tiltjlp
PN co-founder
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Messages
- 3,403
- Reaction score
- 145
- Points
- 65
- Favorite Pinball Machine
- Flying Trapeze 1934
As with my profile of Mitchell, I'll repost this profile of Mr Fixx to the other forums in about a week. Next up is Destruk. Enjoy.
The Gatekeeper of Chat
© Copyright 2004
By tiltjlp, John L Patton
Mr Fixx, the gatekeeper of the VPGD chat room, doesn’t recall a time without pinball. “I have been around Pinball Machines for as far back as I can remember. The first pin I remember playing was Dixieland by Bally, I think. There may have been earlier, I can’t recall, nor can my parents”.
When I asked Fixx when he first discovered VP, he said he found
Digital Bumper via a Goggle Search, and he downloaded a few of the tables. “The first one was 8 Ball Deluxe, and I was hooked. I love all kinds of VP pins, from Flipperless to Bagatelle, and from Ems to SS and even DMD tables. I even love Pachinko, which are a Japanese version of pinball, and own eight Pachinkos.”
And while Mr Fixx isn’t an author, he is a play tester for some of our better known table makers. “They send me their beta work and I help determine how good the game play is. I kinda consider myself a Play Expert, since I’ve been around pinballs all of my life. I do feel that I help improve many tables, by letting the authors I test for know how closely their versions match up to the real life machines.”
To my question about the future of VP and how Originals figure into it, Fixx said that without any more development of the VP software, originals probably are the future of VP. But only if a work-around can be discovered for MicroJunk’s XP SP2 problems. A glitch in the SP2 package for Windows XP prevents VP running as it should, causing program crashes.
Mr Fixx said that his favorite area VPF is the Real Pinball part since he is a moderator there. “I have a lot of knowledge about the care, training, and feeding of real pins. I own 15 machines of various types and vintages, and have just completed restoring a Bally Xenon.”
Considering himself a Computer Mad Scientist, he has built five PCs, 3 desktops, and 2 laptops, using patience and great care. ”My best system is a 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4, up to Doom III standards, with a Radeon 9800. It’s my server, feeding files to all the other computers in my house.” And while I was tempted to ask why anyone needed five computers, I decided to simply envy Mr Fixx instead.
Fixx is thirty-six years old, and lives in Waukesha Wisconsin. “I don’t work since I’m disabled, and in a wheelchair. Other than VP and pinball, I enjoy computers, and vintage electronics like telephones and radios. I’d really like to add a jukebox to my collection, which should reach 17 pins by the end of 2004. I enjoy going to the fantastic Chicago Pinball Expo each year, and I’ll be there again this year.”
Since Mr Fixx is the ambassador of the VPGD chat room, I asked if he had any advice for first time chatters. “Well, just that everyone in our chat room is nice and friendly, and that anyone and everyone is more than welcome. A lot of people tend to be shy, so it helps being able to stay behind their username.”
As a parting thought, Fixx said that “Fads come and go, but that pinball is eternal, and will always survive. Pinball’s gaining in popularity again, and I can’t wait to see and play some of Stern’s newest offering. If fact, I own a 2002 Stern Playboy.”
So while you’re not likely to see a release thread for Mr Fixx table, his testing can and does make a good number of tables a little bit more playable. If I remember correctly, he tested an original for me several years ago, and his input help make it a much better game than I had planned. So, most any time you are
online with a few spare minutes, why not drop by the VPGD chat room and swap a few stories with a computer mad scientist who just happens to also be a pinball wizard.
The Gatekeeper of Chat
© Copyright 2004
By tiltjlp, John L Patton
Mr Fixx, the gatekeeper of the VPGD chat room, doesn’t recall a time without pinball. “I have been around Pinball Machines for as far back as I can remember. The first pin I remember playing was Dixieland by Bally, I think. There may have been earlier, I can’t recall, nor can my parents”.
When I asked Fixx when he first discovered VP, he said he found
Digital Bumper via a Goggle Search, and he downloaded a few of the tables. “The first one was 8 Ball Deluxe, and I was hooked. I love all kinds of VP pins, from Flipperless to Bagatelle, and from Ems to SS and even DMD tables. I even love Pachinko, which are a Japanese version of pinball, and own eight Pachinkos.”
And while Mr Fixx isn’t an author, he is a play tester for some of our better known table makers. “They send me their beta work and I help determine how good the game play is. I kinda consider myself a Play Expert, since I’ve been around pinballs all of my life. I do feel that I help improve many tables, by letting the authors I test for know how closely their versions match up to the real life machines.”
To my question about the future of VP and how Originals figure into it, Fixx said that without any more development of the VP software, originals probably are the future of VP. But only if a work-around can be discovered for MicroJunk’s XP SP2 problems. A glitch in the SP2 package for Windows XP prevents VP running as it should, causing program crashes.
Mr Fixx said that his favorite area VPF is the Real Pinball part since he is a moderator there. “I have a lot of knowledge about the care, training, and feeding of real pins. I own 15 machines of various types and vintages, and have just completed restoring a Bally Xenon.”
Considering himself a Computer Mad Scientist, he has built five PCs, 3 desktops, and 2 laptops, using patience and great care. ”My best system is a 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4, up to Doom III standards, with a Radeon 9800. It’s my server, feeding files to all the other computers in my house.” And while I was tempted to ask why anyone needed five computers, I decided to simply envy Mr Fixx instead.
Fixx is thirty-six years old, and lives in Waukesha Wisconsin. “I don’t work since I’m disabled, and in a wheelchair. Other than VP and pinball, I enjoy computers, and vintage electronics like telephones and radios. I’d really like to add a jukebox to my collection, which should reach 17 pins by the end of 2004. I enjoy going to the fantastic Chicago Pinball Expo each year, and I’ll be there again this year.”
Since Mr Fixx is the ambassador of the VPGD chat room, I asked if he had any advice for first time chatters. “Well, just that everyone in our chat room is nice and friendly, and that anyone and everyone is more than welcome. A lot of people tend to be shy, so it helps being able to stay behind their username.”
As a parting thought, Fixx said that “Fads come and go, but that pinball is eternal, and will always survive. Pinball’s gaining in popularity again, and I can’t wait to see and play some of Stern’s newest offering. If fact, I own a 2002 Stern Playboy.”
So while you’re not likely to see a release thread for Mr Fixx table, his testing can and does make a good number of tables a little bit more playable. If I remember correctly, he tested an original for me several years ago, and his input help make it a much better game than I had planned. So, most any time you are
online with a few spare minutes, why not drop by the VPGD chat room and swap a few stories with a computer mad scientist who just happens to also be a pinball wizard.
