Shockman's Bowling Machine

[destruk]

As far as your table goes, it looks cool and gets the job done well. I particularly like the ball animation and sizing.

 

[tiltjlp]

I did have the ball not return all the way once, it didn't make it up the ramp to the front of the table. The speed seems right, so you might want/need a kicker just before the rise near the front to make sure the ball makes it all the way home. You're really doing a fantasic job on this, and it's going to be a blast to play.

John

 

[Shockman]

WIP9

Progress on

Scoring. Finished
Skin. In progress
Shots. A wash-out was added. These are splits that leave the head pin standing. Usually easy to pick up.


The release will include the main graphic files to skin the machine to your liking.

 

[tiltjlp]

That's really looking sharp, especially with those gutters. Are there any sounds you still need, I could search for them if you do.

John

 

[Shockman]

WIP9p

The p means public, this is the build I'm working on, but with all the text boxes I use for reference removed.

Good progress,
Much debugging/reworking of pin action.
Scoring for 1 player. Needs testing still, but it's real close.
The washouts are working. Again, that's spares with the head pin standing.
The 4-7/10 and the 7/6-10 splits can now be picked up. This is the first spare routine, though some can be picked up by hitting the pins with the ball. I will use the same routine to give you about a 1 in 100 chance of picking up 7/10 splits with a perfect shot.
Folded up pins when hit. Angle independant table still, but you will not see this if viewing from too high. Also a steel band around the mech there was added.
Full size ball so the decals will be flush with the surface. This makes the ball a bit bigger than I like, so I might have to rescale the table and all the elements to match, this would be a bummer.
Speeded up the aim timers, and doubled the aim resolution.

Poor progress,
Active ball.
Gages. I made the coolest gage that pops up to aim and then dissapears. Using a drop wall and a flipper between the lane surface and the dropwall which had a slot the you could see only the tip of the flipper through, that is invisable when not aiming, then learned that Flipper current angle is Read Only, another bummer.
Spares. I'm ready to tackle that and I say poor progress only because I am just now ready to start.

To do later,
Add randomness to some shots, like washouts and misses. Not real randomness though, they will need to be more like probability routines using a small random element.
Better sounds.
Background layout.
Multi player.
User file.
Graphics. Cabinet texture, a ball for each player, etc.
What ever else blows my hair back.

Please test this. This is not easy stuff, like I thought it would be. There is only one way each shot should act, and the score tally.

Why play this now?
For testing and reporting, bugs, as well as ideas. Plus it's a small file and it's unique, and getting to be a bit of fun, even in this state.

Why to Pass?
It's not done, barely playable, and anything other than baby and major splits don't work yet.

 

[tiltjlp]

Not only will I test it for you, but here is a rolling sound you might be able to use. What other sounds do you need, I'll see if I can locate them for you. I love your attention to detail, and your patience, which I sorely lack.

John

 

[Shockman]

Thanks John.
I don't know what these machines sound like. It has a roll sound, do you not hear it, or not like it? It's the one you posted before. I was going to wait till Ron, rpbizzle was back and ask him about sounds, as he plays one. I have his phone number, maybe I'll call him.

 

[tiltjlp]

I forgot that I had posted the rolling sound before, and my speakers weren't plugged in properly when my friend hooked up my new monitor, so until this morning I hadn't heard the game sounds. I'm sure there is probably a sound for the pins being hit, which I once had, so I'll do a search for that one again.

John

 

[rpbizzle47]

Oh my GOD.....Shock, man oh man.....thats really looking nice man! I can't believe you've done so much in such a short time.

 

[Shockman]

Sorry I missed you Ron. Thanks.

Progress today,

Active ball control. With that goes the three kickers to place the ball, and instead a ball that rolls side to side and accelerates slowly while the key is down and decelerates quickly to a stop when the key is let go.
I am also working on the return lane. I'm going to recess it into the rack an inch or two.
I also am making the getters and return lane look more u shaped.

 

[tiltjlp]

Sorry I missed you Ron. Thanks.

Progress today,

Active ball control. With that goes the three kickers to place the ball, and instead a ball that rolls side to side and accelerates slowly while the key is down and decelerates quickly to a stop when the key is let go.
I am also working on the return lane. I'm going to recess it into the rack an inch or two.
I also am making the getters and return lane look more u shaped.

The side to side movement sounds like icing on the cake Shockman. Here are a few pin sounds I found, to give you a choice. The latest version plays very nicely, I'm really impressed.

John

 

[Shockman]

Thanks again, John.
I doupt that a bowling machine like this would use sound samples of real bowling pins being hit and moving and hitting other pins and the other parts of the machine. Also the sound would not work for just a few or 1 pin. I will edit a bit from that sound, the pin hit, and see how that sounds, it has got to be better than a flipperdown sound. I'm going to try to catch rpbizzle tomorrow and ask him about the sounds on the one he plays. It would be nice to find out what sounds are used on these things. A fanfair of some sort would be nice.

I went from adding .0625 to each angle adjustment to adding instead .0078125. Very high resolution.

Looks like there just may be a version 1.0 about Christmas.

 

[tiltjlp]

Probably the last bowler I played was 25 years ago, so I have no idea what sounds might be used, but at least now you have some pin sounds if you do need them. A bowler for Christmas would be great, and this one will even fit into my samll apartment.

John

 

[Shockman]

WIP 10

 

[bob]

It looks awesome Shockman.... I downloaded WIP10 and you're doing a great job!

 

[yogiholzer]

Good luck on job search, rpbizzle47!

 

[Shockman]

I found that the thin walls needed to make the pins dissapear was too thin to be rendered at extreen low angles, so I made them thick and raising instead of dropping. The same control point setting, just reversed to top and bottom and flipped the graphic of the pin upside down. This is now angle independant in the extreem.

Here is 0/90 (no depth)

With this angle I make sure everythimg is lined up. You can see that the 5 pin and the only working pin display light is a bit off.

 

[Shockman]

I forgot to mention that this version as set up now will crash if you aim while the ball is in the mech. and return lane.

You can however steer the ball while it is on it's way to the pins. This is not a default feature, but was added for fun, to see how well it would work. It will only be an option as part of the engine. I think I will try dropping the ball onto the return ramp and see if it has enough speed to make it to the rack, then I would never have to destroy the activeball till put in your hand.

Anyway the steering is kinda fun and works great.

 

[Shockman]

WIP11

 

[GHoSTFaCe]

Very nice visual improvements between WIP10 and 11, well done!

 

[rpbizzle47]

I'm begaining to worry about this! I have heard Shock say anything the last few days.

 

[GHoSTFaCe]

Don't worry, he posted a very nice looking WIP11 within the past day or two... Significant visual progress from WIP10.

 

[Shockman]

Latest progress

Switched over to a four frame score display. Now you will allways see your latest displayed score.

Every light on the pin light display on the cabinet work.

Yes, the score is still flawed.

 

[tiltjlp]

You're doing great Shockman. If I didn't know that this is a bowling machine, I'd swear that it was an actual lane over at Western Bowl. Even at this stage, you have exceeded my highest expectations.

John

 

[StevOz]

I agree, an amazing looking project, just noticed something which may not be correct. I'm not sure how mini bowlers timber flooring is laid, though I know with regular bowling lanes, the wooden boards are stacked verticle, side by side, not in the horizontal position.