WIP Manu Pinball Engine pre beta

[spookyMoulder]

Manu Pinball Engine pre beta 0.01
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4cv8...ey=ijjg1vakdfdyiaz43ide4us7q&st=fhnavxkj&dl=0

Manu Pinball Engine 0.02 update https://pinballnirvana.com/forums/resources/manu-pinball-engine.8452/updates
Here is a Pinball Engine that runs from Manu 1.2 If anyone wants to help build this project anyone can contribute to building it just leave link to any updates you made.
The RAR file has 2 folders extract 2 folders on your desktop but keep them separate. One folder has all the game objects and other folder contains game build.


Things that need to be added is scoring and ball count and game over screen and sound effects. Flippers also need programming and adding keyboard and X-input controller. For keyboard controls please use arrow keys and not Shift Devs who use Shift don't know what the hell they are doing. ↓ Down arrow is pullback for plunger, ←→ left and right will be flippers and up arrow is to start game after loss.

It would be nice to have a menu system for contributors and version info.
File size of game is 100mb, Standalone game is 250 because it needs to have standalone player for game to run.

You will need to have Manu 1.2 installed to open the game folder. The game folder is Labeled Pinball 1.2 (do not rename folder)
To download Manu go here https://manu.co/downloadmanu

 

[pinhead1]

i'm interested in how realistic the program plays PB
i could not find anything at YTube......
are there any demos?

 

[spookyMoulder]

i'm interested in how realistic the program plays PB
i could not find anything at YTube......
are there any demos?

pinhead1 It's still early I am also interested to see how games will play using this It still needs tons of work because all the physics and gravity still needs lots of work hopefully we can get a good template so we can see some games made. The Manu Game engine does render really good so its worth giving a try. I made you a test demo if you want to try it https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j68b...ey=4oikw248t65svncr3e9wry0w7&st=d6lfy47a&dl=0

To run the demo just double click on launcher File inside the folder



The only thing working now is the plunger if you press the down arrow it will launch ball. I am trying to get a basic template so people can use Manu Game engine instead of Unity or Unreal. Manu is easier to use and free and it is 1gb in size. Some advantages of using this engine.

Publishing a pinball game or creating template demo
Choice over protection or having game modifiable or open source
Real lighting and better graphics, shadows, lighting and physics sound effects.
Window scaling, gamepad and even cabinet support
Standalone game plays directly without additional software
Still in development will include Game Menu, Options, Controller Rumble, multiple camera angles
Easier to use and script than Unity or Unreal

In version 0.01 I lowered polygon count on all 3d models the Pinball Cab is all just 1 model of 1Mb and texture is 1Mb adding your own texture is easy just open the folder called game objects edit your texture and apply new texture inside Manu Game Engine editor. The ball will bounce off the wall some 3d objects still need colliders. I will also try to modify the loading screen and the cab rails and make them nice. Kicker holes or kick wire ramps can be made using an invisible platform for physics to lift and eject ball. All physics like bounce a and friction can be adjusted by making objects physical click on your object and go to the atom symbol and change bounciness of object. HDR clouds uses 20mb that can be turned off but they look nice. Sound triggers can be made using colliders and sunlight shadow can be rotated to your preference.

 

[spookyMoulder]

This is a short video the game loads in 20 seconds I will try to see if I can modify the loading time lower if possible. The game can also include prebuilt objects and scripts so we can have a drag and drop option for different colored and shape lights, bumpers, lanes, pegs. Under playfield cutouts and kick holes need to be made in 3d Software eg. (Blender) I uploaded here some new light inserts that can help you in your pinball designs https://pinballnirvana.com/forums/resources/light-inserts-0-01.8453/

View attachment Manu Pinball demo video.mp4

Games can be published easily for Windows or MacOs. Android publishing might be available in the future. To publish game click top left corner click file -> export to disk or export to Game Store.

 

[spookyMoulder]

LOL i just seen a bug where the game demo has 5 copies of the same texture this happened because I was editing the 3d model late at night and was trying different models to look right. I will try to fix this and remove the duplicate textures when I have time and it will reduce the file size to under 100mb. and make loading time faster.

 

[spookyMoulder]

It took 5 or more hours but I was able to clean the extra files from 98mb down to 10mb. so I have made an update you can use the new file Pinball 1.21 to open from your Editor you can find version 0.02 at the top of this page. Be careful when building on this engine because removing unwanted objects from you build is harder than you might think. Changelog

• I removed Clouds HDR now if you want you can just leave it empty or you can get your own custom Skybox for any pinball game you are making, Nice you can find Skyboxes online or make your own https://polyhaven.com/hdris/skies
• Game Compilation now is at 220mb and that is the lowest its going to ever get. Creating an empty game is 210mb because that is the size of the launcher.
• Loading time is so fast now that you don't even see the loading screen. And yes I modified the hell out of the loading screen also See standalone demo build below.

