Community complaints, ideas and potential improvements

[Isaac Sauvage]

I'm falling behind on this thread, but a quick reply for now:

Maybe we should implement Nic's ideas on how to improve the perception of FP? The only one I remember is to rewrite the Wikipedia post on FP.

Just take a look at the abstract from the Wikipedia article:

Future Pinball is a freeware 3D pinball editing and gaming application for Microsoft Windows. The software is similar to Visual Pinball but usage of original pinball ROM code is not allowed. The project discontinued and the last version of Future Pinball was released in 2010.

IMO the way that's written, it sounds like FP is a long-dead project, unable to simulate modern games, and that people shouldn't bother wasting their time on it.

Yet every single one of those implied issues has been resolved or greatly improved from what I understand. As in: 1) BAM is a robust, active continuation of FP development, 2) PinballBrowser is a powerful, effective way work-around to run ROM tables in FP, 3) not stated above, but flipper physics have been upgraded multiple ways, and are still getting better via projects like Shiva's.

It's almost like someone from one of the other virtual pin communities wrote that entry to make FP sound really bad...

 

[Paolo]

PinballBrowser is a powerful, effective way to run ROM tables in FP

What????? the rom in FP? really?but when did this happen?

is it possible to make a table work with a rom? how do you do it? but i never felt it was possible
could i run with the "rom" the table i am building robocop (data east) instead of doing the whole script ??? did I get it right? is that so?

 

[TerryRed]

No.. there is some confusion.

Pinball Browser only lets you browse the DMD images and sounds on a Stern rom and extract them (or replace them).

So for a FP table you can extract the sounds and DMD images and use them like any other FP table (like what smoke, francisco and others have done)... but you still need to completely code the entire game yourself in FP.





That said... not to confuse even more... but it's now possible to use vpinmame and roms with FP thanks to BAM's COM Extensions plug-in (the same thing that allows PUP and DOF to work with PinEvent tables).... BUT.... you need to add script and code to make it work with a FP table in a similar way that VPX does... but adapt it to how FP works, etc. Not a simple task... but I'm sure it can be mostly done by someone who has the knowledge. That said... I like having control over the game code and rules in table script...as it allows me to do cooler things that the real table can't do.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Okay, as a test, I edited the intro area of Wikipedia's FP entry.

I don't know if my changes will stick (WP entries can famously be endless battlefields, so I'll just backup my changes here to the intro here:

{{ infobox software
| name = Future Pinball
| developer = Christopher Leathley
| latest_release_version = 1.9.1.20101231
| latest_release_date = {{Start date and age|2010|12|31}}
| operating_system = [[Microsoft Windows]]
| genre = [[Pinball]]
| license = [[Freeware]]
| website = {{URL|www.ravarcade.pl/}, {URL|www.futurepinball.com}}
}}

'''Future Pinball''' is a [[freeware]] 3D [[pinball]] editing and gaming application for [[Microsoft Windows]].<ref name="article1">[http://www.freewaregenius.com/future-pinball/ Future Pinball] — freewaregenius.com</ref> The software is similar to [[Visual Pinball]] but usage of original pinball ROM code is not directly allowed, and is instead accomplished via Better Arcade Mode and/or tools such as Pinball Browser.<ref name="article2">[http://www.popbumper.com/articles/GR/2008-09 FuturePin.pdf The Future of Pinball] from popbumper.com</ref> Future Pinball as a discrete application was discontinued in 2010, but via Better Arcade Mode, continues development to this day.<ref name=nofuture>[http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=21961]</ref>

Sound good so far...? (assuming a mod doesn't come along and nuke it back to the stone ages, hehe)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Pinball

 

[shiva]

great. should put in a link to this website as well.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Done. And a second pass added to the intro, removing some other implications regarding FP's demise.

Working backup:

'''Future Pinball''' is a [[freeware]] 3D [[pinball]] editing and gaming application for [[Microsoft Windows]].<ref name="article1">[http://www.freewaregenius.com/future-pinball/ Future Pinball] — freewaregenius.com</ref> The software is similar to [[Visual Pinball]] ("VP") and other modern pinball simulation software. As with VP's partnership with vPinMAME, Future Pinball ("FP") uses partner applications to emulate original pinball ROM code. In FP's case, either via Better Arcade Mode ("BAM") directly, or tools such as Pinball Browser.<ref name="article2">[http://www.popbumper.com/articles/GR/2008-09 FuturePin.pdf The Future of Pinball] from popbumper.com</ref> Future Pinball was originally discontinued in 2010, with development resuming in 2013 via BAM, allowing many new features to be added since then, such as virtual reality support.<ref name=nofuture>[http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=21961]</ref>

Definitely gonna need a whole bunch of updated reference links, though.

Huhboy... what did I just get myself in to...?

 

[shiva]

A lot Ike, but you did jump into the rabbit hole yourself.:)

Did that a lot better than I could. Nice.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Okay, little by little... we're gettin' there?

Dang... I can't believe that a complete FP nincompoop such as myself is rewriting the internet's major definition of FP.

Does it look okay so far, @ravarcade?