Pinball 4000 - Tennis table

druadic

20+ YEARS as a VP author. How time flies...
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Well, here it is so far and the redraw has been a lot of fun.

Much has yet to be done but so far it is working out. Many sounds from the original game have been implemented. As for music, seems that would be overkill UNLESS I can find a way to make a separate music pack to place somewhere. Who knows. I have some of the music for it, not all. One song is 25 mb big in WAV. If I can find a simpler and smaller way to shrink them, I'll add them! :)

This is a two ball multiball table. The "racket" is being done to look proper once above the playfield. The area in the center of the racket will also be redone to allow you to see the ball underneath :)

Anyway, here's a screenshot.

d

I wanted to leave the playfield exactly like it was in Pinball 4000. So no added side edges or anything like that. Makes it look more like the real thing. The bottom white area will have the scoring area.

SO SHOOT ME - it has FOUR flippers! FYI - the ball on this one easily drains! Gonna need an "itchy flipper finger!" This table plays MUCH BETTER than the original, without all the damn graphics lag :)
 
That really looks cool, seeing it for the first time. When you first mentioned it I thought it was an actual tennis game. But I'm lousy even with 2 flippers, so I won't have a chance with 4. As for a music pack, convert the WAV files to MP3, and include it as a seperate download. Then script each song with, if I recall correctly, Playsong.
 
Thanks John!

Actually, the two upper flippers are much easier to use than you think. The top right one is to shoot the ball up onto the tennis racket where it loops to the PF on the bottom right side of the screen. The top left one is to hit the "deuce" targets on the right side.

It's the bottom 2 flippers that are tough to use. They are hard to use for the basic shots needed at the bottom of the PF. Trust me, this one is tough and the ball LOVES those two outer outlanes!

It plays great and I LOVE the sounds from the pop bumpers at the top right section of the PF - they play a ball hitting a tennis racket :)

I'm TRYING to get other vocals from the game while I play it, but it has become near impossible. I'll keep trying. Currently, I am redrawing the tennis racket ramp. So far it looks great and all I really have to do with it is redraw the area where the white lines are. That's it and then it goes into the game as a pure wall, connected to two ramps :) I want to be able to see that ball running around in between the lines of that racket.

d

As for the "playsong" stuff, I need a good way to shut off those sounds when told. Quite a bit of the music in this game will end fast when you do certain things, so I have to get that figured out as well.
 
I think the way to stop a song is stopsong/endsong. I'm not sure since I've never used MP3s myself.
 
I've been using WAV files. They seem to be smaller too. I'll just have to find a way to make this all work.

d
 
Yes, WAV files are smaller than MP3, but have to be included in the table itself. MP3s are added to your Music folder, and are usually a seperate download, to keep file sizes smaller. Plus it gives the user/player, the option of adding the songs or not, which I seldom do, since I seldom turn on my speakers when playing pinball. I'm used to bagatelle and flipperless games which don't have music.
 
Yes, WAV files are smaller than MP3, but have to be included in the table itself. MP3s are added to your Music folder, and are usually a seperate download, to keep file sizes smaller. Plus it gives the user/player, the option of adding the songs or not, which I seldom do, since I seldom turn on my speakers when playing pinball. I'm used to bagatelle and flipperless games which don't have music.

John;

I agree, but I'm sure some folks would like to have Tennis as realistic as possible so I plan on adding MUSIC ON / OFF at anytime. Of course the music is what really slows down the PC release and causes lags up the ass. That's why the game is so choppy. So, if you have a lower end model PC (like me) more than likely the MUSIC ON / OFF can help save face during gameplay.

Funny thing is that the main song for Tennis when the table first loads is 25 megs. I have copied it but have to loop the music in an editor. That also will be a fast fix, but I know there is another song during gameplay that will be just as big. I plan on making a "music pack" that can be added for the table if the downloader wishes to play the game realistically.

