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Virtual pinball section?

jww

jww

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Aug 4, 2013
Messages
145
Location
Walmer
Hello,

Could a kind person please let me know if there's a virtual pinball section on the forum ?

I have searched a bit and couldn't find anything apart from for-sale posts or a bit of discussion in general? However I am dumb and could have easily missed it.

Not meaning to cause any grief/holy-wars, am just curious and wondered if my favourite forum had a dedicated section about this so I could read up and learn about 'em, or if I'd have to cheat on you a little with another in my spare time :)

Thank you
 
There isn't a dedicated VPin section, , VPinball.com and VPForums.com are your best bet for a more dedicated VPin discussion
That said there are a few on here that have VPins, myself included
Happy to answer any questions you may have if I can.
 
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Thank you Chris, much appreciated. Just curious really and wanted to learn a bit about them as it's an area I know very little about.
I was thinking that a Vpin might add a bit of variety alongside my SWT if I pick one up in the future.
Looks like I've got some reading up to do, thanks again.
 
I build vpins and sold MANY to people on here.
I asked this question a while ago and as most people seem to be antivpins on here I didn’t push.
I would say there are a couple of forums and Facebook pages but mainly full of semi crazy people......
 
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Thank you Pick Holder and M4carp :)

I was worried about creating my original post because I totally appreciate that the majority of peeps own and want to read about physical pins - and certainly dont want to change that. I had just seen bits and pieces about vpins due to a Youtube suggestion and am curious is all. Perhaps mistakenly I thought I could find a resource that would explain all the different types of machines you can get (mass produced & hand-made etc) and why you might want x,y,z feature (or not), who sells them etc. It's a bit daunting if you know next to nothing like me.

I'm still a bit confused about what's out there. Youtube had suggested a video about a vpin that had some starwars games on it but I can't seem to find even a mention of it in any shops - i guess probably for the same reason I can't find cookers in stock - Corona+manufacturing?

Am worried that I'm rambling on, so I'll just sign off with a tip - I have been playing the stern pinball games compilation for Ninetendo switch thats on sale at argos atm for a tenner - so can receomend that to anyone who has a switch (Though I dont doubt that the real machines are much better). Currently loving Last Action Hero on it and Ripleys believe it or not- and it's much easier to play this on tv (rotated) than holding the ipad which my wrists just cant take holding anymore.

Peace and love. Stay cool pinballinfo.


Johnny
 
I dont mind adding a section for Vpins... however what i want to get away from is having a Node with little traffic...

Let me take a look at the nodes and structure over the weekend..... There's a fair bit of "dead wood" i need to clear out...
 
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If I had the talent, skills and time I would have built one by now, Vpins are great, different from "proper" pins for sure, but still very cool in their own right. Sounds like you saw a video about the Arcade 1up pin, they have only just been released in the US so there wont be many/any in the UK for a while. To be honest I would say if you are into pins enough to be browsing a pin forum they probably aren't the experience you are looking for. They are android based so aren't running the full pinball fx3 software. Still interesting but there is much more scope for a realistic experience.
 
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Paul said:
I dont mind adding a section for Vpins... however what i want to get away from is having a Node with little traffic...

Let me take a look at the nodes and structure over the weekend..... There's a fair bit of "dead wood" i need to clear out...
Click to expand...
If you want me to 'look over' or 'mod' a vpin section let me know.
 
Paul said:
I dont mind adding a section for Vpins... however what i want to get away from is having a Node with little traffic...

Let me take a look at the nodes and structure over the weekend..... There's a fair bit of "dead wood" i need to clear out...
Click to expand...
Yeah !
 
I was thinking of getting a Guardians in future but haven't had chance to play one. I didn't think it would have made its way to a virtual version but low and behold one has been created!

It is complete with PUP Pack videos and custom code, even has Cleland option. I'm not sure how the custom code compares to the real thing but I can at least check the layout out, it plays pretty well.

I've already owned a Metallica so have never really looked at Guardians as all reviews always seem to mention it is the same layout as Metallica, but it is going to be this or Stranger Things for my next Pin I think.

Below is some video of it in action (not mine).

 
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Marvello said:
I was thinking of getting a Guardians in future but haven't had chance to play one. I didn't think it would have made its way to a virtual version but low and behold one has been created!

It is complete with PUP Pack videos and custom code, even has Cleland option. I'm not sure how the custom code compares to the real thing but I can at least check the layout out, it plays pretty well.

I've already owned a Metallica so have never really looked at Guardians as all reviews always seem to mention it is the same layout as Metallica, but it is going to be this or Stranger Things for my next Pin I think.

Below is some video of it in action (not mine).

Click to expand...

I have Metallica & Guardians, had the same concerns regarding the layout but they play very differently. In absolutely no way do they feel like playing the same machine. GOTG is a superb pin [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
@Marvello - I have not played one of these recreation games that I have kept. The beatles was awful, as was WoZ.

