(Topic ID: 50742)

Pinball-Browser : Customize your game !

By oga83

10 years ago


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17 key posts have been marked in this topic, showing the first 10 items. (Show topic index)

There are 5,560 posts in this topic. You are on page 30 of 112.
#1451 9 years ago
Quoted from kapsreiter:

when i run the macro i have always to answer some questions" weird to define a palette for not full screen image" but this images will be shown in color only when i color it on ST ?!

Most of the time it is useless to define a palette in a frame that will not fill the entire dmd.
This palette won't be used (it's the palette of the underlying background that will be used instead).

The rule is that SmartDmd will only use the palette information that is stored in the top-left corner of the final dmd image. An animation frame (that is often a 'sprite') will generally not follow this rule.

This message means that Pinball Browser might have detected such a situation.
See also here

#1452 9 years ago

Feature request: could you post process the macro files to automatically group changes to a single frame into a single XML "edit" to reduce fragmentation of free memory, and thus allow for more room for changes. Example: if I change the palette on a frame and save, then later I modify some pixels, and save, and then even later I add new graphics to the screen. This screen could potentially get saved and then freed in three different places, resulting in some small unusable free spaces left over. If the three separate operations were grouped into one "edit" operation, I would only need to reload the stock firmware file and run the macro on it to get optimum use of my free memory. Anyway, if its an easy one to add, it would make me have to be less carefully about modifying a single frame multiple times.

Love the program! Keep up the good work.

#1453 9 years ago

I started making images to Avengers LE.
I looked at the memory that I had originally, which was 221875 and I only did Iron Man and I now have a memory of 146831.
I have not retouched the image twice, three times .... only once.

I wonder if this is normal.because at a rate that decreases memory, I can not finish the other avengers.

I read that Monster Bash managed to colorize 90% for X-Men. and X-Men has almost double image that Avengers.
how did he have done that?

also, I made a color palette for each Avengers to limit the coloring of the image and avoid taking more memory.

I would like to help please

#1454 9 years ago

i think the problem is

every change in the "edit" image in the macro needs space

i exported the complete image and re imported it
so the macro ist just 1 line

#1455 9 years ago

do you have some more room ?

and, can you continue to colorize frames ?

#1456 9 years ago
Quoted from kapsreiter:

i think the problem is
every change in the "edit" image in the macro needs space
i exported the complete image and re imported it
so the macro ist just 1 line

I made a test and it seems that there is no difference between applying all changes to a frame at one time and re-import the frame

My example:

Original X-MEN 1.51: Contiguous free memory: 182335 - Total Free memory: 259165
After my modifications (same frames edited multiple times): Contiguous free memory: 39311 - Total Free memory: 136392
Original X-MEN 1.51 + all my modifications applied at one time for each frame: Contiguous free memory: 79095 - Total Free memory: 155925
Original X-MEN 1.51 + all my modifications applied by importing modified frames: Contiguous free memory: 79103 - Total Free memory: 155933

But in all cases, I have a problem because I colorized maybe 5% of the frames and I used 50% of the free memory.

#1457 9 years ago
Quoted from caker137:

Feature request: could you post process the macro files to automatically group changes to a single frame

I've already been working on this; it should be included in the next version

#1458 9 years ago

v4.04 is online

A function to optimize macros has been added (it groups all the modifications related to a specific frame)
Macros are not limited to 32k anymore

#1459 9 years ago

Thanks Oga. The automatic link to the new version via the software itself doesn't work (403 - Forbidden) but your link in the first post is ok.

Another question, the limitation of free memory is a temporary limitation or it is impossible to solve ?
I don't understand how some people success to change an entire firmware with so few memory...

#1460 9 years ago
Quoted from Elwood_BE:

Thanks Oga. The automatic link to the new version via the software itself doesn't work (403 - Forbidden) but your link in the first post is ok.

You have to clear your internet browser cache. I guess that it still contains the old version url which does not exist anymore (Pinball Browser is checking for a new version at http://tiny.cc/pinballbrowserupdate).

Quoted from Elwood_BE:

the limitation of free memory is a temporary limitation or it is impossible to solve ?
I don't understand how some people success to change an entire firmware with so few memory...

