To me, I love the feeling when you hit the flipper buttons and it feels like there are extra fingers (mine obviously) inside the pin. With virtual pins, I don't get that feeling.

You can do this with the Pin2k games. RFM and SWE1 can be switched in or out no matter what cabinet it is.

As for the poll:
Haven't = Have not
Havnt = Not a word

That said, I'd love to try one with the full force feedback and high quality computer/TV equipment such that there's essentially no lag.

Actually some of the guys out there building these virtual pinball machines have added solenoids to give that true flipper and slingshot feel and added ways to nudge the machine and it happens on the game. Ive seen them with real flashers and real dmds. Its pretty cool stuff.

It is great but does not replace pinball. It is a beast of its own but it is damn fun IMHO.

Think that whats so unique about playing pinball, you get the feeling you are actually an extention of the machine itself which is what the video versions lack for me. That being said, I also think the aspect of having so many possibilities at your fingertips is what drives and gives vids thier appeal. I prefer the feel of a real pin, but I too like the versatility of the vids. I would venture to say preference could very well be closely linked with "when" or "what era" we grew up in.

That superpin was mine . I bought it off eBay then sold it when I built my own. Then sold that to shoot again and now I have a smaller one converted from a pinball 2000 cabinet. The platform can now run pinball fx2. If you're good with computers I can help you get that onto the cabinet if you're interested. It requires mo ing your os to windows 8, however.

i enjoy my pincab, than you know my answer

Video pinball is what it is. It's a very fun game somewhat related to pinball.

Have never played one, it looks cool... just not sure if it would "feel" right.
If it felt as random as a real one, I think I would own one.

I just don't feel like "Video Pinball" does justice to pinball. Sitting in a comfy chair screen-touching to flip the flippers is far-removed from standing at a real machine and getting a workout. A pinball machine is an immersive experience and video pinball is far more passive. Sure, some of the video-games are "faithful" to the machine games (a la Pinball Arcade) - but they will never give a pinball experience - only a simulation.

Let me extend this one step further - I think most of us have seen That Thing (forget the name of it) that is essentially a pinball machine BUT it is all video with a number of different pinball games simulated? I don't like that either. There is not a real steel silverball and there are not real ramps etc. I don't love it.

Markmon should get the credit for this pin, as it was his creation.
This machine has two platforms, hyperpin (which runs virtual pinball and future pinball) as well as pinball fx.
Pinball fx is badass compared to the hyperpin. The layouts are extremely well done originals and the ball physics are pretty spot on once you acclimate to the buttons. I've played this (pinball fx) more than any single 'real' pin this last month.
I have some pretty cool mods coming your way mark as a much deserved thank you!

image.jpg image.jpg

Pinball FX on FS would be awesome. I need to check into that....

Does the rest of the VP world work on Win 8?

Hyperpin is interesting but kinda a novelity IMO.
I haven't found a table that holds my interest and has the 'one more game' feeling that a real pin or pinball fx does. I wouldn't want a virtual pin without pinball fx.

That pinball FX setup is sweet. Always wondered if that could be done.

Ya hyperpin and pinball fx both run on windows 8.

image.jpg

Do you have full feedback/Flashers configured on the VP side how it the shuttering on the VP side?

Yes. I wrote a couple programs to help integrate it as well as rewrote a bunch of fp launch scripts. I plan to write a tutorial and provide all the files soon.

The pinball fx stuff is fun and playable. The hyperpin stuff is more of a cool novelty but nowhere near as fun.

We are actually talking about full machines running a multi monitor set up. The playfield is a large 37-42" monitor in a converted empty pinball cabinet. This is not sitting on your chair with an iPad or with a game pad.

We didn't bother with any of that mainly because the hyperpin stuff is more novelty than fun once you start playing full screen pinball fx2.

Here are some videos of full screen pinball fx2 in action.

Sorcerers Lair, avengers, and Pasha

Yes it is fun but VP with all the feedback/flashers shaker motor and wiper motor for gear sounds real DMD. Just blows FX2 away at this point try AFM on a well-built VP cab with full feedback and no flipper lag. It feels very close to the real thing and if I go and play the real AFM my game improves form playing VP version of it.

