Stern WIP BAM FizX FP Avatar (Stern, 2010) WIP

[GeorgeH]

@GeorgeH This looks really nice.

Glad to see others adopting the FizX system. Future Pinball has a lot to offer but was always held back with the physics. Thanks @JLou5641 @AnonTet @TerryRed for your work pushing FP to it's limits!

Can't wait to play the final version of your Avatar.

Thanks!

I updated FizX with a new version that JLou just released.

I saved a set of directions with 7 steps in the script on what to do if your PC runs out of resources. I saved the directions in the script because most of the actions require editing the script. I am sure some folks will have trouble with this table although it will use fewer resources than TerryRed's Star Wars table. I made the video that plays during the game switchable so you can turn it off in the script which will save resources.

I just finished adding the texture lighting yesterday. Rav is looking at the problem with the texture lighting that I mentioned in my previous posting. All of the lighting is basically the same as what I have added to other tables but believe me it is not just copy and paste. Every table is different and I always make improvements. The lighting currently uses 890 lines of code. The coding is not all that complex (I'm not a great coder) but it lists each light insert on the playfield 7 times. There many adjustments that require play, exit, adjust and repeat many times. Avatar was coded by Slamt1lt to go dark when the table starts and when the ball drains. This is the first time I have made all the texture lighting turn on and off with the rest of the lighting.

Spotlights will be added next and then some additional GI.

 

[JLou5641]

Which verion of FizX you use?

 

[GeorgeH]

Which verion of FizX you use?

I used the library file from the update you sent out last Saturday at 9:08 AM. You said you fixed the Aimrange formula.

 

[JLou5641]

Nope the Library File is still in v100.
The v103 is still in the WIP folder for testing. I need to add custom option for each flipper now ( Aimrange, AimrangeOffset, AimOrientation ) that will permit different correction for each flipper.

 

[GeorgeH]

OK I guess I am still using the old version.

 

[JLou5641]

yep... give me more time to update an RC release

 

[GeorgeH]

The lighting is finished. I have found that what I had been calling "texture lighting" is actually spectral lighting. I have found that it behaves something like the volume control on a stereo. The volume makes sound louder or softer but when there is no signal, it does nothing at all. Spectral lighting only amplifies the light that hits an object. When the object has no light that hits it, increasing spectral lighting values doesn't do anything. When the light is dim, you have to use extremely high values to make it work. The light also needs to reflect off the object and hit the camera (the angle of incidence = the angle of reflection).

When I initially started working on the lighting, I placed several flashers far behind the backbox that were turned on. When I needed a flasher, I just moved it to where I wanted it. I had one I never used that I left there. I also had one flasher placed between the flippers. I had the spectral lighting set to extremely high values in order to get enough light to hit the side targets. When I was finished with the lighting, I deleted the flasher behind the backbox. When I did that, the side targets turned black. However, when I moved the camera to the back of the table and looked forward, the side targets were still bright. I determined the side targets were using light from the flasher back behind the backbox that I deleted. Flashers have the unique characteristic of light passing through objects. I had to crank up the spectral values because the flasher was so far away. The reason the side targets were bright in the back of the table, because they were getting light from the flasher between the flippers which was much closer to the targets than the flasher in the back.

The solution was simple once I figured out the cause. I just moved the flasher that was between the flippers to the near center of the table. From that vantage point, the flasher was still in back of the side targets so light reflected forward to the camera. The flasher was also in front of the spinners so light was reflected forward also. The one flasher illuminated all the targets and the spinners so I could then adjust the spectral lighting the way I wanted.

 

[GeorgeH]

I recorded a video of the lighting. YouTube lowered the resolution of the video but it is not too bad. I hope you guys like it. Note that at the end I accidentally cut off the next step of the process which will be adding JP's menu system.

 

[AnonTet]

The tedious job that actually is worth it.
YT compressing everything to hell and back, doesn't change the fact your light work is great and this table will be candy for the eyes :)

 

[GeorgeH]

I had planned on adding JP's menu system next. However, Gimli graciously offered to create an in-game option to adjust all the lighting that you would normally have to do in the script. This is a variation of the in-game system that TerryRed uses to adjust parameters for FizX on some of his tables. I guess you call it trickle down technology. You will still be able to use the menu to change the lighting options but you will now be able to tweak the settings that are on the Lighting Control Panel in the script while the game is in progress.

While Gimli works on the table, I have been reworking the changes to all the textures so they comply with power of 2 using the method I describe here. I am expecting this will reduce the loading time of the table. All of the frames of the video has to be resized so it may take a bit of time.

