A request for all authors

tiltjlp

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Since I'm sure I'm not the only person in VP with vision problems, I guess I've decided to become the group's spokesperson. There are a growing number of tables which are released with very dark playfields. So dark that I can't see the details well enough to play the games. So I would like to ask a favor which I hope will be seriously considered. Would it be possible to include a seperate playfield image inside the zip file which I could brighten for my own personal use? That way I can enjoy more of the tables everyone releases.

A secondary problem, only partly related to my vision problem is that Flashes can cause dizziness at the least and more serious issues at the worst. Now, I know this might mean more work, so I'll understand if this isn't done, but how about commenting the script where Flashing can be commented out, thus disabling it for anyone who has a problem is that area? An example of a table I can't play because of the Flashing is Yathzee, although there are many other tables which cause me and surely others fits.

Of the two problems, the dark playfields is the worst problem, and probably the easiest to work around. So please consider including a seperate playfield image, and while it might ruin the concept you have for your table, at least you'd be helping out a lot of folks who are not now able to even play your tables. Thanks in advance.

PS: Also, would it be possible to use font colors that contrast enough wiyj

John
 
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Something that authors should also keep in mind about flashing is that if you start flashing the lights at the "wrong" frequency you can trigger an epileptic seizure.
 
Right Penquin. I'm not epileptic but I do suffer from spasticism, which is very similar. I have animation turned off on my browser, but that isn't possible with VP. At the least Flashing gives me the most horrible headaches you can imagine.

John :oldman
 
Most flashes are usually turned on by a single timer, if you set this timer value to 0, then they will not flash. ;)

As an example in Blazing Trail this is Timer1, set the timer interval to 0 and they will no longer flash, also for the bumpers uncheck flash when lit, done. All this can be done in the editor without any script changes. :)
 
Hi,
This is my first post here. Um thats good to know Steve thanks. also on simple sling and bumper flashers you can just find the wall the flashes usually a lower set wall top 1 bottom -1 and uncheck top and side visable.
As for dark PF's , I can see where that would be a problem.

Some really good table's original and vpm , are allmost all black. I have good vision , but I do have to rest my eyes after a few hours on the pc , no matter if I'm playing , building , surfin or what. Frankly , the bright light from the editor can make me dizzy sometimes heh. A fair amount of eye strain goes into building each table , thats one thing I have learned.

It would be nice if I could skin the editor , to cut down on bright colors , dark colors are easy on my eyes but in pitch black , I cant make out the walls on some tables , not many but some .
 
Fast forward 6 years, and my vision problems are only a little bit worse. My current major request of authors is to please you font colors that contrast enough with the background so that the score and text can be seen by folks with vision problems. A dark blue or purple font against a dark or black background makes the game impossible for me to play unless I go into the editor and change settings. And there are just too many tables like that to change each one. So, do you all have bionic eyesight, or are you trying to hide some flaw on your tables?
 
Holy Cow, That was my first post here at PN way back in 2004! I think that Pinball Nirvana was called The World of Flipperless back then. ;)

I really don't build many tables any more but I still think some tables are too dark. I agree that too bright can be a problem as well and I still think that it was a good idea/suggestion to skin VP. Custom skins and new icons would make the VP editor look a lot better IMO. Have a nice day! :wave:
 
You are going to find it even harder as authors are using less and less of fonts and more and more of images. It's pretty easy to place the text on the backdrop image and then it will always be there on any monitor, not half cutoff as many of the older tables are after upgrading to higher res monitors. Text boxes have all kind of display problems on different size monitors or screen resolutions, so images and reels work and look much nicer.

If you dowloaded the original Rapid Vienna, there were 8 or more fonts in there to be installed and used in text boxes, the last update I did included none of these fonts as I replaced them all with the aforementioned methods. :)

The best thing would be for you to save up and get the biggest widescreen monitor you can afford. Big is better. Then you can adjust your monitor to see this stuff. :)

You can even buy rotating widescreen monitors, think how great a hi res bagatelle VP table would look on it. :)
 
Yeah Bob, I know what a 19" monitor is like, since I used one for 18 months, until it died. I'd love to save up and get another one, but right now, that's not possible. But the real issue for me is promoting the use of fonts, images, and whatever, that can possible to be seen by folks without SuperHero vision.
 