The memory is a limited resource it depends on the game and how it is programmed (code, number of frames, sounds, ...)
There are some hints to optimize memory when you want to colorize a game :
- No need to set a palette in all animation frames; only the first one is needed (and use the SmartDmd "Use current palette when a frame has no information" option)
- Do not set palettes in frames that are not full-dmd; it's no use (see here)
- From time to time, optimize your macros ("Optimize" button in the "Macros" tab) and play them on a stock firmware

1 week later
#1461 9 years ago

oga83,

Is there any way to list or browse through the items listed in the Edit String window (Messages / Search Firmware)?

What I'm looking for is any instances of "ONE" in the Metallica firmware. The Edit String window says it needs to be 4 letters to search. I know all of the other songs have 2 instances each listed in this section. The first is just the song title and the second is "MUSIC: (the song title)".

So I can actually search "MUSIC" and find "MUSIC: ONE" to change, but I can not find the instance of it by itself, because ONE is only 3 letters.

PS: What are most of these "Search Firmware / Edit String" messages anyway? Where are they seen in the game...if they are seen?

Thanks

1 week later
#1462 9 years ago

Hi oga83,

Thank you very very much for all of your hard work on this utility. I swapped out some songs on Tron and people are really liking it!

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-le-music-remix-video-made-with-pinball-browser

Thanks again,
retro_p

#1463 9 years ago

Sorry for taking so long to answer

Quoted from DugFreez:

What are most of these "Search Firmware / Edit String" messages anyway? Where are they seen in the game...if they are seen?

In a firmware, most of the messages are stored in a dedicated structure. The main purpose of this structure is localization (each message has 5 different languages). Pinball Browser knows this structure and, thus, can display, browse and modify all its messages.

On the other hand, some strings are not stored in this structure (examples : the version id that is displayed in the Service Menu, formatting strings, ...). Some part of code directly reference the address of these strings. That's why Pinball Browser cannot list them (it would be far too long) or relocate and enlarge them (no easy-to-locate pointers). The search string must be longer than 4 letters, mainly for performance issues; I will lower it to 3 in the next version (don't ask me 2, because I tried and it dramatically reduces performances).

One special case is the song names : Pinball Browser could locate/modify them but I did not handle this case as the "Edit String" will do the trick.

Quoted from DugFreez:

Is there any way to list or browse through the items listed in the Edit String window (Messages / Search Firmware)?

No, for the reasons I have explained above.

#1464 9 years ago

Has anyone put a sound package for Batman Dark Knight? I am thinking about doing one myself now... Is there a guide or read me on how to use the tool properly?

Thanks!

#1465 9 years ago

Are you by chance working on the ability to decode and encode audio for WPC? That would be epic!!!!

#1466 9 years ago
Quoted from nodyeliab:

Are you by chance working on the ability to decode and encode audio for WPC? That would be epic!!!!

I've been working on the WPC DCS for some time to decode the sounds but it's still not working
Have you noticed that Pinball Browser can already open WPC firmwares and display the DMD frames ?

#1467 9 years ago
Quoted from Nemesis:

Has anyone put a sound package for Batman Dark Knight? I am thinking about doing one myself now... Is there a guide or read me on how to use the tool properly?
Thanks!

Not made by me :

#1468 9 years ago
Quoted from Nemesis:

Has anyone put a sound package for Batman Dark Knight? I am thinking about doing one myself now... Is there a guide or read me on how to use the tool properly?
Thanks!

The music and sounds are the only thing letting this pin down. Would love a custom code!

#1469 9 years ago

Does anyone have a good bin file for Spiderman to try it out? Please PM me if you do that would be awesome

#1470 9 years ago

Hello,

Is it planned to be able to change WPC frames?

#1471 9 years ago
Quoted from Rensh:

Not made by me :
» YouTube video

Not impressed at all :-/ I think I may have to tackle this project.

1 week later
#1472 9 years ago

I was just wondering if it's a possibility to update a games rules for modern Sterns? I know this question was asked a year or so ago but just checking to see if anything has changed. I think that would be a another game changer.

