinball editor, I don't know, but he did okay with it as far as i am concerned. I can't even run fp anymore due to my having a different computer now, but when I did I liked it even for all its flaws!
Now, with VP, although better physics, we must make everything from a square block! If only vp could get pre-built objects like he had in FP, that would be cool. same goes the other way, if only FP had better physics than those guys would he happier also! oh well. both are good for the people they serve...