Bally SS Recreation BAM FP Star Trek xse v1.3 (Oct 2016) v1.3 2020-01-28

[shiva]

After 3 years, a update to Star Trek xse. Version 1.3, this features updates to the flippers (version 2) new physics and game play, and some special additions including a new lens and bulb effect with ball interaction, better backglass etc

This uses BAM, and was done with the 2.5 exe. The xml file is included, it is the 2.5 xml with a "few" modifications, mostly to set up better more natural shots, and a couple weirder settings that seemed to work better.

Hope everyone enjoys playing it as much as I enjoyed doing it. Any comments on the new things, as well as bug reports are appreciated, as I like to fine tune things and work out any kinks in the newer stuff. Please read this entire thread, the readme, and the actual FP manual first.

It should be at Pinsimdb shortly, but it's a little goofy sometimes. Awaiting admin approval there, in the meanwhile, you can grab it here at Pinball Nirvana as well.

Download link
http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/table-1737-star_trek_xse
http://www.pinballnirvana.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=5127

Version 1.2 - August 16, 2013
Version 1.3 - Oct 28, 2016
- Table/build/graphics/modifications by blue
- Script/sounds By Popotte 25/01/2008
- Custom models by francisco666 and Polygame
- Thanks to BC57 for the pics and his kindness
- Thanks to Minh Tan for splash screen image
- Thanks to all the other authors for their versions of this bally classic.
- Available at Pinsimdb.com, as well as Pinball Nirvana and VPUniverse

*** Keys ***
You can toggle (by the toggle HUD key) the HUD reel.
Access to the dip switches menu by the Special2Key.(set as the ' key by default) for adjustments (amount of balls/liberal-conservative settings etc)
Speed up the bonus count by pressing both flippers

*** Instructions ***
This new version was made specifically for use with Better Arcade Mode (BAM) and uses SlamTilits 2.5 xml file as a base. If you do not use BAM, It may work fine as a standalone exe, but hit is recommended to use the FP 2.5. exe. Other physics exe may not work as intended. Please read the Manual included with FP about adjusting plungers/kickers etc if you should have any problems if you use a different FP exe.

The object was to ignore trying to get FP to have perfect physics (which is impossible, we have been trying for 6 years) but instead just concentrate on getting FP to play as fun as possible. Though every effort, and trick in the book, was used, it's still FP after all, and well, you can't turn crap into gold.

You can download BAM here:
http://ravarcade.pl/?en_download,16

If you are new to Future Pinball, or have any problems, a help file is here:
http://gopinball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=84&t=6054

If you do not have BAM installed with Future Pinball (real easy actually) then there is a great help file here at:
http://www.gopinball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=5544

*** Rules ***
* making b-a-l-l-y scores and advances lit values
* all targets down scores 5,000 points. 1st time lites 2x bonus.
2st time lites 3x bonus.
3rd and each additional time scores special.
* top roll-over buttons and bottom ball return lanes score and advance hyper space values.
* outlanes special - lites when bally special is lit.
* ball thru outlane when lit for special scores 1 replay.
* ball thru warp speed lane scores bonus.
* maximum 1 extra ball per ball in play.
* tilt penalty - ball in play.

*** Version 1.3 ***
- Released Oct 2016
- Intended for use with Better Arcade Mode (BAM). Best non-Bam exe: Slamtilts 2.5 physics. BAM XML physics file uses 2.5 physics with modifications.
- Version 2 of my flipper technique, for far better range and speed. Slight modifications to this as opposed to Playboy, with a more center based setup. This uses triggers as well, so the small hidden flippers will only work when the ball is over the trigger. This prevents "mishits" and interference with ball movement
- Modified physics, better speed with coils, far more bounce and more polished gameplay. Outlanes more closed, flippers closer together for longer play. game still plays like the Bitch it actually is in real life.
- New 3 stage variable slingshot effect
- New Lens lighting and halo effect, with ball interaction
- New basic bulb lighting effect with ball interaction at certain spots
- Fixed some known "fp" problems with gates etc, layout changes and massaging to prevent drains except.... Try not to hit the center target unless you have to. Standard Bally drain shot, Paragon does the same. I modified it a bit so it doesn't drain as much, but it still does.
- Modified the pf image, fixed the dirty edges around lens lights. Recolored some things
- Backglass now has better lighting, no pinhole light effect. Also I moved some lights around for better effect, and added lights for player display/tilt/credits etc

