Support File BAM Future Pinball and BAM Info Guide by TerryRed

[TerryRed]

Welcome to the ALL NEW and updated...

Future Pinball and BAM Info Guide

(formerly known as the FP and BAM Mega Guide)

by TerryRed

Version 1.0, Nov 2023


This INFO Guide covers general information about Future Pinball, BAM, and their more advanced features and settings. It also covers basic information for other apps that can also be used with Future Pinball.


This guide is now completely updated and renamed as the FP and BAM INFO Guide

- I now have all my guides and tutorials in PDF format
- this new guide has been created to be used with the FP and BAM Essentials AIO package
- all my guides and tutorials are now only included with the FP and BAM Essentials AIO package


You can download the FP and BAM Essentials AIO package (and the FP and BAM Info Guide) here:

BAM - FP - Future Pinball and BAM Essentials - All in One - COMPLETE

FUTURE PINBALL AND BAM ESSENTIALS - ALL IN ONE - COMPLETE by TerryRed v2.4 - Feb 2024 BAM version: 1.5-373 BAM-OpenVR version: 1.5-373 DMDExt: 2.2.1.0 AIO Example Table and Tutorial: 3.30.03 The FP and BAM Essentials AIO package includes...

pinballnirvana.com

=========================================================================


A video tutorial that walks you through this guide can be seen here

Chapters

00:00 Start
02:19 FP and BAM Features
05:27 Settings and how to run FP (covered in install video)
06:03 Start FP BAT files
12:55 Fullscreen, Windowed, Borderless Windowed
14:18 Borderless Windowed workaround
16:56 FP settings in the registry
19:21 Playing and exiting a FP table
20:25 FP Tables
22:22 FP files and where they go
23:45 BAM Ball textures (toggle with n or p)
25:06 BAM CFG files (pov, etc)
27:24 BAM menu settings
41:21 BAM Static Camera views (how to make your own)
45:22 Physics (older tables)
47:22 FizX physics (new nFozzy-like physics for FP)
49:49 DMDExt, Real DMD, virtual DMD
51:29 PUPDMD
52:21 DOF
53:09 Pinup Player
54:13 PinEvent
56:07 DOFLinx
57:36 Front-ends
58:28 BAM OpenVR
1:02:18 Demo of BAM features and settings (in-game)
1:04:05 Lighting
1:04:48 Plugins - COM Extensions
1:05:32 Plugins - Bloom and SSAO
1:07:13 Addons - Force Arcade Mode (cabinet view)
1:08:45 Addons - Config Ball and Shadows
1:10:00 Addons - Ray Cast Ball Shadows
1:13:04 Addons - DMD Bulb size
1:13:19 Addons - Hide FP logo
1:13:35 Addons - Hide Overlays
1:15:11 BAM New High Score Plug-in
1:17:13 Setup FP for a cabinet
1:23:22 Stereo 3D settings
1:23:42 Adjust POV
1:24:39 Adjust FP Backbox screen
1:26:08 Cabinet mode play demo (Sonic Pinball Mania)
1:27:42 Closing


=========================================================================





For an EPIC demo that shows off what Future Pinball and BAM are capable of... watch this video (Tron fans will be happy)

 

[Gimli]

Sorry to hear that Terry, you poured so much love into that site.
Silver lining having all your stuff here.
Regards brother

 

[AnonTet]

Thank you for the effort of migrating everything here.

I've seen the ddos message and today this... Really sad

 

[TerryRed]

Thank you for the effort of migrating everything here.

I've seen the ddos message and today this... Really sad

The DDOS was only the last straw. It was building up for a long time. People who don't care about the community just drove the enjoyment of the hobby out of randr... among other things.

I was always planning on posting the guides here. I was always waiting until they were at a point I wasn't updating them over and over.... and also the fact that I use almost 80 images for this one page alone that needs to be integrated correctly...or have them hosted elsewhere and linked in to prevent this needing to be done again, etc.

 

[MMilaniM]

Hi Terry, I'm a man building my own cabinet, finding the idea of having a pinball machine in the house fascinating.
Personally I did it not only to play it, I find that the best thing is to overcome your limits (I don't have much knowledge of programming or electronics) and that the construction is absolutely more intriguing than the game.
I installed VP, FX3 (also following your tutorials) and these days I was reading your guides and installing FP. Tomorrow I was thinking of starting Pinevent. (I have seen that you will soon share the work done so far, and I can't wait to continue).
In summary, I think I represent many others who have wanted to try their hand at this venture, and on behalf of all I want to tell you that, even if it saddens me,I can understand your decision, but above all I want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the incredible work you have done, for the clarity and the precision with which you wrote your long tutorials
GRAZIE Terry

 

[Paolo]

With the sad demise of VPinball, I am now taking time to migrate my FP and BAM Mega Guide here.