I'll admit that afm plays pretty close on visual pinball. But the flipper physics in visual pinball are just so off with the center being virtually unhittable. And it can be corrected by setting oblique values into the table interface (this is done in afm 2.3 table) but that generates blind spots and odd reverse angles. It's unfortunate. Pinball fx2 flipper shots go where you aim. Plus being all original tables you don't have to compare to anything. The pinball fx2 tables are all so complex with deep rulesets. And you don't have to choose between the two. You get both.

Yes I haven’t seen where anyone was enjoying VP on win 8 yet. This is probably because they have not configured full feedback/Flashers…
Without the mechanical feel of the solenoids and real flashers it is hard to emulate pinball.
A real DMD helps this experience and putting it all in one package with flapper lag and no shutter makes it really fun.
I agree you don’t have to choose both are worth setting up. I am adding optic couplers to my cab so I at least get flipper feedback with FX2 tables. That will help with the experience. Once the let you move the DMD that will help also.The rules are much deeper in FX2 flipper feel is very good.

Just don’t judge VP (not you markmon I know you have played other cabs) until you have tried a well setup cab with all the add-ons.

I think the pinballfx game called Biolab is pretty awesome

I'm guessing that none of these programs will run on a Mac, correct?
I'd need something that's pretty easy to install that requires little tweaking. (Like Mame)
You guys all PC?

I have a 46" playfield /32" backglass /19" DMD that I custom built with 8 solenoids, 5 RGB flashers & nudge/tilt capabilities. While the pin is a lot of fun to play, I find it all depends on the table. I have over 250 tables loaded, but find there's only a hand full of VP tables that I play and several Future Pin tables that are worthwhile.

To me the two biggest complaints are graphics and physics. But with a recent mod, I have found that several Future Pin tables have really gotten quite good (eg: Tron).

All in all if I had to do over again, I have no regrets. It allows me to play any table that I feel like and has afforded me access to tables that I would never be able to afford (MM, CC, etc).

I've never tried any of these PC based virtual pinball games. The closest would be the Farsight pinball game I purchased for my PS3. It's OK for being able to play older games that I don't have access to, but I'd much rather play on a real, physical pinball machine. You just can't "program" the sheer randomness of physical metal ball being smacked around by little rubber bats...

I'm pretty darn impressed by some of those videos though! Who did the artwork for and programmed all those translations of real pinball tables? That must have taken some time! Are they "legal"? Where can you purchase those? It would be fun to use the virtual pinball tables as a way of training for play on a real machine.

ugh this again.

Nothing beats REAL pinball. But video pin is a FANTASTIC compliment. When you build a real virtual pin build, with feed back, shakers, lights, plunger, nudging. It is GREAT. This is just like xbox vs ps3. They are both fantastic in their own rights, but I own both

Yes it really depends on the tables and they are not all created equal. Some are not fun at all.
I only like a hand full of tables and to me AFM plays so good it is worth it to me just for that one.
T2 chrome looks amazing TOM plays really well and some others.
That is one thing about FX2 is so far all the tables I have played are good quality and the flippers feel great on all of them.

I second this.

lets see. with video please.

I was gonna say awesome, but I thought you meant this Video Pinball:

VP_Flyer.jpg VP_Flyer_2.jpg

I currently have it torn down as I am adding the 2 extra flashers, but here are some semi recent shots of it when it was ~90% finished:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/ea_forsaken/d207df0b81c9dbc52cdafd51af32aef6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/ea_forsaken/f16600ee3f0dd8164a5f585929b9ea90.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v61/ea_forsaken/IMG_2325.jpg

Here are a couple video clips:

IJ
http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/ea_forsaken/media/IMG_0258_zpsddc9b147.mp4.html

Tron
http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/ea_forsaken/media/IMG_0257_zps4ae28dc7.mp4.html

Gorgar
http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/ea_forsaken/media/IMG_0256_zps19ea0e67.mp4.html

I watched your videos nice looking VP.
But you are not a very good pinball player.

That's pretty cool, Dante. So someone programmed a Color DMD for Tron?

$#%&, you mean that I won't be winning any tournaments anytime soon?