What are some of the challenges with accessing a games ruleset on a Stern and modifying it?

#1473 9 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

I was just wondering if it's a possibility to update a games rules for modern Sterns? I know this question was asked a year or so ago but just checking to see if anything has changed. I think that would be a another game changer.
What are some of the challenges with accessing a games ruleset on a Stern and modifying it?

I have no idea. But would imagine it would be a nightmare.

#1474 9 years ago
Quoted from Arcade:

I have no idea. But would imagine it would be a nightmare.

I'm sure. If it could be extracted though, even just the raw code in an editor, and then edited I'm sure we would see a lot of neat things created by the pinball community.

I wonder what are the major hurdles to access and edit a games code? All of Stern's modern games offer code updates that includes the actual code changes that were created and then compiled.

Is the main hurdle of this feature decompilation of existing the code? It seems like this would be difficult as code would need to be extracted from the BIN file that Stern provides customers. Opening a Stern code update in BIN file format in a text editor doesn't generate readable text.

#1475 9 years ago
Quoted from PanzerFreak:

Is the main hurdle of this feature decompilation of existing the code? It seems like this would be difficult as code would need to be extracted from the BIN file that Stern provides customers. Opening a Stern code update in BIN file format in a text editor doesn't generate readable text.

This is the easiest part. With the correct tools, you can get a source code that can be compiled again to generate the same binary.

Quoted from PanzerFreak:

I wonder what are the major hurdles to access and edit a games code?

However, having the source code from the binary does not mean that you can easily understand it...
Many design informations are missing (it has no comments, no friendly variables/functions names and it barely knows any internal structures, ...).
Searching or guessing all of the missing informations is called "reversing the code" and this is the main difficulty.

#1476 9 years ago
Quoted from Crrispy:

Hello,
Is it planned to be able to change WPC frames?

I've been working on this for a while and I still have a lot of work to acheive it.

Pinball Browser is already able to open WPC firmwares and display the DMD frames (since v4.00) but there has been very little interest in this feature.

#1477 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

(it has no comments, no friendly variables/functions names and it barely knows any internal structures, ...).

This might explain the quality / timeliness of their code drops

Do you know what its written in? Or is it completely proprietary?

#1478 9 years ago
Quoted from e4mafia:

This might explain the quality / timeliness of their code drops
Do you know what its written in? Or is it completely proprietary?

No, these informations are stripped by the compiler.
I guess it's written in C.

#1479 9 years ago

I didn't actually think that Stern wrote without comments or common programming structures - but the way it was phrased made the joke too much of a softball, I couldn't resist.

#1480 9 years ago

It has been a while since I last looked at the project. I sold all my Stern's so I really didn't need it. I am now an Iron Man owner once again and I would love to remake dots into something more like Star Trek or Met.

Am I able to achieve this with Pinball Browser?

#1481 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

I've been working on this for a while and I still have a lot of work to acheive it.
Pinball Browser is already able to open WPC firmwares and display the DMD frames (since v4.00) but there has been very little interest in this feature.

I'm actually quite interested in the WPC side of things, and will donate if more work is done on that side.

(One thing with the already-implemented DMD frames - locking on the "Group With Next Image" checkbox, so that while scanning through animations it's not required to re-check it each time a frame is advanced.)

--M.

#1482 9 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

I'm actually quite interested in the WPC side of things, and will donate if more work is done on that side.
(One thing with the already-implemented DMD frames - locking on the "Group With Next Image" checkbox, so that while scanning through animations it's not required to re-check it each time a frame is advanced.)
--M.

I agree, would love to see some more WPC functionality like changing frames and sounds

#1483 9 years ago

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#1484 9 years ago

This are some improvements I have made in my Pirates . I'll post a video that changed the sound of it . with the program used here . Was sensational . good I thought . In the photos above , I made custom gear and speakpanel side also . Exclusive !

#1485 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

This is the easiest part. With the correct tools, you can get a source code that can be compiled again to generate the same binary.

However, having the source code from the binary does not mean that you can easily understand it...
Many design informations are missing (it has no comments, no friendly variables/functions names and it barely knows any internal structures, ...).
Searching or guessing all of the missing informations is called "reversing the code" and this is the main difficulty.