*** Changes (version 1.2) ***
( Please go to this thread for full changes: http://www.gopinball.com/forum/viewt...=Star+trek+xse )
-New graphics, made to give the table a lighter appearance that the original. main images replaced, new images redone and recolored.
-New models used
- New Double lighting affect on the plastics. (Found on Layer 1)
- Layout modified based on new play field and plastics.
- Modified shaped physics were adjusted, and added to.
- Heavy flipper effect, using a wall to add a more stable surface to the flipper, and change the angle that the ball will hit the flipper.
- Heavy Drop Targets
- Hyperspace rule changed for the upper loop, there is now a timer that prevents scoring hyperspace twice in one shot if you go through the top loop
- User Key Change - Holding both Flippers keys down will now cause the bonus countdown to greatly speed up, as the stock Bally settings were very slow.
- Lots of changes for presentation of the table, and polish, including minor script changes.

 

[hogger42]

Absolutely beautiful!! Thank you for your hard work in bringing this to us.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

That is awful pretty. And one of my favorite Bally tables. Nothing fancy, all well-cooked meat and potatoes... just like William Shatner!

 

[shiva]

That is awful pretty. And one of my favorite Bally tables. Nothing fancy, all well-cooked meat and potatoes... just like William Shatner!

pretty funny comparison. If Shatner was a beef cut, he would be the rump roast of the acting world. :)

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

you know my HDD crashed hard the other day and i was forced to press a junk drive in to service. it will take me a while to figure out what i can possibly extract from the smoking remains of my old drive, but suffice it to say-- i'm rather depressed.

for one thing, my massive, laborious MAME update -- almost complete -- ground to an immediate halt. the project was not just for my personal amusement, but involved with a favorite writing area on reddit. because writing about just about anything in order to maintain my sanity is pretty essential for me, and that was a big current project of mine. :/

ANYWAY... struggling with this new HDD and crappy version of win7, i suddenly started missing PB. but now this beautiful update to a table i played very little of would seem to fit the bill. so thank you, shiva... thank you.

and if you don't mind, i think i'd like to follow your FB page. look for an add from nic be.

 

[shiva]

Of Course Nic, at least I have one now, though to be fair, I only used it for games before. Any one can really, well, maybe not anyone. hakeass:

Hope you like it, it's rather experimental in some places, especially the flippers. Once we get the support built in from BAM, you will start seeing far better setups down the road. Everyone that does FP tables are tired of VPF guys just roping in everyone because they just played one lousy poorly done table, so maybe people will give FP a second look and appreciate the niche FP is carving out separate from VP and VPM

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

i don't even know what VP is, anymore. it seems to be a collection of specialised software to re-create commercial machines on homemade cabinet setups. supposedly it has a large development team that somehow hasn't been able to get the physics anywhere close to propinball's, which first came out... what, 15+ years ago?

the FP tables i've seen screenies of consistently look quite gorgeous to me. IMO homemade tables are something that had a bright future when VP first came along, before the project got wrenched away by re-creations.

anyway... i've downloaded the table, FP and BAM (which i have no idea about). i started to go for the BAM help file, until i hit this problem:

If you do not have BAM installed with Future Pinball (real easy actually) then there is a great help file here at:
http://www.gopinball.com/forum/viewt...hp?f=86&t=5544

the link appears to be copied from an abbreviated link, not the original link. help?

 

[shiva]

Sorry, forgot the copy and paste doesn't work properly at GoPinball. Link fixed
http://www.gopinball.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=86&t=5544
BAM has it's own section at gopinball, so any help just post there. Rav the developer is pretty active, and always open to suggestions.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

Yeah, I was looking at some of those tables and the site as well and was thinking about giving FP another shot. Unfortunately, it looks like it's even more complex now than back when I still kind of understood how to set these damn things up! You go first, nic.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Yeah, I was looking at some of those tables and the site as well and was thinking about giving FP another shot. Unfortunately, it looks like it's even more complex now than back when I still kind of understood how to set these damn things up! You go first, nic.

will do.

i'm still struggling with a huge "update" bug in windows and had to reinstall windows 7 yet again. i think my body is even echoing this drawn-out, PITA process by giving me a massive case of gastritis the last day or two.

anyway, i don't think it will be hard to get this running. fact is, i'm rather stoked because i barely played this version of star trek back in the day, or even with VP.

