How do I resize the ball in VPX?

[Isaac Sauvage]

So, I've been given the go-ahead by Flupper to upload his excellent VPX version of Diner (Williams, 1990). Before I do that, I'd like to solve this issue, such that I can include my personal tweaks alongside the original (just as instructions, not as a mod).

The issue is this-- visually, the ball seems a little too large for the table, especially when interacting on the flippers. Nothing critical of course, just kinda distracting / annoying.

What I used to do, about a million years ago with older VP versions, is to edit the ball graphic such that it stayed the same size (like 64x64 or 256x256), but I'd make the visible ball a few pixels smaller. Not an actual physical change of course, but it did the trick.

Problem is-- I have no idea whether this is still the way to proceed in VPX, or even if there's now a method to truly resize the ball physically. I also have no idea if the ball-shadow graphic needs to match, or is even necessary. I'm also not sure how to open the .HDR ball file. My version of IrfanView isn't working for that.

Little help? :)

 

[AnonTet]

I only know this option under "Video / graphics Options".

 

[Ian (WVP)]

in the table script it allows you to specify the ball size.

Const BallSize = 50

 

[druadic]

I've used this in many of my tables. In the scripting where the ball is to be made, use one of the following statements in line below. One of these statements will make the ball ANY SIZE you want and you can control these at anytime in the script. It's pretty neat as you can change ball sizes at anytime only when a new ball is made at the plunger or kicker.

Plunger.CreateBall.Radius = #
(the ball created to specific size will appear at the tip of the plunger)

OR

Kicker.CreateBall.Radius = #
(then kick your ball where you want using the proper scripting with X,Y)

These two statements can be used at the creation of the ball. # is the size of the ball, from 1 to whatever you want. 1 is extremely small and 40 can be a bit big but play around with the number to find the right size of the ball the suits your taste.

As for the graphic on the ball, this is controlled via the menus and sometimes making a new image for the ball is the best way to go. Using GIMP keeps the the image integrity if you wish to extend or shrink an image and save it in the proper image file.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Thanks, fellers!

Appreciate the responses, because this issue seems strangely hard to google, at least for VPX.

I'll play with this stuff tomorrow and see how that goes...