Talks have happened with the pinballfx3 guys and stern so I would imagine modern stern games one day will be emulated.

As yet nobody has done spike 2 emulation. There was a guy who said he had but no proof. I also heard rumours that some people did have spike 2 running in their cabs but no proof.

All the sounds and video clips for spike 2 can be gotten off the SD card quite easily thru a linux OS.

The VPINBALL.COM closing thing has been talked about for a while, the guy who ran it had a lot of issues and was kinda pee'd off that most vpin stuff now is on facebook (which I can not stand).
 
Think he got hacked off that people were selling pre-made cabs full of games or worse, dumps of all the tables on HDDs for hundreds of $.
My guess is the licence holders will turn a blind eye to a bunch of hobbyists, but if their IP is being actively sold they might start getting a little more heavy handed in their responses (rumour had it Stern were looking into a VP offering, can't imagine them being happy about a better version of ACDC being distributed with the ROM and all the licenced artwork)
I guess if you're just a guy running a non-profit site it's not worth the hassle of having to start looking over your shoulder all the time.

I'm not on Facebook, so not sure what's going on there regarding VPin

It's a shame though as there is going to be a lot of stuff lost with it gone so suddenly.

Best make sure you have a solid backup of your tables!

There was talk of Spike1 being not all that far off, but not a huge pull to work on it as it was only 2(?) games, one of which wasn't all that.

I've never liked the non-rom based games, I tried musters and while I 100% respect the amount of work that must have gone into it, the lack of a proper ROM kind of kills it for me.
 
Pick Holder said:
@Marvello - I have not played one of these recreation games that I have kept. The beatles was awful, as was WoZ.

Talks have happened with the pinballfx3 guys and stern so I would imagine modern stern games one day will be emulated.

As yet nobody has done spike 2 emulation. There was a guy who said he had but no proof. I also heard rumours that some people did have spike 2 running in their cabs but no proof.

All the sounds and video clips for spike 2 can be gotten off the SD card quite easily thru a linux OS.

The VPINBALL.COM closing thing has been talked about for a while, the guy who ran it had a lot of issues and was kinda pee'd off that most vpin stuff now is on facebook (which I can not stand).
Click to expand...
I remember trying WOZ but haven't tried it since, also haven't got around to trying Beatles.

I've still got enough on there to last me a lifetime.
 
I think beatles may be on your drive but not in the games list manager....

You cant get it now, but I can always send it across....

A guy in the UK who will remain nameless sells rubbish vpins, and the cheeky git - bought one of mine and has copied my drive to go into all of his. The machines do not work as he has VPX with pup packs running on a 1gb graphic card! Stutter is amazing. But I dont get hissy and have a strop about him using all my configs and custom bat files etc....

What does pee me off about the vpin guys is that they complain about companies/individuals who put the machines up for sale. The whole of the VP community works off STOLEN IP. You are right, the big companies do not care. But you can not complain about people stealing your work that uses stolen IP. They can not ask money as they are not paying any copyright.

Also most of these people who make the game have never played the real thing.

It does amaze me in 2021 that they can not even get a wire gate to animate properly ;) I have not come across a real pinball that the gate swings 4 or 5 times.
 
I've always liked the idea that virtual pinball should do things real tables physically cannot do - like an alien monster catching then biting the ball in half before hopping over and hanging on to the flipper to hinder gameplay if you've haven't activated feature X in time; or the drain rather than ending the game, takes you to a new level with different playfield artwork and ramp layouts like descending the dungeon levels in Atari's Gauntlet for example.

But with that said, if the Stern or JJP etc made a virtual pinball machine, maybe 2/3rds size like a massive Nintendo Switch with legs, head box and some games on there - that would be a fantastic way to have a lower cost of entry to the hobby (And I'd definitely be interested in buying one).

I was wondering what licensed options (Sorry if I'm using the wrong term - I mean legal) are out there for someone who just wanted to buy a vpin rather than construct one. The Arcade1Up pinball and At-games Legends pinball look interesting though can't see them in stock anywhere. Is there any other licensed options to get a vpin, or is this all a bit new and I need to wait a bit for this to all develop?
 
I just switched my one to a new case / PC / platform and find I have changed from mostly Future Pinball tables to Pinball Ultra Pro (Timescape) and Pinball FX3 tables, (although I still have a few fan made future pinball ones that do things not (easily) possible on a real pinball.

Almost everything on there uses both screens and the DMD (including FX3 and Timescape)

most tables on there properly licensed, (and non existent as real pinballs - although that may change when IJ comes out as an FX3 table next year, plus other William's ones are already available - not looked at yet)

(daft bit is I built the first one since I wanted to play LOTR and didn't think I would ever get a real one - it's the other side of the Big Hurt, so not even on there now)


VP.jpg
 
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