It will take some time to get it complete, as all the pictures needed to be added again (some are only low res thumb nails), and I may not have the original images for all of them, etc.

Also, all links need to be added in manually again,etc.

I also don't currently have a HOME or dedicated place for PinEvent and all PinEvent tables and pup-pack. These require a site with the ability to store very large files ranging from 500Gb to over 1 GB each.

I will update the top of the page here with more info or updates about PinEvent and the guide.

VPinball is closed??? I guess for obvious reasons.
I see,you did a great job there.....maybe now you have found another HOME.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I also don't currently have a HOME or dedicated place for PinEvent and all PinEvent tables and pup-pack. These require a site with the ability to store very large files ranging from 500Gb to over 1 GB each.

I'm guessing... that first figure is 500mb, not gb?

@JonPurpleHaze,
You might want to confirm some of the site's bandwidth / storage details with the host. Would PN be able to take some (or all) of such a load?

Also, last time the 'large file-size issue' came up, only files ~300mb could be uploaded due to timeout issues. Anything larger effectively required an FTP connection, IIRC.

So, some stuff to consider.

Edit: Another thing to consider is that their site was evidently getting hit by frequent DDos attacks before the closure. So there may be bigger issues to consider, here. Such as the idea that a site hosting some of the same content might actually be a threat to the rash of businesses making money off pin sim content, and hence the attacks.

 

[TerryRed]

I'm guessing... that first figure is 500mb, not gb?

@JonPurpleHaze,
You might want to confirm some of the site's bandwidth / storage details with the host. Would PN be able to take some (or all) of such a load?

Also, last time the 'large file-size issue' came up, only files ~300mb could be uploaded due to timeout issues. Anything larger effectively required an FTP connection, IIRC.

So, some stuff to consider.

Edit: Another thing to consider is that their site was evidently getting hit by frequent DDos attacks before the closure. So there may be bigger issues to consider, here. Such as the idea that a site hosting some of the same content might actually be a threat to the rash of businesses making money off pin sim content, and hence the attacks.

The scumbag money makers need these sites, or they can never ever "try" to get new content...which they will need as tables go out of date and need updating often, as does the software, pup-packs, etc.

The content of pup-packs was never the issue or what caused the site attacks. We had many of them on the site for years without issue. I think the Wordpress software used on VPinball may have been more prone to attacks if anything.

So my question to you guys who own and run this site:

- are you able to host files up to about 1.5 GB in size?
- if so are you "willing" to host files of that size?
- if not, are you ok with external links to such large files from a MEGA link or something?

Bottom line is, I'm looking to host PinEvent tables and files here, and elsewhere if possible.

If you don't want to for any reason, I totally understand.

 

[shiva]

We will talk it over with JPH and let you know Terry.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I think the Wordpress software used on VPinball may have been more prone to attacks if anything.

A Ddos attack is a super-targeted attack, though.

I can understand spam / mal bots finding exploitations over time, like what happened with GoPinball, but a DDos attack says to me 'you really pissed someone off.'

Why?

 

[TerryRed]

A Ddos attack is a super-targeted attack, though.

I can understand spam / mal bots finding exploitations over time, like what happened with GoPinball, but a DDos attack says to me 'you really pissed someone off.'

Why?

At a guess... possibly because of one specific seller of an "All in One HDD" of vp tables / pup-packs, etc (named Pinball King when he was on VPinball) who is a very well known jerk on the sites and FB groups. His Youtube site (which he used for selling the HDDs) was supposedly taken down (according to him) as a result from a well know community member (and dev) who has been after him for years now (and called this guy out to Google multiple times). Again this is according to this guy.

This guy was also really nasty to people on VPinball and Moderators didn't stand for it and booted him.

Not sure this was the reason for the DDOS attacks (and if he was the attacker)... but that is all I know.

 

[aztha]

Think about archive.org maybe to store/link your data etc. ..

 

[TerryRed]

Think about archive.org maybe to store/link your data etc. ..

That's where I got everything so far... but it doesn't include file attachments or embedded pictures (just the low res thumbnails). So I needed to go old school and upload all the 75+ images to a separate site for this guide alone, and re-link and reformat the entire guide.... and each web site handles links different so it had to be re-done a few times.

Many more guides and uploads to go still.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Think about archive.org maybe to store/link your data etc. ..