Loading Logo, if you want to help make a better logo ? or have any better titles post below.


This is a demo of the new standalone build https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/icgp...ey=joekqgovxmwm74y6ni4mj1g5q&st=c81rwyv1&dl=0

 

[spookyMoulder]

Need Help from coders !!
Does anyone know how to add x-input to a game executable or directly into the software (without C++ scripting or python) so that the x-input controller can have custom keyboard keys. The small problem is that Manu Game Maker does not support controllers for keymapping it only supports keyboard keymapping. I am able to keymap using Joytokey software but I would like to make this part of the game launcher. So I wrote an Xinput.dll file but the game launcher still does not work. Any free github software to add custom buttons to xinput and make xinput for executable will help me out. Eventually I can solve this but maybe someone knows a easier way.


Gamepad controller works using this game engine by using Joy to Key because game engine only supports keyboard buttons. You can get Joytokey from here free https://joytokey.net/en/


Some good things about the game engine is that you can join one object, lets just say a pinball peg inside the file of a lamp or a camera. When adding object to camera it becomes part of the UI (user interface) another feature is the Gameflow it is almost same like Blender Nodes where you can start game or end game or go to a menu. You can click the backward S or second icon from the top and you will have gameflow nodes.


If you are trying this out I have found the best possible way of making your 3d objects colliders. If you click on the 3d object you need colliders for and click on the atom symbol on the right this is where you can change your object physics from either Static or Dynamic or Kinematic.
Under the Friction and Bounce you will see Collider. If you pick Convex Hull it will make the 3d object perfectly collidable. I will set up all the parts and lights bumpers and scores they will all have colliders and anyone can use this for developing a pinball game. The bottom area in the cab can be easily removed and you can even have an under mini game. Using Future Pinball blender addon you can also bring in parts directly from Future Pinball by exporting .obj or .fbx ramps or layouts or plastic parts.



Pinball Engine collide test
View attachment Pinball Engine collide test.mp4
Another thing I added is when ball falls to bottom of screen it turns from Kinematic into a Static model. This is so that when we get to the final ball 5 balls in the game when last ball falls it will say Game Over with your final Score. Then ask If you want to play again press button x or up arrow then game will move all balls into start location and make them all Kinematic again so that they have physics. This is done because Static objects can be moved in the game to a position, Dynamic or Kinematic objects use the laws of physics and gravity. I hope you understand your fast course in game Physics lol. and this is still 1000 times easier than Unity or Unreal just what an absolute train wreck that is to use.
Leave comments or any help into x-input

 

[madmrmax]

The small problem is that Manu Game Maker does not support controllers for keymapping it only supports keyboard keymapping. I am able to keymap using Joytokey software but I would like to make this part of the game launcher. So I wrote an Xinput.dll file but the game launcher still does not work. Any free github software to add custom buttons to xinput and make xinput for executable will help me out. Eventually I can solve this but maybe someone knows a easier way

Would it be ok to use AutoHotKey to do this? You can map from one input to another pretty easy.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Would it be ok to use AutoHotKey to do this? You can map from one input to another pretty easy.

I am looking through it, probably it will not work https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/v1/misc/RemapController.htm
I tried searching for about 5 hours and I only found Keyboard to Gamepad emulation like this video and emulation like Joy To Key that works but then I would have to run the Joy To Key every time I want gamepad support and its just a hassle.

So somehow I need to trick my controller buttons to think they are keyboard keys, any keyboard button will work, but Manu game engine does not recognize any buttons on the gamepad. ( Yes it is a working gamepad and not unplugged or broken) this is what the animation keybuttons look like inside the editor. Using Joy To Key works but I am trying to have an x-input dll to run when application runs. I know there has to be something.

Key pressed flipper goes up

button release flipper back down


I also tried this software tool called Xinput Plus https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/compatibility-tools/xinput-plus-tutorial/
I will keep looking the official Manu Support Quick start Guide doesn't help or mention controller support
https://help.manu.co/ There has to be a tool to configure buttons as keyboard buttons.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Just a quick fast posting I give up trying to find a way to add controller to unsupported software. It does work with Keytojoy I wanted to ask the development team for Manu on Discord but someone already asked this is the response.


