What effect does changing the Hardware Lights in video settings have?

TerryRed

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Isaac Sauvage said:
Btw, could you tell me if there's a certain order or effect you get from increasing the hardware lights from zero all the way up to seven? I assume FP automatically adds functionality and nuance with each step up, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this stuff is directly specified by the table author...?
Hardware lights (flashers) are automatically controlled by FP. If more than 7 are turned on at one time then the hardware lights nearest the ball get priority and the others are rendered like normal "bulbs" and don't give off light.

There is no way to control what gets used when you reduce from 7 to lower.

By making changes like that... you're really defeating the point of an update like this.... as these type of updates are made to use all 7 hardware lights... and a lot goes into making sure everything works and looks correct with that setup.

(Note: the context here is finding a happy medium between good FPS and an author's intended HW lighting. Continuation from this release thread. --Ike)
 
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Hardware lights (flashers) are automatically controlled by FP. If more than 7 are turned on at one time then the hardware lights nearest the ball get priority and the others are rendered like normal "bulbs" and don't give off light.
Yet another piece of information I was unware of.

One of this days I have to start compiling all this "little" things about FP and put them all in one place! But today is not the day :D
 
By making changes like that... you're really defeating the point of an update like this.... as these type of updates are made to use all 7 hardware lights... and a lot goes into making sure everything works and looks correct with that setup.
Yeap, understood.

Altho I don't have much choice here, for one thing. But for another, if I can help people roughly in my boat get better performance while still keeping as much of the look as possible, then I'm calling that a win.

Hardware lights (flashers) are automatically controlled by FP. If more than 7 are turned on at one time then the hardware lights nearest the ball get priority and the others are rendered like normal "bulbs" and don't give off light.
Hmm, just now I tried running the table in each of the 0-7 hardware light modes, taking snaps. What I noticed is that adding more hardware lights up to 5 added more light sources around the table. Six or 7 visually added no more than 5, at least from a static screenie, at least in conjunction with my other settings.

Then, after shooting the ball and watching it move around the table, in conjunction with the manual ball roller, I didn't notice any behavior along the lines of lights nearest the ball getting priority. Maybe I'm not understanding the entire process, tho.

Again, this is also under reduced settings in other areas, so maybe that factors in?
 
I setup the G.I. (general illumination) to use 4 flashers (hidden within plastics, you can't see its model), and a 5th one for the drain. Those are always on, unless the table turns off the G.I.

You are seeing their "light" affecting everything around them. They aren't like other flashers on the table with models on top of the plastics that go off or flash,etc.

The G.I. usually gets turned off during the more flashy light shows from the other flashers.

Don't confuse a hardware light / flasher, with all other types of lights / bulbs on the table.
 
Oof, if "flasher" refers to both GI light sources as well as physical flashers, then certainly that's an easy source of confusion.

So, I see the five nano_flasher models in the editor. Evidently you position a logical nano-flasher wherever handy, but somewhere else specify that it's going to add a light source through... an element on another layer, or via light collections?
 
I use flashers for the purpose of GI because they are the only "real" lights FP has that affects everything on the table like a real light would (VP for example does not have this). All other lights on FP don't do that.

So on newer table updates we use 3 or 4 flashers to act as the "real" GI light, while the GI "bulbs" are more for "visibility" and for creating shadowmaps.

I hide the nano flasher models for GI in the lockdown bar, and use BAM commands that allow you to detach the light source from the model and place it anywhere in x / y / height (so you don't need to use another surface object for the height of the light source).
 
Thanks for explaining! So looks like

GI 1 = lower L sling
GI 2 - lower R sling
GI 3 = upper L sling
GI 4 = upper R sling

Interestingly, as hardware lights are added starting from 1 source counting up, they light up in a somewhat different order: (note screenshot progression below)

1 - upper R sling
2 - drain
3 - lower R sling
4 - upper L sling
5 - lower L sling

Are you sure the author isn't in control of that somehow? Because it seems pretty straight-ahead and linear, other than the order being different.

Btw, mind if I split these posts out to a side discussion about 'Understanding FP's HW lights?'
I'd rather not hijack the thread, leaving room for real feedback here.
 

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Yes, you can split into another topic... and no, the author has no control over what hardware lights are chosen based on how many are enabled in FP video settings.
 
Very good. So my working takeaways are this:

- If possible, leave hardware lights permanently set at "7" in order for all tables to look as intended.

- If not possible for table X, try to step number of lights down until you find a playable FPS.

- Remember that there are plenty of other things you can do to gain FPS without changing the fundamental look of a table.

- FP evidently decides on its own which GI lighting, etc to activate as you increase the hardware lights setting.
 
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