That's where I got everything so far... but it doesn't include file attachments or embedded pictures (just the low res thumbnails). So I needed to go old school and upload all the 75+ images to a separate site for this guide alone, and re-link and reformat the entire guide.... and each web site handles links different so it had to be re-done a few times.

Many more guides and uploads to go still.

No, not just for your own needs, Terry, not just doing your excellent guides.

The bigger issue (I think) is where to store these intensive resources?

@aztha is right, I think... that we need to get away from the idea that the burden is on discrete web-hosted sites, and probably break up the load. Like via torrents / archive,org, etc.

Agree / disagree?

 

[TerryRed]

I honestly have no problem uploading my stuff to my Mega share in separate folders, and just use a link from that on my uploads?

I can see if that works ok.... if that's ok for you guys? If it works ok, then it may reduce any burden for you guys. I don't know what the limits are for download per day, etc... but hey something is better than nothing... even if people have to bee patient sometimes.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

I honestly have no problem uploading my stuff to my Mega share in separate folders, and just use a link from that on my uploads?

I personally LOVE MEGA, but whether our links perpetuate, that's a good Q!

 

[csangos]

I've been through the guide many times and cannot understand why my keyboard does not work in game. Even a new table fails to work. Only the tilt button works. Any ideas?

 

[shiva]

Using Mega and posting links here in one big post would be for the best. We felt it could be too much for us to handle as we are not a VPX site, we are the classic vp and fp community site. Large files like that would have taken away resource space our community needs, and none of us here could offer support since none of us actually have cabinets or use these programs. Our existing community has to come first, they have been supporting this site for 18 plus years.

 

[TerryRed]

For PinEvent tables.... the "tables" are usable by everyone... cabinet or desktop. PuP-Packs and Pinup Player are not "required" to use them (only if you want to use the pup-packs). So they can be posted like any other table and used like normal. The Mega link for each table would be for the large PuP-Pack files.

 

[TerryRed]

I've been through the guide many times and cannot understand why my keyboard does not work in game. Even a new table fails to work. Only the tilt button works. Any ideas?

Be sure you are actually in focus with FP when it's running.

I know some things with controls (such as some gamepad AXIS) may not work correctly if your system language isn't set to English..

 

[AnonTet]

Be sure you are actually in focus with FP when it's running.

I know some things with controls (such as some gamepad AXIS) may not work correctly if your system language isn't set to English..

I only found out 2 things:

- scores in DMD displays get corrupted graphics
- some specific regional characters like "ç" or "~" might be in other places so you're pressing the "wrong" keys if you're not aware

 

[Dreamstate]

Hi Terry, first post, long time fan. I'm currently just trying to make my FP tables in a CoinOps build look better. Bam is installed, tables that came with the pack are working fine, others i've attempted to load from pinsimdb are not working and crash before they start. So now I'm trying to simply make the tables look better in bam and i'm up at the top where you first say you need to insert these two file links you've included and they aren't there. What am I missing?
BAM settings for Desktop.zip
BAM settings for Cabinet.zip

 

[TerryRed]

Hi Terry, first post, long time fan. I'm currently just trying to make my FP tables in a CoinOps build look better. Bam is installed, tables that came with the pack are working fine, others i've attempted to load from pinsimdb are not working and crash before they start. So now I'm trying to simply make the tables look better in bam and i'm up at the top where you first say you need to insert these two file links you've included and they aren't there. What am I missing?
BAM settings for Desktop.zip
BAM settings for Cabinet.zip

They are attached to the bottom of the post.

 

[Dreamstate]

I'm at this point:

• download the latest BAM update zip
• extract and overwrite the files in your “FuturePinball \ BAM” folder (except default.cfg)
• DON’T replace your default.cfg file with the default.cfg from the update zip! That will overwrite my default.cfg that you use for good default POV and lighting!

When I take a look inside the Future Pinball > Bam folder this is no default.cfg file inside the BAM folder from the fresh BAM and FP install.

There is a default.seq file and at the top a folder labeled "cfg" and it's empty.

I have deleted and ran the two in one FP and BAM installer twice with zero luck in creating a default.cfg file in the FP>BAM folder.

 

[TerryRed]

By default there is no default.cfg on a fresh new install. That's normal.

BAM creates default.cfg when its first run (if one doesn't exist), or it overwrites the current default.cfg when you save your BAM settings ("Save as Default" in the BAM menu while playing).

So when I say to not replace the default.cfg I gave you (after you installed it), that is meant for only after you already had a working setup and don't want to replace it with the default.cfg from an update zip (as you will not be using the settings I setup for you in BAM).

Does BAM and FP run for you at all?