The good news is that I read on their official website they are planning a new update this year with android and mouse support. I will let you know when update is here or if someone sees the update please Message me letting me know. It looks like they have a small development team but I like their software. I remember trying Unity with the long loading time and buggy crashing frame skips it was painful and not user friendly. Unreal Engine wasn't that bad but downloading it took hours lol I have AI software that didn't take that long.

I think my next pinball game will be created mostly out of Ai. On my free time I use Ai to create stuff so expect some vampire synth Ai game here are a few images I have been getting.

 

[madmrmax]

AI image generation is the bomb when it comes to custom table creation. Love that last image -- kinda reminds me of the Black Knight.

 

[spookyMoulder]

madmrmax I think also Ai images are not copyrighted or part of any franchise so you can freely publish the game. If you are specific with Ai it will output what you are looking for and I can just edit or mix art together. I was looking for lights or bumpers that are round so my first word was round and after a few tries I got this. I'm not going to use this but the art looks scary.
round vampire comic light decoration

 

[spookyMoulder]

I am still learning the Manu Engine and I did some updates but before I post the update I have to share this video looks good for anyone into pinball. It looks like he is just starting to make this and says he works as game dev so it could be a professional project called Pinball Designer.

His website is here https://pawlowskipinball.com/pinball-designer

This will just be a basic template so that you can use it to create games.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/netb...ey=sccte1cxmm1kf4j2hf0zb7bnl&st=chcs8zmd&dl=0

I have placed all the objects inside of folders labeled Bumper or Plastics or Pegs or Lights so that they are easier to find and you can easily change textures or change an objects color inside the software. One 3d model I couldn't make a collision shape for is the wire at the top Convex Hull traces outline around objects but this curve wire it did not want to create a collision so I had to just add my own.

 

[spookyMoulder]

This is starting to get better I have fixed the colliders and changed out the rails now I am adding some more target objects. I have also tested the playfield of this engine if you need to add any holes in the playfield you can create a simple plane and add any hole using Blender. If you don't know how then you can watch this tutorial.

You will also need to change ball density to about 250 so that the ball is heavier to fall into the hole. Here are some pictures of some of the updates I will upload the open source project when it is more complete. The score display now follows the camera and can easily be moved. I will also add cabinet support so the game will play sideways on your display.


This was just a playfield test with a hole cutout and it worked perfectly.

New rails and nice square red target also made a new front plate and flasher effect.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Now the game finally has scoring and it is made simple any object you want to add points just add a tag to the object as "collectibles" it is already scripted in so if you look on this picture you will see I created an invisible collider and tagged it as a collectible. Anything tagged collectible will automatically give you points.


Its shaping up to be a good pinball template objects can be collectibles now as well. The physics has improved I checked the official website if you read down it says Boolean Formulas https://help.manu.co/learn/formulas It would be great if someone can find a way to have an object with a hole boolean then we can have a drag and drop hole for easier game design. If anyone wants to help out I will upload the new version in a few weeks so you can try it out I will work on this some more. I can also upload this as a prefab asset so it can be easier for you.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Manu Pinball 0.03 was created I will share it as soon as I can. If you cant wait you can get the table and scoring prefabs are now available on the Manu website Marketplace you will need to sign up https://manu.org/assets if you need a blank template to reduce game size I have created a blank template for Manu Engine that removes character and skybox and only uses 200kb. You can download the blank template from my dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l1af...ey=obwcb9fus14mzgfl54ec7ybta&st=g5452ysr&dl=0
Let me know if you have any problems with the prefabs for best results you should use the blank template to open blank template extract folder and when opening Manu click "Open Existing" and use that folder. It will reduce file size by 40mb for your projects or pinball games also remember if you import anything to the game engine it will be always imported unless you make a prefab. You can't delete images or objects from this game engine so save all your work into prefabs.




Incase anyone wondering why pinball scoring is separate prefab is because camera scoring was causing engine to crash it can be because it only allows one camera in scene I tested this over and over again to find the bug. I will try to upload the complete pinball 0.03 version as open source project here on Pinball Nirvana if you have trouble setting up the prefab. It would be helpful if someone tested previous versions so that I know that it is working for you. Previous open source files are here https://pinballnirvana.com/forums/resources/manu-pinball-engine.8452/updates

 

[MANU Video Game Maker]

Hi! It's MANU team here :) Discovered your asset on our marketplace - this is an extraordinary nice job and a very cool idea!
Do you maybe need any help there? Seems that you figured out a lot yourself, but wanted to ask whether we can answer any questions / give you MANU hints etc.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Hi! It's MANU team here :) Discovered your asset on our marketplace - this is an extraordinary nice job and a very cool idea!
Do you maybe need any help there? Seems that you figured out a lot yourself, but wanted to ask whether we can answer any questions / give you MANU hints etc.

