Would like to commission a Virtual Pinball cabinet build

[rablack97]

Maybe so, but this hobby is like windows………you might get XP but the community is on windows 10.

The joy is coming to these sites and seeing what new mods or improvements have been made to the tables, and we all know, not all are plug and play.

You cant buy a pre-configured drive full of tables that’s worth while, what you get is a library full of WTF.  You might get 50 or so tables, but those that are deep into the hobby are a couple hundred tables deep in their cabs.

It’s a catch 22, make the table and charge a fee, then you risk a huge population not seeing your creation.  Release it, and keep on going, everyone sees and enjoys it.

I’m guessing if you release it to the public you did it for the pure joy and excitement it brings to yourself and those that play your table.  Think of it like graffitti, these tables are being played all over the world.

Keeping it real, who wrote the roms that inhabit these tables?  Certainly not the authors, so there’s a certain level of leech in all of these endeavors….. virtual pinball, mame, etc.  Not much you can really do, if this stuff is freely available on the net.

Hard to control the world’s intent man, right or wrong….

Do what you do because you have a passion for it, don’t do it and micromanage what someone else is doing with it.  If thats the issue, patent it or lock it down like pb fx and TPA did.

 

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[HauntFreaks]

personally, we just expect people to follow the very few and basic “guidelines” no need for anything more complicated than that, 99% of the people that feel otherwise are non-contributors to the hobby…

the rom thing has been explained many times over , the coder that made the rom was paid the machines the roms came from were paid for, many times over….
so to think something is unethical for “using” them is kinda of a moot point ….. now the guys including them in their cabs that they sell… thats a WHOLE other thing… maybe we can’t sue or really stop them from using our tables, … but the rom owners, I guess might have a say in their property being “sold” without permission

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xenonph

[rablack97]

Makes sense…….point taken

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[jevansoh]

To anyone wondering, I’ve read every comment and have taken them to heart.

I believe I understand now why it is frowned upon to include tables in a build and respect that.

I will just have to learn to install tables myself.  I spent three months getting my HyperSpin set up and have enjoyed the desktop versions of Future Pinball, Visual Pinball, and Pinball FX2 now for a few months.  I’ve enjoyed them on the desktop so much, I now want the real thing (well, a cabinet, which is better than a “real” pinball machine IMO) but I remember the growing pains and how many times I had to ask for help on the forums to get going.

I was able to do the desktop configuration from my chair and in my room with my custom PC setup and all my “gear.”  I’m disabled.  When I get a cabinet, it will be in the arcade and it will not be as comfortable or easy for me to sit in that location without my “gear” for long periods of time to install tables, so I wanted to simply get a system with a bunch of tables pre-loaded to get me started.  I never intended to hurt anyone nor did I ever intend on the tables that came with the system to be the only ones and to never upgrade and add more tables, but I know there will be a learning curve with PinballX and I know there will be a learning curve with the cabinet versions of tables and using a backglass on all these tables and I just don’t have the health and energy to start from scratch sitting at the pinball machine in the arcade for hours on end.

I owned a computer store for 12 years until becoming disabled so I have a fair amount of knowledge.  That isn’t the problem.  It’s sitting at the table in a different location for hours on end setting up tables and integrating them into the front end.

Adding a few tables at a time or doing maintenance is a different story and I can do that, just as I can go to the table for a little bit and play and enjoy it.

I made the decision to purchase a cabinet from VPCabs today.  I’m going to get their Back To The Future cabinet with full force feedback, LED package, and Pinball FX2 tables preloaded.  They just happen to be local to me so the guys are going to deliver it and they said they would “help” me get some additional tables, but all that is preloaded are the Pinball FX2 tables.

I hope the community is still willing to help me learn and go through the growing pains of learning how to install cabinet build tables just like you helped me learn how to install the desktop builds.

I’m sorry for offending anyone and do see everyone’s point very clearly now.

I hope to be a part of this community and hobby for many years to come, as long as I have left on this Earth.