 

[AnonTet]

you're updating the video frames? I guess i'll see you next year :D

Good luck mate (you're insane :D )

 

[TerryRed]

In terms of Non Power of 2 Textures... I don't think that is an issue for anyone who has a PC with a video card from the last 10+ years :)


I know in the FP manual, it says this:

The Texture Manager

As Future Pinball (and computer games in general) require power of 2 textures, if the texture is not a power of 2 then the Image Information panel will show you the sizes (in brackets) that Future Pinball will resize your image in order to comply with the power of 2 rule. Resizing the image does slow down Future Pinball and only a quick approximate resize algorithm is used. For best results it is recommended to use an external Image manipulation program to resize the image appropriately.


In the FP manual it also however says this in the Video and Rendering Section:

Enable Non Power of 2 Textures

This enables (providing you video card support it) non power of 2 texture support. This is a new feature of video cards which allows the hardware to use a texture which is not a multiple of 2 (for more information refer to the Texture Manager chapter). If your video card supports this feature and the table has textures which are non power of 2, then they can be used nativly and don't have to be scaled by the software to the correct size. This reduces the amount of memory required by the game as well as texture bandwidth which means it can be processed faster. Note that some older video cards say that they support this option but don't support it 100%. If you get rendering issues with this option turned on then obviously turn it off.



Keep in mind when FP was created (2005). Much has changed since then with newer (and standard for everyone now) PC and Video Card hardware which all support Non Power of 2 Textures, so I'm not sure that converting textures is required anymore or even a benefit?

 

[GeorgeH]

My previous testing indicates that tables still load faster if you comply with power of 2 even if you place a check on "Enable Non Power of 2 Textures". The game play is not much different but loading is faster. I will verify that again though.

 

[GeorgeH]

Bob and I have been working on a Lighting Tweaker. There are 27 parameters in the script for what I call the "Lighting Control Panel" that can now be adjusted in-game. The screenshot below is one of the screens. As you can see, it looks very much like the FizX Tweaker. It shares much of the same coding. The screenshot shows the option to change postprocessing gamma which I have seen Terry add an adjustment option for it in the script of some of his tables. Gamma does make for a general purpose adjustment for lightness or darkness of the whole table. There are options for the 5 lighting modes, day, dusk, night, dark night and FP original. It is too bad I didn't have this when I was making adjustments to the lighting.



Here is what you guys have been curious about. I finished converting all the textures to power of 2 and adding them to the table. I extracted all the files using fp-grab.exe and used a batch resize option on IrfanView to resize the video files. The most time consuming part was deleting all the files from the editor.

There was only about 2 seconds difference in the table loading times ( I seem to hear echoes for Terry saying I told you so). These are the results:

"Enable Non Power of 2 Textures" was unchecked:

Table with Power of 2 Textures	Table with Non-Power of 2 Textures
42 seconds	44 seconds

"Enable Non Power of 2 Textures" was checked:

Table with Power of 2 Textures	Table with Non-Power of 2 Textures
42 seconds	43 seconds

I am wondering if the difference would be more noticeable on a lower end PC than mine.

 

[JLou5641]

( I seem to hear echoes for Terry saying I told you so

 

[GeorgeH]

I have been working on other things waiting for Gimli to debug the lighting tweaker. Unfortunately, he did have time. Life gets in the way of pinball sometimes (or the reverse depending on how you look at it). So I decided to try fixing the problems myself. Two of the parameters would change numbers on the DMD but the lights on the table didn't change at all. I managed to fix it.

We both felt like it would be nice to be able to illuminate all the light inserts on the playfield at the same time so you can adjust them more easily. When you play a game, there are often only a handful of inserts turned on at the same time which can make them difficult to adjust. The problem is that if you turn all the lights on in the middle of a game, you would want to restore the lights as they were after using the tweaker. That would be very difficult. I figured out a solution. I set it up so when you turn the tweaker on during the attract mode, all the light inserts on the playfield along with all the other lights turning on as they would appear during a game. When you turn the tweaker off during the attract mode, the lighting changes back to the normal light sequencers used during the attract mode. It works rather nicely. Of course, you can tweak all the light inserts on the playfield during a game but you will have to make adjustments based on the lights that are turned on in the current game mode. The coding was more involved than I thought it would be. I am sure Gimli would be able to do it faster than I did but I got the job done. After completion, I decided that my lighting might be a little more complex than I thought it was.

 

[NitroNimbus]

Well done!

 

[NitroNimbus]

There is one thing that always frustrates me, not so much in FP but in VPX it can happen a lot.
I have modded about 60 FP tables but now over 160 VPX tables.
As you have possible seen @xenonph is reinstating all my FP table mod's.
I know we have technically never done a table together, although I think you did like the sound mod I added to your CFTBL table.
You guy's all worked really hard on Doctor Who (I gave up), and now obviously Avatar is your next release.
Can you please add a link to these tables with an updated version pointing to yours, or even better delete mine and replace them with yours.
There are so many versions of so many tables out there, but unlike me most people won't download them all to see what is best.
So let's save them the trouble, and just point out the best version in the first place.
Your mod of any table is always outstanding.
It might not have all the bells and whistles of the highly regarded, or self promoted.
But it is always 100% solid, and I feel honored that you even consider using one of my mod's for an update, cheers!