Hi Thanks so much you made a great game engine and it is user friendly and easy to use. I will keep working to make a full working pinball game any advice or ideas are welcome. Keep developing your engine I see that you plan for update version 1.3 for multiple scenes and more features that is good news. Manu is a good game maker I will try to tell other people to use it and try to support more creators on your game engine. I did try to figure out myself and watched some of your YouTube videos and they helped me. I might try to make other games later like role playing. Anything I make you can use for your ideas or game engine and all the prefab you can use yourself. Write me any time I try to respond when I have free time.
Best Regards.

 

[MANU Video Game Maker]

Hi Thanks so much you made a great game engine and it is user friendly and easy to use. I will keep working to make a full working pinball game any advice or ideas are welcome. Keep developing your engine I see that you plan for update version 1.3 for multiple scenes and more features that is good news. Manu is a good game maker I will try to tell other people to use it and try to support more creators on your game engine. I did try to figure out myself and watched some of your YouTube videos and they helped me. I might try to make other games later like role playing. Anything I make you can use for your ideas or game engine and all the prefab you can use yourself. Write me any time I try to respond when I have free time.
Best Regards.

Thank you for all the kind words about MANU!
There are some advanced hints on both pinball machine and scoring assets our dev (impressed with the quality of your work!) put into pdf - some thoughts on the usage of MANU features; maybe it can help with something - or just inspire a bit.

 

[GeorgeH]

I looks really cool. I'm glad the physics is getting worked out. It would be nice to not have to add a huge amount of code to make the physics work like we have to do on every table for Future Pinball.

 

[spookyMoulder]

Thank you for all the kind words about MANU!
There are some advanced hints on both pinball machine and scoring assets our dev (impressed with the quality of your work!) put into pdf - some thoughts on the usage of MANU features; maybe it can help with something - or just inspire a bit.

Thanks for helpful pdf I still have to figure out the state machine how that is working so the flippers do not glitch when pressing button. Sometimes the ball will fly over the flipper so I was going to add invisible flipper with collider that is much higher for physics to be better. I had for animation when Ball 1 hits bottom wood it drops wall for Ball 2 and so on and when we get to Ball 5 it will end the game and show game over and ask to play again press Y for Yes. Then score and balls reset I did a few tests and Static ball can move from one area to another so this is why I turned ball from Kinematic to Static.

I saw in other games someone made a variable "Boolean" is there a way to Boolean an object so that it has a hole for ball to fall through top wood. I can do this in Blender but if Boolean was added to object then it can be moved around inside the Manu Engine for holes in objects. I don't know if this is possible just asking. Then if I boolean a hole I can put a cup under with animation to kick ball up. This all takes time to make work right.

I did see the code for Score scripting for every line -trunc the value adds a 0 it will be helpful for other games not just pinball to have some kind of High Score save High Score initials. I was going to see Demo Tutorial for save checkpoint to see a way to save a high score.
-trunc(10*(raw/100000-trunc(raw/100000)))/10
-trunc(10*(raw/10000-trunc(raw/10000)))/10
-abs(trunc(raw/10)-raw/10)
${Collectibles UI}.Collectibles

Each ball with own gravity that was good I will try this I am new to using Manu and I see now the Advanced area.

Adding more points is helpful I was still early just figuring things out thanks for taking the time to help out.

Thanks Manu team anyone can use this asset or you can improve for your own games ( no credit or mentions needed ) . Manu is a good program you can probably even make fighting games and puzzle games. I tried other software and it loads slow or too complicated, Manu works best for me.

 

[spookyMoulder]

I looks really cool. I'm glad the physics is getting worked out. It would be nice to not have to add a huge amount of code to make the physics work like we have to do on every table for Future Pinball.

Each program platform will behave differently Future Pinball has all the 3d objects with physics inside but Manu Each 3d object imported will need setting up collision and bounce and friction unless the object is already imported and set up. I also noticed something that if I copy the bumper and make a second bumper any changes I make to first bumper happens to copied object. You can import same 3d object then Manu sees it as different object. I work on this slow maybe will have a playable game in a few months. I like using Manu it is just easier for me and projects load fast I load project when I have time and try different things.

Sometimes I make mistake then I don't save project or just click undo.

 

[MANU Video Game Maker]

It's us again addressing some of the questions and uncertainties you pointed out :)

have to figure out the state machine

About state machines - we have a tutorial here, although you probably already watched it :) :

Sometimes the ball will fly over the flipper

Just scale up the flipper's collider on Y axis. You don't need an extra invisible flipper, even though it's quite a nice idea.