Since I'm working on Variety, Good Luck and Pinball 4000 Tennis it will take time to get these three tables finished. I would like to jump right into Pinball 4000 Casino but will wait until at least one of my other WIP is finished.

d
 
stopsound"" works in script for vp use the sub:
Sub Stopsound" your music"
Stopsound" your next music file name goes here"
End Sub
'these stop any background music from overlapping during events. this will stop all sounds, given the correct file name in the brackets! so at every event you can have the Stopsound command with all the sounds listed in the 'stopsound' command line.
I am using this command in my Dogtown pin, since that uses four different songs depending on where in the pin you are (top table, lower level etc...)
 
stopsound"" works in script for vp use the sub:
Sub Stopsound" your music"
Stopsound" your next music file name goes here"
End Sub
'these stop any background music from overlapping during events. this will stop all sounds, given the correct file name in the brackets! so at every event you can have the Stopsound command with all the sounds listed in the 'stopsound' command line.
I am using this command in my Dogtown pin, since that uses four different songs depending on where in the pin you are (top table, lower level etc...)

Faralos;

THANK YOU for that info. Now I can incorporate music into Tennis. It will make it much more realistic I think! ;)

GOOD NEWS: I am sending a money order out tomorrow for Ultimate Pinball and SHOULD have the game in less than 2 weeks time. The SECOND I get it, I'll PM you and let you know! Just my way of helping! :)

d

You were right John! Go figure you got that faster than anyone else! Thanks guys for the help!!!
 
You were right John! Go figure you got that faster than anyone else! Thanks guys for the help!!!

And why shouldn't I be first with the right answer? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm completely brain dead yet!!!! I guess you were distracted by my dazzling footwork.
 
And why shouldn't I be first with the right answer? Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm completely brain dead yet!!!! I guess you were distracted by my dazzling footwork.

Can you win in Dancing With The Stars? I'll bet you could!!! ;)

d

As Eddie Murphy put it in the Nutty Professor:

MOM: "Well, you're as young as you feel."

DAD: "Well, I mut be a 197!"

You're not old John; maybe you feel that way, but your not :)
 
I couldn't win Dancing With Broomsticks. Well, I'm about to turn 64, usually feel about 164, and often act like I'm 4.
 
I couldn't win Dancing With Broomsticks. Well, I'm about to turn 64, usually feel about 164, and often act like I'm 4.

John,

Can I call you the 7th Marx Brother then? ;)

There were:

1. Groucho
2. Chico
3. Harpo
4. Gummo
5. Zeppo
6. Margret Dumont (YES she WAS considered a Marx Brother by the guys! Notice she was in ALL their films!)
7. tiltjlp (YES, if you act like 4 yo, you ARE a Marx Brother!)

d

I've been redrawing this playfield for a few days; two flippers are out, the pop bumpers removed. The bottom two flippers won't be much of a chore either since I can grab them via snapshot, flippers up ;)
 
Oh no no, MP3s are MUCH smaller than .wav, but take more CPU power to play.
A 3 minute song in .wav is typically 30 Megabytes in size.
The same 3 minute song in MP3 is ~3 Megabytes, 10x smaller.
MP3 files are compressed which is why you might notice the similarity in size to that of a .zip file. The "unzipping" of the MP3 file in real time playback is why they take more CPU power to play.
 
Oh no no, MP3s are MUCH smaller than .wav, but take more CPU power to play.
A 3 minute song in .wav is typically 30 Megabytes in size.
The same 3 minute song in MP3 is ~3 Megabytes, 10x smaller.
MP3 files are compressed which is why you might notice the similarity in size to that of a .zip file. The "unzipping" of the MP3 file in real time playback is why they take more CPU power to play.