Thanks for the feedback. That was very interesting to read. It sounds like "reversing the code" is an extremely difficult task. Maybe Stern will give the community the final raw code build for games? Hey, we can dream!

#1486 9 years ago

1 week later
#1488 9 years ago

#1489 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

I've been working on this for a while and I still have a lot of work to acheive it.
Pinball Browser is already able to open WPC firmwares and display the DMD frames (since v4.00) but there has been very little interest in this feature.

Please continue ! It would be awesome to change the sounds on WPC roms. Great work so for and thanks for this awesome piece of software.

1 week later
#1490 9 years ago

Somebody asked me how to replace a song name that is not listed in the "Messages" tab.
Here is how :
1- Go to to the "Messages" tab
2- Click on "Search Firmware"
3- Enter a song name (or a part of it). Be carefull that this search text is case sensitive.
4- Click on "Search" and select the text you want to modify in the list
5- Enter the new text in the "Replace with" field
6- Click on "Replace"

strings1.pngstrings1.png

#1491 9 years ago

works fine, thank you !

#1492 9 years ago

Got a question for all you Metallica owners.
After you changed out a song, does the machine go silent for a few seconds after a ball drain?
I am helping a friend with his machine and he says that music quits playing after the ball drains for a little while before the bonus starts counting.
I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this or knew of a fix.
Or is this just the way Metallica works?

#1493 9 years ago
Quoted from Arcade:

Got a question for all you Metallica owners.
After you changed out a song, does the machine go silent for a few seconds after a ball drain?
I am helping a friend with his machine and he says that music quits playing after the ball drains for a little while before the bonus starts counting.
I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered this or knew of a fix.
Or is this just the way Metallica works?

This happens when you set the Music Attenuation setting too far in the negative (actual game setting not Pinball Browser- usually done to try and boost the music volume.). Change it back to default & that will fix the issue.

#1494 9 years ago
Quoted from credinger:

This happens when you set the Music Attenuation setting too far in the negative (actual game setting not Pinball Browser- usually done to try and boost the music volume.). Change it back to default & that will fix the issue.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will have him try it out.

#1495 9 years ago

Version 4.10 has been released.

A new function has been added ("Extend memory" in the "Advanced" tab) : after using this function, more free memory will be available for complex SmartDmd colorizations.
See how the total free memory increases in the Pinball Browser right panel

Change log and Url are in the OP.

#1496 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

Version 4.10 has been released.
A new function has been added ("Extend memory" in the "Advanced" tab) : after using this function, more free memory will be available for complex SmartDmd colorizations.
See how the total free memory increases in the Pinball Browser right panel
Change log and Url are in the OP.

Now that is huge! I gave it a quick try on ST and have 10x more free space from stock!! Time to revive a long dead project I once worked on... Thanks oga!

#1497 9 years ago

I still would love the ability to replace sounds with ones of longer length. Maybe append it into the free space and change the pointer? The end result would be replacing the Stern knocker screech with the greatest sound ever known to man: the Defender free man sound.

#1498 9 years ago
Quoted from oga83:

I've been working on this for a while and I still have a lot of work to acheive it.
Pinball Browser is already able to open WPC firmwares and display the DMD frames (since v4.00) but there has been very little interest in this feature.

I'd LOVE to be able to change dmd animations and sounds on a wpc!

#1499 9 years ago
Quoted from JDee:

I'd LOVE to be able to change dmd animations and sounds on a wpc!

Same here! More WPC support would be awesome.

#1500 9 years ago

Was just pointed to this topic in my hopes of changing the music on AC/DC... it sounds awesome and I really hope I can get out of my 'I'm too PC dumb to comprehend this shit' mentality to be able to actually use it!!

I need to sit down and read this entire thread tonight... and order myself one of those cables!!

Just to make sure I'm understanding this right... I can change any of the 12 songs from my impending AC/DC Luci for 12 other songs of my choice... The songs I chose will be clipped to be the same length as the tracks already in the game...

Is this correct??

This would be excellent!! I'm not a fan of AC/DC, so changing the music to something I actually like would be awesome indeed!!

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