Yeah Bob, I know what a 19" monitor is like,

Nowadays, 19 inch monitors are OK for laptops. :)

I was thinking of no less than a 37 inch monitor.
 
Nowadays, 19 inch monitors are OK for laptops. :)

I was thinking of no less than a 37 inch monitor.

I had no idea they came that large. Life keeps passing me by quicker every day I guess. I doubt if my computer desk could hold a 37 inch monitor. What would something like that cost?
 
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damn my tv isn't that big! no fair lol
 
Except brightness and contrast control is relative, so adjusting those adjusts everything.
What would be nice would be a Global command to adjust all TextBoxes and/or a command/control to adjust the brightness/contrast in an EMReel separately from the playfield.
 
I had no idea they came that large. Life keeps passing me by quicker every day I guess. I doubt if my computer desk could hold a 37 inch monitor. What would something like that cost?

Eer they don't, that's a digital TV, I think Bob is just trying to be funny. We have a 42 inch TV here and as with almost all these newer TVs it has inputs for VGA and HDMI so you can plug a computer into it and run it as a monitor.

Real dedicated computer monitors only go to 30 inches that I know off and they also have a higher resolution at 2560x1600, where as digital TVs run at 1920x1080 or less.

Any bigger then 30 inches is just silly for a computer monitor anyway as at monitor viewing distance it would exceed your field of vision, in fact I'd say a 30 inch monitor is most likely too big.
 
I was sort of kidding you John.... I thought you had at least a 19 inch monitor. I do have a 37 inch flat screen TV that has a pc monitor plug, but as Steve said, that would be huge to sit in front of. If I had really bad eyes though, I would try to sit in front of it as I hate to squint.

I bought a new lcd flat widescreen monitor for 200 dollars, it weighs about 15 pounds and is easy to turn and lean against my pc cabinet, I added a couple of braces to cabinet to support it in this rotated position. The actual screen size of the WS monitor I use is 20"x 11 1/2" and the actual screen size of my 4x3 monitor is 15" x 12"
 
But even with a much larger monitor than my dinky 12" X 9" one, my original complaint still applies. Overly dark tables which use dark font colors for amy text. If you put dark green text on a black or dark brown background, I wouldn't be able to see it no matter how big you make it. Now make the fomt color either white or yellow and I'll see it. Just wait till you see my next gripe!
 
Now make the font color either white or yellow and I'll see it.

Show us some example screenshots of scores you can't see on tables or games that you play. I assume your talking about Originals, since Recreations are just recreating the score display on the real table.
 
How about orange on black?
 

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Any bigger then 30 inches is just silly for a computer monitor anyway as at monitor viewing distance it would exceed your field of vision, in fact I'd say a 30 inch monitor is most likely too big.

I've got a 24" 16:10 display and it's plenty big, so yea, 30 would be too much to deal with if opening one program full screen, but would be nice for running 3 programs side by side.... I know a lot of people at work use 2 20" monitors side by side and like that kind of dual monitor setup.
 
Show us some example screenshots of scores you can't see on tables or games that you play. I assume your talking about Originals, since Recreations are just recreating the score display on the real table.

Yes, I'm talking about originals, since I've learned to live with, or change, recreations if I play them a lot and need to cj=hange them. And as for orange on black, it's OK, but yellow on black with Bold Font is even better. The bext time I play a table with a score that is hard or next to impossible to see, I'll post a SS. Most of the time I'm working on my own projects.
 
How's this look then?
 

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Not bad at all Steve. But for some reason yellow pops out for me. Now maybe yellow wouldn't be the best color choice for someone else with poor vision, since there is a wide range of problems. It just seems that some authors try to make their score displays blend into the background.
 
Right Penquin. I'm not epileptic but I do suffer from spasticism, which is very similar. I have animation turned off on my browser, but that isn't possible with VP. At the least Flashing gives me the most horrible headaches you can imagine.

John :oldman

That's why I try to implement what I can via the F keys. Change this or that before you play.

It's nice to have that just in case movement or sounds cause someone problems after a little while.

d
 
I apprecite your efforts Will, and those of some other authors. But a lot of tables have flashing. blinking lights, and if I can't disable them in the script fairly easily, I simply don't play the table.
 
I love flashing and blinking.

....And flippers.
 
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