Sleepy;

Thanks for that info. I just found the MP3 post and how to use the commands for VP9. I appreciate all the help folks - I really do. I'm finding this community is so helpful. I hope to help everyone as time goes on and we all get our WIP finished; and make more. Thanks again.

d
 
wwell yes and no for huge songs I usually save them as 16-bit MONO to save size a stereo wav file will be 30 megs but save it as a mono sound file it drops to about 5-6 megs! just food for thought it all depends on whether I want it to sound real rich (stereo) or just play (mono)
what I usually do is if I want a song to play all the time it is in stereo for the richness if it's just a clip of one it's saved as a mono file to save space. and ALL sound effects are always saved as mono
 
Personally I like STEREO WAV files. It's all I have to work with at the present moment until I can find the sound proggie that came with Windows 98; it was great and allowed you to place a WAV file then place ANOTHER WAV file and linked them together. Wish I could find this 50kb file somehwere.

Well, I found one that works great. I joined two files together for my first VP release in 7 years. This is a VERY BASIC machine and is just a typical time waster, but still it's fun. Almost ready for 12/17/10.

d
 
So, when do I get to test it for you?
 
So, when do I get to test it for you?

In a few days. Have to add some decals to the screen. Overall, Mexican Baseball plays beautifully. It's not your normal skill machine though like Whizz Ball and any Allwin machine.

I'll email you soon....

d
 
with wavepad (my version is old and never expires!) I can add one wav file to another either at its end its beginning or anywhere I choose! I have done this in numerous pins already, adding up to 4 different sound bites together to make complete sentences! Cavegal is one such example so is Medieval both of these have numerous sounds all linked together thru wavepad
 
Faralos;

I just downloaded Wavepad and it's great! Thanks for the tip. I LOVE this proggie. It's saved me from cutting and pasting WAV files in other forms and it's FAST!

Thanks

d
 
Well, here it is so far and the redraw has been a lot of fun.

Much has yet to be done but so far it is working out. Many sounds from the original game have been implemented. As for music, seems that would be overkill UNLESS I can find a way to make a separate music pack to place somewhere. Who knows. I have some of the music for it, not all. One song is 25 mb big in WAV. If I can find a simpler and smaller way to shrink them, I'll add them! :)

This is a two ball multiball table. The "racket" is being done to look proper once above the playfield. The area in the center of the racket will also be redone to allow you to see the ball underneath :)

Anyway, here's a screenshot.

d

I wanted to leave the playfield exactly like it was in Pinball 4000. So no added side edges or anything like that. Makes it look more like the real thing. The bottom white area will have the scoring area.

SO SHOOT ME - it has FOUR flippers! FYI - the ball on this one easily drains! Gonna need an "itchy flipper finger!" This table plays MUCH BETTER than the original, without all the damn graphics lag :)
Hi Doyou have this table finish so i can try it
 
Hi Doyou have this table finish so i can try it

Sorry, this is on an OLD hard disk that I have not gotten to or checked as of yet so not right now I do not.
 
Sorry, this is on an OLD hard disk that I have not gotten to or checked as of yet so not right now I do not.
Hi, i've had the same idea about trying a tennis table, i did see this on a webpage pinball 4000 and was going to try to make the table, let me know if you ever get it out again. would love to look at it. do you have the script or code for it? table? let me know if you want to work on it together? I'm new at this, was thinking on doing a GranSlam Pro tennis the four major titles. cheers
 
Hi, i've had the same idea about trying a tennis table, i did see this on a webpage pinball 4000 and was going to try to make the table, let me know if you ever get it out again. would love to look at it. do you have the script or code for it? table? let me know if you want to work on it together? I'm new at this, was thinking on doing a GranSlam Pro tennis the four major titles. cheers
Oh my, I fear you guys are really on to something.

Me, I played tennis off and on across a good % of my life, and would love to see a tennis-themed table.

Unfortunately, searching across the vast expanse of originals and official machines in my ultimate index, I'm really not seeing a lot!

A VP or FP tennis-themed table would kick some real booty IMO, particularly if it had a current theme akin to... Fed vs. Rafa vs. Novak's ongoing battle for the ultimate #1 GOAT position! If that makes sense. :p
 
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