Quoted from Wylte:Yes, the most premium VPX tables set up objects and use code that is dedicated to getting just these effects (and more!)
Bumpers are mostly simulated well, though AFAIK the force applied is just calculated at a static radius based on the ball velocity vector toward the bumper, with random "scatter" being added from an RNG range (usually ±5°).
That is... Not true, going by most of the VPin owners I know! Especially in the creator/author space. If one of us doesn't own the machine we're recreating, we'll at least compare to videos and send somebody to the arcade for "research"
Has been for at least 6 years (I'm not sure if VP9 did). Watch some modern VPX videos and you might change your opinion
I have both real pins and a vpin. Screen delay is not a problem I have a good setup. I don't care about haptic feedback (fake coils). All I care about is ball feel and I am sorry but it's just not the same as reality.
Table creators and ppl otherwise very involved in the hobby have a biased opinion and I understand they truly believe it's very close to the same. My personal experience with many different programs/versions and tables just doesn't match up to reality.
I am not saying VPins suck. On the contrary they are super fun. That's why I have one. I enjoy it a lot. I will not pretend it's the same as a real machine however. While the physics have come a long way and are pretty damn good, there are way too many subtleties that the virtual world simply doesn't capture correctly or at all sometimes.
Fancy flipper handling just isn't right. Examples of things that feel wrong or don't really work as well as reality: Post passing, shatzing, drop catch, whatever you call it when the ball is rolling slowly to the tip of the flipper and you can stop it with a micro-flip on a real game.
Anyway that's my personal experience so far. Not saying it's the only valid experience out there - just what I've seen. Also, the more you play virtual the better you get at it like anything else. It still doesn't make it "real". I find you can get better quicker at VPin than on a real game, because of that missing variability that seems to be hard to replicate virtually.
One last gripe: Nudging. Learning to nudge a real 300lbs machine is quite different than hitting a key or button for the "perfect nudge" every time. There's more to it than just bumping the game. Tilt bob sway isn't replicated well so far either. I can rapidly shake left to right a real machine on a tight tilt to make the ball not go in the outlane. These "micro nudges" just aren't well replicated.