I had for animation when Ball 1 hits bottom wood

Our suggestion is to use a state machine. Alternatively you can request AI to make you a state machine for this gameplay.

is there a way to Boolean an object so that it has a hole for ball to fall through top wood

You probably are mixing 2 different types of boolean. The boolean variable (on/off state) with the boolean technique in modeling (which is to create holes in the model). Manu doesn't support modeling alterations right inside the engine. This changes need to be made inside Blender. So If you want a hole in the wood, this needs to be done in Blender and then inside Manu set the collider type to triangle mesh. Probably this will cause a hole in the physics collider which is what you want.

Alternatively if you want your users to be able to create holes inside the editor (so the bottom table can be customized) then our best advice is to create the table model in tiles. Some tiles would be solid, other tiles would have hole. So user can create a custom table with holes exactly where they like.

Then if I boolean a hole I can put a cup under with animation to kick ball up

This is really simple and it doesn't take a lot of time, actually.

I did see the code for Score scripting for every line -trunc

This is a formula inside the animation that translates the actual number (score) into texture offset. Because in Manu we do not support yet a UI feature (which really soon we will do) this counting and displaying numbers on the screen is a hack workaround. On the next version of Manu displaying the score or any number on the screen should be easier.

some kind of High Score save High Score initials

We already have a high score save implemented. It's the Save/load feature (

) we have implemented this technique in two of our games; we can share with you the source if you want us to.

So, just in case - here's our Discord invite link: https://discord.gg/FWxzxFYH
Our teammates are always there for you in case you have any questions on any features and mechanisms you are trying to create!

 

[spookyMoulder]

It's us again addressing some of the questions and uncertainties you pointed out :)


About state machines - we have a tutorial here, although you probably already watched it :) :

Just scale up the flipper's collider on Y axis. You don't need an extra invisible flipper, even though it's quite a nice idea.


Our suggestion is to use a state machine. Alternatively you can request AI to make you a state machine for this gameplay.


You probably are mixing 2 different types of boolean. The boolean variable (on/off state) with the boolean technique in modeling (which is to create holes in the model). Manu doesn't support modeling alterations right inside the engine. This changes need to be made inside Blender. So If you want a hole in the wood, this needs to be done in Blender and then inside Manu set the collider type to triangle mesh. Probably this will cause a hole in the physics collider which is what you want.

Alternatively if you want your users to be able to create holes inside the editor (so the bottom table can be customized) then our best advice is to create the table model in tiles. Some tiles would be solid, other tiles would have hole. So user can create a custom table with holes exactly where they like.


This is really simple and it doesn't take a lot of time, actually.



This is a formula inside the animation that translates the actual number (score) into texture offset. Because in Manu we do not support yet a UI feature (which really soon we will do) this counting and displaying numbers on the screen is a hack workaround. On the next version of Manu displaying the score or any number on the screen should be easier.



We already have a high score save implemented. It's the Save/load feature (

) we have implemented this technique in two of our games; we can share with you the source if you want us to.

So, just in case - here's our Discord invite link: https://discord.gg/FWxzxFYH
Our teammates are always there for you in case you have any questions on any features and mechanisms you are trying to create!

Thanks Manu for answering question about boolean and I will try changing flipper collider when I can. I have a sprained elbow from job and will be out healing for a few weeks that is a good idea with using tiles for hole and the solid tile can be re-sized so the ball will not fall from edge. I will watch video and learn more about the state machines. Happy to hear you are working on Manu update with UI and improvements I will work on this more. I still have lots of objects to make in Blender for top wall and rails and rubber bands. If the new Manu will have scenes then I can try making adventure game like Zelda with character and towns. If character goes in cave it opens new scene I played the demo games of Hectors Treasure and other demo games they are good.
Thanks talk to you later I joined your discord

 

[MANU Video Game Maker]

Thanks Manu for answering question about boolean and I will try changing flipper collider when I can. I have a sprained elbow from job and will be out healing for a few weeks that is a good idea with using tiles for hole and the solid tile can be re-sized so the ball will not fall from edge. I will watch video and learn more about the state machines. Happy to hear you are working on Manu update with UI and improvements I will work on this more. I still have lots of objects to make in Blender for top wall and rails and rubber bands. If the new Manu will have scenes then I can try making adventure game like Zelda with character and towns. If character goes in cave it opens new scene I played the demo games of Hectors Treasure and other demo games they are good.
Thanks talk to you later I joined your discord

Get well soon! :)