 

[shiva]

It's actually far easier to install than VP/VPMame. I always have settings problems with vp, and usually takes a while just finding out how to change things, which is very frustrating. Bam is pretty easy as well, just put it directly in the FP folder, make a shortcut with the fploader to your desktop, pretty much it.
Changing the Futurepinball.exe with a better mod is simple as well.
FP still has it's problems though, but it's getting there. Once more things are added, with FP, you can do some things even vpx can not do. As the physics get better, I can see how down the road it is a good alternative to VP9, if not better in some ways. The nice thing is just how many decent originals are available, and even the arcade translations are upgraded with completely new features, which is nice because I hate playing the same damn thing over and over with vp/vpx.
I'm pretty proud of how Star trek came out. Even a couple years ago, no one would have thought that FP could play like that (It still does show the FP weirdness, but give me time) and I only did it as a challenge. Hopefully, more people will give FP a second chance, but I should mention that like VP, the games are very dependent on who makes them. Slamtilt's stuff is very good, MartinB, popotte, BlindmanPinball, Polygame, those are the better authors.
The IJ I'm playing in Beta is gorgeous, even better than the VP versions, especially with my flippers in them now.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

okay, i got all items installed. FP and BAM's FP loader are set for XP sp3 compatibility mode; display scaling on high DPI images is turned off; admin mode is turned on.

the table just manages to run in solo FP mode with minimal settings. flippers are still a bit sluggish, but at least it's a start.

note: this isn't a great gaming machine, but it's not completely terrible. specs: AMD athlon II dual-core m320 2.1ghz, 3gigs of RAM and a 3.9 windows experience rating.

BAM's FP loader runs, but the whole thing crashes after the table is loaded and the popup card is displayed. i assume BAM adds processor overhead, and maybe this is contributing to the crash.

 

[shiva]

I'm assuming so as well. Ouch, that's not a very fast computer there, whats the Video Card?
Try it without Bam as well, give us the FPS

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

video card looks like an ATI mobility radeon HD 4200, 1.5gigs of RAM (built in to the laptop).

at 1024x768 (really unplayably ugly at less than that) in a cooperative viewing mode like "fixed 2," FP will give me about mid-60's FPS. a little laggy on the flippers, but fairly playable.

is there a way to throttle or manually adjust the FPS? as with MAME, i would be perfectly happy with something like 30FPS, allowing the game to run nice and quickly and allowing me to turn on more graphics features.

 

[shiva]

Not sure really. This is the best place for that:
http://www.gopinball.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=84

Maybe see if you can reduce the overhead for windows. I had a pretty slow laptop and was able to play a lot of the games.

Not to sure about the overhead with BAM. Maybe post in the BAM board, see if ravarcade can help there. Try Zed physics, as it has a 32 and 64 optimized version. It can use xml files, and you can bypass BAM with quite a few tables.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

will do.

well there you go, bill-- your turn.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

so i turned on single-threading, and that brought the FPS down to the 40's. any lower than that and the game would be hopelessly choppy. but the flippers picked up responsiveness, so that's good to know.

one thing i thought would be a good experiment is to turn off the PF image. however when i did that in the editor, it still showed up in game. odd! so as a workaround i renamed the PF image, and now i'm seeing a giant lens for the PF image (lol). more importantly i gained 10+ FPS back, so i think i'm on the right track. now i need to get ahold of the PF image, reduce the quality, then import.


and some game notes:

- for some reason the ball bounces right off spinners and gates sometimes instead of passing through. not sure if that's related to my creaky setup or it's an FP thing.

- it's too bad they didn't go for more interesting sounds on this game. it would have been a nice opportunity to include all kinds of enterprise bridge and phaser sounds and stuff. as is, the layout and sounds come off just like a million other ballys from that era. an alternate set of sounds might be a nice option, in future.

- first replay, woot!

 

[shiva]

You can export the pf image from FP and resize it, then reload it back in. Go to Table/Texture Manager, select the pf image, and press export. Resize it, then import the image back in. You should be able to get away with 1024 height, and if you do the plastics as well as any other big images, should help you a lot. I used BMP format, but if you convert it to jpeg, should work better.
Your setup may have a lot to do with gates as they are a known problem. If it's the top gates, it's not the gates, it's the triggers, which have the same problem. Maybe I will come up with a workaround down the road.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

ah yes, i just got finished doing that. i forgot how much of the original VP interface black used in FP!

anyway i cut the image down to a quarter size, 80% JPG as a test, and it yielded about 100FPS. looks like that's the biggest problem more or less solved, and now i'll have to spend time playing around with quality of PF image vs. how much video extras i want turned on.

 

[shiva]

Wow, that much? people wanted a higher res version, but that's insane.
My computer has G-Sync, so its locked at 70 fps
Glad you got it going, have to remember that.