Yes and it contains a lot of video clips too. The author SLAMT1LT does a lot of custom tables and has done some tweaks to the Future Pinball tables, which has made them a lot more enjoyable than the run of the mill stuff. http://www.pinsimdb.org/pinball/index-10-future_pinball?searchTitle=&searchCollection=&searchType=-1&searchManufacturer=&searchYear=&searchAuthor=slam&searchAuthorIdx=-1

I had plans to build one last year, really wanted to like it, played one at CAX, just couldn't get into it.

Can you fully control the PFX2 menu system with mapped buttons? I tried it a while ago in the win8 beta, but had to use the mouse & kb to do some menu functions.

So whats the deal? Were you testing it with a laptop? Plunger moves on its own, flippers too.

VERY nice cabinet. How much did that set you back? Probably as much as nice mid-level machine, no?

No, I was filming with my ipad in one hand and a wireless keyboard in the other. The flipper buttons, plunger, etc are all wired to a board that will simulate the keyboard commands (eg: ENTER = Plunger)

All in all, I would say $2,500 - $3,000. I built the cabinet from scratch and everything else was accumulated over a two year period that was either black friday or great ebay deals.

In the end, it was a good project that taught me a lot about wiring, repairs and configuration. The bad news is that it gave the the Pinball bug and I am now starting to add real machines to my collection

Yes. The mouse and keyboard are never pulled out. 4 arrows, enter, escape, and backspace seem to cover about everything including all operator menu adjustments.

Depends on how you ask.

The real size cabinets with a big screen doesn't interest me. Neither does (most) pinball games made by video game designers directly as a video game. And especially not, when unnatural elements have been used.

However, simulation/ROM-emulation of real tables rock!

When I got into Visual Pinball/PinMAME 10+ years ago I got the chills listningen to music, speech and effects of pinball game I used to play but had not seen for a long time.

I can't remember exactly which things I had trouble with -- I think one of them was that the menu wouldn't wrap around to the next row if you were moving sideways and hit the end of the line.

I can’t wait to add Pinball Arcade to my cab. The PC version is done they just need to release it.
http://pinballarcadefans.com/forumdisplay.php/13-PC

This actually has far superior physics to vp so would be a welcomed addition.

I like that it is ROM based that could open the door for feedback and flashers in the future.

Anybody have recommendations for which PFX2 tables are good? I threw a spare hard drive in my vpin to put windows back on it and try PFX2 again. Played the Mars table it comes with, and the Avengers table I had bought previously -- both seem dull. Audio is really subdued/laid back, most shots don't seem to do much of anything. Which PFX2 tables are worth buying?

Epic Quest is one of my favorites. Pretty unique RPG elements to that one. It has pretty long play times though.

I like some of the first tables, Secrets of the Deep and Bio Lab.

All of them. My favorites:

Sorcerers lair
Infinity gauntlet
Fear itself
War world hulk

On all the games, the rules are very deep. You have to figure out how to start modes in order to progress through the games. Otherwise you're just batting the ball around and not getting anywhere.

Virtual pin is awesome. It's a very close substitution for the real thing. It's come a long way, and the new tables people are making are fantastic. Many of the old tables that are done are spot on and play just like the real thing. It was worth every penny to have the games that I like, but would never want to buy.

I paid more for my Virtuapin, than I have for any game. It's my most expensive pin purchase, but well worth it. Currently have 168 tables on mine. And able to play a lot of rare euro games, that I've never seen in real life, which makes it worth it right there. I don't run windows 8 tho and heard it has a lot of glitches with Hyperpin, so I won't be running FX. not that big of a fan of custom tables. I have a couple select ones, but not a lot.

I am addicted to virtual pinball as i was with real pinball when i was young. Its bloody fantastic.

From all the simulations games available, racing, shooting, sports, etc... pinball comes the closest to the real thing.

Ok, no mechs, moving parts, leds.... thats true, but its a simulation remember....

But the gameplay is so recognisable with the real thing its amazing. Its almost the same.

I think too that virtual pinball is one of the keys why pinbal, still maintains to survive. In fact, virtual pinball is the only thing we already know will always be there. So, even when stern and jjp quit (lets hope not off course), virtual pinball will always keep the dream alive that one day... someone will try to make the real thing again.

Yep, i like it.