Thanks,

–J

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xenonph

[CarnyPriest]

Good. As long as you didn’t go for a Vertigo design. That’s an abomination. Smash arcade and pinball together, and now you have the worst of both worlds!

If they are local then maybe you can arrange a service contract or something for the inevitable hardware issues. I say this as a VPCabs customer myself. As a general pass/fail rating, I do give VPCabs a pass. I’ve been very satisfied, but the PC and electronics are assembled from off-the-shelf items and they can fail. Not something that I really hold VPCabs responsible for since these items were working well for months. I’ve had to RMA the motherboard a couple of times. I finally got a refurbished board from the manufacturer that has held up. The playfield TV is currently down. I’m hoping it is just some blown capacitors on the power board, but I haven’t had a chance to pull the machine apart yet. I’ve got neither time or money right now. This happened about four years from the date of purchase, so this is well beyond any reseller or manufacturer warranty. I usually would not recommend anyone buy a service contract for something like this, but if you can’t do the repair work and VPCabs is local to you and you don’t want what may wind up being a huge door stop then this may be something you want to ask about.

Sounds like you have some basic familiarity with the software at least. That a VP setup requires the Visual Pinball player/editor, an optional front-end, vpt/vpx table files, rom sets, and the VPinMAME emulator. And that you may have to visit different sites to find everything that you need. This in itself is barrier that stops a lot of people from even looking further at Visual Pinball. A setup for a cabinet is just a few more steps beyond the basic desktop setup.

Maintenance and updating – two options:

1. You can simply connect the cabinet to your home network. Then assemble the tables, media files, etc. from where you usually sit and just push it onto your cabinet’s drive. Or transfer through a cloud drive. Whatever.
2. You can only play one table at a time, right? Just set up and configure your table one at a time. Play it for a while. Take a few hours or days before moving on to another table if you want. Pace yourself. No need to make it a marathon effort.

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[Jesperpark]

Personally i update my cabinet while sitting on a couch.  I download everything then weekly send everything to the cabinet using teamviewer.  After that i adjust the x,y layback view to my liking and done.

You are going to get more enjoyment learning to solve all the little challenges one at a time.  Plus you learn way more about how all the software works this way.

There is a bunch of great guys here that can help you if you run into issues along the way.

Hauntfreaks said it best, this is a hobby and you get out what you put into it.

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[HauntFreaks]

Jesperpark wrote:

Personally i update my cabinet while sitting on a couch. I download everything then weekly send everything to the cabinet using teamviewer. After that i adjust the x,y layback view to my liking and done. You are going to get more enjoyment learning to solve all the little challenges one at a time. Plus you learn way more about how all the software works this way. There is a bunch of great guys here that can help you if you run into issues along the way. Hauntfreaks said it best, this is a hobby and you get out what you put into it.

yeah I kinda dont get this , its hard to update thing…. like you I’m sitting watching TV with my wife, fixing tables modding, making b2s’s and updating to my cab that’s in the basement….    example… say toxie has a VPX update…. I unzip the file drag the files into the folder on my cab  -=DONE=-  it took me longer to type done then it take to update VPX
only thing different in my machine is my file system… its much more organized then the common VP user (you were all taught bad habits)
my point to that is… i might be able to update and know what i have and don’t have a little fast then the rest…

anyway…. once you rig is up and running , after that is easy peasy man, listen if it was easy…. guess who wouldnt be in the hobby —–>this guy<—–

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[jevansoh]

I thought about an option such as TeamViewer but didn’t know how that would work out considering there are 3 monitors on the cabinet and I only have one monitor on my regular desktop.  I didn’t know if I’d be able to configure everything remotely because of this.  How has this worked for others?

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[randr]

I’ve used team viewer dozens of Times to help people with cabs. Works great

********************************************************
Messing with the VPinball app and push notifications.
So if you haven't downloaded app yet what are you waiting for!?
for IOS and Android

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[Jesperpark]

Agreed, it will recognize multiple screens and allow you to switch between them, there is an icon on the top bar to do so.

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[jevansoh]

That’s great!  I’ll give it a shot.

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