 

[JLou5641]

NitroNimbus = Bigus ?

 

[NitroNimbus]

Wow!! Been asked if I was Slamt1lt on the odd occasion.
Which is 100% a compliment... I just copied lots of his talent as well all have.

Bigus is not me, he dosn't seem to care about pinball sounds, physics or flair.
He is talented and pisses people off, but that does not make him me.
I only have posted 4 VPX tables whilst learning the craft and I have had approval from authors for all of them.

 

[JLou5641]

you said you had modded 160vpx table.. so you have posted only 4 of them?
Which one?

And bigus is far from talented

 

[TerryRed]

I only have posted 4 VPX tables whilst learning the craft and I have had approval from authors for all of them.

Will that include resources from any of SLAM's tables (including Avatar, Jaws UPro, etc) being used on a VP table? I'm only mentioning this since SLAM has made it clear he doesn't want any of his releases / resources used on a vp project / release. (in case you didn't know)

SLAM doesn't exactly socialize much (even before his wife's tragic and sad passing recently), so it's likely many people may not know this. Most people just go back to a table's pre-SLAM version (so like Rom's original table, etc) for a conversion to VP anyways.

 

[NitroNimbus]

Too be honest I am surprised you are even interested.
I am on warning from vpforums and on notice at vpuniverse for my negative comments about Fizx.
This is your baby, but I hope you realise my issue has never been with you.
I also have to be very careful what I say here, but I made my bed so I have to lay in it....

If you are truly interested here are the links to the 4 VPX tables I have released, cheers!

Pink Floyd VPX c/w Pup Pack

This is a MOD of Earthshaker (Williams 1989) re-themed to Pink Floyd. I wanted to learn how to MOD VPX tables so I started here since I had already made the same table MOD in Future Pinball. Wow! what a learning curve, the two systems are somewhat similar but also very different at the same time....

vpuniverse.com

Back To The Future (MOD) by NitroNimbus c/w Pup Pack

Well what can I say, it is BTTF. Please check the options menu at the top of the script. You can do many things including pup-packs on apron, lighting, flipper colours or turn on my added 88MPH timer that awards a skill shot if ya lucky enough to get it. Hope you enjoy, cheers! Download includes:...

vpuniverse.com

MINIONS (MOD) by NitroNimbus c/w Pup Pack

@hawkeyez88 has been kind enough to offer his Mega link with out restriction for the pup-pack download. I think that is a very generous and awesome! thing to do. Please let him know how much it is appreciated!! The text file in the download has been update with his new link to the pup-pack, cheer...

vpuniverse.com

Gorgar (MOD) by NitroNimbus

VPX conversion of my FP MOD of Gorgar. Full credit to the table author and others who have also modded this table. Special mention to Slamt1lt who made the original FP version that I used many resources and idea's from. Muted the ROM and added sound effects, music, lights, animations and general ...

vpuniverse.com

 

[NitroNimbus]

@TerryRed Yes I am fully aware of Slamt1lts wishes about VPX and his table mod's, he has made it very clear.
But in all fairness he didn't created Jaws but only modded it. ROM is the author so his comment or bias has no foundation.
Certain this is not a question you need to ask of me, did Slamt1lt give you permission?
No......In FP you don't need permission, so in VPX neither do I.
I am also very aware of his tragic loss, I couldn't image life without my partner but life goes on. He has my deepest sympathy.
What makes me curios now is you would quote Slamt1lt VPX bias and mention his dead wife so I don't release a Jaws table?
Too be honest I was just messing with you to see how you would react to me stealing your ideas and adding them to VPX.
I got my answer, cheers!

 

[GeorgeH]

There is one thing that always frustrates me, not so much in FP but in VPX it can happen a lot.
I have modded about 60 FP tables but now over 160 VPX tables.
As you have possible seen @xenonph is reinstating all my FP table mod's.
I know we have technically never done a table together, although I think you did like the sound mod I added to your CFTBL table.
You guy's all worked really hard on Doctor Who (I gave up), and now obviously Avatar is your next release.
Can you please add a link to these tables with an updated version pointing to yours, or even better delete mine and replace them with yours.
There are so many versions of so many tables out there, but unlike me most people won't download them all to see what is best.
So let's save them the trouble, and just point out the best version in the first place.
Your mod of any table is always outstanding.
It might not have all the bells and whistles of the highly regarded, or self promoted.
But it is always 100% solid, and I feel honored that you even consider using one of my mod's for an update, cheers!

I asked Charles to delete your version of Dr. Who. We'll wait on Avatar until I publish.